Every day, there are the beginnings of numerous blog posts rattling around in my head.
chirp, chirp.
As you can see - they rarely make it out. Let's just follow the "no news is good news" way of thinking for the time being; I promise I've got pages of funny things the kids have said written down, and tons of cute pix and vids just waiting patiently to be posted, and updates aplenty regarding what we've been up to. But there are gifts to be wrapped, and clothes to be folded - and hell. Who am I kidding... a nap to be taken! (Cut me some slack - I'm on vacation!) So I wish you all a truly blessed and happy Christmas with family and friends. Now, where's my blankie?
One of Many...
Thursday, November 13, 2008
... reasons I love my husband:
He makes me peanut butter and jelly sandwiches when we run out of lunch meat. But not just any peanut butter and jelly sandwich - the kind of peanut butter and jelly sandwich that he HATES.... the heavy on the peanut butter kind. Apparently he suffered some sort of traumatic thick peanut butter incident as a child, and has never recovered. Thick peanut butter makes him almost as angry as cauliflower does. I know. Don't ask. Anyway - he knows that I don't care for his style of PB&J - which equals thin peanut butter. Peanut butter so thin you can barely see, hear or smell it on your sandwich. Peanut butter portions so thin that I actually feel sorry for my children when I find out that he's made them PB&J sammies for lunch without me there to intervene. Because what kind of a life is a life without thick peanut butter??! Thank God they've got me to balance out the thin peanut butter insanity.
What was I talking about...?
Oh, yeah. How much I appreciate that he's able to overcome his phobia and make me a proper PB&J sammy because he knows how happy it makes me to have a thickness of peanut butter no less than a mattress. A mattress with a pillowtop. And then he puts in in a sandwich baggie, and labels it lovingly with a "C" so I know not to mistakenly grab one of his sandwiches by mistake. Because believe you me... the wrath he has to endure if I get an inappropriate thickness of PB on my sammy... oh, yeah. Quite embarrassing - especially at work. :)
And how lucky am I that he hasn't kicked me to the curb and told me to make my own frickin' sandwiches?? I know. Damn lucky.
He makes me peanut butter and jelly sandwiches when we run out of lunch meat. But not just any peanut butter and jelly sandwich - the kind of peanut butter and jelly sandwich that he HATES.... the heavy on the peanut butter kind. Apparently he suffered some sort of traumatic thick peanut butter incident as a child, and has never recovered. Thick peanut butter makes him almost as angry as cauliflower does. I know. Don't ask. Anyway - he knows that I don't care for his style of PB&J - which equals thin peanut butter. Peanut butter so thin you can barely see, hear or smell it on your sandwich. Peanut butter portions so thin that I actually feel sorry for my children when I find out that he's made them PB&J sammies for lunch without me there to intervene. Because what kind of a life is a life without thick peanut butter??! Thank God they've got me to balance out the thin peanut butter insanity.
What was I talking about...?
Oh, yeah. How much I appreciate that he's able to overcome his phobia and make me a proper PB&J sammy because he knows how happy it makes me to have a thickness of peanut butter no less than a mattress. A mattress with a pillowtop. And then he puts in in a sandwich baggie, and labels it lovingly with a "C" so I know not to mistakenly grab one of his sandwiches by mistake. Because believe you me... the wrath he has to endure if I get an inappropriate thickness of PB on my sammy... oh, yeah. Quite embarrassing - especially at work. :)
And how lucky am I that he hasn't kicked me to the curb and told me to make my own frickin' sandwiches?? I know. Damn lucky.
The Morning After
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
Josie and Eve,
Something happened last night. Something bigger than you can understand, but I want to put in writing my take on a small piece of the history that you were part of – even though you are too small to realize it.
We watched coverage of the events on television, and I’ll apologize now for not having given you my full and undivided attention. Josie – you probably won’t remember watching the colors of the night, red and blue, on the screen, and seeing the states across our country fill in with those colors. You are 3, and you wanted to break everything into “good guys vs. bad guys” or “mean and nice.” And you probably won’t remember that Mommy was sad… not because of what was on t.v., but that Daddy wasn’t there to watch it with us. He was traveling for work, so Mommy had to settle for talking to him on the phone. It wasn’t the same, and I will always regret that Daddy was in Texas (of all places) while history of this magnitude was being made. Eve – you won’t remember laughing at Mommy as I cheered when the color I was pulling for popped up on the screen, and you would yell, “Again!” You can thank the people of the United States for fulfilling your wish, as Mommy had a lot more cheering to do before the night was over.
A Man named Barack Obama became both the 44th and the 1st, all in one night. He will be our nation’s forty-fourth president, which, in and of itself, is not all that historic. It was time, and someone needed to be the next president. But what is historic is the fact that he will be our nation’s first African-American president. And if events hadn’t unfolded the way they did, we would have seen ballots this election year with America’s first woman presidential candidate. So either way, big changes and big choices for America. We heard a lot of talk this election year. Much of it, I’ll admit, bores me to tears, and annoys me beyond belief. But what will hold up in my memory from this year are some of the words which resounded over and over again: Change. Hope. Country First. Maverick. Make sure you guys look up that last one along with “Tina Fey” and “SNL.” It may not mean much to you, but trust me- it was comedy gold in 2008.
