Harvest Festival

The kids and I went to a Harvest Festival party given by a local pediatric dental office. It was great! Radio Disney was there and the dancers/singers kept the prince absolutely mesmerized!

When the kids were asked for volunteers for a game, the prince raised his hand and was selected. There were two teams of two, one was the mummy-to-be and the other was the mummy wrapper. The prince got to be the mummy and the look on his face was priceless - he was beside himself with joy.

At the bell the teams were off and wrapping and my three year old prince stood perfectly still, hands at his side, while the older child wrapped him in toliet paper from his face to his waist.

At the end of the time, the audience was asked to clap and cheer for the best mummy and guess who won? My little guy!!! As his prize, he was given a Disney CD of Remixed Songs. He was in heaven!!

There is nothing better in this world that I love more than seeing my children radiate with happiness and joy. My heart swells to 100 times its usual size. I just love them sooooo much!


Getting wrapped up


Look at my baby mummy!!


My Little Bee


The prince listening to the music and watching the dancers

Seventy Minutes of Freedom

.....and what did I do with my time?

Drove to the post office to mail off an eBay sale
Drive to the vet to pick up special dog food (read: $$$) for our Dalmatian
Drive to Safeway to pick up a few needed items

I know, I know.....I live the high life! :)

While at Safeway I stopped by the Starbucks section and ordered a Single Grande Peppermint Mocha. Then I went back to my car, loaded the groceries and slide behind the wheel. I still had 40 minutes before I needed to be back so I dug out my copy of Soap Opera Digest and proceeded to drink my coffee and catch up on my beloved General Hospital.

Yep....sitting there in the parking lot of Safeway. That's what I did with me free time. Do I know how to live of what?

Mama Said There'd Be Days Like This

Well...not *my* Mama but someone's did, I'm sure.

The baby still has her cold though she did have periods of happiness today which is am improvement over the rest of the week. She also still had lots and lots of periods of fussiness, crying and being attached to me.

The prince is a bit stuffy but not too bad. He did say "Mama - I'm sick today." so I know he isn't feeling 100%.

Me? I'm sick. I'm stuffy, head-achy, body-achy, coughing, cranky, tired, exhausted, etc. And, as most of you know, being a mom does not come with sick days so sick or not, it's business as usual.

D's mom came over for awhile this afternoon so I could escape the demands of the kids, if only for 70 minutes. I sure appreciated the break!

What's on the agenda for tomorrow? More of the same. D needs to travel to the law library to study. The travel time takes up precious study time and then to add to that, we both have teeth cleaning appointments in the morning. Hers is at 8:30 and mine at 9:15. So instead of starting early, she'll be starting out even later than usual. So.....it's going to be a loooooong day for me. Ick.

MOMS Club Halloween Party

Thought you might enjoy seeing a couple pictures from my MOMS Club Halloween party that took place on Tuesday. As you can see - the prince decided to forgo being Pooh, Bear from Bear in the Big Blue House and a bee (he said, and rightly so, "Those are all too hot!") in favor of being Spider Man.

Thank goodness he had Spider Man jammies or it never would have worked.

The princess looks less than thrilled because she was super sick with a cold. She seems to be doing better but she has been pretty sick. Poor girl.

It's All Shawna's Fault

It's all Shawna's fault.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Shawna and her three little ones were scheduled to come for a playdate/coffee date this morning and I was really looking forward to it. Yesterday I went to Safeway and bought special coffee creamer, rasberry flavored coffee and Halloween cupcakes. (I even cleaned the house mid-week and had D clean the carpets (which they desperately needed anyway....))

But then, the phone rang this morning. Shawna caught baby Reece's cold and is pretty sick. She couldn't come over to play. BUMMER!!!!! :(
I understand completely - I'm just bummed I didn't get a mommy playdate this week with my new friend.

Remember that shopping trip I took yesterday? The creamer and coffee are safely tucked away for next week when we try to get together again but the cupcakes........?

Yeah right!

I've eaten half the dozen today. I needed to inhale six cupcakes like I need a pierced tongue but what's a girl to do? They are so freakin' yummy that I just HAD to. :)

So Shawna - this is all your fault! :) :)


Feel better soon so we can reschedule, ok?

Lullaby

D and I used to sing a certain lullaby-type song to the prince when he was small and last night we sang it to the princess. Both kids were mesmerized and today I have had a small boy requesting to hear it over and over and over.

It's the chorus to the song Everything Possible by Motherlode. It's a beautiful song and a wonderful message/gift to give my children.


