Istanbul soccer celebration
Saturday, May 20, 2006
Friday, May 19, 2006
Waiting
Still at La Guardia, waiting for Diane. Bad storms have shut down the runways and delayed flights for hours. 4:10 fri
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Mobile Email from a Cingular Wireless Customer http://www.cingular.com
On The Plane
11:42 and waiting for takeoff to New York!
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Mobile Email from a Cingular Wireless Customer http://www.cingular.com
Thursday, May 18, 2006
Vintage Ann
I know I don't look the happy princess, but my brother was fond of catching candid shots and I was apparently letting my mind wander or bored to death. Since I was sitting by myself, I am sure that did not lead to happiness, either. It was taken at my parent's house during a Christmas Eve party. I'll be taking guesses on the year this was photographed (family is obviously not allowed to vote).
Sunday, May 14, 2006
Happy Mother's Day
It was a sensible but wet Mother's Day here in our household. I did not get breakfast in bed, but I have never really wanted that. So I got up and stayed in my pajamas, which is something I seldom do. Emma helped Jim make pancakes for breakfast while Mary and I read some books. It would have been too hectic for him to work with both girls while trying to use a griddle. We all ate breakfast and wonderful gifts followed. Jim had taken Emma out last night to find a gift for me. She picked out a pretty costume jewelry necklace and earring with rhinestone flowers. Not too sparkly, but nice enough to wear to an event. They were quite tasteful. Both the girls had made cards, under Jim's supervision last night in the craft area. I was required to stay in the room, just in case (of what, I am not sure), but everything went fine. I think he was surprised at how difficult it was to have them use craft materials. HEE! So the cards had little statements on them from the girls, which Jim wrote down exactly as each girl had said, which means Emma's read "I love you sooooooo, I do, YES I DO!" and Mary's read "This Mama's right there, no Daddy that miiiiiiiiinnnnnne!". Very touching, I think Hallmark should hire them both.
There was many minutes of calling Grandmas and recounting every minute of the last 2 days on the phone, and various other mundane activities that fill up a day with toddlers. Jim changed stinky diapers and I spent a lot of the day playing dollhouse and hide and seek. Not by myself, mind you. Emma is a whiz at it. During naptime I went out for a walk for no reason except that I could do it all by myself and even though it was a bit soggy out, it was a wonderful time for walking. After dinner, we tried to get a Mother's day picture of me and my happy girls, but it didn't really work too well. The one on this page is the closest it got to a good picture. And that is a raincoat that Mary's wearing. I had the bright idea we would go for a walk after dinner, but it began pouring right as we got ready to go out, which was way too much rain for some little raincoat, but Mary had gotten all excited about putting on her coat that the dear thing would just not take it off again. So she wore it until I changed her into PJ's, which was much like trying to invade a small country since she is very attached to said raincoat.
So another Mother's Day gone until next year. Really I can only think that next year Mary won't be so hard to get to smile in a picture. Maybe she will even sit still. And so goes another day in the journey.
Saturday, May 13, 2006
Thursday, May 11, 2006
New Bikes
You saw the pictures of the girls on their new bikes, so here is the story. Emma picked out a Strawberry Shortcake bike, which is better than Dora but not as desirable as Princesses (for me, that is). The SS bike is a 14 inch bike, and a 12 inch one would have fit her better, but she saw it and the deal was done. She wouldn't even try the other bikes. Funny thing is that in the picture she is wearing her Cinderella helmet and knee pads (which have come in very useful, thank you very much) from her roller skates she got on her birthday, her Dora shoes and her SS bike. A wide appeal, I suppose. We got Mary her own little trike thing since you cannot give Emma a new bike without Mary wanting her own. Our neighbors have this one and she has really taken a liking to it, so we got it. She can, in fact, propel herself on this thing, but it is more a Flinstone movement than a pedaling thing. That does not keep her back, let me tell you. The first day we had it, Mary pushed herself around the neighborhood for *****2 HOURS***** without stopping. By the time we were done, MY feet hurt and I was crabby. But little Mary will not be disuaded. She just plugs away at it. Emma never could figure those things out. We had a tricycle for her that she has never used, but it remains too large for Mary. She was incapable of pedaling OR steering, which led to wild perabulations in ragged circles, pushing Emma along gamely with the hope that she would figure out how to turn the handle bars to the left, just this once. I gave up on the self propelled idea and usually pulled her and Mary in the wagon when we walked anywhere. But the girls next door have bikes and Emma was just crushed that she had nothing of the sort. Mary then claimed their big wheel thing for her own and the outside time we would have was beginning to get a bit dicey. So we caved to peer pressure and made a trip to Toys R Us. 2 bikes later, we were in business.
Unfortunately, this should be a non-Mommy intensive thing and yet IT IS NOT. I cannot get a free minute where Emma does not need a little push to get up a small hill or Mary is in the grass and thinks it is quicksand and I must get her out RIGHT THEN before she perishes. It is amazing to me that any activity somehow, inexpicably, must involved every second of my time. You might get from this little rant that it irks me, bothering me to a new level of distraction that is not natural. You might think that I am being a little unreasonable and should cherish this time with my toddler daughters instead of wishing them along on their normal development. You might think that being a stay at home mom makes these little things seem so much larger and I should really get a grip on myself. You might also think that it is a hard business, being a mom to two little kids who constantly need need need every spare minute and available breath that you have stored up and a small break in the daily routine of servicing somebody's need every minute of the day and night would be a welcome respite. Well, dear friend, you might be right.
Unfortunately, this should be a non-Mommy intensive thing and yet IT IS NOT. I cannot get a free minute where Emma does not need a little push to get up a small hill or Mary is in the grass and thinks it is quicksand and I must get her out RIGHT THEN before she perishes. It is amazing to me that any activity somehow, inexpicably, must involved every second of my time. You might get from this little rant that it irks me, bothering me to a new level of distraction that is not natural. You might think that I am being a little unreasonable and should cherish this time with my toddler daughters instead of wishing them along on their normal development. You might think that being a stay at home mom makes these little things seem so much larger and I should really get a grip on myself. You might also think that it is a hard business, being a mom to two little kids who constantly need need need every spare minute and available breath that you have stored up and a small break in the daily routine of servicing somebody's need every minute of the day and night would be a welcome respite. Well, dear friend, you might be right.
Tuesday, May 09, 2006
Monday, May 08, 2006
Saturday, May 06, 2006
Thursday, May 04, 2006
Wednesday, May 03, 2006
And the Tax Man Cometh
So I got my hair cut and I am relatively happy with it. I really need to get the highlights touched up, but I have to wait 2 weeks. Until then, I will just not look in a mirror. In other news I have not mentioned, I did another all day crop (that's scrapbook lingo for 12 HOURS OF SCRAPBOOK THINGS) this past weekend. My good friend and neighbor, Zoe's Mom, and my new scrapbook buddy, my MIL, were both there. The only problem with spending 12 hours making progress on backlogged photos is that right afterwards you are on some sort of scrapbook high and that is ALL you want to do every waking moment of your life. And then your spouse, who watched the children all day and half of the night, also wants to do solitary non-children type of things every waking moment and not a lot of anything gets done for a few days. Then we get to Thursday and laundry starts getting done again and meals get made and children get extra fun things to do to make up for all of the television they watched the rest of the week. Or maybe Friday.
So that is where I am right now. I had to search online for some album hardware to make my albums large enough to accommodate the copious amounts of pages waiting to be put in them. And I found what I needed and ordered it RIGHT AWAY before any of this pining gets out of hand.
We are getting a railing put around our patio tomorrow which was supposed to be done yesterday when it was raining. Then today they couldn't start because it was too wet and something something blah blah blah. But they did indeed start and dug post holes and put posts in the ground where the rails will come down the steps. I am quite excited about quaint little white rails lining my patio and find myself a bit impatient about the whole ordeal. I will, of course, post some pictures. Right now there is nothing to post except some random 4 by 4 posts sticking up from the ground. Also, the sprinkler man John is sending one of his crew over to finish up the fixing of the sprinkler system. See, after we had our entire yard overhauled and planted on top of the original sprinkler system, some of the sprinkler heads fell in places that were not very helpful. One was on the outside of the solid fence. Another one was not anywhere at all, but merely waving around 2 feet in the air since a 7 foot pine tree had taken up residence where that head used to live. This created a problem for using said sprinkler system. So we had to have John the Sprinkler Man (who is really nice in person but quite accusatory on the phone) come out and re-plan the whole watering system. Tomorrow he will be done (hopefully) and I will pay him a large sum of money. Then the guy who is doing the railing on the patio will put the finishing touches on the railing and I will hand him another sum of money and they will all go home happy with bulging wallets and I will sob in the corner of my beautifully landscaped yard with working sprinklers and quaint rails because my home equity loan has given so much for my yard and it will never be so full again. Not even I pay it and all of the millions of dollars of interest off when I am 80. But the sound of the waterfall and the fish, along with the prospect of planting herbs behind the flagstone patio will soon make me happy again and I will forget all about the gobs of money until billing time at the end of the month.
