Thank Goodness They Check

I went to the gym this morning. I know, I know. It's not me. I hate the gym. But it's time to get healthy now before it becomes a real issue. I've actually been going for awhile. I look at it as time to myself where I can zone out and not think about things like cleaning the house and putting the laundry away.

But I digress.

S went with me and since both K and L are in school today, H was our only tag along. The ladies in the child care center are so sweet and H has a great time in there (usually). I dropped him off and went with S to start lifting.

In the end, S finished before I did so he went to pick up H. Since I was the one who dropped H off and the ladies had never seen S before, they were suspicious. They found me and asked if that was, indeed, H's father. I smiled and said, "Yes, that's his dad." She said they haven't had any issues but they like to be safe just in case.

That did this mother's heart a world of good. What if it hadn't been S but someone else? How easy would it be for someone to take a child? I'm so thankful for those wonderful ladies at the gym. Thank goodness they checked!

A Birthday and Other Things

Um, so H's birthday is Friday. That's right; Friday. He'll be one. He's having his first birthday. I'm amazed at how fast this year has gone (it's had its slow moments, too). I have been working on a letter to him that I'll post on his birthday.


As for the fabric mentioned in the previous post, here's what I found out. They don't have it. It's on the website but they don't have it. And they don't know when they'll get any more in. Yeah. I didn't even hear her type anything into a computer to find out about it. Her first words were "I don't know about that fabric. It's on my website?" So if you're interested in fabrics, please don't call this place. I'm pretty sure they don't know what they're doing.

L went to a strawberry farm near our house last week and I got some great pictures. K is going this week so I'll post a bunch of pictures after that event. L had a great time and we came home with some really wonderful strawberries. I let the girls help me make shortcake to have for dessert that night. I'll post that recipe later since I'm upstairs, it's downstairs and I just don't feel like going to get it right now. I know, I'm lazy.

What Do You Mean You Don't Have a Computer?

We have an old sofa. By old, I mean at least 15 years. (I do realize that many of us have furniture way older than this but you must remember quality is very important when holding on to pieces of furniture.) It was given to S and I just before we got married by a family friend who was updating their living room. Although it has served us well, it's time to move on. I must get rid of the forest green plaid! Oh, I forgot to mention that it's broken and has been for the past year.

The good thing about a free, old, broken sofa is that you don't really care if the kids spill yogurt or throw up on it. It's not a big deal. But I've had enough of the old sofa. I found a great sofa and picked out the fabric I wanted and everything. One of the fabrics is a really neat print that would look great on a side chair. I just happen to have one of those that needs some new fabric (peachy-pink doesn't exactly go with our decor).

I was able to find the fabric online for a great price but needed to know both the vertical and horizontal repeat so that I'd know how much fabric to order. So I called the company. A nice woman answered but quickly got testy with me. When I asked about the fabric she said she'd never heard of it. Did I find it on their website, she asked. Yes, I did. Yes, I had the right store. We went around this for several minutes. I figured she could just look it up in her computer or go to her own website for the info. "We don't have a computer." WHAT? You're a fabric company with an extensive website and you don't have a computer? "We keep our computer in the office. I don't have time to deal with computers so I don't have one." You can't even bother yourself to go to the office computer to look this up? Apparently not. I was told to call back on Monday and speak to the woman who runs the website. She should know about this specific fabric. She was, conveniently, not in the office on Friday.

My immediate response was to never call back and warn others that this company is incompetent and they need to get themselves a computer. This isn't 1953, people. However, I want to see if this web girl knows about this fabric that she has posted on this website. Any bets?

Heartbreaker

Has anyone seen Dan in Real Life? It's a sweet little movie. Dan is a widower and has three daughters. The middle one is beginning to date and when Dan forbids her from seeing a boy she calls him a "murderer of love."

L announced last night that she needs a boyfriend. This was in the middle of dinner. With no prompting from any source. It just came to her head. Why do I get the feeling she's going to call us "murderers of love"?

I am dreading 15!

What Do You Want to Be When You Grow Up?

When I was around 3 or 4 my preschool teacher sent home a questionnaire for our parents to help us fill out. It had such questions as:

• How many stars are in the sky? 100
• What is your favorite color? Green (I have no idea why)
• If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go? Smith's (the local "dime" store, but it's really just another word for toy/fun store)
• Name two chores you have at home: taking the laundry out of the dryer and putting it on the bed (my mom made this one up as I really didn't do chores at 3 even though I probably should have)

The best question, in my opinion, was "What do you want to be when you grow up?" Most of the kids said things like fireman, policeman, lion tamer, astronaut, Superman, etc. Just your average, run-of-the-mill 3-year-old answers. My answer? Mom. I wanted to be a mom. That's it. Not housewife, not doctor, nurse or anything else. Just mom.

