Requested Pictures

Pictures of the dollhouse, which is currently living under a tarp in the living room that is continuing metamorphisis (pictures of that later).

Christmas Time is here!

I bet you are checking this to see how the whole Christmas thing went with the girls. Well, you will not be disappointed! We had a wonderful time at Jim's sister, Karen's, house the Friday before. It was the inaugural family dinner at her new dining room table. This is the table's 4th incarnation and it begins a happy life in her house. My new dining room table arrives this Friday, assuming the room is ready for it. Christmas Eve we went to Papa Saunders and Grandma Linda's house for nibblies and gifts. The girls had such a good time and enjoyed time with their grandparents. We stayed longer than we anticipated and then it took a lot longer to get to Jeff and Lisa's house than we thought. Party start time was at 3 pm and we arrived at 6. Turns out the turkey was on our side. It wasn't done cooking yet. Dinner was ready around 7 and then the true chaos begins. You have to understand that chaos is part of the requirement for my family Christmas gatherings. There is always this awesome, unrestrained period of ripping paper and squeals, with people trying to pass out other gifts and not beingheard above the commotion. It is a grand and wonderful thing. Then we came home (Emma did not sleep all the way home, but thanks to some ingeniously procured bells, caught glimpses of Santa and his entourage) and set you milk and cookies for Santa - with an extra one for Rudolph - and sent the children packin'. Let me tell you that I am on the verge of never buying anything again that says "Some assembly required". We were tired and crabby and the Dora on Dora's Talking Kitchen is large and scary.

The girls loved Christmas morning. Santa did not wrap the large Dora kitchen or the Cinderella table and chairs (slacker), but he did cover up the ENORMOUS hand ma nde dollhouse that dominated the room. The girls didn't even see it because they were so distracted with the other presents. The kitchen was a hit - Emma and Mary both started moving things around and 'cooking' things on it, and pushing buttons and making noise with it. That toy went immediately to the basement, where it can be enjoyed in brief spurts of sanity. The amazing thing about this toy is the ability of the toddler to climb into it and fold herself up like some sort of Houdini wannabe. Honestly, you wouldn't think she would fit - and within 2 minutes time. This picture should explain it.

The girls are still coming down from their week-long high, although I have put away all of the gifts and decorations in their appropriate spots - with labels, of course. Jim is still working on painting wall frames and hopes to get some help from his father on the living room. Just to throw in a wrench, it seems Emma has all but given up nap time. I can't believe it. If I thought I could get nothing done before this, I will be assured of it now. And I am going to try the potty training thing again. We have promise her a big girl bed and her own big girl room if she can do this. Ugh. I really hate potty training.

The Busy Husband

My busy, busy husband has been, well, busy. He began his vacation last week Friday when, consequently, he also began working. Now he will tell you that I am doing this to him, but understand this is his quest. He has decided to put crown moldings, chair rail moldings, sub moldings, and wall frames in the Dining Room and Living Room all by himself. So much for his vacation. He is really making some wicked progress, all things considered. By that I refer to the whole sleeping and eating thing that gets in the way of so many productive moments for all of us. He is about 3/4 of the way done with all of the wood work in the first of the two rooms. To do this he had to, of course, move all of the furniture out of the way. Emma wasn't too happy with all of this commotion. She saw the living room filled with furniture and random wall decor and said, "WOW. This is a Really Big Mess, Daddy. You better clean ALL up. Mama be very, very angry, Daddy. This is a very, very big mess." Leave it to my daughter to point out the obvious. But once the wall frames started going up, Emma was less concerned about the mess. Today after nap time Emma peeked in there and said, "Mama! Daddy's making squares and rectangles for the wall! I LOVE rectangles, Mama!" She even went in and caressed the top of one special wall frame while repeating her undying affection for the shape. I am just glad she hasn't asked him to put up a triangle or a circle. I can't imagine how that would effect the room in the end. Then again, I never considered a crush on a parallelogram.

The Gingerbread House Fiasco

Mum bought a Gingerbread house kit that she hoped would start a long tradition of joyous bonding time spent meticulously decorating miniature houses with rows of identical candies lovingly placed by her granddaughters while she and I looked on. When we finally unwrapped the prebaked cookies and mixed the frosting it was close to Emma's bedtime and Mary had already given up for the night. I carefully separated the different candies into bowls and lined them up on the counter. Emma was so excited! Look at all of the candy!!!!! I ran the bag-o-frosting, otherwise know as the runny goop. The kit had provided about a pound of powdered sugar with which to make the frosting. Not bad, as I had used the same frosting the day before for cookie decorating, so I felt I would know exactly how to mix the "Royal Frosting" to make the best possible Gingerbread House glue. What I did not count on was that the frosting did not want to stay inside of the flimsy pastry bag the kit provided. Instead, it gushed out of the other end no matter hold I held or rolled the end. It also dripped out of the spout. I tried to put it in the refrigerator between uses, but Emma was too fast and it didn't have any time to harden. Hands were covered in white dripping goop. The counter was speckled with blobs of frosting. My sense of neatness and order was severely challenged. Emma placed candies, randomly, after frosting was placed on the cookie walls and roof. Unfortunately, Emma wanted to use the largest candies in the small areas and the smallest candies on the large expanses of the cookie roof. With foresight that only comes from many cooking experiences with a toddler, we chose to assemble the house after Emma decorated the pieces and went off to bed. After she was tucked in Mum and I used the runny goop to fill the channels where the walls would sit and make the base. The runny goop was very good at filling the channels to create some sort of white lagoon. Then came the roof. The runny goop was piled onto the edges of the walls and the first side was put on. It didn't really stay, so Mum held onto the edge. The second side was carefully balanced on top of the remaining portion of the house. It didn't stick either, so i held it in place. That left the problem of not enough hands to put the remaining frosting on. We held on. The frosting leaked out of the joints and down the house in some awful melting mess that did not really work for cementing cookie walls together. I made more frosting out of Jiffy frosting mix, thinking it would be a lot thicker than the runny goop the kit provided. It held the roof for a little over 2 minutes which was long enough for us to take pictures of the "finished" product. Then the roof began it's slow descent down the sides of the house. So we held onto it again. I added more frosting. The roof would not stay. Mum and I decided that a good stint outside would take care of the frosting being too soft. Seeing as it was 21 degrees outside, we thought it would work nicely. Unfortunately, after some help from Jim, we realized someone would have to hold the roof in place until it hardened a little bit. So I stood, in the snow, in the dark, in the cold and held onto the edges of the precariously balanced roof edges. And I waited. Mom stood in the doorway and tried to make conversation about anything that did not involving frosting or candy. I did ask her why she would buy this for a person she liked. She claims that she thought the kit would be easy! The cookies were already made. I informed THAT was the part I liked doing. I also suggested she might be better off buying such a kit for my sister in law. I think Lisa needs some bonding time with her daughter, just like I had.

Random Thoughts and Diatribes

I have a lot of things to talk about today, but I don't know if I will remember them all. First of all, hot tea, by definition, does not include ice cubes. I just wanted to get that out. Emma wants hot tea every day, thanks to her first experience with it on Thanksgiving. I have hot tea every day at breakfast and during the day, so when Grandma Linda asked if anyone wanted hot tea, Emma piped up. Ever since then, she asks for hot tea at least once an hour. But it is too hot to drink, she tells me, so she wants and ice cube. Let's look at the dialogue that just occurred during dinner - one that drove me to distraction because I couldn't figure out half of it.

Emma: "I want hahtee"

Me: "Happy?"

"No, hahtee"

"Hoppy?"

"Noooooooo, mama, HAHTEE"

"Hot Tea?"

"Yes, mama" (I warm up 1/3 of a cup of iced tea for 30 seconds, making it room temperature tea)

"I want peeping pooting"

"What?"

"peeping pooting"

"Um... Howdy Doody?"

"No, peeping pooting"

I go through 4 or 5 things that aren't really English until I realize she wants her tea in her sleeping beauty mug I just bought her. I clean it out and dump the tepid tea into it.

"Mama, it's too hot. I want icf boob"

"What?"

"Icf boob."

"Ice cube?"

"Yes." I'll skip the explanation I gave her about hot tea versus iced tea and the merits of asking for the one you actually wish to drink and gave her and icf boob anyways. Apparently the tea was warmer than I gave it credit for because the icf boob melted after a while, which precipitated her asking for another one. She rewarded me with, "Thanks, mama. I love iced tea."

The other thing I would like to point out is that dragons are supposed to eat unicorns. On an episode of Dragon Tales today the nearsighted flying unicorn who lost her glasses got stuck between two mountains and Ord the dragon flew up an neatly pulled her out, letting her down gently on the ground. If you are not going to show the dragon eating the unicorn, you should at least keep them far enough apart so that it is believable that the dragon is resisting temptation to devour the fresh mythological meat in front of it. On a happy note, the unicorn found her glasses and the little boy Max found his self worth in the process.

I need to go get the kids into pajamas and change around laundry.

Goodbye, dear friends

Well, patient Reader, I took a little hiatus from my musings to take care of some life. Nothing bad, just the normal holiday blitz. My dearest friends on the whole of this Earth left this evening after 5 wonderful days of visiting. The entire family (the couple, their 2 daughters, and Diane's mother) stayed here. You wouldn't believe that I could put a family of 5 up without moving one person from their normal sleeping vessel, but it was done. I really find that amazing. The only down side to them staying here is the extra laundry. And the leaving, which goes without saying. It is not the chore of doing the laundry, only putting it away, which currently seems to be one of my more difficult tasks to complete. The girls all got along fantastically, despite frequent uses of ice packs for some collision or other. The dog even had one nasty accident involving Derek and Sabrina that I won't begin to describe. Just know that I am calling the groomers first thing tomorrow morning. A pleasant side effect of company is the multitude of leftovers that you can use for the remaining days they last. Thanksgiving paraphanalia, random Chinese dishes, some LaShish middle eastern food and quite a few oranges. Please don't ask about the oranges, it is a sore subject. So tomorrow it is back to the normal routine, and based on this morning when they left briefly and my children turned into Demon Spawn, it looks like a long week ahead of me. Oh, and Jim might go to Phoenix on Wednesday. Just glad I had a nice weekend.