You can be anybody you want to be
You can love whomever you will
You can travel any country where your heart leads
And know I will love you still

You can live by yourself
You can gather friends around
You can choose one special one

And the only measure of your words and your deeds
Will be the love you leave behind
When you're done

Tagged!

I got tagged in the blog tag game by Estelle. Here goes:

7 Things I wanna do before I die
1) See my kids grow up to be adults
2) Be a size 6 (Shallow, I know)
3) Have a cow lick my hand
4) Be pet free for a while
5) Tell those I love that I do
6) Live in a house with a big wrap around front porch
7) Live in a brand new home built to my specifications

7 Things I cannot do
1) Be a republican :)
2) Ride a roller coaster
3) Climb a tree
4) roll my tongue
5) tie a cherry stem
6) deny my children
7) stop taking my kids in for professional photos :)

7 things that attract me to (same sex)
1) eyes
2) smile
3) laugh
4) intensity (too much, not good. Too little, not good.)
5) gentleness
6) kindness
7) being comfortable in their embrace

7 things I say often
1) totally
2) absolutely
3) Move it Lucy!
4) Get the lead out
5) Come on, family
6) Hey! Dial it down.
7) Let's go, let's go, let's go!

7 Celebrity Crushes
1) Rosie O'Donnell
2) Ellen DeGeneras
3) Luke Perry
4) Jason Priestly
5) Melissa Etheridge
Sorry guys- I seem to only have 5 crushes. :)

7 People I want to do this: (consider yourself tagged)
1) Shawna
2) Kristen
3) Amy
4) Brenda (I know you don't have a blog - you can leave your info in the comment section of mine. :))
5) Tracey
6) Sonya
7) Robyn

How Old Are You?

You Are 20 Years Old

Under 12: You are a kid at heart. You still have an optimistic life view - and you look at the world with awe. 13-19: You are a teenager at heart. You question authority and are still trying to find your place in this world. 20-29: You are a twentysomething at heart. You feel excited about what's to come... love, work, and new experiences. 30-39: You are a thirtysomething at heart. You've had a taste of success and true love, but you want more! 40+: You are a mature adult. You've been through most of the ups and downs of life already. Now you get to sit back and relax.

What Age Do You Act?

Who Knew?

Wow. Who knew that my seemingly innocent post (see below) would elicit such a reaction from my sister (and, according to her, my brother). Good heavens - you would think I was dressing him in drag *just* to make him different. "His life is going to be hard enough coming from the family he is - why would you even *think* about letting him do this? At his age he should be wanting to dress like a superhero. He is a boy and he should be acting like one." (This is not word for word but the general idea.)


For all of those who are saying "Well....I have to say I do agree....
" let me ammend my earlier post by saying in the course of today the prince has changed his mind at least 4 times regarding what he would like to be. He bounced back and forth between Pooh, a robot, a princess and back to a robot. I did finally give him the choise of the three costumes we have for him and he settled on Pooh.

However, I am sad to report that after hearing bits and pieces of my umm..."conversation" with my sister he has decided to go "as a blank" to the MOMS Club halloween party tomorrow. In his lingo, this means he doesn't want to dress up at all. I think I may have him convinced to wear his Spider Man PJ's - or at least the top (See, dear sister of mine....he DOES enjoy dressing as a super hero at times.). I feel bad for him. I know he knows he was the topic of a very heated conversation that bounced in all different directions.

Apparently I am raising my child to be a target in the world because I refuse to let people tell him what he should play with. I am setting him up for being bullied because "let's face it - he already has so many things against him."

The conversation went on and on and on and on and on.

I do so love getting parenting advice from someone who has never raised children but instead only cared for other people's kids for a day or maybe a weekend. We talked about how she has so much more knowledge about raising children than me because she has worked with more kids than I ever have. I countered with "other people's children are not your own. It is NOT the same." I said it and I mean it. I stick to that line of thought 150%. I think it is leaps and bounds easier to stand tough with a child that is not your responsbility 24/7. I can be as tough as nails on any child that is not my own. I used to spout all the child rearing advice on what people "should" do with their child and what I *would* do with mine when I had them.

Yeah right.

It's just not the same. I can't even begin to explain all the ways it's not the same. People can love my kids - grandparents, aunts, uncles, other caregivers, friends, etc - and they can love them with all their heart. But it isn't, and never will be, the same for them as it is for me. I think I can speak for D on this front as well as we've had many conversations about the exact thing. We love our kids and know our kids more intensly than anyone. No one else would even come close. Not even if they wanted to. We knew these kids before they were born and we've been with them every single day since. We know them inside and out, upside down and backwards. It's not that way for anyone else.

