Monday morning I was determined to turn over a new leaf. I spent Sunday evening making homemade cherry muffins for breakfast the next morning. I prepped a lunch for Mark and Jacob to eat during the day. I was going to be organized and we were going to have a nutritious, well-organized morning with no unpleasantness!!
Of course as soon as the alarm went off things started going wrong. Anarosa would NOT get up, because she had gotten to sleep later than usual (because she was busy crying that she was missing all the “fun” - people were coming to our house to pick up campaign signs and she had to go to bed). She finally got up and into the shower, but when she got out she still had a big blob of conditioner in her hair. She insisted that she had rinsed it out already and under no condition would she get back in the shower again! So of course I had to insist (it really was a big blob) and so she finally got back into the shower for a total of five seconds and then got out again. I decided maybe this was the time for natural consequences and stopped pushing the issue.
Next everyone complained about the breakfast. Nobody wanted cherry muffins, and scrambled eggs were just insulting, fresh fruit? - what was I thinking? So two out of three drank their orange juice and nothing else. To top it all off, I realized we had forgotten a math page from Anarosa’s homework packet so she had to sit at the table and finish doing the last page of homework.
Now, it’s really time to get going. Alana decides to throw a fit because she’s NOT taking a bath (she washed her hair last night) and runs around the house refusing to get dressed or brush her hair. Well, I finally catch her and get her dressed. Then Anarosa starts complaining that she can’t find her pants. By this point I’m getting a little exasperated but calmly walk back into her room to help her find pants. There are no pants….period, she has one pair of short shorts in her baskets, but that is it. So… I go downstairs and check the dryer, none there. I check the washer, none there either. I even check the dirty laundry pile, nope, all of her pants were dirty or had been packed up for the daddy-daughter campout this weekend and got dirty because they all got shoved into the same backpack and had dirt all over them.
This morning is not going well. We finally end up rushing everyone into the car. Anarosa wearing her shirt, undies, socks and shoes and drive all the way to Union City to Walmart to buy pants!! Then we had to turn around and drive all the way back to Castro Valley to get them to school!
And to top it all off, I forgot to pack up Mark and Jacob’s lunch so we ended up eating lunch at McDonald’s anyway. And the homework that I had Anarosa finish – was left on the kitchen table….
Adventures in Motherhood
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Tag!
Katie tagged me! So here's my list of 7 things you may not know about me….
1. My favorite food in the whole world is cheesecake (okay, many of you know that about me) At my last job, they knew if I’d had a particularly hard day if I came back from lunch with an entire cheesecake and wasn’t sharing!
2. I used to be an Emergency Medical Technician. I went to Chabot and got my EMT certification. It expired when I was on my mission and I never recertified. I loved it! But they didn’t pay much more than minimum wage. I considered going on to get my paramedic license but got married and had kids instead!
3. I love to read. It was hard when I first had kids, but since I’ve discovered on-line classics I’ve been hooked. Just about anything that is out of copyright you can read free online. I found a site I really liked and started with the A’s. I’m working on the B’s now (including short stories there were over 200 titles starting with A)
4. I ALWAYS get lost. I have been lost in every major city I have ever driven in. (Including the city I grew up in!). I’m getting better, the best thing to come along in a long time is yahoo driving directions, but I still manage to get myself turned around and going in the wrong direction. However, I have always come back, and I find this encouraging.
5. I can never find my keys. I’m forever loosing them and my husband Mark has to find them for me. I always keep on the good side of the maintenance personnel at work because they have to unlock my office for me every time I loose them. Mark and I have an inside joke that I can never leave him….I’d never be able to find my keys to go!
6. I love poetry. Dr. Seuss and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow are my two favorites!
7. I love to do crafts. Having three kids works out well for me because people don’t think I’m nearly as strange when they walk in the house and there is a construction paper rainforest on the living room walls and a paper pirate ship in the hallway! I used to do a different theme with the kids each week, but since we’ve moved out of the apartment and into the house we haven’t done very much. (too many windows, not enough wall space, and well it’s too nice to tape things onto.) So last week, I cleaned out some space in our unfinished basement and now we have a “craft cave” under the house. Woo hoo!!
