Sometimes it just feels good to get things out in the open. Get them off your chest. Not that I would admit to anything torrid or too embarrassing here, but nonetheless:
1. I have been enjoying our "mild" winter very much. I am sure that comes to no surprise to anyone, but I have to admit, I would love to have a huge blizzard. One that socks us in for a couple of days. Of course, I would like to have fair warning of said blizzard so that I have all the essentials (read: comfort food) in stock. The thought of watching it come down from the comfort of the warm house, baking, watching TV, staying in your cozy jammies, and having to clear the calendar because you don't have any other choice, sounds divine in my world. I would prefer that it happens in the middle of the week, so we have a snow day from school, or two.
Also, if all the snow that came down could ALL melt in about 2-3 days, and we could have our 70 degree temperatures back, that would be nice too.
Thanks.
2. Since it is warm, and we don't have any impending blizzards, I have been doing some "spring cleaning" in the yard. I have already "prepped" my garden, and today, I went ahead and pruned back all the bushes, roses, perennial flowers, and ornamental grasses.
The confession part? Well, I loved every minute of it. Please don't let these words lead you astray, I am not a gardener nor to I have a green thumb of any kind, but I do enjoy working with plants and gardens. I have no clue what I am doing, but I just do what looks like it might work, or might help the plant out. That makes the surprise all the sweeter when something actually happens in the garden/flower bed come summer time.
Also, I love the way everything looks all pruned back. It's like they all got a good hair cut, and it just screams spring to me.
3. While I was in this "Spring Cleaning" mode, I decided to wash the dog's blanket.
For the first time all winter.
Don't judge.
4. Even though it seems as though The Little Man had a 24 hour tummy bug, I am still scarred from The Girl's last experience with the "Bug". I have been waiting and waiting for the second wave to hit. If he makes it a week, I will say we are all clear.
5. As I post this, Hubs is watching Dancing with the Stars...
Oh, I guess that's a confession HE should make.
Sorry, hon.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Friday, March 13, 2009
Competitive? Anyone?
It seems as though The Girl has been pretty stressed out at school. She is a very high energy child, a perfectionist, and a people-pleaser. At home we see the energy all the time, and some of the time that energy and perfectionism collide and we have the DRAMA. At school, the DRAMA seems to be all the time. She takes school very seriously, and always wants to please her teacher. I appreciate that, but I want her to enjoy school as well.
Also, I would like it very much if my six year old didn't have an ulcer.
We thought maybe we should do more of the fun things that the school has to offer to show her school is a fun place too, not just a place of business. Tonight, they had Family Bingo Night with an Ice Cream Social.
First, YUM.
Second, let's play some BINGO.
The first game was going swimmingly. She totally got the hang of the game and was having a great time marking off all her spots as they were called. Then someone yelled, "BINGO," and the mood shifted a bit. Also, when I told her we had to throw our cards out and start on the next set of cards for the next game, she was a little ticked that there wouldn't be a second place. I quickly distracted her with the fact that we get to play again!
Happiness returned.
Then someone else called out, "BINGO!"
The tears rolled.
Quickly, I told her that we had more games to play which meant we had more chances to win. She wiped away the tears and tried to focus. This time she was visibly more grumpy.
After five games there was an intermission. This intermission was DESPERATELY needed. Thank heavens for ice cream. All was well again.
To make a long story short, we never won. I tried to take the focus off of the winning part (or lack there of) and tried to help her see that we got to come to her school, see some of her friends outside of class, and have fun tonight as a family. She responded with, "All that would have been just great except that it was TOTALLY RUINED because we got the STUPIDEST Bingo cards in the whole place!"
So, my plan to have fun and lighten the mood with school went just the way I planned.
Also, I would like it very much if my six year old didn't have an ulcer.
We thought maybe we should do more of the fun things that the school has to offer to show her school is a fun place too, not just a place of business. Tonight, they had Family Bingo Night with an Ice Cream Social.
First, YUM.
Second, let's play some BINGO.
The first game was going swimmingly. She totally got the hang of the game and was having a great time marking off all her spots as they were called. Then someone yelled, "BINGO," and the mood shifted a bit. Also, when I told her we had to throw our cards out and start on the next set of cards for the next game, she was a little ticked that there wouldn't be a second place. I quickly distracted her with the fact that we get to play again!
Happiness returned.
Then someone else called out, "BINGO!"
The tears rolled.
Quickly, I told her that we had more games to play which meant we had more chances to win. She wiped away the tears and tried to focus. This time she was visibly more grumpy.