Lunch

I went grocery shopping this morning. I avoided Meijer's, where I will browse every aisle from tires to toys and find more things to buy. So instead I went to Farmer Jack's where I last picked up a huge check for the landscaping we are doing. They have a full service bank right inside, next to the Organic Papaya juice. Odd. But I had to go see if they ever sent the checks out to go with the Home Equity stuff, and they did not. I got to talk to the Superman Impersonator again. I suspect the reason he wears the shield of Kahlal (is that the right spelling?) on his watch is actually because he has been alerted to his amazing likeness to Clark Kent. Anyhow, I went there because they have little car attachments on the front of their carts that include BUCKLES so that two children(namely, mine) cannot randomly get out and run down the aisle. So I strapped the girls in, tight in the small cab. So while Mary tried to push Emma out of the little car and Emma pulled Mary's hair to make her stop (or maybe to other way around, I wasn't paying that much attention), I bought groceries. I know I was hungry because of some of the things that I don't normally buy ended up in my cart, such as Pumpkin Pie, Whipped Cream, Doritos, Cookie Dough (that is for Emma, I swear), and a Caesar Salad kit. The salad kit was the only lettuce on sale and it was actually cheaper than buying a bag of plain lettuce. It was also at the beginning of the shopping trip, when I was not yet hungry, or so I thought. So that leads me to my fabulous lunch:

Doritos
Coca Cola
cookie Dough

I know I said it was for Emma, but that is only AFTER it is cooked. The kids had fish. I'm pretty much a stickler for someone in the house having nutritious food. Once that requirement is satisfied, bring on the Pumpkin Pie.

Mundanity

Hello to everyone who is reading this - faithful Lochmoor Mom, occasional parents and inlaws, Nemesis, Inc., dear friends in Minnesota, traveling husband, close friends and random viewers. See, I checked the counter site stats and it just confused the bottoms off of me. It was a good thing the girls were in bed. It can show me if the people who come are a "direct hit" or if they were recommended from a site. I believe the second one to mean they clicked on some link instead of choosing it from their favorites or typing it in the address bar. So I click on one of the sites, and it was some religious thing. I did not find any reference to my blog in it and cannot figure out how the two can be connected. Anyone out there know this? I was just wondering.

Well, not much to report tonight. A short night's sleep (but a good one) last night on my new 400 count sheets. Emma was up jumping off of her bed and doing various non-sleep inducing things until past 12:30 last night and she was up well before the sun. She and Mary were miserable messes today. I put Mary to bed in the guest room in her playpen and Emma in her room by herself and they are both sound asleep - it is 9:30 and I practiced piano for 1 1/2 hours and they went to sleep. Last night I stayed up WAY too late playing Alchemy, an addictive Yahoo! game. I would have played my usual Jewel Box (I think that is it) but my husband took away my regular computer and replaced it with a new one which does not carry the memories of my current saved game or previous high scores. Heck, it doesn't even have the game on it and I don't feel like paying another $20 to download it. That was another shortsightedness he had when he bought a new computer 4 days before going out of town. But, hey, it sure types fast!

Enough babble - I am off to waste another evening in front of the glowy box playing useless games. I'm just too tired to do anything else. Ciao.

Wakey Wakey Wakey

My children are awake. One is moaning and the other is calling me, "Maaaaaaaa-maaaaaa.... Maaaaaa-maaaaaaaa". This might not seem like a big infraction on your sensibilities, dear Reader, but the truth is I should have another hour of relaxation yet. I cannot imagine why the are both awake (I have them in separate rooms right now). They were up half of the night and awake again before the sun. Now, they have missed a third of naptime and I cannot comprehend WHY they want to be awake. DO they ever go to sleep? EVER? It might be the hum of machinery outside the windows - English Gardens have begun tearing up grass and digging holes where gardens will be as soon as next week. It might be the EXTRA BRIGHT SUN that keeps playing hide and seek with the clouds. It might be my hysteria is causing them to be edgy. It could also be sunspots, as far as I know. Whatever it is I wish it would go away and they would sleep. Now or tonight, preferably both, but SLEEP.

You might wonder what I am planning on doing while they are sleeping. Well, check yesterday's list and you might have an idea. I also need to practice my piano, so add that right on there. And did I mention that I have not eaten lunch yet? I have been sorting clothes and spot cleaning the kitchen floor (which, incredibly, was mopped only 2 days ago). And then my wild imagination thought a brief nap would do me some good. Well, so much for any of that. And I have not yet watched my daily Martha show - tomorrow the kid who plays Harry Potter is on and I'd like to see that. Today, however, is anyone's guess, since I have not seen it.

Well, Reader, my people call.

And Away He Goes, or, Three Sheets to the Wind

So Jim took off again today (literally), on his way to California to see his newest nephew for a brief visit and then he is off to Saudi again. He expects (but cannot guarantee) to be home before Thanksgiving. So, needless to say, I am unhappy. But, always trying to look on the bright side, I can do a lot of things between the time the girls go to bed and I go to bed.... So the real issue is, what should I do first? Here is a list of the things that I considered (after showering, which is ALWAYS the first thing when I get time without the girls):

1. Make cookies or a cake: I don't have to share!
2. Scrapbook: I've been doing that a lot lately, but I always enjoy it
3. Read: just started a new book!!!
4. Clean Master Bathroom: um...
5. Spend time on 3rd floor organizing all of our financial files: well, I am hoping to get that done while Jim is gone
6. Spend time on 3rd floor reshelving books that the girls have pulled down, dust, and put away all things out of place to make it acceptable for company staying there Thanksgiving Weekend: any organizing is FANTASTIC, in my book!
7. Blog: duh
8. Purge bedroom and sitting room of all PILES: see note about organizing, above
9. Work on making Christmas cards
10. Work on making Christmas gifts - more scrapbooking
11. Watch Martha: Behind Bars - this will feed my recent Martha Fascination and Admiration Campaign
12. Watch original The Red Shoes 1948 movie (a favorite story of mine)
13. Surf the net for interesting things

That is pretty much all I thought of for immediate choices. Until now, which is neigh on 10:00, Emma has hampered any time I might have used by being a holy terror and I have to keep going up to their bedroom to see why somebody or other is CRYING or JUMPING OFF OF THINGS or SCREAMING because she has split her head open on something she shouldn't have been near in the first place. Since I took out the changing table, at least she cannot get into Mary's crib. That doesn't keep her from throwing every item in the room into it, but it does help some. So it is 10 now and I have only managed a shower and a cup of tea (for those of you keeping track, that makes a Tea Index of 5 today: that is bad. Very bad.). I will probably either lay in bed and read or sit down here on the computer until is is much later than it should be.

On a side note, I had to go buy new sheets yesterday. Yes, Reader, HAD to. I only keep one good pair of sheets at a time. I hate linen closet clutter, so I just use one set of sheets, wash them and put them back on immediately. This helps keep the linen closet nice and usable. The labeled shelves are another nice thing about my linen closet. So our sheets - our single set of sheets that match our comforter - have been looking a little thread bare. We have had them for a few years now (5? 6?) and they could probably use replacing. I figured it could wait until after Christmas when we didn't have so many financial obligations. Yesterday I was taking them off of the bed to wash them and they ripped, right down the middle. More accurately, the fitted sheet ripped. Huh. No problem - I have an older set of sheets that I usually use for the sofa bed that should work. So I pulled those out (from the shelf appropriately labeled Sheets - Queen, which comes after the alphabetically ordered Sheets - Full) to launder them, when I discovered that they, too, were ripped. This is because the darned sofa bed has those metal parts that catch on the sheets and tear them towards the bottom. This is not an issue when they are on the sofa bed, but certainly would not work for every day wear and every week (or so) washing. So I marched off to Target to investigate the choices. MY GOD sheets are expensive. I suddenly remembered the other reason why I only keep 1 set. And when I told Jim I had found some that would work, he asked what thread count they were. WHAT? I didn't even check that myself. Now, Reader, I have a good friend who will be reading this who will argue for the REALLY high thread counts, based on a bad experience with sheets that chaffed. But I enjoy a *crisp* sheet and do not care for sheets that melt to your form. So 200 or 220 has been fine for me. Well, Jim informed me that he read an article that said a higher thread count would help one sleep better in some stress reducing topic. I really thought he was kidding. I mean, people slept on straw and feathers and even the ground for thousands of years and they achieved some great things, despite a lack of fine thread count sheets. But I am not one to argue just for the sake of arguing, so I bought 400 count sheets. A nice medium between my normal 200 and the skin melding 600 count. I have to say, Reader, those were some mighty nice sheets. And I slept. I slept well. Very well, as a matter of fact. I don't know why I didn't try this earlier. Now I can add Sheet Snob to my list of Attributes of the Spoiled Housewife.

Carbon Days

It's a rare occasion that I actual post something but I had an experience with our dearest Emma yesterday that I never really anticipated. We all have these... You say to yourself, "That will never happen to MY children. I'll (fill in the blank with your wisdom)." To be honest, I thought the same thing before this and so here goes...