Speaking of this month, I have not yet made the Mother's Day gifts I wanted to make this year and I am not sure if they are going to get done. Can you believe that? So I may have to go shopping at my local gift store which has WONDERFUL things in it and is the only open store in our "downtown" at the moment and spend some money on some very meaningful and cute things that do not require photos or little pieces of paper at all. Also, I am going to New York later this month to spend some time with my dearest friend in the whole world. We are going to catch a Broadway Musical and eat at some New York-ish type restaurants and so some touristy New York type of things. If you have any suggestions, let me know.
So that is where I am right now. I had to search online for some album hardware to make my albums large enough to accommodate the copious amounts of pages waiting to be put in them. And I found what I needed and ordered it RIGHT AWAY before any of this pining gets out of hand.
We are getting a railing put around our patio tomorrow which was supposed to be done yesterday when it was raining. Then today they couldn't start because it was too wet and something something blah blah blah. But they did indeed start and dug post holes and put posts in the ground where the rails will come down the steps. I am quite excited about quaint little white rails lining my patio and find myself a bit impatient about the whole ordeal. I will, of course, post some pictures. Right now there is nothing to post except some random 4 by 4 posts sticking up from the ground. Also, the sprinkler man John is sending one of his crew over to finish up the fixing of the sprinkler system. See, after we had our entire yard overhauled and planted on top of the original sprinkler system, some of the sprinkler heads fell in places that were not very helpful. One was on the outside of the solid fence. Another one was not anywhere at all, but merely waving around 2 feet in the air since a 7 foot pine tree had taken up residence where that head used to live. This created a problem for using said sprinkler system. So we had to have John the Sprinkler Man (who is really nice in person but quite accusatory on the phone) come out and re-plan the whole watering system. Tomorrow he will be done (hopefully) and I will pay him a large sum of money. Then the guy who is doing the railing on the patio will put the finishing touches on the railing and I will hand him another sum of money and they will all go home happy with bulging wallets and I will sob in the corner of my beautifully landscaped yard with working sprinklers and quaint rails because my home equity loan has given so much for my yard and it will never be so full again. Not even I pay it and all of the millions of dollars of interest off when I am 80. But the sound of the waterfall and the fish, along with the prospect of planting herbs behind the flagstone patio will soon make me happy again and I will forget all about the gobs of money until billing time at the end of the month.
Speaking of this month, I have not yet made the Mother's Day gifts I wanted to make this year and I am not sure if they are going to get done. Can you believe that? So I may have to go shopping at my local gift store which has WONDERFUL things in it and is the only open store in our "downtown" at the moment and spend some money on some very meaningful and cute things that do not require photos or little pieces of paper at all. Also, I am going to New York later this month to spend some time with my dearest friend in the whole world. We are going to catch a Broadway Musical and eat at some New York-ish type restaurants and so some touristy New York type of things. If you have any suggestions, let me know.
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
Monday, May 01, 2006
Pictures at Kodak Gallery
Since I can't get Blogger to upload ANY photos today, click here to see the pictures of my girls and the blossoming yard.
Spring is Here!
Well, I have been asked and then nicely asked again so I am trying to carve out some time to sit down and post something. It's not that I don't have things to chat about, it is that I got busy and ignored the computer for a little while. But Thank You to my regular readers for giving me grief while I lazed about. First I want to say that with spring here all of our new landscaping that was put in last November is starting to bloom and it is GLORIOUS. So I've included a picture for you to enjoy. This week we will be getting a railing put on the patio, so the view will actually be different next week. In other news...
Check out this funny song here. I found it when I was looking for a title for a scrapbook page about noodles and I found that silly song. My kids love it and I love it until it will not stop playing in my head at all hours of the night. I swear if you play it 3 times in a row it will get stuck on a loop in your mind.
Recently, a close friend of mine mentioned that all she ever wanted in her role as a mother was for her children to think she was the best mother ever, and to BE that mother. This got me to thinking. In reality, wouldn't we all like to have that? But truthfully, is that even possible? The criteria for this changes depending on what side of the issue you are on. Now, her kids are a little older than mine and they are at the stage where they think everything she did up until now was, well, wrong. I realize that this is a normal part of development, but it pains me to think so. And there are some situations where her children are wrong and even THEY know it, but they won't drop the pretense. This whole thing really bothered me to a point where it keeps rattling around in my head and won't leave me alone. You would think when they grew up and have their own kids they would see the difference, yet I also have an example where that is not the case.
And on the other side of the coin I read an article in the Sunday Detroit News how parents are now contributing to the middle class lifestyle of their children into their 30's! I am talking about 20 somethings that have jobs making $30,000 a year and Mom and Dad are still sending reimbursements on a MONTHLY basis. Now I don't mean to gripe and moan, but I don't recall any stipends coming to me after I was on my own. So do I get to collect that? Some examples were $300 a month or a purchased apartment in Manhattan. Man, that would be nice to cash in on now! Are these children grateful for their situation or are they still rolling their eyes at Mom or Dad when they complain no one calls or writes anymore? That's just wrong, unlees, OF COURSE, I am also getting the benefits!
Well, I plan on blogging more later, but right now I can't figure out why picture is not loading.
Check out this funny song here. I found it when I was looking for a title for a scrapbook page about noodles and I found that silly song. My kids love it and I love it until it will not stop playing in my head at all hours of the night. I swear if you play it 3 times in a row it will get stuck on a loop in your mind.
Recently, a close friend of mine mentioned that all she ever wanted in her role as a mother was for her children to think she was the best mother ever, and to BE that mother. This got me to thinking. In reality, wouldn't we all like to have that? But truthfully, is that even possible? The criteria for this changes depending on what side of the issue you are on. Now, her kids are a little older than mine and they are at the stage where they think everything she did up until now was, well, wrong. I realize that this is a normal part of development, but it pains me to think so. And there are some situations where her children are wrong and even THEY know it, but they won't drop the pretense. This whole thing really bothered me to a point where it keeps rattling around in my head and won't leave me alone. You would think when they grew up and have their own kids they would see the difference, yet I also have an example where that is not the case.
And on the other side of the coin I read an article in the Sunday Detroit News how parents are now contributing to the middle class lifestyle of their children into their 30's! I am talking about 20 somethings that have jobs making $30,000 a year and Mom and Dad are still sending reimbursements on a MONTHLY basis. Now I don't mean to gripe and moan, but I don't recall any stipends coming to me after I was on my own. So do I get to collect that? Some examples were $300 a month or a purchased apartment in Manhattan. Man, that would be nice to cash in on now! Are these children grateful for their situation or are they still rolling their eyes at Mom or Dad when they complain no one calls or writes anymore? That's just wrong, unlees, OF COURSE, I am also getting the benefits!
Well, I plan on blogging more later, but right now I can't figure out why picture is not loading.
Thursday, April 27, 2006
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
3 Little Pigs
As the story ended (well, the sanitized version), Emma added her own amendments:
Me: ...and the wolf slid down the chimney and the fire in the fireplace sent him right back up and out and he never came back. The pigs lived happily ever after.
Emma: And they gave him a bandaide.
Me: Oh?
Emma: Yes. 'Cuz he had a boo-boo.
Me: Yes, he did.
Emma: On his bum.
Me: Yes.
Emma: The pigs kissed his boo-boo and made it better.
Me: They did?
Emma: Yes, and they said sorry for burning his bum. Then they all lived together and ate ice cream.
Just thought you'd be interested in this new ending, so that you can tell it correctly to he new generations.
Me: ...and the wolf slid down the chimney and the fire in the fireplace sent him right back up and out and he never came back. The pigs lived happily ever after.
Emma: And they gave him a bandaide.
Me: Oh?
Emma: Yes. 'Cuz he had a boo-boo.
Me: Yes, he did.
