The Sickness

I remember a time when my family was healthy, when the sun shined, children smiled, and I could work out. Alas, this time is no more, we have been hit by the flu/colds and crappy gunk that gets in your body and won't leave you! I'm going on three weeks now of not running, walking, or doing anything remotely physical because anything physical makes my lungs burn, nose run, and causes an uncontrollable cough. Those of you that know me know this is a huge deal. I love to work out, it stabilizes me and makes me sane. So that's right, right now I'm and unstable insane woman with the cold from hell! The kids are not fairing much better. The girls were home sick last week and are currently limping along. S was strong for awhile, but now it seems he too has been overcome. While cuddling on the couch today he grabbed my hand in his little chubby baby hand and said, "Mama, I need you, I need you to help me, hold my hand." My heart melted right on the couch.

This is my plan for the day; forget about the laundry mountain overtaking the house, just sit on the couch, hold my little boy's hand, and try to remember a time when everyone was healthy.

Thanks for listening to me complain, we are a pathetic bunch right now!

An Update

Apparently A forgot that she doesn't like going to school and had a great day. She told me she won't cry anymore when she gets on the bus or at school (we'll see if this resolve holds tomorrow). She also told me there is a boy in her class, she can't remember his name, who lives in our town. (not a big shocker to me since 99.9% of her class lives in our town, but apparently a revelation to A) She and the nameless little boy planned a playdate. These were the directions she gave to get to his house. "You go past the daycare, drive a little while and stop at his house." She told me this with the greatest authority that these directions would actually get us there. Can you just imagine two four years olds out on the playground discussing direction and the playdate they want to have. I love kids.

Why is Parenting So Hard?!?

Sometimes I feel very ill-equipped to be a mom. All I can do is think to myself, "Where the hell is that manual that was supposed to come with them!" I'm currently feeling this way thanks to my middle child A.

This year A hit a milestone, she started school. The first day was definitely harder on me then it was her. I cried as she happily got on the bus, smiling and waving. Move ahead three weeks and everything has changed. She cries when getting on the bus, cries at school, and wants me to pick her up. To top off all the drama, I can't seem to get out of her what exactly changed or happened to make her so sad. It breaks my heart that she doesn't want to go to school. I even had to break out the "Mom and Dad could go to jail if you don't go to school" line. Not quite true since she's only in 4k, but what she doesn't know won't hurt her.

I've talked with her teacher, who says she's fine once school gets started, tried to set aside special Mom/A time, and tried asking what is going on. Nothing is working!

I'm at a complete loss. Since talking to her doesn't seem to help, I'm not sure if I should just let it ride it's course or what. I don't want to set a precedent of taking her to and from school every day just for my own sanity, but I just don't know what else to do. Is there anyone out there who has gone through this before? Any advice would be greatly appreciated! I just want my happy, school loving daughter back!

Four Year Old Logic

My four year old, A, is a very special girl with a logic all of her own. The other day she had some issues with her dad over the correct way to ask for breakfast. (in our house a please and thank you must be involved or the request doesn't get to far) I believe there were also some dirty looks involved on A's part when her first demand wasn't met. The dirty looks in turn did not fly with R. In the midst of all of this hubbub I decided to make an escape up to the shower.

Mid shower I hear a voice, "Mom! Mom! Where are you?" Hmmm, let me think about that, you are standing in the room, looking into the bathroom, and the shower is running. This is a tough one....

Once A discovered my secret hiding spot she went into a looooong story about how she didn't understand why Dad was mad at her for her sassy look. She didn't mean give him a sassy look at all and if by chance she "accidentally" looked at him with sass it was just because she was remembering the scary dream she had last night. Apparently R and I need to remember that all of A's naughty looks are caused by scary dreams.

After this very long excuse, I was about ready to get out of the shower and told A to go brush teeth. I could hear her exasperated sigh at my mere suggestion of teeth brushing. "Mooom, I can't brush my teeth, I'm still hungry! Can you get me some more breakfast?!"

Yes after finishing her first bowl of cereal, she had walked all the way upstairs to ask me, while I was in the shower, to get her some more breakfast. I believe there was a perfectly capable father in the kitchen, but asking him was just not logical. Especially if you are a four year old with your own brand of logic and a penchant for sassy looks.

I'm Back...

After a long break called summer where my actual life got in the way of me blogging about my life I'm officially back. I was going to start this post with humorous stories about my children and life, per usual, but today my heart continues to pull me to Sept. 11, 2001. This day is forever etched into my heart as it is with most, hopefully all, people who lived through that horrific day and are continuing to deal with the aftermath.

In 2001 I was a senior in college. I lived with two of my best friends and my biggest worry was if I could find a twenty to buy drinks with on a Friday night. All of my life I had felt the US was a nation in an untouchable bubble, we were immune to the atrocities in happening all over the world simply because we were us. On the morning of September 11 all of my naivete went away. I vividly remember waking up to the radio and hearing the first tower had been hit. At first I thought it must have been a small plane and that it was nothing, then I stumbled down the stairs, turned on the Today Show and reality set in. The United States was being attacked. I was in complete shock. I was glued to the news that entire day, I watched the second tower get hit, people running from the buildings, and both towers falling. Never in my life have I felt so helpless and scared. I wanted to help, but didn't know what to do. Eventually I forgot all my classes and drove home. As most people did that day I had a deep need to be around those I loved, to see them with my own eyes and thank God they were safe. My heart continues to be filled with grief for all of those who lost loved ones on that day.

September 11, 2001 forever changed the world and it's ripple effect continues and will continue through generations. The day after we brought J home from the hospital US troops invaded Iraq. My daughter knew two days of life without war. A and S have never known a time with out it. My children will never get to experience the joy of a tearful reunion at the gate of an airport. They will never be able to travel to other countries without going through heavy security with passports. They will know and understand what terror threat levels are. They will understand the importance of the armed forces and those who unselfishly give to protect our way of life. They will know the US does not reside in an impenetrable bubble.