My sister says she knows my son. This I seriously doubt since we visit one weekend every few months and have since he was 10 weeks old (when we moved out of the area). How in the world can she say that she really "knows" him? Plain and simple, she can't.

All these conversations that abound about good parenting/bad parenting makes me crazy. Makes me doubt myself when I really shouldn't. I honestly and truly believe I am doing what is in the best interest of my children for for the family D and I created. I really do.

So why is it I feel like I have to defend my choices and decisions every time I turn around?

Drives me freakin' crazy.

A Princess for Halloween?

Oh my. The prince has decided that he wants to be a princess for Halloween. Now what?

I have a bee costume (because a month ago he said"all my life I always wanted to be a bee.)
I have a pooh costume (last years - still fits and goes perfectly with the princess' Piglet costume)
I have Bear from Bear in the Big Blue House (garage sale find)

No princess costume.

We have dress up stuff we could use (jewlery, etc) but no "dress" or "hair". He wants his hair "really long with a hat on top" like in the Dora episode.

How am I suppose to approach this? I don't want to squash his dreams and I personally don't care how he dresses up....it is, after all, halloween and he is only 3.

Eeeeek.

Family Night...Make that Family Weekend! :)

Friday, after a fun playdate (Thanks Shawna!) the kids were napping and I was dozing peacfully with the princess when I heard D arrive home from work. About 10 minutes after her arrival she came into the princess' bedroom, noticed I was awake and said "Wanna do something completely irresponsible and go to the beach for the weekend?" Huh? The beach? Weekend? What about studying all day tomorrow? What about the animals?

She explained that the inn where we stayed in August had a room available for Friday and Saturday night. We could throw stuff in the car, be on the road and spend two nights on the coast. We'd come home early Sunday so she could study the afternoon and evening away. She'd call her sister and/or her mom to see if they could tend to the animals.

So - throwing caution to the wind I raced into our room to pull out the luggage and start packing. We were out the door and in the car within the hour! I don't think we've ever packed so quickly before. :)

Traffic wasn't nearly as terrible as we feared given that it was 4pm on a Friday afternoon and we made good time to the coast.

We checked into our room, tossed our luggage on the beds and headed down to town. Things were mostly closed up but it was fun just to walk around and breathe in the fresh sea air. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!

We returned to our room and ordered pizza. After we ate, D and the prince headed over to the pool for a swim while I gave the princess her bath. After they returned from the pool we watched a bit of tv and then settled down to sleep.

The princess had a rough night so she and I were up for more than three hours. It drove me nutty to listen to the steady breathing coming from the prince and D. I wanted to be sleeping too! Oh well. I rocked the princess by the window and watched the waves crash on the beach.

Saturday we were out and about early and went to breakfast at my favorite place; Pig'N Pancake. YUMMY!!!! They make the best eggs benedict I've ever tasted.

After that we roamed around town for a while and then headed back to the inn. The prince was given a choice of going over to a neighboring town or playing on the beach - he choose the beach and what a good decision that turned out to be! We had an absolute blast playing the surf, being chased by the waves and watching the prince dance the world's sillest dance. It was the best and the weather was amazing! We both said how crazy it was that we had nicer weather in October than we had experienced in August!

We returned to the room and dumped the prince in the tub - he was sandy from the top of his hair to the bottom of his feet! We all changed into dry and sand free clothes and headed into Cannon Beach to go to our favorite fudge store. (D would like me to add this this isn't *her* favorite fudge store anymore. Her favorite is Great Northwest Candy Store. I really like it too (they have all sorts of candy from my childhood) - especially since I discovered it's owned by a former co-worker and her husband. Sadly, though, they don't carry the divinity nougat I love so much.)

The kids both ended up falling asleep so we parked and tried to rest with them. The prince woke and wanted no part of waiting in the car so he and D took off to the toy stores while I waited in the car for the princess to wake. I ended up falling asleep and the two of us snoozed for about 90 minutes. Ahhhhh!!! :)

When I woke the clouds and fog had rolled in and it was getting downright nippy! Good thing we played on the beach in the morning instead of the afternoon.

We played around in Cannon Beach for a bit, ate a late lunch/early dinner at our favorite place, Bill's Tavern, and then headed back to Seaside.