Emma: On his bum.
Me: Yes.
Emma: The pigs kissed his boo-boo and made it better.
Me: They did?
Emma: Yes, and they said sorry for burning his bum. Then they all lived together and ate ice cream.
Just thought you'd be interested in this new ending, so that you can tell it correctly to he new generations.
An After Thought
I was hopping around to my favorite blogs (se the list on the right) and found a link to this article, a tongue and cheek "Save Easter from the Atheists" sort of thing. I found it quite hysterical.
Babysitter Tales
I am test driving a new babysitter. I just don't like the idea of having an unknown teenager over to my house and leaving her with my stress inducing angels as I walk out the door. So I invited one of the local babysitting teens (a young one of 13) over today and let her take care of the kids while I was busy on another floor of the house. She has taken, I was told, a "Babysitting Course" through the community. Oh? Fascinating, but only if I really knew what they covered and what that meant. There were a few things to tell someone who has just come over and I realized as I told her the one million things a person must know to take care of the kids in my house that I should really write some of it down. Then again, I've done that before; where I write down EVERY detail of the desired care of my children while I am out and I am pretty sure the list (epic as it is) did not get read past the first 3 lines. Anyhow, at some point I should figure out a good compromise between ticking off things with my fingers while I spout information versus writing an epic list. So, dear Kasi was WONDERFUL. I was on the third floor of my house, organizing and filing things that have been neglected since Mary was born and they were playing in the basement. My phone system has a really neat feature that allows you to use them as walkie-talkies and page from one phone base to another. This was handy for Kasi as she could just ring me up and ask where the proffered pop was kept. I can also turn on the phones like a baby monitor and listen to the activities at that end - YES, SPY. I don't expect to find out that the neighbor kid is beating my children, but I do want to hear the atmosphere of the playtime. I couldn't hear exactly what was being said, but I do know there was no crying, no yelling, and 2 little girls laughing ecstatically at something the babysitter was saying or doing. That was happiness enough for me. So I virtuously filed and sorted for 2 1/2 hours, coming close to eliminating one large item off of my Spring Cleaning list and it only cost me $15. Kasi, thankfully, will be back tomorrow morning for the follow up 2 1/2 hours and I am happy as punch about it. The sad thing is that I wish she could come over every morning for two hours so that I could get some THINGS done, but, alas, she must attend school. SIGH.
Sunday, April 16, 2006
Easter Blessings
There was the candy, the chocolate, and the mayhem. They pretty much went in that order, as well as increasing in magnitude with every step. The girls pigged out on the baskets of candy (which were considered to be sparsely loaded) early this morning after a rousing game of Egg Hunting. A few hours later we went to a nice brunch that we had to make reservations for 2 weeks ago. I figured they would be passable and maybe even hungry by that time. No such luck. This restaurant was SMART. They had a kids buffet filled with rice krispie treats, colorful goldfish crackers, sugary cereal like Lucky Charms, doughnuts, tater tots, cookies, yadda yadda ad naseum. My kids wouldn't even touch that. There were random trifles of chocolate eggs and the whatnot scattered around the tables, and that was what they ATE. It was incredible. The chocolate drool alone from Mary's mouth was notable. And they did not want to sit down. Emma very nearly pulled the table cloth and all table belongings off onto the floor at least twice. Mary fell out of her booster seat more times than I could count. All I can say is that we will not be going to another brunch any time soon - and maybe not even next Easter.
As an aside, Emma is still unable to stop the mayhem and is kicking her bedroom door right now. I should go see what it is that is so dire.
As an aside, Emma is still unable to stop the mayhem and is kicking her bedroom door right now. I should go see what it is that is so dire.
Friday, April 14, 2006
Taming the Mall Monster
Emma is taking Crocodile Hunter lessons and the first one involved letting this poor girl out of the mouth of the Giant Mall Croc. ;)
Attack of the Killer Butterfly
At the mall today we went inside of a butterfly house. Mary loved the little insects and was amazed at every turn. She giggled when they climbed on her fingers. She squealed when they opened their wings. Emma was pleased to see the creatures, until one started climbing up her arm. The higher up her arm it got, the more nervous she became. This one made it up to her chest when I asked her to smile. This look was stuck on her face until the delicate thing took off.
Waiting for the doctor for 40 minutes
I took this picture with my phone at the ENT doctor's office this morning. We were there for a simple recheck of Emma's ear tubes, which were infected a month or so ago and bleeding profusely at the time. There was an earlier picture of her here at the same office. Well we waited 25 minutes in the waiting room and then an additional 30 in the exam room. I was, for some reason, extraordinarily annoyed at this and told the nurse and the doctor just that. All I asked was that they might have told me at the beginning so that I could have called Jim's Mom to tell her we were going to be late in meeting her. Irritatingly so, the doctor was insouciantly unapologetic.
Thursday, April 13, 2006
Fish
This is a picture of our new fish. We have 8 large fish and 5 little fish. A neighbor gave them to us, as she is dismantling her little waterfall/rapids/pond thing. She said her husband put it in poorly and they need to undo it for an unspecified amount of time. I have to tell you, reader, it is a bit of pressure, knowing that she has had these fish for 5 years (and asked if she could come and visit them), and knowing that I may inadvertently kill them. In spite of all of that, we now have fish in our pond. Which meant Jim had to go to the nursery FIRST thing this morning and get plants. He's been DYING to get plants for this pond. He has searched online for information and pictures, checked books out of the library, and printed off mounds of information. He even called a pond specialty store and went and visited it a few weeks ago. What he won't listen to is every single source of information that is telling him IT IS TOO EARLY TO PUT IN NEW PLANTS. The nice NEW plants you see in this picture are a Monarch butterfly attracting plant on the left, that will flower with nice white flowers (if the frost doesn't kill it) and a papyrus plant on the left, which looks kind of like Yarrow (or: WEEDY). We also have 2 lily pad plants and some random floating plants and a tall grass of some sort. Emma "helped" him put the plants in and she got a great satisfaction out of it and strutted about with fabulous importance that she got to "water the plants". Which is correct in a bizarre, twisting language sort of way. The only frustrating thing was we had to go before the girls' pictures today in their beautiful fluffy Easter dresses, fine shoes and white gloves. Which they were wearing while traipsing through the greenhouses with piles of mud and standing water. We had a quick turn about the place and went to wait in the car until time to go. It all worked out wonderfully and we got some successful pictures, which I will have to figure out how to get them so they can be seen here.
Well, that is all for now. I have some other random computer things to attend and it isn't getting any earlier.
Wednesday, April 12, 2006
Home at Last
We are home and VERY happy, mostly because EMMA IS SLEEPING. Our poor, overtired bunny fell asleep as we were descending through turbulence- basically rocked to sleep by bumpy clouds. That gave her something around 13 minutes of a nap today, which was enough to swear her off of any further sleep the rest of the day. Everything went smoothly and we completely enjoyed our time with our good friends. The girls had a blast disgorging every well organized toy area of the house. We had a great time just being with our friends, drinking wine, eating a LOT of food, and laughing enough to cause harm to ourselves.
Our very tired children cried when we got off of the plane, when we got onto the red bus to take us to our car, when we got in our car, when we drove through Wendy's for a late lunch, when we ate lunch, when we took off their shoes, and at every other opportunity a toddler can think of to be totally crushed by the choice you make. So we gave them a bath and put them to bed. The day is really looking up at 8:45 PM.
Our very tired children cried when we got off of the plane, when we got onto the red bus to take us to our car, when we got in our car, when we drove through Wendy's for a late lunch, when we ate lunch, when we took off their shoes, and at every other opportunity a toddler can think of to be totally crushed by the choice you make. So we gave them a bath and put them to bed. The day is really looking up at 8:45 PM.
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
Monday, April 10, 2006
Fun Picture from the mall
In order: Emma, Sabrina, Fiona. They were, indeed, having that good of a time. This was at the-park-previously-known-as Camp Snoopy, until they unexpectedly lost the licensing rights. They are now "The Park at Mall of America", and the girls really don't care either way. Mary got to go on the trucks and drive around a circle, as well as the carousel. She thought that was very cool. Emma and Fiona went to everything they could get to, and Sabrina climbed to the top of the rock wall. Wow! They were a bunch of energetic children, even when we got home.
