Around the House

We had a pretty good weekend this past weekend and I am love love LOVING it outside right now. Even though, I am indeed inside. It is cloudy. It is rainy. It is coooooooool! It is 66 degrees right now and Hallelujah! I love it. Now, I know you people up in the great Mitten State will curse me for saying that, seeing as you have had perhaps a handful of days warm enough to take a sock off. BUT, I am just relieved to have some heat relief. Waking up to 75 degree temperatures with 85% humidity at 6:00a.m. is just more than this northern girl would like. A heat index of 106 (the real feel temp.) just makes me want to swoon. Unfortunately, I have to enjoy this weather while it is here, because we will be basking in the deadly rays of sunshine in a few days once again.

Anyways, back to the weekend. It was good. Chris did have to work, but I was lucky enough to get quite a bit of cleaning and organizing done around the house. The girls are starting to play more and more, either by themselves or together, so I am free to get a bit more done. Thank goodness. This house needs some TLC. I did 4 -- count 'em 4 -- loads of laundry yesterday. I do believe that is a world's record. AND, shhhhh, don't tell, I didn't even mind.

So, basking in the glow of a pleasant weekend, the girls slept late this morning and, totally unlike me, I let them sleep until the last possible minute. I got them up, dressed, and then we left. Totally unlike me, because I ALWAYS make sure we eat breakfast at home. They get breakfast at school too, but I like to eat at home, that way I know exactly what they are eating. But, not this morning.

As I was getting Greta dressed she was asking me about my school. She's been very aware of "real" school now days, and is excited to be coming with me to Kindergarten next year. So this morning, here was the conversation:
"Mommy, you're a teacher?"
"Yup."
"So the kids have to listen to you and do exactly what you say?" ha-I found this question particularly interesting, but notice I did NOT go into how that applies to mommies too....
"Yup."
"Oh, that's good. I hope they listen to you mommy. I hope they are good for you. Do you sing songs and play with them?"
hee hee. You probably can't get the full feel of how cute this conversation was, but trust me, it was cute.

Times...they are a changin'

Clara used to be the sweet one. A smile that would go on as long as time. An infectious laugh. And cheeks just aching to pinched or kissed.

Well, at least one of those qualities is still good. And they store food.

Although we noticed this major detail as early as this weekend, Clara's teacher didn't share with me her epiphany until today.

Clara

is

mean.

And slightly evil.

No has been her favorite word -- I mean nod -- for a while now. But she's using it for evil purposes. Like to tell her teacher before naptime. Like to tell her teacher at lunchtime. Like anytime you tell her to do anything.

Scenario: lunchtime at school.

Character: Clara

Clara is running (okay, waddling) around the lunch table.

Teacher: Clara, please sit down. (Clara nods no) Clara please sit down. (teacher continues several more times.) Clara, if you're not going to sit down, you're not going to eat.

Clara goes to her seat, sits down, grabs a handful of food, puts it in her mouth, gets up and runs around the table.

Eventually, I suppose she did sit down, because I guess after that all the kids decided that the beans on their own plates were not good enough, so they each ate the beans from their neighbors' plate. All I have to say about that is, who gives one year olds beans for lunch. Seems like asking for trouble to me.

And before any of you comment (oh wait, no one comments anymore) about 'how smart she is'. Please. Why is it my kids display their intelligence through acts of defiance or annoyance. That's a rhetorical question. No need to answer.

I feel like Clara needed a little facetime....

Tiny Dancer

I think these photos speak for themselves, so I will let them be.

You're Never Fully Dressed...Without a Smile

Before I had (2) kids I said I would NEVER dress them the same. (One of the things on the list of things I would 'never' do. Right up there with giving them candy or fast food. WHOOPS! Like a New Year's Resolution...on paper, in the garbage. Although, Clara has not had candy yet of course.)

Then I became pregnant with Clara. And I think, as soon as we found out that it was another girl, I bought the first matching outfit I could find. It was two green dresses they wore on Clara's first day at 'school', when I went back to work.

I won't say it's an addiction, I mean, I certainly try and celebrate their individuality even now, but there are some days I just can't resist it. I know they'll admonish me for this someday. How do you think I came to the decision I would never do this to my children? Christmas dresses and Christmas pictures from my youth etched in to my brain -- the matching blue floral print puffy sleeved dress. But I don't care. It's cute darn it! And I'm the mommy. I wield that kind of power.