Sadly, the bumper cars were already closed by the time we were ready to go there but we did get to ride the kiddie train (the kids and I) and play in the arcade (the prince's idea of heaven!). We won lots of tickets and got to trade them in for some fun prizes (my favorite game is a baseball game and I have to say, I'm pretty good at it and tend to win gobs of tickets!).

It was such a great day! We all had so much fun and the prince kept thanking us for everything (Thanks Mama. This is fun!). It was so nice to escape from the stress we call our lives and have some time together as a family.

It was hard to say our good-byes this morning (we tend to say good-bye to everything: the room, the ocean, the sand, the birds, the bumper cars, the arcade, etc) but we were on the road by 10 and home by 11:30.

The unpacking is all but done. The princess is napping, the prince is watching Clifford and D is hard at work studying. It sure doesn't take long to fall back into the same old routine but it sure was great to get away and have a "stolen weekend!"








The rest of the pictures may be viewed by clicking here.

Friday is family night!

As a surprise for the three of us who are weary of the fact that D is never home anymore, she is skipping class tomorrow night to have a bonus family night with us! (For those worried about her acedemic career: her first class is cancelled and she is having two people take notes for her in the second class.)

The prince and I are beyond excited and have been talking about it all day:

Mom? When will Mama be home?
In about 5 hours.
Is that a long time?
Yes, honey. It is.
I miss her.
I know you do. I miss her, too.
*heavy sigh*
*silence*
She come home for dinner tomorrow night, right?
Yep. She'll be here for dinner and she'll stay with us all evening.
Her no go to school?
Nope. She's going to spend special time with us.
Like a bonus?
Exactly like a bonus.
Mama?
Yes, honey?
I want her to stay always.
I know honey. Me, too.

I love this kid. I'm not sure how it can make my heart so happy and yet break it into a million pieces all at the same time.

New pics - yes again.

It's one thing to know your daughter looks like an adorable baby monkey - it's another to have your partner, the other mother to your child, say it as the first comment to the new photos. Somehow, it's ok when *I* say it...after all, this child is the spitting image of me when I was her age (poor thing!) which, yes I know, means I think I looked like a monkey too. (I did!)

At any rate...here are new pics. Two are early Christmas photos (I needed a new one of the two of them together and the prince would only agree to the tree background so - I did what I had to do.) and the other two are the princess' 8 month photos.





Cuteness times two!


My baby is growing up!

(You gotta admit though - she *does* look a bit like a baby monkey! :) )

I dumped my girlfriend for a pair of granny panties

Made you look, didn't I? Ok here's how the game works:

Take the first letter of your first name..

A=I'D LOVE TO LICK
B=I ATE
C=I DUMPED MY BOYFRIEND/GIRLFRIEND FOR
D=I HAD A ONE NIGHT STAND WITH
E=I MILKED
F=I SAT ON
G=I SAW
H=I'M IN LOVE WITH
I=IN MY ROOM I FOUND
J=I PUSHED
K=I GOT IN A FIGHT WITH
L=I MURDERED
M=I RAPED
N=I DEEP-FRIED
O=IN MY FREEZER, I FOUND
P=I MOLESTED
Q=I TALKED ON THE PHONE TO
R=I CHEATED ON MY LOVER WITH
S=I'M MOVING IN WITH
T=I JUST KILLED
U=I KICKED AND KILLED
V=I SKINNED ALIVE
W=I GAVE MY NUMBER TO
X=I MARINATED
Y=I BABYSAT
Z=I TRADED MY MOM FOR

Now take the third letter of your last name..

A=A HIPPOPOTAMUS
B=A CURLY FRY
C=A BLOCK OF CHEESE
D=AN ERASER
E=A GAY HOBO
F=YOUR MOM
G=AN EMPTY TACOBELL CUP
H=A GREASY PAPER PLATE
I=A SPORK
J=A MELTED ORANGE CRAYON
K=GEORGE WASHINGTON
L=A PEICE OF CHEWED GUM
M=A SEA URCHIN
N=A PAIR OF GRANNY PANTIES
O=ORANGE JUICE
P=YOUR BRA
Q=A BIRD
R=A STOP SIGN
S=A DUSTPAN
T=A RANDOM GUY
U=A RANDOM GIRL
V=A YELLOW PAPERCLIP
W=A PAIR OF SNEAKERS
X=A TURKEY
Y=A NAKED OLD LADY
Z=A JELLYBEAN

Now take them and put them together in a comment post or a tow truck will fall on your left foot. What are you waiting for? Get busy! :)

Missed phone calls - but a good day

I missed a call earlier...I had wanted to get to my phone in time but a little someone softly said "Mama, let that machine take it. I still want to play with you." Could I argue with that? I don't think so. So...I stayed where I was and didn't check to see who had called until later.

