1. It's definitely genetic. Today I caught M sucking on the ends of her hair. Her hair is a couple of inches shorter than E's so it's just making it to the length that she can do this. So when do I say enough and chop off the hair?
2. The kids have been bringing home these pencils that are driving me crazy. They are cool -- they have glitter on them. But to keep that glitter on them the manufacturers have put a plastic cover over the pencil that is not sharpener friendly. The plastic cover bunches up, gets stuck in the sharpener, etc. I'm starting to toss them in the trash as soon as I can. I like my pencils yellow with red eraser that actually works. I'm a simple girl at heart.
3. P cannot walk by the fridge without begging for something to eat. This girl is going to eat me out of house and home. At least she likes good stuff -- strawberries, watermelon, bananas, yogurt. Although she also has also discovered hot dogs (of which she has had 3 of just today - no flames, I know about the nitrates etc.)
4. 58 degrees in the house is not really great for sleeping. Thank heavens the house is only 8 months old and everything is still under warranty. Well nearly everything, but I won't go into the biggest headache I'm dealing with lately.
5. I love the internet. I'm trying to plan my scout activity for tomorrow. I know what I should do, but wasn't certain I could come up with anything before tomorrow afternoon. Then I googled my topic and bam -- everything I need. Now I just have to spend some quality time with my printer.
6. I hate homework. This is a new aversion for me. When I was in school I just did it. I was a good student (National Merit Scholar - oh I've mentioned that before.) and homework was just part of what I knew I had to do to get the scholarships I needed to go to college. (Geek, Nerd, Brainy, call me what you will I've heard it all.) But now that I'm trying to get my kids, who haven't yet developed the understanding that homework will always be, to do homework, I HATE it. No matter how hard I try to get them to do things before the night before it's due, we still end up doing it at the last minute. This time it was a presidential report - we had Teddy Roosevelt (did you know he didn't like being called Teddy) and we didn't even mention the teddy bear. Next it's a book report. 2 weeks until that's do.
7. The Bachelor. Come on I know you watched it. Finally I think the guy picked the right girl. Although I was unsure down to the wire that he would. Can't wait to here how they are doing.
8. How did we ever live without TIVO? I've only been without it for 2 days and I've decided I want my TIVO back even if it mean sitting in the basement with no carpet and a huge whole in the wall (goes back to the big headache mentioned above). And in a similar vein, how do you central time zone people do it? Sure you're done by 10, but can you really start at 7?
9. The last 5 minutes before the kids gets home seems to fly by, but 5 minutes on the exercise machine seems to last forever. Maybe I should do my 5 minutes of exercise (don't laugh it's all I can manage right now) in the last 5 minutes before the kids get home. Either the exercise would fly by or the last 5 minutes of peace would seem like forever.
10. Spell check is the greatest!
Okay I'm done for today.
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Monday, February 27, 2006
What A Difference A Week Makes
My kids have been out of school for a week (they went back this morning. Yipee). This is called mid-winter break. I have yet to figure why we need this break seeing as it's only been 6 weeks since Christmas break, but it does make for a nice time to trek to the beach without all the crowds and intense heat. Yes, it's still a little chilly, even at the beach, but it's more than made up for by the heated pool and no crowds.
But I digress.
Before mid-winter break it was nearly dark outside when I put the kids on the bus at ten after seven. But this morning, there was light, a lot of light (even if it was only 24 degress). The sun still had a little rising to do, but it was so much better than feeling like I was sending my babies out in the middle of the night.
Could it be that spring is nearly here? The cherry trees are blooming and the pears are following suit. The dogwoods will be next and I've already seen a few daffodils.
Not that I'm eager for it to be summer. But spring would be nice, very nice indeed.
But I digress.
Before mid-winter break it was nearly dark outside when I put the kids on the bus at ten after seven. But this morning, there was light, a lot of light (even if it was only 24 degress). The sun still had a little rising to do, but it was so much better than feeling like I was sending my babies out in the middle of the night.
Could it be that spring is nearly here? The cherry trees are blooming and the pears are following suit. The dogwoods will be next and I've already seen a few daffodils.
Not that I'm eager for it to be summer. But spring would be nice, very nice indeed.
Sunday, February 26, 2006
Gold Donuts
Are the gold donuts in honor of the donut-shaped gold medal or the 4, count-em 4, donut spins Arakawa did in the long program?
Just wondering.
Just wondering.
When the Crib Breaks
The crib that P sleeps in is the same crib that C slept in (although I'm sure P has already spent more time in it than C ever did). It is also the same crib that either M or E slept in (you don't really expect me to know which twin slept in this crib do you?). And yes even J slept in this crib.
