Day One Down!

Today was our first day of Daddy's new job.  One where he is out of the house and not able to help us do all of the menial morning chores that he has always helped us do.  While it is an amazing opportunity for us, and one that we have been hoping for, and now celebrating, the girls don't quite seem to get why we are celebrating daddy being out of the house... all the time!
It's been quite an adjustment period over the last 24 hours, but i will say that i seemed to have gotten more done since yesterday afternoon than i have in possibly two years.  Keeping the girls and myself in motion has seemed to lessen the blow a bit!

Yesterday, I mentioned the fact that when i got the double-jogger cleaned up, we could all go for a spin... thanks to the endless encouragement of my 5.5 year old, we pulled the old thing out of the gunk, cleaned it up, drove to the gas station to fill up the tires, and i even managed to run a slow and grueling 1.5 miles with them around the track at the Y!  Impressive for pushing a whopping 65 lbs of children plus the probably 20 lbs of my old rusted not-state-of-the-art machine and two whole years of unaccompanied running!
Today, I managed to not only get M to school (with lunch, snack, homework, teacher appreciation gift, and a full belly), but we were on time... something we don't normally achieve even if the whole wide world is pitching in!  I even fed the dog and enjoyed three whole cups of coffee before we left the house!  After that accomplishment, B and I headed to the mall to return a few items, window shop for even more, and a quick spin on the carousel- it was fun and somehow relaxing!  we made it back with plenty of time for me to wash all of the dishes that had not been cleaned since Sat (because, i stupidly hadn't noticed the error message on the dishwasher, and just kept trying to re-run the load when it didn't come back clean.)  Yes, I had dishes piled up since Sat, and i had to hand-wash every single one!  I don't know how my dad and his clan have managed this long without their's running!  Thankfully, though, after picking M up from school, the girls graciously offered me their help with the dishes and we got so much MORE done in so much less time!

We then headed out for a playdate at Monkey Joes, where i thought letting off all of the their steam would equal instant bedtimes, but no- alas, i was wrong.  my children, much like me, feed off any and all excitement.  the fun they had at Monkey Joes was only a small taste for them (even after two full hours of non-stop jumping, running, climbing, playing...)  No, they wanted MORE.  and More and More and More fun and excitement and entertainment- straight through until almost 10:00 tonight!

Once they were asleep, I worked on my course, which i felt i had been slacking on a bit on.  And now i am 100% up-to-speed!  I am heading off to dive head first into a novel (yes, actual entertaining reading- no more journal articles about mentally ill patients displaced in Uganda for tonight!)  and then to sleep!

Day One - Success!  Thank God (in every aspect; in every way!)

why?!?

why did i dream about a rooster last night?  one called very affectionately as a cockaroo... and why, when i was just now watching a lecture for my coursera course did they just call the rooster a "cockaroo"?
i know i always look way more in to dreams than most people, but this one has kind of freaked me out.  i don't normally dream about roosters.  i don't normally hear speeches about roosters.  and i, for sure, do not have intertwining dream/lectures where we all call rosters the very cordial name of "cockaroo."
so, there's that.

i have so much more to write, but i may have to wait until i dream again and see what i hear about tomorrow...

Overjoyed and overtlyThankful!

Today God smiled upon my family!  A welcome and eagerly awaited change has ocurred for my husband and my family, and i honestly cannot explain the joy and thankfulness in my heart!
A life can only be what we make of it, and by God we have made this one rxactly as it was meant to be!  And i hope we can continue on this route!  Thankfully and earnestly!  Amen!

Homeward Bound!

We drove from 2:15 this afternoon until 11:30 tonight... We arrived not only in one piece, but somehow happily and mostly still sane. My girls were amazingly awesome on this trip... Holding on to the hope of seeing their cousins and family SOON!!!
We survived five states and about one hundred songs, stories, games, and a seriously minor case of the whinings or the flat-out blues!
P & i even managed to listen to some comics on the radio while the kids played some games!

And how well the hours in the car paid off!!!  Although the cousins were asleep when we got here (they thankfully don't have M's & my genetics...), we had a warm welcome (filled with pint glasses of cold welcoming beverages) from aunt j and uncle m!  B went straight to bed, but M relaxed, played, and enjoyed the adults to herself!
My sister and i had conversations that just can't be justified over the phone- making me miss ber that much alreafy (even though we just arrived and aren't even leaving for a few days...)