Despite all of these changes I still feel blessed to live in the United States and live the life I lead. Everyday I look into the eyes of my children and I see hope, hope for a better day, hope that one person can make a difference, and hope that all the deaths on that day were not in vain. Despite that actions of terrorist hope is still alive in the world. I pray that will never change.

"All the great spiritual leaders in history were people of hope. Abraham, Moses, Ruth, Mary, Jesus, Rumi, Gandhi, and Dorothy Day all lived with a promise in their hearts that guided them toward the future without the need to know exactly what it would look like. Let's live with hope." - Henri J. Nouwen

Grrrreat...

I just looked up from making a picnic lunch to see S going to town on a bag of dried plums a.k.a prunes. That is going to be a great diaper. Something to look forward to...

Strawberry Picking

This year, in the midst of all of the craziness that is our summer, I decided to take the kids strawberry picking. I vaguely remember doing this with my mom a thought what a perfect memory for my children, maybe we'll even make it a yearly thing.

Just as I thought, we had a blast. S definitely ate his weight in strawberries, but in his defense the highschooler who showed us to our row said "pick as many as you want, eat as many as you want". Bad idea to tell that to a two year old! Despite S's best efforts, we picked so many we even had to stop by R's office to show him our haul. The girls were extremely impressed with their picking abilities.

In all of my vague childhood memories of strawberry picking, I have no recollection of what my mom did with all the berries. When I got home and looked at the berries covering my counter I thought "Oh crap, that's a lot of fruit!" Undaunted I started to cook; strawberry pie, strawberry jam, strawberry bars, strawberry fruit leather (now I'm starting to feel like Bubba from Forrest Gump). The kids also started to eat and eat and eat. When I got to the point where I felt like I couldn't look at another bright red berry, I decided it was time to freeze. Since I was stuck in my own strawberry stupor I mistakenly thought the kids were also strawberried out. Never underestimate the strawberry eating abilities of three little kids.

I carefully washed the fruit and laid it out. Three of the berries were so pretty I decided to get my camera.Three beautiful summer berries. Good enough to eat.


Oops, someone did. Apparently I have one (or three) strawberry elves at my house.

I walked away for two more seconds and came back to this...


The third berry looked so lonely I just had to eat it myself, strawberry elves be darned! Apparently I wasn't as strawberried out as I thought, must be where the kiddos get it from.

I Don't Know Why.....

But when I watch R bend down to teach something to our kids I always fall a little bit more in love with him...






There's just something about a man and his kids, or maybe just my husband and my kids (since I don't seem to be falling in love with strange fathers on walks with their kids). What ever it is, it gets me everytime. I would like to think that it is too darn cute not to love, but maybe it is just that I get to look at my hubby's tush with out him noticing. Most likely it's a little bit of both.

Oh the Irony...

Yesterday after a long afternoon playing in the sprinkler with the kids, I stood up from my lounge spot in the yard and found a Cheeto stuck to the cellulite on the back of my thigh. Why is the universe so cruel?!

Boys

As a mother of a boy I can officially say I do not understand my son very well. I love him, but I think my lack of a Y chromosome makes it impossible to truly understand what is happening inside his little head. Why, for example, does he have a built in radar for balls. We could be walking down the street and if there is a ball within a mile radius he will find it. It is an amazing gift, too bad we couldn't focus that energy into say finding lost shoes or socks. Now that would be a gift I could understand and really get behind. And, what is up with trucks? Why are they the coolest thing in the world? Can anyone enlighten me?

He also seems to feel that the more dangerous something is the more fun it should be. Logical, right? Why wouldn't you want to ride your trike at top speed towards the road only to turn at the last second. Then of course it is imperative that you laugh hysterically at your mom because she is running and screaming behind you. Or better yet have your dad lift you way, way above his head just so you can make a basket. Balls and danger, that is definitely the epitome of fun.

It is amazing to me that for as much as I don't understand S, R seems to be completely on the same wavelength as our two year old. They seems to read each other's mind. There must be a secret Y chromosome club where you can learn all the super cool boy stuff. Definitely no double xers allowed.

I guess I'm going to have to resign myself to not understanding the inner workings of my son, or husband for that matter. Good thing they are so cute. It makes it very easy to love them anyway.

The Cake

Last weekend was S's second birthday. That's right my baby is now two, let me take a deep breath and compose myself for a minute.....okay, I'm better now.

S, as you my or may not know, is obsessed with all things Lightning McQueen. I decided to play into this obsession and make him a 3D Lighting McQueen cake. For some reason I have some sick, masochistic desire to make my children elaborate birthday cakes. Example:I made this cake for J's 5th birthday.

Since it was not my first time to the carnival I decided I needed to up my game and use fondant. Mind you, I have never used fondant before, never seen anyone use it, or taken any classes that have anything to do with cake decorating or decorating with fondant. I decided to completely ignore my lack of knowledge and push through. To try to plan my attack I turn to the font of all knowledge, the Internet. I was able to find a few examples of McQueen cakes and a recipe for homemade fondant. Score!

With this new found information I started the process. I made the fondant. Homemade fondant is super easy, just one package of mini marshmallows, one pound of powdered sugar and about four table spoons of water. Easy and a heck of a lot cheaper then store bought fondant. Now, to the cake structure.

First, two loaf pans of cake.


The next step was to slice the cakes in half lengthwise to make layers, fill the layers with raspberry jam, my filling of choice, and put the loaves back together. I then cut off one third of the length of the first loaf. I secured the whole loaf to my cake board with a little frosting and added the 1/3 chunk to the end to increase the length. I then took a little frosting and "glued" the 2/3 chunk on top of the extended loaves. This was the rough form of the car, from here I started to shape. This is what I ended up with.
I did all the shaping free hand with a serrated knife and used a chunk I cut off for the spoiler.

After I was satisfied with the shape, between you and me I was never really satisfied with it but I had to force myself to stop cutting, I frosted the entire cake with a thin crumb coat. In hindsight the crumb coat could have been thicker, live and learn.

