Probably not. So, I'm not sure why I introduced my husband to Freecycle. He's actually shown some restraint over the past months that he's been monitoring the comings and goings of ALL KINDS OF THINGS HE MIGHT NEED. Last night, he fell off the wagon.
He came in with not one or two bags of clothes, but THREE LARGE garbage bags full. And in some weird twist of fate, this person who had these clothes before, must be some sort of lost clothing soul mate of my husband's. Because as he sorted through the bags, suddenly the "keeper" pile began resembling the clothes that he already has in his closet. You know, the ones he never wears? Because he wears the same handful of shirts and jeans over and over? EXCEPT that this guy was a little off on a few things.
1. Lance doesn't wear pleated front pants. I mean, really, who does anymore?
2. Lance cannot handle bumpy textured shirts.
3. All the shorts were about six inches shorter than what Lance normally wears.
4. Until now, Lance had not owned a light purple shirt.
5. Or a FLORESCENT green tank top!! (someone please save me)
As if this isn't enough to deal with for one night, in another odd happenstance, this guy actually also wears the same shoe size as Lance. So, he went back for 13 pairs of shoes. Yes. You read that correctly. THIRTEEN pairs of shoes. They all fall squarely into two category. Hiking boots and tennis shoes. So, we are now well stocked on men's hiking boots and tennis shoes.
As if this isn't enough to handle, Lance proceeds to put on a fashion show last night, trying them all on. Luckily, he tried them on because a lot of them didn't really fit. He put on some tight jeans shorts and exclaimed that he had an identical pair upstairs and that he'd keep them. *blink blink*....what? Why would you keep jeans shorts that DON'T FIT. Especially if you already have a pair upstairs that are IDENTICAL and IDENTICALLY DON'T FIT!
Oh the sight of him in a bright florescent orange shirt, tight and short, with grey "sweat shorts" on. I think we've figured out that this guy might be a little flamboyant in the wardrobe area. I was surprised that Lance didn't find any high heels in the bags of shoes he confiscated. The funniest thing last night, was when Lance tried on a fleece vest without a shirt on underneath. I assured him that this was probably the same way his clothes benefactor wore it. He pulled it slightly off of his shoulders and assured me that THAT was the way he wore it.
I'm not even going to get into the thought that Lance had about driving back and forth in front of this guy's house to figure out what he was like. I mean, were these OLD clothes that he just never wore (as evidenced by the BUTTON FLY shorts), or does he routinely wear florescent colored clothing. Inquiring (stalking) minds want to know.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Our little caveman
Last night I roasted a chicken for dinner. I usually cut off a leg for Morgan and then cut up some of the thigh meat for Bennett. Except, since he's become PARTICULAR about things, he demanded a leg. Like Morgan. He kept pointing to the roasted carcass on the counter and pleading with me "Kicken! Kiiiiiicken!", until I deciphered his meaning. Oh, you want what Morgan has. Okay.
Look at our CLASSY little caveman eating his chicken. *sigh*
Look at our CLASSY little caveman eating his chicken. *sigh*
Cuteness explosion
I went to get some pictures off of my camera and realized that there were some older ones that were on there. And they are super cute. So guess who gets to see them? That's right, you! :)
Here's a couple from Bennett at playgroup a few weeks ago...
Here's a couple of pictures of us playing one day a week or so ago...
Here's a couple from Bennett at playgroup a few weeks ago...
Here's a couple of pictures of us playing one day a week or so ago...
Monday, November 17, 2008
Peeking up out of the books
My life, lately, has been revolving around making time to read. :) I've been reading the Twilight series and am on the last book, Breaking Dawn. Just in time for the release of the movie this Thursday! My friend Kristin and I are hitting the midnight showing of it! :)
Last week was a little crazy. I had something nearly every night. Mothers club general meeting on Tuesday night, mothers club budgeting meeting on Wednesday night, afternoon playgroup and then Bible study on Thursday night and then Friday afternoon was a reunion for Morgan's original playgroup. It was so cool to see our "babies" all grown up! Some of these kids we've known since they were just a few months old!
Saturday we had soccer in the morning and then I went hiking with some friends in the afternoon. Today was church and then I came home and tried to make up for all the laundry and stuff I have put off during the week while trying to finish reading my books! I've barely started Breaking Dawn, but really want to get through all 700+ pages of it before the movie comes out on Thursday.