I’m not going to turn this into a political platform on which to launch my views and beliefs to the world. I’m not that kind of person. I believe what I believe, and I firmly respect the right of every human being to believe what they believe, whether it differs from my own view or not. I may disagree with many of the beliefs and views of those around me, even family and friends, but you will never hear your mommy in a heated argument trying to persuade someone that what they believe is wrong. There are plenty of others out there who derive pleasure from that task; I honestly don’t see the point.
When you are old enough to want to do the research, there will be mountains of material available for you to read and listen to in order to get the facts behind what the candidates in the presidential race of 2008 championed for. And I hope to instill in each of you the ability to listen, and read, and form your own opinions. You can learn a lot by just listening and watching. There’s a whole lot of B.S. out there; the trick is learning to filter through it to get to the good stuff. And if you want to be one of those who speaks their minds and tries to persuade others, then I will support you – as long as you speak the truth. And if you want to sit back with me and just take it all in – I’ll be there for that, too.
One of the things that I take away from this election, and I think that no matter which side of the fence you sit on, you’d have to agree that what we witnessed last night and the impact it had throughout the world, was truly astounding. Now we wait to see the effects of the impact. Many times elections are, unfortunately, about choosing the “lesser of two evils.” This election didn’t feel that way to me. We had to choose between two very different candidates with very persuading arguments. Maybe I was more invested in the election this year, because I’m a mother now and the choices we make will affect you, Josie and Eve. I hope and pray that America has chosen wisely for you and your future.
Love,
Mommy
Something happened last night. Something bigger than you can understand, but I want to put in writing my take on a small piece of the history that you were part of – even though you are too small to realize it.
We watched coverage of the events on television, and I’ll apologize now for not having given you my full and undivided attention. Josie – you probably won’t remember watching the colors of the night, red and blue, on the screen, and seeing the states across our country fill in with those colors. You are 3, and you wanted to break everything into “good guys vs. bad guys” or “mean and nice.” And you probably won’t remember that Mommy was sad… not because of what was on t.v., but that Daddy wasn’t there to watch it with us. He was traveling for work, so Mommy had to settle for talking to him on the phone. It wasn’t the same, and I will always regret that Daddy was in Texas (of all places) while history of this magnitude was being made. Eve – you won’t remember laughing at Mommy as I cheered when the color I was pulling for popped up on the screen, and you would yell, “Again!” You can thank the people of the United States for fulfilling your wish, as Mommy had a lot more cheering to do before the night was over.
A Man named Barack Obama became both the 44th and the 1st, all in one night. He will be our nation’s forty-fourth president, which, in and of itself, is not all that historic. It was time, and someone needed to be the next president. But what is historic is the fact that he will be our nation’s first African-American president. And if events hadn’t unfolded the way they did, we would have seen ballots this election year with America’s first woman presidential candidate. So either way, big changes and big choices for America. We heard a lot of talk this election year. Much of it, I’ll admit, bores me to tears, and annoys me beyond belief. But what will hold up in my memory from this year are some of the words which resounded over and over again: Change. Hope. Country First. Maverick. Make sure you guys look up that last one along with “Tina Fey” and “SNL.” It may not mean much to you, but trust me- it was comedy gold in 2008.
I’m not going to turn this into a political platform on which to launch my views and beliefs to the world. I’m not that kind of person. I believe what I believe, and I firmly respect the right of every human being to believe what they believe, whether it differs from my own view or not. I may disagree with many of the beliefs and views of those around me, even family and friends, but you will never hear your mommy in a heated argument trying to persuade someone that what they believe is wrong. There are plenty of others out there who derive pleasure from that task; I honestly don’t see the point.
When you are old enough to want to do the research, there will be mountains of material available for you to read and listen to in order to get the facts behind what the candidates in the presidential race of 2008 championed for. And I hope to instill in each of you the ability to listen, and read, and form your own opinions. You can learn a lot by just listening and watching. There’s a whole lot of B.S. out there; the trick is learning to filter through it to get to the good stuff. And if you want to be one of those who speaks their minds and tries to persuade others, then I will support you – as long as you speak the truth. And if you want to sit back with me and just take it all in – I’ll be there for that, too.
One of the things that I take away from this election, and I think that no matter which side of the fence you sit on, you’d have to agree that what we witnessed last night and the impact it had throughout the world, was truly astounding. Now we wait to see the effects of the impact. Many times elections are, unfortunately, about choosing the “lesser of two evils.” This election didn’t feel that way to me. We had to choose between two very different candidates with very persuading arguments. Maybe I was more invested in the election this year, because I’m a mother now and the choices we make will affect you, Josie and Eve. I hope and pray that America has chosen wisely for you and your future.
Love,
Mommy
Test Your Color IQ
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
This is how I spent part of my lunch break today. I scored a 23... post a comment and let me how you did!
Lions and Bears and Cats and Dogs and Dragons... and a Fairy Princess... Oh My!
Saturday, November 01, 2008
Halloween 2008 was more fun than you could shake a stick at. I watched the Gronau kidlets (and my own, as well, in case you were wondering) in the a.m. while Mama Meg danced with Pirates and was even able to whip up a yummy lunch and happily report that all four children survived my watch unscathed. Yes!
The Gronaus departed and The Dalys happy-nappy'd and then went to Daycare Betty's for a quick little Halloween party action before hitting G'ma/G'pa Dalys for a little pre-trick/treat lasagna supper and visit.