I love when we're homeward bound, the excitement of the road trip all around. But there is nothing nicer than pulling into this driveway, being welcomed at the door, and sitting down to real live family life!  Thank you, God, for my family!  Thank you for getting us home to them tonight!

Psychological overload

I don't remember how i used to do it- take five pretty intense courses, keep facts and dates and assignments straight, and still manage to have an active social life.  I'm not even trying for a social life here... or more than one course, yet my brain is fried.
I have a whole new respect for parents who go back to school, or take classes, or who have jobs that require advanced thinking (as opposed to which color construction paper should we use tomorrow!). My brain is fried from only two lectures and one journal article- i still have four more lectures, another journal article and a 600 word essay due by monday- not to mention valentines day, family road trip, and a wedding to attend!

Ahhhh- it will all get done. I know this. I just wish i could remember how i used to do it so effortlessly!!!!  I guess that's the almost 20 year difference :|

baby battles... baby babbles...

My sweet Baby B had me on a super roller coaster today.  Super sweet smiles first thing this morning led to an all-out battle of the bulge in the dollar store (and not because she wanted to buy something or i said No.  simply because she wasn't ready to leave the aisle we were in, so she dug in her heels, and i dug in mine.)  at least 10 minutes worth of us refusing to give in led to me grabbing her, and her screaming the entire rest of our shopping trip.  then we had valentine's playdate #1, which began with her moaning and crying to go to the playroom upstairs, even though everyone else was downstairs.  we battled for a while until sweet aunt L let her go on up... she was fine again for a while... until she wasn't. which was about the time she spotted the M&M packs of valentines.  which she screamed for, repeatedly.  in case you haven't gotten the gist yet, i don't give in to screaming.  in fact, it turns my stomach in a thousand different ways and makes me madder and meaner than we all started.  i nearly left her there i was so mad, but sweet aunt K gave her the M&Ms and then she was happy for a while... until she wasn't.
She slept on the way home from our playdate and then continued to sleep on me for another hour.  this, my friends, was absolute heaven to me!  i can't even remember the last time that baby so much as sat still for 30 seconds, let alone slept on top of me for an hour!  this was the wonderful, wonderful part of the ride today!

Until she woke up, screaming bloody murder as if i had just held her in restraints against her will for that last hour.  somehow we recovered and made it to valentine's playdate #2.  thankfully, D had so much excitement going on that B and i could have a bit of separation from each other and not get too into each others' ways.  besides a few minor melt-downs (she refused to say please, threw her popcorn on my feet when i told her she couldn't bring it to the playroom... you know, the norm), we survived the chaotic fun of that party!

Fast-forward to dinner time, when I told the girls that they could watch Ice Age while we ate (but not "Peppal Pig*," which they had just watched anyway, but are both obsessed with.  M happily accepted the movie.  B screamed BLOODY MURDER for over 25 minutes.  seriously, seven minutes into her screaming, i removed her from the table and put her in her room.  i told her she could come back when she calmed down.  she never calmed down.  all we heard was wailing and moaning and "PEPPAL PIG" being beckoned from the back of the house.  i tried to bring her back out to eat dinner, but she could not stop screaming for one second (can we say stubborn?!?) and so after the full 25 minutes of insanity, i put her to bed.

once she finally calmed down in my arms, rocking in her chair, reading books, we did all right.  then i turned her light out and that's when her sweet baby babbles filled my heart up again.  to the tune of, "1-2, buckle my shoe," she sang - "6,7,8- ginger-ale;" "6,7,8- banana;" "it's raining, it's pouring, daddy come in here now.  no.  sleeping."  "6,7,8- chocolate milk;" "rain, rain, go up the hill..."
anyway, you get the point.  her sweetest little heart came through in her babbles, and i truly felt like an angel's voice was coming through... thankfully, since i was somewhat convinced someone from another place was trying to emerge earlier.

ahhhh, the ups and downs of motherhood, especially with a baby like B!

*My children call the tv show- Peppa Pig- "Peppal Pig."  It sticks.