It has been put together and taken down at least 5 times, lived in 4 different rooms in 3 different houses. It has green paint splattered on it and teeth marks on the rails. It has never been climbed out of (knock on wood - lots of it).
This crib is over 9 years old and was only a $99 crib to begin with. So it really isn't surprising that this crib finally popped a joint last week and is now being held together with Gorilla glue and cable ties.
Dear crib,
I know you have seen much in your 9 years. You watched over my sleeping babies and and the screaming ones too. You've done more than we ever expected you too. Please, dear crib, give me one more year, just one. I'd really prefer to not have to replace you, but P is just to little for a real bed yet. And this mommy needs her last baby to stay a baby just a little bit longer.
It has been put together and taken down at least 5 times, lived in 4 different rooms in 3 different houses. It has green paint splattered on it and teeth marks on the rails. It has never been climbed out of (knock on wood - lots of it).
This crib is over 9 years old and was only a $99 crib to begin with. So it really isn't surprising that this crib finally popped a joint last week and is now being held together with Gorilla glue and cable ties.
Dear crib,
I know you have seen much in your 9 years. You watched over my sleeping babies and and the screaming ones too. You've done more than we ever expected you too. Please, dear crib, give me one more year, just one. I'd really prefer to not have to replace you, but P is just to little for a real bed yet. And this mommy needs her last baby to stay a baby just a little bit longer.
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
The Down Side of Sleep Training
Two weeks ago P was a perfect sleeper. Down at 7pm, up at 7am. She took two naps and went down for it all with a smile and a coo.
Then the day before she was scheduled to get tubes, she started working on an ear infection. The tubes went in but the ear infection didn't go away right away so it was 3 days before she was up for sleeping in her bed, which is long enough for a 1 year old to become accostomed to sleeping on a warm pillow called Mommy.
Now that she is better, she no longer goes to bed without a peep. Bedtime can be accompanied by screaming. We know from experience that in a few days she will get over this and again be the great sleeper she was a month ago.
Which is why we let her cry last night after we put her to bed. It was by no means her longest crying stint or her worst. And once she's out, she's good for the whole night.
Which is why she slept in vomit (thankfully most of it was on her blanket and not her).
This mommy feels about this big.
Then the day before she was scheduled to get tubes, she started working on an ear infection. The tubes went in but the ear infection didn't go away right away so it was 3 days before she was up for sleeping in her bed, which is long enough for a 1 year old to become accostomed to sleeping on a warm pillow called Mommy.
Now that she is better, she no longer goes to bed without a peep. Bedtime can be accompanied by screaming. We know from experience that in a few days she will get over this and again be the great sleeper she was a month ago.
Which is why we let her cry last night after we put her to bed. It was by no means her longest crying stint or her worst. And once she's out, she's good for the whole night.
Which is why she slept in vomit (thankfully most of it was on her blanket and not her).
This mommy feels about this big.
Monday, February 20, 2006
My Very Own MeMe
Five Strange/Different/Interesting Things From Your Childhood
1. At the tender age of 2ish I rode my first bull (on a friends farm, in the winter, wearing a pink coat, it was probably a cow not a bull and I don't have a real memory of this, but there is a photo)
2. I kissed my first boy in Kindergarten (it was only a peck on the cheek and he was my on and off again boyfriend through the 5th grade)
3. In the 5th grade I played kissing tag during almost every recess (again the kisses were pecks, this time on the lips. Strange game - kissing tag. We had 3 or 4 "couples" playing and we only ever chased our own)
4. One summer my best friend and I wrote a neighborhood newpaper. We weren't more than 10. We put in jokes and interviewed each other and other things we were interested in. It was only one page folded in half. And then we delivered it. Not to the other kids in our cul-de-sac, but to the adults. I still have a copy of one of the issues. It's a hoot. Oh and we typed each one.
5. Another time the same friend and I made cakes in an easy bake oven and sold them to the neighbors. But we put too much baking soda in and they tasted terrible. Sold them anyway.
6. Once my brothers and I had a "water stand." It's like a lemonade stand, but we didn't have any lemonade so we sold glasses of water for a nickel. It wasn't even ice water. And we didn't have paper cups so our customers had to stand there and drink their water and then we'd take the cups inside and wash them. What were we thinking?