We booked it back home to meet up with the awaiting Mathews' family and hit the sidewalks for some sweet candy-action. Eve didn't know what to think of the hoopla; we went to the home of our next door neighbors first, and she wanted the girls to come in the house to see her husband before we left. We left, and went to the neighbor on the other side... and when they opened the door... Eve went right on in! Guess she thought each house would be like the first, and we were going to do a whole lot of visiting before the night was over. Will was less than thrilled the first couple of stops, but then he figured out that steps = house = candy... and repeat... and he was more than willing to keep it up. And a cuter dragon you've never seen than his brother, Keaton. Perfectly content to chill in the stroller, and catch a little nap.
(Sidenote... Eve has been in bed for almost an hour. She's still awake, and right now she's saying, "I want to get up. I'm awake. I want cereal. I want to get dressed." A little while ago, it was, "I want to go in the baby swing." Followed by, "I have a hair in my mouth. I need my toothbrush." It could be an interesting night. Oh, now it's, "I don't feel good. I want a Kleenex. I have boogers.")
Back to the play-by-play. We met up with a gaggle of Gronaus and continued on. Yadda yadda yadda... candy, walking, costumes, beautiful night, fun friends, cute kids... I'm really tired today. See for yourself (in reverse order. Stupid, stupid Blogger):
End of the night... Eve, Jo, Will and Keaton.
Keaton and Tricia.
"Get. Me. Out. Of. This. Costume." I've never seen a more forced smile.
Happier moments.
The Mathews Family - sans Keaton.
Away in a... stroller, the little Dragon Keaton, lay down his sweet head.
All our kids. On someone else's steps.
Woof, woof! Eve played up being a puppy.
Eve and Will.
Baby Keaton and Mama Tricia.
Sir William Growlsalot. 
Eve and Jo. A matched set, even in costumes.
With cousins Trevor (ninja) and Trent (batman).
The Gronaus departed and The Dalys happy-nappy'd and then went to Daycare Betty's for a quick little Halloween party action before hitting G'ma/G'pa Dalys for a little pre-trick/treat lasagna supper and visit.
We booked it back home to meet up with the awaiting Mathews' family and hit the sidewalks for some sweet candy-action. Eve didn't know what to think of the hoopla; we went to the home of our next door neighbors first, and she wanted the girls to come in the house to see her husband before we left. We left, and went to the neighbor on the other side... and when they opened the door... Eve went right on in! Guess she thought each house would be like the first, and we were going to do a whole lot of visiting before the night was over. Will was less than thrilled the first couple of stops, but then he figured out that steps = house = candy... and repeat... and he was more than willing to keep it up. And a cuter dragon you've never seen than his brother, Keaton. Perfectly content to chill in the stroller, and catch a little nap.
(Sidenote... Eve has been in bed for almost an hour. She's still awake, and right now she's saying, "I want to get up. I'm awake. I want cereal. I want to get dressed." A little while ago, it was, "I want to go in the baby swing." Followed by, "I have a hair in my mouth. I need my toothbrush." It could be an interesting night. Oh, now it's, "I don't feel good. I want a Kleenex. I have boogers.")
Back to the play-by-play. We met up with a gaggle of Gronaus and continued on. Yadda yadda yadda... candy, walking, costumes, beautiful night, fun friends, cute kids... I'm really tired today. See for yourself (in reverse order. Stupid, stupid Blogger):
End of the night... Eve, Jo, Will and Keaton.
Keaton and Tricia.
"Get. Me. Out. Of. This. Costume." I've never seen a more forced smile.
Happier moments.
The Mathews Family - sans Keaton.
Away in a... stroller, the little Dragon Keaton, lay down his sweet head.
All our kids. On someone else's steps.
Woof, woof! Eve played up being a puppy.
Yo, mamma. I mean, Obama. The kids mowed over this sign, and Meg was worried the fate of the election lay on the lawn of an Eastsider.
Let me go... there's more candy over there!
A princess and her pet.
Ed was all about manners. "Thank you! Merry Christmas!"
Eve and Will.
Try to tell me you've seen anything cuter than this. Just try. That's what I thought.
Baby Keaton and Mama Tricia.
Sir William Growlsalot.
Eve and Jo. A matched set, even in costumes.
With cousins Trevor (ninja) and Trent (batman).
Josie and daycare friend, Lily.
Some of the kids from Daycare Betty's house.
An update in pictures...
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Josie at gymnastics class at Central High School.
Ready for class to start!
Eve - happy to see the camera!
A happy girl in a twirly dress, ready for a teaparty at the Gronaus, followed by her very first play - HSM at Maplewood Community Center.
Finally! A swingset all their own.
She'd sleep in there if we let her.
Fall festival at church. Loved the pony rides.
Josie has picked this EXACT horse all three years we've taken her.
Bouncy thing = Big fun.
Eve spent most of her turn getting tossed around by the big kids. But she still loved it.
Fancy princesses.
Pre- (or post-) soccer practice at the playground with Eden.
Pat took this picture... during the game.
Yup - also during the game. Must be discussing plans for the tire swing.
Okay - that's more like it!
Tossed my cookies
Pat's dad's side the family held a little impromptu "pow wow" at his aunt Kathy's house last Saturday. We had been invited previously to a kid's Halloween party/baby shower that afternoon, as well, so I decided to make some cookies to take to both parties while the girls were napping. A while back I read on a friend of a friend's blog about a yummy recipe for oatmeal/Craisin/white choco chip cookies found on the back of the Craisins package, and decided to give them a try. And they were, indeed, very tasty. Josie helped me mix them up before she laid down, and I had to promise her all she was going to miss was the actual putting of the cookies in the oven and baking process. There weren't going to be any more cookie-related festivities happening while she was forced to sleep.
