Today I Am Glad

On this cool, clear, sunny Sunday morning.... I am glad.

Not angry that there are heaps of laundry, but GLAD that there are five people in my house that have clothes to wear.

Not angry that my room is full of kids' clutter, but GLAD that I have three beautiful, healthy children to whom that clutter belongs.
Not angry that my house is never as clean as I'd like, but GLAD that I have a big, comfortable house that's warm for us to live in.
Not angry that I go back to work tomorrow, but GLAD that I have a job.

I'm not the least bit frustrated that our credit cards have balances again, but CALM knowing that we have the resources to pay them off. (Again :) )
Not upset with my husband for any number of trivial, ridiculous things that he did or did not do... but THANKFUL that there is no doubt that he loves me and our children and would do anything for us.
Not overwhelmed with the amount of responsibility that parenthood and being a wife presents on a daily, if not hourly basis... but THRILLED that I have the opportunity to be a mother and a wife.
Not bummed because I need to go grocery shopping... but THANKFUL that I have a nice car to drive there, the money to buy what we need, and a healthy body to carry out the task.

Not super-anxious about the possibility of Mike's new awesome job, but SATISFIED knowing that he is well-qualified for it and any other job he cares to apply for. (Okay, that's a little bit of a lie. I'm SUPER-ANXIOUS to know!!)
I'm ecstatic to know that whether he gets the job or not, that we'll be PERFECTLY FINE.

I'm not frustrated that the girls need new clothes, again, because I'm GLAD to know that they're healthy and growing fast.
I'm not sad that they're growing up so quickly, but EXCITED about the new opportunities and milestones that they reach every day.
I'm not exhausted from the busy schedules and activities, but overwhelmed with PRIDE at the successes they have in these activities.
Not the least bit mad that they misbehave or sneak candy or find creative ways to do exactly whatever it is I said not to do... but in AWE of how smart they are. (It's creepy, really.)


Not the least bit ashamed, disappointed, or angry with whatever life has sent my way... but GLAD.

Fashion-forward...or not

If you know me, you also know that I do not dabble in the fashion industry. I don't even peep, I mean, pop a toe (hee hee.. PEEP-TOE!!) in the ocean that is fashion.

My wardrobe consists of comfortable, sensible work-appropriate clothes and an impressive collection of jeans and t-shirts. There's probably no need to discuss my sports bra obsession or choice of underwear that is specifically and meticulously chosen for its ability to stay OUT of my rear. I mean, no need after this one little discussion, of course.

Anyway, I have a point. Or at least there is a point to there not being a point. Whatever.

I am a relatively intelligent person, or so I like to think... but when it comes to the terminology used in the fashion world, said world regularly hands me a large piece of "you're a moron" pie. Rather, it may be more accurate to say that it throws the whole pie in my shiny, make-up free face.

For example. I realize that these were in and out of style a few years ago, but indulge me for a minute. Kitten heels. Seriously? I am not so behind the evolutionary times of women that I don't realize these are shoes. I just didn't realize that small furry kittens wore them! Or...yikes...are they specially made for stomping on said furry kittens??? Either way, I will be forever grateful that they didn't last long. Oh, never mind - my personal satisfaction from this fact has been swiftly replaced by the extreme disappointment at the new stiletto fad. At least I had a minute chance of not breaking my ankle before. Sheesh.

And... something a bit more "with the times"... the "maxi" dress? Really? Are we so at a loss for names for fashion elements that we had to steal from hygiene products?

And don't get me started on all the different names we have for different lengths of dresses. Google produced these: micro-mini, mini, moxi, tea length, ballerina length, full length, midi, maxi. (Reminds me of the name game. "Mini, mini, micro-mini, banana fanna moe moxi, fi fie foe midi... mini!" See, this is why they shouldn't let me out in public.) Presumably, these are in order from shortest to longest (now the maxi thing is making a little more sense, but I still picture the "extra long with wings"). Now, I'm a tall girl, and it is possible that there would be a noticeable distinction in each of these lengths on someone of my height. But, since the average woman is say, 5'5, I venture to guess that these minor variations would be lost. "Oh, for shame... she's wearing a "moxi" length dress at a "tea length" event.. the horror! Her family will be forever shamed." Riiiiiiight.

And the more traditional terms... is it just me, or do they all sound like obscenities (with some sort of accent)? Aw, SMOCK! What the FROCK?! She is such a pain in the ASCOT.

Peep-toe - a toe with voyeuristic tendencies? Probably doesn't refer to the hole in the big toe portion my socks. Furry boots with miniskirts, because our need for warm feet is only slightly more than our need to have our rear ends hanging out in thirty-degree weather (it's not like tights are THAT warm). Or, alternatively, perhaps it's that our need to not have ridiculously sweaty feet is slightly less than our need to be "cool, hip, and with-it. Either way it's lost on me.