I bought a new computer. Yes, I work in IT and my technology was four years minimum out of date. I have been wanting a new computer and we always seem to have some big ticket item we buy at the end of each year so this year it was a computer. I was attempting to avoid complexity in attaching our multifunction printer to it by finishing terminating and connecting the ethernet cable we have on the third floor to the basement where the printer is located. This, versus bringing the printer up to the main floor to load the drivers (a requirement despite wireless access to the printer - apparantly wireless only works after you have installed all the drivers with the printer directly attached). I know this doesn't sound easier but I was thinking of all of the benefits of having that permanent cable in place and functioning...

Anyway, My Darling Wife was preparing for a Stamping event in the basement and Eldest Daughter (ED) said she was going to go see Daddy. So, at 12:15PM my wife calls me down to ask where I am and why I'm not with ED? I honestly didn't even know that ED was supposed to be with me. ED, on the other hand, became side tracked once out of view from Mommy and Daddy and had decided that she was sick. She found and drank 1/2 a bottle of children's Tylenol without either of us knowing. In the process she dribbled some on the medicine on her Mommy's book and got paper towel; moistened with water and cleaned up the mess.

Mommy found her cleaning up the mess... We called the Doctor and I was off to the local ER with my little girl! I arrived at the ER after getting behind every slow driver on the west side. The receptionist eyed me wearily; handed me admission forms and without utter more than a few words directed me to another area to fill out the forms. What do you write when you can't contemplate the fact that your daughter might be in mortal danger? I put down, "ED drank 1/2 bottle of Children's Tylenol" filled in the other personal bio data and returned to the counter. The receptionist took the form, read the problem; sighed in exasperation and called a nurse immediately. I have to admit that this was the first time I was ever admitted immediately to the ER and I have spent way more time there than I think desirable...

The doctor - an kind, older man in his grandfather days - examined ED and determined that, based on her body weight, she had consumed a potentially threshold dose (the point at which it becomes toxic and can cause damage to the liver or worse). He ordered a charcoal drink for ED and he and the nurses warned me it was nasty. They had ED change into scrubs and had me put some on. They had me give it to ED and told me they had mixed it with juice to help reduce the nastiness. ED drank it all! She flashed several big, disturbing carbon smiles and dribbled a little of it on her but she drank it!

I was given a tub in case it came back up and told to stay vigilant (picture it, a charcoal suspension on your carpets, in your car... It's not a pretty thought) . They told me she would need blood drawn in 2 hours to determine effectiveness of the treatment. They allowed me to take her home so she could nap. Two hours later and we were back for blood work. Then sent home for two more hours while they awaited results (and in case more intervention was necessary). Finally, at 7PM we got news back that her blood levels were normal.

I hope that was our last adventure of this type and none of you Readers need to go through this.

The Allure of Awake

Darling Emma has not been sleeping much lately. We have moved to a toddler bed and the idea that she can get out whenever she opens her eyes is just too much for a little kid to handle. So she is UP. She is up until late, late hours of the night (sometimes 1 or 2 AM). She is up when she is supposed to lay down and nap. She is up from her nap before it is halfway over. She is up by 6:30 in the morning. She is, as we called her when she was an infant, WAKEY BABY. So this morning, she toddled into our bedroom at 6:20 and announced, "It's morning.". She says it with a tone that sounds like an answer or explanation. Almost as if I have already said, "Emma, go back to bed," and she has the defense attorney's answer ready to go: "It's Morning". This is the usual procedure, although some days it happens a couple of minutes later. Jim was up, getting ready for work. So he takes her over to the window and says, "Do you see the sun, honey? It's just getting up! Do you see it coming?" "YES!" I should point out here that the main argument until now has been that too early exists when the sun isn't up yet. *AHEM*.

So he takes both girls downstairs (because Emma cannot leave her own bedroom without making sure Mary knows it is time to get UP), and I grudgingly follow, still in my glasses and pajamas. On a good day, I get dressed and make the bed, then go to the girl's bedroom and get them changed and dressed before we go downstairs. Today we will be lucky to be presentable before 9:30, which is odd since we were up before 7. So I come down slightly behind everyone, and my wonderful husband has got the milk for the kids and turned on the TV. I look and notice that Noddy, Emma's current favorite program, is on. I say to Jim, "Noddy's on right now? That was fortuitous." No, it turns out he put on a recording to avoid Barney and Bob the Builder. I told him that my rule is it is too early for Noddy or Dora before 8 AM, because otherwise she is EXCITED about coming downstairs and seeing the TV, making the early morning even more thrilling. It was about then that Jim realized he had made being awake early fun and exciting for Emma. And he wonders why I wake up in a bad mood.

The Princesses and the Pee

You read that right, Internet, another post about bodily functions. That may be
the only mention of it, though, and it is specifically aimed to please one of my
constants, Mr. Nemesis. According to many comments he's left before, the posts
with such content make him turn his head. Now that's an image.

As for the princesses, the girls were Cinderella and Belle for Halloween. What a lovely time we all had! On Saturday our subdivision held the annual Spooky Saturday celebrations, with games, costumes, cider and doughnuts, free hot dogs and pizza, Pumpkin Hunts and Haunted Forest walks. What a fun time! Emma and Mary were a little young to fully enjoy the full extent of it, but Mum and Papa came down to see them in their costumes (also an annual thing, which I truly enjoy) and the girls certainly enjoyed that. The particularly funny thing about that was the Princess-Mobile. That was Cinderella and Belle being pulled around in the little green wagon, much to their enjoyment.

Monday night was Mary's first real experience with the holiday. She got the hang of the candy thing real fast - just like any little kid. What she enjoyed most was picking through the candy while she was chauffeured around, throwing some of it out (apparently the non-acceptable pieces) and chewing on the others, wrappers and all. She was also very interested in people putting things in her bucket. Many times she sat right down on the spot to examine the new booty. It was really a great time. Emma was particularly cute. After we walked away from a house, she would mutter, "say 'trick or treat', get candy." three or four times. It was as if she had discovered some great truth and she was amazed at the power it held. Then she would ask me, "Momma, we go other trick or treat house, get more candy?". It was too precious! After about three houses, she also picked up on our farewell and she began repeating it with her wonderful 2 1/2 year old version: "Hat-ty Hawo-weeeeeen!" By the GODS it was the sweetest thing I ever heard! She also spent a good portion of the evening, when we got back home and let her swim in the candy for a while, saying "Thank You Momma, Thank You Dadda". I could seriously BURST from that much love.

Long Time Gone

Well, Readers, I am rather cowed by the fact that no one has bothered me to continue writing. Sad, I know. It is not like I wait until my public is banging at my door, but it is nice to feel wanted once in a while. But enough whining. I have been terribly busy getting garden plans designed for our yards. We are having English Gardens do our landscaping and we took a ton of time to get the home equity loan and the finalized plans submitted to our subdivision committee for approval (remember, we live in a 'neoclassic' village - we run by rules and regulations similar to historic districts when it comes to decorating and landscaping). Today we got the approval for the designs, so that required some more "foot work" today, getting the ball rolling with the surveyor and the actual labor. They are supposed to begin the 8th of November and hopefully finish by Thanksgiving. It will be beautiful!

As for the kids - we have been having quite the time with Emma Angel Grace McSaint. First, she decided that she really likes to be naked. We thought that was funny if not odd. So, every night after she'd fallen asleep, we would come in to find her in the buff at least from the waist down and we would put her diaper and pajamas back on her. Then, it escalated. She started to pee in her crib - sometimes more than once. I caught her doing just that during one nap and that didn't even phase her. Inevitably, she messed herself during one particularly bothersome naptime. After about two weeks and many failed attempts at making it too difficult to remove her diaper, we discover safety pins. But that just made her other behaviors more intense. So Jim decided to remove the side of her crib and make it into a toddler bed. Now, this might sound like the wrong direction to go, but we are dealing with a toddler, after all. She stopped immediately. In fact, she was never in her bed long enough to realize that she was dressed. Yep, we started the struggle of KEEPING in her bed. We are going on one week with that and we think we have made some progress. Now if she would just stop falling out of bed 3 times a night, we might have something we could call a success. Oh, and please don't ask me why she isn't potty trained yet. We did that. She was there - bought the t-shirt and everything. When she got a bladder infection, we sent back to square one. She won't even go into the bathroom without becoming terrified of the imagined pains she will experience if she sits on the toilet. And so it goes.

Our sweet Little Mary Precious Leona O'Lovey likes to pick on her big sister and start fights, so that she can crrrrrrrryyyyyyyyyyyyyyy and run to Momma or Dada to get sympathy. She loves to push her little dolly stroller around everywhere she goes. She says, very precisely, "Yeh-ssss", as though the word had 2 syllables instead of one. It is her favorite word by far. She LOVES Dora and will respond when the show asks the viewers to participate and call for Map or Backpack. We are still trying to get her down to one nap a day so that the weary Momma can get a couple of hours a day when personal hygiene can be attended to in a solitary manner. Or so that I can watch saved episodes of Martha Stewart television shows - I particularly like The Apprentice.

Well that's about the sum of the parts. It is way past my bed time. Tomorrow we have "Spooky Saturday", which is the subdivision Halloween party. The girls will get all dressed up in their costumes and get to go enjoy some fun Halloween type activities. There will be pictures!

