Spring Break

Spring break was such fun! Our first spring break since my boy started Kindergarten. Somehow it didn't feel like much of a break with all the running around we did! We toured one of the fire stations nearby, and had a great time! The firefighter who guided us had been injured while on duty, so he had nowhere else to be but to show the kids every inch of the gigantic station.

He even let the kids spray water! And forced some of the moms.

Afterward we were lucky enough to get to have lunch with Daddy, a rare occurance. My son was able to cash in a coupon he earned by reading books for a free pizza, a real treat! He is a reader now, officially. He stumbles on a few words here and there, and so had not considered himself a reader. Our nighttime reading ritual has switched from me reading the kids books to my son reading, with me as backup for hard words. He is finally thinking of himself as a reader and is gaining confidence. I love to see it! He is eager to read, not so much to write. He is a lefty, and apparently that makes for handwriting problems(darn D'Nealian! Monkey tails go the wrong way for a lefty!) but he seems to be ambidextrous in other instances because he can't decide which hand he wants to throw with or which side he wants to bat on in baseball. So we practice both, and got two gloves. Sorry for the rambling, stay tuned for more rambling and cute pictures! Practice tonight!

Busy Busy

I have been a busy girl. Traveling, traveling, having lots of fun in lots of places. On Saturday we went to the Renaissance Festival. We have gone the last 3 years as a mini vacation and love it!

Barely Balanced, a comedy/acrobatic act that we loved. Their humor was right up my son's alley.

I rode an elephant for the first time with my daughter, who also rode a camel with her Auntie and rode a llama all by herself. Can you believe this girl??

Her brother would not be persuaded, but she could not be dissuaded. She ran right up to the platform and somebody had better put her on it! She had no fear whatsoever! As we were on top of the elephant, I gripped the rail for dear life as she giggled and said, "This is fun!"

There is so much to see, we always wish we had left earlier in the morning so we could spend more time there.

My Day Before 3:00

1. Waking multiple times in the wee hours to howling winds.

2. Getting up to a light dusting of snow. It is like Mother Nature's personal message to me after a couple posts ago: DON'T TEASE ME OR MAKE FUN OF ME!!

3. Making a 3-egg cheese omelet for my son, then a 2-egg omelet for my still-sleeping daughter. My son ate them both. Every bite. And a biscuit. Truth. Making pancakes for my daughter instead.

4. Bundling up the kids to take my boy to school, where he and all of his friends made sure to point out that the large pile of vomit their classmate made in the grass yesterday was still there. And had frozen. And that classmate was back today. Praying for my son not to catch that stomach bug.

5. Skipping my walk due to freezing wind. A little sad to miss the gab-fest that accompanies the walk.

6.Watching Snow White multiple times with my daughter while rocking her in the rocking chair, then listening to a playlist I made for her. Singing at the top of our lungs, her punctuating my full belting with the few words she knows of each song. Highlight: Tomorrow, from Annie. Hearing her sing, "I love ya, tomorrow" making me cry. A confused look on her face as she sees the mascara that has smeared because of the tears, and asking "Mom, what is on your eye??"

7. Finally deciding to knock out my housework in one fell swoop, I start some laundry.

8. While I am starting said laundry, she discovers that a juice box makes a really great fountain. All over the floor. And the couch. Deciding that I will ban juice boxes. Having this resulting conversation after scolding my child for making the mess:
She: Mom?
Me: Yes?
She: Are you happy at me?
Me: No, not really. I am angry right now.
She: Mom, I'm your friend.
Me: I know, and I'm your mommy.

9. Adding "mop floor" to my list of chores that HAVE to be done today.

10. Finishing as many chores as I have time and energy for, and resolving not to drive myself crazy over the things I didn't get done.

11. Attempting to get my memory card to work and failing, giving up, rendering this post pictureless.

Bicycle

This bicycle used to be my son's:

My husband and I bought it for his second birthday. Unfortunately, he outgrew it before he had a chance to really ride it much, and has now been upgraded to a larger and cooler Spiderman model. So this poor bike sat in the storage, lonely and gathering dust. So now my daughter, who is now ready for her first bike, will inherit it. However, I could not let her ride a boy bike. No, no, no, not this princess! And I couldn’t justify running out and buying another one when it is not her birthday or Christmas, so I(my husband, mostly) took it apart and painted it, then put it back together with a cute little princess accessory kit and Voila!!