After five games there was an intermission. This intermission was DESPERATELY needed. Thank heavens for ice cream. All was well again.
To make a long story short, we never won. I tried to take the focus off of the winning part (or lack there of) and tried to help her see that we got to come to her school, see some of her friends outside of class, and have fun tonight as a family. She responded with, "All that would have been just great except that it was TOTALLY RUINED because we got the STUPIDEST Bingo cards in the whole place!"
So, my plan to have fun and lighten the mood with school went just the way I planned.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
More Conversations With the Kids
Let me just give you a little background on this conversation, The Little Man is in love with Transformers. Why? I have no idea, except that he is a little boy. He has never seen any type of show or movie with the Transformers in them. He does not own any Transformer toys, and up until today, does not have any Transformer books. For some reason, sometime last summer, he saw a Transformer picture and fell in love.
IN LOVE, I tell you!
When I saw that the Scholastic Book order form, that got sent home from school, had a Transformer book in it, I thought, "The Little Man is going to LOVE this."
Well, I was right on the money. He squealed and howled and squealed some more. He actually looked through it so many times, between receiving it and me actually reading it, that he ripped out one of the pages. So today, we sat down with our Transformers book and started to read. Afterwords, we had this little conversation:
me: Hmmm...lets go back and look at the page that has the picture on it of all the Transformers and try to figure out their names.
p: Ya!
me: I think this one is Optimus Prime
p: No, that one is a Transformer
me: Ya, I know it's a Transformer, but I think his name is Optimus Prime.
p: NO MOMMY! He is a TRANSFORMER!
me: I know, honey, but he is a Transformer that has a name, and his name is Optimus Prime.
p: I know mommy, I am TRYING TO TELL YOU he is a Transformer, so TRANSFORMER is his LAST NAME. You know, Optimus Prime Transformer.
me: Ya, I am sure that is what you were trying to tell me.
This little convo happened later tonight while I was blow-drying The Girl's hair after a shower:
d: Why do you always take a shower, like everyday?
me: Because, it's good to take a shower everyday. You're supposed to.
d: I don't think you HAVE to take a shower everyday.
me: Well, I guess you don't HAVE to.
d: Ya, it isn't in the Ten Commandments you know.
me: I suppose since it isn't a Ten Commandment we could probably skip a day here and there.
If you smell something funny next time you're around...
IN LOVE, I tell you!
When I saw that the Scholastic Book order form, that got sent home from school, had a Transformer book in it, I thought, "The Little Man is going to LOVE this."
Well, I was right on the money. He squealed and howled and squealed some more. He actually looked through it so many times, between receiving it and me actually reading it, that he ripped out one of the pages. So today, we sat down with our Transformers book and started to read. Afterwords, we had this little conversation:
me: Hmmm...lets go back and look at the page that has the picture on it of all the Transformers and try to figure out their names.
p: Ya!
me: I think this one is Optimus Prime
p: No, that one is a Transformer
me: Ya, I know it's a Transformer, but I think his name is Optimus Prime.
p: NO MOMMY! He is a TRANSFORMER!
me: I know, honey, but he is a Transformer that has a name, and his name is Optimus Prime.
p: I know mommy, I am TRYING TO TELL YOU he is a Transformer, so TRANSFORMER is his LAST NAME. You know, Optimus Prime Transformer.
me: Ya, I am sure that is what you were trying to tell me.
This little convo happened later tonight while I was blow-drying The Girl's hair after a shower:
d: Why do you always take a shower, like everyday?
me: Because, it's good to take a shower everyday. You're supposed to.
d: I don't think you HAVE to take a shower everyday.
me: Well, I guess you don't HAVE to.
d: Ya, it isn't in the Ten Commandments you know.
me: I suppose since it isn't a Ten Commandment we could probably skip a day here and there.
If you smell something funny next time you're around...
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Traps, Tracks Whatever!
An excerpt from a conversation in the car:
p: Mommy, when we get home, the first thing I am going to do is set up a whole bunch of booby traps.
me: What?
p: I am going home and setting up a bunch of booby traps.
me: Booby traps?
p: Ya, and after I set them up, I am going to sneak away really quietly so no one knows who did it.
me: What?
p: Booby traps, Mom!
me: Are you saying Booby Traps?
p: YES, BOOBY TRAPS! I am going to set booby traps all over the yard...in the snow.
me: How are you going to do this?
p: When we get home!
me: OK, when we get home you are going to set booby traps in the snow. How?
p: I am just going to walk around in my boots in the snow and leave traps everywhere.
me: Are you trying to say you are going to leave tracks?
p: YES! I am going to leave booby tracks all over the yard!
