The Darndest Things....

Yesterday whilst driving, like a mad woman, to church we drove by the local men's flag football league. You know, those guys who can't quite admit that their hey days are over......perhaps they are just out of High School, need to be surrounded by testosterone, or need to get away from their significant others..... It's an excuse, much like I used to use, to get out and away. I chose volleyball, got to play with my older brother (whose volleyball talent way surpassed my humble abilities) and go out for beers afterwards. It was joyous at the time, but I'm a little older and slower now! Plus with two bambinos, my energy level, as you may have read, is not at the top of its game...Ha!

Back to the driving....Autumn was sitting and thinking.....she had not thought to ask to play Ariel's CD (Well, she says 'dicks', which means disk....but that one even stopped Nana and Papa in their tracks!) I asked what she was thinking about and she asked what everyone was playing. I explained it was football. She said she'd like to play. I told her that she could when she got older, but it's kind of a dangerous sport and a lot of people get hurt playing it. She asked for her disk and about two songs into it, she said "I know Momma, I can't play football and I can't play soccer (don't know where that came from) but I can go bowling!" I didn't even know she knew what bowling was! The fields where they play flag football are also the fields where they play soccer...... so she put those together somehow.

Her last swim class was this past Sat. She looked so darn cute and I'm proud to announce she can move up to Level 2......I'm not sure what that means, but I think basically she's not afraid of the water and is willing to do what the teachers ask of her. Level 2 will begin and end before the wedding in July!

She's also going to take a gymnastics class, I think, I have to re-check the schedule.....I know what I'm starting but she just LOVES learning new things! What kid doesn't? Also, I think it helps with her 'listening to other adults' skills. And I kind of like to think I can start to get an idea of what she loves most, so we can follow that path in the future. Plus, there's not some spring talent show that I've got to go see her in while sitting through 100's of other kids and their folks watching. I figure there won't be a lot of time in the fall, pre-school will start!

The last day of Sunday School was this past Sunday and they had a party for the kids. Not much for the little ones to do and perhaps I'll make some suggestions next year so it'll be more interactive and 'cooler'.

This picture was from last week. I figure you can't really see any of the kids faces, but there's my little girl. The one in the front in the pink shirt.....tiny and cute?!?! I was the only parent taking pictures. I know she didn't mind and was tickled I was taking her picture. Also, she gets a big girl pat on the back for behaving awesome in church! The best part about it is I was alone with her, with no snacks and no drink!

I know it's not in focus.....but what a happy ham my sweet boy is! Another day for feeling grateful!

Playground Swingset

I hadn't realized I wrote this post without publishing.....

I didn't understand how torturous it would be to go swing-set shopping with the kids. I'm so glad i went 'cause the swing set I saw was GARGANTUOUS! All I really need is a slide and two swings, but every piece of equipment I see is as big as a playground set for a small village! Now we've received the check that we've been waiting for, BUT, now Husband and I can't decide on a swing set. We've got a park behind the house, so it doesn't need to be huge, just something to have a little fun in the back yard. Otherwise, the back yard is VERY boring! Little Man has yet to walk across any grass. His fear of grass hasn't wavered just yet.

I love my back yard. It's big, roomy and at it's best when the T-ball league is not in play. I love when T-ball is over. The parents get crazy-yell at your kid like it's a real major league baseball game. Just way too over the top. It's irritating. They are irritating. I have other things that irritate me in my back yard, but the T-ball tops the list. I used to be really mad when they'd blast music at 7:30 am to get the field ready on Sat. mornings. Now that I'm up with the kids, I don't mind so much. ::shrug:: Although, I did call the park district a few times and asked them to listen for the music through the phone as it was soooooo loud. If it's loud enough to hear the song through the phone, it's too loud. I also called when parents were using a fog horn to cheer......that was delightful.

I love my patio, the flowers on my patio, and my pergola (huge pat on the booty to Husband for making it). We went overboard with landscaping, but it does look pretty. But you can always add more.....know what I mean?

Swing set was installed over Memorial Day weekend.....that's another post I'll have to tend to....

Before swing set.......pretty, isn't it?

After installation.....still needs the slide....Husband says he has to "level" the set before the slide goes on....bummer. I just want grass around it, but he doesn't want to mow around the set and wants to throw mulch down. I think it's a bit redneck to do that.......but what can I do?

Mother's Day

Yes, I know it's been a week since my last post, but we've been busy. I've just got to tell you about my Mother's Day. Let's see, it started with me waking up at 7:20 am, which, in my case is AWESOME! I had to get up because Baby Boy awoke and Baby Girl was right on his heals. Downstairs for breakfast, me and both children and of course, the Beast. So all are fed and back up to shower and take baths before Sunday School and Church. I think Husband had opened his eyes at this point, only because I let the kids watch a show while I'm in my escape pod known as the shower. 10 glorious minutes to shower and boom, now we really had to get going or we were going to be late. Both kids get a quick bath and thank goodness I laid out their clothes 'cause Husband FINALLY stepped in to help.....Happy Mother's Day! So he took Baby Boy to get him dress (very easy as I've laid out the clothes for him).