The girls woke up, we suited up, packed up, and headed for the car. I had our usual baggage in tow, plus the additional jackets for later on, since the girls were wearing their costumes, and, of course, the two plates of cookies. And that's when I made the fatal error. I put the plates of cookies on top of the car while I helped Josie in, and buckled her. I know - you see where this is going, right?
It still amazes me how I managed to get into the car without seeing them on the roof, especially considering that the roof is directly at eye-level. But see them, I did not, and away we went. The traffic on White Bear Avenue was pretty heavy, and we needed to wait to take a left-hand turn out of our alley. I happened to take notice of a car driving by and one of the passengers in the backseat pointing out the window at us... just as we had our chance to turn, and I remembered the plates of cookies at that exact moment. The very same moment that I saw them take their fatal dive off the roof and into the street in my peripheral vision.
I'm not going to lie to you - I actually shed a couple of tears. Not so much for the loss of cookie-life... but for the waste of my time. Sweet, sweet, precious time - with nothing to show for it but a bunch of crumbs in the northbound lane of White Bear Avenue. Patrick even pulled over to see if, by some act of God, either of the plates remained somewhat covered or intact... but it was not to be. My cookie dreams were crushed.
In all the commotion, both girls were scrambling to attempt to piece together what in the world was going on with their parents. Mommy in tears in the front seat, Daddy running around in the street while they sat, buckled and dressed in their Halloween costumes. Eve, in particular, was very distraught over the fact that I was so obviously upset. She wanted desperately to give me a kiss to make it better, and had to settle for giving me a kiss on the hand. The dramatic cookie events have lead to a script, which I've had to endure as a painful reminder, salt in the wound, each and every time we get in the car. It goes a little something like this:
Eve: "Where cookies go?"
Me/Daddy: "In the street, Evie."
Eve: "They on the roof?"
Me/Daddy: "Yup. They were on the roof."
Eve: "Cookies all gone? Yucky?"
Me/Daddy: "Yes - the cookies are gone."
Eve: "Mommy - you sad?"
Me/Daddy: "Mommy was sad. But she's okay now."
Eve: "Mommy - you okay now?"
Me/Daddy: "Yes - Mommy is okay now."
And then we usually have to run through the script a few more times. 'Cuz once just isn't enough.
On a different note-
I decided to wear a skirt to work today. Very unlike me as I tend to choose pants as my primary work attire of choice. This is a full, knee-length skirt with fun, big pleats. Josie has rarely, if ever, seen me in a dress or skirt before, and when she saw what I was wearing, she gasped and said, "OH - Mommy! Do you get to go to work and twirl today??!"
In her honor, I'll admit - I've twirled at work today. :)
The girls woke up, we suited up, packed up, and headed for the car. I had our usual baggage in tow, plus the additional jackets for later on, since the girls were wearing their costumes, and, of course, the two plates of cookies. And that's when I made the fatal error. I put the plates of cookies on top of the car while I helped Josie in, and buckled her. I know - you see where this is going, right?
It still amazes me how I managed to get into the car without seeing them on the roof, especially considering that the roof is directly at eye-level. But see them, I did not, and away we went. The traffic on White Bear Avenue was pretty heavy, and we needed to wait to take a left-hand turn out of our alley. I happened to take notice of a car driving by and one of the passengers in the backseat pointing out the window at us... just as we had our chance to turn, and I remembered the plates of cookies at that exact moment. The very same moment that I saw them take their fatal dive off the roof and into the street in my peripheral vision.
I'm not going to lie to you - I actually shed a couple of tears. Not so much for the loss of cookie-life... but for the waste of my time. Sweet, sweet, precious time - with nothing to show for it but a bunch of crumbs in the northbound lane of White Bear Avenue. Patrick even pulled over to see if, by some act of God, either of the plates remained somewhat covered or intact... but it was not to be. My cookie dreams were crushed.
In all the commotion, both girls were scrambling to attempt to piece together what in the world was going on with their parents. Mommy in tears in the front seat, Daddy running around in the street while they sat, buckled and dressed in their Halloween costumes. Eve, in particular, was very distraught over the fact that I was so obviously upset. She wanted desperately to give me a kiss to make it better, and had to settle for giving me a kiss on the hand. The dramatic cookie events have lead to a script, which I've had to endure as a painful reminder, salt in the wound, each and every time we get in the car. It goes a little something like this:
Eve: "Where cookies go?"
Me/Daddy: "In the street, Evie."
Eve: "They on the roof?"
Me/Daddy: "Yup. They were on the roof."
Eve: "Cookies all gone? Yucky?"
Me/Daddy: "Yes - the cookies are gone."
Eve: "Mommy - you sad?"
Me/Daddy: "Mommy was sad. But she's okay now."
Eve: "Mommy - you okay now?"
Me/Daddy: "Yes - Mommy is okay now."
And then we usually have to run through the script a few more times. 'Cuz once just isn't enough.
On a different note-
I decided to wear a skirt to work today. Very unlike me as I tend to choose pants as my primary work attire of choice. This is a full, knee-length skirt with fun, big pleats. Josie has rarely, if ever, seen me in a dress or skirt before, and when she saw what I was wearing, she gasped and said, "OH - Mommy! Do you get to go to work and twirl today??!"