Next the fondant. I took a large ball of the fondant I had made and dyed it red. My recipe for red is an entire jar of red gel food coloring and a few drops of yellow. The yellow will help it from getting to pink, but if you put too much in it will turn orange. Dyeing fondant consists of kneading the color in to the sugar dough, basically glop the food coloring on and go to town. Be sure to wear gloves and protect you counter top with something. It will definitely dye anything it touches at this stage.

After the fondant is the desired color roll is out to about 1/4 of an inch, using powdered sugar to keep it from sticking. Using your rolling pin, pick up the rolled fondant and drape it over your cake. Gently press it into the shape of the cake until the entire thing is covered. This is an area where my technique could use some work. There were some areas where the fondant pulled and didn't look smooth. To finish, use a knife to cut the excess of the edge.

Now the decorating. This is my favorite part, but also the most time consuming. For Lightning I measured the cake and made templates for all the windows and lighting bolt. I followed the same process as above to roll out the fondant and then, using the templates, cut out the shapes.

I glued the shapes into place using royal icing. (water and powder sugar)


I painted the lighting bolt using food color markers. These are very helpful things to have around. Unfortunately the only place I could find them in my metropolis was Wal-mart and I hate Wal-mart, ugh.


For the tires and circle on his hood, I dyed fondant black on cut out circles. Specifically for the tires I made rice crispy treats, formed them into tires and then covered those in black fondant.


I did the detail work using black frosting and yellow glitter frosting that I bought.


I have to say I was pretty pleased with the results, but the best moment was when S saw it and said "Night-ning!" He definitely knows his way to my heart. Happy birthday my sweet baby boy!

Missing Them

I just got back from a weekend trip to visit my sister and brother-in-law in Atlanta. While a full three and a half days away from the responsibilities that are my children might seem blissful it made me realized something, I really, really missed my kiddos. Surprise, surprise, I enjoy spending time with my children. Now, stop thinking I'm a horrible mother for not knowing this in the first place. Let me explain. My trip to Atlanta came right at the tail end of a long cold winter and the cold, wet start to spring. Both my children and I were stir crazy, craving the outdoors, warm weather, sunshine, and large grassy parks with playground equipment. In more general terms we were driving each other nuts. There is a dirty secret no one tells you about being a stay-at-home parent, there are times when you forget how fun and enjoyable kids can be. Instead of seeing the fun all you see is the work. When this happens my advice is to get out of Dodge! Go somewhere were silence and alone time is plentiful. Absence makes the heart grow fonder is definitely true, in my case three days away makes me a better mom.

Big News!

We have some big news here......J lost her first tooth!! This is very, very exciting. As she put it, "I've been waiting my whole life for this two happen! A whole six years to lose this tooth!" Now if I can only figure out the tooth fairy's going rate.

Goin' to the ATL

I'm about to embark on a much needed long weekend in Atlanta. I'm lucky enough to have a sister and brother-in-law who live there so I don't need much of excuse to fly down. Since I am going sans kids I told my sister I don't care what we do just as long as I can sleep in, no one tries to touch me, and no one whines mom at me. Hopefully it won't be hard for F and M to live with these rules!

One of the draw backs from being a stay-at-home parent is that when you do leave for a while your kids are slightly out of sorts. My kids are amazed at the fact that I'm going to leave them with their dad and that he will be actually cooking for them. For some reason they don't believe R knows how to make a meal. I find this hilarious because obviously R can cook and has cooked for them. They also are very confused on who will be getting them dressed and whether or not R can handle taking them to school. Again, obviously R can handle all of these things and has in the past, he's a very hands on dad, but the kids seem to have no concept of a day with out me. This is not the first time I've gone on a trip but apparently all those times before were so traumatizing they have blocked them out. I'm joking here.

J originally tried to convince me she should come with. Five seconds after I booked my ticket she looked at me with very forlorn, puppy dog eyes and said, "Mom, I just really wish I could see Fido and Rover again...sigh..." Fido and Rover are my sisters cats. Interesting that she thinks she is more likely to convince me to let her come with because she misses cats, not her aunt and uncle.

Yesterday A took a new tract in trying to deter me from my trip. Out of nowhere she looked at me and said, "Mom, I don't know why you are going to 'lanta. It's boring there." She has never even been to the city. J then informed her that M and F live there. A just blankly looked at her and said, "Oh, it's still boring." A the foremost authority on all things fun.

If I was a mom who was prone to guilt maybe these attempts would work on me. Lucky enough I'm not and they don't. Sure, I'm going to miss my kids, but I don't feel guilty about leaving them with their dad for a while. I'm sure when I get back I will be a better mom. It's kind of the all work and no play idea. Right now I'm a dull mom, but when I get back I'll be a fun mom again. I'm also sure that contrary to what they think, they will be fine. Things might not run quite like they do when I'm around but everyone will survive. Also, don't tell A this, but I'm positive my trip won't be boring!

Jimmy...

S has started to refer to himself in the third person. "Juice please" has become, "S 'uice pease!" Asking to get down is now "S 'own!", you can imagine the rest. While this is slightly cute now I have visions of raising the Jimmy guy from Seinfeld. S constantly referring to himself in the third person, creating confusion and annoying everyone. I can just see S in his twenties trying to ask a girl out, "S really likes you!" "S would love to have dinner with you." I don't think it will be quite so cute then. Cross your fingers this is just a stage!

Sorry About the Rant

If you read my last post, sorry about the rant. It is just people can make me pretty fired up! To lighten the mood here are some quotes from my kiddos:

A was cuddling on the couch with a rock from our garden. When R asked her what she was doing she said, "Laying with my rock." R then says, "No I meant what is the rock doing in the house." A looked at him like he was a giant idiot and said, "Daaaad! Rock wanted to watch TV." Of course, that explains everything.