Sick and Sundry

Well, for once it isn't me that is sick. Our poor little Mary is suffering from a pernicious cold that causes her brain to continually leak out of her nose. For a while it was so bad that it was also leaking out of her eyes and was a weird, greenish yellow color. But we got some drops to stop that problem and are left with the oozing nose. She is sniffly and snotty and rather miserable and this is going on a week now. Jim also got the cold, as did I, but I managed to recovered rather quickly while Jim is still dripping about. He complains a lot and I just give him 'That Look', which means to communicate "I went through 4 weeks of Sinus infection HELL while you were gone so don't tell me how worn out you are without any extra rest". It must get the message across very clearly, since he isn't complaining quite as much as in the beginning of the week. So I have been trying, for the entire week, to keep Mary's cold contained. Everything she touches or sneezes on gets thrown immediately into a sink of soapy water and is scrubbed down before being returned to the general play area. I must be doing pretty well, since Emma does not seem to have any of the cold symptoms yet. Yesterday, however, I pulled dinner out of the oven and looked up to see Emma and Mary taking turns drinking from Emma's sippy cup.
Oh, hell and bother.

Eggo Waffle Massacre

Have you seen the commercial for Eggos? It is a man dressed as a waffle, with red arms and legs, strolling along, minding his own waffle business when he is startled by a scraping noise. He 'looks' around, sees nothing, keeps walking. Again with the noise. Suddenly, out of NOWHERE comes a PLATE, which scoops under his feet and causes him to fall on his back, flat on the plate. Then a huge, waffle-man size pat of butter falls out of the sky to land expertly on the poor waffle. Then comes the waterfall of Syrup, and a couple of strawberries that knock him unconscious. Then the poor, beaten eggo waffle is served up to a particularly ravenous teenaged boy. Now, imagine the same commercial with Emma watching intently:

Waffle appears.

Emma: Momma, what's that?

Me: Um, a waffle. (Scraping noise)

Emma (now a little upset): Momma, what that noise?!

(more scraping)

E: Momma! THAT noise????

(waffle falls and get walloped with butter)

E: OH NO!!!

(Waterfall of maple syrup)

E: MOMMA!!!! MESS RIGHT THERE! NO RIGHT THERE!!! (pointing frantically)

(Strawberries, a la anvil skit)

E: Oh no! Momma, BOO BOO!!!

At this point I have collapsed in laughter and cannot comfort my distressed daughter for the LIFE of me. Until now, I have never took the side of the waffle and frankly, it nearly made me pee my pants I laughed so hard. Emma was traumatized and this is why I don't usually let her watch commercials.

Pictures for the Clamoring Masses

Iron Girl Race
Diane, Emma and Fiona riding an Elephant!


Emma and the Llama
Emma, Fiona, Ann and Sabrina on the camel
Fiona and Emma w/sheep - my foot is in the picture!

I'm just doing some pictures here - I will write more later.

Vacation in the Midwest

Emma and I are in Minnesota as I write this. We came out to see my bestest friends in the whole wide world aside from Lochmoor Mom. We are having a blast here! Emma has never laughed so hard in her life that I know of. We have spent some time at the Mall of America - not shopping, mind you. There is an area there called Camp Snoopy which is like a small amusement park - roller coasters and all - right inside the mall. Well, Emma braved the scariest toddler rides and came out beaming. Except for the flume ride. That one didn't go quite as well. After the first hill she slammed her hands over her eyes and kept repeating, "Momma, go home now?" She didn't get upset, she just wanted to go home - NOW. We got to the top of the second hill - the biggest- and I told her we had one more hill to go - was she ready? She squeaked out the saddest, smallest "yes" and we plunged. I normally like these rides, except that holding on to a small child gives the ride a whole new dimension, since that means you are not holding onto anything fixed while plummeting down a 45 degree angle. But we all survived and I will post some pictures to prove it. We have eaten at a restaurant called Bubba Gump's Shrimp Company, which is odd since I don't really like seafood much. They have wonderful food and a great atmosphere - even Emma liked the food, but she loves fish. We went back 2 nights in a row and I liked it so much I bought a cookbook from there. It is hard to believe the things they can make money off of from movies these days - but there I was in line with a Bubba Gump Cookbook, baseball cap, and a plush refrigerator shrimp magnet. I would have bought more, to be honest, but there won't be enough room in the suitcase if I do that.

Today we went to the renaissance Festival, which was a little odd and nostalgic. Diane and I went EVERY year together and had many adventures there all the way through High School and then some. So it was odd to be going together and taking OUR CHILDREN. The girls all had a good time - Emma rode an elephant, a camel, a llama and a pony - in that order. Sabrina tried to throw soft tomatoes at a loudmouth bloke in a stile, and Fiona enjoyed feeding some sheep for a bit. We were all baked to a crisp and grouchy when we left, but very happy underneath the dust and sunburns. I bought Emma a princess hat which she immediately decided she didn't like, so I wore it. No use letting it waste away in a bag.

Well, I'll fill in any details later when I get home tomorrow. I hear Jim is pawning Mary off on his mother more than I would ever dare, so I will have to see how that works out when I get home and hear the whole story.

Trivial and Brief

Well, Husband is home, safe and sound at last. It was a nice day, where he should have been able to nap. Unfortunately for him, I fell asleep on the floor for 2 hours and he didn't have the heart to wake me which meant he didn't get any nap. The floor, by the way, is only a choice because I was trying to keep Emma in her crib at nap time, so I say outside of her door and read a book, which kept her from climbing out of her crib. I eventually fell asleep (before Emma did, I think) right there in the hallway with a book for my pillow. Man I was tired. Husband did go to sleep early, but not early enough. I hope tomorrow will be easier for him in the morning, as I am going out EARLY to meet some people at a faboo sale. The last thing I should be doing is spending more money, since I have been a little lax with the budget these few weeks past, however this is an annual sale and I am saving money by shopping during it. Really, I SWEAR it is to save money. I won't go on - those of you who know the rules of sales understand, and those of you who don't cannot be convinced. That is all I really have to immediately tell. I am sure there will be a lot more tomorrow,when all of us are back to a somewhat normal schedule. I may even get to see Diane, if not Derek tomorrow, as they are in town briefly for a wedding. I am eager to see them, as always! So goodnight, Reader -until better news arrives to post about.

The Cuteness Never Ends

Everyone here is asleep - as I should be but am not. Hubby will be home Friday morning and I could not wait another moment if I had too, I think. I am restless in this house of mine, where I see clutter everywhere and an overwhelming need for organization. When Hubby does get home and I have a chance to show him everything that we need to do, he may just leave again out of fear of the Work to Be Done.

Aside from that, Mary Leona is quickly becoming the cutest, most enchanting little toddler EVER seen by human eyes. She is surpassing Emma mostly because Emma Grace is now 2 1/2 and is trying every method possible to get me riled up and to want to skin her alive. So Mary, who has quite a temper and is very impatient about things, does do the SWEETEST little baby things right now. We had a picnic today in the yard and she thought the little plastic plate with a quartered cheese sandwich was a seat cushion. Every time I moved the plate, Mary leaned forward onto her hands, with her bum cantilevered out, and swung around to firmly place her back end right on the flat, unsuspecting sandwich. HONESTLY. The funny thing was, she would then look at me and smile, as if to say, "I did it!!!". She did not tire of this the entire time there was a sandwich on which to sit. She was dancing a little later in the day, as was Emma, and she decided that she wanted to twirl - just like Emma. Well, little Mary did her baby best and walked in a tight circle, which she thought was the same thing, and then collapsed with excitement and joy with her new accomplishment. That was the cutest thing ever. When I went out to pick up some Chinese food for dinner, I took her along with me (Emma stayed back with Mum, since she was not quite up from a nap yet - Emma, that is). I let her walk from the car to the door instead of carrying her, because she had grabbed a little purse and was carrying it on her arm with an air of authority. This was so incredibly cute that EVERY person that saw her stopped, stepped aside to let the lady pass, and smiled from ear to ear. Mary even greeted them with a little squawk, which was her version of, 'Thank you, my people, you are too kind'. It was too cute to be imagined. I am sad to think she will be in the middle of her terrible two's this time next year.

Emma Grace has had her sweet moments, too - hers just come with a price. I always sing to her - poor thing. And I have always sung Brahms Lullaby to get her to be sleepy. Lately, she has asked me for "Rock bye baby", which is the other lullaby EVERY person knows. She loves to pretend she is a little baby while I sing this and close her eyes ever so gently as she hugs her blankie. So yesterday, when I HATED her because she would not take a nap, I tried laying down on the guest room bed with her until she fell asleep. She watched me intently for a minute, and I watched her back. She told me "Close EYES", and so I did. Then she sang to me.

"rock bye baby, trEEEE-top"

My eyes popped open and I could not help but laugh with tears at my first baby, singing a lullaby to me. This made her smile and tell me to close my eyes again. Then she sang to me again. Well, she never did nap yesterday until she fell asleep at the dinner table around 5:30 pm. But for the afternoon, she spent it rocking her blankie (a blanket/elephant stuffed animal) in her arms and singing to him. It was IMMENSELY adorable. The day would have been better if she had gone down for a nap and also gone to bed before 1 AM.

Well, I will be on my own again tomorrow, so I'd better go and get some semblance of sleep. I would like to take the girls to the library tomorrow and pick up a video or two that I think Emma would like. Also to see if there are any good videos on South America for the girls to learn something from.