In her honor, I'll admit - I've twirled at work today. :)
Completely random kid updates
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
I'm currently reading (if renewing 3 times from the St. Paul public library qualifies as "reading")Raising Your Spirited Child, by Mary Sheedy Kurcinka. I've long suspected that Eve is a "spirited" child, and I'm quickly confirming, by Ms. Kurcinka's standards, at least, that I'm right. The interesting thing is that I'm also discovering lots about Josie, and myself, through reading this book. The theories surrounding extroversion and introversion have always fascinated me, and even if you're not a believer - it makes for good bedtime reading material. I'm very grateful for the recommendation from a co-worker whom I greatly admire, and also read another book she read years ago when raising her own three boys - Siblings Without Rivalry. I'm going to have to buy this one, as there was just too much to learn and retain in one reading. Great tips and things to try... but I can't remember them in "the heat of the moment," and digging around for my notes doesn't always cut it when the girls are in the middle of a fight.
Anyway. The reason I bring this up is that completely out of the blue one day at work - I saw a notice that the child care facility located in our building was hosting a parenting seminar about kids getting enough sleep... conducted by Mary Sheedy Kurcinka. How weird is that?? Not all that weird, I guess, considering that she's local, and has been a parent educator for many years in the St. Paul Public Schools ECFE classes and wrote an entire book on the subject. So I went. And we're *trying* to have the girls get to bed earlier at night, and take steps to ensure they get a solid night's sleep, and nap well. I type this as I listen to Eve an hour and a half in to nap time today... and not sleeping. *sigh* We can only try.
We woke up this morning to Eve yelling "I GOT BOOGERS! I GOOOTTTTT BOOOOOGGGERRRRRRS." Hard to ignore.
For some reason, the girls think it's hilarious to lean over the baby-gate when we go in the basement for something and yell "Barney... Barney..." No idea where it came from, or why it's so funny.
Josie has taken to calling us "Patrick" and "Carol".
We put the girls back into their own bedrooms about a month ago. As mentioned above - Eve isn't the best sleeper in the world, and Josie was suffering for it. So far, so good. Since then, we've started much more intensive "talk time" sessions with Josie as part of her bedtime routine. I love it, and so does she. We talk about everything from the day's activities to dreams to heaven. Oh, yeah- it gets pretty deep sometimes. I hope that this is only the start of lines of completely open and honest and trusting communication. I want her to know that we want to always talk to her, and have her talk to us. The subject of school has been a big one lately - and we were talking about teachers and trusting other adults and things of that sort - and she said "other people can help me, too - not just mommys and daddys." I said "that's right." And she coyly responded "sometimes even boys."
Eve has always been pretty good with her manners - but we couldn't get her to say "thank you" - it was always "welcome", instead. Finally, she has started to respond thank you... but when she says it, it comes out "wank you." Awesome.
Josie tells me secrets. I have to lean in real close, and she whispers in my ear. Usually - it's something to do with Daddy. Poor guy doesn't stand a chance in the house full of girls.
We got a not-new-but-new-to-us swingset in our backyard. Life is good.
Josie and I have been going to gymnastics. It's been super fun. The kids all do some stretching first, then the teacher sets up different stations for the kids and parents to go do... then everyone joins back up and the end of class for a little activity. The kids have learned about tuck, pike and straddle positions - but sometimes when Josie says them, she says "puck, tike and waddle," instead. Soccer ended a couple of weeks ago, and I think when gymnastics is over... we'll try skating lessons.
Jo is going to be a kitty, and Eve is going to be a puppy for Halloween.
When Eve gives hugs, she insists on hugging on one side first, then putting her head on your other shoulder and giving a hug on the other side, too.
Josie can usually be found playing either school/teacher or mommy/baby around the house. I'm often coerced into being "Betty" and taking care of her baby while she goes to "work." I have outline what kids will be there for the day, and what activities her baby will do, and what I'll be serving for meals and if her baby pooped or not that day. Kinda makes me wonder if that's how we sound when dropping off/picking up from Betty's house.
Eve is particular about where we all sit at the table, and apparently which dishes everyone uses. Pat picked out a bowl for cereal a while ago, and Eve told him he couldn't use that one because it was Mommy's, and he couldn't sit in that chair because it was Mommy's.
I was listening to Josie playing in her room a few mornings ago, and I heard her tell our cat, Baxter, who had just meowed at her, "Oh - Baxy... it's okay. You're old, and you'll go to heaven soon. But it's okay - Buford is there and he will be with you."
Told you - totally random. :) Gotta go - I hear a fight brewin'
Anyway. The reason I bring this up is that completely out of the blue one day at work - I saw a notice that the child care facility located in our building was hosting a parenting seminar about kids getting enough sleep... conducted by Mary Sheedy Kurcinka. How weird is that?? Not all that weird, I guess, considering that she's local, and has been a parent educator for many years in the St. Paul Public Schools ECFE classes and wrote an entire book on the subject. So I went. And we're *trying* to have the girls get to bed earlier at night, and take steps to ensure they get a solid night's sleep, and nap well. I type this as I listen to Eve an hour and a half in to nap time today... and not sleeping. *sigh* We can only try.
We woke up this morning to Eve yelling "I GOT BOOGERS! I GOOOTTTTT BOOOOOGGGERRRRRRS." Hard to ignore.
For some reason, the girls think it's hilarious to lean over the baby-gate when we go in the basement for something and yell "Barney... Barney..." No idea where it came from, or why it's so funny.
Josie has taken to calling us "Patrick" and "Carol".