I just dropped it.
I don't even want to know.
p: Mommy, when we get home, the first thing I am going to do is set up a whole bunch of booby traps.
me: What?
p: I am going home and setting up a bunch of booby traps.
me: Booby traps?
p: Ya, and after I set them up, I am going to sneak away really quietly so no one knows who did it.
me: What?
p: Booby traps, Mom!
me: Are you saying Booby Traps?
p: YES, BOOBY TRAPS! I am going to set booby traps all over the yard...in the snow.
me: How are you going to do this?
p: When we get home!
me: OK, when we get home you are going to set booby traps in the snow. How?
p: I am just going to walk around in my boots in the snow and leave traps everywhere.
me: Are you trying to say you are going to leave tracks?
p: YES! I am going to leave booby tracks all over the yard!
I just dropped it.
I don't even want to know.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Back In the Saddle
I have to admit, the thumb accident? it kind of had me out of sorts last week. I wasn't sleeping well on top of it all. I don't do well with sleep loss. This week though, promises to be new. I get the stitches taken out on Thursday, and the pain has pretty much subsided for now. I have been able to work out and run again (something that the pain/throbbing was prohibiting) so I feel like I can go back to being myself for now.
Just less a little thumb.
The Girl has lost FOUR TEETH now! She isn't even recognizable if you were to look at her pictures from before all the tooth loss set in. The top two came out because of the "incident", but the bottom two came out because, well, she is six. She is beyond elated and LOVES the Tooth Fairy so much she often talks about wanting to lose all her teeth right now so that the Tooth Fairy will visit her house all the time.
That, and she likes the cash involved.
One time, last week, the Tooth Fairy? she didn't make it to our house. It was too windy. If you are a small fairy that uses flight as your main mode of transportation, the wind isn't your friend. Thankfully, when she lost the second tooth last week, the winds died down just in time for her to arrive. As if remembering the Tooth Fairy thing wasn't hard enough, now we have to pay attention to the weather because The Girl is all over whether or not conditions are right for payment.
We like challenges.
The Little Man is very jealous he hasn't lost any teeth yet. He asked me today how many more days until he loses a tooth. I told him that he would need to be six. He wanted to know how many days that was. He was pretty ticked when I told him the approximate time frame he was looking at.
I just hope he doesn't take matters into his own hands like he did with his sister.
The Girl has been going to Birthday Parties like they are going out of style. I don't know what happened nine months previous to mid-February/beginning of March in 2002, but WOW! It was a fertile time. I actually had to tell her that we would have to decline the next invite if we didn't get a least a couple of weeks off.
This too has made The Little Man very jealous. He wants to go to parties too, but now that The Girl is in school, the parties are no longer for him too. As revenge, he is throwing the "bestest birthday party ever! ONLY BOYS can come...except sister." It totally breaks my heart to see him so sad. He just wants to do stuff with his sister and have fun.
And eat cake.
Lastly, here's a picture of the two I took playing in the winds we had last week. I have had this idea of a picture in my mind for about a month or so now. It didn't turn out quite the way I wanted to, so we'll have to try again soon...
Just less a little thumb.
The Girl has lost FOUR TEETH now! She isn't even recognizable if you were to look at her pictures from before all the tooth loss set in. The top two came out because of the "incident", but the bottom two came out because, well, she is six. She is beyond elated and LOVES the Tooth Fairy so much she often talks about wanting to lose all her teeth right now so that the Tooth Fairy will visit her house all the time.
That, and she likes the cash involved.
One time, last week, the Tooth Fairy? she didn't make it to our house. It was too windy. If you are a small fairy that uses flight as your main mode of transportation, the wind isn't your friend. Thankfully, when she lost the second tooth last week, the winds died down just in time for her to arrive. As if remembering the Tooth Fairy thing wasn't hard enough, now we have to pay attention to the weather because The Girl is all over whether or not conditions are right for payment.
We like challenges.
The Little Man is very jealous he hasn't lost any teeth yet. He asked me today how many more days until he loses a tooth. I told him that he would need to be six. He wanted to know how many days that was. He was pretty ticked when I told him the approximate time frame he was looking at.
I just hope he doesn't take matters into his own hands like he did with his sister.
The Girl has been going to Birthday Parties like they are going out of style. I don't know what happened nine months previous to mid-February/beginning of March in 2002, but WOW! It was a fertile time. I actually had to tell her that we would have to decline the next invite if we didn't get a least a couple of weeks off.