J came home from school and was telling me about the question of the day, was her teacher going to have a baby. Apparently most of the kids said no, the teacher doesn't looked outwardly pregnant. J told me "I thought about it and Mrs. P doesn't look pregnant, but I said yes. Why would they ask the question if it wasn't true." Smart girl, she already know no woman wants the world to think she's pregnant when she isn't!

Finally last night during a bath with S, A asked me why S has a "peanut" and she doesn't. Maybe it's time for separate tubs!

I hope these brought a smile to your face!

What DO you do all day?

I was recently asked this question. This question makes me laugh for two reasons, first you would never think it appropriate to ask a doctor, lawyer, teacher, etc what they do all day so why is it appropriate to ask me, a stay-at-home parent. Secondly, if you are dumb enough to ask me this you have never spent any time with children. Now don't get me wrong, I love that I am lucky enough to be able to stay home with my kids, but this job is not all relaxing play dates and smiles.

So for those of you out there who are really confused as to the ways that stay-at-home parents fill what must be their ample free time here you go, a peek into a day in my life.

This morning I got up at 5:45 am to swim. This makes R slightly grumpy because I tend to wake him up too, being quiet has never been one of my strong suits, but the only guaranteed time alone to work out I have is when everyone else is sleeping.

After coming home from swimming I made breakfast. Now, normally I wouldn't do this but I was craving bacon and eggs and there is no way I could get around making it for everyone. The smell of bacon woke my entire family and we all tucked in to a big breakfast. After breakfast I filled the dishwasher, got the kids dressed, cleaned myself up, and sorted a pile of laundry so huge that R asked me if I was trying to build a ski jump with all of our dirty clothes. A dirty look was required for that comment.

It is now 8:30, time to go to Target. Both A and J have parties this weekend that require presents. April must be birthday party season because I feel as if we are going to have to take out a second mortgage on the house to pay for all of the presents! The highlights of Target were J having a fit because she couldn't ride in a cart, S pulling a Houdini act and getting out of his seat belt and the cart, A going a number 2 in the Target bathroom, me attempting to buy a treat only to have J complaining that she didn't like what I was buying (I knew she did, but had to convince her. She was in quite the mood this morning.) and finally picking out two perfectly wonderful presents. The "scary mom/you better behave" voice was only pulled out a few times.

On to the grocery store. Wednesday is double coupon day, so I have to go today. Yep, I'm cheap like that. I'm such a dork, I almost get a high off of saving a ton of money with coupons.

I had to resort to the scary mom voice right away to keep A and S from killing each other in the car cart, luckily it seemed to work. As we were turning into the frozen foods, J knocked over an entire spice display her cart. (she likes to use the little carts at the store, it makes her feel big.) God bless the girl, she and I cleaned everything up with out any complaints. I'm hoping the embarrassment will remind her to pay attention next time. We escaped the store with only a few minor set backs, saved around fifty dollars and only forgot the eggs, whoohoo! Unfortunately the lack of eggs puts a cramp in my cookie making plans for this afternoon but oh well.

The time is 10:45 and our next stop is the library. Going to the library is partly my fault, I desperately needed to return some overdue books. We were in and out of there fairly quickly. We all picked out books and the only issue we had was S throwing a fit because he didn't want to leave. I had to play the "we are leaving without you" game to get him to stop crying and come. A didn't seem to realize that I wasn't actually going to leave with out S and proceeded to get very upset. With two crying kids I'm sure I looked like the mother of the year. The librarians must have been happy to see our backs.

Three some what calm kids later, it is amazing what a little Hannah Montana music can do, and we are back home for lunch. I've fed the kids and attempting to fold my laundry ski jump. Unfortunately blogging/procrastinating seemed much more interesting.

So there you have it, all you curious people, that is what I do all day. Next time you think to ask a parent what exactly they do all day, don't. The question is rude and demeaning, besides that was just my morning you don't want to hear about my afternoon!

Baseball Games and Easter Eggs

Our family has been very busy lately. For some reason it seems as if spring hits and everyone comes out of hibernation and plans different play dates and birthday parties, add on top of that Easter and spring break and you've got yourself a full schedule.

To celebrate spring we decided to go to opening day for the local minor league team, the Timber Rattlers. (Their nickname is the T-rats, but I have an aversion to calling them that. I don't know why, some things are better left unexplained.)Another big draw to this game was the bobble head giveaway. For some reason my husband and children couldn't resist a bobble head of Fang, the Timber Rattler's mascot, and Bernie Brewer together. Again, this is something I can't explain. We had a great time except for the cold. It was about thirty degrees out, people here are so crazy for spring to come that they take their little kids to ball games in freezing weather!







Here is J trying to use her dad to stay warm and Fang stretching before the game. I know you all are jealous that your minor league team doesn't have a giant rattle snake as their mascot.

After baseball we went straight into Easter. This year I made two very smart decisions when it came to egg dying. First I did it with the girls while S was napping. Brilliant! No dye was spilled, no eggs were broken, it was a very peaceful and enjoyable egg dying afternoon. Now I realize that later he might feel slighted because he missed out, but I will gladly pay for that five minutes in therapy!

My second smart decision was that I didn't buy a egg dying kit. I completely stumbled into this one folks, I was just being cheap and didn't want to spend the two dollars. Instead of the traditional Paas the girls and I used food coloring. The girls thought this was great. They chose their own colors and counted out the drops of coloring needed for each recipe, as a side note there is not a lot of distinction between watermelon and fuchsia. J and A declared this the best egg dying time ever. High praise from a six and three year old.

A and J working on their masterpieces.

The finished product. Who knew the being cheap could end up so cute?

My Son is Now a Man

Well if not a man then definitely a big boy. The other day I was getting him ready for a bath, I stripped him down and turned to undress his sister. In retrospect this is where I went wrong. I finished undressing A just in time to see S lean over, brace himself on the wall, let go a giant stream of urine and laugh hysterically. Only a boy would think peeing all over the bathroom scale was hilarious. Do you think it's time for potty training?

