Safety Stuff

Today was the police station tour with Morgan's Daisy troop, plus another Daisy troop from school. Morgan was very excited about getting a behind the scenes look at what goes on at the police station. The tour took us through a lot of the highlights of the station, the dispatch area, the briefing room, the holding cells, and even the gym. The girls got to sit in a police car and got to see what all those cool things were in there. They even got to meet a detective, who is not in uniform, to understand that not all police officers wear uniforms.

After the tour, the girls went back to the meeting room where we had left our packed lunches and the girls got to watch the movie, The Safe Side, which was created by John Walsh and Julie Clark (of Baby Einstein fame). The movie was fun for the girls to watch, but also successful taught them about "Don't Knows" (people they don't know -- usually called strangers), "Kinda Knows" (like a soccer coach, school teacher, principal, friend's parent, etc), and "Safe Side adult" (someone your parents have cleared as being a trusted adult to take care of you. The video went through several situations where the kids needed Safe Side adults, like when answering a door or when a "Don't Know" approached them or when an adult came to them and asked them to help them find a lost kitten or something equally as tricky. That one really resonated with Morgan. I highly recommend the video (suitable for children ages 4 and older), not only for what it taught, but also for the discussion points that it provides for you and your child after watching it.

Case in point. As we were walking home from the tour, Morgan started talking about how she was ready to make her "safe side adult" list and that she wanted to put it on a board at home where we could always see it. We started discussing who potential people for our "safe side adult" list could be. She immediately started naming relatives. Her cousin, her aunt, her grandma and grandpa. I explained to her that in most cases, family members are going to be "safe side adults" but that in some families, it's not that way. I told her that luckily our family members are okay, but that we needed to also think of non family members since we really don't have much family around us. I asked her to think about someone that she thought we could trust to take care of her. She mentioned her teacher, but then remembered that we had talked about teachers being "Kinda Knows", so she wouldn't be one. I asked her about Miss Kristin (my good friend, also her girl scout leader). She said that Miss Kristin was a "Kinda Know", as we had discussed during the meeting. Which was true, to most of the girls in the troop, Kristin is a "Kinda Know". She also happens to be a very close family friend to us. I asked Morgan if maybe she could be one of our "safe side adults", to which she responded that she wasn't sure and we'd have to test her. When I questioned her on why we would need to test her, or even how we would test her, she told me that we needed to see if she could "handle her". LOL. I explained that Miss Kristin had "handled her" many times now, and that Daddy and I trusted her and I thought it would be okay to have her on our "safe side adult" list. She concurred.

We were almost home, when Morgan looked across the street and saw her preschool friend's Dad's truck. She said, "Is Nolan's Dad a Kinda Know?" I told her that he was. Then she asked, "Does that mean I can't go to his house anymore?" I told her that's not at all what it meant. That as long as she talks to ME and has mine or another safe side adult's permission, she could do things like hanging out with her friends at their house. But, she needed to check with us first. She said she understood.

It was a really good conversation starter. I had already talked to Morgan about our code word and how to use it, so now we just applied it to this new concept of "Don't Knows", "Kinda Knows" and "Safe Side adults". Anything I can do to empower her to know what to do to protect her and her brother, the better.

Shout out to Lara

Here's a shout out to my friend, Lara, who posted some cute pictures and video of Kylee and Bennett from yesterday, over at her blog, Marc and Lara plus 2. Thanks again Lara!

Trophy wife

Why would you give this trophy to a 35 year old man? What the hell are we supposed to do with this??


Lance won the trophy last night for coming in SECOND place at the go karting outing they had at work. Apparently, FIRST place was even BIGGER. I feel sorry for that wife.

The funniest thing is, this morning, gazing at the symbol of glory that is now gracing our kitchen counter top, my husband tells me that his arms and neck are a little sore. Ha!

But, mostly what I want to know, does this make me a trophy wife? No? Sadly, I guess that means we won't be able to keep it then. Shucks.

5 things I'm grateful for today

Thanks to Emily for following this blog and writing about Grace in Small Things. I've been wanting to do it from time to time, so I'm happy to do it today!

1. I have great friends who step in to help whenever needed. Today it was my friend Lara who offered to keep Bennett so I could work in Morgan's class. This made Morgan (and me) very happy.

2. Bennett didn't destroy anything at Lara's house while he was there (that I know of) and I was greeted with comments about how she wanted to adopt him because he was so good, helpful and cute. What a way to make my day! Lara even made chicken nuggets for the kids, which was great since Morgan was STARVING (she must be going through a growth spurt). In turn, I picked up some salads for us and the kids were pretty much done eating by the time we sat down, so we got to sit and eat salad and chit chat while the kids played for a little while after lunch. Soooo nice!

3. During class today, Morgan was tested for AR. This basically assesses where she is in terms of her reading and comprehension. She scored a 1.0, which the average starting first grader. Her teacher told me that she hoped she would be at a 1.4 by the end of the year, essentially at the level of a child in the fourth month of first grade. How exciting! Morgan was really frustrated by the test, but when I explained to her that it had to be hard to figure out where she was and that not all the kids even got to be tested, she mellowed out a little. Then, when we figured out that she'd actually made it into the AR group, allowing her to check out an additional book from the library every week, she got so excited that she HAD to call Daddy and Grandma. I have to say that I'm overwhelmed with pride. She started out the school year, in my opinion, slightly behind with phonetics. She has surpassed my expectations for her this year and the fact that she now has this additional path to pursue, will only help increase her reading level. I know the joy that this will bring to her over the years, so I'm just so incredibly grateful to have a child who loves to learn.

4. Making the best of the fact that Daddy is gone GoKarting with his coworkers tonight, I decided to go cash in our free movie or game coupons at Blockbuster and came home with two movies and one Wii game for free. We also went by Little Caesars for the $5 pizza and when we got home, I set the kids up in the living room with paper plates, pizza, water, and Everyone's Hero on the TV. They both sat there and ate and watched the movie for an HOUR! This is officially the world record for the longest Bennett has sat still in front of the TV. The food must have had something to do with it. What a nice break for me, though! Not only did I not have to cook, but I didn't even have to entertain them for over an hour! I'd say $5 was worth it for dinner and entertainment! Would it be wrong for me to set up the table in the living room permanently? I guess I'd have to put food out permanently too....

5. Quiet. Right now, the kids are all in bed, fast asleep after "such an awesome night" as Morgan put it. Lance is still out, so it's just me awake right now. There's no sound but the bubbling of the fish tank and the clicking of the keys on my laptop. Ahhhhhh. Drink it in.

A new dish for dinner

Tonight, I thought I'd try a new recipe from one of my tried and true cookbooks, the Weight Watchers 5 ingredient, 15 minutes cookbook. This cookbook is seriously overused by me as the recipes are all simple, EASY, healthy and pretty yummy. I can't say we've had a bad one. Never having enough ways to cook chicken, I picked out Mexican Chicken Skillet. Now, mind you, I had like only one of the identical ingredients, so I made do with what I had, but it turned out really yummy nevertheless. I'll post the original recipe with my substitutions in parenthesis.

I will say, that the thing that made it so delicious and ultimately provided that finishing touches was the fact that just as we were dishing up the food, my husband (who's job has not allowed him to have dinner with us during the week since he started two weeks ago) walked in the door. We had a family dinner, yippee!