Planning in Advance!

Tonight my girlfriends and I stole away for a few hours of girl chat and wine!  in the midst of our normal mom-hood banter, we somehow got to talking about summer plans.  everyone took out their planners and began thinking about august!  AUGUST!!!!  i can't even grasp the fact that we're in 2013, let alone start planning out the 8th month of it!

how do we get here?  how does time fly so fast?  how can we stay somewhat grounded where we are, when we're already thinking several months in advance?!?

Valentine's Week!

We love Valentine's Day in our house!  I try to go all out with heart shaped pancakes or waffles, pink milk, and lots of little love treats theoughout the day!  We're starting our celebrations early this year and pretty much planning on enjoying the holiday all week!
I'm making mini strawberry cupcakes for the two valentine-themed playdates we have on monday!  We'll also exchange valentines there!
I've got to get on the ball because i usually make the girls shirts or hair bows or something for their parties, but i have yet to even begin a thing!  We've also got to get moving on all of the handmade valentines the girls need to have done for monday!  I'm guessing tomorrow is going to be a pink and red explosion around here!

What are your family holiday traditions?  Enjoy all the love with whatever plans you do or don't alreafy have made!!!!

Thinking... Writing/ Writing... Thinking...

When I think, I write.  When i write, i think.  thank God for circular life.
Unfortunately for my blog tonight, i've been thinking a lot, and (again unfortunately) not about my blog... I have been thinking a lot about that novel i started writing seven-ish years ago.  i think about it a lot, like a long-lost friend that i always think of contacting.  like that stash of clothes you still need to sort, or iron, or depart from.  like that pack of love-letters from a long-time-gone love that needs to be gone.  Although those are negative connotations; my novel (if you will) is anything but to me.  My novel is a spring of hope, love and growth for me...
so, maybe, for some reason, tonight has brought it really to my forethought.  so, i should go and write and think... About something all that is hopeful, loving and growth-inspiring!

7:30 going on midnight...

It feels like it's hours (and i truly mean HOURS) later than it really is.  I made all attempts to go to bed early last night.  Got the kids to bed early, worked a little on my course (early), and even shut down the house to go to bed (early.)  Unfortunately, as is always the case, the cosmos had quite a different plan for me... So, I ended up sitting up with my sick dog until almost 1:00 this morning.  I can't really explain what was wrong with him, because i honestly couldn't tell.  he looked more terrified than actually hurt, but he was definitely in pain.  somewhere in his hind quarters, because he yelped that god-awful dog yelp whenever he jumped up on the bed or couch, or if i touched him there.  it was so bad that we actually carried him out to the yard to let him do his thing before bed, and he waited for us to come and pick him back up our two steps to come back in... it was quite pathetic.
but, it's only been just over a year that my kitty died.  and i still feel guilty that the whole night before he died he was trying to tell me something, because he was so much more clingy and attentive than usual.  so, i sat up with this pup waiting for him to seriously telekinetically communicate that he was either okay, or that he was going to die.  i just needed to know.
he did not.  so, i went on pinterest and watched my dog from about 10:30 to 1:00 a.m. last night, just waiting for some sort of sign.  the kind that doesn't really come.
he is much better tonight.  still not 100% back to his playful self, but definitely not the terrified and pained animal i saw last night- thank God!  i'll just have to keep a watch on him.  he is getting old; maybe he just twisted his leg the wrong way and it took a day to get over.  who knows.  i'm just glad he's okay...

and so here i am, at 7:45 at night, having already put my children to bed (hooray) and i am about to finish up some work on my course, slip in to bed and attempt to read some of the new Gillian Flynn i finally picked up from the library, and then i am going to sleep!  i hope!  God Willing!

Non-stop Action.