Repressing My Inner Sabertooth Tiger

It's not as easy as it sounds. You know why lions eat their young don't you...because it's been one of those days, and someone just whined a little too much about dinner...so they became it.

Or...

Mama lion walked into the living room after hearing various gutteral utterances and quasi-cries to find one cub dragging the other cub around the room by his shirt. Which might be funny if said cub was laughing, but he wasn't. So she ate him. Or thought about it really hard. And then she counted to ten, took a deep breath, removed the cubs, and gave them a bath.

Strolling Along Singing a Song... Side by Side

Clara,

yesterday

you took my hand.

It wasn't just any way you took my hand
however.

Your small, delicate fleshy fingers

not wrapped around one finger

like a baby,

but holding on to many fingers,

so intent on being that way.

You took it with purpose.

You were not unsure of your footing,

you were walking like you have been

walking for years.

You were not lost, or wary of your surroundings,

in fact you were confident

in exactly where you were

and wanted to go.

You took my hand

because

you wanted to.

Because you wanted to hold my hand

and walk with me.

And when our hugging fingers

momentarily parted,

you looked at me and smiled,

and stretched until your elbow dimpled

reaching so high up

to take my hand again.

And we walked together,

holding hands,

like the best of friends.

Small But Mighty

Clara got a good bill of health, and 2 shots, at her 15 month visit today. She STILL has not reached the 20 pound mark, still a half a pound away. Frustrating considering I felt certain she was 20lbs. MY scale looked like it was 20 pounds so I put her in the forward facing carseat finally yesterday. She's also only grown about 9 inches since her birth. She was 20.5 inches at birth and she is 29 1/2 now. It's pretty amazing. She's around the 5th percentile according to the doctor's growth charts. There are housecats bigger than my 15 month old. I gained twice as much being pregnant with her, as my 15 month old weighs now. Bags of birdseed weigh more than my 15 month old. Okay, that could go on for ever. I guess the point is that I shouldn't compare her size to anything, she's healthy, she's happy -- oh is she happy -- has seemed to discover a slight sense of humor, and the best part of all --- she's all ours.

pride and joy

I may have shown these photos before, but frankly I believe they

are worthy of another post. While going through my photos today

to burn some for some grandparents, I just had to take another look.

These are my all-time favorite pictures of my awesome husband. I am

so tempted to get them blown up, but I guess that would look weird. The

first picture is from when Greta was a baby, and the others are from Fourth of July

this year. I don't know if you'll enjoy them as much as I do, but

I didn't want you to miss out on them either.

If you want, you can print them out. Wallet, 5x7, poster size, just please know

that this fine man is taken, and we are avoiding Ruby Tuesdays, as well as

Nordstorm shoe department (If you have no clue what I"m talking about, see previous posts), so please don't give us cause to avoid anywhere else. He's mine. Thank you.

b-day pics, the lazy way

Make a Smilebox slideshow

New Invention

This thing is phenomenal, please let me know immediately if you would like to try out mine, because I'm not sure they are in stores yet. Let me describe it to you.

Every time you go to the bathroom, this wonderful invention hands you your toilet paper...the perfect amount, every time! It's incredible. Instead of stretching your arm and exerting unnecessary energy, you can sit back, relax, read another chapter in your book, catch up on your latest Dear Abby column, or read another diet tip from the magazine because this is a real time saver. Stress reducer! Never again will you have to worry about the perfect paper portion. You can't, you don't have the chance!

Like I said, I will be more than happy to let you try out mine first. Just leave a comment and let me know!

*Just so you know, this invention needs feeding approximately every two hours -- with a heavy preference for bananas and cereal, and while incredibly handy as a toilet paper dispenser, requires diaper changes herself. Handle at your own risk.

You Know You Did This Too...

What a 4 year old learns at school:

4 yr old: Daddy, want to see a game that James and I play at school?

Daddy: Sure, how do you play?

4 yr old: You hit someone like this (pinch on the arm) and then you run away and say "it wasn't me!"

Mommy: thinking to herself....Oh good, I can see this game being a big "hit" at home....