Vagabond Life
Well, here we are in Minnesota, visitng close friends. The adventure is trying to get 4 girls (5 1/2, 3 1/2, 3 and not quite 2) to sleep in the same room. It is "nap time" right now, which just means the adults take turns going in and looking menacing. Little Mary is out cold, but the rest of the girls cannot keep themselves quiet enough for one of them to try to sleep. It is humorous, if only it didn't mean the lack of napping. We went to lunch at a great little Mexican restaurant, where the waiter chatted away with me and Jim in Spanish. Sometimes, I would like to not speak Spanish so that I could just sit there quietly and not have to think. But the food was incredible and Mary ate EVERY bite, which is highly unusual. Diane and I escaped for a pedicure this morning and now the guys are headed out to do something manly without the kids around. Later we are going to go wrok out (the kids get to play at a cool kid's area), then take all 4 girls to the open pool thing. We'll see how that goes, since they are ging to be pretty tired and most likely very grumpy. The best laid plans and all of that....
The most excitement happened yesterday at the Zoo, when I thought I lost my phone. We back tracked and spent a lot of time looking on the ground, only to go home disappointed. Later I found that it had fallen out of my coat and was living on the floor under my seat in the car. That was a happy ending.
The most excitement happened yesterday at the Zoo, when I thought I lost my phone. We back tracked and spent a lot of time looking on the ground, only to go home disappointed. Later I found that it had fallen out of my coat and was living on the floor under my seat in the car. That was a happy ending.
Sunday, April 09, 2006
Friday, April 07, 2006
Just for Derek
I had to make these ultra cute bunnies today for no reason except that I am procrastinating hundreds of other things. This pattern is at the Wee Wonderfuls site that is linked on the side. They would be cuter if I tied a ribbon around their necks, but the girls will just tear it off. Since Derek posted earlier in what can only be described as abject fear of small cute things such as these, I was thinking of making a dozen to send him for Easter. In the mean time, the girls are loving their new toys.
Martha Called
Well, Danielle called from Martha's office. Unfortunately, Martha will not be able to attend my event, since she will be in Europe for the month of June. She did, however, see my invitation (according to Danielle) and there was a note that she liked the color scheme. A letter will follow, on MARTHA letterhead and all, saying how she cannot attend.
I have to tell you, my heart was racing. The possibilities that towered in my head when I saw the caller ID (NEW YORK CALL) were staggering. I didn't imagine for a moment it was Martha, but beyond that it could have been anything. I could have been asked to be on the phone during her show or it may have been them telling me a restraining order was being sought for overly ambitious fans. On the outside, they could have been calling to make sure we could have some sort of security in place for Martha's visit. The potentials were all there on the caller ID. About 10 minutes later the excitement was over. Martha is not coming. But I invited her and she saw the invitation I made with my own hands. I really grilled Danielle about that. She said, "Martha personally sees ALL of her invitations, this is not just an automatic thing. And I have a note that she liked the color scheme." So I will choose to believe her. Then I will take the letter, politely declining my invitation, and keep it in my Martha Stewart Cookbook for Entertaining. The irony is too much to pass up.
I have to tell you, my heart was racing. The possibilities that towered in my head when I saw the caller ID (NEW YORK CALL) were staggering. I didn't imagine for a moment it was Martha, but beyond that it could have been anything. I could have been asked to be on the phone during her show or it may have been them telling me a restraining order was being sought for overly ambitious fans. On the outside, they could have been calling to make sure we could have some sort of security in place for Martha's visit. The potentials were all there on the caller ID. About 10 minutes later the excitement was over. Martha is not coming. But I invited her and she saw the invitation I made with my own hands. I really grilled Danielle about that. She said, "Martha personally sees ALL of her invitations, this is not just an automatic thing. And I have a note that she liked the color scheme." So I will choose to believe her. Then I will take the letter, politely declining my invitation, and keep it in my Martha Stewart Cookbook for Entertaining. The irony is too much to pass up.
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
Just Delivered
According to the post office, the official invite was delivered on Monday, April 3rd. Here is the letter (more or less) that I wrote out and sent to Martha:
Dear Ms. Stewart,
Please accept an invitation for yourself and a guest to join my dinner club in a celebration of C--H-- Village and Martha Stewart.
C-- H-- Village was once one of Henry Ford's 19 "Village Industries", fitted with a factory to provide small scale industrial production in a rural setting to help part time farmers. Before that, it was a small crossroads town with a church, a cemetery, a hotel, and a school, established in 1834. Our neighborhood has taken it's strengths from the past and built upon itself into a better and stronger community. The remains of the Ford Village were expanded on and added to with a blanket of Victorian era homes swathing an entire community, complete with a town square, shops, a general store and a theater. The history of this village mirrors your own evolution. You share the indefatigable and paradigmatic spirit that the very town embodies. Your visit to our community will give you an exclusive opportunity to experience these unique values C-- H-- Village holds within itself. You will also be able to glimpse what your own Twin Lakes community will be like when they take up the sodality of Martha Stewart.
For the past two years I have been involved in a dinner club in my neighborhood. Every month we take turns hosting the event. The hosts provide all of the recipes for the meal, along with the main course. Every meal is based on a theme, such as an Italian Night or A Summer Barbeque. I will be hosting our club in June and I am planning a celebration of strength of character and perseverance to commemorate our community- a "Martha Stewart Night". The spirit of the night will be drawn from our own community. The inspiration for the meal will be from your cookbooks. Your presence there will complete the fellowship.
Please find the enclosed invitation that I have made and sent to you. We have not set the exact date for our dinner club meeting yet, so I am able to offer you a choice of dates. Please RSVP, if you would be so kind, as to which date you would be able to attend, June 17th or June 24th. For planning purposes I ask that you respond no later than May 27th.
Not that I expect anything, but in the most odd event that something does come of it, I should paint some additional rooms of the house.
Dear Ms. Stewart,
Please accept an invitation for yourself and a guest to join my dinner club in a celebration of C--H-- Village and Martha Stewart.
C-- H-- Village was once one of Henry Ford's 19 "Village Industries", fitted with a factory to provide small scale industrial production in a rural setting to help part time farmers. Before that, it was a small crossroads town with a church, a cemetery, a hotel, and a school, established in 1834. Our neighborhood has taken it's strengths from the past and built upon itself into a better and stronger community. The remains of the Ford Village were expanded on and added to with a blanket of Victorian era homes swathing an entire community, complete with a town square, shops, a general store and a theater. The history of this village mirrors your own evolution. You share the indefatigable and paradigmatic spirit that the very town embodies. Your visit to our community will give you an exclusive opportunity to experience these unique values C-- H-- Village holds within itself. You will also be able to glimpse what your own Twin Lakes community will be like when they take up the sodality of Martha Stewart.
For the past two years I have been involved in a dinner club in my neighborhood. Every month we take turns hosting the event. The hosts provide all of the recipes for the meal, along with the main course. Every meal is based on a theme, such as an Italian Night or A Summer Barbeque. I will be hosting our club in June and I am planning a celebration of strength of character and perseverance to commemorate our community- a "Martha Stewart Night". The spirit of the night will be drawn from our own community. The inspiration for the meal will be from your cookbooks. Your presence there will complete the fellowship.
Please find the enclosed invitation that I have made and sent to you. We have not set the exact date for our dinner club meeting yet, so I am able to offer you a choice of dates. Please RSVP, if you would be so kind, as to which date you would be able to attend, June 17th or June 24th. For planning purposes I ask that you respond no later than May 27th.
Not that I expect anything, but in the most odd event that something does come of it, I should paint some additional rooms of the house.
Thursday, March 30, 2006
Martha
Well, I did it. I mailed an invitation to Martha Stewart to come to dinner at my house sometime in June - whatever date is convenient for her. I am not sure where this all began, apart from one night when I was half asleep I had convinced myself that she would come if I just asked her. I was even planning where she would fly in and what to make for dessert. So I told a friend. She dared me to do it. I think she even double-dog dared me. So I tossed the idea around. I told another friend. She thinks I am certifiably crazy but is nice enough to not say it out loud. I told my dinner club. Oh! That was then end of it. They said I should invite her to the dinner club that I am hosting. One of my neighbors really jumped on the bandwagon and started giving me ideas on how I could sell it to Martha - I think that particular neighbor is in marketing, to be honest. Then I got FOLLOW UP EMAILS on the subject. So I wrote a letter. It was a sad and feeble letter - something along the lines of: "Martha, you are awesome, you are so great, you are really incredible how do you DO it??? And please come over for dinner. " Then Jim helped me hammer some nice things into it and I sent it to the marketing genius for input. Them I made an invitation. I really liked it and made an envelope to match. So I wrote out the letter by hand and got a nice picture of the village atmosphere and today I went to the post office and sent it off.