Seems like I rarely answer my cell phone anymore (it's the phone my long-distance friends use).

I'm trying to spend more time just "being" with my kids - being present and enjoying them. My goal is to settle the prince down as I know he acts up to get attention that he isn't getting when I'm on the computer or phone.

He needs it - I need - the princess needs it. We all need it. And today, for the first day in weeks and weeks and weeks I didn't raise my voice at the prince. I didn't get angry. We had a really, really, really good day.

Finally.

It's been a loooooong seven weeks since D started classes. It feels like a lifetime but maybe, just maybe, we're figuring it all out.

Our Excellent Pumpkin Patch Adventure

It was a crisp, overcast and wet day - a perfect day to go to the pumpkin patch! So, we dressed the kids warmly and headed to Bi-Zi Farms to spend the day. We petted animals, climbed a hay pyramid, made rope, watched them make, and then tasted, fresh apple cider. We ran through a hay maze, took a tractor ride out to the pumpkin fields and then warmed up by drinking hot chocolate. We had a great time and came home happy, tired and muddy!







Click here to see more photos from our day.

Autumn

I love this time of year. Without a doubt, this is my very favorite season. The heat of summer is finally behind us. I love the cold, rain and wind....the leaves fluttering to the ground by the handfuls. It's this time of year that makes me wish I had a huge porch with a swing so I could bundle up in a sweater, pour a huge cup of coffee and sit out on the swing watching the world.

I've been waiting for a day like today all week - even though the ground was wet I was eager to get the kids out in the leaves to play. So, this morning we bundled up and out we went.

The prince had a great time running, kicking the leaves and throwing them every which way. The princess was enjoying crawling around and eating the leaves.

Here's some photos of the fun:

Casey needs.....

This is spreading through my local blog community like wildfire - but if you haven't done it already, go to Google and type in your first name and the word "needs". (It would look like: Casey needs) It's just too darn funny what comes up. Here are some of mine:

Casey Needs HELP!

Casey needs victory.

Casey needs your help!

Casey needs shoulder surgery.

Casey needs no introduction

Casey needs confidence

Casey needs your help

Casey Needs Your Success Story

.....and my all time favorite:

Casey needs a life


Hmmm...not sure what it's trying to tell me but there is definitely an underlying theme. :)

Long Lost Film

Clearly we made the switch to digital quickly and easily without looking back. :)

I've had a roll of film sitting on the counter waiting to be delveoped. I knew it was from shortly after the princess was born but had no idea what was on it (I still have a roll in the film camera that I need to finish and get developed. It will be a trip to see what's on that one as well.).
It turns out it was shot the end of March - Easter. There were pictures of the Easter Egg hunt in which the prince took part. Pictures of him sitting on the Easter Bunny's lap. Easter morning...and a few of the princess in all her tiny-ness. I can hardly believe she was *that* small. The binky looks gi-normous in her mouth (not so much the case now).

I'll post a few here to share. Ah - memories. They are so sweet. :)

Nothing Smaller Than Your Elbow

Your mom probably told you this when you were younger. Turns out, she was right!

This morning the prince decided, in all his 3 year old glory, to shove PlayDoh in his ears. He’s done this before but the pieces were big enough for me to reach and remove with a pair of tweezers. Not this time.

I tried to get the pieces out but after removing a few I realized there were some that were too deep for me to reach (it was a green color so I could see that there was more in there). So, after calling the doctor’s office, we were on our way. All the time I’m feeling silly about this. Oy.

The doctor, all the while assuring me this is normal for the 2.5-3.5 year olds, used a small tool to remove a few pieces but there were some even he couldn’t reach. The next step was flushing out the ear canal with warm water. Sure enough, out came a bunch of PlayDoh in a flood of water.

My brave boy. He really made me proud. He sat so still and didn’t say a word the whole time. After all was said and done he told me “Mama, I be really super brave cuz it hurt a lot.”

For his reward he received three gloves to be blown into balloons, three tongue depressor puppets (he named them Prince, Mama and Doctor) and a sticker. Not a bad deal for sticking something in your ear.

Even though I don’t think he’ll be sticking PlayDoh in his ears anytime soon, I still think it’s best for all the PlayDoh to take a short vacation. This stuff really IS the bane of my existence.