Katrina Help

I hate to jump on the bandwagon, here, but my friend Lochmoor Mom and I have been talking about this whole Hurricane thing. I won't bore you with the details, but I have been bumping around places to see who is doing what for whom. Many volunteers are doing great things that I could not even imagine doing for these victims. Even locally, and I cannot help but mention my best friends in the whole wide wonderful sunny world, Diane and Derek, who are receiving a family (or refugees of un-named quantity) into their home this weekend. They live in Minnesota, Reader, and some person drove a bus full of supplies down to New Orleans and is driving a busload of displaced people back up. Talking with Diane this morning, she said she fully expects them to house these people for about 6 months. I hardly have the sanity to house my own children for that long, so I voted on cannonizing my friends and riding on their coat tails. Then I thought about how that will impact them financially. What if the family they took in had 6 people? Sure, they have the space in their finished basement, but what about food? It's not like they can eat dinner and let the refugees fend for themselves. And what if there are kids? THEY are not going to be able to sit in one pair of jeans until February. And even the necessities - think about how much you spend on personal hygiene for a family. or diapers and formula if there is a baby.... So, I wanted to see if there was some way I could help the people who are helping the people directly who need the help. I found this organization: http://www.modestneeds.org/ . Click on the Katrina link - they are helping people like Diane and Derek afford things for these refugees that they have taken in. They are helping the people who managed to get out but will be living in hotels for many months and the costs associated with that. I challenge you, Reader, to look at what help YOU would need if your entire city were devastated by any imaginable force. Then post on comments, so that I can know I have helped spread the word.

This is directly from the web site :

... there are many thousands of people who were able to leave New Orleans,
Gulfport, Biloxi and other cities devastated by Katrina. These people are now
spread throughout the United States and stranded for the duration. In most
cases, they are staying with friends, family or in hotels, often five or six to
a room. Because these people are now out of the disaster areas strictly
speaking, Modest Needs has confirmed that there will be precious little direct
assistance available to these people from larger, more conventional agencies.

Thoughts and Struggles

So, reader, you may or may not know that I was surrounded by a lot of religious teachings as I grew up. My actual denomination is Lutheran Church Missouri Synod. My parents are both Baptists, and that goes quite a ways back in the history of both sides. My husband is Catholic, but not practicing, and of course, his whole family is also Catholic. When we moved to Canton we landed ourselves right in the middle of Baptist country. I even played for a small Baptist church for a while. I found, however, that their services and celebrations are a completely different breed than what I was accustomed to. All of the best things I loved about my religious upbringing were rather lacking in the other churches I have tried. There are no large Missouri Synod churches in or around Canton, and I have struggled (for 12 years now) to find a church that I would like to attend regularly. There are some large ones that are Evangelical, but they seem cultish to my traditional ways and not what I am looking for in a church. I have attended some of the big and wonderful Catholic churches in the area, but struggle with the intrinsic differences between protestant and catholic teachings. So during a long drive home today I was thinking that I am tired of not having a church to belong to. But I cannot figure out where to go. I have now looked into Episcopalian churches in the area - I need something very traditional. There is an enormous congregation in Plymouth that has female rectors. Having grown up in the "women in the church are a bad thing" era, I do not know how I feel about this. I am sure Jim will give me that look when I tell him I am going to try this church out - the one that says 'you know I hate organized religion and really want to not have to do that whole church-y thing' and I will be off on my church finding mission alone, again. I often think of those guys that go to the religious conventions and wonder, for just a moment, what it would be like to have men in my family who are strongly religious. Then I realize I would have been dragging myself to a Catholic Church I didn't like for the last 12 years. So, hopefully, this weekend I will be out and about, "interviewing" the next church candidate for my growing family.

Interesting Blog

I just tripped across this blog: http://dancingwithkatrina.blogspot.com/ . I was amazed at the pictures. For once they were not of people floating by in a river or standing on a raised highway. The are of wreckage in the trenches and are probably the most silently powerful ones I have seen yet. I would recommend it.

Venting Rage

People really piss me off sometimes. Now I know this is a "family" blog - I have kept things pretty PG here for a reason. But I am just so fairly annoyed by multiple people that I cannot help but write about them today.

I took pictures that included the neighbor's kids playing in the yard. I called the neighbor. I said, "Hey, neighbor, I took some pics of our kids playing together, specifically in princess dresses and later in the kiddy pool. They are so unbelievably typical yet endearing that I have printed some off for you and would like you to take your choices before I go and scrapbook them. Tonight." Neighbor says, "Wow, thanks - that is very generous of you. And it is good, too since I never take any pictures, I would love to have some." I say, "great - come on over when you are out picking up toys," ALL of them - before I have to look at them for one more second of the day. Please feel free to read this as Get Your Lazy still-in-pajamas-at-1:00-this-afternoon-too-skinny Bum out there and pick up your toys on your way across the yard to come and get pictures I want to give you - NOW. Readers, it is 10:32 as I type, and skinny lazy neighbor has not been out to pick up her kid's toys yet. I am more than mostly annoyed.

Next culprit of making me pissy tonight - helpful (NOT) people. "Oh," said Helpful Person, "I am sorry we can't have you over for dinner tonight like we said, or last night either, like we said, but if you want I will come over and watch your kids while you have some time to run around and do whatever you want." Aside: Helpful People like to invite me and the girls over for dinner when Jim is traveling - I like that in a person. Well, Reader, surely you are scratching at your hairline right now, wondering, how could this go badly? It certainly went badly, you are probably saying to yourself, because otherwise she would not have written about it. Unfortunately, it went badly enough. Right before Helpful Person showed up, I burned the neurons right out of the pad of my right hand. This was not Helpful Person's fault. It did, however, cause me to use my Precious Time running to Rite Aid to find SOMETHING that would stop the searing pain, and it also caused me to return early from my Precious Time to restock the ice pack I had been using to tolerate the pain. I returned early to find a HUGE dent in my freshly baked peanut butter cookies. 'Oh, Canton Mommy,' you chuckle, 'you are having a bad time of it and over-reacting - you probably don't need to eat all of those anyway'. DON'T VEX ME, READER. Those cookies were specifically made to give to a friend who GAVE BIRTH today. Now, I cannot give her a nice sized tupperware that is a little more than 1/2 full. I swear Helpful Person ate at least 9 cookies out of there. I counted. They were in a sealed tupperware container NEXT to the cookie jar. DOESN'T ANYONE USE A COOKIE JAR??? The cookie jar is full of purchased, yummy cookies that would be fine for snacking but just will not do for a thoughtful treat for a young family. And no, I cannot put them in a smaller container - there just aren't enough there now to look like an appropriate gift amount. Man, I hate it when people force me to use caps so much.

Another neighbor has managed to get my hackles up, too. Having spoken to a couple of the bookclub members, it came to my attention that we would have a few holes in the monthly meeting on Tuesday. This month we are picking books to read for the upcoming discussions, and 3 of the people not coming are the ones that bring the best choices. In addition to this fact, I was feeling particularly low after having found out that my husband's business trip was extended another week. Reader, I called off Helpful People for the weekend based on this wallowing. I haven't put in my contacts since then. In short, I was sad and depressed at the news and did not want to see another Person, let alone clean my house and entertain 8 or them on Tuesday. So I sent out an email. Reader, I have NEVER moved a bookgroup date in the 2 1/2 years we have been meeting here. And only 2 of those months did we meet anywhere else, and that was, predictably, when I was expecting to go to the hospital and have Mary, and the following meeting after that. So I come to find that another neighborhood meeting is scheduled for the following week and we would lose 3 people to that if we moved it. So, Prissy Neighbor writes an email to the whole groups and says, "I think it is counter productive to move a meeting to accommodate some people while losing others. Just my two cents." Two Cents - well, two things, Reader. 1) I did not KNOW there was another meeting, that is why I sent out an email asking if the change of date would be reasonable, and 2) THANKS FOR CARING, PRISSY NEIGHBOR.

I won't even write about the neighbor that came over Friday night and verbally checked me IN MY OWN HOUSE when her 4 year's safety was an issue. And a family issue which would not be appropriate to record here - but the ones who have talked to me KNOW WHO IT IS. I will just say this, Reader, I am not sure when everybody thought they could just say or do anything to me without hurting my feelings or just plane being considered rude. This is why Husband should not leave for long, long trips. I try to make new friends and look where it lands me. I'm going to bed now, so that one more day in the Wifey Solitary Confinement will be gone. Come home quickly, Husband, and save me from these insipid interactions with others.

Cupboard Day

Today I cleaned out the spice cabinet. Emma and Mary were happily playing in the sand box - which means they were dumping sand out as fast as possible. But since I could keep an eye on them while organizing spices, I took my moment. I had purchased a tiered spice rack at www.organizeeverything.com - this type of store should be OUTLAWED for people like me, who really believe that adding one more item into the cupboard will somehow make it more organized. Well, Reader, I could NOT believe how many spices we had - they go like this: Allspice
Apple Pie Spice
Anise seed
Basil leaves
Bay leaves
Caraway seed
Cardamom
Celery seed (2 unopened bottles - huh.)
Cilantro
Cinnamon - sticks and ground
Cloves - both ground and whole
Coriander - seeds and flakes
Cumin
Dill seed
Dill WEED (is that one for smoking?)
Garlic powder
Ginger - ground
Mustard - seeds and ground
Onion powder
Onion salt
Oregano
Paprika
Parsley
Pepper (Black, white, and peppercorns)
Poppy seed
Red pepper flakes
Rosemary
Sage
Sesame seeds
Thyme
Tumeric

It struck me that we had no spices after T. Are there spices that we do not own that start with U, V, W, X, Y or Z? Why is that? There are so many spices that start with "C", can't we share the love with all of the letters? Well, anyhow, I combined open jars and reorganized. It looks nice and neat (and YES, alphabetized, which is how they SHOULD be). But they do not really look any more accessible. The tier idea is a good one, but to get a jar off of the back row one will probably knock off a few of the front ones. I wish I had space for a drawer spice organizer - I really think those are the best idea, especially if you are shooting for the whole alphabet of spice potential - including multiple jars of Celery Seed. I did let Emma "plant" some of the old, OLD seeds, like the Caraway seed which was still in the original, unopened jar from my spice rack I received as a wedding gift - 13 years ago. I really loved that spice rack - thank you Mrs. B for buying it for us - but I apparently had no use for Caraway seeds. So Emma planted them in her sand box. I don't know why. Perhaps they will grow. What do Caraway seeds grow, anyhow?

