Goodbye 2008!

This year has been one with ups and downs. Thankfully, there have been far more up than downs looking back on it all. As the years draws to a close, I have to say that I am so thankful for all that I have and have experienced this year. In the year to come, I expect there to be more challenges to face, adventures to have and memories to make.

Happy New Year everyone!

A New Look

Well, by accident anyway.

A dear friend of mine who has a blog, recently made hers look super cute using some type of site that requires one to have more technological smarts than I posses. I got halfway through the directions that required me to put my blog in this "generic" layout and that is where they lost me. So, all my dedicated readers (all 2 of you), have to suffer until I take a CCAC course in blog layout. The spring schedule is due out any day now...

Funnies from the kids...

From Evan, getting out of the car at my parent's house:
"Mom, do you smell that?"
Me: "No. What is it?"
Him: "I smell springtime!"


Aubrey and her cousin were looking at my photo album and were ripping pages as they turned them. I told them a few times that they needed to be more careful. After a few more rips, I told them they were done and took the book away. Aubrey, in the most cheerful voice says, "Oh well, Hailey, let's go drink!" (I have had this thought many times myself since becoming a mom!) May this be the last time we hear her utter those words until after her 21st birthday.

Christmas Gift

We got a Christmas gift from God today. Sun and 70 degrees in December. Some might say, 'Christmas is over. The gift is late.' It is not. God gave it to us on a day we could use it and best appreciate it. I am loving it and have the windows open and breathing in the wonderfulness of the warm breeze. Enjoy your day too.

The Countdown has begun!

We are officially counting down our days to DISNEY! The kids are beside themselves with excitement and I am right there with them. It seems like we have been in the planning stages for 3 days short of forever, but here we are actually getting ready to go! I have started multiple lists of things that need done, packed, planned for but have yet to commit any of that to paper. I think I will do that tomorrow.

The kids are having fun reading from their Kids Guide to Disney and crossing days off our Mickey calendar. They each have some ideas in their heads of what they are going to do or see there. Evan is all about Peter Pan and Captain Hook (is anyone surprised?) and Aubrey is planning on mingling with Princesses and the Princes. She thinks she may snag herself a Prince while she is there. Chuck just wants to know where and when to show up.

I have been terrible about this here blog, but I may become obsessive babbling on with my Disney talk here for the next few weeks. Come along for the ride!

Sabbotage!

So, I thought I had reached the phase of childhood when laundry would slow down. We are past the baby puke, learning to self feed and most days, the potty training. I went to Evan's sock drawer this morning and found only 1 pair of clean socks. I found this hard to believe because I had just done a load of light colors about 3 days before. I know he has at least 10 pairs of white socks so this just did not add up.

I got my trusty laundry basket and started loading up to get the poor kid clean socks for tomorrow and headed to the hamper. As I was emptying one and filling the other, I find 4 pairs of perfectly clean, perfectly rolled white socks! I am not sure which rug rat is going to confess to dumping the clean ones, but I know it wasn't me!!!

Showdown at high noon!

Evan had his kindergarten check up today. The good news is that he is as healthy as a horse and is ready to go. He was quite cooperative thorough the whole thing and a real funny guy while talking with the doctor. It was happy swell meadows until the end. Sadly, he needed 4 booster shots. He was totally ok while the nurse got them out and set them by him. I told him they were just going to pinch for a minute and then he would be all done. The dear nurse was apologizing before she even started, I think she is new, and she was as sweet as could be.