And as a personal aside... I'm not sure the fashion industry is so smart anyway. Hello... the 80's called and wants its neon, baggy, ripped, striped, big-haired trends back. They were horrible then. Nobody I know looks back at their high school photos from that period of time and says "Wow, we were so hot!"

Wearing scarves when it's 90 degrees outside. I suppose you don't need me to explain that one. Although, I must admit I put one of Hannah's scarves on after I picked it up out of the floor, and it was kinda fun to fiddle with.

Skinny jeans. I spit in your general direction. They should be called "please only wear me if you're extremely skinny" jeans. Or "please don't even try to squeeze any amount of actual hip or thigh into something this skinny" jeans.

JUST SAY NO to ultra-low-rise pants. From what I can gather, this is the reverse effect of the super-short shorts that were so cool this year. Instead of the inseam covering two inches of your, AHEM, you know... these pants now stylishly show two inches of your, AHEM, crack...

Okay, okay. I'm done.

It's no wonder that "What Not To Wear" is so fiendishly popular.

Catching up

Sorry, I've been on an extended blog-vacation. No reason, just got addicted to Facebook and now spend most of my computer time on there. The rest of that time is spent on extremely interesting things like online bill paying and household budgeting. Such a freak!

What's been going on with us:

Abby can ride her bike without training wheels, too. She actually learned two weekends after Ryley did. The girls also spend a lot of time using their SmartCar as a street luge. Our house is on a corner, and the lot slopes down from the front corner, making a really nice street luge course out of our sidewalk. It's scary to watch, but nobody's been turned into hamburger yet.

The girls spent most of their summer hanging out with Granny and Papa, with some intermittent time at Nana & Papaw's and in Harrisburg with Papa. It went by entirely too fast, and I cannot believe that fall is here already. I'm still wondering where April went.

Hannah started the fourth grade. She's close to five feet tall. She's headed swiftly into the age of braces on the teeth (probably next year), boys (hopefully not), and caring what other people think about her. I'm seeing some pre-PMS behavior too. Yikes. She's going to be a level 6 gymnast this year, which means more flips and more practices. She's still got abs of steel.

Ryley started Kindergarten. She was so excited, asked to go every day from the moment we registered her in June... made it a whole week before she decided going to school every day wasn't as cool as she thought, because now she can't have Granny days. She lost her first tooth a few weeks ago, and is very close to losing another one. She will likely change from recreational gymnastics to competitive this year (developmental team - level 4). She's also huge. I forget that she's only five (almost 6) a LOT.

Abigail has entered a new stage of her life - life without Ryley. She's flying solo at preschool now, and honestly it was pretty hard on her for a week or two. Granted, those two are only 15 months apart, and have been together virtually 24/7 since she was born. I did think it was rather funny since those two bicker most of the time they're together anyway. She still remains the most likely one of our children to be featured on a "COPS" episode at some point in her adult life. She is a busy, sneaky, wiley little girl. Earlier this week, her trifling let to the third call to Poison Control in our parenting history after she (likely) ingested seven children's cold and cough medicine dissolving strips and hid the evidence under the (cool) iron in our bathroom. Scary part is we didn't find them until the next day. Apparently seven is well within an acceptable range of cold and cough strips. I then question why the dosage on the back says one strip for her weight??

Mike and I have been working, mostly, and chasing the girls around. We're home about three hours a day during the week, during which time homework, supper, and baths must be scrunched. That really is about all we do. Weekends are reserved for the highly entertaining tasks of laundry, general cleaning, and/or sleeping. We're a fascinating bunch, I know.

Next up: Adult trip to New Orleans, just for the heck of it. Should be exhausting, but a lot of fun!

The Great Baking Soda Debacle of 2009... and other mayhem

Really. It WAS quite a debacle.

THIS is the first thing I see as I walk out the back door...

Then this...Then there was this...
Not even the firepit escaped...Nor did the dog bowl...

Yet she still gives the impression that she's totally innocent...

This little event wasn't the only fun part about this week, no sir..

There was also the "pants in the toilet" gala - where I went to use the restroom (in MY bathroom, I might add) and found a small pair of pajama pants floating in my toilet. I already know from experience that Abby is the guilty party, so I called her in and questioned her motives... and got the following response.

"I couldn't reach the toilet paper."

And here I was hoping that the pants were merely placed in the toilet out of mischievousness. Nope, there were certain needs to be met, and met they were, in an astounding case of resourcefulness. I'll let you guess what was floating UNDER the pants.

The really sad part? They were Ryley's pants.