Ingredients:
Cooking spray
1 9-oz package frozen southwestern-flavored cooked chicken breast strips (I thawed 4 frozen chicken breasts, cut them into strips and seasoned them with some homemade taco seasoning + some chili powder*)
1 3/4 c. water
1 14.5-oz can Mexican-style stewed tomatoes (I used a 15 oz can of diced tomatoes and seasoned it myself with chili powder)
2 cups instant rice, uncooked (I used instant brown rice)
1 8.75-oz can no-salt-added whole-kernel corn, drained (I used frozen corn -- no idea how much, maybe like half a bag? -- that I had thawed under warm water)
1 cup preshredded reduced-fat Mexican blend cheese

1. Coat a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray; place over medium-high heat until hot. Add chicken strips and saute 3 to 5 minutes or until chicken in thoroughly heated (or cooked in my case). Remove chicken from skillet and set aside.

2. Add water and tomatoes to skillet; bring to a boil. Stir in rice and corn; top with chicken strips and cheese. Cover, remove from heat and let stand for 5 minutes. Yield: 4 servings.

8 WW points: 402 Calories, 55.5g Carbohydrate, 7.7g Fat, 1.3g Fiber, 27.1g Protein, 40mg Cholesterol, 767mg Sodium, 239mg Calcium, 2.0mg Iron

* If you want the recipe for the taco seasoning mix, let me know. I got it from the Miserly Moms book.

Ashes and snack

Today was FANTASTIC. Oh so FABULOUS. Today, was a normal day, with normal activities like going to the gym, playgroup at the library, lunch at Baja Fresh, a park in the afternoon. Wheee! That's right, people! We are OUT and ABOUT! After 3+ weeks of Bennett being sick, you should have seen the pure joy, if not faint recognition, at being at the park on a sunny day. We loved every. minute. of it.

Being Ash Wednesday, we were trying to figure out a service to go to. I thought I had finally settled on the 6pm service, but by the time I got everything prepped for cooking dinner after church, diaper changed, shoes on, etc, it was already 5:45. Plan B, I cooked dinner and fed the kids in a hurry and then rushed over to church for the service. Morgan was fascinated with the ashes. I read to her the explanation of Ash Wednesday I had received in my email the day before. She really wanted to go to the service with me, and since I had heard it was short, I told her that she could. She sat on my lap during the service. It started with music and then there was a mini-sermon about Ash Wednesday and Lent. There was some humor in the message and so everyone was laughing here and there, Morgan laughing along with us. Then she started to anticipate the humor, and I probably don't have to tell you that she ended up being the only one to laugh on a couple of occasions. Throughout the service, she would periodically turn to me and whisper in my ear, "When do I get the ash??" I would tell her in a little bit and she'd sit there quietly listening until she couldn't stand it anymore and had to ask again. As soon as the mini-sermon was over, the nice gentleman sitting on my right looks at Morgan and says, "You're giving up ice cream for Lent, right?" If looks could kill...

Finally, it was time for the ashes. We stood up, got in line and went to the front of the chapel where the ashes were being placed on foreheads. The woman in our line asked if Morgan would like ashes and she said she did, so she got some. I got mine and then we headed towards the back of the chapel where communion was out. I grabbed the "bread" and the "wine" and stepped aside to say a prayer. Meanwhile, Morgan is tugging at my pants and asking if she can have some. I quickly and quietly say no and then proceed to take communion. When I'm done, she looks at me and asks if that was what was for snack. Ha! As we are leaving the chapel to go get Bennett from the nursery (it is now FAR past his bedtime), I explain to her that when she is older and learns more about Jesus, she will be able to participate in that special ceremony, but not until later.

When we get to the nursery to pick Bennett up, he takes one look at my forehead and one look at Morgan's forehead and points to his own and proclaims "ME!! Me that on mine head!!" I rub a little ash from my forehead and put it on his and that seems to make him happy. Good thing he didn't see the snack I'd just had!!

Forescore and seven years ago..

Morgan's class has been learning all about the presidents. Specifically George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. They are learning all kinds of interesting facts, not all of which revolve around assassination attempts, so it's good to hear that Morgan's knowledge of presidents is expanding.

Today, they were performing a poem and presidential facts at the school's "Dragon Assembly". Without further ado, here's Morgan, her class and the adjoining class!


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

The trouble with women

I adore women. Not in a I'm-more-into-them-than-into-men way, but I do believe that women are special. Men are special too, but in a different way. Men are special in that way that makes me want to curl up on the couch, rest my head on their chest kind of way.

I think only women can truly appreciate the complexities of being a woman. We know what it's like to have irrational fears, and therefore can sympathize with our friends when they are feeling something like that. A man? Well, he might just brush it off as "girls". We know the rush of adrenaline that comes from finding the perfect pair of shoes ON SALE and finding out that they do have our size. A man? He wouldn't even be shopping.

There's so much said about the sisterhood that is shared between women. And there's even some said about what happens when things go awry. Words like cat fight or bitch fest might be used. In all honesty, sometimes it feels like that. But most of the time, the feelings we women have regarding relationships goes far beyond that. I truly believe that only a woman really knows what I'm talking about here (can I get an amen?).

Here are the things I have learned about women and friendships.

1. Some women will NEVER understand that you can be friends with more than one person.
2. Some women are "best friends" with no one.
3. Some women are "best friends" to too many.
4. Having more than one "best friend" is a hard thing to do. It's a balancing act that many women have taken on. Some have been successful and some have not.
5. Having kids DOES change things.
6. If your husbands don't get along, then it's not going to work out.
7. If your friend's husband is an asshole, it's not going to work out.
8. You cannot make your friend realize that her husband is an asshole.
9. If your friend's parenting style is in opposition to yours, it's not going to work out.
10. Life changes and friendships change. People come and they go. It's part of life.
11. You can't force a friendship on someone. It either works or it doesn't.
12. Women will get upset/jealous/angry if they find out that a group of women are doing something without them. I've seen this in groups of four year olds as well as groups of fifty year olds.
13. Women will get upset/jealous/angry if someone they know has something (or someone) they want and sometimes that can affect a friendship. I've seen this in everything from possessions to what gender baby someone has.
14. When you find the people you DO click with, the people who's HUSBANDS you click with, the ones who parent in a complimentary style and who's lifestyle is not in direct opposition to yours, these people can be the most solid rock upon which to lay your joys, troubles and fears. These are the women who will come to your aid at your greatest time of need. These people can become like family to you. This depth of a relationship is a wonderful thing to experience, but can be hard for other women. Especially women who don't have that in their life.
    
15. Much like in their relationship with men, sometimes women can misread your relationship. Either they think there's more to it than there is, or they don't think as much of it as you do.

I had a friend who approached me tonight. She wanted to know why things between us had changed. I admit that things *have* changed. I told her so. She wanted to know a reason. There was no reason, other than we just weren't that close. I started to feel badly that I wasn't as emotional about it as she was, but then I took a step back. It was then that I realized that I had never considered her to be as close of a friend as she had considered me to be. We had bonded quickly over fussy babies and breastfeeding, but at the end of the day, besides that what else did we have in common? The babies are now toddlers and there's new stuff to worry about. New stuff to bond over. It just so happens that I'm not as close with her now. Not because of anything specifically. No, that would be way easier. I have bonded more closely with some other women and I don't think I should be ashamed of that.

But here she was, crying to me about wanting to be liked. All that was going through my head is "what does she want me to say?". I felt cold and distant. I mean, I felt bad about how she was feeling. I sure wish she didn't feel that way. But, it was strange to have someone have such strong feelings when I didn't. It felt like I was being cornered.