Well, that is it for the blog tonight. I had some neighbors over (with their kids)and we played Euchre. Emma did not go to bed until waaaaay after 10, so I am hoping there will be sleeping in tomorrow. I had a lot of fun, but my sinus headache is creeping up the back of my ears, so I am well ready for bed. This is good, as it is the earliest I have even thought about bed since Jim left. Maybe I will make it there before 3 AM like last night.

To Walmart We Will Go

I am not an avid Walmart shopper. I have nothing against them, they just don't sell bananas. My girls eat bananas by the gross and I cannot go anywhere that does not sell them unless I am going to try to venture 2 stops in one trip with the girls in tow. So I go to Meijer - ALL OF THE TIME. It is amazing what you can find at Meijer. But, I found today, it is amazing what you can find at Walmart DIRT CHEAP. Honestly, I have never been so excited to look at plastic Dora placemats or any of the other myriad of things I did not know I needed until I saw how cheap they really were. WHO CAN RESIST OREOS WHEN THEY ARE CHEAP AND IN THE MIDDLE OF THE MAIN AISLE, I ASK YOU?!?! So I also wanted to comment on how it is amazing WHO you can find at Walmart. My dear friend, Lochmoor Mom, recently visited the Walmart in her little town and called me to pontificate on the level of society that seems to congregate there. Now, I am not usually a biased person, Reader, but let me just say in a very vanilla area, Walmart is, well... Local color *AHEM*. And even the vanilla sort is really kind of... Well... Freezer burned? I need to stop with these analogies. I used to call Walmart "The Screaming Child Store", much like I call Mexican Fiesta "The Screaming Child Restaurant" for the very fact that no matter WHAT time of day or night you visit these places there is an inordinate number of screaming children. The first time we shopped at the newest Walmart in Canton it was well past 10:00 PM (this was before children in our little lives) and there were 2 little boys, about 4 and 6 years old that found it to be great fun to roam around the store aimlessly, moaning, "Mama? Mama? Mama? Mama?" and they would take turns crying, too, so that there was a continual stream of lost child mantra occurring. As we shopped (I recall now that I was pregnant, because I was AMAZED at how cheap a body pillow was at Walmart and I had heard it helped you be more comfortable when you slept with your hugely extended belly - and that is not true, by the way), the boys' cries and supplications would fade as they wandered farther away, and then crescendoed as they maddeningly made their way back closer to us. This went on for the entire time we were there. After about 20 minutes I took a vested interest, as I was suddenly feeling the need to eat the children and put them out of my misery, and realized that their Mama was not missing but walking in front of them the whole time this was occurring. They were not lost. They were pleading for a lighter sentence of going home and going to bed instead of wandering around shopping at Walmart after 10 Pm at night.

Well, so as to be in perfect form, today I went and my children were screaming. It was mostly Emma, as she is determined to walk on her own and this means walk on her own wherever the wind currents take her. When I am looking for a particular plastic paper sorter tray that I actually went there to buy, she was forced to be contained in the cart. This resulted in prodigious wailing and pleading, in very good form, I might add, that I completely ignored. Because the one thing about Walmart is that you cannot find one damn thing you are looking for, if you know what I mean. Sure, you can find 100 things you are NOT looking for and realize how much you need to buy, but finding the one thing you know you need is a whole other story, which you just read. So the wailing child mystery is solved. That mother of the two wailing boys was probably looking for the same thing I was, and she knew that if she stood still that her children would be doing pretend snow angels right there on the office supply aisle floor, while holding an American flag, just like mine was, until I corralled her and made her do cart time.

The Crickets Sang

Playing the piano is very emotional, Reader. Sometimes I do it instead of crying and feel the same sort of relief afterwards. Sometimes I play until my fingers are numb and nearly limp from the exhaustion and demand of the anger that must come out somewhere and feel vindicated from the actual physical action. Sometimes I play to listen to the very songs that others spoke onto pages of notes and to hear their rages or sobs.

Tonight I opened up the living room window for the fresh air (and, I guess, to tell the world what needed to be said) and let Chopin orate - again and again - until I felt he had said all that he ever had to say through one waltz (Opus 69, no.2). I played it repeatedly from beginning to end like carousel music or a music box that did not need rewinding. Then I uncluttered the worn, dog-eared sheet music in front of me and presented a clean copy of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata. After dizzying rounds of Chopin's waltz this music was a still pond at night.

And the crickets sang.

The sun had set while I was practicing and I did not realize until I was lost in Beethoven's laments and resolutions that the crickets were the only noise left besides my playing. When I had started out there were lawn mowers buzzing down the street, children squealing with excitement while playing outside, cars and motorcycles roaming past. People walked by and their conversation hovered and mixed with the notes, and they continued on as children went inside and outdoor activities were traded in on this, a school night. And at some point the crickets woke up after the warm sun left and started to carry on the way that crickets do every night, every where. But I will tell you, Reader, they are a moving companion to Beethoven.

Single Mom

When I say that, I don't really refer to the fact that my nomadic Husband is humoring his vagabond shoes. I mean that my oldest daughter was spirited away faster than I could even comprehend earlier this morning. So I am a mother of one child today, which means the title should read "Single Child", but it does not. Being Mommy to a single child after managing two is like only having to carry one paper bag of groceries to the car unaided instead of, say, twenty. So I thought, for posterity, that I would post a picture of what Mary gets to do when Emma is not here. Yes, Emma, that is a cookie that Mary is enjoying. I am sure she misses you-Somewhere in there.

So why was Emma removed from the house? Well, Reader, I think I mentioned that raging sinus infection that sent me weeping and crawling to the doctor last Saturday. Well, it has not improved one whit (what the heck is a whit, anyway?), so my Mom took Emma home with her in an attempt to lighten the load over here. I have never been so happy to say good bye to my mother - or my daughter, for that matter. My mom had come over earlier this week (in response to my BEGGING her on Monday, at a point when the needles behind my eyes would not let me see straight) to stay and help me with the girls. Today she had to go to my Brother's house to watch his daughter Katelyn while he worked, so instead of running over there and leaving me to sob on the couch while my children tried to prove the Survival of the Fittest Theory, she sagely left with one of them, promising to return by dinner. I called the Doctor. The rotten, not very understanding, removed from the situation Doctor told me that it may take 10 to 14 days on the antibiotic (Bactrim) for any noticeable changes to occur. And that it may really take up to 21 days to knock this out of my system.

I cried.

I told her I had 2 small children that were in danger of being eaten by their sick and bedraggled mother. I explained that my husband will be gone for 2 more weeks and I just couldn't POSSIBLY endure that amount of time if I didn't feel better than this. Please, I begged, isn't there ANYTHING else that can be done?

"Get some rest."

Just recalling that conversation makes me want to cry again.

Spam Control

Sorry, folks. I am irritated by this spam crap, so I have changed the settings so that you have to go through the "Word Verification". If I cannot get the spam to stop (I had to delete 14 spam comments on the last post) I will also have to not allow anonymous posts. I hope that this does not deter some of my favorite anonymous posters like my friend McBetty and Mrs. B. I just can't take all of this random stuff popping up. Also, I'll write a nice post later. Right now I'm just doing an "FYI".

Always Expect the Unexpected

Well, dear Reader, I am running on little sleep today. I cannot sleep when Jim travels. I have the hardest time going to sleep or getting sleepy. I dither about going to bed, and then I read until I pretty much pass out from exhaustion. So last night I fell asleep about 3:30 or 4 am. Then I got up around 7:15 with the girls. Nap time was a disaster - 1 hour cumulative nap for Mary Lee. Need I say more? I did not get any additional rest today. After Emma got up I took the kids for a walk to get them out of the house. We went over to my friend Trica's house (pronounced Tricia, just spelled funny) to visit her and her 16 month old daughter, Zoe. We decided to stay outside in her yard and Trica filled up the kiddy pool. Well, Reader, I had not planned on a water affair, so off came the girl's dresses. You must realize that I am fully against infant and toddler nudity (partial or otherwise), especially outside of one's own house. So, this was a big concession to some summertime fun. Well, then Emma's pull-up diaper got so inflated that it literally slid off. So I took Mary's diaper off too, after realizing it was the size of Montana. I not kidding here; I have seen a lot of wet diapers in my day and these two were the largest. I think the pool had to be refilled as well. But I digress. So Emma, who is on again / off again potty trained (still coming off of the bladder infection) , was buck naked in the pool and announced that she had to "make pee-pee". What do you think I did? The non-Mommy Ann (the one who would not had even considered HALF naked children in the private, fenced-in courtyard on an impromptu water play date) would have asked to use the bathroom and rushed the anxious child inside and successfully deposited the offending excretions in the proper place, returned the bathing suit to it's wearer, and gone back outside and let her daughter finish playing. Mommy Ann of two toddlers screamed, "DON'T PEE IN THE POOL", swooped down and grabbed Emma, held her over the grass, and let her pee while she was dangling in the air, NAKED and wet. Emma was then unceremoniously splashed with pool water before being returned to her previous spot. I looked at Trica and said, "Let's never speak of this again". For reasons I cannot comprehend, she just laughed. Sure, I thought, YOUR kid wasn't going to pee in the pool - what was I supposed to do? Really, Reader, I thought I did a pretty good job of thinking fast. Now, if Trica never invites us over again, I will know that there was another option - I just don't know what it is. Trica did ask if this meant I was not going to capture this moment in Emma's scrapbook, so I think it was all good. I think.

