Oct 4, 2017 | Uncategorized |
I been recovering from Sunday for the last two days and totally forgot about my little memories post for September.
Sunday we went to church as usual. Generally AB goes to her Sunday school and we go to ours, but this week Christopher went to new members meeting and I went to a new volunteers meeting. We did the dreaded “go around the room and say your name, etc” ice breaker game which I hate. It makes me sweat and forget simple things like my name or my favorite movie. In the evening we went to a going away party for a family from MOPS. I reconnected with a friend who’s husband is stationed at Fort Drum and had so much fun comparing notes on our favorite parts of the post and the who’s who of the FRG. After that we went to a Bible study with church friends. For those doing the math at home, that’s three social events in one day. We were peopled out.
I LOVE people. I love knowing everyone’s birthdays, hobbies and the names of all their family members. I love hearing about their friends and what they like to do. I remember it all and it truly brings me joy. The problem is when I’m forced to interact with a hundred people in one day and be friendly and smiley to everyone. Sometimes it is very difficult to be me.
* We’ve been working on Annabelle writing the letter A. She could do it for a while but she’s gotten lazy and it ends up being an H. Christopher said he’d help her and I think he might have thought he could work a miracle in her penmanship. It still looks like an H but they were so cute together.
* We went on a special family date for milkshakes. It was a Big Deal.
* This isn’t one of my better photos, but I love it anyway. We brought the castle out to the Hundred Acre Woods and played camping princess and ate popsicles. Fun was had by all until the smallest princess bailed in favor of playing “the camping game wif showers and dryers and scrubbers.” The bigger princess was not a fan of that game.
* Overall I’m not a huge fan of our town. It’s fine, but I wouldn’t cry a river if we were told to leave tomorrow. In my top two favorite places in town are the flower shop and the gas station with free car vacuums. I consider those the highlights. We do have some pretty walking trails and sometimes views like this make me think it’s isn’t so bad here.
* Annabelle is skeptical about my efforts to take more pictures together.
* I had to run out to Payless on Saturday night to buy AB new church shoes. The first thing she said when I showed her was, “Wow! Those are so fabulous!” The instant she woke up the next morning she said, “Where are my fabulous shoes? Don’t forget to put them on me! They’re fabulous!” That night I went in to check on her and she had gotten her church socks and the fabulous shoes out of the drawer and fallen asleep with them on.
Sep 30, 2017 | Uncategorized |
Annabelle is watching Little Einsteins so I’m going to try getting this out before the episode is over. She calls Little Einsteins “Little Nine Steins” and I haven’t corrected her. She calls nail polish “pail nolish” and I haven’t corrected that either. But I misspelled Einstein so I might not be the best person to further her education.
I started attending a new MOPS group this year. The group I was in for the last two years shut down so I was forced to find a new group. I picked a new group based off where my friends were switching to and did zero research on the group itself. My sweet friend Shelley told me she’d be going to the group where her mom is a mentor mom so that’s where I signed up.
A few weeks ago I went to a play date with the new group. I don’t enjoy meeting large crowds of new people and Shelley wouldn’t be there so I didn’t want to go but I forced myself. I knew it would make the first meeting easier if I met a few ladies beforehand at the playground. I woke up with a large pimple on my forehead which I should have taken as a sign to not go. Do you know how hard it is to differentiate a MOPS mom from a regular mom at a popular public playground? Impossible. I had no idea who was who so I had to ask, thereby talking to even more strangers. Finally, I found the right group and stood around awkwardly. Annabelle didn’t feel awkward in the least. She made herself right at home in the sand and mud. I met a woman named Beth who told me this group has seventy women signed up. 70. SEVENTY. That’s 68 people I didn’t know. My last two groups only had about 20 each. Naturally, I hyperventilated and nearly passed out. Later that day I found out Shelley decided she couldn’t do MOPS this year. That didn’t help my social anxiety any.
I got myself to the first meeting on time but got lost after dropping Annabelle off in the nursery. I ended up in a random hallway with taped up doors and no lights. When I made it to the right room I sat at the wrong table. What a great start! I was thrilled that Gina from my old group showed up and was assigned to the same table as me. Hallelujah, praise the Lord. We had to fill out a paper with our contact information and answer a few questions. The last question was “does sharing your thoughts/feelings in a group setting make you feel comfortable or uncomfortable?” I’ll let you guess how I answered.
Yesterday the leader of our table asked if anyone had prayer requests. Karin asked for prayers as she attempts to potty train her 15 month old in four days. I may only have one child and not have twenty parenting years under my belt, but that seems like it’s asking for failure. I will pray for you, Karin. I haven’t made any great friends yet (we’ve only had two meetings) but I’m incredibly proud of myself glad I made myself join a new group. MOPS has been one of the very best things I’ve done since becoming a mom and I recommend it to everyone.
Brief intermission as I got Sesame Pie her lunch. She asked for yogurt but it was all expired. Please take notes on my excellent homemaker skilz.