1. At the tender age of 2ish I rode my first bull (on a friends farm, in the winter, wearing a pink coat, it was probably a cow not a bull and I don't have a real memory of this, but there is a photo)
2. I kissed my first boy in Kindergarten (it was only a peck on the cheek and he was my on and off again boyfriend through the 5th grade)
3. In the 5th grade I played kissing tag during almost every recess (again the kisses were pecks, this time on the lips. Strange game - kissing tag. We had 3 or 4 "couples" playing and we only ever chased our own)
4. One summer my best friend and I wrote a neighborhood newpaper. We weren't more than 10. We put in jokes and interviewed each other and other things we were interested in. It was only one page folded in half. And then we delivered it. Not to the other kids in our cul-de-sac, but to the adults. I still have a copy of one of the issues. It's a hoot. Oh and we typed each one.
5. Another time the same friend and I made cakes in an easy bake oven and sold them to the neighbors. But we put too much baking soda in and they tasted terrible. Sold them anyway.
6. Once my brothers and I had a "water stand." It's like a lemonade stand, but we didn't have any lemonade so we sold glasses of water for a nickel. It wasn't even ice water. And we didn't have paper cups so our customers had to stand there and drink their water and then we'd take the cups inside and wash them. What were we thinking?
Sunday, February 19, 2006
Multiple Choice
Your 9 year old, honor student son brings home a certificate for a "free" month of karate lessons, including uniform, do you . . .
a) throw certificate in the trash as a mere marketing ploy - you couldn't afford to keep it up after the free month anyway.
b) sign said son up immediately, even though it is a marketing ploy and you can't afford to keep him in it after the free month, but it will reward him for the good grades (again) and give him the opportunity to try something he's always wanted to try, explaining to said son that it is only going to be for the free month, feeling no guilt whatsoever.
c) sign said son up immediately, even though it is a marketing ploy and you can't afford to keep him in it after the free month, but it will reward him for the good grades (again) and give him the opportunity to try something he's always wanted to try, explaining to said son that it is only going to be for the free month, while feeling guilty 1)that you've bilked the karate studio for a free month (even though it was their idea) 2)that said son will be pulled from something he loves even though he understood from the beginning that it was only for one month.
This is where someone with a loyal readership would say discuss, give your comments. But my readership is spotty at best (thanks though to Sarah, Ali, Tracey and any other twin moms that pop by), I'll just tell you . . .
I choose c. But the really sad thing is that he's pretty good at this. But alas, finances do not currently allow for outside recreation of this magnitude.
So is it truly better to have karated and lost than to never have karated at all?
Discuss.
a) throw certificate in the trash as a mere marketing ploy - you couldn't afford to keep it up after the free month anyway.
b) sign said son up immediately, even though it is a marketing ploy and you can't afford to keep him in it after the free month, but it will reward him for the good grades (again) and give him the opportunity to try something he's always wanted to try, explaining to said son that it is only going to be for the free month, feeling no guilt whatsoever.
c) sign said son up immediately, even though it is a marketing ploy and you can't afford to keep him in it after the free month, but it will reward him for the good grades (again) and give him the opportunity to try something he's always wanted to try, explaining to said son that it is only going to be for the free month, while feeling guilty 1)that you've bilked the karate studio for a free month (even though it was their idea) 2)that said son will be pulled from something he loves even though he understood from the beginning that it was only for one month.
This is where someone with a loyal readership would say discuss, give your comments. But my readership is spotty at best (thanks though to Sarah, Ali, Tracey and any other twin moms that pop by), I'll just tell you . . .
I choose c. But the really sad thing is that he's pretty good at this. But alas, finances do not currently allow for outside recreation of this magnitude.
So is it truly better to have karated and lost than to never have karated at all?
Discuss.
Thursday, February 16, 2006
Emerging From the Fever Fog
After two days of crabbies and two nights of sleeping on the couch with P, which means she gets to sleep and I try to sleep while worrying that her fever isn't coming down, hoping she'll be well enough to get the tubes put in her ears so that this can be our last horrendous ear infection, praying I'll be able to stay awake enough to get through the next day, hoping The Husband remembers to give the big kids their medicine in the morning because there is no way I'll be able to get them off to school, we have emeged from the fever fog.
P slept in her bed and I slept in mine (I'd almost forgotten how good that feels). Unfortunately, this has taught me that just because the kids have tubes in doesn't mean we can't get ear infections. Exhibit A - the bottle of pink stuff in my fridge for J, who had tubes put in 3 weeks ago, and developed a fever the day after P, quickly followed by green stuff seeping from his ears. This is what the drops the ENT gave us are for, but even though M and E had tubes put in 2 years ago, I have never seen this much stuff seep out of ears. M and E never had an infection after tubes.
I suppose I was niave. Now I know better.