I'm actually a little embarrassed to admit that I've done such a bold thing, but it cannot be undone now. If nothing happens, I can whine about it here. If I get a pretty letter of regret I can crow about it here, fold the letter nicely and keep it in my Martha Stewart cookbook for entertaining - because THAT would be irony. If Martha's people call me up and issue a restraining order, I can mutter over it here, too. And if, by the REMOTEST possibility, my humble invitation is accepted, you will be able to follow my every little obsession about the planning and preparation right here with me. Now, won't that be FUN?
I'm actually a little embarrassed to admit that I've done such a bold thing, but it cannot be undone now. If nothing happens, I can whine about it here. If I get a pretty letter of regret I can crow about it here, fold the letter nicely and keep it in my Martha Stewart cookbook for entertaining - because THAT would be irony. If Martha's people call me up and issue a restraining order, I can mutter over it here, too. And if, by the REMOTEST possibility, my humble invitation is accepted, you will be able to follow my every little obsession about the planning and preparation right here with me. Now, won't that be FUN?
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
Lunch Observation
It just so happens, that if you go and work out late in the morning and run your little leggs off for nearly an hour, that when you come home and make lunch, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich WILL BE the best thing you have ever eaten. Even if it is leftover from your kids' lunch.
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Mommy News all Around
Many things to talk about today. First, let's get the kid content in and over with. The "angels" are napping, but I am on the cusp of them waking up. Today, as the last week and a half, the girls are being more than slightly difficult. Below, in the previous post, you see what happened when Emma was told to put her underwear on. Yep, that's Dora underwear on her head. I really had to go to the bank and the grocery store. By all rights I should have let her go out like that, but rolling boil anger doesn't usually let you think that clearly. After we finally made it to the bank et al, I wanted to go work out but had left all of my workout clothes at home - in the washer. So we came back and I wanted to make some granola. The girls insist on helping any time I am in the kitchen, so after five minutes of them stirring rolled oats with large spoons, there was more of the 8 cups of Quaker oats on the counter and floor than in the bowl. So I banished them and made the granola without them. Right when I was getting out the hand vac to get the remains on the floor the phone rang. This is precisely when Mary BIT Emma hard enough on her back to break the skin. Yes, Reader, it has been a rough day in the parenting realm.
On another front, I worked out with a personal trainer yesterday. One hour of complete hell. That is what it was. This man was relentless. I wanted to be all tough and stoic, but my muscles could only do so much (we just worked on resistance training). At the end of the hour my fatigued muscles were shaking. I fell into bed when we got home and thought I had died. Unbelievable. I truly never knew a workout could feel like that. I'm not really sure I want it to feel like that again. However, I believe if I could work out that hard 4 times a week for a month, I would feel really skinny again. That was part of the frustration of not going this morning. Oh, well.
In other Mommy news, I have found the pictures that I want to include with that invite. I have to finish writing out the second half of it and should be able to send it off tomorrow. I don't really expect anything from it, but even a nice letter of regret would be fun to have. Any way, the pressure of serving a dinner like that would probably be incredible. I'll put the letter up after I send it off.
Final Mommy news that made me happier than reasonable today is in the mail. Emma got into the nursery school that I had been hoping to get her into. Not that there were tests or anything, just a waiting list. So I got the letter saying she would be going on Wednesdays and Fridays. No co-op this time around. I'm very excited about the whole thing.
The other thing that makes me happy is fresh out of the oven homemade granola. Mmmmmm.
On another front, I worked out with a personal trainer yesterday. One hour of complete hell. That is what it was. This man was relentless. I wanted to be all tough and stoic, but my muscles could only do so much (we just worked on resistance training). At the end of the hour my fatigued muscles were shaking. I fell into bed when we got home and thought I had died. Unbelievable. I truly never knew a workout could feel like that. I'm not really sure I want it to feel like that again. However, I believe if I could work out that hard 4 times a week for a month, I would feel really skinny again. That was part of the frustration of not going this morning. Oh, well.
In other Mommy news, I have found the pictures that I want to include with that invite. I have to finish writing out the second half of it and should be able to send it off tomorrow. I don't really expect anything from it, but even a nice letter of regret would be fun to have. Any way, the pressure of serving a dinner like that would probably be incredible. I'll put the letter up after I send it off.
Final Mommy news that made me happier than reasonable today is in the mail. Emma got into the nursery school that I had been hoping to get her into. Not that there were tests or anything, just a waiting list. So I got the letter saying she would be going on Wednesdays and Fridays. No co-op this time around. I'm very excited about the whole thing.
The other thing that makes me happy is fresh out of the oven homemade granola. Mmmmmm.
Monday, March 27, 2006
Wakeful Musings
Just for the record: it is 2:39 AM and I have not slept a wink. I think it was the caffeine I had at dinner (which was WAY later than usual at 8 PM) and I am not yet tired. Of course, it is a good thing I was not sleeping, as Mary has been moaning and crying every hour that has passed. I just went up with some Tylenol, hoping that when I do finally get to sleep she will stay quiet. So I was on the computer, bumping about random blogs when I found this one. This lady is incredible. She makes these wee tiny little crafty creatures that made me want to run to the sewing machine and replicate. She is my new craft hero-ess.
Today (well, technically yesterday) we went to visit my new twin nephews. Zachary Leon and Alexander Gary are 1 week old as of Sunday. They weighed over 7 1/2 pounds EACH. My poor, HUGE sister-in-law was just unreasonably tortured, having almost 16 pounds of babies inside of her for so long. We went to their house, bearing gifts for almost everyone, as her birthday was yesterday and their daughter's 2nd birthday was today. Everyone seems to be happy and healthy. My brother, Jeff, told me that so far having twins was easy. Bully for you, Jeff. Just thinking about twins and a 2 year old is hard for me, so more power to you.
I wanted to go to the Target over by their house (they live about an hour away), since the quilts I had ordered for the girls' beds have been discontinued and I have decided to get Dora comforters and just be done with it. The Target over here is out of stock. But we went in the afternoon and then had a nice dinner with my parents at TGI Fridays, and it was too late to go to Target afterwards and the girls were full pumpkins by that time. So I am still without some sort of comforter or quilt for Emma's bed. That annoys me to quite an extreme.
We also stopped and looked at a house in our neighborhood that is up for sale. It is just another new house of one of the models I really would have loved to have purchased, but was not financially able to do when we were buying into this development. I love how Jim talks about us buying a house when we just invested a huge amount of time and money doing the landscaping as well as many indoor projects. I don't even have curtains on any windows in this house yet - just blinds - and he is talking like we are putting up a "For Sale" sign in the front yard. Personally, I never want to move again. And if I did, it would not be within the same neighborhood. It would be to a less expensive place (not smaller, which is total unreasonable) and maybe even in Minnesota. But not on Jackson Lane around the bend. I don't understand quite what gets into him sometimes. Next month he is going to Argentina for a business trip and maybe that will cool his heels a little. I think he just doesn't want to organize the garage. Moving would definitely get him out of that. I'll have to do an entirely separate post about the garage organizing.
After reading this entry, I see that I must be truly tired as there is no flow to the ideas or the narrative. That, I think, is unlike me. So I will turn off the soul-sucking computer and try to go to sleep. The caffeine should have worn off by now (I think it is a 6 hour effect, truthfully) and I might be able to get a whopping hours of sleep before my precious darlings are up. I see a long morning ahead of me.
Today (well, technically yesterday) we went to visit my new twin nephews. Zachary Leon and Alexander Gary are 1 week old as of Sunday. They weighed over 7 1/2 pounds EACH. My poor, HUGE sister-in-law was just unreasonably tortured, having almost 16 pounds of babies inside of her for so long. We went to their house, bearing gifts for almost everyone, as her birthday was yesterday and their daughter's 2nd birthday was today. Everyone seems to be happy and healthy. My brother, Jeff, told me that so far having twins was easy. Bully for you, Jeff. Just thinking about twins and a 2 year old is hard for me, so more power to you.
