What did YOU wake up to today? I woke up at 5:45 to the sound of my daughter rummaging through the bathroom. I almost – ALMOST – got out of bed, but the sound of gagging would be required to make my feet hit the floor. Then I remembered! She told me last night she was setting her alarm on her little DS so that she could wake up before Brother and me to SURPRISE us. Maybe that little thing has some value to it after all. (The DS, not the kid. She has immeasurable value.) I’m a totally freakin’ responsible parent so I made sure to set parameters for the surprise: Do NOT scare Brother from his slumber, NO oven/stove & NOTHING electrical. The fire brigade works around the clock, but I did NOT need them to be called for our own set of fireworks here at the castle where I’m celebrating my own newfound independence. “Gotcha,” she said.

So I waited and dozed until Brother slid into bed and snuggled up with me. Shortly before 7am, she entered fully dressed and announced that the surprise was starting. She was ready for us and had in fact changed and slept in her clothes after I tucked her in so that she wouldn’t have to waste any time in the morning with such trivial necessities. I opened my eyes and said, “Good Morning, Lovebug!” to her and her hat. The chipper little doll was wearing a headband with a sign cleverly attached that said, “Happy 4th of July.” Let the fireworks begin. Brother and I walked down the hall and entered the “Fashion Cafe” from dinner 2 nights ago which had now been transformed into some sort of street carnival. Brother’s sleepy eyes lit up and just about exploded when he was told there were PRIZES at stake for the early morning games to come. Whatever. I’ll let you win Dude and maybe they’ll keep you occupied until I’ve had my coffee.

First game: Trivia. A little book was filled with page after page after page of questions so it appeared my sanity was in Jeopardy. She’s so stinkin’ cute though that Brother and I followed the rules and answered the questions.

What are the colors on the American Flag?

What is our official bird?

What is the name of our National Anthem?

What dance does Mickey do on the Disney Movie? And Donald??

The million dollar question was, “What do you call a pig with lipstick?” Answer: An ugly pig.

Please don't send me to jail. I just copied it from Google

And PLEASE don't send the Secret Service after me! Someone much more evil than me made this picture and I found it when I googled Obama Lipstick. I don't want to go to jail. My kids need their mother.

Had she been paying attention to the national debate a few years ago when Palin and Obama traded jabs over the lipstick/hockey mom/pig debate?? God help me. I knew she was brilliant, but she’s even more observant than I thought. As any good parent would do, I let Brother answer as many questions as he could, and when neither of us knew the answer to the pig question, Brother, ALWAYS one to resort to less conventional methods pulled the Magic Eight Ball from the doll closet/podium. I started the coffee pot because THIS is what I got when I asked the big ball a question:

Brother answered his questions and won a plastic beach bucket and shovel and it didn’t even cost him a checker. I won the Booby Prize by cleverly dodging the booby traps that a BAD MOM would fall into; I pretended to think LONG and HARD on easy questions and gave AWESOME hints so that the little boy could win and think he was smarter than his mom. HA! Who outwitted who there? I got a new little bunny picture for my wall and would at least have something to write about on my daily blog challenge. Would I get the chance to actually sit at the computer uninterrupted though to put my thoughts into coherent sentences?

Oh, well. My time will come, and when they are grown and gone I’ll miss them and their chatter. They will discover their own independence and leave the nest never to return, and my only consolation prize will be that I have less laundry to do.

UPDATE: In the hour that it took me to compose this blog, a fight broke out in Our Town. The brawlers were sent to their rooms to “think about how to control their mouths and hands.” After posting this, I discovered the following notes/pleas. Please excuse the mis-spellings. No worries however, time has been served and they have resumed friendly relations. I however am convinced that they work best together when conspiring against me.

"I did nothing." -Brother (the FE is because he pronounces nothing like nuF-Eng)

"No one loves me! I am hiding!" -Sister