1. My favorite food in the whole world is cheesecake (okay, many of you know that about me) At my last job, they knew if I’d had a particularly hard day if I came back from lunch with an entire cheesecake and wasn’t sharing!
2. I used to be an Emergency Medical Technician. I went to Chabot and got my EMT certification. It expired when I was on my mission and I never recertified. I loved it! But they didn’t pay much more than minimum wage. I considered going on to get my paramedic license but got married and had kids instead!
3. I love to read. It was hard when I first had kids, but since I’ve discovered on-line classics I’ve been hooked. Just about anything that is out of copyright you can read free online. I found a site I really liked and started with the A’s. I’m working on the B’s now (including short stories there were over 200 titles starting with A)
4. I ALWAYS get lost. I have been lost in every major city I have ever driven in. (Including the city I grew up in!). I’m getting better, the best thing to come along in a long time is yahoo driving directions, but I still manage to get myself turned around and going in the wrong direction. However, I have always come back, and I find this encouraging.
5. I can never find my keys. I’m forever loosing them and my husband Mark has to find them for me. I always keep on the good side of the maintenance personnel at work because they have to unlock my office for me every time I loose them. Mark and I have an inside joke that I can never leave him….I’d never be able to find my keys to go!
6. I love poetry. Dr. Seuss and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow are my two favorites!
7. I love to do crafts. Having three kids works out well for me because people don’t think I’m nearly as strange when they walk in the house and there is a construction paper rainforest on the living room walls and a paper pirate ship in the hallway! I used to do a different theme with the kids each week, but since we’ve moved out of the apartment and into the house we haven’t done very much. (too many windows, not enough wall space, and well it’s too nice to tape things onto.) So last week, I cleaned out some space in our unfinished basement and now we have a “craft cave” under the house. Woo hoo!!
Monday, October 13, 2008
A Matter of Semantics
Alana has been in a persnickety mood today, and arguing about every little thing. So, today when she and Anarosa were coloring with markers, she looks over at Anarosa’s drawing and asks her what it is. When Anarosa tells her it’s a pumpkin Alana says “that pumpkin is soooo unprofessional.” (Normally this is where Anarosa gets upset and tattles on Alana) But she just looked up from her picture and said “It’s not unprofessional it’s unique.”
They argued back and forth about it until Alana finally pulled me aside to ask me what “unique” meant. After that she let the matter drop!
They argued back and forth about it until Alana finally pulled me aside to ask me what “unique” meant. After that she let the matter drop!
Saturday, October 11, 2008
The Emergency Room
It was our normal Thursday afternoon. I had just gotten back from work, and we were all trooping in the front door. Jacob had to sit in the naughty chair because he wouldn’t hold my hand in the parking lot. During all the commotion of getting everyone in the door and sitting down to do homework, Jacob was flailing around in his chair (mind you a child-sized chair) and fell off of it. He started to scream and I walked over with the intention of telling him to knock it off and just sit still, when I noticed the blood.
Well, he somehow managed to cut his ear while falling off the chair (I still can’t figure out exactly how, but there was nothing but him the chair and the wall). And now he is bleeding at a steady gush from the top of his left ear and I’m not quite certain but it may have cut through. Well I grabbed a kitchen towel and scooped up the screaming Jacob. Ran outside and stopped Mark from driving to work, jumped in with Jacob and drove to the emergency room.
(At this point please note what I did not do. I did not calmly pack a bag with snacks, crayons, books and other assorted distractions. This is important because it comes up later.)
It just so happens that this is a busy Thursday afternoon at my local Kaiser emergency room. It’s only a mile and a half away so we get there relatively quickly. Once Jacob calmed down enough to know where we were going, he emphatically declared he did NOT want to go to see the doctor (we’ve been to the emergency room before). Well, the parking lot was full so we had to go park in the parking garage and then walk through the other side of the hospital with a kitchen towel on his head to get to the emergency room. By this time he isn’t screaming, but he isn’t happy. We get to the front desk and they take his card and tell us to have a seat.
So then the waiting begins. The two and a half hours of waiting. Jacob tries whining. Surely I will feel sorry for him and take him home. Then he tries to reason with me. Then the fun begins.