Funny story from Friday. I was working in Morgan's classroom, so I got to watch her present her family homework to the class. They had these hands that they cut out and made them into turkeys. We had selected some items from our yard to decorate our turkey. She stands up in front of the class and begins describing her turkey. Something along the lines of "we picked leaves from our yard and cut them into feathers....I used marker to color the front of the turkey....we used pipe cleaner for the waddle....there are some different kind of leaves for the tail feathers....and we used a POISONOUS berry for the eye". The kids all gasp. The teacher gets a big grin across her face and says "we may need to have a discussion about bringing POISONOUS items to school!" and then she starts giggling. Of course, all the kids wanted to see the POISONOUS berry. Which is nothing more than a berry from one of our hedges, that we told her was poisonous because we don't know what kind of hedge it is and we didn't want her to eat it. She never fails to keep us laughing. :)
Last week was a little crazy. I had something nearly every night. Mothers club general meeting on Tuesday night, mothers club budgeting meeting on Wednesday night, afternoon playgroup and then Bible study on Thursday night and then Friday afternoon was a reunion for Morgan's original playgroup. It was so cool to see our "babies" all grown up! Some of these kids we've known since they were just a few months old!
Saturday we had soccer in the morning and then I went hiking with some friends in the afternoon. Today was church and then I came home and tried to make up for all the laundry and stuff I have put off during the week while trying to finish reading my books! I've barely started Breaking Dawn, but really want to get through all 700+ pages of it before the movie comes out on Thursday.
Funny story from Friday. I was working in Morgan's classroom, so I got to watch her present her family homework to the class. They had these hands that they cut out and made them into turkeys. We had selected some items from our yard to decorate our turkey. She stands up in front of the class and begins describing her turkey. Something along the lines of "we picked leaves from our yard and cut them into feathers....I used marker to color the front of the turkey....we used pipe cleaner for the waddle....there are some different kind of leaves for the tail feathers....and we used a POISONOUS berry for the eye". The kids all gasp. The teacher gets a big grin across her face and says "we may need to have a discussion about bringing POISONOUS items to school!" and then she starts giggling. Of course, all the kids wanted to see the POISONOUS berry. Which is nothing more than a berry from one of our hedges, that we told her was poisonous because we don't know what kind of hedge it is and we didn't want her to eat it. She never fails to keep us laughing. :)
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
I'm a self-centered mom
Last night at the mothers club meeting, we had a speaker there who was talking about taking care of yourself. Her whole tag line is all about being a "self centered mom". Her talk focused on things like making time for yourself, expressing yourself, loving yourself and things like that. I could tell that it was striking a chord with many of the women at the meeting, but I just couldn't help thinking to myself that I've already got that covered.
I'm already a self centered mom.
When you say it that way, it certainly doesn't sound like anything that you would want to strive to be. But, when you look at the alternative, the moms who don't make time for themselves, you have to wonder what they are doing to themselves? I mean, don't they value who they are? Not just as a mother, but also as all the other roles that women play these days? Aren't we even more special now that we are mothers than even before, when we were single? Seems like you can always find an excuse to go spoil yourself with your girlfriends BEFORE you have kids. But, I find so many women making excuses as to why they can't take time for themselves after kids. Maybe it's the money. Or maybe it's being away from the kids. Heck, it might even be being away from their husbands. It even seems like it may be some badge of honor. Like, you've given up everything to be the Best! Mother! Ever! Because apparently being a good mother means sacrificing everything for the sake of your children? I can't help but wonder where these moms are going to be in the post-early-childhood years. Because the kids? They are going to grow up. And they are not going to need you as much. And when you've built your life around them and only them, where does that leave you?
I also like to think about the example I'm setting for my kids. Not only am I showing them that I matter (even to myself!), but I'm showing them that I trust them and others to be okay when I'm not around. I'm modeling what it's like to be involved in other things outside of the home, have interests not focused solely on the children, and how to be a good friend and wife.
I think my mother set a good example for me in this aspect. For my whole existence, my mother has been a full-time mom. She quit her job as a special ed teacher when I was born, to stay home full-time. I never knew any different. But, I also knew that my mother had a life outside of just us. And there wasn't that pressure to be her everything, because she was fulfilled in more ways than one. Sure, she was there for us when we got home from school. She was there for field trips and dance classes and soccer practices. She did all that stuff that we mothers take on ourselves. But, I also saw her volunteering at church, singing in choir, playing bridge, and other various interests. I always knew, growing up, that my mom was more than just a mom. She was an intelligent woman with many interests who was enjoying her role as a full time mom. But also enjoying life itself.
This is the kind of mom I hope I am. The one who is there for my kids, but also there for myself. I sometimes fall victim to the guilt. The guilt over having a house that's not clean enough, but taking time to read anyway. Or the guilt over leaving the kids in the nursery so that I can get a good workout and a decent shower in. The guilt over leaving my husband at home to fend for himself while I go out with my girlfriends. But, I also have the satisfaction of knowing that all of these things make me who I am. And I wouldn't want to be any different.
I'm already a self centered mom.