As it turned out, she seemed to have a lot of issues with someone I am friends with. She was dumping them out to me, looking for me to confirm her feelings. See, this is what a lot of women do. They want to commiserate with each other when they feel they have been wronged. Only, usually it's between two close friends. Certainly not someone who's a friend, but not a really close one, about a friend who *is* one of your close friends. Maybe she was upset that this other person and I are better friends now and this was her way of handling it? Maybe that's what felt so weird to me. It was almost as if she was hoping I'd turn my back on my good friend and turn toward her.

I felt bad for her that she needed me to do that. I felt bad that she wanted me to do that. But not bad enough to do it. Is that bad?

See, this is the trouble with being a woman. If I were a man, not only would we have never had that conversation, but I'd also be sitting here right now thinking about things like beer or computers or maybe even what's going on this weekend. Instead, I'm sitting here fretting over a pseudo friend who is upset because I'm not her best friend and upset with myself for not getting upset about it. That's the trouble with women.

The one where I talk in way too much detail about poop

As you are all fully aware, my life has been consumed not *just* with vomit, but also with lots of loose watery poopy diapers. I know, it's just about as much fun as a girl can handle. But, just picture this if you will.

You are fast asleep. Your husband has gotten up and has gotten in the shower, so the thick haze of sleep is gradually dissipating. Out of the corner recesses of your mind you hear the following, "Daddy! Put mine diaper back on!". Sure it's just a lingering dream, you turn over and try to get one last bit of sleep. That's when you hear it again, "Daddy. Mine diaper off!" Suddenly, the voice sounds familiar and real. Almost audibly, the gears of your mind start moving and putting the pieces together. The voice? Your son's. The diaper? Possibly full of diarrhea. And then it happens -- your mind forces your body up before you have really connected the dots. Before you know it, you are downstairs and opening the door of your son's room. To find that he has, in fact, unfastened his diaper. A wave of panic and a quick scan of the entire crib for signs of the yellow, watery poop ensue. Relief hits when you realize that there has been no breech. That's when you have a FIRM discussion with your son about who, exactly, is allowed to take his diaper off. The only options are Mom or Dad. That's IT! He keeps pulling up on the front of the diaper, like he's trying to pull it off by the front of it. Crazy kid.

See, I never had to worry about this with Morgan. It never dawned on her that she could actually take the diaper off herself. Why can't Bennett be equally as innocent and NOT precocious?

In other news, there have only been TWO poopy diapers today. And while they aren't "normal", they certainly aren't of the watery, drippy nature that we've been dealing with for a week now. He's actually kept THE SAME PAIR OF PANTS on ALL DAY! Small wonders.

Lazy

You know you've had a lazy day when it's time to go to bed and you don't have to get changed.

Really, though, I did actually get something accomplished. I went upstairs to do my menu planning and got sidetracked looking through old pictures to scan and upload to Facebook. Oh the pictures! That lead to a general picture organization project, which led to going through a few boxes (even Lance got into the mix) and decluttering. Yippee!

Dinner was frozen homemade chicken soup to keep things easy on the kids' delicate tummies and even Lance heated that up. Yep, a lazy day indeed.

A fun night out, but not a fun night in

I've been looking forward to tonight for weeks, every since I got an email from my friend Melissa's husband Marshall, asking me to save the date and get a sitter. I did both of those things and considering the weeks I've been having, I was really looking forward to a night out on the town with my husband and with friends. We were celebrating Melissa's 30th birthday and I was looking forward to the Cajun food at Roux and then cupcakes at Kara's cupcakes after. The kids were a little touch and go...Morgan hadn't thrown up since Friday morning and Bennett got a little better, then a little worse, then a little better again. So, we decided to go ahead and go. We got dressed up a little (I even curled my hair, though you couldn't tell it by the end of the night!) and headed over to the Alexanders' house to carpool with them down to Santana Row where we were meeting two other couples for dinner.

The food was fabulous - I don't think I've ever had hush puppies as good, and being a southerner, you know I've had my share! The drinks were good too, I even got the traditional New Orleans drinks of a hurricane and a hand grenade! After a long dinner with great conversation, with the added bonus of not having to discipline anyone, we headed over to get our cupcakes. It was sprinkling outside, and there was nowhere to sit inside Kara's, so we got our cupcakes boxed up and headed over to The Left Bank to have a few more drinks and enjoy our cupcakes. I got some coffee with Bailey's and we enjoyed even more great conversation with the Alexanders and their great friends.

Two of us couples were paying for sitters, so we ended the night a little early, a little before 10:30. We drove back up, said our goodbyes to the Alexanders and headed home. Where we were greeted by my niece who informed us that after downing two bowls of macaroni and cheese, Bennett threw up. All over the kitchen. And chaos ensued when our dog, Elly, came running in to eat it up. Pukey kids were set aside while disgusting dogs were dealt with. I felt SOOO bad!! Not just about not being here when Bennett threw up, but also about my niece having to deal with all that.

A good friend of mine made a good point though, what better birth control?? :)

The lows of motherhood

Because one child throwing up and pooping everywhere is not enough, God has seen it fit to bless me with yet another child who is throwing up. Lucky me! It started at 3am last night, when Morgan came into our bedroom, very upset and crying that she had thrown up. I immediately jump out of bed and run into the guest room where she's been sleeping since Lance has been working on her ceiling. Sure enough, there's a big puddle of vomit on the bed. I'm trying to comfort her and also get things cleaned up. I call for Lance's help and then escort her into the bathroom, where she kneels down in front of the toilet and starts heaving. I get a hair tie and tie her hair back, rubbing her back all the while telling her that it's going to be okay.

Now, I consider myself a pretty strong person. I've been there for a lot of people through a lot of situations. But I've found my kryptonite, and it's watching my child begging for the pain to stop. Crying, moaning and screaming out about the pain in her belly. I just started sobbing and told Lance that I couldn't watch it. I felt horrible, but I knew that if I was that upset, I would only upset her more. So, Lance went into the bathroom with her to comfort her while I got myself together. Once I had it together, and she had quit moaning and screaming out, we switched again and while Lance changed the sheets, I sat on the bathroom floor with my first born, rubbing her back while her listless body laid on the bath rug.

This is too much! When she seemed to be done vomiting for the time being and the sheets were all changed, I asked her if she wanted to lay in bed. She said she did and begged me to continue rubbing her back to keep her mind off of her tummy. I would have rubbed her back all night. It didn't take long and she was out. I sat there for a few more minutes, watching my child. Glad the sleep and overcome her and sad for the pain she was in. Finally, I got up and went back into our room to go back to bed. Except I couldn't sleep. I was too worried about her throwing up again. And would I hear her? Would she be moaning again? And what happens when Bennett gets up in the morning and he has pooped everywhere? How am I going to handle two sick kids on my own?

As predicted, when Bennett woke up, it was in a puddle of poop. Poor baby. He immediately got a bath thanks to Daddy and I checked on Morgan. She was in much better spirits, very excited that she had slept the rest of the night without throwing up. I was happy to see her feeling better and we tread cautiously with breakfast for both of the kids. Bananas and toast were in order. Lance ran to the store to restock on bananas and powerade before work and I got settled in for yet another day at home with sick kids. Both of the kids were acting completely normal. Bennett's diapers were looking more normal and Morgan told me she felt good enough to go to school. With some gifts that I had planned to deliver this morning staring me in the face, I asked Morgan if she felt good enough to take a ride in the car. She told me she did. So, I packed the kids up in the car, went through the Starbucks drive through to get a non-fat decaf latte for my favorite pregnant person and then we headed over to Melissa's house to drop off her birthday presents. When we got off on her exit, Morgan fell asleep in the car. I left the engine running, ran up to the door, put the presents and coffee on the doorstep and then knocked on the door. Melissa answered as we were pulling away and I waved a Happy Birthday to her.