Here are a couple photos from our adventure this morning.

I Love These Kids!!

My babies - they are just too much! *happy sigh*

Floam, Part 2

No Floam yet. I'm not sure why it is taking so long - they sure were quick to charge my debit card. I'm going to call tomorrow and ask when we might be seeing it (if ever).

I thought the prince had forgotten about it since he gave us asking but today - the Floam conversation raised its ugly head.

It better get here soon - it's going to be too rainy and cold to be outside soon.

*Sigh*

D did not disappoint. She flipped and countered with "Yes but you paid shipping out of our checking account which means we are still out about $30."

I find it less than amusing that she is one to spend money like crazy on this, that and the other thing (recently school related but the weekends used to be quite expensive for us as she found new fun things to do and buy) but will come unglued at me for spending money.

So - now I get to feel really crappy about buying the pictures. :( I know I went overboard - I owned up to it - and yet, it's never enough.

And yeah - being the child that I am known to be I shot back with "And you are getting HOW far in debt with law school?" Mature, I know. *sigh* So now I feel bad about that, too.

I can't win.

The Cost of Pictures

Oy! I about had a heart attack this morning. I took the princess in for her 8 month photos and the prince decided that he would be in one with her (which is good because Grandma has been asking for an updated photo of the two of them as hers is from when the princess was 5 weeks old). The Christmas backdrop was already up from the people before us and since the prince climbed up on the table, I decided to just go with the Christmas background. What the heck.

He was reasonably good for the photos (and by reasonably good you who already have gone through the 2-3 year old stage know what I'm talking about) and she managed to get a couple of decent shots. Then it was on to the princess alone. She did pretty well considering it was part her morning nap time and we managed to get a few good ones of her. One even shows her two bottom teeth (how could I *not* get that one even if it wasn't the best one of her??).

The staff helping me choose the photos kept saying "How could you not get this pose? Just look at those cheeks! Adorable!" which didn't help me stick to my budget for pictures. With the prince I was so good and only bought the package and never, ever spent more than $12. But now, with the two kids, I find I am sneaking in two sittings (and sometimes three) so I can no longer go with just the package - I am buying it by the sheet. Still with a coupon so it's $4.99 a sheet instead of $12.99 and yet........

$75.00 later - we left Penneys. YIKES YIKES YIKES!!!

I about had a freaking heart attack thinking of what D is going to say (if you're reading this; don't boil over yet.....keep going).

Thank goodness I was selling my maternity clothes of eBay this week. I transferred the money from my PayPal account into our checking account to cover the cost of the photos. PHEW!

From now on I am going to make separate appointments; one for the princess, one for the prince and one for photos together and stick to the game plan of buying the package deal. This was an expensive lesson to learn and frankly, it's the most money I have ever spent at Penney's photo studio.

But I bet the photos will be really great when I pick them up on the 20th! :)

Confession Time

Ready?

I love the fruit puff finger foods by Gerber. LOVE them! I would sit here and eat them all day if I could justify it.

I'm not sure who gets more excited about snack time - the princess or me.

How sad and pathetic is that? :)

I Hate Playdoh.

There. I said it. I hate Playdoh. I despise it. It gets everywhere- the table, the floor, the tread of shoes, ground into the chair fabric, the prince's hair, in the princess' mouth...everywhere - it's get everywhere. Can you tell what I just finished cleaning up?

And while I'm at it - I hate watercolors, crayons, markers, finger paints, stickers and scissors.

I think I'm anti-art. I wasn't always - it's only been recently I've started to have a love/hate relationship with craft projects.

The prince LOVES to do craft projects. I honestly think he would do them all day long if I gave him unending access to the cabinet. But the mess! Oh the mess.

Being the good mom that I try to be though, I give into his requests easily. Being creative makes him a very happy boy and if my boy is happy, so am I.

But I really do hate the mess.

I wonder if our parents felt the same way.

My Pride and Joys :)

A Typical Day For This SAHM

Tracey got me thinking....how much *do* I do in any give day? I'm going to run down the list and then I'll edit and add as the day goes on.