He declares quite loudly that he has to go to the bathroom. We get up and go to the bathroom in the emergency room, but he doesn’t want that bathroom, he wants to go down the hall and find one “someplace else”. No. (We have to be here when they call his name or we go back to the bottom of the not-very-important list.)
Then he wants to go for a walk. No we can’t do that either.
Now, you have to understand that Jacob only has one volume setting and it’s loud. So all of the following conversations EVERYBODY in the crowded emergency room can hear.
“If you don’t take me home, I’m going to call the police and they will come and put you in jail.”
“hmm jail huh?, well if I’m in jail who is going go cook your food?”
“Daddy will. He can make ice cream and stuff”
“Oh, well, okay, but who will do the laundry?”
“Oh Anarosa can reach, she’ll do it.”
“Well you seem to have this all figured out.”
“Yes, so go to jail!”
When that didn’t work, he decided to very loudly discuss all of the private parts that he happens to know the correct names of, and everyone he knows who has one!
Next, we try the bathroom excuse again and again, until people in the “audience” actually start to giggle every time he declares he has to “go.”
We discuss me selling him to pirates and whether or not he would enjoy swabbing the decks or walking the planks.
He found a blond girl to talk to and actually broke down in tears when her mother returned and sat next to her.
My favorite person of the whole night was the fifty-something-year-old man, who actually got down on the floor and blew little pieces of paper with Jacob, across the floor in a race.
After about an hour and a half Jacob actually stood up on his chair, put his hands on his hips and yelled “I WANT TO GO HOME NOW!” to which several people in the waiting room answered back “me too”.
Once we finally get to see the triage nurse, she is totally unimpressed with his cut ear. She doesn’t really think he’ll need stitches, well maybe one, but if I really want to, she can get me an appointment in two hours at the minor injury clinic. By this time Jacob is as uncooperative as he can be and will not for love or money or stickers let her take his blood pressure and temperature.
So we drive back home, still covered in blood to wait an additional two hours to go back. I however, use this time to feed Mr. Grumpy and pack a diaper bag with about two hours worth of super hero toys, snacks, crayons and even considered taking the dvd player (just in case). We get back to the hospital and get in to see the minor injury doctor. Who was totally not impressed with the ER nurse, who didn’t think we would need stitches. He did need stitches, three of them to be exact. (not his personal record) But we had to wrap him up and hold him down to get the stitches in. He was in a much better mood for the second visit, but was not very pleased with getting the stitches in. And after all this we had to stop on the way out to get him an antibiotic, because that cough and cold he had was really an ear infection.
So we survived our latest trip to the ER. But I seriously think it’s Mark’s turn to do this next time one of the kids has to go!
Well, he somehow managed to cut his ear while falling off the chair (I still can’t figure out exactly how, but there was nothing but him the chair and the wall). And now he is bleeding at a steady gush from the top of his left ear and I’m not quite certain but it may have cut through. Well I grabbed a kitchen towel and scooped up the screaming Jacob. Ran outside and stopped Mark from driving to work, jumped in with Jacob and drove to the emergency room.
(At this point please note what I did not do. I did not calmly pack a bag with snacks, crayons, books and other assorted distractions. This is important because it comes up later.)
It just so happens that this is a busy Thursday afternoon at my local Kaiser emergency room. It’s only a mile and a half away so we get there relatively quickly. Once Jacob calmed down enough to know where we were going, he emphatically declared he did NOT want to go to see the doctor (we’ve been to the emergency room before). Well, the parking lot was full so we had to go park in the parking garage and then walk through the other side of the hospital with a kitchen towel on his head to get to the emergency room. By this time he isn’t screaming, but he isn’t happy. We get to the front desk and they take his card and tell us to have a seat.
So then the waiting begins. The two and a half hours of waiting. Jacob tries whining. Surely I will feel sorry for him and take him home. Then he tries to reason with me. Then the fun begins.
He declares quite loudly that he has to go to the bathroom. We get up and go to the bathroom in the emergency room, but he doesn’t want that bathroom, he wants to go down the hall and find one “someplace else”. No. (We have to be here when they call his name or we go back to the bottom of the not-very-important list.)
Then he wants to go for a walk. No we can’t do that either.