A Princess bike! She loves it! Daddy pictured here putting the final touches on assembly:

I still have to attach some princess decals, but she was anxious to start riding, so this is the temporary finished product.

Enjoy this cute video, I can't believe she is pedaling already!

Baseball!

Today is the day I become a baseball mom. My son was so excited he could not go to sleep last night. Of course, it didn’t help that my daughter kept getting out of bed to hide in his closet.  And then he woke up bright and way-too-early this morning to ask his dad, “Am I going to play baseball today?” He could not get dressed or eat without asking questions about every detail that was going to happen, few of which I had answers to. And of course, we have to be having a cold and windy spell, hopefully no rain today during practice though.



I definitely do not feel like we are in Arizona right now. And definitely not Arizona in March. Never in my life have I seen such a long lasting, cold and wet winter here. It is supposed to be spring already! As I write, I see a little sun peeking through the curtains and I hope it will warm us up. Brr. If we are going to be freezing cold, the least Mother Nature could do is send us just a little snow to play in, to give us a reason to leave the house. Not a blizzard, just a couple inches would be great. And if not, then warm us up because it is baseball season here! Happy Monday!

What A Job

I must confess, I was terribly cranky today.  I thought about waiting to post until I am a bit more pleasant, but then you might not see me for a week or two.  I was cranky this morning when I woke up, having been suffering an extra affliction or two on top of the normal, ready to go shopping for a new body(anyone have an extra lying around?) I was cranky even before my son hit his sister and threw three temper tantrums before school.  I was cranky before getting a letter from his teacher about an "altercation" in gym class yesterday, and having to talk him down from yet another meltdown before heading into class because he had all but forgotten the incident(apparently he was teasing another boy and the boy hit him, not a major altercation but still a mood-spoiler.)  I was cranky before my daughter decided she would rather argue in the middle of the street for 10 minutes than get back into the stroller so we could finish the last half block of our walk.  Before she yelled at me as soon as I turned off the car that she did NOT want help with her seatbelt, and then running around the car multiple times because she did not want to go in the house.  I was feeling cranky, but I felt like a saint for not losing patience and spanking or yelling at my kids. 

I hate being cranky.  It makes me crankier when I can't shake it off.  So I picked out my favorite cd from about 2002, and cranked it up while I did the dishes, hoping to feel better once my kitchen was clean and I forgot my troubles.  It almost worked, too.  Until I did the last search for stray dishes before starting the dishwasher and discovered my darling daughter in the bathroom.  Amidst a huge mess.  Huge, cranky-inducing mess.  Then I yelled.  Nope. Not a saint.  Then as I finished the dishes and picked out the toothbrush, toothpaste, toilet paper roll, and the entire contents of the bathroom trash out of the toilet before scrubbing(and plunging and praying it would ever flush again,) I found myself thinking that I wished I could quit this job.  Hand in my resignation and find a different job.  One that pays better, or at all, and one where I could better use my talents, which apparently are not keeping my children out of trouble while simultaneously keeping the house clean.  Then I told myself that most mothers probably feel this way in a moment of weakness at least once, so I was not going to beat myself up for an errant thought that popped into my head.  I am just going to finish my chores, and keep on going.  Because this job does have its unbearable moments, moments when you just want to break down and cry and admit that you can't do it.  But in reality, these awful days are the exception, rather than the rule. 
I never realized before having kids the extent to which my life would be changed.  How every thought and every decision would revolve around them and what was best for them, for the rest of my life.  This is not a job you quit when it gets hard.  This is a job you have to stick it out and find a way to not only live through it, but to make it better on the really cranky days, like this one.  So naptime will come a little early today for my daughter, and I will find a way to shake the crankies in time to get my son from school.  I wish I could pop a couple ibuprofen and feel better.  But since I can't, a little down time will have to do.

This is love

On my way out the door this morning, while herding the children into the car like cattle, I found a sweet note from my husband hidden in my purse. I won’t quote it, I will keep his dear words to myself, but suffice it to say that it was just lovely.



He comes into the bedroom most mornings where I am usually still sleeping to kiss me before heading out on his daily hour-long commute to work. I get up a few minutes later to a warm house with a fire in the fireplace waiting for me. He has not complained once this winter about being the first one up in the cold and starting a fire for us. I have even heard him outside chopping wood before 6am. What a doll this man is! And still he found time to tear a corner from his notebook to leave a darling message for me.