I wanted to go to the Target over by their house (they live about an hour away), since the quilts I had ordered for the girls' beds have been discontinued and I have decided to get Dora comforters and just be done with it. The Target over here is out of stock. But we went in the afternoon and then had a nice dinner with my parents at TGI Fridays, and it was too late to go to Target afterwards and the girls were full pumpkins by that time. So I am still without some sort of comforter or quilt for Emma's bed. That annoys me to quite an extreme.
We also stopped and looked at a house in our neighborhood that is up for sale. It is just another new house of one of the models I really would have loved to have purchased, but was not financially able to do when we were buying into this development. I love how Jim talks about us buying a house when we just invested a huge amount of time and money doing the landscaping as well as many indoor projects. I don't even have curtains on any windows in this house yet - just blinds - and he is talking like we are putting up a "For Sale" sign in the front yard. Personally, I never want to move again. And if I did, it would not be within the same neighborhood. It would be to a less expensive place (not smaller, which is total unreasonable) and maybe even in Minnesota. But not on Jackson Lane around the bend. I don't understand quite what gets into him sometimes. Next month he is going to Argentina for a business trip and maybe that will cool his heels a little. I think he just doesn't want to organize the garage. Moving would definitely get him out of that. I'll have to do an entirely separate post about the garage organizing.
After reading this entry, I see that I must be truly tired as there is no flow to the ideas or the narrative. That, I think, is unlike me. So I will turn off the soul-sucking computer and try to go to sleep. The caffeine should have worn off by now (I think it is a 6 hour effect, truthfully) and I might be able to get a whopping hours of sleep before my precious darlings are up. I see a long morning ahead of me.
Friday, March 24, 2006
Workout Surprise
We finally edged Emma back into Lifetime's child care area. It is actually very cool, with lots of fun, FUN things to do. But last week she went with Jim and he was there later than her bedtime. She got very upset about some vague incident where "someone was mean to her". In the mind of our delicate little 3 year old, that could mean someone did not stop walking past her when she thought she was talking to them. So, since last Wednesday she has been on absolute REFUSAL to go to the fitness center. I spent the better part of this week gently working her back in. That means I went to the fitness center 3 times this week and did not get to work out at all. Tonight it all paid off and she was her normal, happy self about it. So Jim and I were on the treadmills doing a warm up and who should be next to us but our very own next door neighbors. Yes, the ones who have 2 of 3 kids the exact same ages as ours and we hardly see or talk to. I am not sure if it our schedules or theirs that causes this oddity, but there you have it. All 4 of us were happily working out on consecutive treadmills and not speaking. I can't believe we had to go out to get that.
Honestly, though, what oddness is that? We run into so many neighbors there it is crazy. What is a little sad is that it is Friday night and we all go to the fitness center. None of us are getting together with friends or going out for fun. We are sweating off our little fat cells and ignoring the fact that we all know each other. It is an odd thing to work out right next to someone you know distantly. You feel compelled to talk, but really can not. The whole thing needs some etiquette book addressing the matter. I wonder what Emily Post would say about chance meetings during couple work out sessions. It is all just to weird for me, I'm going to bed.
Honestly, though, what oddness is that? We run into so many neighbors there it is crazy. What is a little sad is that it is Friday night and we all go to the fitness center. None of us are getting together with friends or going out for fun. We are sweating off our little fat cells and ignoring the fact that we all know each other. It is an odd thing to work out right next to someone you know distantly. You feel compelled to talk, but really can not. The whole thing needs some etiquette book addressing the matter. I wonder what Emily Post would say about chance meetings during couple work out sessions. It is all just to weird for me, I'm going to bed.
A Little Something I've Been Working On
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
Along the Way, You're Bound to Hit a Speed Bump
We got a strange phone call last night around 7PM. It was DTE, our electric company, telling us in a suitable recorded voice that our power would be "interrupted" for approximately 4 hours on Tuesday, starting around 9 AM. So I called my neighbor, who I was supposed to have a play date with in the morning.
"Did you get a call from the electric company?"
"Um, no. Why?"
explain, explain, explain....
"I don't think so, but I have some voice mail. Let me check it and call you back."
She checked, she called back. No message. The question remained, then, was her power going to be cut off too? It wouldn't be huge except that my children have been devils with intent the last three days and the only thing that will contain them is food and TV, not in that order. So we didn't feel like hanging around if we were going to be without TV for the savages. We made alternate plans to go to the mall for the morning and even try to eat lunch out. I must tell you, Reader, that my last few attempts at going out with the children have been less than relaxing. Trica and I tried, about 5 weeks ago, to have lunch out and we decided it was easier (and substantially cheaper) to eat mac and cheese at home.
So, after getting some air in my slowly leaking front tire, we trekked over to the nearest mall. The girls all had a fabulous time in the play area. Mary very nearly skipped (as much as a 20 month old can) and Emma and Zoe discovered the slide was wide enough to hold both of them at the same time. That was nice. Encouraging, even. This was not without problems, as I only brought a single stroller and Emma decided, to the point that her toddler feet would not budge from the middle of the parking lot in the 26 degree weather, that she wanted to ride in a stroller. Not THAT stroller, which is Mary's stroller, but SOME stroller. After much coercing and coaxing I got her into the mall, where her feet made that obnoxious decision again to stick the the ground. So, Emma got a ride on my shoulders while Mary was pushed in the stroller to the place in the mall where I could rent a double stroller. All was happiness and glee at that point, as the girls decided the mall stroller was very much like a roller coaster and they began leaning precariously over the sides and exclaiming at the sheer fun of it.
We went to lunch and had the normal issues you would have if you were at lunch with three toddlers. First, there is not enough room to move all of the tantalizing table paraphernalia out of reach of all of the kids. Then comes the issue of kicking each other with their feet. And no matter what, when the food comes, they only want to eat off of other people's plates. And there was the issue of the forks returning to their cousins, the under-table-dwellers. Trica and I were exhausted after that. All in all it was not horrible, but only what we expected. Unfortunately, Emma decided we were all having so much fun that she was NOT going to go home. She is still crying about that right now, upstairs, where she should be taking a nap and not keeping Mary up with her wailing and gnashing of teeth.
As I drove home, Trica called from her cell phone to tell me her power, according to her husband, had just gone out at 1 PM. When I got home, mine was back on, with the obvious signs that it had been off at some point. At least I can do laundry and check my emails while Emma screams and protests the injustice of it all.
All in the space of a regular morning with two little kids.
"Did you get a call from the electric company?"
"Um, no. Why?"
explain, explain, explain....
"I don't think so, but I have some voice mail. Let me check it and call you back."
She checked, she called back. No message. The question remained, then, was her power going to be cut off too? It wouldn't be huge except that my children have been devils with intent the last three days and the only thing that will contain them is food and TV, not in that order. So we didn't feel like hanging around if we were going to be without TV for the savages. We made alternate plans to go to the mall for the morning and even try to eat lunch out. I must tell you, Reader, that my last few attempts at going out with the children have been less than relaxing. Trica and I tried, about 5 weeks ago, to have lunch out and we decided it was easier (and substantially cheaper) to eat mac and cheese at home.
So, after getting some air in my slowly leaking front tire, we trekked over to the nearest mall. The girls all had a fabulous time in the play area. Mary very nearly skipped (as much as a 20 month old can) and Emma and Zoe discovered the slide was wide enough to hold both of them at the same time. That was nice. Encouraging, even. This was not without problems, as I only brought a single stroller and Emma decided, to the point that her toddler feet would not budge from the middle of the parking lot in the 26 degree weather, that she wanted to ride in a stroller. Not THAT stroller, which is Mary's stroller, but SOME stroller. After much coercing and coaxing I got her into the mall, where her feet made that obnoxious decision again to stick the the ground. So, Emma got a ride on my shoulders while Mary was pushed in the stroller to the place in the mall where I could rent a double stroller. All was happiness and glee at that point, as the girls decided the mall stroller was very much like a roller coaster and they began leaning precariously over the sides and exclaiming at the sheer fun of it.
We went to lunch and had the normal issues you would have if you were at lunch with three toddlers. First, there is not enough room to move all of the tantalizing table paraphernalia out of reach of all of the kids. Then comes the issue of kicking each other with their feet. And no matter what, when the food comes, they only want to eat off of other people's plates. And there was the issue of the forks returning to their cousins, the under-table-dwellers. Trica and I were exhausted after that. All in all it was not horrible, but only what we expected. Unfortunately, Emma decided we were all having so much fun that she was NOT going to go home. She is still crying about that right now, upstairs, where she should be taking a nap and not keeping Mary up with her wailing and gnashing of teeth.