We put the girls back into their own bedrooms about a month ago. As mentioned above - Eve isn't the best sleeper in the world, and Josie was suffering for it. So far, so good. Since then, we've started much more intensive "talk time" sessions with Josie as part of her bedtime routine. I love it, and so does she. We talk about everything from the day's activities to dreams to heaven. Oh, yeah- it gets pretty deep sometimes. I hope that this is only the start of lines of completely open and honest and trusting communication. I want her to know that we want to always talk to her, and have her talk to us. The subject of school has been a big one lately - and we were talking about teachers and trusting other adults and things of that sort - and she said "other people can help me, too - not just mommys and daddys." I said "that's right." And she coyly responded "sometimes even boys."
Eve has always been pretty good with her manners - but we couldn't get her to say "thank you" - it was always "welcome", instead. Finally, she has started to respond thank you... but when she says it, it comes out "wank you." Awesome.
Josie tells me secrets. I have to lean in real close, and she whispers in my ear. Usually - it's something to do with Daddy. Poor guy doesn't stand a chance in the house full of girls.
We got a not-new-but-new-to-us swingset in our backyard. Life is good.
Josie and I have been going to gymnastics. It's been super fun. The kids all do some stretching first, then the teacher sets up different stations for the kids and parents to go do... then everyone joins back up and the end of class for a little activity. The kids have learned about tuck, pike and straddle positions - but sometimes when Josie says them, she says "puck, tike and waddle," instead. Soccer ended a couple of weeks ago, and I think when gymnastics is over... we'll try skating lessons.
Jo is going to be a kitty, and Eve is going to be a puppy for Halloween.
When Eve gives hugs, she insists on hugging on one side first, then putting her head on your other shoulder and giving a hug on the other side, too.
Josie can usually be found playing either school/teacher or mommy/baby around the house. I'm often coerced into being "Betty" and taking care of her baby while she goes to "work." I have outline what kids will be there for the day, and what activities her baby will do, and what I'll be serving for meals and if her baby pooped or not that day. Kinda makes me wonder if that's how we sound when dropping off/picking up from Betty's house.
Eve is particular about where we all sit at the table, and apparently which dishes everyone uses. Pat picked out a bowl for cereal a while ago, and Eve told him he couldn't use that one because it was Mommy's, and he couldn't sit in that chair because it was Mommy's.
I was listening to Josie playing in her room a few mornings ago, and I heard her tell our cat, Baxter, who had just meowed at her, "Oh - Baxy... it's okay. You're old, and you'll go to heaven soon. But it's okay - Buford is there and he will be with you."
Told you - totally random. :) Gotta go - I hear a fight brewin'
Let me add that to my list.
Monday, October 20, 2008
One of the (many) things that drive me insane about myself is how I can keep the work version of myself so neat and tidy and organized and prepared, but I cannot transfer those traits to the home version of myself. Granted, I do manage to get away with just enough to make it through the daily rigamarole of our routines. But just enough just isn't enough, sometimes. I feel like our household is in a constant state of disarray - one project piled on top of another project buried underneath four more projects. I know some may argue that when you have little kids, those projects have to take a backseat. But I don't want them to take a backseat. I want to put them in front of the car, and run them over, give them a proper burial and never have to look at them or think about them again. If they try to get in my backseat, they run the risk of becoming buried under baby dolls, mismatched mittens from two winters ago and baggies of half-eaten cereal.
Let me give you an example.
One day a couple of weeks ago - I was feeling ambitious. I wanted to move the computer desk from our bedroom into our living room. So I did. The problem is that in order to do so - I had to unearth the desk from beneath gobs of unused computer-related paraphernalia, which I placed on the floor of our bedroom. And there it remained. And still remains to this day. Each morning I stub my toe on a discarded keyboard. But do I bother to move it? I think we all know the answer to that. (I don't know where to move it TO- which, in my mind, justifies leaving it exactly where it is.) I mentioned to Patrick how I'd like this stuff moved, with the secret hopes that I would wake up one day, and it would magically... be gone. Poof. No involvement required on my part. Whatsoever. And that is precisely what gets me in these predicaments in the first place. I want to come up with the idea, be involved in the fun part of the idea, and for someone else to clean up the mess behind me. Wherein, someone else = husband. But judging from the fact that there are still USB cords and broken printers blocking my path, I'm guessing he didn't get the hint.
Back to my story.
So having been so clever as to move the computer desk from the bedroom to the living room, this now opened up some space in our bedroom. So I decided to rearrange. Which then leads to another project of organizing the shelf I moved from the living room to the bedroom. And finding new window treatments. And getting around to buying more storage for Patrick's clothes. (And maybe someday we should act like grownups and invest in an actual bedroom set. And get rid of the brown/green/tan shag carpeting.) And organizing and moving the clutter from the kitchen counter to the newly-accessible desk. And finally getting around to downloading pictures from our camera. Oh - and I haven't mentioned the bag(s) of clothes still on our sunporch which I need to take to the consignment store. And don't get me started on the sunporch - that's a monster all its own. But I really should clean the vehicles, first (see above reference to baby dolls and stale cereal.) I could go on. And on. I have the lists to prove it.