I should have known not to push it since Morgan had fallen asleep. See, she's notorious for getting motion sickness when falling asleep in the car in the mornings when she was two and a half, I couldn't feed her breakfast before heading to work (a 3o minute drive) because she would barf it up when she woke up as we were getting off the Interstate. But, I had a movie that was due back to Blockbuster the previous day, so I stopped by on my way home, a five minute detour. Sure enough, about two minutes from home, Morgan wakes up and starts puking everywhere. She's crying and telling me that she's sorry for thinking that she was not going to throw up again. I pull over, telling her that it's okay. I look through my "emergency bag" for something for her to throw up into, but it's been so long since I had to worry about this, there was nothing. I tell her to just throw up where ever she needs to and she continues to do say. I got a bottle of water from the bag, some wipes and give them to her to clean up with and sip as needed. She keeps apologizing to me for throwing up in the car. I keep telling her that it's okay. That I know that she isn't doing it on purpose and that I'm sorry that I took her in the car and that I also didn't bring anything for her to throw up in. Poor baby.

We drive the remaining two minutes home, I take Bennett into the house so that I can tend to Morgan. I get her out of the car, strip out everything she's puked on, take her into the garage where she strips down and then she goes and gets in the shower. I am hosing off her car seat, the car mat, the car seat mat, her clothes, EVERYTHING. Nasty.

Just as I'm done, I go inside and am greeted by a smell that I've come to know over the past few days. Obviously, Bennett has a nasty diaper. Not only that, but it's DISGUSTING. EVERYWHERE. So, he gets a bath. Once the kids are all bathed, I put on a movie for them to watch while I feed Bennett lunch (Morgan's not eating). Bennett eats a little of his lunch, Morgan eats some toast and before I know it it's nap time. Which is what I've been waiting for all morning. I get the kids down for their naps and I lay on the couch and pray for sleep to come quick. I know I'll need my strength to handle the afternoon and evening.

I was supposed to work the Crab Feed fundraiser for the school tonight. But, in an effort to keep my husband from getting this nasty bug (we have plans to go OUT tomorrow night!), I opted out of the volunteering and decided to stay home and finish taking care of the kids for the night.

And here I sit, totally done. Done with the sick kids. Done with the puke and poop. Done with my kids and I being stuck at home sick. Done hearing them call out to me in pain. Done being the one and only to two highly needy children.

The power of mom

Okay, so I'm going on day three of being locked in the house with a very sick toddler and just as I'm about to lose my mind, I get to get out of the house for a dessert social with some of the girls from the moms club tonight. Wow, that was a long sentence. Anyway, I'm always happy to get out for whatever is the outing of the day, but getting some great women out with some wine, coffee, and delicious desserts is really a treat!

We have a new dessert place in town called Nothingbundtcakes. Obviously, the make bundt cakes! Anyway, one of the moms from the moms club was in there one day talking to the owner about spreading the word about their new business. She mentioned the moms club and WHAM before I knew it, they offered to provide us with a bundt cake for the dessert social. They provided us with a "Cute as a Bundton" cake, and it was super cute! It tasted good also. We put some of their brochures out and a bunch of the ladies took one. Because that's how it works with us moms. If you treat us right and we like what we see, we're likely to remember that next time we need something special or if a friend asks us for a recommendation.


You'd be surprised the things we've been given from businesses, just by simply (1) asking for the donation and (2) stating the obvious, you will have the support of the moms in our club. Days at the spa, winery tours and private tastings, month-long family memberships to the tennis club, golfing for two, dinners, toys, WHATEVER! Lately, we've been having our club supporters (those that advertise in our newsletter) offer up promotional goods for us to raffle off. Tonight, I was the recipient of four free tickets to see High School Musical on ice, which is on tour now and coming to our area in the next two weeks. Morgan is going to be thrilled! My friend Lara and I agreed before the drawing that if one of us won it, we'd take the other one and her daughter. So, Morgan is even more thrilled that we'll be going with Chenoa!

Other items we've been given are child proofing baskets, knitting baskets, organic baby clothes baskets, etc. All just because we are moms. And I'm ALL about expoiting that. Hey - that's the true power of mom! :)

Bennett's new word

With an ever increasing vocabulary, it's not at all surprising that my little talker picks up on just about anything we say these days. So, I'm not sure why I was caught off guard when he blurted out at the dinner table tonight, "Diarrhea. Momma me have diarrhea?" With perfect pronunciation, mind you -- which is hilarious when you consider that he can't pronounce SOCK or SHOE properly. With a quick chuckle to myself, I say, "Yes, yes. You have diarrhea". Then he says, "Momma. You tell Kristin me have diarrhea?". I recall the earlier conversation where I was lamenting the woes of waking a sleeping toddler in just enough time to go pick up Morgan from Daisies to discover diarrhea EVERYWHERE. Good times. "Yes, I told Kristin you had diarrhea."

Interesting.

But even more interesting? Later, when I'm putting him to bed and I'm swaying back and forth with him, rubbing his back and kissing his forehead. I tell him that I hope he gets a good night's sleep and wakes up in the morning feeling good. No more diarrhea.

Bennett: "NO!!!"
Me: "What?"
Bennett: "Me want diarrhea"
Me (laughing): "No, trust me you don't. Every time today that you didn't want me to change your diaper was because you have diarrhea. It's making your poor bottom raw."
Bennett: : " NO! Me WANT IT!! Me want it on me. Me want diarrhea on me"

Okay then. So be it.

I am now that mom

You know the one. The one that is blissfully unaware that her 22 month old child is off in the nursery at the gym throwing up. Yep, that's me. *waves*

My heart sank when I saw my favorite nursery worker come running into the exercise studio where I was wrapping up the cardio & core class (although she came *just* as we were on our last set of abs, when I could barely even breathe anymore so at least the timing was right). I mouthed, "me??" while pointing to myself before she could even make her way into the room. She nodded and I flew out of the room as fast as if I hadn't just given it my all in the previous hour that I had been exercising. As we were "power walking" back to the nursery, she tells me that he threw up everywhere. Oh my goodness!

I start explaining that he'd been sick -- I told them this when I dropped him off this morning -- and that I'd kept him home for TWO WEEKS while he recovered. We even talked about how empty the tennis club was this morning due to the rain and that's when I also told them this morning that now that he was totally healthy (haha!) I was not about to miss another workout. Oh man!! I explained to every nursery staff person I saw that he WAS sick, but it was a cold/cough thing. NOT THROWING UP! I would have never have brought him if I thought he was going to throw up. Oh man!

I get home and as soon as we walk in the door, he's standing there waiting for me to take his jacket off and he throws up all over the entry way floor. Poor baby! I strip him down, in what will be the first of many, many wardrobe changes of the day and set him up on the couch with towels and a little bowl for him to throw up in. Not that he wants to do that.

My poor baby has thrown up more times than I can count today. It's slowed down, at least, to only every 30-35 minutes rather than every 15 minutes like he was doing this morning. At one point, I was holding him and he fell asleep. I was still all sweaty and nasty from the gym, so I thought I'd grab a quick shower while I could. I put him down in his crib (triple lined with sheet covers and towels) and took the quickest shower I've ever taken and he managed to throw up while I was in there. Poor baby. I felt so bad for putting him down. So, I've spent all afternoon holding him while he alternated between sleeping and throwing up. He's finally starting to show signs of getting a little better...he asked to get down. I decided it was time to give him some ice chips to see how he does with those. He seems to have perked up a little. Melissa dropped off some pedialyte pops earlier, which was awesome of her, so if all goes well with the ice chips, we'll try the pedialyte pops in a bit.