When you say it that way, it certainly doesn't sound like anything that you would want to strive to be. But, when you look at the alternative, the moms who don't make time for themselves, you have to wonder what they are doing to themselves? I mean, don't they value who they are? Not just as a mother, but also as all the other roles that women play these days? Aren't we even more special now that we are mothers than even before, when we were single? Seems like you can always find an excuse to go spoil yourself with your girlfriends BEFORE you have kids. But, I find so many women making excuses as to why they can't take time for themselves after kids. Maybe it's the money. Or maybe it's being away from the kids. Heck, it might even be being away from their husbands. It even seems like it may be some badge of honor. Like, you've given up everything to be the Best! Mother! Ever! Because apparently being a good mother means sacrificing everything for the sake of your children? I can't help but wonder where these moms are going to be in the post-early-childhood years. Because the kids? They are going to grow up. And they are not going to need you as much. And when you've built your life around them and only them, where does that leave you?
I also like to think about the example I'm setting for my kids. Not only am I showing them that I matter (even to myself!), but I'm showing them that I trust them and others to be okay when I'm not around. I'm modeling what it's like to be involved in other things outside of the home, have interests not focused solely on the children, and how to be a good friend and wife.
I think my mother set a good example for me in this aspect. For my whole existence, my mother has been a full-time mom. She quit her job as a special ed teacher when I was born, to stay home full-time. I never knew any different. But, I also knew that my mother had a life outside of just us. And there wasn't that pressure to be her everything, because she was fulfilled in more ways than one. Sure, she was there for us when we got home from school. She was there for field trips and dance classes and soccer practices. She did all that stuff that we mothers take on ourselves. But, I also saw her volunteering at church, singing in choir, playing bridge, and other various interests. I always knew, growing up, that my mom was more than just a mom. She was an intelligent woman with many interests who was enjoying her role as a full time mom. But also enjoying life itself.
This is the kind of mom I hope I am. The one who is there for my kids, but also there for myself. I sometimes fall victim to the guilt. The guilt over having a house that's not clean enough, but taking time to read anyway. Or the guilt over leaving the kids in the nursery so that I can get a good workout and a decent shower in. The guilt over leaving my husband at home to fend for himself while I go out with my girlfriends. But, I also have the satisfaction of knowing that all of these things make me who I am. And I wouldn't want to be any different.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Another unbelievable moment at the gym
There's this woman who goes to the tennis club and she has two boys - one who's a little over three and one who's just a couple months younger than Bennett. She brings them both the the Terrific Toddler class and they run RAMPANT. Seriously - like the younger one is hanging off of the door handle and she ignores. The older one is stealing cars from one-year-olds and she just laughs. I thought this was all bad enough. That and the fact that one of them inevitably has a snotty nose that he's got smeared across his face. But, I believe that what I saw today tops it all off.
I saw her, at the gym prior to the start of class, sitting on some lounge chairs READING THE PAPER. Like, she brought her kids to the tennis club and dumped them into the nursery and then didn't even work out! I couldn't even fathom it. Here I was, rushing to squeeze in some weights and half a spin class and then rushing to get showered, and she's sitting there, leisurely reading the paper. I rush out to the car to drop of my bag of sweaty clothes and then rush to go get the kids. She walks in after me, all leisurely. Her youngest is screaming as we walk in. SCREAMING. She just smiles.
Just call me baffled.
Sure. I admit I've joked about dropping the kids off and then curling up on a couch with a book, but I honestly don't think I could ever really do it. Her kids were way worse in class today than they normally are, also. Maybe this is the only way she can make it through the day??
I saw her, at the gym prior to the start of class, sitting on some lounge chairs READING THE PAPER. Like, she brought her kids to the tennis club and dumped them into the nursery and then didn't even work out! I couldn't even fathom it. Here I was, rushing to squeeze in some weights and half a spin class and then rushing to get showered, and she's sitting there, leisurely reading the paper. I rush out to the car to drop of my bag of sweaty clothes and then rush to go get the kids. She walks in after me, all leisurely. Her youngest is screaming as we walk in. SCREAMING. She just smiles.
Just call me baffled.
Sure. I admit I've joked about dropping the kids off and then curling up on a couch with a book, but I honestly don't think I could ever really do it. Her kids were way worse in class today than they normally are, also. Maybe this is the only way she can make it through the day??
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Smarter than your average bear
Tonight at dinner, Bennett was asking for some pita chips, but still had chicken left in his bowl. Lance told him that he needed to finish his chicken before he could have anything else. With lightening quick speed, he shoveled every last piece of chicken into his mouth. After a minute or so, he pushed all the chicken into his cheeks, and then TOOK HIS FINGER and opened his mouth, covering the chicken tucked in his cheek and showed Lance his "empty" mouth. Then pointed at the pita chips.
We couldn't help but crack up!
We couldn't help but crack up!