P slept in her bed and I slept in mine (I'd almost forgotten how good that feels). Unfortunately, this has taught me that just because the kids have tubes in doesn't mean we can't get ear infections. Exhibit A - the bottle of pink stuff in my fridge for J, who had tubes put in 3 weeks ago, and developed a fever the day after P, quickly followed by green stuff seeping from his ears. This is what the drops the ENT gave us are for, but even though M and E had tubes put in 2 years ago, I have never seen this much stuff seep out of ears. M and E never had an infection after tubes.
I suppose I was niave. Now I know better.
Friday, February 10, 2006
So Says the Man
I promise this will not turn into a Survivor or Reality Show blog. But last nights Survivor really has me steamed.
The women completely rolled over last night. "Younger man" tells the tribe "one of you two are going, even though detoxing Shane begged to be voted off" and the women took it like gospel.
Hello women -- you had the numbers, you could have voted off anyone you wanted to. You didn't need to make a permanent alliance - just get together for one vote to let the men know you weren't going to be pushed around.
If you couldn't at least figure that much out, then you don't deserve to be there.
Enough said.
The women completely rolled over last night. "Younger man" tells the tribe "one of you two are going, even though detoxing Shane begged to be voted off" and the women took it like gospel.
Hello women -- you had the numbers, you could have voted off anyone you wanted to. You didn't need to make a permanent alliance - just get together for one vote to let the men know you weren't going to be pushed around.
If you couldn't at least figure that much out, then you don't deserve to be there.
Enough said.
Wednesday, February 8, 2006
Miracle at the DMV
Although our DMV is now called the DDS (isn't that a dentist?) which apparently stands for Department of Driver Services and they wear sunny yellow polo's and khakis rather than the dreadful blue not-quite-police-uniform I remember from my last visit, which was about 5 years ago, since they now have an online renewal and address change system, which works great if your address is in the postal database, but if it's not then the DDS can't verify it as a real address and you have to go in anyway, which didn't really matter at this point since my license is lost somewhere in this house (as is my bank card, don't tell The Husband) so I had to go in anyway, after finding the required two forms of ID and a bill with my new address on it (the very reason I put the water bill in my name), of which they only asked for one form of ID and then took my word for the new address (so why didn't the online system work), but I did get a new picture since the old one was 10 years old and I updated my weight so it's only 40 lbs off (don't go there) and this time they wanted my fingerprint (not sure how I feel about that) and I decided again not to be an organ donor (I know, I know, selfish me) and re-registered to vote with the new address and I don't have to renew it for 10 years (here's hoping I don't loose it again, I have a terrible time keeping track of it, which I suppose wouldn't be a problem if I'd just leave it in my wallet and get over trying to get by without a purse)!
Oh and the miracle -- the whole thing took less than 10 minutes.
Oh and the miracle -- the whole thing took less than 10 minutes.
Tuesday, February 7, 2006
Humuhumunukunukuapuaa
And if you know what that is, you're probably Hawaiian.
Anyhow--
Stumbled across this article a couple weeks ago (http://msnbc.msn.com/id/11069864/) about Hawaii's state fish (or lack thereof) and I actually remember the original vote that happened in 1985ish. No, I didn't live in Hawaii, but my boyfriend (yes, I had a boyfriend in the 5th grade, more on that another time), who was born in Hawaii brought the fish vote for a kind of "show and tell". Our class voted, (for the record we liked the Humuhumunukunukuapuaa) and Matt (the boyfriend) sent a letter to a Hawaiian paper including our results. Cool, yeah?
But who knew the Humuhumunukunukuapuaa had been ousted from it's throne as state fish? Apparently no one. The Humuhumunukunukuapuaa is still my pick, if only because it's an incredibly fun word to say. Kind of like 555,555 in German.
Anyhow--
Stumbled across this article a couple weeks ago (http://msnbc.msn.com/id/11069864/) about Hawaii's state fish (or lack thereof) and I actually remember the original vote that happened in 1985ish. No, I didn't live in Hawaii, but my boyfriend (yes, I had a boyfriend in the 5th grade, more on that another time), who was born in Hawaii brought the fish vote for a kind of "show and tell". Our class voted, (for the record we liked the Humuhumunukunukuapuaa) and Matt (the boyfriend) sent a letter to a Hawaiian paper including our results. Cool, yeah?
But who knew the Humuhumunukunukuapuaa had been ousted from it's throne as state fish? Apparently no one. The Humuhumunukunukuapuaa is still my pick, if only because it's an incredibly fun word to say. Kind of like 555,555 in German.