Kristin brought Morgan home from school for me (thank you again, Kristin!) which is good because Bennett must have thrown up at least 3 times in the time it would have taken me to get there, get her and get home. Morgan was good about eating her lunch nicely and taking her nap without any fuss because she sees how sick her brother is. She's even moderately okay about missing ballet, though she could really use it to burn off some of this energy.

Having a child that's sick just sucks! Although, I have to admit I love the cuddly side of my poor little guy. I'm focusing on that to help get me through the day. Lance won't be home until late again, I'm sure. Being a mom is hard work! But I'm so glad I can be here to comfort my little guy. I just keep telling him that Momma is here. Momma has you. You're going to be okay.

Parenting tip of the day

When you are sick of seeing toys strewn all around the house, simply announce to vacuum fearful children that you are about to vacuum and that anything left out will be gone.

Leave it at that.

I guarantee the toys will suddenly get picked up. Quicker than you could even imagine

Blessed with friends

A little less than a year ago, I was mourning the loss of a close friendship and hoping and praying for some friendships to develop that would fill that void. I can honestly say that my prayers were answered over and over again. Today is the perfect example of that.

I went to church this morning with my friend Kristin and it was an emotional service. It hit me how we had been placed in each other's lives at the time that we were in the way that we were for a reason. It's so funny to me to look at things in hindsight and see how the puzzle pieces fit together. I have felt very alone in my faith for a long time. Not many of my friends are "active" Christians, including my husband. When I first started going to my new church, about this time last year, I told Lance that I really wanted him to join me on this walk. He agreed that he would participate and go to church, but the fact is that he just doesn't. Pretty much on any given Sunday, if you ask him if he'd like to go to church, there's always something else he'd rather do. I knew this about him when I married him, but I also know that if I push him, it's not going to help. I just keep praying that he'll join me and maybe one of these days I'll be surprised. Then, last summer, shortly after my falling out with my former friend, I met Kristin at the pre-Kindergarten play dates. She and I hit it off immediately and we even spent the weekend before school started cleaning up the Kindergarten playground together. That's when I learned that her walk with God was very similar to mine. She was raised in a more traditional type of church (Catholic) as was I (Presbyterian). We were taught all about God and Jesus, but in a more ritualistic manner than what we were experiencing at our new churches. We talked about our husbands and how hers had recently started becoming active in the church and it gave me hope. These deep conversations really helped solidify in my mind that she was a friend that was brought into my life at a certain time and in a certain way.

As I'm on my way home from church today, I was thinking about my friend Melissa and her family. I'm currently planning a baby shower for her impending #2, who's arrival is expected in late May. I'm so excited to plan this for her because I've really gotten to know what a special person she is over the past year. I'm so excited for the changes she is going to experience. She's having a little boy, so we'll have even more in common. She's such a great friend. She's been there for me to vent to, to cry on her shoulder, and to discuss life in general. She's a terrific mom and a terrific friend. Her daughter is in Bennett's playgroup and we've just really bonded over pacifiers, tantrums, and shopping! :) She's a very real person, not putting up a fake exterior. When I was struggling with losing my friendship last year, she really reached out to me to let me know that I wasn't alone and that she was there. That meant so much to me. She's a "go to" person in a time of need and also when you just want to relax and have a good time.

As I was pulling onto my street, my phone rang and it was her. Wanting to know if we had any plans that night because she thought it would be good to get the kids together to play (they have both been essentially quarantined for weeks!) and to have some dinner. It was one of those casual invitations that's just delightful! We were not required to bring a thing but ourselves and when we got there, the kids played nicely together while the adults got to hang out and talk. We stayed WAAAAYY past the kids' bedtimes, but that's okay. Everyone was having fun! It's so nice to have friends that you can just hang out with at a moment's notice. It's even nicer when our husbands like to hang out and have things in common. I love that!



I'll say that my prayers have been answered overwhelmingly. Not just with these two wonderful ladies, but with so many others that have either been in my life for a while and I've gotten closer to, or by new friends that have been brought into my life. I feel so blessed.

A very ordinarily magical Valentine's Day

There were no plans to go out to a fancy dinner. No going to see a jazz band or taking in the latest movie. Nope, we opted to stay in for Valentines today and it was perfect!

The day started with some heart shaped pancakes my hubby made for me. That's right. For ME. The kids had already asked for cereal and didn't have the patience to wait for pancakes, so we fed them breakfast first and then Lance and I sat down to some heart shaped pancakes.


I'm sure I don't have to tell you this, but the second picture has Kiss Me written in syrup. You saw that, right?

The kids opened presents from us and from my parents and were ecstatic with what they got. Bennett got an Elmo Loves You video from my parents and a Find and Fit puzzle book set from us. Morgan got the movie E.T. from my parents and Barbie paper dolls from us.


After presents, it was time for Morgan and Lance to head off to Lowe's for the Kids' Workshop where they were building jewelry boxes. Morgan came back really excited. She got to keep an apron and even got a patch for building the jewelry box. I think this is something we'll be doing more of in the future. Especially since it's totally free! When they came back, they also had a little something special for me. :)


Oh, and while I'm thinking about it, here's the card that they made for me. All three of them. :)

Lance, Morgan, Bennett


And here is the "smelly heart" that Morgan made for Lance and I at school. They took scented candle shavings and melted them between wax paper and cut them into hearts.


After lunch, the kids went down for naps and Lance and I got busy. No, not that kind of busy. He went to work in Morgan's room, scraping the ceilings. We had a plumbing issue that required us to cut a hole in the ceiling of her room to diagnose properly and now that it's time to repair it, we've decided to scrape down the popcorn from her ceiling. Here's my little honey bunny on Valentine's Day this year.

Doesn't he look cute?? Yeah, in that freaky oompa loompa way. ;-)

While he was busy working up a sweat in Morgan's room, I was busy in the kitchen baking him some special treats. I made him Russian tea cakes (his favorite) and also baked some brownies for our dessert later that night. I also started to prep for the romantic dinner we had planned for when the kids went to bed.

Later, Lance got the kids fed (leftover heart pancakes, nonetheless) while I got showered and prepared dinner. I made Cornish game hens with rice, toasty garlic bread (the bread I made from scratch!) and Caesar salad. We ate on our fine china and silver at the dining room table, complete with candle light, wine, and some Coldplay. I even used the dimmer on our dining room light fixture, so it was extra romantic over the candle light. We actually got to talk and not have to worry about disciplining children or who's throwing what food. It was really nice! We should do it more often!

After dinner, we loaded up Made of Honor in the DVD and watched this romantic comedy together. Half way through, we stopped and got the brownies from the oven and put some ice cream on top and enjoyed our chocolaty gooey goodness. Mmmmm.

No grand gestures, no elaborate plans. Just us, together, enjoying each other's company. What a perfect Valentine's Day.

A picture is worth a thousand words

And this one perfectly captures my day so far.



























It could have been the way that Bennett refused to get out of bed this morning, screaming "Daddy get me out" at me, or maybe the way he screamed when it was time to get his jacket on and go to school. But, this picture perfectly encapsulates what it's been like around here. I guess he decided he wanted some pretzels. *sigh*

A letter to the secret service

Dear Secret Service,

Ever since Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. day at school, every picture of a person that my daughter, Morgan, has colored has been colored black. Everything from baby Moses to Charlie Brown, they are all black. Some even look like Dennis Rodman with blonde hair! Then, unbeknown to me, my husband allowed my daughter to watch a documentary on the Discovery Channel on the assassination of JFK. She woke up the next morning telling me all about the president who got shot while driving in a parade. She went to school (!!) and shared the history lesson she got via the Discovery channel and Dad and it included things like CAT scans and conspiracy theories.