Evan hugged me while she stuck him four times and he was rather pissed by the third one. When it was done, he started sobbing. I asked him if he was still hurting and he said "No mommy, I'm just so sad!" And then the wailing began. It was as if I had just taken away his birthday. I teared up a bit because mommies know the difference between a "hurting" cry and a "broken hearted" cry. This was definitely the later of the two. He sobbed for a good 10 minutes while we wrapped up, got shoes on and I carried him to the check out desk. He cried all the way out of the office, to the car and a good 15 of the 20 minutes it took to get home. As we were nearing the house he suddenly stopped and this was our conversation:

"Mommy? I need to see that giwl fwom the doctor."
Me: "Why sweetie?"
Him: "Because she huwt me wiff dose pinchy fings. Dat was not nice."
Me: "Well, it is not fun, but that is her job to keep you healthy. You want to be healthy for school right?"
Him: "No mom. She was not nice. I'm going to fight hew. I will use my mighty sowd (sword) and fight her."

So, heads up to the nurse...Evan will be meeting you at high noon in the parking lot. Bring your sword and may the best pirate win.

Five years ago today...

Five years ago, today, this is what I looked like:



My life was quiet. There was so little laundry. Granted, I felt like a whale and didn't sleep well, but really, life wasn't too bad. I think that was the last picture taken of me before I was sporting a hospital gown and about to have my life change forever.

I'll be back in a few days to share a much cuter picture.

The End of Preschool

The end of the month brought the end of the preschool years for Evan. It was not without celebration, fun and a few (ok, many!) tears from me. I was unsure of why I am so terribly emotional about this particular milestone, but I have had a few days to dry the tears and wrap my brain around it and have come up with some answers to my own question.

Two years ago, Evan was barely speaking anything that was understandable to anyone outside of the family. He was almost 3 and we were nearing the end of home speech therapy and moving on to an outside facility. Fast forward to today. He is talking non-stop. He tells stories, asks questions, laughs and plays with his friends, asks to pet every dog that comes down the street, and loves to answer the telephone. Just in the last 2 weeks, he has almost mastered the "L" sound in most words! The neighbor commented the other day that she had a whole conversation with him and it wasn't until she went in the house that she realized this whole conversation took place without her having to consciously decipher what he was saying. She was so happy for him! While all of this progress is fantastic and makes me so proud, I do know that he still has a long way to go. Some of the sentences he puts together are awkward and the word choice is not always correct, he needs help following multi-step directions and needs more time to process verbal directions. I worry that as he moves on to kindergarten, that others will not be as patient as his Saint of a preschool teacher has been. Will kids make fun of him? Will the bus driver be able to understand him on a noisy bus if he has a problem?

He will be away from me every day. As crazy as he can make me at times, I love all the time we have had together. He was really only away from me 7.5 hours each week. (3 days, 2.5 hrs per day) Now he will be going for the same length of time, but he will be gone every weekday. Call me selfish, but letting him go to spend time with someone else is really hard. I also realize that when he goes to school all day, he will be spending more of his waking hours away from me than with me. How scary! I feel like so much of our day is spent with little teachable moments for things that aren't directly taught in school. Things like manners, how to fold shirts, sharing, why we need to wash our hands, how to button pants, using table manners, why Jesus (and your parent's for that matter!) don't want you to hit your sister, time management (aka: how to get out of the house in a timely manner) and many more. There is so much for little people to learn! How am I going to squeeze all this in when I have less and less time with him? I also worry about the morals and values that he will be exposed to. Next year, he is going to a church affiliated school, so I am not too worried about that yet, but know it is coming. I don't want his innocent mind corrupted with junk. Here in our little bubble, it is a nice life!

I guess what I am really getting at here is that I am having to let go. I think that is the toughest thing about being a parent. As they grow, I will have to keep "letting go" more and more. Some day I will long for them to be clinging to my leg, hanging on for all they are worth. I have to remember...roots and wings, roots and wings. This person says it all much better than I do...

http://www.emptynestmoms.com/pages/story17.html

Happy Mother's Day!

To all those moms out there, here is a poem for you:

Sanity Please!!

Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray my sanity to keep.
For if some peace I do not find,
I'm pretty sure I'll lose my mind.

I pray I find a little quiet
Far from the daily family riot
May I lie back--not have to think
about what they're stuffing down the sink,
or who they're with, or where they're at
And what they're doing to the cat.