"As You Wish"

Laundry Room Closet: Before and Still in Progress

So Hubby and I are.... um.... 'discussing' changes to be made to the house. This is why I posted earlier about decorating and dreaming. He wants to add an entire new room on the second floor as well as move the laundry room up there. He says that interest rates will continue to rise and this will be the only time we will be able to do it. He is BENT on this. I want to paint the living room and add the chair rail moldings before the holidays. So we.... um... 'discussed' these and other things, where I informed him that I don't WANT to move my laundry room, I like it where it is. If it was more usable in it's multiple uses. I think I mentioned this before on the blog. So we look it over and he says, "OK, let's go to Home Depot". Do you remember, reader, the Pottery Barn cost of $560? We walked out of Home Depot with an $88 purchase. Two days later, I've got a bench. Now Hubby worked long and hard on Saturday and got most of the rough finishing done. Sunday would have seen this completed and painted, except that my ridiculous Sinus Infection flared up and I could do nothing this morning except sob in a corner of the room. So work was dropped while I slept some of the pressure off and the girls got some quality Daddy time. Later in the afternoon I was up to sitting on the couch and watching the kids while Jim finished the finer details of construction. It is now up to me, reader, to paint and to get the baskets and organizing tools to complete my beautiful new room. Hurray! I'll post the completed project when I get the chance. Remember that hubby will be traveling for a few weeks, so it may take longer to complete the last steps then it did to build the whole thing.

Now, don't you agree that this project was the better solution?

Sure you do.

Dreaming and Decorating

Ok, readers, I am really lost in dreamy world. Let's pretend, for one minute, that I won a shopping spree at Pottery Barn. First, here is the idea for what my laundry room closet will turn out to be like (but in white): http://ww1.potterybarn.com/cat/pip.cfm?src=shpcfurbchbch%7Crshop%2Fshpcfurbchbch%7Crshop%2Fshpcfurbch%7Crshop%2Fshpcfur%7Crshop%2Fpipcbabdvtptn%7Cgp5884%7Ck%7Cs&pkey=cfurbchbch&gids=p3616 . Wow that is a long link - but worth looking at. So, $560 right there, just to go in and remake closet. Ok - there's more - check out this duvet cover set - I realized when I washed sheets yesterday that we actually have THREADBARE spots in them. So, the new dream set :http://ww1.potterybarn.com/cat/pip.cfm?src=shpcbabdvtptn%7Crshop%2Fshpcbabdvt%7Crshop%2Fshpcbab%7Crshop%2Fpipcfurbchbch%7Cgp3616%7Ck%7Crshop%7Cs&pkey=cbabdvtptn&gids=p5884 . Wow - another long link. But wait, I've only just begun. Let's talk about the kids' rooms/furniture. At some point they will have to have beds as opposed to the nice, convenient cribs the currently have. So, I am IN LOVE with this bed :http://ww1.potterybarnkids.com/cat/pip.cfm?src=shpak%7Ccfrnbrd%7Cda%7Crshop%5Fk%2Fshpak%7Ccfrn%7Cda%7Crshop%5Fk&pkey=cfrnbrd%7Cak&gids=k4165 - Madeline headboard, and it would great with a trundle bed or 2 for friends to sleep over. That runs about $700-1000 each bed. No problem, who needs that extra money laying around? And go ahead and look at the Madeline dresser while you're at it, and the Madeline Storage Desk. Let's move on to bedding: The Charlotte bedding - comforter and sheeting - is ideal for frilly girl's bedrooms. I am also enchanted with the solid matelesse (sp?) throw covers. MAN OH PETES this is awful. But, in my head, I have furnished the bedrooms (including my own) with piles of soft patterns and warm colors, all in Pottery Barn style. **SIGH**. Even if I won a shopping spree there, It would be enough money for all of it. Maybe just the bedding for us, and part of the bench/wall system for the new laundry room area. Yeah, that's it..... The kids can sleep in cribs until they are 6, right?

And So it Goes

Here's the rundown:

Emma has a bladder infection

Mary has an ear infection

I may have a sinus infection

We are one happy, sick family. It would explain why I have had such a short temper with the girls the last couple of days. Getting up with Emma many times a night (sometimes for an hour) caused me to get less sleep when I needed it the most. Interestingly enough, since my fan base seems to love the poop/pee topic, the bladder infection made Emma behave in the weirdest ways. Most notably, she would squat wherever she was (ice cream store, front porch, play park) and pee right through her clothes. A nice, solid stream that could not be mistaken for anything else would suddenly come out, along with the announcement (in case I hadn't noticed the action), "Momma, pee pee!!!". Yes, that was fun. So the training diapers went back on (nappies, for my British reader) until she is over this infection. Thankfully, hubby stayed home this morning the help with the children (see reference to my physical health). He ended up taking Ms. Emma in this AM to see the Doctor, who could not be seen yesterday but was available "right away" this morning. Apparently, it merely depends on which receptionist you get. I really liked this one.

On other notes, I am trying to figure out how to fanagle some home improvements. Yes, reader, we have only lived here for 3 years. However, the paint the builders put on is thin and worrisome at best, and I still have some places that need to be painted. Now I will tell you I spent a good amount of time last year while on bed rest (that is a phrase that does not really explain what happens when you are bulbously pregnant and have a toddler at home) sketching up decorating plans for the main floor. Every room has 'stages' in which to decorate and there is one room - the front living room- that remains as white as Mary Leona's soft skin. This must be attended to as quickly as possible. Also, one of our neighbors has transformed their laundry room by removing the closet doors in the room and putting a bench and various other usable things there for their children. I am so impressed with this possible use of space that I wanted to tear down the doors myself today. My headache, for better or for worse, is impeding immediate progress on that front. Hubby's solution is quite grand - he just wants to add another room on the second floor and move the laundry facilities there. I only realized he was serious after a solid week of hearty gaffawing at the idea. I'll let you know how that goes (*!snicker!*). I think I will scan and upload some of my sketches just for the heck of it. Just so you can share in my dream of a fully decorated/painted house.

Crying

Psalm 130 v.1-2, 5-6

Out of the depths I cry to you,
O Lord.
Lord, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentiveto the voice of my supplications!

I wait for the Lord,
my soul waits,
and in his word I hope:
my soul waits for the Lord
more than those who watch for the morning,
more than those who watch for the morning.

I am not one to quote bible verses, especially on a blog that is supposed to be about the children. I am afraid, however, that a post about the children in my current state of mind would incur a visit from social services. So I was bumping around on blogs, when I meant to be playing a mindless video game to relieve some tension, and I found a blog by Apostle John. Huh - Derek will recognize him as someone who commented about his posting potential dating info. Others will recall that the Apostle John lived in the time of Christ. So, of course, I had to check it out (http://apostlejohn.blogspot.com/). It is an interesting blog, so I checked out some of the blogs he referenced - I HAD to read St. Casserole's input (http://www.stcasseroleblog.blogspot.com/). She had quoted these verses and I felt they were particularly calming. So, there you have it.

"Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition" or, Politics Across the Pond

I have never been very politically aware, as my husband will tell you. But lately, it seems that I cannot help but have an opinion on things political. So I am deviating from the normal topic of poop and commenting on Tony Blair's anti-terrorist measures announced recently. So Tony has allowed Britain to "expel foreigners who preach hatred, close extremist mosques and bar entry to Muslim radicals", and also those who speak, write, or give sermons supporting terrorism. Let me make it clear that I do not support terrorism in any intentional way (even when Tony isn't looking), so I am not making any judgment on his rulings. But it sounds faintly like the Salem Witch Hunts or the Spanish Inquisition, where you could turn in your neighbor or family member for no better reason than you felt like calling him/her a witch/heretic/terrorist. At least this time it does not mean torture or death, just exportation. So where are they going to send these...... infidels? Australia? Or back from whence they came, where they can gain a following, whip up MORE anger and hate, and be living testaments to the oppression that is the free world? I particularly like the following statement, taken from a Reuter's news site:

"Blair said Britain could override human rights laws if courts blocked deportations and London failed to gain assurances from other countries that they will not torture deportees. Britain's courts have in the past thwarted government expulsion measures because the European Convention on Human Rights requires guarantees deportees will not be mistreated.

"The circumstances of our national security have now self-evidently changed ... We can retest it and if necessary we can amend the human rights act and that covers the British court's interpretation of the law," Blair said." (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050805/ts_nm/security_britain_dc)

That's nice. In other words, "we tried to deport people before for various reasons and then decided not to because the other country would not make promises it would not keep, but now we are just going to change the law to say we can make them go home if we feel like, even if they are going to be tortured". It looks a little murky to me. I wonder what the Queen thinks of it. Can you see her signing a Royal Proclamation to that extent? Not that I am making a judgment, only that it makes me scratch my head and say, "Hmm. Wonder where THAT is going to lead".

Ga! Game and Food Strikes

Mary's new game has some form of complex rules only she can understand. She particularly likes to do it with bloomers or panties, whichever she can find. Since Emma is potty training (STILL) she seems to be able to find both of them with surprising recurrence. Then she stands up, taking the bloomers in her hands, and lifts them over her head. She takes 2 or 3 steps and throws her item to the ground and yells, "GA!!!". Then repeat. Emma has tried to play the same game with her and she just gets mad - apparently Emma does not understand the intricacies of the Ga! Game.

Emma is on a food strike. She is subsisting, I am convinced, on a half a banana a day and a bit of pudding. I refuse to bargain with her, offering multitudes of different dishes to please her. So Mary is getting to eat a lot of Emma's non-eaten meals. This is a good thing, because Mary is storing up for a long hibernation, or a growth spurt. She is eating 3 times what I think Emma would (normally) eat and sleeping inordinate amounts of time. Any day now she is going to be huge.

