A Few Chuckles.

No children, that's not the morning sun coming through your window. That's the late evening sun of June at 7:42 - time to lay down. I had a few funny quotable moments I thought I would share from today and yesterday.

Recently my wife tells me, "You watch the other one in the bathtub and make sure he doesn't drown. The last thing I need is to go to jail after a day like today."

Yesterday my wife was telling about her new Mother's Day Out program she's thinking about doing. We were talking about why moms need time off and in the middle of the conversation it came to me that even prisoners get rec time - and I said it out loud.

And one more thing, how many of you women out there think Batman can FLY? Good grief, even I know not to voice my deep yearning questions about superwoman powers, like walking on high heels or getting ketchup stains out of white shirts. Oh and Batman doesn't SAY anything, he's the strong and silent type. ;-)

Therapy

(a view from Lucy's spot)

When I joined a MOPS group last year, I really thought it would give me a chance to meet other moms not involved in my church and also give us something to do and be a little fluffy on Fridays. We were in the middle of moving and The Other One was not talking much so I had my hands full with frustration. The idea of trying to fight the insurance to find a speech therapist and go through all the trouble of phone calls and doctors referrals made me want to scream. A friend whom I attended MOPS with mentioned there is someone who is involved in the group who used to work for a speech therapy company. I finally got her number and made the call. She put me through to the right person. They told me that the company has a brand new therapist who just moved here and is looking to work in my area with younger kids (later I found out that it is an incredibly under-served area for speech therapy). Once I had my paperwork submitted, the company did it all! They called my doctor for a referral, they pushed my paperwork through the insurance, they made all the calls. My only chores were to take The Other One for a hearing test which was actually quite fun for us and open the door and sit with the therapist when she came to visit. Miss Lucy was wonderful from the very beginning. She brought his favorite toys (motorcycles and trucks) and quickly learned that to get him to respond, she needed things that crash and bang. He loved every minute. She was in my house sometimes up to 6 times a week, she saw us through sickness, messes, holidays, waking up late in jammies (oops), she saw us on our best days and on our hardest days. She told me she prays for her kids often. I believe it. Miss Lucy and The Other One had a special bond. But Miss Lucy had to move. Many tears were shed on my behalf (and she told me on hers, too). Miss Lucy was not just a speech language pathologist. She was a dear friend to me for the past year. I am very thankful that the Lord saw fit to have her for this one year, knowing full well that it was the year we needed her. They did not replace Lucy, though even if they had, we didn't need her anymore because she helped us so much! I don't blame them for not replacing her, nothing could've measured up -in our eyes.

(The Other One and his Miss Lucy)

Parenting - input wanted

Moms: I've been pondering different types of parenting of newborns. If you are an attachment parent, baby wearer, co-sleeper (or any other type of parent), tell me what you do and the reason you do it. No judgements here, I promise. :-) I love to see your comments!!

Side note - Look how big my 'babies' are getting.

A Staycation

We had a big storm a few weeks ago that knocked out our power and made our neighborhood nearly unlivable. We decided to go against my cheapskate tendencies and we took the little kids to a hotel (the biggest one was at a friend's house). It had a pool and hot tub inside, an indoor play place and lots of cable tv. It was a super duper treat for us!

Daddy delivered pizza to us. We ate it all over the hotel room!Ahhhh. The life.
He wore himself out swimming and is snuggled into fresh sheets. So sweet!

Daddy went to get milk and cookies which we ate in bed. We had 2 double beds in the room but, of course we woke up with 4 people in our bed. ;-)

We came home to lots of this. Chainsaws for days and so many trees lost. Our grass and my rose bush are getting more sun these days though....

Ta-Ta!

Life

Ahhhhhh...... Life in the Fish Bowl.

Nesty nesty

There was a saying growing up in our family, 'when you are born you get a Christmas stocking'. Well in this house, you get a stocking - and one of these.

You know that point you get to where you aren't sick any more and you feel like you are well-rested (for the most part, anyway)... I am there. Now I am preparing some things that I have been meaning to get to (and frankly would probably have already tackled had I not been so ill the past few months).

*Clean out both the hall closets - done!
*Printed out pictures from last fall to now - done!
*Kept up with laundry and found the missing socks - done!
*Gone through the kids clothes for the coming season - done!
*Cleaned up the garage and donated stuff - done!
*Made room for bulk food - done!
*Planted a flower bed - done!
*Cleaned out under the couches - done! (okay, This One did it...)
*organized and started putting clothes in bins for the boys' closet - done!

I still have several closets left to clean out. The office needs major help along with it's own closet, I could really stand to organize my bakeware under the cabinet. I have a long way to go. But, I have an entire summer and a list so I am prepared!

Once I tackle a few of those I have another list to work on. Baby stuff. I gave away a lot of stuff so I am trying to think practically what I will use. I am quite the minimalist when it comes to baby gear, I suppose. I know a need is for clothes - but I guess I have forgotten that babies need a bath seat and baby towels and swings and such. Its so easy to forget those things when you have mentally moved on. For now, I'll be plugging along on my project list of purging and organizing and simultaneously making a mental list of things to accumulate. It works, right?

Funny Story about this picture. I Googled 'messy baby nursery' to make a point of how if I don't clean up now, I won't get to it for another year. Funny, only pictures like this one popped up. All completely serene and beautiful and organized and perfect baby nurseries. Not a single, solitary messy one. Really, to prove my point, I guess you'll have to look past Google's ridiculously absurd idea of 'messy baby nursery' and imagine the opposite - that's what will happen if I don't do what I am doing now. ;-)

Ta-Ta for now!

A Princess Mindset

I am not quite sure why my generation chooses to raise their little girls like princesses. In my humble opinion, it is merely setting her up for failure. The truth is, as an adult, nothing stops for her. The chores won't stop when she is sick or it is her birthday, no one comes out of the woodwork and makes her life perfect and solves all her problems. Sometimes she has to do hard things as a grown woman. Sometimes she will be let down. Sometimes the housework and children are overwhelming and the work is heavy and dirty and tiresome. Sometimes, she doesn't quite feel like Cinderella during the ball. Maybe, she just stays Cinderella before and merely gets occasional glimpses of what the royal ball must have been like. I believe as a mother, it is my job to teach my girls hard work is the norm, but to also prepare them for the every-once-in-a-while chance of a ball and the importance- nay, fundamental need - to enjoy it while it lasts, because her chariot will surely turn back into a pumpkin... in this life anyway, until Glory.