I’ve been delaying my Fall decorating since it’s been so warm out but yesterday I took out my box of decor. Annabelle helped decorate the mantle. I did one side,
and she did the other. Owliver and Purple Elephant were prominently featured.
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Feel free to add this to your pinterest board.
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She comes by her homemaker stilz honestly.
Sep 27, 2017 | Uncategorized, What's going on |
In what appears to be a reoccurring theme, yesterday was not my day.
I’ll spare you the details, but by 9:37 I had to hide in my room and demand that Annabelle not follow me or bang on the door unless she was bleeding. I would have paid a million dollars for someone, ANYONE to keep her for a few hours so I could lay on the bed and properly moan about my throbbing jaw/head and the rest of my life issues. Annabelle has really been pushing her luck with some new behaviors. We skipped the terrible twos but are being treated to a healthy serving of the tricky three’s. I love her and all but sometimes I get so frustrated with her.
Since my head was going to hurt no matter where we were I decided we needed to get out of the house. That’s my newish coping mechanism for bad days- leave the house. Even if she’s not too interested in what we’re doing we have new scenery and it does us both good. That she’s secured in her car seat is a bonus.
Some people are complaining about this unusually warm weather but I love it. Half of our summer was rainy and wet so I feel like we missed out. I love a good Indian summer. It was plenty warm enough for water so we went to the creek. (We went to Dunkin Donuts first because priorities.)
Dr. Sesame said she wanted to be a “water dentist” for the fish. It’s clear she watches Doc McStuffins every day. “I fink he has broken fishtail-itis.”
We both felt so much better after our outing.
This morning I signed AB up for a second morning at MDO. I felt so bad about it I got a stomach ache. I know she likes the kids and it’s good for her, but pretty soon she’ll be 7 and we won’t be able to have our lazy mornings where we do whatever we want every day. I do get frustrated 148 times a week but I like having her around. I felt the exact same when we first signed her up last year and now I L-O-V-E Tuesday mornings alone. I dream about it all week. In a complete 180* to yesterday when I would have paid anyone to take her off my hands, I wrote a check to the school for just that reason and felt bad about it. We spend literally 162 hours a week together. There are 168 in a week so we’re together A LOT. We’ll both survive 6 hours of separation. My life is an emotional train wreck roller coaster. Be thankful you’re not in my head!
All that being said, don’t think I haven’t planned out what I’ll do with another free morning. Think of all the naps I catch up on! Think of all the quiet trips down the aisle of the grocery store. Think of all the walls I could stare at in peace. Maybe I should sign her up for every day.
Sep 24, 2017 | Uncategorized |
* Yesterday Annabelle and I had a picnic at the playground/splash pad. It was in the mid 80’s so we took advantage of the sun and brought her bathing suit and sand toys. The sign in the bathroom door said the splash pad would be closing for the season on August 31st but the water is still on. Naturally after all the effort of locating a bathing suit she was more interested in playing in the mud outside the splash pad than actually splashing in it. The drain in the splash pad wasn’t working which meant there was about 5” of standing water. This bothered exactly zero children but cranky Steve from the parks department was furious. He stood in the puddle complaining about lazy Shane who should have taken care of the drain last week. By then AB wanted to splash but she didn’t want to be near Cranky Steve. Finally lazy Shane showed up, not with tools to fix the drain but a leaf blower. He blew all the water away, as one does with a leaf blower. Lazy Shane knows how to get a job done after all.
* We watched Wonder Woman this week. It was fine. I didn’t love it but it was entertaining. I’ve heard many people say they prefer their daughters watching Wonder Woman over princess movies because it’s “more realistic.” How is she any more realistic than Cinderella or Belle? I have never once in my life broken through a window with a shield and if I had, my hair for sure wouldn’t still look good.
I am 110% on board with how Wonder Woman looks at pizza. It’s unbelievably realistic.
* My friend went back to work recently and I watch her son on Thursday afternoons. He’s almost a year younger than Annabelle but completely potty trained, a fact I mention every time he’s over. Of course there is a downside to watching a boy who doesn’t wear diapers. He’s here for 24 minutes and I find a trail of pee all around the toilet. Gina doesn’t pay me much but I haven’t worked and made money in so long I feel like a millionaire.
* Annabelle and I were in the bathroom together brushing our teeth. She looked up at me and said, “Wow, Mom. You’re really growing.” My weight loss and body transformation goals are obviously not being achieved. I wonder if that ever happened to Wonder Woman.
Sep 21, 2017 | Sesame, Uncategorized |
Yesterday was Annabelle Sesame Pie Lee’s first day of MDO for the year.
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| Yes, I succumb to the peer pressure and got a letter board. |
Her teacher last year was Miss Tracy. I LOVED her but she broke her foot twice and isn’t teaching right now. A few weeks ago I went to the school to bring paperwork. Miss Tracy’s substitute from last year was wearing a cast on her foot. I went into the office and the principle had a broken arm. Broken bones better not be contagious!