He's done it again
On a few, very rare occasions, my husband has actually managed to surprise me. There was the time that I was surprised to be taken on a hot air balloon ride, complete with champagne brunch, for my birthday. There was a surprise party at Dave & Busters. And then there was last night, when I came home from a day of leisure to a house full of friends. Surprise! As I realized what was going on, I started to deconstruct the past few weeks and a few things fell into place. :)Lance had told me to not plan anything that day. So, when my friend Kristin emailed me to ask if I wanted to go see a movie, I told her that I couldn't plan anything for that day. Well, I guess she had to let Lance know to narrow down the time he wanted me home, so he told me to "take the day off from the kids" and to be home by 5:30. I didn't really realize that he really NEEDED me gone from the house since he left it so open and was so vague about everything. Then there was the complication with Kristin - she ended up in the hospital on Thursday night. So, Lance panicked and asked her if he should get someone else to "keep me busy". LOL She insisted on keeping the plans, so she emailed me again to see if I was up for anything. I told her I was, since I now knew that I had the whole day to myself, but was concerned with how she would be feeling. She insisted that she needed to get out of the house. So, at soccer yesterday morning, we made plans to meet for a movie after I got done at the gym. After the movie, she was all "where to now?" LOL
I should have caught on then. Or maybe a week or so ago at the Halloween party at school when my friend's husband asked about my upcoming birthday. And he totally SHOULDN'T HAVE KNOWN about my birthday. But, with Lance being so vague, I really didn't think he had anything like this up his sleeve. :)
I have to admit it was a little chaotic with 16 adults and 11 kids in the house, but it was a fun memorable birthday! Lance even cleaned up the kitchen afterwards. I will admit that afterwards, there are things that I'm wishing he would have thought of. Like putting away the dish drying rack. Or vacuuming the living room. But, I'm very glad that I mopped Friday night! Now, if I can only get him to vacuum and mop AFTER the party. :)
Friday, November 7, 2008
Birthday Eve
The beauty of having a five year old for a daughter is that she can ask me things like "what do you want for your birthday, Mom?" and I can say things like "A pair of Lucky jeans", "the new Weezer CD", or "tickets to see Not So Silent Night" and SHE CAN ACTUALLY REMEMBER THEM. I'm hoping this bodes well for my 34th birthday tomorrow. Although, I'm afraid of what might get lost in the translation since I also told her my size for the Lucky jeans and I heard her repeat "Weasel CD".
I've been busy doing random things over the past few days. Wednesday I had coffee with friends and then ran over to the business that hosts our monthly mothers club meetings to pick up a key. After that, it was off to playgroup. I came home from playgroup and read nearly the rest of Twilight (I had 40 pages to go) during nap time. After naps, it was dinner time and then I was off to my board meeting. I came home and Lance and I did the scrapbook pages for Terri's diary that I posted last.
Thursday was chores and kickboxing, napping and then playgroup at the park. I was supposed to go to bible study that night, but had already decided I wasn't going to go when I got a call from a friend and needed to go pick up her daughter. She spent the night with us last night and then we got up and to school today, where the kids had their pizza party! I slept during nap time again today and so now, my efforts to get ahead on my chores are waning. I still need to mop and change sheets and clean out my closet! But I just can't seem to get motivated to do it on my birthday eve.
I love having a Saturday birthday! That means I get the whole weekend, right?
I know nothing about the plans for tomorrow except that I've been given the gift of freedom from kids for the entire day, until I need to return by 5:30 for some predetermined plan of my husband's. I have to admit that I'm freaking out just a little. I mean, I know he's totally capable, but I am not used to doing NOTHING to prepare for a planned event, so it makes me a little nervous. Oh well. We'll see how it goes! I'm sure I'll have more to report tomorrow!
I've been busy doing random things over the past few days. Wednesday I had coffee with friends and then ran over to the business that hosts our monthly mothers club meetings to pick up a key. After that, it was off to playgroup. I came home from playgroup and read nearly the rest of Twilight (I had 40 pages to go) during nap time. After naps, it was dinner time and then I was off to my board meeting. I came home and Lance and I did the scrapbook pages for Terri's diary that I posted last.
Thursday was chores and kickboxing, napping and then playgroup at the park. I was supposed to go to bible study that night, but had already decided I wasn't going to go when I got a call from a friend and needed to go pick up her daughter. She spent the night with us last night and then we got up and to school today, where the kids had their pizza party! I slept during nap time again today and so now, my efforts to get ahead on my chores are waning. I still need to mop and change sheets and clean out my closet! But I just can't seem to get motivated to do it on my birthday eve.
I love having a Saturday birthday! That means I get the whole weekend, right?
I know nothing about the plans for tomorrow except that I've been given the gift of freedom from kids for the entire day, until I need to return by 5:30 for some predetermined plan of my husband's. I have to admit that I'm freaking out just a little. I mean, I know he's totally capable, but I am not used to doing NOTHING to prepare for a planned event, so it makes me a little nervous. Oh well. We'll see how it goes! I'm sure I'll have more to report tomorrow!