Straight Talk

She speaks the truth, the one who speaks-- intellibly that is. Or maybe, only partially intellibly since now she is starting to become really creative with her words -- telling stories, making up words. Silly words, funny words, annoying words, rhyming words. Words that dance off her tongue like they were skipping rope. Words that tickle her cheeks and make her sister laugh. Words with meaning, words that sound like they should mean something, or words that just are fun to say. Either way, she's a talker that one. I've thought of keeping a book of things she says, and it's something I would absolutely love to do, but I also have to pull myself back down to reality every now and then. Not realistic. All these awesome things I would like to do, and then I remember the vacuuming. Or, that there is such a thing as laundry (remember that post?), and life in general.

VOILA! A little bell goes off in my head and I am slapped in the face with a wet noodle! Of COURSE I can write things like that down. There is a place just for that! There is happiness, bluebirds are singing, flower petals are swirling around me in a gentle breeze. And here's the best part, you get a front seat for it all.

So, without further ado, I present you with "Straight Talk" part one.

Sitting at the dinner table, pretending not to be twitching with annoyance from the fact that mealtime will probably be another battle about eating, Greta is kicked back relaxing in her chair. I suppress every momism regarding table manners, etc. at this point knowing full well that to do so would be to open the proverbial can of worms, and at this point it's easier to just let her go hungry then to step into a mine field SO...I try to immerse myself in my husbands warm eyes across the table from me and block off my periferal vision. It works, as I am swimming in happiness while engaging in a conversation that doesn't involve what anyone 4 or under has done for the day, someone 4 pipes up:

"You never know mommy."
Don't look. Don't make eye contact. Keep looking forward...keep talking...the minute you show interest it's all over....
(Cue record needle jerk sound)
"You just never know mommy." (I can see the big grin, is she doing this on purpose? What is the point? What is she getting at. Don't look Don't look don't look....)

AH. Curses. The moment is lost. I give up.

"What Greta. What do you never know?" Smile smile smile....

"You just never know...(long possibly dramatic pause inserted by speaker) what I'm going to eat for dinner."

"How true, Greta, how true."

LAUGH LAUGH LAUGH (with Greta giggling...she has no clue sometimes how funny she is.) I wonder what she really was getting at?

She's a Forward Thinker...

Always moving ahead.

At least, I guess that's what I'll attribute this to. Because after what I deem an awesome little birthday celebration at our house last night complete with pizza in front of the t.v., present- opening in the gazebo (with the long awaited scooter as a surprise finale) and the singing and candles and cupcake eating and present playing...you get the point.

After ALL that BIRTHDAYness, Greta woke up this morning not quite ready to start the day, it was like a birthday-happiness hangover. (Ever have one of those? You just can't quite shake the fun of the evening before, and your brain feels like an elephant just sat on it? No alcoholic beverages involved here.)

It was like dressing a seal this morning, as she did not exert one ounce of energy to even move her muscles to get dressed, and I didn't feel like a battle so I played along (are you keeping track from before? The score is now about 8 million Greta, mom 2. Pretty soon not only will they take my degree, I think they'll just take me) and amongst the floppy sloppy arm through the arm hole nothat'stheneckholenowwehavetostartalloveragain dressing, Greta looks at me and announces:

Pretty soon I'm going to be five.

(and if you've heard Greta recently, or anytime in the 3 years that

she's been speaking you know it's not just 5, but fiiiiive with the

sweetest touch of southern like you should be sipping lemonade

on a front porchswing in a big hoop skirt and widebrimmed sunhat

while she is talking.)

And all I could think of was, yes, pretty soon you will be 15 -- I mean 5.

VIer, Quatro, Shi, Four

Greta, I promise to always keep your life full of wonderful surprises.

Our first Mother's Day together.

Future golfer?

You've always loved the camera.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO A FABULOUS FOUR YEAR OLD!!!

I remember every moment just like it was 4 years ago, thank goodness I don't remember it like it was any sooner because I do seem to recall a great deal of pain, large scissors coming at me where scissors should never come, did I mention pain, and somewhat inattentive hospital staff because evidently I was just being too good of a patient. I remember sending Chris to QUICKLY find a nurse because HERE COMES THE BABY and they saunter in like I have no clue what I'm talking about and then OOH SHE'S A 10 CALL THE DOCTOR and then there were scissors and large needles and a baby and Ew, she's so hairy....

And then 4 years later, here we are.