We discussed her morning on the ride home and I heard as much about animals as I did about school.
What did you play at school? Wif the cars and the blocks. Have you seen a turtle swimming in a car?
Did you go outside? Yeah, we p’ayed in the caterpillar and rode the bikes. Do you know about buluga whales?
What else did you do? We ate yittle pretzel and a yittle bit of juice. I saw Miss Tracy in the hallway when I was walking in a single line to the p’ayground and I did a veeeeery slooooow wave to her.”
All that playing and pretzel eating resulted in a 3 hour nap. I should sign her up for every day to get that kind of peaceful afternoon!
Sep 15, 2017 | Currently, Uncategorized |
Buying: matching Christmas pajamas for the entire family. I bought a Christmas ornament in Maine so I’ll be ready to party as soon as November rolls around.
Reading: First Women, the Grace and Power of America’s Modern First Ladies, by Kate Anderson Brower. Four stars. A thus far unachieved goal of mine is to be First Lady so I read everything I can about the position. I’ve offered my services to Melania Trump is she ever wants to take the day off but I haven’t heard from her yet.
Church of the Small Things by Melanie Shankle. Five stars. I’ve read Melanie’s blog for years and own all her books. They’re on my book shelf in the ”bloggers who write books” section. I really enjoyed her book on friendship but CotST might be my new favorite. I love how she writes about life with humor and adds bits of scripture and truth without being preachy.
“Deep down we struggle to believe God is going to lead us to what is best for us. It’s our internal voice that whispers we will never be enough, so we work and worry and feel like we must do something big, something huge to prove our worth and to make sure our life matters. We have to host a conference, starts a movement, adopt fifteen kids, or fight human trafficking to really matter. Which are all great things, but thinking this way can cause us to lose sight of the small things that can also change a life: bringing dinner to a sick neighbor, smiling at a waitress who’s having a bad day, reading to your kids before bed, and simply praying for someone going through a rough time.”
I love that quote because I always feel like I should be doing something more impressive with my life. I love listening to podcasts but sometimes feel so insignificant because these women start companies, build orphanages and flip homes while homeschooling their 10 children and feeding them a hormone-free diet. I can’t even remember to take the meat out of the freezer in time for supper. I’ve always said it doesn’t matter to me if my kids are famous (although an olympic figure skater would be nice) as long as they’re good, kind people who love others. If it’s true for Annabelle than I should believe it about myself too.
Googling: Do puppies lose their baby teeth? It came up in a book AB and I were reading and she wanted to know if it was true. Not being a veterinarian I had no idea. The world wide web says they do.
Excited/beyond sympathetic for: Kate Middleton. In case you live under a rock or simply don’t care about the life of the royals (like he who shall remain nameless but to whom I am married), you probably heard that Kate is pregnant again. I am beyond excited. I pay close attention to their goings on and am delighted there will be three royal children. I COULD NOT be more sympathetic to how she feels. I dealt with hyperemesis once and it took me more than two years to even begin discussing the possibility of having another child. Kate has been through this three times in five years. Unless you’ve thrown up 10+ times every day for months, been hospitalized for dehydration, too weak to take a shower and thought it a real accomplishment to keep down a quarter of a muffin in 24 hours you cannot begin to understand how she feels.
Writing: my autobiography. Before you roll your eyes, know that I have no plan of publishing my book. I do not live a highly interesting life nor am I a First Lady, but I do have stories I think would be fun to pass down. I don’t claim to be a grate a riter of stuf but maybe my great great grand daughter will enjoy hearing about how I embarrassed myself in aisle 16 of Lowes. My past writing career included the beginnings of an opera about a ruler (male), a stapler (female) and a kaleidoscope (male). The ruler and the kaleidoscope for fighting for the affections of the stapler. She couldn’t chose between the more boring yet straight and dependable ruler and the fun and flashy kaleidoscope. It’s exactly the type of story Shakespeare would have written. Needless to say that opera was never published.
Beginning to be embarrassed by: Annabelle’s questions about body parts. We were at music class this week and everyone was singing the counting song. Most people there didn’t know the song so it was a quiet group. Suddenly Sesame loudly says, “How do mamas nurse their babies? What part of their body to they use? Is it this part?” and she very enthusiastically starts patting my boobs. I have no problem with her wondering about nursing, but I don’t want to get into the mechanics during music class. Later we were sitting at the playground and she brought it up again. I explained it to her and she poked her nipple and said “Do they use a mipple?” NO FOLLOW UP QUESTIONS. I babysat a little boy today and she wanted to watch him use the potty. I did not allow that. I can’t deal with any more anatomy questions this week. “Mama, does he have a bagina?”
Being stared at by: this face. All day, every day. Never farther than 6” away.
Good thing she’s cute.
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