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
What a day!
Morgan took Terri to the polls this morning with Lance and she even got her "I Voted" sticker to prove it. She was so excited to go with Lance to do his civic duty. It was very cute! But, the morning's excitement did put us a little behind schedule, as Morgan had to run to catch up to her class as they were going in to school.Morgan also got to vote at school. They voted on whether to have a hot dog party or a pizza party on Friday. They each got to cast their votes and then watch as they were tallied. They also go to go to the polling spot at the school to see the ballots and how they are read into the machine and all. Morgan is ALL ABOUT the election! In fact, they were calling a different race (US Senator for another state) and Morgan was all, "I totally know who they voted for! The guy on the top! So, I guess neither Obama or McCain won." LOL
After dropping Morgan off at school, I schlepped Bennett all over town, to three different grocery stores to get some grocery shopping done. I just adore shopping with just Bennett. He's at that really cute age where he's happy to just sit in the cart and sing songs and say "hi" to the butcher and just charm the pants off of everyone. It's fun to be his Mom!
We dropped the groceries off at home and then headed over to Bounce U for a kids outing. Bennett had a blast, and took an 2.5 hour nap afterwards to prove it. This place was awesome - they had two different rooms and lots of different options for all the kids. Bennett had so much fun getting silly with Clare.
I had to leave a little early to go get Morgan from school, but got there a few minutes early and was happy to have Twilight with me in the car! :) We came home and had lunch after school and then when the kids went down for their naps, I finished up my chores and read some more. I'm officially hooked! I'm already on page 320/498! I'll be done by the end of the week, for sure. Edward is amazing! I'm totally swooning! Anyway, the kids took good naps and Morgan woke up happy and with enough time to have a little snack before it was time to get her ready for ballet. I had to wake Bennett up to take her to ballet, but he didn't seem to mind too much. After dropping her off, we headed over to the store to look for bags to put her Start Attraction snack in for tomorrow. Luckily, I've been able to talk her out of ice cream sundaes for snack! :) She's now all about the Pirates Booty. Which makes things far less complicated for mom and healthier for the other kids, who are undoubtedly overdosing on Halloween candy at home. I picked out some pencil sharpeners for their guessing jar, hoping Morgan would approve. Boy did she! She's very excited! When it's their week, the kids get to put between 1-100 of any item that will fit into this jar and then the kids all get to guess how many are in there and then, if they want to, the Star can pass out their item to their classmates. She's very excited to pass out pencil sharpeners. She's already decided that she'll have the kids keep their pencil sharpeners at their desks. LOL
Today, she brought 10 pictures into the classroom to talk about. She picked pictures from the luau we went to in Hawaii, the Alligator Farm in Florida, a picture of her with her with my brother's children in Key West, a picture of Lance and I from Key West, one of her and Bennett when he was really little, a picture of her playing golf with Grandpa and a picture of her with Grandma at the duck pond in Florida, ones from her first and last birthdays, and one from her dance recital in June. Apparently, we have a public speaker on our hands. Her teacher went on and on about how great she did. She even said that she told the class that "This is how it's done!". She was proud of her for speaking clearly and loudly enough. Yeah, because I've always been so worried about my soft spoken little girl! Ha!
The last thing we have to do for Star Attraction week is to scrapbook our pictures. I promise to post the pictures we use. They are really cute!
Monday, November 3, 2008
Manic Monday
Everything is out of whack today. It started this morning when Bennett was babbling in his crib at some sub-6 a.m. hour, which is very uncharacteristic. I turned over to see that Lance was still in bed, when he's typically on his way out the door at that time. Nevertheless, I tried to get another 20 minutes of sleep before my alarm was to go off, only I couldn't because I had to pee so badly.
So now I'm up and having gone to the bathroom, start ticking off the things to do today in my head. Bennett has quieted down, so I get dressed for the gym, clean my bathroom, remove the duvet cover from my bed to be washed, and get the dog out of her bed to go downstairs. I can hear that Bennett is talking again and so I go into the kitchen to prepare some oatmeal for him. Morgan stumbles in, still in her pajamas. I ask her to go get dressed. Lance follows me into the kitchen and asks if I'd like him to get Bennett up. "Sure", I tell him and he proceeds to get him up and dressed and bring him in the kitchen where he's very excited to have MEAL! MEAL!
Morgan comes in, upset that she's having problems putting on her shirt (it ties in the back and was tied), so I untie it for her and she starts to put her arms through the sleeves. Meanwhile, there is much grunting and screams of frustration in the kitchen. Bennett is having a complete conniption fit and I can't figure out why. He's at that stage where he knows a lot of words, but they don't come to him quick enough, particularly when he's frustrated, to make his communication easier. He's just pointed at the bowl that I cooked his oatmeal in and yelling DADDY!