Preview Day

I decided to unpack the b-day presents that everyone has sent down from their respective postal boxes. My family knows me and my detest for wrapping (I KNOW mom, it just makes a present so much more special, but so does sanity) and the fact that I would be more than happy to throw something in a bag with some tissue paper delicately floating out the top, but luckily I didn't have to because everyone wrapped the gifts. So, I could do a little teasing preview and lay them out by the fireplace so Greta could see them all and just get so excited for her birthday. Let's face it, anticipation is most of the fun. So, I'm all about the anticipation. Well, one of the packages had ripped paper, and you could see part of the gift, and let's face it I was brimming with as much excitement and anticipation as she was, perhaps more. So, we let her open one gift. It was great, an awesome remote control car, but because batteries seem to get eaten faster than a box of Fruit Loops in our house, the actual playing part will have to wait. And so, we had to open one more to make up for that. And seeing as how we ate an early dinner tonight to compensate for the brunch and lack of snack, we had time to burn this evening. And we knew there was a certain special present that would fit in just perfectly. And so, without further ado...I present to you:

Greta Lillian
4-year old!
Future Roller Derby Queen
(and don't they coordinate so well with her outfit, totally unplanned I promise.)

PS -- I used to think that cameras on cell phones were stupid. What would you have to photograph THAT badly that you couldn't take with a camera. I mean, honestly....


I have taken my foot out of my mouth for the last time, because once again my phone saved the day. Not only do we not have any double A batteries in the house, but the cameras are not charged. My cell phone, however, is fully charged.


And now, I will charge the cameras for tomorrow.

3 is Enough

It is Saturday. It is blazing in the 90's, and so I am whole-heartedly avoiding anything involving being outside unless absolutely necessary. Fortunately, I have had plenty to do inside. It is 3:50pm and

I am doing my 3rd load of laundry. ToDAY!

yes, third.

I would like to take a moment, or 5, and put into writing some of the things you may be thinking about that statement.

1) Big whoop, you're pathetic.

2) I really don't care about your laundry.

3) Only 3? I just did 12 after completing a triathalon with 6 babies in tow and an elderly dog. And I won.

4) Seems like you need a time management course to me.

5) Why is 3 a big deal, do you never have any laundry?

6) Why do you have such laundry issues? And is this the worst of your problems?

Feel free to let me know if your thoughts do NOT fall into one of those categories.

Oh, and did I mention that one of these loads involved the car seat cover -- which in and of itself requires an advanced engineering degree and 12 nobel prize scientists to remove from it's base; a duvet cover AND comforter -- which is one time when I'm thinking it would really be helpful to be an octopus because I couldn't have been more tangled in soiled cotton if I had tried, and bed sheets with mattress cover. Hmmmm, do you have an idea of WHY? Do you see a pattern here?

In an act of rebellion, sheer forgetfulness, or just to remind us that she is only almost 4, SOMEONE has also forgotten that here in this modern world we have bathrooms specifically for the purpose of relieving oneself. NOT a bed, NOR a carseat. Yes yes, before you admonish me for being too hard on the girl relax. After we finished beating her with a bamboo rod and forcing her to wash the floors with a toothbrush, we discussed the importance of going to the potty as soon as we felt like we needed to, and we know these were accidents, but let's not have anymore or the water bill is coming out of your allowance, which you don't get anyways so we'll just raid your piggy bank.

What A Day

Today is a Friday, and is the 2nd to last Friday that I have off since the school system decided to shut down for 8 zillion Fridays in a row in an effort to save $$$. In honor of this Friday, and the fact that SOMEBODY will have a B-DAY on Monday, Greta stayed home from school to have a special day with me. Not only is this excitement for her, but I'm hoping to forge a bond, to have quiet comtemplative conversations, and to generally realign the universe that seems to be revolving around Greta. Or so she thinks. The gravitational pulls on our planet have been pretty strong lately, as we battle it out for supreme ruler. And so, I'm taking this day to hold peace negotiations. So far, here's how it's went. (By the way, it is 10:51 am.)

7:00am wake up. HOORAY, we ALL slept in. Actually, Clara was up first, Greta got up about 20 minutes later.

So far, so good.