Which reminds me - I found a bunch of lists when I was decluttering the kitchen counter. So now I have to go through those lists and make new lists. And perhaps a master list so I can keep track of my lists. Is it wrong to write "organize lists" on my to-do list? *sigh*
But, alas. There aren't enough hours in the day. And the hours there are in the day need to be dedicated to, oh - eating. And sleeping. And laundry. And enjoying the last remnants of warm weather the fall has to offer. So most of these projects will remain untouched, floating from unfinished list to unfinished list. And I haven't even begun to regale you with the tales of The Little Bathroom Sink That Couldn't, There's a Hole In My Kitchen Ceiling, and The Rooms That Didn't Paint Themselves.
Let me give you an example.
One day a couple of weeks ago - I was feeling ambitious. I wanted to move the computer desk from our bedroom into our living room. So I did. The problem is that in order to do so - I had to unearth the desk from beneath gobs of unused computer-related paraphernalia, which I placed on the floor of our bedroom. And there it remained. And still remains to this day. Each morning I stub my toe on a discarded keyboard. But do I bother to move it? I think we all know the answer to that. (I don't know where to move it TO- which, in my mind, justifies leaving it exactly where it is.) I mentioned to Patrick how I'd like this stuff moved, with the secret hopes that I would wake up one day, and it would magically... be gone. Poof. No involvement required on my part. Whatsoever. And that is precisely what gets me in these predicaments in the first place. I want to come up with the idea, be involved in the fun part of the idea, and for someone else to clean up the mess behind me. Wherein, someone else = husband. But judging from the fact that there are still USB cords and broken printers blocking my path, I'm guessing he didn't get the hint.
Back to my story.
So having been so clever as to move the computer desk from the bedroom to the living room, this now opened up some space in our bedroom. So I decided to rearrange. Which then leads to another project of organizing the shelf I moved from the living room to the bedroom. And finding new window treatments. And getting around to buying more storage for Patrick's clothes. (And maybe someday we should act like grownups and invest in an actual bedroom set. And get rid of the brown/green/tan shag carpeting.) And organizing and moving the clutter from the kitchen counter to the newly-accessible desk. And finally getting around to downloading pictures from our camera. Oh - and I haven't mentioned the bag(s) of clothes still on our sunporch which I need to take to the consignment store. And don't get me started on the sunporch - that's a monster all its own. But I really should clean the vehicles, first (see above reference to baby dolls and stale cereal.) I could go on. And on. I have the lists to prove it.
Which reminds me - I found a bunch of lists when I was decluttering the kitchen counter. So now I have to go through those lists and make new lists. And perhaps a master list so I can keep track of my lists. Is it wrong to write "organize lists" on my to-do list? *sigh*
But, alas. There aren't enough hours in the day. And the hours there are in the day need to be dedicated to, oh - eating. And sleeping. And laundry. And enjoying the last remnants of warm weather the fall has to offer. So most of these projects will remain untouched, floating from unfinished list to unfinished list. And I haven't even begun to regale you with the tales of The Little Bathroom Sink That Couldn't, There's a Hole In My Kitchen Ceiling, and The Rooms That Didn't Paint Themselves.
84 DAYS 'TIL CHRISTMAS!
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
I saw an electronic countdown to Christmas sign in Target yesterday, and almost threw up a little in my mouth.
And because Josie is a little bit psychic and seems to be able to read my mind, she was asking questions about Santa Claus before bed last night. She's a little wary of this strange guy just barging into our house, ALL THE WAY in our house, but was reassured when I reminded her that this particular overweight stranger stuffs himself down our chimney and brings her gifts.
But don't take candy from strangers. No conflicting messages there.
She seemed satisfied with that, and contentedly stuck her thumb in her mouth and closed her eyes. But as I was reaching for the door on my way out of her room, she sat up in bed and proclaimed, "But Mommy! We don't have our Christmas tree up yet! We have to go buy a tree!"
It's going to be a long 84 days.
Parents of toddlers/preschoolers... if you want a sure-fire way to make a kid happy - go to Kohl's and buy them a stuffed bear or jaguar for $2.50. I was picking up a couple of things and saw the display by the checkout. The proceeds to go charity, so they claim, and when I brought the bear home for Josie and the jaguar home for Eve (my reasoning behind who got which one was that Eve is super cute when she says "jaguar," and does the little jaguar sound from Diego) you would have thought that Christmas DID come early in our house.
Except then this morning as we were trying to head out the door, Eve had a baby doll in her arms, and remembered the jaguar. She told Pat he needed to carry it for her, you know, since she already had her hands full, but we told her that she needed to choose between the baby and the jaguar. Man, how many times have I had to make that same choice - it's a tough one, and I felt her pain. She chose the baby, but was not happy at leaving the jaguar behind. And boy. Did we have to hear about it... down the steps. And down the sidewalk. And into the garage. And into the car. And ALL the way to daycare. And into Betty's house. And as we left Betty's house. Broken little sobs, punctuated by "jaaa (sniffle) aaggg (sniffle) uuuarrrrrr." Not nearly as cute as I remembered. Maybe I should have given her the damn bear.
And because Josie is a little bit psychic and seems to be able to read my mind, she was asking questions about Santa Claus before bed last night. She's a little wary of this strange guy just barging into our house, ALL THE WAY in our house, but was reassured when I reminded her that this particular overweight stranger stuffs himself down our chimney and brings her gifts.
But don't take candy from strangers. No conflicting messages there.
She seemed satisfied with that, and contentedly stuck her thumb in her mouth and closed her eyes. But as I was reaching for the door on my way out of her room, she sat up in bed and proclaimed, "But Mommy! We don't have our Christmas tree up yet! We have to go buy a tree!"