Thursday, February 2, 2006
Gotta Have Shoes
Today is an historic day for our family, particularly for P. Today I purchased P's first pair of real shoes. Yes, she managed to make it to 13 months without owning shoes. I've have purchased shoes for her before, but never with the real intent of putting them on her. What's the point if her perfect baby feet aren't going to touch the nasty ground? It's just a hassle, one more thing for me to remember. But now that she's walking (okay she's been walking for 4 months, so I'm a little behind), and trying to wear everyone else's shoes and whining and screaming whenever we walk by shoes in the store, I figured it was time to get serious and buy the girl a pair of shoes suitable for walking in stores and out of doors.
The problem with shoes for P has been that she curls her toes up whenever you try to put shoes on her, making it very hard to determine if we had a good fit. Today, however, she uncurled her toes and then ran all over the store breaking in her new shoes (and shopping while she was at it. The girl can pull clothes off a rack faster than any baby I've seen.)
I know you wondering how I could have not purchased shoes for her for 13 months. All I can say is that J was 18 months plus before he wore shoes. But that was because I refused to spend $40 for an extra wide shoe and he didn't want to walk anyway. He still prefers to be carried.
The problem with shoes for P has been that she curls her toes up whenever you try to put shoes on her, making it very hard to determine if we had a good fit. Today, however, she uncurled her toes and then ran all over the store breaking in her new shoes (and shopping while she was at it. The girl can pull clothes off a rack faster than any baby I've seen.)
I know you wondering how I could have not purchased shoes for her for 13 months. All I can say is that J was 18 months plus before he wore shoes. But that was because I refused to spend $40 for an extra wide shoe and he didn't want to walk anyway. He still prefers to be carried.
Wednesday, February 1, 2006
Save Me From Stuff
This last weekend something happened that I had really lost hope would ever happen. The Husband helped me clean out the garage! Not only did he help, but it was his idea in the first place.
Because of the size of our garage and the shape of the driveway it is nearly impossible to park the van in the garage. I can easily get in at an angle but that precludes ever parking a second car in there. In October we spent most of a Saturday bringing everything over from our storage unit. But we didn't go through any of the stuff; we just stacked it haphazardly in the garage with a narrow walkway down the center. And there it sat for months. Occasionally E would see something out there and beg to bring it in the house (E doesn't forget about anything) but that was the extent of it.
Until I mentioned that I still couldn't find a book of negatives and it was keeping me from completing a reprint order for a very patient mother-of-the-groom. That spurred The Husband to action and we did find the negatives.
But we also found a lot of stuff. Box after box labeled "Japanese Things" from The Husband's mission there 14ish years ago. He has more stuff from those two years of his life than either of us has from our entire childhoods and he has a very difficult time letting go of any of it.
I, on the other hand, have been very good about letting go of meaningless pieces of my past. Painted wooden hearts from church camp, buttons from junior high, party favors from elementary school class parties -- all gone. Plaques from junior high and high school proclaiming that I took 3rd place in a math competition or was an alternate for Governor's Honor two years in a row or that I was a Master Scriptorian have found their way to the trash (after having been photographed of course) to free up space in my garage as well as my life.
The most important lesson I've learned from this weekend of purging - don't go through this stuff while the kids are around (especially E). They kept taking stuff out of the throw-away pile and begging to keep it. I think they get that from their dad.
Because of the size of our garage and the shape of the driveway it is nearly impossible to park the van in the garage. I can easily get in at an angle but that precludes ever parking a second car in there. In October we spent most of a Saturday bringing everything over from our storage unit. But we didn't go through any of the stuff; we just stacked it haphazardly in the garage with a narrow walkway down the center. And there it sat for months. Occasionally E would see something out there and beg to bring it in the house (E doesn't forget about anything) but that was the extent of it.
Until I mentioned that I still couldn't find a book of negatives and it was keeping me from completing a reprint order for a very patient mother-of-the-groom. That spurred The Husband to action and we did find the negatives.
But we also found a lot of stuff. Box after box labeled "Japanese Things" from The Husband's mission there 14ish years ago. He has more stuff from those two years of his life than either of us has from our entire childhoods and he has a very difficult time letting go of any of it.
I, on the other hand, have been very good about letting go of meaningless pieces of my past. Painted wooden hearts from church camp, buttons from junior high, party favors from elementary school class parties -- all gone. Plaques from junior high and high school proclaiming that I took 3rd place in a math competition or was an alternate for Governor's Honor two years in a row or that I was a Master Scriptorian have found their way to the trash (after having been photographed of course) to free up space in my garage as well as my life.
The most important lesson I've learned from this weekend of purging - don't go through this stuff while the kids are around (especially E). They kept taking stuff out of the throw-away pile and begging to keep it. I think they get that from their dad.
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