Now, you have to understand that Jacob only has one volume setting and it’s loud. So all of the following conversations EVERYBODY in the crowded emergency room can hear.
“If you don’t take me home, I’m going to call the police and they will come and put you in jail.”
“hmm jail huh?, well if I’m in jail who is going go cook your food?”
“Daddy will. He can make ice cream and stuff”
“Oh, well, okay, but who will do the laundry?”
“Oh Anarosa can reach, she’ll do it.”
“Well you seem to have this all figured out.”
“Yes, so go to jail!”
When that didn’t work, he decided to very loudly discuss all of the private parts that he happens to know the correct names of, and everyone he knows who has one!
Next, we try the bathroom excuse again and again, until people in the “audience” actually start to giggle every time he declares he has to “go.”
We discuss me selling him to pirates and whether or not he would enjoy swabbing the decks or walking the planks.
He found a blond girl to talk to and actually broke down in tears when her mother returned and sat next to her.
My favorite person of the whole night was the fifty-something-year-old man, who actually got down on the floor and blew little pieces of paper with Jacob, across the floor in a race.
After about an hour and a half Jacob actually stood up on his chair, put his hands on his hips and yelled “I WANT TO GO HOME NOW!” to which several people in the waiting room answered back “me too”.
Once we finally get to see the triage nurse, she is totally unimpressed with his cut ear. She doesn’t really think he’ll need stitches, well maybe one, but if I really want to, she can get me an appointment in two hours at the minor injury clinic. By this time Jacob is as uncooperative as he can be and will not for love or money or stickers let her take his blood pressure and temperature.
So we drive back home, still covered in blood to wait an additional two hours to go back. I however, use this time to feed Mr. Grumpy and pack a diaper bag with about two hours worth of super hero toys, snacks, crayons and even considered taking the dvd player (just in case). We get back to the hospital and get in to see the minor injury doctor. Who was totally not impressed with the ER nurse, who didn’t think we would need stitches. He did need stitches, three of them to be exact. (not his personal record) But we had to wrap him up and hold him down to get the stitches in. He was in a much better mood for the second visit, but was not very pleased with getting the stitches in. And after all this we had to stop on the way out to get him an antibiotic, because that cough and cold he had was really an ear infection.
So we survived our latest trip to the ER. But I seriously think it’s Mark’s turn to do this next time one of the kids has to go!
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
October 1st
Well, this week has been fun. I am having a crazy time at work. We are moving offices and September 30 is the end of our grant’s fiscal year. So all of the fiscal reports are due about this time. Mark has been called into court the next three Tuesdays (which is always a challenge for us since we have two school kids on different schedules, the court date, my work and only one car!!)
Jacob wasn’t feeling well yesterday. He’s usually a pretty accommodating little guy, but he gets grumpy when he’s not feeling well. Apparently he yelled at Danny (the guy who does the maintenance at the apartment complex) Luckily Danny has four kids of his own, so he understood sick little boys. By the time I picked him up to drop Daddy off at court he was warm and of course he threw up in the car on the way to pick up Anarosa from school!! When we got home I took his temperature and it was 103!! So he spent most of the rest of the day in bed (which was just fine with him!) I tried to give him something to take the edge off of his fever, but he wouldn’t have anything to do with it, so I just let him sleep it off. He woke up this morning feeling great!
Anarosa was cute this morning. She asked me what day it was, and I told her “Wednesday”
and she said “No, what DAY is it??”
“October 1st.”
“Oh, I knew it was something special”
So to everyone out there, Happy First Day of October!
Jacob wasn’t feeling well yesterday. He’s usually a pretty accommodating little guy, but he gets grumpy when he’s not feeling well. Apparently he yelled at Danny (the guy who does the maintenance at the apartment complex) Luckily Danny has four kids of his own, so he understood sick little boys. By the time I picked him up to drop Daddy off at court he was warm and of course he threw up in the car on the way to pick up Anarosa from school!! When we got home I took his temperature and it was 103!! So he spent most of the rest of the day in bed (which was just fine with him!) I tried to give him something to take the edge off of his fever, but he wouldn’t have anything to do with it, so I just let him sleep it off. He woke up this morning feeling great!
Anarosa was cute this morning. She asked me what day it was, and I told her “Wednesday”
and she said “No, what DAY is it??”