Greta is up, and immediately asks for breakfast -- more specifically, Fruit Loops. WHICH we happen to have now, but are not a staple in our cereal cupboard. I am more of a Cheerios kind of mom, sugar cereals are a gift from the heavens.

by 8:00 we are taking Clara to school and headed to do our grocery shopping. We are going to Walmart, because we also have to pick out a leotard and dance tights for the dance class Greta will be starting soon. How exciting.

1/2 through Walmart, Greta realizes she dropped the bear she brought in (the first battle of the day I gave in to. You might want to start keeping track.) and, although I was thoroughly tempted to chalk this one up to a lesson learned and ditch the bear, I happen to think this bear is extra cute and really didn't want to leave it, so we began to backtrack. Luckily we found it a short time later. And yes, I lectured.

After Walmart, which consisted of wanting to hold the coupons, dropping the coupons, wanting to get out of the cart, dropping the damn bear 4 more times, losing my list and oh, of course, whining, Greta then started to dig through my purse for gum. 'No, no gum right now. It's too early. I have a special treat that you and I will share soon...' and then I'm cut off with, more whining, and arguing that she doesn't want the special treat, she wants gum, blah blah blah. This went on for ten minutes. " you can have gum, or this treat but not both. You pick." yeah right. I hope you see where this is going...get your tally sheet out.

So, we're in the car headed home, it's 9:15 am and Greta is chewing gum (cue palpitation because it is 9:15 AM and my 4 year old is chewing GUM. This is wrong, all wrong. I am such a bad parent). Okay, I say, it's okay. It's sugarless. And I breathe in, and breathe out.

Now, I will admit here's another thing TOTALLY out of the ordinary for me, but remember, this is supposed to be a special day for Greta and I, but I am going to stick to my guns. She chose the gum, not the treat. Stay strong...and don't let her hear the package....So I stealthily try to put the Reece's Pieces package in a drawer...oh so quietly. Like my life depended on it. WHY does this package sound so loud? It's like brass band in my living room, it's like a herd of elephants square dancing in my kitchen, it's like....'mommy, what's that? I want some'....

I won't bore you with he conversation. But let's just say, I'm tired today, and I caved. Again. And so, at 10:30, my almost 4 year old ate Reece's Pieces. I think they're going to take my diploma away. However, I did use this moment as a time to have a heart to heart about listening and following directions, etc. etc. etc. to which Greta did listen and admitted that "yeah, remember yesterday when I didn't listen at all?" Why yes, Greta, I still have the nervous twitch from the mental breakdown you gave me.

And I ate more of the Reece's Pieces.

It is now 4:30. We had popcorn and yogurt for a snack. Clara is taking another nap, so Greta and I are going to paint our finger nails and toenails. She just asked for more Reece's Pieces, but is fine that they are gone. And gone they are. We spent a great time at the pool swimming together, had a nice lunch with daddy -- who is working late, boo hoo -- and now I will go answer the door because the UPS man is here to deliver another birthday present for Greta, and a special treat for us -- Omaha steaks. (NEVER turn down an Omaha Steak, quite possibly the best meat I've ever tasted!)

We're going to a local outdoor concert tonight together, and clearly not only will I have to work on feeding Greta a LOT more healthier than today, but will have to try and even the score a little more. Wish me luck.

Blastoff!

I never have and for obvious reasons never will, know the joy this brings so I have no way of describing the feelings that she must be feeling. I will have to just take a guess that she is thinking:

"Holy CRAP is this Fun or what!?!"

Whatever Happened to Thirty-One?

We drove an hour for this. Sure, we made the excuse that we forgot some much needed things that could ONLY be at Target. And yes, Chris did get some running stuff that he wanted at Dick's, because why pay shipping and handling when you can drive an hour into a concrete jungle of store after store and wall to wall traffic? We know, deep down in our hearts, that this is the REAL reason we drove here today. It was just an unspoken venture, only understood by each other.

I am not really a dessert fiend. I never order dessert in a restaurant, it really doesn't appeal to me. Ice cream sundaes are disgusting to me, and I'm really picky about cake. Oh, I like the occasional brownie, but give me chocolate pudding or chocolate mousse and I'll challenge you to an eating contest, but I rarely see those on a menu. One thing Chris and I both have come to cherish, and weep with homesickness about, is Baskin-Robbins icecream. Coldstone just doesn't cut it. If I want someone to play with my icecream, I'll let Greta stir it.