He is such a big part of my life. If he wasn’t around, I would not have the life I do. I would not be able to cope with the never-ending doctor appointments, procedures, medical bills and disappointments that have become such a big part of my life. My burden is too heavy for me to bear alone. I’m glad I have such a strong husband to help me bear it. Especially on mornings like this one, where I woke in pain and so grumpy. It took a huge effort on my part to have patience with my children as we all dressed and ate breakfast. They were no different than usual, we were not running late, but still I felt like I was on edge. My husband may never know how he changed my day this morning from bad to good. When I saw his little note, I somehow found the patience and energy to get us all there happily and to take my morning walk when all I had wanted to do was crawl back in bed and call in sick. Even as I write this, the ache is gnawing at me, but I am going to get through today. And maybe tomorrow I will get through tomorrow, knowing I have a partner who will help me, but needs me to pull through until he gets here. 

February Journal

My darling son writes in a monthly journal at school.  The things he writes are so precious I have decided to post them here, I have included original spelling, with my explanations in parenthesis:

February 8th:
What did you sa. (say)
Do you know let(that) it is my birthday
Hos(Whose) birthday is it.
I luv you.

February 12th:
I am a man.
I have sopr moreo.(Super Mario)
I am yr best frend.
Do you like me.

February 16th:
I am up in the sci(sky).
Today is valintimes day!
I luv you
February 23rd: 
I so(saw) a ibol.(I saw an eyeball???)
I am fliing(Flying) to my mom and dad.
I so(saw) a bug.
I luv my swedr(sweater).

February 26th:
I can see batmann vs the jokr.
See the bat lit(light).
I can see man-bat.
I can see ban(Bane, a bad guy from Batman.).
What is batman seecret.

Can you believe this is the writing of a kindergartner? Every month we have read his work and giggled at how cute it is, but I hope this is how all five year olds think.  He writes sweet little things about us and his sister, hidden among the superheroes of his latest obsession, right now it is batman. 

Two Months: excuses, excuses

It has been two months since I have been here.  And a new year is well underway with nary a word.  Shame on me.  I haven't been taking pictures, so that is one good excuse.  I have been too busy living my life to blog about it, or think for that matter.  But here is the smelliest excuse of all: ready?  I have been feeling a little exposed lately.  Between my blog and Facebook, far too many people have been exposed to what goes on in my life.  Heaven forbid I have a bad day, or a moment of weakness, and hit the "Share" button before my better judgement stops me.  And just like that, my bad mood is out there for the world to see.  And if I misspelled something, even worse. 
My blog has always been my happy place, a world where I do not put my daily annoyances on display, at least until I am able to laugh about them.  So when I don't blog for two months, it kinda looks like I have had no happy moments to speak of in that time.  That is terrible of me, because that is not the case. 
All my life I have had a case of boredom.  Things are exciting for me, and I feel motivated, only when they are new and challenging.  Once things start to become routine, I get bored and move on to a new challenge(read: I have not yet mastered the motherly and wifely duties, as they are constantly changing and always challenging!) Not a strength of mine and not something I am proud of, as I never seem to stick with things(except the wife and mother-thing!) So I think I will change my attitude about my blog right about now.
This will no longer be my happy place alone.  This is my not-just-a-mommy blog, where in between cleaning up messes and kissing booboos, I actually have thoughts that are worth preserving and sharing.  I promised someone to try not to try so hard to be so easy.  Got that?? No?  What I mean is, I have opinions, and I may share them from time to time, and you might not agree with them.  I definitely do not agree with many of the opinions I hear, but I have never attacked anyone for disagreeing with me.  I ask for the same courtesy from you, many many loyal readers.  You probably will disagree with me at some point, and I welcome your well thought-out and factually based opinions, but be nice, please.  I am striving to show more of me here, and unfortunately, lately I am not always the perfectly dressed and coiffed version of myself.  More often these days, I am the yoga pants-wearing, big sunglasses to hide my lack of makeup, mom dropping off one child at school before bribing the other with lollipops to sit in the stroller long enough for me to get in a walk before showering for the day.  Yep, that's me.  Wave if you see me, but no honking please.  I already know I'm looking hot. And yes, I just tripped over my own foot.