What the Kids and I Did Today...

In an effort to bring spring into our house and attempt to be a creative "project mom" the kids and I made these....


Spring chick cake balls! Aren't they adorable! I can't take credit for the idea, I found it on a blog called Bakerella. Bakerella is fabulous and even more OCD then me when it comes to baking.



Here is my favorite chick from the flock I made.
Doesn't it just say "come eat my delicious round body!"



Here is S's chick.
Never one to turn down an offer, he took my chick seriously.


Here is A's chick.
Notice the red eyelashes, they are a point of pride for A.


Finally J, she took this project very seriously.
Diligently working after everyone has finished. Can you tell she's a first born?



The finished product.
Personally I think the glasses are a nice touch.




Enough fun for now, time to get the yellow candy melt off of my floor, table and ceiling.

Happy Spring!

A Grandma's Advice

For reasons unknown my thought have been drifting to my Grandma Hamper lately. Grandma has a tendency to pop into my head when I'm having a particularly challenging parenting time, and let me tell you S has been a doosy lately! Grandma always gave me great advice on child rearing and life in general. Although it is hard to pick the best thing she ever said to me, what she told me the day before my wedding is definitely a front runner. Here's the story:

My grandma and I were at the church preparing for my rehearsal. Now I think Grandma was slightly worried about me given that I was so young, 22, and the fact that I was pregnant. (If you really want you could figure out my age with that information) I know my grandma adored R and was very happy for both of us, but she still was my grandma and grandma was nothing if not a realist. So anyway, Grandma and I are sitting in the church, me in all of my pre-wedding glory and Grandma filled with all of her life experience ready to impart some wisdom on me.

She turned and looked at me and said, "Laura, do you really want to marry R?" This, of course, was an easy yes for me.

Grandma in all seriousness said, "Good, then before you get married I want you to categorize all of his faults." At this point I'm thinking, "Whaaa? Why would I want to think of all of the faults of my future husband right before my wedding?" Believe me I knew there were faults there, we had been together for six years, but I just didn't want to focus on them!

Grandma continued, oblivious to what was happening in my head,"You need to think of all of his faults, decided if you can live with them, and then forget them all. You will never be able to change R and you need to accept that now if you want to love him for the rest of your life."

This advice time and again has been proven true. I did what Grandma said and attempted to forget what I perceived as R's faults. In the six years we have been married I have not changed my husband and I don't even attempt to fool myself that I ever will. Believe me, the fault are still there but, thanks to Grandma, I accepted that they are going to be around for the rest of our lives and I love him anyway.

All of you spring brides/newlyweds take heed, Grandma was married for over fifty years, I think she knew what she was talking about.

Those Cheeky Teeth

You will have to excuse my poor photography, take a look at this picture of my darling daughters mouth.....



The extra white line behind all the beautifully straight, perfectly intact baby teeth is an adult tooth. This tooth, which is now about half way out, has taken it upon itself to grow behind all of her baby teeth. Not just behind mind you, but behind and at an angle...all I can hear is the cha-ching of the orthodontist's cash register....braces here we come...crap!

The Snack Discussion

R and I have an ongoing discussion on the snack habits of our children. R thinks they snack too much leading to their lack of appetite at meal time and an increased amount spent at the grocery store. I don't think they have a snack issue, sure they like their fruit and granola bars, but who doesn't? I generally let them snack when they ask for something but don't give them anything for about an hour before meals. R thinks I should start a scheduled snack time and if they want anything more make them wait for the next meal. This goes a little against my grain. I'm believer in the theory that kids know when they are hungry and know when they are full.

As a side note, I belive as people go through life we have a tendency to lose the abilty to recognize when we are full and that the inability of people to understand when their bodies are telling them they have had enough food is a big contributor to the obesity epidemic in our society. As parents I think it is very important to teach our children the concept of listening to our bodies and eating when we are hungry and not when we aren't, regardless of the scheduled eating times. Sorry about that, I'll get off my soap box now.

Back to my kids and their snacking. Following my whole theory, if they want a snack, as long as it is healthy and it's not too close to a meal, why not give it too them. So, after that long drawn out story, here is my question; How do you handle snack time and why? I'm sending this issue out to all of you in cyber space in the hopes of getting some advice and ending this ongoing "discussion" in my marriage. (In reality I'm hoping all of you will prove me right!)

A Hidden Jem

I was just perusing my old pictures and found this....



Seriously, have you ever seen anything so cute as a naked baby bum. I think the years between the ages of zero and three are really the only times when some one's naked bottom is cute, but that's just me. This picture will probably be at the forefront of S's senior picture board! It might scar him for life, but I do think it is my job as his mother to document just how cute his naked heine was.

LaLa's Rules of Life

1. Cleaning my house is a lesson in futility. No matter what room I clean the kids will find it and make a mess with in five minutes.

2. It takes one adult to watch A and J and about three to watch S.

3. I'm a much happier person if I get to sweat a little in the morning.

4. I'm a much happier person if I get to eat chocolate during the day. You need something to combat all of that exercise!

5. Children will live up to the expectations you set for them. Whether positive or negative expectations, they will never fail to disappoint.

6. A girls night out with good conversation and possibly a few glasses of wine can do wonders for your mental health, marriage and parenting.

7. Laundry is a vicious, vicious cycle!

8. Raising children is a team sport where everyone involved takes a turn playing every position. It generally is a bad day when S fills in as coach.

9. Try to listen to your children, their take on life is amazing and hilarious.

10. In a house full of children too much quiet is never a good thing.

11. Whenever I think I'm getting the hang of parenting my children change the rules. They like to keep me in my place!

Are You There God, It's Me A

This morning A was sitting on my lap in church. The church was moderately full, but there was a tall girl in front of us blocking A's view of the altar and pulpit. We went through the welcome, first songs, and prayer with everything normal then the lay person started to read the gospel. This particular lay person had a very deep, manly voice. As he began to read A started to swing her head back and forth, looking in all directions. Being so little she could only see the backs of the family in front of us. Finally she looked at me with huge, incredulous eyes,in an amazed whisper she said, "Mama, it's God!"