That's now come true for me. The one thing I wanted to be was a mom. And most days I love it. Some days are better than others. Some days I think I can't make it to 7:30 (bedtime!). And there are some days I can't believe it's already 7:30 and I need to put the kids to bed.

Saturday is a great example of why being a mom is what I love. After the birthday party for K's friend, the girls wanted to play in the sprinklers. So when S went out to light the grill for dinner, he turned on the sprinklers and let the girls have fun. They squealed and smiled and ran around with such delight. H had fun, too, discovering the sprinkler heads from the back porch. I stayed in to get the rest of dinner ready, including homemade mac & cheese and steamed summer squash. It was all so tasty. That's my idea of a good Saturday night.

My life is nowhere near perfect. There are many times when the kids demand things of me that I just can't provide. But I'm so thankful for them, that they fulfilled a lifelong desire for me. That's one of the best blessings a person could ask for.

Edited to Add: After conferring with my mom, I was the one who made up the two chores, not her. My teacher asked us the questions and we gave our answers. And my favorite color was green because my eyes, at the time, were green.

The Playground

Most afternoons after K gets out of school, I let the girls play on the playground at school. In fact most of the moms allow their kids to play out there so I get to visit with other Mommies and the girls run off some steam. It's win-win.

Today was no exception. H and I hadn't finished lunch and food is not something we mess around with. The girls were having a great time as K played with her friends and L made new ones. Honestly, that girl doesn't know a stranger. I'm sitting chatting with a mom, feeding H minuscule bites of chicken nugget, when I notice that the teachers on the playground are all watching a child go across the monkey bars, encouraging her with each grasp of the next bar. That's when I notice it's my child going across the bars. Not K but L. The three-year-old. The one who barely weighs enough to be in a forward-facing seat! And she flew across those bars.

Y'all, she was so proud of herself. It was so much fun to watch her accomplish something she'd never done before. And those teachers were just cheering her on as if she were one of theirs. What encouragement!

Catching Up

I have been such the delinquent blogger this week and there's really no reason for it. It's not like I haven't had the time after the kids are in bed. I guess I'm just too tired to come upstairs and get on the computer. So here's what we've been up to.

K had a field trip to a local TV station to learn about the weather and news reporting. It was really cool. Each child got to stand in front of the green screen, pretend to do the weather, and see themselves on TV. Very cool. Except that K didn't want to do it when it was her turn and then decided, at the very last second that she did but it was too late. Bummer.

Ballet pictures were Friday afternoon and the girls were so excited to get into their costumes. They both looked so cute. K's dress is a princess dress and she looks so beautiful in it; so grown up. They did not want to take them off when we got home. They do like to play dress-up!

H is into anything and everything these days. S gave him a hard-boiled egg this morning. Check out the picture below for how that went over.

I hope all of you are doing well and I promise to be back with more pictures very soon!

K, practicing her ballerina twirls...

L trying to open her eyes in the bright sun so I could get a good picture...

L walking away from me because she wanted to have her picture taken by herself and not with K. K smiled sweetly.

H getting egg all over himself. He did get a bath right after this!

Making Me Laugh

I love to laugh and this blog has been helping in that area since I discovered it a few weeks ago.

Trip to My Hometown

I almost titled this post "Trip Home" but realized that I'm home now, in my own house and that we just got back from a trip to my hometown, where I was born and raised. We went to visit my parents while S was out of town for the week. While the drive was long, it was well worth it. H did really well in the car and the girls sat in the way back watching movies the entire time. I did have the forethought to give them headphones so I didn't have to listen to Cinderella and Aladdin 100 times.


We had a great time. The girls got to spend the night at Papa and PJ's house which makes them feel so grown-up. P & PJ took them to a wild animal rescue park where they were able to see lions, tigers, and bears (oh my!) and all sorts of other animals that have been rescued from private owners, zoos and other less-than-humane conditions. They had a blast.


Nana and I took H shopping and we were able to get some summer clothes for him. We had such a fun time as we rarely get to spend time together. H was a great sport and conked out just after lunch. He even took another nap when we got home. Shopping is so exhausting!


The highlight for me was going to hear Trent Monk (of Monk & Neagle) play at my friend's house. Yes he was in her living room giving, what felt like, a private concert, even though it really wasn't. He is a phenomenal musician and if he's ever in your area, I encourage you to check him out. And I got to do this without any children in tow. Oh, it was a blessed evening, including reconnecting with a friend I haven't seen since I was in eighth grade!


I will post pictures when I get the chance but I have to play with some of them before they're ready for posting!

Book Review

This time it's Garlic and Sapphires by Ruth Reichl. I will say that this is a tough one to review because it's all about her being a restaurant critic and here I am critiquing her book. I feel I will do a poor job relating to you her various experiences. It's quite a daunting task but I'll face it head on.