Baby Girl no longer is enthralled with my persona, and whines for Daddy. Great, we get dressed and are out the door, a little late, but it is POURING! It's pouring when I drop off Baby Boy to my folks and POURING when I run in with Baby Girl to her class only to find out that since it's rewards (certificates and pins) day, we didn't have to be there on time and had 45 minutes to do nothing. At this point, I'm soaked (I didn't have an umbrella), back to my folks to spend a few minutes before we trudged back to church.....

Baby Girl was VERY good at church with no juice and no snacks! That was a first! She looked so tiny against everyone else on the stage. Well, she was the smallest one there! I was the only parent taking pictures of their child on the stage! Mom is very proud of me! ::wink::

Back to my folks after church for lunch with my Brother who was visiting from Seattle. His last visit before the big "W" Day! Autumn ran past Nana and Papa to give Uncle a huge hug. Very out of character for her(usually she needs some warming up)! But EVERYBODY loves Uncle D!
Nice lunch and back home to get ready for my folks and Uncle D coming for dinner tonight. Ummm, my pants are still wet from the down pour we traipsed through earlier. Did I mention that I FORGOT my camera at church and wonderful Papa raced it to church so I could capture her first time up on stage.....which, she LOVED by the way!

I bake a lemon cake (a little dry, but what can you do?) and cut up veggies for the salad that will be going with dinner (take out from GoRoma). Dinner was nice, and the show afterwards was fantastic. We're all Survivor fans.....big geeks! It's the one show I get to force Husband to watch......Although disappointed with the outcome, it was VERY entertaining!

I end the night VERY tired and beat. I told Husband he can have the SAME Father's day and get to wake up with the kids, shower and bath them, go to church, etc. Think that will happen? I gripe, but he's a very good Daddy! = * ) ShhhhhH! Don't let him know I said that! I've got to save statements like that when he needs a good pat on the back! You know, coddle to his ego!

The Wedding Gift

My brother is getting married, in July, in Seattle.......I love, love my brother dearly and I told him I'd be there no matter what. I know he doesn't realize how expensive this is, but I'm think I'll have to sell Baby Boy to the highest bidder to almost break even! Can you say.....OUCH?!?!? It's not like we can stay with him for free, and I'm not asking anyways. I whine this information, and then I ask.....when was the last time I was on vacation?

The last real vacation was to northern Wisconsin for a week of fishing back in 1998.....I think it was 1998. So now I look at this cost for Seattle and I think it's not so bad. But let's not forget, I've got a wedding the week before (not brother's fault), my daughter is in the wedding (still have shoes and socks to buy), we're paying my niece to watch our house/dog, my bills (just kidding).......It'll just be an expensive month. I'm actually looking forward to it.

I was the first family member to visit my brother way out there in Seattle and it was beautiful! I believe it was in July or August and warm and sunny! Went to the needle, Snowqualmie Falls, and a museum. The mountain was beautiful! And other than that, I was happy to spend time with my brother. This is the brother I got along with fantastically until he went to High School. I seem to remember whipping a high-heeled shoe at him once, but that was the 'worst' of our fighting, ever. So after a few years, we melded back into our great relationship. I have a great relationship with all my brothers, but each one is different. Different, but great.

The bond with my brothers began early on. Somewhere between being the youngest and only daughter and the boys being forced to keep an eye on me and my folks arguing (that happened a lot when we were young - I think it slowed down when I was in High School.....a long. long time ago) and I seem to recall us huddled in the basement, sometimes crying together during their arguments. It's a weird bond and we've remained close, at least the brothers who want to remain close. Even the one who distances himself I still feel close too. He's in there, somewhere.......Just very busy with life. He's the one who'll have a heart attack due to stress. Wait, now that I think of it, two of them will die of a heart attack due to stress........I guess that might come with the territory of being the 'man' of the house........that's a tough title to hold and I'm glad I don't have to be that person. I think my Husband is in that stressed-out position too, and even worse, he smokes. I'm not saying that my remaining brother isn't a 'man', I think he's learned from what he's seen......at least I hope so, but it's hard to get the whole picture with him being so far away.

Back to the wedding. The schedule I've seen is quite set and I'm hoping for some good quality family time to get in there (for my little family). Future Sister-In-Law has pretty much let me pick the flower girl dress that Baby Girl and another little girl will wear. It was fun and I'm glad we went dress shopping BEFORE Nana broke her hip! ::wink::

Someone is nagging to play games, I must go before my left arm is longer than my right arm.....