We woke up at a reasonably normal 8:15a.m.  I got the girls together surprisingly well considering P had a meeting, so i was on my own.  We were able to drop M off at school (only 11 minutes late) and make it to Target, Michaels, a kid's consignment store to look for new (sic) swings, and to the park by 10:15 for B to have a play date with her two friends.  It was gorgeous out- 65 degrees by 10:30!  We played and played and played until it was time to go.  We picked M up from school and met up with friends to then play on the playground for another hour and a half!  We got home around 2:30- only to have to girls attack their new swing set with a vengeance!  They played and played and played until it was time to leave for gymnastics.  I dropped B off at the Y's child-watch for the first time in almost two years.  She cried and cried and cried (approximately 27 out of the 30 minutes i left her- in which time i tried to record-breakingly run the outdoor track... only to have to respond to several seemingly important texts and answer a damn service call from the credit card company...)  We picked M up from gymnastics.  Made it home by 6- what did they want to do, head straight for the swing set!  hooray!  ran them ragged!  they crashed like two big bricks at bedtime!  hooray!
so, now why do i feel like i just ran ten marathons, when all i did was watch them play all day?  i have no idea... but i'm beat!  good-night to the action!

Baby Blue...

Tonight wevhad an extremey imptromptu dinner party (which equalled pizza party) to celebrate a new life into this world!  One of my very best friend's found out that she is having a BOY today!!!!  While we had planned for her to reveal her big surprise to our other best friends and me on Friday night, it turned out that none of us could wait... So we had to throw together an extremely last- minute dinner party (ok, pizza party) to be able to be all together to find out!
L's reveal was super sweet with a creative play on words and a beautiful appetizer tray full of dyed-blue tahini dip, a block of cheese carved into the word BOY and little pinned bue diapers!
We all pretty much screamed snd jumped and danced around!  It wouldn't have mattered either way if the tahini had been blue or pink- as long as we'd heard that healthy report, whivh there was!  The celebration is so much more about one more little life about to join this crazy clan we have!!!!

Love to my families away from family!!!!  Congrats on the baby brother, L!!!!!!

Successful day!

My coursera essay is complete (a whole 11 hours before the deadline... Well, original deadline.  They changed to deadline to weds, because so many people were having technical difficulties...). But i'm glad i'm done!
The girls' swingset was built today (only after two months of sitting in our yard in pieces...)

Now, if only my children would stop fighting bedtime, we'd have success all around... We did have a good friday, sat, and sunday nights, so at least a good roll of three... But tonight, i'm about ready to plop my earplugs in and shut the door and pretend they're already asleep!

Heavy lids...

I have to give in and go to sleep.  I have been reading psychiatric journal articles for the last two hours and i cannot keep my eyes open any longer.
My 250-300 word homework assignment is due at 11:59 p.m. tomorrow night.  i really wanted to be done it yesterday, which did not happen.  So i really tried hard to get it done tonight, but my eyes are not cooperating.  so, thankfully, i do have tomorrow.  not that i wanted to really be that uber-procrastinator that i know i am, but at least i do have tomorrow...  there's always tomorrow (thank you, dear scarlett, for leading me in my procrastinating life!)

Bedtime

Crafternoon turned out to be a huge hit- and not just for me, for everyone involved (or so i've heard...)  it was a great afternoon full of fun and creativity and lots of inspiration for everyone else here!
i hope that sometime again we can have another crafternoon with everyone being so creative and as helpful and as happy... i mean, seriously, do days like this really happen in the real world?  i love happy, creative people, especially when they're my close friends!

Excitement!!!

I'm finally rolling into bed after a very long, but very fruitful, day!  In a nutshell, i was able to shop for two whole uninterupted hours while P took B to gymnastics. I got some new running clothes and a new pair of jeans (which, no joke, the last new pair of jeans i bought was 5 years ago, when m was 10 months old.  I remember it very clearly!)
i went to trader joes, which would have been great, but i did not have my shopping list, and it was lunchtime so 7 million people were milling around me.  But, i was alone, so i didn't even care!

I also cleaned my house top to bottom and prepared everything for my fun crafternoon party that i'm hosting tomorrow!  Basically, p is taking the girls out and my girlfriends are coming over so we can get crafty!!!!  I won't begin to describe my crafting horrors tonight when i realized that after i had painstakingly measured, cut, painted, etc. every piece of cork i needed, i came to find out that it's virtually impossibly to adhere cork to itself. I haven't completely given up on the project, but i can't do it for tomorrow...

I am going to fall asleep with visions of glue guns, beads, scissors and ribbon i. My mind!  I cannot wait to get my craft on with my girls!!!!