I loved this book. I don't really consider myself a foodie (and many of the dishes she discusses I've never heard of) but I love to try new things and read about good food and wine. This book was perfect for that. Reichl, who is now the editor in chief for Gourmet, was the restaurant critic for the New York Times. She got to eat in some of the most famous (and not-so-famous) restaurants in the city. As the critic, though, she was highly recognizable and was forced to don many disguises to truly "try on" a restaurant, including dressing up as her own mother.

When S and I lived in New Orleans, a city known for its fabulous food, we made it a point to try as many restaurants as we could. Our objective, however, was not to try all the famous restaurants (like Emeril's and Commander's Palace) but to try some of the hole-in-the-wall places serving delicious food off the beaten path. We did try Emeril's, as it was just around the corner from our apartment, and were a bit disappointed. For all the hype it's just okay. We found some much better places for half the price. This is what I found so appealing about Garlic and Sapphires: Reichl was looking for the same thing. While she did review some of the most well-known restaurants in NYC, she also found those that not everyone else would.

My favorite element of the book is Reichl's descriptions of her food. While I may not know what some of the foods are, I get a full sense of what she's eating. Her language is so descriptive that I feel as though I'm eating the food myself.

If you're into food at all, or just really want an entertaining book, I highly recommend this one!

Thanks to Mod Girl for recommending this one to me. Good job!

L-ism of the Day

We're in Alabama visiting my family so I have been blog-neglectful this week. I promise to update everyone when we get home and settled. However, I'll give you this little L-ism to whet your appetite.

The other night my mom and I took the kids for dinner. As is commonplace, L had to use the facilities as soon as we sat down. So I took her and K to the restroom before our dinner came. It turned out that I, too, needed the restroom so I after I finished my business L exclaimed, "Good job tee-teeing, Mama! You did a great job!"

BTW, there was someone in the next stall and L said this in her "outside" voice.

L-ism of the Day

On the way to school the other day...
K: It's all froggy outside. I can't see a thing!
L: I can see a thing!

Book Review

Self-Defense by Jonathan Kellerman
If you've ever read a Jonathan Kellerman novel, you'll know his main character, Alex Delaware. He's a psychologist who consults with the police. Someone gets murdered, disappears, etc., and Alex gets involved, thanks to his friend, Milo, the cop. Investigation ensues, Alex plays detective, bad guys appear and usually get put away.

Self-Defense is no exception. I wouldn't call it the greatest novel ever but it did exactly what I needed it to do: it took me away from my own little world. I usually really like Kellerman's novels because they are a great mix of well-written dialogue and scenic explanations. There's always a bit of humor in his books and my favorite character is Spike the dog. He's a French bulldog with an attitude and he always makes me smile.

A special thanks to Papa and PJ for getting me hooked on these books!

H is 11 Months Old!

I think I'm still shocked by the fact that H will be one year old in a month, that I'll be baking a birthday cake for him and we'll have those wonderful cake-all-over-the-place-pictures. This past month with H has been fun and infuriating all at once. Since the last post he has taken off in crawling, getting into anything and everything (as evidenced by this post). He's also gotten in two teeth and has two more that are going to break through any day now. He's pretty much done with baby food and has learned how to shake his head "no." Among his favorites are yogurt. macaroni & cheese, and chicken. He's also started pulling up on furniture which is quite frightening to his mama.

One thing I'm really enjoying is watching his personality flourish. He is such a sweet boy. He loves to be with people and will follow me, his Daddy or his sisters anywhere we go. He's laughing more and really learning to explore every inch of his environment. However, he's still very laid back and can sit still, taking in everything around him. I know he gets that trait from his father.

We'll see you next month for his first birthday celebration!

What Once was Lost Has Now Been Found

I lost my keys. This not common for me. I usually put them away on the key hook by the back door as soon as I get home. This morning when I took K to school, however, they weren't there. I checked the kitchen, giving it a quick once-over before grabbing S's keys and headed out the door.

I had several errands to run this morning and, since it's Tuesday, L had gymnastics. I immediately went home after gymnastics to frantically search for my lost keys. They were nowhere to be found. Y'all, I started panicking. It wasn't a pretty sight. I checked everywhere: the laundry, the kitchen drawers, the cushions of the sofa, and even the trash. Yes, I went through the trash to make sure I hadn't inadvertently thrown them away in a fit of tidying up. They weren't there, either.

I even got S in on the hunt. I will tell you that he's not very good at finding things unless it's a moving target. I think this is due to the hunter in him. It's one of those things on the Y chromosome that we women just don't get.

I was in the bathroom, going through the dirty laundry yet again (after washing my hands from going through the garbage which was, by the way, really gross) when S said, "Found 'em!" They were in my jacket pocket, the one I wore yesterday while picking the girls up from school.

Crisis averted.