Now, it's not going to be much longer before this daughter of mine colors a picture of a black president being assassinated. I can picture it, complete with the "badge man" that she keeps talking about. She might even draw a rainbow over the grassy knoll.

I want to just put this out there in advance, because I don't want anyone knocking down our doors due to the graphic and timely nature of my daughter's drawings. She doesn't mean anything by it. She's just a curious child. My apologies in advance.

Sincerely,
Mother of curious child

Domestication of Paige

Want to know what happens when you leave me at home with a toddler who is still recovering from a cold?

This...



























And a little "this" with the little ones....
















Then when all that was done and dinner was done, I popped some cranberry banana nut bread into the oven for my MOPS meeting tomorrow morning. So, yeah. I pretty much spent the day in the kitchen. I was really proud of myself for the bread though! It's the first time I've made bread from scratch and it actually wasn't that hard to make and it tastes great!

In fact, the hardest thing I did today was to put the sprinkles on those damn pretzels. It was very time consuming! You couldn't roll them in the sprinkles because that would just smear the chocolate everywhere, so I had to hand sprinkle each pretzel, by sprinkling while turning. To 20+ pretzels. Ummm....yeah! Morgan had fun drizzling the white chocolate over them, though. And when I was letting her stir the chocolate in the double boiler as it was melting, she looks at me and says, "Mom, I'm noticing that you are making a lot of things homemade these days. And I'm really glad that you are letting me help you. That way I can be a great cook one day!" It's then that you realize that these little things that are total pains really do matter! Anyway - hope the kids in her class like them! We opted to totally make all of our Valentines this year. The cards are handmade and we did these pretzels instead of the standard conversational hearts. When Morgan hands these out to her classmates on Friday, she can take pride in the work that she actually put into each and every one of these. For that alone, all the work is worth it!

Manipulating children for money

I have a new pet peeve. I know it's hard to believe someone as tolerant as I would have pet peeves, but believe it people! The newest thing to make my list is the use of innocent children for monetary gains. Here are two recent examples.

First, the school is forever doing fundraising. Being a charter school, we get a lesser % of funding than the other schools in the district, so I suppose it's a necessary evil. However, I think we should play by some rules, and the first of those being LEAVE THE KIDS OUT OF IT. Seems like a month doesn't pass by without there being a "gram" for sale. There were trick-or-treat grams, which were witches hats, and very cute at that. Then, there were santa grams, which were elf hats. Also cute. Now we have cupid grams for Valentines Day. As if the gift I've already gotten my kids isn't enough. As if the handmade Valentines aren't enough. As if the goodies we are making for all the kids in her class aren't enough. There is now this added "gimme" for the kids, the cupid grams. It's not the idea of it that I have the problem with. I mean, we did this when I was in high school and it was cool to buy these for your friends and surprise them. No, that's not the problem. Here are the problems, in no particular order.

They come to your classroom and hand them out to everyone who's ordered them at one time. And this starts in Kindergarten, when the kids are too young to really understand buying them for their friends and that whole process and when it's all about guilting the parents into making sure that their child isn't the only one in the class who is left without. Apparently at Christmas time, there were two kids in our class who didn't get the elf hats. Our teacher didn't want them to be singled out and went to the office and bought two santa grams for these students so they wouldn't be left out. How sick is that?? I guess they used to have them in the office and the kids would go down there to get their grams and then it wasn't such a big deal if they didn't get one because it wasn't so obvious since they weren't all handed out at once.

It makes me want to NOT buy them, and just explain to Morgan ahead of time that she won't be getting one. But you know what? They are "only $2", which is such a small price to pay to have your child feel included. Nice little scam they have going on, right?? I swear if there are leprechaun grams next month, I'm putting my foot down.

My other example is at Morgan's dance school. This is the second year that Morgan has been there. Last year was a little sketchy, but we talked to the director about our grievances and she actually worked with the parents on a compromise that would make everyone happy. I thought that was pretty exceptional and decided to give her another shot this year with ballet. Only, more than half of her dance instructors left after last year and while her instructor this year is a very nice girl, she's just that. A girl. I think she may be in high school? College at best. Anyway, she has a hard time instructing the girls and keeping them focused. They would rather make silly faces at each other in the mirror and slide on their ballet shoes around the studio. So, she has taken to bribing them with candy. Like EVERY week. It really irks me. I mean, Morgan should listen in class and do what she's asked to do because I PAY FOR HER TO TAKE CLASSES and because she's told to. Not because she may get some Starbursts at the end if she does. So, my plan is to let her finish out this year with her friends in her class and then shop around for a new dance studio for next year. Anyway, they are having a "promotion" this month, where if you bring a friend to class with you, you get a shirt or something like that. Big whoop-di-doo. Except, when you give these slips to a teenage girl who the girls absolutely adore and have her tell them how cool they are and how they should give them to all their friends to invite them to dance class, the girls get all whoop-di-doo about it. Seriously, you would have thought that Morgan was handed five winning lottery tickets. She is bound and determined to invite her friends to her dance studio, and I cannot, in good conscious, recommend this dance studio. Notice they did NOT run this by the parents or give the slips to the parents.

Grrrrr.

Please do not use my child to further your agenda. Do I need to put a disclaimer on her?

Want to know what follows a day in bed?

A burst of energy! And the strong urge to decontaminate your entire house.

Since Bennett is still coughing and snotty, I was stranded at home today and decided to make the best of it and get things clean, from top to bottom. Now, this is atypical for me since I normally do a little bit at a time, but between Bennett's cold and my stomach virus, I wanted the germs OUT! I stripped all the beds, cleaned all the bathrooms, mopped all the floors and wiped down all surfaces and door knobs.

So, germs, in case you didn't get the memo. GET THE HELL OUT OF MY HOUSE!!

I managed to do all this, entertain Bennett, go to the grocery store, help Morgan with a ton of her homework, AND cook dinner. And it went relatively smoothly. Yeah, I know. I was shocked too. Picture this....kids sitting at the table EATING CARROTS and doing homework while I cook dinner. I know! I have no idea what happened. Apparently my prayers were answered.

Dread

I'm still recovering from the lack of food and the horror that shook through my body yesterday and at the same time, trying to mentally prepare for Lance's first day of his new job. What will tomorrow bring? The past two weeks have been absolutely amazing. At first, I wanted to plan a getaway with the kids, but we were just too busy and sick and it just didn't work out. But I think that was for the best, because we all got a little break and got to hang out together at home during these two weeks that he's been off. He got a chance to really be there for those little daily things that you miss out on when you're at work. The kids got so used to him being there, they practically spat on me when I tried to do something for them. They are going to be heartbroken when Daddy has to go back to work. I'm not even going to mention how much easier it was, logistically, to have another set of hands. Not having to wrangle Bennett and school drop off and pick up. Having someone to watch him while we did Daisies and homework. Then, there's the boy. Bennett has been particularly nasty lately. Not sleeping. Sick and cranky. Pair this with his disappointment with it being ME tomorrow, and I'm sure to be in for a doozy of a day. Mostly, though, I'm going to miss having him around. We'll go back to the rushed kisses and goodbyes in the morning and the frantic evening routine of dinner, baths and bed.

It's nice to spend that much time with your spouse and realize again why you married them. My husband is the bomb. Cooking, straightening, shopping, hanging with the kids, taking care of me. He does it all. I'm such a lucky woman!