Meanwhile, I can hear screams coming from Morgan's room where she's complaining about the long sleeves on her shirt being TOO TIGHT!! Morgan screams. Bennett screams. Lance looks at me like he wants to make an escape and I quietly ask him if I can call in sick to work today. He informs me that he's learned that my employer doesn't have a very good benefit program. Hmmph.
Seeing the look of frustration on my face, and acknowledging the Armageddon that is clearly about to transpire, Lance puts his bag down, grabs the bowl of that I had cooked the oatmeal in (where there was some left) and sits down next to Bennett at the breakfast table. Suddenly, Bennett quiets and starts shoveling oatmeal in his mouth.
THEN, this child of mine, who will be raised as a proper gentleman, mind you, points to Daddy, looks at me and declares "WAWA". I'm shocked. I know what he means. But I'm shocked that this little pip squeak of a boy is demanding that I get his father something to drink. I had a few choice words for him that included words like "not your waitress", but really just couldn't get over the whole scene.
Morgan finally gets over the "shirt issue" and comes to eat breakfast and we finally make it to school, on time. I head over to the gym where I decide that I'd rather sit on the exercise bike, reading my new book, Twilight, rather than lift weights or take the spin class. I felt like after the morning I'd endured, I deserved a little gift to myself! :) I did an hour on the bike and then got showered up and picked Bennett up for his Terrific Toddlers class. In perhaps the most shocking turn of events of the day, as soon as Bennett saw me walk into the nursery to pick him up, he called "Mama!" and then promptly put away both of the trucks he was playing with WITHOUT BEING ASKED and before running over to me for our post-workout reunion. I was, again, shocked by this turn of events. He was a happy camper for his class and afterwards, we went home where I worked on chores until it was time to go get Morgan from school.
We came home from school and I made the kids grilled cheese sandwiches and soup for lunch. They played for a while after lunch while I wrapped up more chores (trying to get ahead for this week!) and then I put them down for their naps, a little later than usual. I popped some popcorn and snuggled up on the couch with a blanket and Twilight. An hour passed before Bennett started SCREAMING. And I do mean screaming. This, of course, woke Morgan up, who argued vehemently that she DID, in fact, take a good nap (even though I know it wasn't for more than an hour, and she usually takes 2-3 hour naps). I asked her to please read some books quietly and then she asks me, with tears in her eyes, why I always didn't want her to take a good nap. Because that even makes any sense. Which clearly demonstrates the fact that she's practically talking in her SLEEP because she didn't sleep long enough. Exhausted from the argument, and needing to go get Bennett up because he's STILL SCREAMING, I tell her she can stay up as long as she does quiet activities for a bit because I was going to go see about Bennett and see if I could get him back to sleep.
I go tend to Bennett, who has drool ALL OVER the sheet in his crib and he's screaming that pain scream. I know it's his teeth. He's working on all four molars at once and I had to keep pulling his fingers out of his mouth during Terrific Toddlers today. I offer him teething tablets, so he takes one and puts it directly on the spot on his upper left gum line where the pain must be coming from. He takes another one, and does the same thing with this glossy-eyed stare, telling me that he was in fact still tired. He then looks at me and says "wuv oo" and puts his head on my shoulder. Poor baby! I ask him if he wants to lay back down and he nods his head yes. So, I turn the music back on, grab his blanket and rock him a little while he settles down. I go to lay him back down in his crib, and I'm pretty sure that I ripped his pinky toe off because he screamed a scream so loud and shrill, that I immediately abandoned the "back to sleep" plan, grabbed him and his blanket, and made a bee line for the couch to lay down with him. Morgan was asking to watch TV, which sounded like a quiet activity to me, so I agreed and put on Diego.
I guess Diego must have some sort of hyper-like affect on sleepy teething toddlers, because Bennett immediately became animated and all thoughts of quiet time also quickly vanished.
And now, I sit here, with the rain pouring down and spoiling my shopping plans and two over-tired kids on my hands. For TWO AND A HALF FULL HOURS ON MY OWN. WITH THE RAIN. Did I mention the rain?
God help me.
So now I'm up and having gone to the bathroom, start ticking off the things to do today in my head. Bennett has quieted down, so I get dressed for the gym, clean my bathroom, remove the duvet cover from my bed to be washed, and get the dog out of her bed to go downstairs. I can hear that Bennett is talking again and so I go into the kitchen to prepare some oatmeal for him. Morgan stumbles in, still in her pajamas. I ask her to go get dressed. Lance follows me into the kitchen and asks if I'd like him to get Bennett up. "Sure", I tell him and he proceeds to get him up and dressed and bring him in the kitchen where he's very excited to have MEAL! MEAL!