Newest Addition.....

Since we all are finally healthy, R and I decided to celebrate by adding a new member to our family.

Here he is, the newest W.....



Dadadadadadadada (this is drumming, in case you didn't know)



Please welcome....




Greenie Irish Welsh!!!!!

I know you all are very excited for our family. Our trip to Petco was definitely an event for the record books. Greenie's name was chosen by J and A, but only after J informed everyone that she would not tolerate any of the "weird ugly names A usually picks." (A has a penchant for names she makes up herself like "Langa", "Raynga", or my personal favorite "Majaynga") R and I fully support choice of both a first and middle name. He is a member of the family after all.

The Tale of One Weekend

Last weekend R and I packed up the kids and took them back to our home town for the annual alumni basketball tournament. Yes, R and I are that couple who dated all through high school and then got married. The fact that we both grew up in the same town, graduated from the same high school (there's only one, the town isn't that big), and our parents still both live in that town generally make for a pretty fun alumni weekend. We get to catch up with friends from high school, see who is getting married, pregnant or divorced (sometimes it is all three, a trifecta!), R plays basketball and I pretend to watch, the bars have free beer on Saturday and we have free babysitters. Yay, good time had by all! Not so much this year.

The Thursday before the festivities I woke up with a sore throat. Being the mom that I am sore throats can't get me down, I played through the pain. Friday wasn't much better but still I pushed through. We made it to dinner at my parents house on Friday night, by this time I was shivering and could not get warm for the life of me, J, complaining about a sore throat, spent the evening on the couch, and A seemed to have a strange pussy growth on her face. If this was a movie the "dun, dun duuun" music would be playing.

On Saturday I woke up and felt as if I had been hit by a truck. My dad made me some tea and I promptly went back to bed. J wasn't fairing much better. A's weird pussy thing had now scabbed. Sean, being the only healthy child, decided this would be a great time to try some Mucinex. We now have a file at poison control, and just in case you were wondering five pills is a fatal dose of Mucinex. Great morning.

We all rallied and went to R's first game. They won, I saw friends and gossiped (one pregnancy, no marriages or divorces). After the excitement of the game, the girls talked their papa into getting them movies and I went back to bed.

I woke up for the afternoon game but the girls were having none of it. J informed me, "Mom, we went to one game that is enough." She's a big supporter of the athletics.

At the game, which they lost by three points, I made some optimistic plans to meet my friends for dinner. I laugh at this now, what a fool I was! I never made it anywhere besides bed that night. I got back to my in-laws, J fell asleep on my lap around five. R put her to bed and I didn't move until 7:15 when I went to bed and promptly fell asleep at 7:16. Sorry friends! Apparently at some point in the night S started screaming for me. I, in my sick induced slumber, didn't hear him at all. My mother in-law took over my duties and calmed him down. Thank goodness for in-laws!

Sunday morning came and everyone still felt like junk and now R was joining in on the sick fun. By this point A's sore had become scabbed, pussy and very angry. R and I made the executive decision that an urgent care visit was needed. You would think an urgent care visit to a small town hospital would be a relatively uneventful outing. Not so in our town. A and I walked into the clinic to find a woman in the middle of a full blown melt down, she was crying and screaming about how her husband/boyfriend/significant other was going to use this to "kick her out of her home". Believe me, she made me happy to be the one sick with my pussy faced daughter. We checked in and were basically told by the triage nurse it would be best if we went to the cafeteria, maybe I didn't want A exposed to this certain brand of craziness. I gladly took that advice. One nice calm visit with a doctor later (the poor lady was nowhere in sight) we found out A had impetigo and needed to be treated with antibiotics. Just to keep you updated the count is now three down with some mysterious horrible illness and one down with impetigo. S is the only resistant and healthy member of the family.

It was decided that after the trip to the urgent care the time had come to take our poor limping little family home. Monday morning dawned with everyone was basically the same R stayed home and I went to the doctor. My diagnosis? Influenza A. I could bang my head against a wall! I had been too lazy to bring everyone in to get a flu shot, S was the only child who got one because he had to go in for a 18 month appointment. Interesting that he is the only healthy resident of our house, hmmm. Can you feel my guilt?! Almost every member of my family is sick because I'm a lazy, crap mom!

Tuesday comes and goes with more of the same. The only positive note is that the antibiotics seem to be working on the angry mess on A's face. Wednesday R finally makes it back to work. The kids and I are not quite so lucky, we still really like the couch. On Thursday J is still not up to par, I finally take her in only to find out that she doesn't have influenza A but strep throat. A quick call to my doctor confirms that I also have strep. Perhaps I'm not such a crap mom after all, if you don't consider that fact that I let my daughter go almost a week with strep.

It is now Sunday, one week after the screaming urgent care lady. Everyone seems to be doing better, the skull and cross bones have officially been removed from our front door, we are back in business and ready for the public!

Here is what I learned from my family's week long quarantine:
1. Flu shots are a good thing.
2. 4 out of 5 members of a family being sick is not a good thing.
3. The nurse at poison control named Anna is very nice, she doesn't make you fell guilty at all when your child eats potentially fatal medicine.
4. I have wonderful parents and in-laws, I don't know what I would do with out them. R and I are very lucky!
5. If our little family can get through a week where the majority of us are sick and cranky we can get through anything.
6. Antibiotics are wonderful!
7. I need a vacation!

Family Vacation

As I am sitting gazing out at the frozen landscape that is my backyard, I'm dreaming about a day when the weather is hot, the grass is green, and my children can play outside without five layers on. Thinking about the summer automatically takes my mind to summer vacations. Growing up summer vacations were a mainstay in my family. Every year we would pack up the car, Griswald style, and go somewhere. It really didn't matter what the destination was, just as long as we were going there as a family.