“October 1st.”
“Oh, I knew it was something special”
So to everyone out there, Happy First Day of October!
Monday, September 22, 2008
10 days for Alana!!
Since Alana had such a rought start to Kindergarten, we thought it would be wise to bribe her for good behavior. We made her a deal that if she got ten green days in a row that she could take her little best friend to Marine World!! (In her kindergarten class they all start the day with a green card and if they get in trouble it changes to yellow and then to red) And she worked hard for those!! We had to count a couple of yellow days as 1/2 days, but she kept with it and she earned her trip!! We were so proud of her!!
The dads took them this Saturday and apparently they had really great time. Alana and her friend held hands everywhere they went, and Mark said even the employees were laughing at how cute they were on the water ride. Apparently the couldn't stop giggling the whole time they were on the ride.
This kindergarden thing has been a wild ride, but I think she is finally starting to settle in. And so am I; thank goodness! For a while there my day revolved around finding out she had done at school. Luckily I have some great friends at work, who have heard all about my kids for forever. I even had a few who would ask for the "Alana Report" to see how she was doing at school that day! They were all cheering for her and they were happy to hear that she had finally earned her trip!
So rest assured everyone, Alana got through her first month of kindergarten!!
The dads took them this Saturday and apparently they had really great time. Alana and her friend held hands everywhere they went, and Mark said even the employees were laughing at how cute they were on the water ride. Apparently the couldn't stop giggling the whole time they were on the ride.
This kindergarden thing has been a wild ride, but I think she is finally starting to settle in. And so am I; thank goodness! For a while there my day revolved around finding out she had done at school. Luckily I have some great friends at work, who have heard all about my kids for forever. I even had a few who would ask for the "Alana Report" to see how she was doing at school that day! They were all cheering for her and they were happy to hear that she had finally earned her trip!
So rest assured everyone, Alana got through her first month of kindergarten!!
Sunday, September 21, 2008
This Saturday it was just me and Jacob at home. So we went to the farmer's market. I'm a big fan of farmers' markets and so are my children, but they always seem to find the only non-fruit & vegetable offerings in the market. Jacob wanted to get kettle corn, which he got. But then he decided that it was only for the "children to share"; which incidently worked out great for him, because he was the only child there! So he spent the rest of the day upset at me for trying to take taste's of his kettle corn!! I tried to get him to pose for a picture next to the flowers, but he wasn't having a bit of it.
Monday, September 1, 2008
Mom and Dad and Other Stuff
Well this has been quite an eventful week. It’s hard to know where to begin. Last Thursday my Mom and Dad came down from Utah to pick up Sarah. We had such a blast visiting with them and getting to spend time with Grandma and Grandpa! We got to go to church in the ward I grew up in and say Hi to everyone we hadn’t seen for years. Even though it was very sad to say goodbye to Sarah. For the next few days Jacob kept walking around looking at the ceiling and saying “Sarah, I said COME BACK!” It was very cute, he insisted that Sarah could hear him on the airplane! 
After my Mom and Dad left we had one day to get ready for school! So we went supply shopping and got our two big school girls new pencils and backpacks and stuff like that. We had a bit of drama when we went to register the girls at their school. We have them transferred to a different school district, and we received their transfer approvals at the beginning of the summer, but when we went to register them they only had Anarosa on their list not Alana. So we turned in all the paperwork and did everything we could to get Alana in. It came down to the day before school started and we finally got a slot for Alana! Talk about stress!
Well the first day of school came and we got up extra early and got our school girls fed. Then we packed everybody up and got them off to school. I took the morning off so that I could come too! Anarosa walked right into second grade. She is a pro at this by now. We dropped off Alana at her first day of kindergarten and said goodbye. Then Mark and Jacob and I went out to breakfast together.