Morgan comes in, upset that she's having problems putting on her shirt (it ties in the back and was tied), so I untie it for her and she starts to put her arms through the sleeves. Meanwhile, there is much grunting and screams of frustration in the kitchen. Bennett is having a complete conniption fit and I can't figure out why. He's at that stage where he knows a lot of words, but they don't come to him quick enough, particularly when he's frustrated, to make his communication easier. He's just pointed at the bowl that I cooked his oatmeal in and yelling DADDY!
Meanwhile, I can hear screams coming from Morgan's room where she's complaining about the long sleeves on her shirt being TOO TIGHT!! Morgan screams. Bennett screams. Lance looks at me like he wants to make an escape and I quietly ask him if I can call in sick to work today. He informs me that he's learned that my employer doesn't have a very good benefit program. Hmmph.
Seeing the look of frustration on my face, and acknowledging the Armageddon that is clearly about to transpire, Lance puts his bag down, grabs the bowl of that I had cooked the oatmeal in (where there was some left) and sits down next to Bennett at the breakfast table. Suddenly, Bennett quiets and starts shoveling oatmeal in his mouth.
THEN, this child of mine, who will be raised as a proper gentleman, mind you, points to Daddy, looks at me and declares "WAWA". I'm shocked. I know what he means. But I'm shocked that this little pip squeak of a boy is demanding that I get his father something to drink. I had a few choice words for him that included words like "not your waitress", but really just couldn't get over the whole scene.
Morgan finally gets over the "shirt issue" and comes to eat breakfast and we finally make it to school, on time. I head over to the gym where I decide that I'd rather sit on the exercise bike, reading my new book, Twilight, rather than lift weights or take the spin class. I felt like after the morning I'd endured, I deserved a little gift to myself! :) I did an hour on the bike and then got showered up and picked Bennett up for his Terrific Toddlers class. In perhaps the most shocking turn of events of the day, as soon as Bennett saw me walk into the nursery to pick him up, he called "Mama!" and then promptly put away both of the trucks he was playing with WITHOUT BEING ASKED and before running over to me for our post-workout reunion. I was, again, shocked by this turn of events. He was a happy camper for his class and afterwards, we went home where I worked on chores until it was time to go get Morgan from school.
We came home from school and I made the kids grilled cheese sandwiches and soup for lunch. They played for a while after lunch while I wrapped up more chores (trying to get ahead for this week!) and then I put them down for their naps, a little later than usual. I popped some popcorn and snuggled up on the couch with a blanket and Twilight. An hour passed before Bennett started SCREAMING. And I do mean screaming. This, of course, woke Morgan up, who argued vehemently that she DID, in fact, take a good nap (even though I know it wasn't for more than an hour, and she usually takes 2-3 hour naps). I asked her to please read some books quietly and then she asks me, with tears in her eyes, why I always didn't want her to take a good nap. Because that even makes any sense. Which clearly demonstrates the fact that she's practically talking in her SLEEP because she didn't sleep long enough. Exhausted from the argument, and needing to go get Bennett up because he's STILL SCREAMING, I tell her she can stay up as long as she does quiet activities for a bit because I was going to go see about Bennett and see if I could get him back to sleep.
I go tend to Bennett, who has drool ALL OVER the sheet in his crib and he's screaming that pain scream. I know it's his teeth. He's working on all four molars at once and I had to keep pulling his fingers out of his mouth during Terrific Toddlers today. I offer him teething tablets, so he takes one and puts it directly on the spot on his upper left gum line where the pain must be coming from. He takes another one, and does the same thing with this glossy-eyed stare, telling me that he was in fact still tired. He then looks at me and says "wuv oo" and puts his head on my shoulder. Poor baby! I ask him if he wants to lay back down and he nods his head yes. So, I turn the music back on, grab his blanket and rock him a little while he settles down. I go to lay him back down in his crib, and I'm pretty sure that I ripped his pinky toe off because he screamed a scream so loud and shrill, that I immediately abandoned the "back to sleep" plan, grabbed him and his blanket, and made a bee line for the couch to lay down with him. Morgan was asking to watch TV, which sounded like a quiet activity to me, so I agreed and put on Diego.
I guess Diego must have some sort of hyper-like affect on sleepy teething toddlers, because Bennett immediately became animated and all thoughts of quiet time also quickly vanished.
And now, I sit here, with the rain pouring down and spoiling my shopping plans and two over-tired kids on my hands. For TWO AND A HALF FULL HOURS ON MY OWN. WITH THE RAIN. Did I mention the rain?
God help me.
A fun way to end the weekend
Since the rain subsided yesterday, we took that opportunity to head to the Zoo with Terri the Toucan. We stayed until just after lunch and then came home. I told Morgan that if she slept all the way home, she could skip her nap. I've never seen her go to sleep so fast.