Locked away

I had a suspicion on Friday that I might be coming down with a stomach bug that's plagued quite a few of my friends and their kids recently. My stomach just wasn't feeling right and it was confirmed when I woke up Saturday morning. Given that Lance has a new job to start on Monday, I opted to lock myself away upstairs and ride this thing out on my own. There was very little interaction with the family, only a few trips upstairs by my loving husband to make sure I was okay and to see if I needed anything.

Morgan, being my nurturing soul, was very concerned about me and asked what she could do to make me feel better. I told her that I needed her to be good for her Daddy since he already had his hands full with a non-sleeping-sick-and-cranky-not-quite-yet-two-but-could-have-fooled-me little boy. She promised to be good.

I turned the TV on E! and left it there all day to catch all the True Hollywood Stories, as well as Soup and other random "trash" TV that I never indulge in. Once, right before nap time, the kids came up to give me some cards they made. The one on the left is from Morgan -- it's a picture of our family and our friends, the Tabaks, going to the zoo. The one on the right is from Bennett. It's an abstract piece representing the frustration over being misunderstood and the anger from not getting his way. :)

















As much as it was nice to get some alone time, I missed my kids and let's face it, it's hard to enjoy alone time when you're curled up in a ball cursing your body.

Brought to you by the number 100

Today was the 100th day of school, full of activities centered around the number 100. The kids counted to 100 a bazillion times today. In ones, by fives, by tens. Counting and stringing fruit loops, counting money and stickers. Coloring dots and making books of dots. They even made their own snacks, counting out 10 of each things such as animal crackers, raisins, pretzels, Hershey's kisses, Cheez-Its, etc until they had 100 items in their bags. All things related to the number 100!



Now what? Morgan says she's not ready for Kindergarten to be over. I guess she thought it's all over when they get to 100! :)

How's this for all over the place?

Wow, what an interesting day it's been.

First off, I woke up this morning and broke my routine of going immediately to the gym from school. Instead, I dropped Morgan off and then came back home before heading to the gym. I got there a little after 9 this morning and was trying to decide what I wanted to do. I missed the 8:30 cardio & core class, so I put my iPod on and decided I'd just hit the track for some running. As I was making my way to the track, a friend of mine came in and was on her way to the 9:30 kickboxing class. Only problem was that it was one of the instructors I didn't care too much for. I decided to suck it up and go to the class anyway since my friend was going. As it turns out, that instructor was sick and my favorite instructor was teaching! I felt redemption for my disappointment on Tuesday night!! And I can assure you that it will be redemption that is kicking my butt in the morning!! :)

After the gym, I came home and ate a quick lunch, packed up a lunch for Morgan and went and picked her up from school. We made the speediest exit we've ever made from school and sped on over to the Dublin library where we met some friends from the moms club where they were making valentines for some seniors at a local senior center. Morgan was surprised and delighted by an unexpected trip to see friends with just me and especially happy that the trip included crafts! When we got in the car, I hit "go" on my GPS and it started to direct me on which way to go. Morgan asked me how it knew where I was going. "I told it where we were going", I said. She looked at me funny and said, "That's kind of weird. How can you talk to it?" I told her that I didn't talk to it, but told it what to do by pushing buttons. I told her how I had punched the button for community attractions, the one for libraries and then picked the Dublin library from the list that came up. She nodded her understanding. I said, "Then my trusty little friend tells me how to get there". She says, "I think you mean trusty little kid". I questioned why she thought it was a kid. "Because you tell it what to do. Like me and Bennett."

On the way home from the library, we were driving through downtown and Morgan commented that someone still had their Chinese New Year decorations up. I laughed a little and let her know that we had just passed a Chinese restaurant, so it probably wasn't decorations for Chinese New Year that she saw, just decorations for the restaurant. She said, "Oh. Well I'm glad you told me that. I don't want to go there!" I asked her why not. She told me that she was scared to go in there with all those Chinese people (as if there were only Chinese people in there anyway). I asked her why and her explanation was, "because I wouldn't understand what they are saying!" I explained to her that while they may speak Chinese, they also probably speak English, which is what we speak. So I think we'll understand each other and there's no reason to be afraid.

Which totally reminded me of a story my mom tells about me on a trip to Vail, Colorado. I was convinced that we were leaving the country for some reason. Maybe the long flight? Anyway, I kept talking about us going to a different country where they spoke a different language and my mother repeatedly told me that we were not going to another country, we were going to a different state and they would speak the same language that we did. She finally got me to understand and then we got off the plane in Colorado. Where I proceeded to witness a conversation in another language by some random people at the airport. "SEE!! I told you!!"

But back to today. Tonight was Open House at Morgan's school. She was so excited to take us there and show us (mostly Daddy, of course), all of her hard work. It was a little chaotic tonight, especially having Bennett there when he was up super early this morning and had very little sleep today (short napper). Plus there was some awkwardness with me introducing myself to another parent and then there's the whole issue of the basket we worked so hard to pull together being RAFFLED off instead of being AUCTIONED off, which is a huge difference in my opinion. Seriously, we got GYMNASTICS BIRTHDAY PARTY, worth over $300 dollars donated as just ONE of the items in ONE of our baskets. And you're just going to raffle it off for a dollar a pop? I guess they "don't have the man power to do an auction". Very disappointed at that. Plus, we put a lot of time and effort into these baskets, even splitting them into two to earn more money for the school. I see some auction management in my near future. But you know what, this is supposedly one of the biggest fundraisers for the school. Might as well do it right!

Yeah, I'm all over the place tonight.

Family fun for three

Today was FREE DAY! at The Bay Area Discovery Museum, which just so happens to be one of my favorite museums in the bay area. Lance has never been, so we decided to pack some lunches and head across the bay to Sausalito for a little family fun.

Minus Morgan.

I have to admit, that it felt weird. It even felt a little wrong. The night before, when she asked where we were going, I just answered, "you don't want to know". I know how upset she would be if she realized that we were going there without her. I think she might love it even more than I do. But, that's probably not the reason she would be upset. It would be the betrayal of us all going WITHOUT her. WITH Daddy. How dare we.

But you know what? We did this all the time with her before Bennett was born. Heck, we've even done it since he was born. She has had the two of us to herself so much and Bennett? Well, he's never had the two of us to himself. So, I used that to alleviate the guilt I was feeling, and looked forward to a fun day out with my two guys.

Honestly, it was strangely peaceful and fun! I'm used to taking both kids to these types of places by myself. Two to one, me being the minority. This time it was two to one, but the adults had the majority and it made it so nice! No having to split time. No having to worry about making both kids happy. No having to referee fights. It was Bennett's day. To decide what HE wanted to do. By himself and just for himself. And it was fun to have the peace and quiet to watch my husband be a father. We are often so busy caring for one child or the other, that we miss out on those moments.

I realized while we were there that there are certain things that are easier when you have a sibling along, however. Like, when Bennett was playing with the trucks in the gravel, Morgan totally would have been looking out for him, making sure the other kids didn't take his shovel and showing him the ropes. Or how much fun they actually do have when they are together. But, it was also nice to see Bennett being his own person, without the influence of an overbearing big sister. He had to get the trucks himself, keep the shovel close by or get it back himself. It's when you have them apart that you realize how different life is with more than one child. You get so used to doing everything with two, the difference practically screams at you when you just have the one.

We had a wonderful day and I don't feel that guilty about doing it while Morgan was at school and Daisy's. Only a little guilty that she missed out on the family fun which included Daddy.