I pray for time all to myself
(did something just fall off a shelf?)
To cuddle in my nice, soft bed
(Oh no, another goldfish--dead!)
Some silent moments for goodness sake
(Did I just hear a window break?)
And that I need not cook or clean--
(well heck, I've got the right to dream)

Yes, now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray my wits about me keep,
But as I look around I know--
I must have lost them long ago!

So I totally stole this from a message board but thought it was great! The days are filled with such excitement aren't they?

But really, thank you to all the moms. The moms that I talk to on a regular basis and help me keep my remaining sanity. You dry their tears, scare away monsters that lurk under beds, clean up puke when you are so tired you can barely keep your eyes open, cheer for them at soccer/baseball/swimming/t-ball/gymnastics/dance/ cheerleading/football/lacrosse/chess club and any other activity they are passionate about, and bake cookies for the bakesale. You are the ear to listen to problems with girlfriends or boyfriends, or friends that are not being nice. You watch out for the other kids in the neighborhood, drive the carpool, volunteer for the phone chain, and sell lottery tickets for the latest fundraiser. You laugh at their funny antics, awful jokes and budding sense of humor. You cry when they are hurt, fail or disappoint. You give hugs and kisses, make boo-boos disappear with a magic trick and save a school project from complete disaster. You are the cook, the maid, the taxi driver, the therapist, the doctor, the CEO. You encourage, inspire, discipline and teach. You let go when all you want to do is hold on. You hold on when they are fighting to let go. You are molding them into the fine adults that they will become.

All of the moms in my life have taught me so much about how to be a mom. I thank all of you for that. I am convinced that being a mom is the toughest job I will ever have but it is worth every moment. Thank you all!!!

Beer Run!

So I was a nice wife and stopped to get my dear husband beer this evening on my way home from the store. I have been to the beer distributor a few times in my life, but not many. I wandered into the cooler, picked a box that looked familiar and took it to the counter. Beer man was watching a hockey game that he tore himself away from to ring me up.

I hoisted the rather heavy case to the counter top and he asked how my evening was. I said it was nice thank you and then bless his heart...he asked to see my I.D.!!!!! I laughed and thanked him for making my night. He actually did a double take between my license and my face! I told him that I was way past the legal age and he looked skeptical. I also told him that when I was 21, I would have never left the house looking like I did. Not that I was dressed poorly, but let's face it, in my younger years I spent a bit more time making myself presentable before going into public. Nowadays, if I have on a top, pants and 2 shoes that match, it's all good.

So as I put the beer between the tow carseats in my car, I got a good chuckle out of the whole exchange. Nothing better than a trip for big girl underpants and beer on a Saturday night!

Why?

Some of the questions I ask myself, in no particular order:

*Why are there plastic hot dogs on my nightstand?
*Why is it a physical impossibility for 2 children to have an 1800sq.ft. house and still bump into each other every 3.2 seconds?
*Why do I have 37 unmatched socks?
*Why is it socially unacceptable to start drinking at 10am?
*Why is chocolate not a food group?
*Why must we play the "you say"game? (If you don't know what this is, it is a mind numbing game where you must repeat what small person tells you to say in the exact tone, inflection, and pronunciation (even if it is incorrect) until you are ready to tear your hair out. Fun times!)
*Why am I unable to sleep for more than 3 hours straight?
*Why do you drive on a parkway?
*Why am I still sitting here at the computer rather then getting boy out of the dog crate? (Girl locked him in.) Oh look! They traded places! Going, going....

I'm sure there are more, but if any wise soul has the answer to any of these mysteries, please leave it in my comments section. Or just leave me a comment and let me know that you were here!

Making a Memory

Evan and Chuck have developed the cutest new ritual in our house. Normally, Evan prefers to have mommy take him up to bed. He's a mama's boy, what can I say. Anyhow, there is an exception to the rule certain nights. Those nights would be when there is a hockey game of interest on television. They go up and brush teeth and then crawl into our bed to watch the game. Evan is curled up tight under daddy's arm, little face all squished up. Chuck is sprawled out, finally getting a moment to relax. It's a good thing.