Our vacations are some of my favorite memories. The smell of camp fire and pine trees still makes me nostalgic for my family sitting around a campfire, listening to loons in the Boundary Waters and licorice always will make me think of long car trips with family size bags of Twizzlers. Not to say that all of the trip were beautiful and serene Norman Rockwell style vacations. Oh believe me there were some doozies. One year my family went camping in, I swear, 150 degree heat with 100% humidity. During that vacation, while we were basically melting in the heat, we were also lucky enough to experience a black fly hatch. I truly believe black flies were spawned from the devil! That specific trip is fondly called the "camping trip from hell". Even though living through the trip was painful, whenever I conger up the image of my brother running down the shores of Lake Superior with a cloud of black flies following him cartoon style I can't help but laugh and I bet every member of my family would be laughing beside me. (Even my brother would laugh, although it did take him a little bit to get over all of the fly bites!)

The point of my walk down memory lane is that I want the same thing for my children. R and I decided this is the year to start the infamous family vacation, so this morning the kids and I surfed the web looking for the perfect cabin in northern Wisconsin. Yes, the trip from hell has made me a cabin girl, no more tents for me!

Ideally, this trip will be the first of many for my family. I'm predicting some good trips and some bad. I'm crossing my fingers that the good will out weigh the bad and that lots of memories will be made. Hopefully when my kiddos are grown and are looking back at all of our family vacations they will think to themselves, "I want that for my kids." I don't know if my parents had any intentions of inspiring family vacations in me as an adult, but I definitely want what I was lucky enough to have for my three.

Just So You Know...

This is what happens when you bang your head into a door hinge...

How do you bang your head into a hinge you ask? Well, by bending down to pick up a toy of course. Doesn't that happen to everyone?

For the Love of Mater

S's newest obsession is the movie Cars, specifically Lightning (or 'nighning' if you are 22 months) and Mater (we haven't perfected how to say Mater yet). A while ago S received a Mater sticker from the doctor. I really didn't think much about it except for the fact that: A- it stopped him from crying after his shot and B- it was most likely going to end up on the floor of my car where I would find it in April or May when it is finally warm enough for me to endure being outside for the extended period of time it takes for me to vacuum out my huge beast of a vehicle.

One Sunday the sticker made an appearance on S's shirt. Apparently R had found it and S had garbled convincingly enough to let R know he needed to wear it. Little did I know how long the sticker would be in my life.

For three, count them 1, 2, 3, days the sticker was on S's shirt. It didn't matter if it was a pj, play, or sweat shirt the sticker had to be on. If S noticed Mater was missing we had a very sad boy. If anyone has ever seen a depressed 22 month little boy, you know what it is a pathetic sight. The sticker went though everything, meals, play dates, baking, sleeping, baths, it became one very mangled and sad excuse for a cartoon drawing.

Finally I was able to take the sticker off a shirt while his sisters were distracting him. So far he hasn't noticed it is gone. I'm crossing my fingers Mater has been forgotten otherwise an emergency sticker run to Target will be in my future!

Notice the pride the chubby little finger has as it's pointing out Mater and the grip he has on the car. I tried to have him put down the car, but it was not happening. We definitely are obsessed with anything with wheels!

Double Meanings

One of the things I laugh the hardest at is when my kids don't understand the double meaning of phrases. I know it might be mean to laugh, but seriously it is funny.

Here was a conversation at our house last night:

J had somehow gotten it into her head that I was overworked and needed help (Bless her little heart for noticing!) and said all of these statements in a matter of five minutes.
"Mom, you are the best mom in the world. I'm going to help you do the dishes."
"You made a great dinner, I'm going to help clean up."
"I love you so much, you're such a great mom, I'm going to help you."
"Mom, you deserve to sit down and watch a mom-show. (what we call any show that isn't a cartoon or has the a target audience of five and under) Just sit down and put your feet up!"
"Doing the dishes is fun, I love helping you because you are so great!"

Believe me I was lapping up all of this impromptu adoration! R on the other hand thought it was all a little over the top and while rubbing his nose jokingly said, "J, you've got a little something brown on your nose."
J looked at him, soapy scrub brush in hand, the picture of innocence and said, "No worries, I'll just wipe it off!"

I find these little moments hilarious!

Groundhog Day...Can You Feel the Excitement!

J loves groundhog day. When I say love, I don't mean I don't mean a "yay, this is a fun day" kind of love, I mean love with a passion love. We start discussing Feb. 2nd weeks before the actual date. We talk about whether or not spring will come early, what Phil does to prepare for the day, what he will eat, we read books about it, basically the excitement builds for quite a while until finally......GROUNDHOG DAY IS HERE!

J has a groundhog hat, thanks to her aunt who actually went to Pennsylvania and saw Phil in action last year (very impressive to my daughter). Last night before J curled up for bed she put on her hat, yes, she slept in a groundhog stocking cap, in preparation for today. (I told you this was a passionate love) I also had strict instructions to wake her up so she could see Phil predicting spring first hand.

J woke up bright and early and crawled into bed with me hat and all. The two of us turned on the Today Show thinking we would see some good groundhog features there. Now, I have to admit, the choice of the Today Show was slightly selfish on my part. I love watching it, for some reason the mix of news and trash just gets me. Normally my TV choice is overruled by three loud, little individuals who would rather watch Super Why and Clifford. Darn kids! Today I thought we all would win, I was mistaken. The Today Show didn't have anything on Groundhog Day. After watching it for an hour J was at her wits end, where was Phil? How would we ever know when spring was coming? Being the mom that I am I went online and found the Groundhog Day ceremony. We watched all twelve minutes of it (that's right the ceremony takes twelve minutes). Finally all of our questions were answered, Phil saw his shadow, spring is coming in six weeks. I don't know what we would have done with out this information!