In bed by 11:15pm
Nurse baby 50 trillion times - ok, more like three - during the night
Wake at 7:20 to a little voice saying "Mama - I wanna watch TV."
I get up, turn on his show, and head back to bed. I notice the time. *grumble* No returning to bed for me.
I turn on the coffee and computer
check email real quick
start laundry
go into my bathroom and prepare for a shower
get interupted by a little boy who wants me to watch part of his Hi-5 show with him
I comply to his request (baby is still sleeping)
After watching, I jump in the shower
get dressed
baby wakes, I nurse her, play a bit, change her diaper and get her dressed
I dress the boy
I go out and make coffee
drink some, play with the baby and watch the boy on the computer as he eats breakfast
answer the phone, it's my friend saying that she can't go to the new moms group we were going to attend today - since I don't want to go alone, I'm suddenly at a lose for what to do for the morning
I go to make all three beds - but then decide to change sheets. I start with the bed in the baby's room then realize I need to wash the sheets from that bed in order to have a clean set for the master bed. Start to strip the boys bed and then realize that he will have a fit if his pillow case isn't on his pillow at nap time. This is far more complicated than it should be.

I make the boys bed - I'll wash those sheets this afternoon.
Start more laundry, fold what was in the dryer
(Time check: it's 9:00)
The baby is showing signs of needing her morning nap
I take her and nurse her and as she is drifting off the boy comes into the room talking a mile a minute. The baby loves her brother and bolts upright at the sound of his voice.
Send the boy out of the room with the promise of a special art project after baby is sleeping and try again to get baby to sleep.
Repeat above scenerio.
Baby not sleeping - take her out to the livingroom to play
Have more coffee
(time check: 9:45)
Change poppy baby diaper and try the sleep thing again
Baby asleep
Return to livingroom and ask boy if he's ready for art project
Get out paint, paper, marbles and small roasting pan
Create artwork and have fun
Answer a phone call
Return to the patio to find the boy has left painty handprints on everything
Go into the kitchen to retrieve a rag
Notice there is a pile of rags on the floor and GROSS! What did I just step in?
Inquire - what got spilled?
"Nothing"
Inquire again
"Nothing spilled. I peed"
Argh. Asks why and discuss proper peeing location
Clean up mess both inside and out
Check AOL for Tracey - make sure she isn't having her baby yet. Talk with her for a while.
Start more laundry, fold more laundry
Answer phone call - it's Tracey :)
finish folding and putting away
Make PB&J for the boy
Clean kitchen/do dishes/set out breakfast stuff for Friday
check email, start this posting
play with the boy
baby wakes up, go get her, change her and play with her
Check load in dryer - turn dryer back on
(time check: 11:45)
Feed dogs
spend time with kids playing
remember that my goal for the day was to hang the letters that spell the baby's name in her room (I've had them since she was 2 months old)
set the kids up with their toys and head to kitchen to prepare letters for sticking to wall
put the letters on the wall in baby's room
hear baby crying go to investigate
inquire - hear "I don't know" but know better than that. Inquire again
Finally the boy admits to laying in her back
Talk about how we can't do that and ask why. He knows reason. Talk about not hurting her on purpose.
Help them get back to playing
The baby is hungry so we go off to her room to nurse
The boy follows in a few minutes and decides to have a potato sack race with a pillowcase waiting to be washed
We all laugh
The boy climbs on the bed with us and we have a kissing fight which turns into a rasberry blowing fight
Hair pulling occurs so I end play session

Talk with D on the phone to find out how her morning went
Returned to the livingroom to play with the kids - the prince wanted to watch Mr. Rogers which was a good idea as nap time was quickly approaching
I folded laundry and put duvet cover back on comforter while the baby played with the toys in her room
The prince comes to find me and says he is ready for his nap (before the end of his show) so I get him ready, read a story and tuck him in
Nurse the baby in hopes she will want to sleep as well - no luck.
Returned to livingroom, played some more and then read the paper while she played
She is tired so try to put her down again

to be continued...................

Bad Parenting - By Whose Standard?

Oh sure - as a society we can agree on the big points: neglect, abuse, endangerment, etc. but what about smaller issues like manners and behaviors. I'm talking about the young ones...from age 1-5....who has defined "bad parenting" and what standard is being employed?

I'm tired of feeling guilty because my child doesn't behave perfectly - because he acts like a 3 year old (which he is, by the way). I'm tired of feeling like I never should have had children - that I can't raise them properly to be decent members of society.

This is what got me going today (well - in truth it was the straw that broke this camels back today): a person on one of my list-serves sent a posting that revolved around these lines:
*snip*
I think that how 'good' your children are is a direct reflection of how good a parent you are. I know that my opinion won't be a popular one because many parents can't own their child's negative bahaviors.
*end snip*

So basically I'm a crappy parent because my child isn't as good as gold and because I can't "control" him. Because he is "busy".