This too has made The Little Man very jealous. He wants to go to parties too, but now that The Girl is in school, the parties are no longer for him too. As revenge, he is throwing the "bestest birthday party ever! ONLY BOYS can come...except sister." It totally breaks my heart to see him so sad. He just wants to do stuff with his sister and have fun.
And eat cake.
Lastly, here's a picture of the two I took playing in the winds we had last week. I have had this idea of a picture in my mind for about a month or so now. It didn't turn out quite the way I wanted to, so we'll have to try again soon...
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Frolicking
So, I thought about posting on how many things you use your thumb for. Even if that thumb isn't on your dominant hand. However, I changed my mind because, well, the list is LONG.
And boring.
So, instead, I thought I would show you one of our favorite toys to play with on our GORGEOUS early March days. This little gem, it has fascinated The Little Man for weeks (we got it at Christmas time), as well as The Girl.
OK, The Hubs and I have played with it too.
The rockets? they fly!
(I love that he jumped so high his head is out of the frame. He's totally serious about getting some height).
If you are wondering if there is a weird look to these photos...there is. I was having fun playing.
And boring.
So, instead, I thought I would show you one of our favorite toys to play with on our GORGEOUS early March days. This little gem, it has fascinated The Little Man for weeks (we got it at Christmas time), as well as The Girl.
OK, The Hubs and I have played with it too.
The rockets? they fly!
(I love that he jumped so high his head is out of the frame. He's totally serious about getting some height).
If you are wondering if there is a weird look to these photos...there is. I was having fun playing.
Monday, March 2, 2009
I'm Stocking Up on Band-Aids and Guaze
If you have a weak stomach, or don't deal well with trauma and blood check out now.
I am serious.
I do well with this stuff, and I plain LOST MY COOL.
OK, if you are still here, you can't say I didn't warn you.
Yesterday, at lunch time, I cut off the tip of my thumb.
I know, so gross.
I was cutting carrots in a hurry to make it to a lunch on time, and just flat out wasn't paying very close attention. Apparently, those knives we got brand new at Christmas, they are sharp. There was no resistance whatsoever.
I immediately started screaming, and crying, and some more screaming, and then some wailing.
Because I know how to keep my cool in emergency situations.
Thank goodness the kids were nowhere within earshot or sight. They had chosen to wait for us in the car while we quickly ran in and grabbed the salads (that I still needed to chop up a carrot for). It would have totally scarred them for life, the way their mother was carrying on.
And the blood.
And the floppy finger tip.
So, I had the tip sewn back on in the ER. The ER was a VERY busy place yesterday. We were there for almost 4 hours. Much of that time my thumb was not medicated.
I'm just sayin'.
While we waited, Hubs made good use of the time. He took my iPhone and used the whoopy cushion application to make everyone who walked by our room, or who was waiting outside our room (we were right across the hall from a single-stall bathroom), think we were disgusting human beings, with bowel issues, just having a grand ol' time in our room. I think he laughed so hard there were tears. So, someone was having fun.
Which is important.
Unfortunately, the price of admission for this fun, was the tip of my left thumb.
I am serious.
I do well with this stuff, and I plain LOST MY COOL.
OK, if you are still here, you can't say I didn't warn you.
Yesterday, at lunch time, I cut off the tip of my thumb.
I know, so gross.
I was cutting carrots in a hurry to make it to a lunch on time, and just flat out wasn't paying very close attention. Apparently, those knives we got brand new at Christmas, they are sharp. There was no resistance whatsoever.
I immediately started screaming, and crying, and some more screaming, and then some wailing.
Because I know how to keep my cool in emergency situations.
Thank goodness the kids were nowhere within earshot or sight. They had chosen to wait for us in the car while we quickly ran in and grabbed the salads (that I still needed to chop up a carrot for). It would have totally scarred them for life, the way their mother was carrying on.
And the blood.
And the floppy finger tip.
So, I had the tip sewn back on in the ER. The ER was a VERY busy place yesterday. We were there for almost 4 hours. Much of that time my thumb was not medicated.
I'm just sayin'.
While we waited, Hubs made good use of the time. He took my iPhone and used the whoopy cushion application to make everyone who walked by our room, or who was waiting outside our room (we were right across the hall from a single-stall bathroom), think we were disgusting human beings, with bowel issues, just having a grand ol' time in our room. I think he laughed so hard there were tears. So, someone was having fun.
Which is important.
Unfortunately, the price of admission for this fun, was the tip of my left thumb.
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