As I drove home, Trica called from her cell phone to tell me her power, according to her husband, had just gone out at 1 PM. When I got home, mine was back on, with the obvious signs that it had been off at some point. At least I can do laundry and check my emails while Emma screams and protests the injustice of it all.
All in the space of a regular morning with two little kids.
Thursday, March 16, 2006
Insidiousness
So after a few Moblogging days using my new camera-equipped phone, I haven't had a chance to add anything. You must know, Reader, a dear friend of mine really gave me grief for putting up so many pictures. "Come ON," she said, "Lunch from Home Depot???? Where's the picture of the clerk that sold you the mouldings?!?!?" I have to justify - of course. When I am home, my laptop is on all day on the kitchen counter. Since we have a cable modem, I receive emails as they are sent. I also check various sites through out the day and frequent blogs that are my favorites. I just assumed everyone would be doing the same. So, if you were checking in two times a day, you would be able to see the progress on the "Big Girl Room" project. If you checked it on Monday, you would only see a series of pictures that really didn't tell you anything. So I apologize. The only time I got to do anything close to blogging was when I was out getting more paint or buying mouldings. Anyhow, I thought I took a SWEET food picture - it was like an advertisement!
So we finished painting Emma's room, although Dora is till not quite done. The furniture came on Tuesday and the room is all together. We are waiting on the shades which are in transit and the valances and bedspread, which are back ordered until May. We didn't get to the closet organizer but plan to do that this weekend. I have been busy trying to catch up from no housework being done for 3 days. Remember, this is after being sick the week before and never quite getting all of that backlog done. So today it is the exciting job of cleaning toilets and dusting, along with precarious piles of laundry. Yesterday I got out the Space Bags I asked for at Christmas time and bagged up all of my miscellaneous bedding - then I sucked the air out of them and stored them like layers of a sandwich. I'm going to be buying more of those bags!
Well, my short time of napping children has ended. I think we are going to go to the gym and workout for a little while. I haven't been in forever, it feels like, and I must start going again. Maybe I'll take a picture of the place for my loyal readers.....
So we finished painting Emma's room, although Dora is till not quite done. The furniture came on Tuesday and the room is all together. We are waiting on the shades which are in transit and the valances and bedspread, which are back ordered until May. We didn't get to the closet organizer but plan to do that this weekend. I have been busy trying to catch up from no housework being done for 3 days. Remember, this is after being sick the week before and never quite getting all of that backlog done. So today it is the exciting job of cleaning toilets and dusting, along with precarious piles of laundry. Yesterday I got out the Space Bags I asked for at Christmas time and bagged up all of my miscellaneous bedding - then I sucked the air out of them and stored them like layers of a sandwich. I'm going to be buying more of those bags!
Well, my short time of napping children has ended. I think we are going to go to the gym and workout for a little while. I haven't been in forever, it feels like, and I must start going again. Maybe I'll take a picture of the place for my loyal readers.....
Sunday, March 12, 2006
Saturday, March 11, 2006
Friday, March 10, 2006
Tea Party
This is how the Mommy of small girls spends a Friday morning. Emma and Mary got dressed up in their Halloween costumes, as did their friend Zoe, and we went over to Zoe's house and had a tea party. I had made cookies last night and Trica had cleared her dining room for the event. She also found a table cloth to cover the table and put matching pillow cases on the backs of the chairs to make them all matching. Yes, I knew it would be a good thing to do this with Trica. I have a porcelain tea set that was given to us just for such an occasion and the girls happily used that. We put water in the Tea Pot, and since a lot of the water spent a lot of the time on the dresses, the table, and the floor, it was a Good Thing we did not use tea. Anyhow, don't you just love the color of her Dining Room? Just so Derek knows, it is not orange but Terra Cotta. Orange is a bad mistake, terra cotta is a design choice.
Tonight my parents are taking the kids for a couple of days and we are going to paint Emma's "Big Girl Room", add chair rails (Jim's ambition) and put in a closet organizer. If I have time I will do a Dora Princess Mural. There will be pictures, as always. We are also breaking down the guest room bed, which means my basement pictures will start having classy mattresses leaning against the walls. I just can't wait for that. The new furniture is coming Tuesday, but all of the bedding is back ordered until May. One thing at a time, I suppose! Well, enough chit chat, I have Things To Do while the girls are sleeping.
Thursday, March 09, 2006
Just Desserts
To answer Mr. Nemesis, yes, I am feeling better. I went to the Doctor on Tuesday and she gave me a wicked antibiotic that is only a 5 day thing. It's like SUPER antibiotic or something. I was fascinated by the insert, which explained the exact microbiology and target of this fine drug. Who knew the 50s ribosome could be so weak??? Anyhow, today I had a LOT of things to do. I spent the last 5 days doing nothing. Well, 2 parties and a Dora cake nothing. Oh, and a trip downtown to see the musical Chicago. But I digress. I mean to say that all daily chores were shoved aside until Further Notice. That was today. I had laundry from last week that was still to be put away, right next to laundry that needed to be done. Piles of it. Don't ask me what was on the kitchen floor. It couldn't be seen for all of the dirt it had picked up after being smashed there sometime earlier this week. It was awful. So I got up and neglected my normal routine that makes me feel human since I would be spending the day catching up. I soaked my hair over the sink and combed it back, letting it dry any which way it felt like. I did put in my contacts and brushed my teeth, but skipped the daily eye makeup. I donned a workout t-shirt, pulled on yesterday's jeans, and white socks - those are almost always coordinated. That is all relevant information.
So, this afternoon, Emma had an appointment with the Ear, Nose, Throat specialist due to an infection in one of her ear tubes. I begged Jim, who was working from home, to come with me so I wouldn't have to wrestle with 2 small children by myself in the office. He did. When we left we were driving by a restaurant we used to go to for romantic dinners - J. Alexanders - and Jim pulled in. Yes, Reader, I went to a nice restaurant with two toddlers and no makeup. I am officially ashamed of myself. I need to add that Emma, who refuses to wear anything but dresses, was in jeans. And Mary, who was adorable in pigtails before nap time, now had rain soaked mop hair. We looked like we belonged on the couch during Saturday morning cartoons. Jim hasn't shaved since last month some time, and his hair is almost as unwieldly as Mary's. It was a GOOD feeling. After we ate, Jim realized he had left his wallet at home. Well, I had left it at home, since it was I who dumped out the contents of his pants to wash them with the rest of the laundry. So I paid. I understand it is ALL THE SAME MONEY, especially since Jim is the only money maker, but it still felt like an insult. If I had looked good, the man would have paid, I tell you. It was like dating all over again.
So, this afternoon, Emma had an appointment with the Ear, Nose, Throat specialist due to an infection in one of her ear tubes. I begged Jim, who was working from home, to come with me so I wouldn't have to wrestle with 2 small children by myself in the office. He did. When we left we were driving by a restaurant we used to go to for romantic dinners - J. Alexanders - and Jim pulled in. Yes, Reader, I went to a nice restaurant with two toddlers and no makeup. I am officially ashamed of myself. I need to add that Emma, who refuses to wear anything but dresses, was in jeans. And Mary, who was adorable in pigtails before nap time, now had rain soaked mop hair. We looked like we belonged on the couch during Saturday morning cartoons. Jim hasn't shaved since last month some time, and his hair is almost as unwieldly as Mary's. It was a GOOD feeling. After we ate, Jim realized he had left his wallet at home. Well, I had left it at home, since it was I who dumped out the contents of his pants to wash them with the rest of the laundry. So I paid. I understand it is ALL THE SAME MONEY, especially since Jim is the only money maker, but it still felt like an insult. If I had looked good, the man would have paid, I tell you. It was like dating all over again.
4:00 this afternoon
Waiting at the ENT doctor's office. I was taking pictures to entertain Emma. The Doctor was running 40 mintues late, we were told.
Surprise Night Out
Jim took us out to dinner! The restuarant is dark (atmosphere), but Emma was being so sweet giving me hugs and kisses endlessly. Gotta love that girl!