We dropped the guys off so that Bennett could have his nap and then Morgan and I went by a house where a woman had offered me the entire Twilight series on Freecycle. I picked them up and then we headed to the theater to see High School Musical 3!
The movie was cute, but most of it was over Morgan's head (it was all senior year stuff - going away to school, figuring out what you want to do with your life, etc). It had some great singing and dancing numbers, and Morgan was dancing around in her seat with Terri.
After the movie, we came home and Morgan finished up her Star Attraction poster. It has things on there like pictures, her stats from birth and how big she is now, "Things I like" (hers are watching movies, going out to dinner, and playing with my brother), "Things I Don't Like" (hers are being yelled at - HA!, spicy salmon, and taking naps), what she wants to be when she grows up (a bird teacher), what she's really very good at (writing her name), what she likes to do in her free time (watch TV, play, go to the park) and her favorite book (The Lion King). I've very proud of her for writing the answers to all of these question all by herself! The poster is due today and tomorrow we owe more pictures, Wednesday is the special snack day (she wants ice cream sundaes!!), and then Friday is guessing jar.
I'm happy to report that while the Halloween candy still exists in my house, I managed to not eat a single piece of it yesterday. Hooray. Also, I started the first Twilight book last night after I finished my weekly planning and prepping for the board meeting on Wednesday. I can tell I'm going to be sucked in. Not sure when I'm going to find the time for that...
We dropped the guys off so that Bennett could have his nap and then Morgan and I went by a house where a woman had offered me the entire Twilight series on Freecycle. I picked them up and then we headed to the theater to see High School Musical 3!
The movie was cute, but most of it was over Morgan's head (it was all senior year stuff - going away to school, figuring out what you want to do with your life, etc). It had some great singing and dancing numbers, and Morgan was dancing around in her seat with Terri.
After the movie, we came home and Morgan finished up her Star Attraction poster. It has things on there like pictures, her stats from birth and how big she is now, "Things I like" (hers are watching movies, going out to dinner, and playing with my brother), "Things I Don't Like" (hers are being yelled at - HA!, spicy salmon, and taking naps), what she wants to be when she grows up (a bird teacher), what she's really very good at (writing her name), what she likes to do in her free time (watch TV, play, go to the park) and her favorite book (The Lion King). I've very proud of her for writing the answers to all of these question all by herself! The poster is due today and tomorrow we owe more pictures, Wednesday is the special snack day (she wants ice cream sundaes!!), and then Friday is guessing jar.
I'm happy to report that while the Halloween candy still exists in my house, I managed to not eat a single piece of it yesterday. Hooray. Also, I started the first Twilight book last night after I finished my weekly planning and prepping for the board meeting on Wednesday. I can tell I'm going to be sucked in. Not sure when I'm going to find the time for that...
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Rainy day fun
Since it's just the first storm of the season, it was still warm enough that I got this hair brained idea to take the kids out in the rain and let them play in puddles.Let me tell you that if you've never allowed your kids to go outside in the rain WITHOUT an umbrella or raincoat, or any protective gear and if you're constantly telling them to hurry through the rain drops and not step in puddles, then when you finally let them loose outside to do just those things, they want to know why. Morgan was clearly baffled, but later confided in me that it was SO MUCH FUN.
See for yourself!
Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books
Laid back Saturday
I'm loving the rainy weather today. Although it meant that Morgan's soccer practice this morning was canceled, we ended up going out for breakfast with some friends and then came back home to a gloomy, but leisurely morning. Morgan worked on her Star Attraction poster for next week, Bennett colored next to her, and Lance and I watched football while I read the paper. This reminds me what weekends are supposed to be like - relaxing! :)
At some point this weekend, we're going to be taking the class mascot that Morgan is in possession of for the week to see High School Musical 3 and to the zoo. I have to take pictures and make scrapbook pages for the class book. Morgan's been looking forward to this since the very first Star Attraction of the year, so she's very wound up about it. Terri the Toucan went with us to breakfast this morning. :)
Other than the Star Attraction stuff this weekend, I have nothing else planned. And that feels nice! Maybe Lance and I will even get to watch some movies.
Tomorrow, I'm going to figure out a plan with all this stinking candy we have in our house. Because I seriously need to get back on track with my eating!
At some point this weekend, we're going to be taking the class mascot that Morgan is in possession of for the week to see High School Musical 3 and to the zoo. I have to take pictures and make scrapbook pages for the class book. Morgan's been looking forward to this since the very first Star Attraction of the year, so she's very wound up about it. Terri the Toucan went with us to breakfast this morning. :)
Other than the Star Attraction stuff this weekend, I have nothing else planned. And that feels nice! Maybe Lance and I will even get to watch some movies.
Tomorrow, I'm going to figure out a plan with all this stinking candy we have in our house. Because I seriously need to get back on track with my eating!
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