I realize this is an over simplication but I also realize that there are a lot of people out there who feel they have the right to judge other people's parenting when those parents really are doing the best they can at any given moment. Children can be wild. They need to be "tamed" so to speak. That would be the process of raising children.

In the end, if you have an adult who can function in the world and contribute than you have done a great job. We're raising human beings and the process is messy, unpredictable and challenging. I think we should support each other and not give blanket statements like "your children's behavior is a direct reflection on the kind of parent you are". Just how helpful is that anyway?

From my perspective, being a parent is a tough gig. I'm hard enough on myself - I don't need other people being hard on me as well. Besides, what equates to bad parenting for one person isn't for another. What's that? You'd like a few examples? Ok - here goes:

What may be considered bad parenting by some but embraces by others:

co-sleeping
not co-sleeping
crying it out
not crying it out
attachment parenting
TV allowed
TV not allowed
creative expression through paints
not encouraging creative expression through paint
being allowed to stay up too late
not seeing a parent because it means staying up later and that isn't happening
being allowed computer access
not being allowed computer access
bottle feeding
extended nursing
being too strict about kid behaviors that aren't all that awful
not caring if your kid climbs under the table at a restuarant as long as s/he is quiet
being too controlling
being too permissive

So...as you can see, there are lots of ways to look at things. I am not saying that children should not be raised to have good manners and know how to behave in a proper and acceptable way but I am saying that we ought to stop implying the people are "bad parents" based soley on the way their children behave in isolated instances or in one type of environment.

I don't know....all I really know is I am not perfect in anything I do. Neither is my child. That's life.

It's the end of our playgroup

I'm feeling sad and unsettled today. I guess the reality of the end of our playgroup is hitting now that the other moms are hooking up with new playgroups. Maybe I'm in denial that things have gotten to the point they have. It's not the kids - they aren't the reason at all. It's the moms.

We have one mom who seems bent on having confrontations with everyone about everything. It started with me and then another mom was the object of the venom. I'm not sure what it is about this one mom. She used to be a really cool person but lately religion has come into play. She wasn't always like that - it's almost like she is being taken over by the pod people. I have a hard time being civil to her when I was told she thinks D and I are going to hell because of our "lifestyle". Yeah - that was hard to swallow considering I thought she and I were friends. I don't buy into this "hate the sin but love the sinner" stuff. For me, it's a packaged deal. How can I trust her when I know how she really feels about me? Plain and simple fact is, I can't. And I don't. Not to mention she said some pretty nasty stuff about my son.......

And then there is what happened between this mom and another one of the moms. It just seems to compound and the drama is just too much for me.

So.....as a whole, the rest of the group is uneasy so we decided to stop official playgroups and meet whenever people want.

I'm sad. I've been with these people and their kids since the prince was 9 months old. I also have a hard time coming to terms with the fact that the prince won't be seeing much of the kids he has grown up with. And...I hate to say it, but it feels like they moms joining new playgroups are traitors. Ridiculous, I know. It just hurts to know they are all joining new groups.

I haven't decided what to do. I would like to join a new group but the prince is a major consideration. He's a lot to handle - I mean a lot. I'm already so afraid that people talk about him in a less than nice way. He's active. Never sits still. He has a tendancy to grab toys, sometimes to hit. I try to tell myself he's a regular, normal, healthy 3.5 year old but sometimes I wonder.

He's a lot. And I don't want anyone talking about us behind our backs. I hear enough commments about how busy he is - and I really believe it's a thinly veiled comment about how obnoxious he can be. And yeah - I feel responsible.

So....the playgroup era is over and I'm sad about it. It just feels like another loss - another thing to miss and another thing to add to my sense of loneliness.

We made it!

And a good time was had by all! :) Stories about the trip will be posted soon but I just had to share a few of the photos my sister took. The little girl, M, is my 4 year old great-niece. She and the prince have a mutual admiration society going even though they are known to fight like cats and dogs at times. :)

The first picture of the princess with her 7 week old cousin, P. I have to say, there is quite a size difference between almost 2 months and almost 8 months. She looks like a giant next to him!

The second shot is of the prince helping to wash and "design" M's shampoo hairstyle. Notice his hairstyle, too! :)

The third one we're titling "Bad boys, bad boys". Our two little jailbirds.

The fourth and sixth pictures are of the princess playing dress-up and the fifth shot is of the prince and M creating art.