Dairy Queen, yummmm. I remember a friend and I in high school -- the adventuristas that we were -- playing mini-golf and then getting a Dairy Queen. Probably on our off nights when we weren't doing our nails. Nice, huh. Anyways, DQ is good. Really good, but when I want an icecream cone, when deep down inside of me my inner being is craving a cone, DQ doesn't necessarily cut it.

We have several little 'boutique' (touristy) cute little local ice cream shops, fine for the girls, but they serve Hershey ice cream, and all I can say about that is blech. I don't like it. And so, we drive an hour (not regularly mind you, this is probably the first time we have done this with such abandon and purpose) to Baskin-Robbins. And while Chocolate Mousse Royale wasn't on their current list of flavors, and it's not February so I know they weren't serving their Love Potion (raspberry ice cream with choc. ribbon and dark chocolate raspberry filled hearts), it was heavenly and just the fix we all needed.

You're watching a first folks. Here you have it. The first taste of chocolate ice cream. (Well, second as you can see by her mouth.)

You can't see her mouth, which was the purpose of this picture, but it is so wide open it looks like she could swallow my whole head.

I think we created another follower. (I KNOW I said I would never take messy food pictures of my kids, but HOW CUTE IS THIS???? I'll just add it to the list of things I said I would never do. Sounds like a future post....)

Weather the Whether Be...

WOW!

One of the amazing things about these clouds was their eerie movement.

They just creeped and rolled in and looked like they just wanted to swallow up anything that was in their way.

There was some movement to the cloud layers, and Chris and I were just staring (while driving of course) to see if a funnel cloud would form.

These pictures were taken from my phone, and while the quality is good, it still doesn't do these clouds justice. We were out running errands, and the sky was so wacky. The color was totally indescribable. The rain started about 5 minutes after the clouds blanketed the area, it was torrential.

Thank goodness I have a husband who is as obsessed about the weather as I am. Weather plays a big part of his job, so at least he has a reason. I can just claim I'm along for the ride. Some day, we want to take one of those classes to be a registered Weather Watcher or whatever they are called, I forget.

I must be married to King Triton

Thought I'd take a moment to stop complaining and post something nice. About Greta in particular.

She just completed her first week in her pre-K classroom, up from preschool. She is the youngest one in there, but her teacher said she is the first one done with her work and asking for more. I've seen the work she has done, and I must say it is really good work. They do a lot of worksheets, which isn't necessarily my 'thing', but I am seeing some quality work. Her handwriting is coming along, but I don't think she's has officially picked which hand she wants to consistently work with yet. Anyways, bottom line, the teacher had nothing but great things to say and was excited that Greta enjoyed working so much. This teacher has done amazing things with children, and most of her students coming away reading amazingly well.

Greta's other accomplishment this week has been her swimming. It's hard to believe that 15 months ago when we took her to the pool she latched on to us like a giant leach sucking the very life out of any limb she could attach herself to. It didn't matter how many flotation devices she wore -- there were times she couldn't even move we had so much inflatable plastic with her -- she just panicked. After joining the pool last year, we saw so much improvement. She went from using a mask, floaties and a swim ring, to just a ring or floaties (still the mask). She even put her face in the water.

This summer, I can say my first born -- at just before 4 years of age -- has already accomplished more in the pool than I have or ever will accomplish in my lifetime. And I am totally fine -- and a bit relieved --by that. As of last week, Greta removed her floaties, didn't want the ring, choose goggles or a mask and went in the pool. She even moved away from her death cling on against the side of the pool. She went under water, picked up her feet, did the most beautiful breast stroke with her arms, shot that butt up in the air and kicked like a hundred hungry sharks were chasing her for dinner. She swam. Really swam. She went about 5 feet. IMPRESSIVE!!!! Not to mention, as we walked with her, she was able to hold her breath about a good half of a width in the pool. She's a fish. Or, as I've been told, she is Ariel. And I am Ariel's mom.

Although the pool has been abbreviated this week due to daily thunderstorms, the one day we did go we stretched every moment to the max knowing full well we were at risk of electrocution as every low rumble came just a little closer, but I was just enjoying watching Greta's metamorphosis before my eyes. Now, she is jumping in the water. All by herself, no one catching her.

Ahhh, the pride of my land-loving eyes.