Speaking of growing, Mary had her 1 year well child appointment last Friday. She is 22 lbs and 31 inches long. This puts her in the 75th percentile for weight and 95th percentile for height. Wow! Emma always lives in the 25th and 50th percentiles, so I was shocked to hear this. Of course, with the way the girls are eating, it would make sense.

Pictures

I've just spent FOREVER loading pictures into Shutterfly to try them out. So far I don't like them. Then I find out I can't get the great deal I thought I could on 4X6 prints. Now I Like them even less. So I am sharing my album, but not buying prints from them at this time. Anyway, I have enough photos to scrapbook right now without getting more sent to my house and clogging up my creative processes. So here's the darn link if you want to see the pics: http://share.shutterfly.com/action/share/view?i=EeBNWzFm4ZOXBQ&open=1&x=1&sm=1&sl=0

I'm going to bed now.

Happy Birthday, my Mary Lee

2:03 PM slipped by without notice this year. At 4:53 I noticed the time and realized that uncomfortable memories of last year at that time were foggy at best, thank heavens. Mary turned one while she was sleeping and I didn't even notice. She was perfectly adorable and sweet today, like most days. I loved her more than ever just for being here. We didn't do anything of note today except sing 'Happy Baby Birthday' a dozen or so times. She swayed back and forth the minute we started and smiled all the way through. She let me rock her for about 15 minutes tonight, and I told her all sorts of things you want to tell somebody you really love: about what it was like the first time I saw her, felt her, heard her; the sweetest times I've ever had with her; the sounds I love; (the sounds I don't love); how her hair curls in back and is turning coarse; how all 10 of her toes are absolutely perfect and kissable (and what has she been doing with them since they've gotten so big?!); and on and on. She patiently listened to me and smiled and cooed when she should. Then she got impatient and began trying to tear my face off via the corner of my mouth with her pointy index finger. So I laid her down in her crib - in the middle of the nest of blankets she has made - gave her her blankie and her pacifier and said good night to my precious 1 year old baby as I said goodbye to my helpless infant.

Directly after that, I chased down my naked 2 year old and wrestled her pajamas over her head while she screamed that is was morning, not that evil time called night. Then I sat down and locked her on my lap with my leg to comb the tangles out of her wet hair while she squirmed with amazing strength. She then pleaded for me to find her rainboots (no rain here) and she found her 'purse'. With Disney Princess nightgown, tulip rainboots, and electric blue bag, she announced she was going 'bye-bye' and climbed into the pedal car that Jim got for the girls. Good-bye, dear toddler - until tomorrow.

Blog, Blog, Blog....

You wouldn't believe it if I told you. I blog constantly. Really, I do. Almost every minute of the day, I have a constant monologue accompanying me, making spectacular and witty observations. Imagine my surprise when I review my blog and find none of it there. Some day the need to come up with software that will type what you are thinking when you need it. That would make my life a lot more interesting - and documented. Aside from talking to myself in my head all day, I have been filling every spare moment with crafts. It has been in the 90's here with humidity that makes trees wilt from the weight of it, so I have been spending a lot of time in the basement with the kids and the craft area. I recently bought a climbing/slide toy to put down here so that Emma (and soon Mary) can expend some energy on days we cannot, or do not want to go out. We also put down some of those colorful foam floor mats that interlock like a puzzle to extend the play area. There are two bound remnants that measure about 8 x 10 and 10 x 14 feet, and then the 8 x 8 area of playmats. We brought down our old TV from our bedroom (a little 9" screen with a video player built in) and hooked up a small DVD player to it as well. It doesn't get any reception, but it does play Dora and that is all that matters in this house right now! So the girls have plenty of toys (most of the noisy ones) and things to do downstairs. The idea was that I could scrapbook or do crafty things while they played nearby. WELL, LET ME TELL YOU - that was laughable! When I walk off of the designated play area, Emma suddenly cannot manage the Jack-in-the-Box by herself. Then she cannot climb up the little rock wall alone. Her shape sorter is suddenly out of sorts and can only be righted by me. In other words, she is glued to me. So what ends up happening is I spend short 5 minute bouts of time pulling out everything and really WANTING to craft, but end up playing with the pop-on blocks instead. Then when they go down for a nap, I can't get to my craft area fast enough to do everything I have been wanting to do all morning. Likewise for when they go to bed. So, consequently, I do not spend too much time on the computer. Hence the lack of reliable blogging. I would be surprised by now if anyone besides my loyal Lochmoor Mom even checks this any more.

I would go on, but now it is late and I am tired. I still must pick up the toys and put sheets on our bed. We had Mary's first birthday party this past weekend. I cannot believe she is going to be one on Thursday. My little ball of love is walking occasionally and speaking quite a few words, both of which shock me every time they occur. I will get some pictures up soon, as well as an account of the festivities.

Quick Summary

We had a faboo Fourth of July weekend, doing everything that makes summertime great for kids. Diane and Derek came in Friday night with their girls, and we had an awesome time together! We took the kids to Jungle Java, the Spray scape park (think giant sprinklers), Chuck E. Cheese's (where a birthday girl can be a kid), went out to dinner (for the adults!), saw the parade in Northville, and walked to the ice cream store together (Cold Stone's - where else?!). On Monday, Jim and I escaped to go see Star Wars Episode III, which was awesome, and the kids played together before they went to bed. In the span of3 full days, the kids got to eat birthday cake, hot dogs, ice cream, pizza, more pizza, and brownies. Now, tell me that isn't a good summer weekend for them.

I know you wouldn't believe we had a great weekend if you heard the other side of the coin first, but I will only say that in spite of leaking, explosive diapers and broken glass (not caused by the diapers in any way, shape, or form), it was a fantastic time with our very dearest friends. And, as we mentioned in regards to the glass: at least it wasn't a deer in our house. This is a true story, folks - they had a deer jump through their front window and create havoc and wreckage for 45 minutes one morning while they were out. Caused a h*ll of a lot of damage and left a lot of blood in it's wake. See? The poop and broken glass wasn't that bad. Needless to say, the Ruckers are doing some minor redecorating. We are just ordering a new oven door.

Nothing else to write about right now, except that we are going to sit down and watch the original Star Wars episode so that I can remember the rest of the story - right now, as a matter of fact. We left off last night where Hans Solo and the gang get stuck in the trash compactor - sure hope they make it out!

Potty Language

"So, why haven't you blogged?" Lochmoor Mom asked.

Two words, my friend: POTTY TRAINING.

"So, blog about that."

This one I actually thought about for a millisecond. Besides using up huge time blocks where I spend an inordinate amount of time sitting in front of Emma on the 'potty', singing songs, reading books to her, or making up Dora stories, I am, when she goes to bed, pooped.

Not pooped in the sense of "poots" (Emma speak), or as in "pee-pee", which I actually used in a sentence when speaking to my husband yesterday. Pooped as in so flippin' tired and sucked dry of any patience I ever had that I really want to burrow into the farthest reaches of my house and twitch. Barring that availability, eating more Birthday Cake Remix will work, too.

I meant to go to Meijer tonight and pick up more Feel and Learn diapers ("Dora Diapers"), Kan-Doo flushable wipes ("Purple-green paper towel"), and some pull-ups for night and nap times, since Emma likes to remove the regular velcro tabbed diapers for sleeping purposes. However, the minute the girls went to their cribs (they are still chatting at each other right now) I put on my PJ's. I know a lot of people go to all sorts of places in their pajamas, but I am not and will not become one of them. So that will be first on the docket tomorrow morning. Oh, and we are out of milk. Better put that on the list, too.

All in all, potty training is everything I feared and expected. I just didn't foresee the potty-themed songs or the made up Dora adventure stories, where Dora eats a lot and drinks a lot and then has to.... Well, I am sure you can guess that ending.

Status Quo

Well my dear husband made it home today, safe and sound, thank God. He came in just as I was coming downstairs with both girls after Mary's morning nap. They girls were all dressed in pretty yellow dresses, although I myself was only in shorts. Emma sported little pigtails, which are as darling as any 2-year-old can get. She cinched that category when she saw Jim and ran into his arms at full speed, yelling,"Daddy!" with the exuberance only a child can display. Mary got all excited and laughed (in happiness) and waited until Emma was done and Jim looked right at her to say, "DADA!!!!". It was a great homecoming and so wonderful to see my children so happy and animated at Jim's return. Jim looked blissful. So for the afternoon, things returned to normal and it seemed like he was never gone. We went to lunch (Wendy's), and Mary and Emma kept alternating calling Dada and Daddy for him to respond on the drive there. We came home, put the girls down for their naps, and I collapsed from exhaustion while Jim, wired with caffeine, put together the behemoth climbing toy I bought almost 2 weeks ago. When Emma saw it, she loved it. We had pizza for dinner - that is a Wednesday night tradition, so nobody better get on me for not cooking a meal for him. Jim was glad to eat some good food and said that lunch was the most expensive meal he's had in 3 weeks. Well, it is 8:15 and the whole of my family is in bed and I am by myself. It is nice, in a way, to catch my breath, clean up the kitchen and the girls' toys, and sit down to a quiet house. I did finish off my bucket-o-calories today and I hope to not see that dreaded ice cream again for a long time. I am going to go spend some time with my Stampin' Up! orders and catalog and possibly make a few cards to send to people. I have been trying to do that for 3 weeks now and haven't made it yet, so we'll see. BTW, I'd like to welcome my friend in Jackson to the blogging world. You can check out her blog at www.lochmoorlife.blogspot.com . Enjoy!