And last, but certainly least... there was the "Notorious Theft of Starburst from a certain Movie Rental Establishment". It was a dark and stormy night (okay, perfect and sunny...whatever!) and the girls and I went to rent movies to ease our pains from missing Daddy. You may also recall this is the fateful night where Marley and Me forever ruined our Saturday night. Well, turns out we came home with a little more than a depressing movie... my youngest daughter has begun what is surely to lead to a lifetime of crime.

I'm thinking of having her fingerprinted now, to save a lot of heartache and policework later on.

MMMMMIIIIIKKKKKKKEEEEEE!!!!!

Another milestone already??

That's right... Ryley begged and begged to have the training wheels taken off her bicycle today, so we did. And then she hopped right on and took off. She's a little wobbly on takeoff, but otherwise looks like an old pro!

This was immediately followed by Abby begging and begging to have the training wheels removed from HER bicycle... which we may try this afternoon, and may hold off until next weekend. I want to make sure Ryley gets her time to shine. Plus, Mommy's poor heart can only take so much growing up in one day... One milestone per family, per day please.

No more Marley and Me

It's the end of week one without Mike, who's in China on a business trip. He'll be gone next week too. He's been several times, but most of those were when the girls were much smaller. This time they're much more aware of his absence and it's obvious they're a little freaked out by it. The kids are acting out more often and I've noticed them yelling at each other quite a bit today. I can tell my patience is wearing thin, too, because I then yell at them for yelling at each other. It's (not) very effective.

They made it through the week okay. Today must have really hit home ... no school or gymnastics to distract them. We passed the morning by picking up our horrifically messy living room and kitchen, then had lunch, napped, and decided to go rent movies to take our minds off missing Daddy.

Seemed like such a good idea at the time. Hannah picked a Scooby-doo compilation, Ryley chose the sequel to Narnia, and Abby chose Marley and Me. I'm guessing it's the giant picture of a Labrador puppy on the front that grabbed her interest. I vaguely recalled seeing the book but didn't read it, and after a quick reading of the back of the movie cover decided it was pretty harmless. Some of Hannah's friends had seen it already and told her it was sad, but we're not particularly emotional people about movies so I figured we'd be okay. We even KNEW the dog was going to die at the end.

Oh, if only I had known... an hour and a half later, as all four of us sat bawling our eyes out... Ryley declares "That is the worst movie EVER!!!" In the midst of my tears, I looked at our pitiful bunch and started to giggle. Somewhere in all of our misery I figured most women don't consider crying at movies to be odd and, in fact, probably rent movies like Marley on purpose.

As for us, we WON'T be watching that movie again. Certainly NOT after a whole week of no Daddy. Thankfully Mike called us shortly after the movie had ended (while we were drowning our sorrows in some Pop-Ice popscicles) and the girls cheered up a little. Some after-dark bike-riding in the driveway helped too. Marley has been replaced in its cover and safely stowed until its return to the video store.

Maybe I should go ahead and ban Where the Red Fern Grows just for the heck of it. I'm still traumatized after our fourth-grade viewing of it back in '89.

Another milestone in kid-raising

Ryley successfully completed her kindergarten wellness exam and last round of shots today. SIGH. She did great, and didn't even cry when they gave her the shots.

Of course, now her legs are sore so she required me to wash her hair in the bathtub AND lift her out of it... think somebody might be milking the situation much???

I'm not that mom that cries hysterically when her children go to school (but I am totally NOT judging if you are). I'm excited for her and she is excited to be a "big girl". I think she was ready last year, but as her birthday falls after the age cutoff, she'll now be one of the older ones in her class. And probably one of the tallest.

This should be very handy for her in high school... as one of the first to have her driver's license. Yikes.

Anyway, she's very healthy, with good vision, eating habits, and spine alignment (seriously). We were lectured momentarily on the importance of bike helmets. What horrible parents we must seem to be... I'm all for carseats and sunscreen, but the bike helmet I just can't get excited about. Perhaps my feelings will change once the training wheels come off and top speed reaches higher than my jog. And people, my jog is SLOW.

And guess what? Abby will enter Kindergarten NEXT YEAR. If I'd thought about it for more than 5 seconds we would have just done all her doctor stuff at the same time.

I wonder what it will be like when they're all in school? I plan to change my work hours again so that I can either drop them off or pick them up more often. I'm trying to convince Mike that he needs to become a VP, like FAST, so that I can stay home. Yes, I'm that lady that waits until her kids are in SCHOOL to stay home with them :) and I am not ashamed. I love those girls but sometimes I need to love them when they're somewhere else, and they need that too.

Okay, so I've gone all random now. Anyway, just wanted to share the milestone with you. Anybody got a new baby I can hold for a minute? Mine seem to have time-warped out of that stage straight into the teens.