I know, this breaks about 347 of my rules of bedtime, but I cannot complain. Evan is usually sound asleep after about 10 minutes and sometimes Chuck is too. Evan gets carried into his bed where he sleeps peacefully for the remainder of the night. It is such a sweet sight to see and I figure that Evan is getting to the age where he should remember some of this stuff. If it means making a great memory of daddy, I can loosen my grip on the rules.

I'm not sure what will happen at the end of hockey season. I may not be able to commit to 180 baseball games...

Look! Triplets!

The Ballerina and the Gymnast

Both kids have been involved in activities this year. Aubrey is in dance where she gets to do ballet, tap and tumbling. In true Aubrey style, tap, the loudest of the dance forms, is her favorite. She has a lot of fun in her class and I cannot wait for the recital to see how these energetic 2-5 year olds handle themselves on stage. They are adorable! Here she is in action:

Evan has been doing gymnastics since the ripe old age of 2 1/2. He loves going to class and really has some good skills. He has awesome control on the trampoline and turns a pretty mean cartwheel. Look out Olympics! Here we come!

Your Gonna Miss This...

You're gonna miss this,
You're gonna want this back.
You're gonna wish these days
Hadn't gone by so fast.
These are some good times,
So take a good look around,
You may not know it now,
You're gonna miss this.

In my life, music has always been a strong influence. I tend to find songs and make them my "theme song" or just file them in my mind as a reminder of a time in my life. Songs become the background music of my days. Since having children, I have become quite a sap about them. Long ago were the days of "I Will Survive" being my theme. Now, I tend to pick songs where children are the focus. This song by Trace Adkins is my newest favorite. If you have time, go listen to it. It is so true.

On Tuesday, we were driving home from my parent's house so that the kids could nap and rest. All the way we were chatting about the weather and how we were ready for winter to be over and that flowers would be growing soon, the tress will get leaves again, and all that stuff. As we neared the house, this song came on the radio. When we pulled in the driveway, I put the car in park and turned the engine off, and just turned around to look at the kids. Aubrey was finishing up a lollipop. Evan was kicking his feet and looking out the window. As this song played, I couldn't help but tear up.

Evan asked how to spell "go." You're gonna miss this, You're gonna want this back. I spelled it for him. Aubrey repeated it and flung her lollipop stick to the floor. Evan said,"Come on mom. Let's go! We have things to do!" You're gonna wish these days hadn't gone by so fast. I laughed at the irony of what he said and the words being sung and tears started rolling. These are some good times, So take a good look around, You may not know it now, You're gonna miss this. I sat for a few more moments just looking at them grinning at me. They had no idea why mommy was smiling at them, crying, while sitting in the driveway.

I was glad that I did just stop and look around at what was sitting behind me. My greatest joys, my greatest frustrations, my greatest hopes...all right there. But I do know it. I am going to miss this. As much as I want them to grow up and stop doing the little things that make me crazy, I know that someday I will wish for these days again. It is so cliche, but so true. They grow up to fast and so much of the time I am guilty of just hurrying through things to get to the next step/phase/stage. I need to take the time to just slow down and enjoy them for who they are at this moment in time. I will never get this time back. Before I know it they will be teenagers and probably want nothing to do with me. Then I will long for the days of changing diapers, playing dress up and riding scooters through the living room.

I need to go kiss their heads while they sleep now.

Where Does She Get This Stuff?

Aubrey. My darling second born child. She is quite gifted in the area of linguistics. She comes up with some of the most interesting comments sometimes. Tonight, she displayed this talent once again.