It's going to be a long 84 days.
Parents of toddlers/preschoolers... if you want a sure-fire way to make a kid happy - go to Kohl's and buy them a stuffed bear or jaguar for $2.50. I was picking up a couple of things and saw the display by the checkout. The proceeds to go charity, so they claim, and when I brought the bear home for Josie and the jaguar home for Eve (my reasoning behind who got which one was that Eve is super cute when she says "jaguar," and does the little jaguar sound from Diego) you would have thought that Christmas DID come early in our house.
Except then this morning as we were trying to head out the door, Eve had a baby doll in her arms, and remembered the jaguar. She told Pat he needed to carry it for her, you know, since she already had her hands full, but we told her that she needed to choose between the baby and the jaguar. Man, how many times have I had to make that same choice - it's a tough one, and I felt her pain. She chose the baby, but was not happy at leaving the jaguar behind. And boy. Did we have to hear about it... down the steps. And down the sidewalk. And into the garage. And into the car. And ALL the way to daycare. And into Betty's house. And as we left Betty's house. Broken little sobs, punctuated by "jaaa (sniffle) aaggg (sniffle) uuuarrrrrr." Not nearly as cute as I remembered. Maybe I should have given her the damn bear.
If I lived in Utah, I'd totally stalk her.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
I can't even begin to describe just how much I love this woman and her knack for the words.
http://www.dooce.com/2008/09/22/two-brief-anecdotes
http://www.dooce.com/2008/09/22/two-brief-anecdotes
Life is not Hard... it's Challenging.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
My new favorite word is challenge.
Back to other challenges, then. My third Healthy Loser challenge just ended. I could write a book about this and the impact it's had on my life. But I won't. It will suffice for me to tell you that as of this morning, I've lost a total of 42.6 pounds. This absolutely blows me away, as does the clothing size that I now fit in, and as do the equally impressive successes of my "Loser" friends. Don't get me wrong - there is still work to be done, and always will be, but I am so excited to face the rest of my life from this new place. I am proud to be a Loser.
Everywhere I look, there are challenges. Friends being laid off from jobs, uncertain economic times for everyone, keeping a straight face when your 2-year-old looks at you out of the corner of her eye after you've scolded her and whispers in a sing-song voice, "Uh-oh... Big Trouble..." It never ends. Thank goodness. Because without challenge, there would be no change. And as nice as that may sound from time to time, I don't think any of us would truly enjoy that kind of a world. Or another 4 years... but I digress from any political banter whatsoever.
Eve at the Little Farm Hand exhibit at the State Fair.
Josie at the Little Farm Hand exhibit.
Josie after her first soccer practice. They even have "uniforms."
Josie feeding the calves at my mom and Erwin's place.
Eve with my niece, Valerie, my grandma Janet, and Josie with my niece, Emilie. 
Me, Gram and Kay. (I am her favorite, but don't tell Kay.)
Cupcakes! Chocolate Mayhem!
Josie and Lucy. They're fabulous. And they know it.
Singing Wheels on the Bus. For the 3,498th time. 
Just Eve.
You see - my secret little passion lately has been reading parenting books, and most of them in some way end up emphasizing how important it is to redefine your world in positive terms, instead of labeling things negatively. For example - Eve is not stubborn, she is determined. She is not a handful, she's spirited. Josie is not nosy, she's curious. She is not bossy, she's assertive. And even in those moments when I'm about to lose it because my determined, spirited child has pulled the hair of my curious, assertive child, again... it does help to remind myself that they're not being malicious, they're just offering me up yet another challenge. But even with all my new found parenting tools - I've definitely felt that I've been performing less than stellar, lately. Jo has been super emotional the last couple of days - who knows if she's feeling a little under the weather, or has been a little extra tired - but everything ends in drama and tears. And for some reason, I'm just not handling it very well. It's a challenge, to say the least - but I know that this, too, will pass.
Back to other challenges, then. My third Healthy Loser challenge just ended. I could write a book about this and the impact it's had on my life. But I won't. It will suffice for me to tell you that as of this morning, I've lost a total of 42.6 pounds. This absolutely blows me away, as does the clothing size that I now fit in, and as do the equally impressive successes of my "Loser" friends. Don't get me wrong - there is still work to be done, and always will be, but I am so excited to face the rest of my life from this new place. I am proud to be a Loser.
Everywhere I look, there are challenges. Friends being laid off from jobs, uncertain economic times for everyone, keeping a straight face when your 2-year-old looks at you out of the corner of her eye after you've scolded her and whispers in a sing-song voice, "Uh-oh... Big Trouble..." It never ends. Thank goodness. Because without challenge, there would be no change. And as nice as that may sound from time to time, I don't think any of us would truly enjoy that kind of a world. Or another 4 years... but I digress from any political banter whatsoever.
Speaking of changes... here are some pix of the girls. The summer has certainly helped them to grow...
Eve at the Little Farm Hand exhibit at the State Fair.
Josie at the Little Farm Hand exhibit.
Josie after her first soccer practice. They even have "uniforms."
Josie feeding the calves at my mom and Erwin's place.
Eve with my niece, Valerie, my grandma Janet, and Josie with my niece, Emilie.
Me, Gram and Kay. (I am her favorite, but don't tell Kay.)
Cupcakes! Chocolate Mayhem!
Josie and Lucy. They're fabulous. And they know it.
Singing Wheels on the Bus. For the 3,498th time.
Just Eve.
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