Alana gets out at 11:40 for the first week, so Mark went to pick her up. Apparently the first day did NOT go well for her. The head kindergarten teacher was waiting for him when Mark arrived. Alana had gotten in trouble three times and had been sent to the principal’s office on THE FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN! (we are still not exactly sure what she actually got in trouble for – the head teacher wasn’t actually in the classroom) But, by the time Mark got there, she was quite upset. And the school was actually talking about expelling her (which they can do very easily because she is a transfer) The head teacher actually asked Mark if we tolerate this kind of behavior at our house!! (Yes, of course we do, we give all of our children lots of candy whenever they have a tantrum) But then again, we also don’t expel them from the family the first time they have a hard time. At any rate, her next two days and kindergarten went by without a hitch. So we’re chalking this up to first day jitters! (admittedly a rather extreme case!).
So we managed to survive the first week of school. On Thursday however, Jacob managed to be standing behind the sliding door of our minivan when Anarosa swung it open. He has a nice long bruise right between his eyes.
Our other excitement was on Saturday night when Mark and I were going to bed. We heard a noise outside and upon further investigation found that half of the ancient pine tree in the front yard had fallen onto the fence! It hadn’t broken clean off but was also leaning over the car ports of the apartments so Mark and I spent about two hours taking off as much weight as we could. So that it wouldn’t snap completely off. That was fun! For those of you who have not recently deconstructed a pine tree they are full of spiderwebs and sap!
Well those are the highlights this week!
After my Mom and Dad left we had one day to get ready for school! So we went supply shopping and got our two big school girls new pencils and backpacks and stuff like that. We had a bit of drama when we went to register the girls at their school. We have them transferred to a different school district, and we received their transfer approvals at the beginning of the summer, but when we went to register them they only had Anarosa on their list not Alana. So we turned in all the paperwork and did everything we could to get Alana in. It came down to the day before school started and we finally got a slot for Alana! Talk about stress!
Well the first day of school came and we got up extra early and got our school girls fed. Then we packed everybody up and got them off to school. I took the morning off so that I could come too! Anarosa walked right into second grade. She is a pro at this by now. We dropped off Alana at her first day of kindergarten and said goodbye. Then Mark and Jacob and I went out to breakfast together.
Alana gets out at 11:40 for the first week, so Mark went to pick her up. Apparently the first day did NOT go well for her. The head kindergarten teacher was waiting for him when Mark arrived. Alana had gotten in trouble three times and had been sent to the principal’s office on THE FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN! (we are still not exactly sure what she actually got in trouble for – the head teacher wasn’t actually in the classroom) But, by the time Mark got there, she was quite upset. And the school was actually talking about expelling her (which they can do very easily because she is a transfer) The head teacher actually asked Mark if we tolerate this kind of behavior at our house!! (Yes, of course we do, we give all of our children lots of candy whenever they have a tantrum) But then again, we also don’t expel them from the family the first time they have a hard time. At any rate, her next two days and kindergarten went by without a hitch. So we’re chalking this up to first day jitters! (admittedly a rather extreme case!).
So we managed to survive the first week of school. On Thursday however, Jacob managed to be standing behind the sliding door of our minivan when Anarosa swung it open. He has a nice long bruise right between his eyes.
Our other excitement was on Saturday night when Mark and I were going to bed. We heard a noise outside and upon further investigation found that half of the ancient pine tree in the front yard had fallen onto the fence! It hadn’t broken clean off but was also leaning over the car ports of the apartments so Mark and I spent about two hours taking off as much weight as we could. So that it wouldn’t snap completely off. That was fun! For those of you who have not recently deconstructed a pine tree they are full of spiderwebs and sap!
Well those are the highlights this week!
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
I've been tagged!!
a close up of the plastic frogs.....(cause every kitchen sink should have plastic frogs!!)
The Kitchen Sink....
What the kids are doing right now....
The Kitchen Sink....
What the kids are doing right now....Okay this one I cheated on, but only because what the kids are really doing right now is running around the house naked because they just got out of the pool (and nobody wants a picture of that!) But this is what they were doing right before on the way home from picking me up from work!
My Favorite Room is my new Kitchen
My Favorite Shoes!
The Bathroom.
My Closet
My Favorite Room is my new Kitchen (because it actually has room to cook in, AND cabinets!!!)
My Favorite Shoes!
The Bathroom.
My Closet (those are all Mark's Clothes by the way, mine have to live in a little tiny cabitnet)
My Refrigerator....
My Refrigerator....Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Quotes of the Day
Jacob: "If you're the world's greatest mom, how come you can't juggle???