Disappointment at 5 PM

So there's this kickboxing class at the tennis club that I adore. Don't ask me why. It's a great workout, but that's not quite it. I think it's more the intensity of it that draws me in. Like, when I'm in there, it's me and my muscles and me kicking some imaginary perp's butt. But, as I've been to these classes, I've also come to learn that they are not all created equal. I've had four different instructors and they all do things a little bit different. My all time favorite is Jen. She's my favorite group exercise instructor in general, but particularly for kickboxing. The problem is, that she only teaches Tuesday nights at 5pm and occasionally on Saturdays. I haven't been able to make the Tuesday classes since Morgan started back in ballet in the fall since the class falls squarely in the middle of her class. The last Saturday class I went to, one of my least favorite instructors was teaching. I'm not really sure what it is about her that bugs me so much. Maybe it's her excessive use of the STEPs or maybe it's the annoying way she never allows us to finish the 8th count of something, but she just really bugs.

So, imagine my ELATION when it occurred to me that since Lance is home, I can actually go to the Tuesday kickboxing class. Oh, it was pure joy. I actually enjoyed my morning, going out to breakfast with the guys, living it up on Health Nut pancakes with sugar free syrup and egg substitute scrambled eggs, fully knowing that I had a workout coming later. With Jen. And I *heart* Jen. As the time grew closer, I went and picked out my favorite workout attire, put my hair in a high ponytail and took off for the gym. I walked in and saw a woman whom I've seen at the club many times. She's been in a lot of the classes I've taken. I actually like her a lot -- she's a fellow mom of a 2.5 year old and I've even seen her outside of the gym at local parks and whatnot. Except I never imagined her teaching. She's not exactly a Self magazine model, if you know what I mean. Not that that's the reason I didn't enjoy her class. I can see past that if the instructor is good, trust me. But, I want to be PUSHED. I want someone to make me do things I don't want to do and I want to have fun doing it. I want to look at the instructor and simultaneously cuss her and envy her fitness. I want to strive to be in as good as shape as her while she whips my butt in shape. That's what I want. I don't want to do the same slow-paced knee lifts over and over and over and over.

I was so bored in the class tonight! I worked up a little bit of a sweat, but nothing compared to how that class normally kicks my butt. She had us doing "zig zag" things that, in my opinion, are just one impulse away from jazz hands. She also frequently just jumped into some complex maneuvers without giving us any warning. Like, suddenly we'd go from doing the "zig zags" into a jab-cross-hook-upper cut-knee-back kick thing. Just like that. Without any warning or explanation. I HATE that! Oh, and then there was the "warning" we did get about a section that was coming up called TURBO. Oh, beware of the TURBO section, you're heart rate is really going to get up there! This consisted of a football shuffle and a few bob and weaves for 30 seconds at the most. I think my max heart rate the whole time was a 24, when I'm used to knocking on 30's door!

On the plus side, she was really nice. And I liked the music she picked. She obviously put a lot of time, thought and effort into it. Too bad nice and good music isn't going to reshape my ass.

He comes from a long line of sibling manipulators

Lance had an observation the other day, that I think is spot on. You see, we've been having a problem with Bennett screaming. Especially when he and Morgan are playing together. Lance noted that he thinks that Bennett screams now to get Morgan in trouble. Hmmm, let's think about this.

Before, when they first started really playing together, whenever he screamed, it was always because she had taken something from him, tried to pick him up, or done something generally unacceptable. So naturally, when I'm in the kitchen cooking dinner and I hear some screaming, who do I call out to (that's a nice way to say "scream at")? Morgan, of course. So, time after time of him screaming and Morgan' being disciplined, and he's figured out how to manipulate things to get what he wants.

Want that toy cat she's playing with? Scream. What's likely to happen? Mom's going to reprimand Morgan for taking away his cat. Pretty smart little sucker, isn't he? Only, I'm on to his game. I used to do this stuff to my brother All. The. Time. In fact, there was an infamous tape that we had made of ourselves playing. During the tape, you can hear my brother pounding on me and me screaming "my earring, my earring!!". You hear a short pause and then "You're not even wearing any earrings!!" Haha!

You can't play a player.

Tears of pride

Today at church, Morgan's friend Kaitlyn told her that she was practicing riding her bike. I used this as an opportunity to get Morgan pumped up about trying to ride her bike. She has been notorious for not caring, not trying and not really wanting to ride her bike. Except her father and I? Well, we kind of LOVE riding bikes. And we can't take family bike rides anymore until she learns how to ride her bike. We took her training wheels off about a year ago and she was having a hard time keeping her balance, because she had grown too dependent upon those little wheels of security. So, we opted to "lose" them so she would be forced to learn how to ride a bike the right way.

Except this back fired on us. Because she was too petrified to ride the bike without her little security wheels. And, our little girl is awfully cautious. I mean, a lot of kids maybe gripe about wearing their helmet, but ultimately succumb because they are forced to. Not our girl. Oh no. You'd think it was fashionable to be all bulked up with a helmet, elbow pads and knee pads. In fact, she refuses to do pretty much ANYTHING involving wheels without all the "proper" equipment on. This can get quite funny when she's just scooting along on her super big and super slow scooter. :) Anyhow, I'm not here to talk about her learning how to ride a scooter. I'm here to tell you about her learning how to ride her bike. So, Kaitlyn had ridden her bike yesterday and I promised Morgan that when she learned how to ride her bike, we would take a bike ride as a family and have a picnic. After we dropped Kaitlyn off, I told Morgan that I knew that she could do it. I knew she was strong enough and smart enough and I was looking forward to seeing her ride her bike all by herself. I shared with her the expression "it's like riding a bike". I explained that once she learned, she would always be able to do it. She was very excited about the prospect.

We got home and she immediately changed out of her church clothes into suitable bike riding attire. If she had an inflatable unitard, I'm pretty sure she would have picked that. As it stood, she was in leggings, a long sleeved shirt and....monkey socks...pulled up! I mean, you can't ride a bike without your monkey socks, right? Oh, my daughter looked like Punky Brewster, I tell you! But, you know what? It must have worked. Because she totally did it! She rode her bike all by herself! Look 'ma! No training wheels!!



We were so proud of her, she rode back and forth a few times. Then we tried to teach her how to stop. Yeah....ummm, I think that will be for another time. When she had difficulty stopping, she got very upset with herself for not being able to do it and scared that she would fall. She had a hard time getting going again with riding the bike because she was scared of trying to stop. I told her to forget about stopping, that I would do the stopping for her and she was right back on top of the world, riding her bike by herself!

After she was done, she was still upset with herself that she couldn't stop. She was crying and saying how she was upset that she couldn't do it. Lance and I both were right there telling her how proud we were of her for doing it! She learned how to balance herself, while pedaling and steering and that was hard enough for one day. Now, instead of learning how to ride her bike, she's practicing stopping and that's a big difference.

I had this bracelet we had gotten in Kauai last year that I'd been holding off to give her as a special treat when she learned how to ride her bike. So, I came inside and gave it to her and told her how proud I was of her. I told her that it was her bravery bracelet since she had to have courage to get on that bike and that every time she looks at it, she can remember how brave she is. She started crying!! I mean just sobbing! She was clinging to Lance's neck and just sobbing uncontrollably. When I asked her why she was crying, she told me that she was just so proud of herself.

It made me realize how important we are in gently pushing our children to accomplish their goals. Especially for overly cautious children who are afraid of getting hurt, or not doing it right. If we gently push them and show them that they can actually do it, they learn so much and gain so much self confidence from those experiences. I, of course, started crying, seeing my first born sobbing tears of pride and joy for herself.

She told me it was the happiest moment ever that she was having. I told her that I was so happy I was there to share it with her. And I am. My heart burst with love and pride. This is what parenting is about.