I'm Not grateful

I'm not grateful I have a cold. I am not grateful my daughter doesn't want to take naps any more. I am not grateful I haven't won that dang lotto! Germs have infested my home and made it to my throat......I could say 'how did that happen?!??!" But ya know, somewhere in between my son sticking his fingers in my mouth and attempting his version of a kiss (an open-mouthed french kiss....ya know, one you'd see on SNL?) I've been awarded the 'Spring Cold'. It's lovely, no really! A sort of runny nose, a scratchy throat, some sad excuse of a hoarse cough, general tiredness that would go a way with a nap, but since Baby Girl doesn't take one for me any more(revolts really)......I can't! WhaaahhhH! Let's remember, this is my very own biatch blog isn't it?!?!

So today, I am on a mission to get our expenses back from the day care and medical account at Husband's work. It's great. It takes out $ from his check, pre-tax. BUT you have to get the amount right when you first sign up for the rest of the year (unless there's a job change in the family). When I went to part time, we changed it for day care, but not for medical. So I've got about $600 for dependant care waiting for me and more than double that medically.......Now, I really don't know if we're going to use the med. but I will if I have to! Husband has an 'over 40 year old man' ::smirk::appointment coming up, we both need to get to the dentist and I'd love to have my vericose veins looked at.....ya know those old lady things? Not only do they look horrid, the feel horrid and with every weather change and even when the weather doesn't change, they are painful.......Big thanks to my father's side of the family for those!!

I guess this means I'm on a journey to find a good dentist. Now, I loved the last guy I went to, but that was before kids (i think)......please don't do the math, I know......it will get it done this year. I promise.

Tomorrow I go to work.....work, that thing is hounding me like, well, like a hound dog! With my Mom breaking her hip and all, I've sort of re-thunk this part-time thing. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE WORKING PART TIME. Would love to work no-time! ::wink:: Ever since my Mom has watched first Baby Girl (3 days a week for 2.5 years) and both kids (one day a week for six months and two days a week for 3 months) she's been physically incapacitated more than I've seen her the previous 30+ years! Two foot surgeries, torn cornea (twice), bruised ribs, and lets not forget her broken hip......that's a lot in 3 years, isn't it? Do my kids have some bad 'voodoo vibes'? Well, here's my theory. I want to be with the kids as much as possible until they go to school, so, I guess I'll take what I can get. (of course there's always my million dollar idea). Meaning, if I can still work part time and she can watch the kids par time, then that's what it'll be. If I have to go full-time, we'll figure it out. I've told Mom that if she can't do it, that it's fine and we'll place the kids in day care. I don't want to burden Mom and I know she wants to do it. But she wants to do everything, and you can't do everything.....Don't tell Husband I said that...... I guess it's something that's been on my mind lately so I think now that I've got it in my head, it'll be an easier change-over for me if we do need to change things around to cover two full-time parents.

I'm tired and it's only 3:00 pm..........

Oh, I'm grateful for my children, even the one who asks so many questions, it's hard to make sense of anything!

I am grateful.....

I am grateful that all my daughter has is a low fever which will probably lead to a cold that her brother has. I am grateful my husband is home and not in some far off land, country or tavern. I'm grateful I can afford my home and expenses.... (almost).....I'm grateful for my family and grateful for great in-laws. I am grateful that I'm working part time so I can be with the kids more. I'm grateful I have good friends. I'm grateful........

Have I told you I get weepy when I sing The Little Mermaid CD songs with my daughter in my car? I let them play even after I drop her off at daycare.......such a sap....The Little Mermaid has dropped into the Number One position in the house. So far, I really don't mind it. That Disney really knows how to get you!

I don't recall any movies 'moving' me when I was young except that I was so engulfed into horses that, I think at my 10th birthday party, my Mom took me and a few friends to see "Black Beauty". I LOVED the movie and I couldn't get enough of horses after that! I even worked at a small barn that housed 20 or so horses. I cleaned the stalls so I could ride for free and I LOVED it! When I was younger my dream was to become a veterinarian. Somewhere along the way I think I realized how much school that meant and I dropped it.....Ha!

I think Social Studies (when they still had that course) and an awesome teacher in High School led me to my love of the environmental world. Starting with my birthday on Earth Day, I'm convinced that it was inevitable I work the environmental field. It's definitely not for the money! I'm no 'tree hugger' and there's a lot more things I can be doing, but I'm trying to do that one item at a time. I'm thinking change takes time, at least for me it does. (see all my posts on weight-it took me 6 weeks to lose 1.6 pounds!)

You'd think I'd have time to write more on Sunday morning especially since we aren't going to Sunday School or Church(remember we have fevers and colds?)....but I don't.