All kidding aside two funny things happened today while we were watching.
1. J saw someone in the crowd in Pennsylvania wearing the same hat she has (and was also wearing). This was very, very exciting for her.
2. J looked at me very earnestly and said,"I just don't understand the Today Show. Why would they want to talk about the Superbowl and President Obama when it is Groundhog Day. Don't they know what is happening!" I can't imagine what they were thinking....

Awwww....

Today A looked me right in the eye and out of nowhere said, "Mom, you just make my heart happy."

Seriously, what could be better then that?

It's the Small Stuff

Sometimes it is the small moments and milestones in life that remind me just how fleeting childhood is. Today J was struggling to try to tie her own shoes, for some unknown reason she had it in her head that this was a skill she had to learn today. Before leaving for a friend's house, we spent twenty tearful minutes attempting to tie with no avail. Then, finally, when we were leaving the friend's she struck gold, she tied her shoe by herself. While I was giving her a big hug I started become teary eyed, it hit me, she is growing up.

I have no idea why tying a shoe was a trigger for me. All of a sudden I thought, "If my baby can tie her shoes she is that much more independent, soon she won't need me to do anything for her anymore." In that moment it seemed to me as if the act of tying shoes was a catalyst to adulthood.

Logically I know J is not going to wake up as a sixteen year old tomorrow because she can tie her own sneakers, but the small moments and triumphs in my children's lives are steps to their becoming adults. Tying shoes is a small step in the staircase, but it is a step. I was so proud of J for accomplishing a goal, but I was selfishly sad for myself. There are times, like tonight, when I just want to hold them tight to keep them from changing. In those moments I need to take a deep breath and remind myself that I have only enjoyed J, A, and S more as they have grown. If the pattern holds true, the new milestones will lead to good things and new ways for me to appreciate my kids. My children are growing up and while sometimes it is sad for me, I thank God that I am here to watch, and enjoy, them walking up their staircase.

Momdar

I believe that when my children were born they came equipped with their own radar system. This "momdar" beeps when ever I am doing something that could be considered "on my own time". Think going to the bathroom, trying to make dinner, taking a bath, etc. When J, A, or S hear this beep they automatically need me that very instant. What ever my task may be it immediately pales in comparison to the intensity of what ever they happen to want at that very moment.

Lately my children's momdar has been beeping the minute I put my head on my pillow, snuggle down into my bed and give a sigh of comfort and relief that the day is done. Right after my sigh, there is inevitably a cry of "Mooooom!" (Of course there is never a cry of Daaad). No matter what time of night the momdar inevitably beeps. Don't get me wrong I love my children. I don't mind taking care of their need even if it is at two in the morning, can you feel the sarcasm in my typing?

Occiasionally I would just like the momdar to break or at least turn into some sort of daddar. There are times when I just want to scream, "Seriously people! If you want a happy mom in the morning you need to let me get some sleep! I'm a much more fun mom when I'm not sleep deprived!" Obviously I don't scream, I just suck it up and go to which ever child needs me. Or, my husbanddar starts beeping and I roll over give R a gentle push and say, "Your child needs you."

Can You See Me?

S has found a favorite new hiding spot....my kitchen pantry. Now, those of you who have never been to my house might think this is an excellent choice for a one year old hang out, don't fool yourselves it is not. There are a few thing wrong with his hiding location. First, it isn't really a pantry, it is more like a large cupboard. This means he can't actually fit into the cabinet and shut the door. He basically wedges himself in between the door and the shelves, hoping we won't see his feet or the little hand holding the door shut. Secondly, because everyone in the vicinity can still see his feet and hands it is really not the best spot to discreetly hide.

The pros of his spot of choice are: He can grab and possibly eat treats off the snack shelf without me knowing and since I'm generally in the kitchen I can say "Where is S?" and he can burst out of the cabinet with a giant smile on his face. This game can entertain for hours.

The benefit for me is he looks so darn cute jumping out his hiding spot that I can't help but smile.

Banana Bread

I made a loaf of this wonderful bread less than twenty four hours ago and it is now gone. According to my family this is the "best banana bread EVER!" Try it and let me know.

Banana Bread

2 bananas mashed (over ripe works best)
2 eggs
1 3/4 c flour
1 1/2 c sugar
1/2 c oil
1/3 c buttermilk (if you don't have any buttermilk use 1/3 c milk with a splash of vinegar)
1t baking soda
1t vanilla
1 scant teaspoon of salt

Preheat oven to 325 degree. Mix all the ingredients together until smooth. Pour into an oiled loaf pan and bake for 80 min. or until a tooth pick inserted in the middle comes out clean. I find it only take 70 min. in my oven and the bread is better slightly under done then over done. Enjoy!

I have to give a shout-out to my mom because it is her recipe. She would definitely put Martha Stewart to shame in the baking department!

I'm Smart and I Know It!

As I have eluded to in past posts, my daughter A has attitude to spare. Her inner sassiness came out this weekend, here is how it all went down:

We were driving to our friends house, bear in mind that we probably drive to their at least house once a week. No one in the car was worried about R knowing how to get to our destination, or so I thought....

We were just pulling onto the highway when from the back comes, "Good job Dad, you're goin' the right way. " I looked back and A said with assurance in her voice, "I know where we're goin' and how to get there." Okay.... R and I just took this in stride and didn't really think anything of it.

We get to our exit. Again a little voice pipes up from the back, "Daaad...You're supposed to turn here!"

At this point R says, "Thanks A, what would I do without you." The sarcasm is complete lost on A who answers, "I don't know!"

Finally we turn on to our friend's street, low and behold there is another comment from the back, "Good job Dad! You got us here!"

In a very dry sarcastic voice R says, "I'm so glad you were in the back to show me the way, good thing you are so smart..."

A returns with, "I know I'm smart, I know the directions!"

A, my sassy little backstreet driver at age 3...

My Name is La and I'm a Holiday-aholic...

Why is it that your house looks bare and boring after all of your holiday finery is put away? I was perfectly happy with my home before I decked the halls but now that Christmas is over it definitely seems to be lacking. I am suffering from a massive holiday hangover, detox is rough!