I was paying bills at my cozy desk while her father was to be entertaining her and the boy. She managed to sneak away from his hawk-eye to come visit me. I happened to be on the phone with a company who was trying to wriggle more money out of our checkbook so I kept her quiet by letting her scribble on some envelopes. All was going well until she spotted the stamps. Or stickers as she says. I tried to feverishly keep her from wasting $.41 cents a second and it started to get ugly. Phone call ended much to the delight of our checkbook, and I tried to convince her that it was time to go downstairs. She wanted no parts of this plan. She begins shrieking, crying, sobbing.

I calmly ask what she wants to do. She says, "I need to read mommy!!!!!" Apparently, scribbling means reading to her. I tell her that reading doesn't require a pencil but she continues her pleas. In a last ditch effort to persuade me, she yells, "I need to read mommy! I have a gift!"

WHAT? Where on earth did that come from? I just about fell over from laughter at this point. Hawk Eye asks me what she just said because he didn't think he heard it correctly. He finds it quite amusing also.

So now I have to wonder, if she is coming up with lines like this at age 2, what will the teen years have in store for me?

Changes

Someone asked recently how my life has changed since having kids. I pondered and though, 'how hasn't it changed?' Really, things are so very different now. Four years, give or take a few months, seems like a lifetime ago. The life I once led seems so foreign to me now. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't change my kids for the world. There are some things that I look back fondly on now. Allow me to brain barf some of the changes:

My body: Having 2 people live inside you (not at the same time, thank goodness!), changes things. I have lost weight, gained and lost boobs, had crazy things happen to my hair (curly, straight, curly again!), had my innards completely squished, smashed, rearranged and some things removed. My skin used to have a vibrant glow, now it goes from dry desert to oil slick in a matter of days. Nobody warns you of these things when you are pregnant. All of these changes have left me with hands capable of cooking three different things for dinner, repairing broken toys, tying a shoe and helping get a coat on at the same time, dislodging foreign bodies from VCR's, and the ability to comfort a young child. Seems a good trade-off.

My car: Long ago, in a galaxy far, far away, I had a cool car. It had a sunroof, got washed regularly, had leather seats, cool music in the 6 CD changer. When I drove it, I could put the windows down, let the wind blow my hair, sport my cool sunglasses, and maybe have a guy look at me! (Shhhh, don't tell Chuck.) I could drive down the highway with hardly a care in the world and look cool doing it. Fast forward to today. My SUV has the child locks enabled, has cloth seats covered with a great big seat cover to protect it from spills, has enough crumbs and broken pretzels to feed a small country and has an awesome kids sing-along CD in the player. When I drive it, I put the windows up so others in traffic cannot hear the fighting in the backseat, the windows only go down to dry my hair on the way to preschool drop-off, have sunglasses with one arm broken off covering the bags under my eyes, and have only had people look at me to tell me that a binky flew out the window a few miles back. Jealous, aren't you?

My work day: Back then, the alarm went off same time every day. Got up, showered dressed, drove off to work, did my thing and came home. The evening was largely up to me as to what to do. I could be productive or be a lump. My choice. Paychecks came every other Friday. June rolled around and I was a free woman for 3 months! Ahhhh, the good old days! Now, the alarm goes off randomly, sometimes all through the night. I wake, stumble down the steps and go for cartoons a caffeine. What we do each day depends upon what day the calendar says it its. Certain activities on certain days, and heaven forbid I get the day wrong! Some days last forever and I have yet to see the overtime show up in that paycheck. Come to think of it, I haven't seen the check in the mailbox. Hmmm. No days off. Long hours. Unconditional love. Works for me!

So as glamorous as that past life seems on paper, it can never equal what I am living now. The giggles, the hugs, being the one to teach them things and see them learn things for themselves cannot be replaced by a paycheck. I get to play in sandboxes, eat dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets, go on daily adventures, be a princess or a swashbuckling pirate, color, paint, do play-doh, stay in my jammies all day and all kinds of other things my old boss would probably frown upon. And my bosses are way cuter...

These are the Days of Our Lives