Monday, March 06, 2006
Catching Up
Friday was Emma's 3rd birthday. We had a party for the kids at McDonald's and that was fine. Many Moms came, more children came, all had a good time. Except the one little baby who kept spitting up and his Mom. I don't think they were having too good of a time. We let Emma open her presents from us ONE AT A TIME. I don't mean plowing through them individually but all at once. I mean one every time we felt like sharing. HA! It was great! It worked out to roughly one an hour, not counting nap times or McDonald's parties. But she did get to pick which one to open each time. It was fabulously fun and I think we will always run it like that. Jim and I weren't sure what to do - we each had to wait until our fathers got home and we did the cake at the same time. But Jim was home. And the cake wasn't made yet. I baked a Dora shaped cake during nap times and after the kids went to bed I dragged yellow Duncan Hines Dora over to Trica's house and she helped me decorate it. It took us 3 hours. I kid you not, Reader. There was quite the amount of time to get such vibrant colors mixed, not to mention put on the cake in small, orderly, perfect little stars. Yes, it was a task for the truely ambitious. And I will not be adding cake decorating to my list of hobbies any time soon.
Then Saturday we had the family party. I came down with a terrbile sore throat and lethargy and a bit of a fever. But with some phenomenal help I got the house adequately cleaned and shiney for the party. Emma got an art easel, Dora bed sheets (we are painting her room next week), some Disney stock (OOOOOO DISNEY!), and a foam couch that folds out to a little bed. The couch thing she carries to whatever room she is going to be in (including her bedroom) and her and Mary sit on it to do whatever it is toddlers do all day. She spends a lot of time taking it up to her room, where she and Mary have a "pajama party". This also means she cannot get changed out of her pajamas all day long. It is an unseen twist to the new addition. So far she will now only sleep on this couch thing. She is a little too long for it and her feet hang off the end, but she doesn't care. It also has apeculiar chemical smeel about that Fabreeze won't remove and makes my daughter smell like old plastic chairs. I'm hoping that will go away.
You can click here to see the pictures from the parties.
Sunday I was feeling worse, with no appetite continuing and no willingness to communicate with anyone. So I napped and Jim took care of household things like children and some grocery shopping while the kids slept. I tried to take a relaxing and soothing bubble bath but for some reason our hot water was not working and Jim was at Kroger. So I sat in an underfilled tepid bubble bath for 20 minutes and gave up. That evening we joined Trica and her husband and went to see the musical Chicago. I got through it on throat lozenges, but I was glad to go. I love live theater and this was no exception. Then Monday came and I am slightly better, but still had no tolerance for irritating toddler things today. I even went out for a bit with the girls, only to add to my general frustration.
And so goes our Journey.
Thursday, March 02, 2006
The Conspiracy of Pink
Well, it seems my inconsistencies have been outed. Now, to explain to Tinybites why I had to list that I Hate Pink yet happened to be wearing a shirt of the EXACT color in a picture I posted, I must go into the whole story of Pink Hatred. If you are not interested in the reasons behind Pink Hatred, you should click on a favorite on the side of your browser now, or type in something on your address bar IMMEDIATELY, because here begins the pinkness.
I can't say when it was, exactly, when I started hating pink. I know in grade school and junior high I was fairly amenable to the color, and even clearly remember buying clothes in the wonderful soft madras of pink and grey in the mid and late 80's. Karol may recall the outfit that she, Amy, and I all owned that was a wonderful rendition of that exact theme. In my freshman yearbook picture (go ahead, Derek, check it out) I am wearing a pink striped sweater. I am also looking a bit loopy and I still attribute that to the filling I had done the same morning and the resulting migraine, but I digress. I believe it was somewhere around sophomore year that I realized my ultimate goal of no longer being a little girl. Please recall that in the decades past, fashions tended to accent the adult that would be coming rather than the child that was being left behind. There was no cute little character t-shirts that girls wore to school. We were 15 and we wore heels to school and looked like the next corporate cutthroat. So I ditched the pink. It became my idea that pink was infantile and cute. I have spent most of my life trying to get rid of the "cute" factor. And so it began. There was the period of accidental avoidance, where I just ignored the clothes in my closet that were pink. Then the more deliberate not-buying things that were pink. Eventually that led to the active dislike and purging of all things pink. By the time I was 16 and off to Spain, it was widely accepted that I Hated Pink. By the time I got married, there were gag gifts all in pink at my shower (go ahead- think of EVERYTHING). Then I got pregnant and found out I was having a girl. That was the antithesis of Pink Hatred and a sign that the Conspiracy of Pink had won. I persevered, I tell you. I painted the nursery robin egg blue and made it a bunny theme, with flowers to make it more feminine. I bought little dresses in blue and yellow. I stockpiled the cutest red outfits you could find. Then, shortly after Emma was born and I was happily Pink Free, people started buying into the Pink Conspiracy. The fact is that every baby is androgynous until we hear a gender specific name or see gender clues, such as PINK. So even in the most flowery red outfits or the prettiest blue dresses people took to be gender clues of the wrong distinction. They referred to my dearest little girl as a BOY. Since I grew up with a non-gender specific name, this was a sore spot. This is where the Pink Conspiracy had begun the moment I was born, laying the foundation for the day when I had to give in to Pink. I went out and bought the PINKEST dresses, headbands, sweaters and pants I could find and dressed my daughter in nothing but Pink. With daughter number 2 I didn't even put the other clothes on. Just Pink. Then that color began to creep into my thinking. Oh, I would say, that pink sweater is quite pretty. Look at that book cover, I really like the pink and green scheme. Suddenly I was realizing my choices of wardrobe pieces were coming down to blue or pink. The green choice is frequently too garish. The purple is well, purple, and doesn't match many things except, um, pink. So when faced with Kohl's table of sweaters I am sometimes forced to take the Pink. Then, to top it off, it is a color that looks great on me. I glow. I hum with a happiness of pink that most people look for with every thing they put on. In truth, Pink suits me. But I still hate it, just on principal.
I can't say when it was, exactly, when I started hating pink. I know in grade school and junior high I was fairly amenable to the color, and even clearly remember buying clothes in the wonderful soft madras of pink and grey in the mid and late 80's. Karol may recall the outfit that she, Amy, and I all owned that was a wonderful rendition of that exact theme. In my freshman yearbook picture (go ahead, Derek, check it out) I am wearing a pink striped sweater. I am also looking a bit loopy and I still attribute that to the filling I had done the same morning and the resulting migraine, but I digress. I believe it was somewhere around sophomore year that I realized my ultimate goal of no longer being a little girl. Please recall that in the decades past, fashions tended to accent the adult that would be coming rather than the child that was being left behind. There was no cute little character t-shirts that girls wore to school. We were 15 and we wore heels to school and looked like the next corporate cutthroat. So I ditched the pink. It became my idea that pink was infantile and cute. I have spent most of my life trying to get rid of the "cute" factor. And so it began. There was the period of accidental avoidance, where I just ignored the clothes in my closet that were pink. Then the more deliberate not-buying things that were pink. Eventually that led to the active dislike and purging of all things pink. By the time I was 16 and off to Spain, it was widely accepted that I Hated Pink. By the time I got married, there were gag gifts all in pink at my shower (go ahead- think of EVERYTHING). Then I got pregnant and found out I was having a girl. That was the antithesis of Pink Hatred and a sign that the Conspiracy of Pink had won. I persevered, I tell you. I painted the nursery robin egg blue and made it a bunny theme, with flowers to make it more feminine. I bought little dresses in blue and yellow. I stockpiled the cutest red outfits you could find. Then, shortly after Emma was born and I was happily Pink Free, people started buying into the Pink Conspiracy. The fact is that every baby is androgynous until we hear a gender specific name or see gender clues, such as PINK. So even in the most flowery red outfits or the prettiest blue dresses people took to be gender clues of the wrong distinction. They referred to my dearest little girl as a BOY. Since I grew up with a non-gender specific name, this was a sore spot. This is where the Pink Conspiracy had begun the moment I was born, laying the foundation for the day when I had to give in to Pink. I went out and bought the PINKEST dresses, headbands, sweaters and pants I could find and dressed my daughter in nothing but Pink. With daughter number 2 I didn't even put the other clothes on. Just Pink. Then that color began to creep into my thinking. Oh, I would say, that pink sweater is quite pretty. Look at that book cover, I really like the pink and green scheme. Suddenly I was realizing my choices of wardrobe pieces were coming down to blue or pink. The green choice is frequently too garish. The purple is well, purple, and doesn't match many things except, um, pink. So when faced with Kohl's table of sweaters I am sometimes forced to take the Pink. Then, to top it off, it is a color that looks great on me. I glow. I hum with a happiness of pink that most people look for with every thing they put on. In truth, Pink suits me. But I still hate it, just on principal.
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