(hmm... good point)
Mom: "So Anarosa, why do you think they call it a Canary Melon?"
Anarosa: "I think its cause the Canadians make them."
Mom: "Jacob it is definately time to change your diaper!"
Jacob: "No, no, no!"
Mom: "Do you want to just hop in the bathtub, I think that would be easier"
Jacob: "No, I want you to squirt my bottom with the Aquaman Squirting Submarine!"
Mom: "I don't think that will work."
Jacob: "How do you know?"
(hmm... good point)
Mom: "So Anarosa, why do you think they call it a Canary Melon?"
Anarosa: "I think its cause the Canadians make them."
Mom: "Jacob it is definately time to change your diaper!"
Jacob: "No, no, no!"
Mom: "Do you want to just hop in the bathtub, I think that would be easier"
Jacob: "No, I want you to squirt my bottom with the Aquaman Squirting Submarine!"
Mom: "I don't think that will work."
Jacob: "How do you know?"
Monday, July 28, 2008
My Day
Well, my day started off well enough for a Monday. I got to sleep in because Sarah is back from girl’s camp, which means that Mark can drive me to work without me having to get all three kidlets up and dressed. Work went as well as could be expected. I came home for lunch as usual, and I was heading off to Oakland for a work meeting after lunch. I of course was late getting on my way to Oakland, but I had my trusty yahoo driving directions in hand. Of course I got lost. I followed the directions implicitly only to discover that I had typed in 100 Broadway instead of 1000 Broadway. But you can’t fool me for long. I figured out that the county health department was probably not housed in the Barnes and Nobles at Jack London Square, so off I go to find the real county health department. I eventually found the right building, and the parking garage, and the correct elevator, apparently I took the back elevator first, and had to go all the way around to find the public elevator. By that time I was twenty minutes late, and I had to leave the meeting a half hour early in order to get back on time for Mark to leave for work!! But, not to worry I got lost finding the freeway on the way back too! The happy thing about this story is I did eventually find my way back home. A fact that I found rather encouraging at the time….
Of course once I got home, I knew I would have to take the kids swimming in the big pool. Anarosa and Alana had earned dollar store inner tubes on Sunday by sitting through Sacrament Meeting and staying in Primary the whole time (I know, but apparently I am not above bribery, and Jacob hasn’t been to primary in five weeks!! So I’m getting desperate) Jacob didn’t quite make it for the whole time so he is going to try again next Sunday. Well, the girls have been beside themselves waiting a whole 24 hours since they got the swimming inner tubes! And we have been repeatedly warning them not to be too rough with them or they will pop! Of course as soon as I get home they are ready to suit up and get to the pool. Once I say we can get ready everybody changes into their suits and in the excitement Anarosa “accidentally jumps” on her inner tube and it pops. Literally, not a small hole, an 8 inch whole on the inside of the tube! She immediately falls into hysterics so we hunt up the duct tape, and do the best we can to repair it.
Once we get that done, we head to the pool.
As soon as we get there, Jacob realizes that he is the only one who doesn’t have a tube, and he immediately falls apart. I know, I know, but I really need him to want a tube bad enough to go to Primary and to keep the yelling to a minimum in Sacrament meeting… So I am not going to give in, the girls can share with him if they want to, but you guessed it nobody wants to. So he is miserable and lets me know it. Next, Anarosa’s inner tube deflates in the water, the duct tape just wasn’t able to do it. And she immediately falls back into hysterics. Now my Anarosa has always been the sensitive one, which can be a very endearing quality. This however, is a full blown tantrum. And no I cannot make Alana give her, her inner tube just because Anarosa’s broke. And yes, I do know that I have ruined her life, and we spend the next 20 minutes with Anarosa throwing a fit! (Jacob also still upset) Next, comes Alana who declares she cannot swim with all this crying and yelling (I’m sure the entire apartment complex agrees with her by now). And you guessed it she starts crying too. Yep, it is definitely time to go home now! Besides it’s like 65 degrees outside and overcast and it looks like it’s going to start raining any time now! So I pack them all up, howling and crying and drag them all home. Jacob unfortunately had to sit in time out as soon as we got home, because the whole time we were walking back to the house, he kept calling me a Dufus, and after the third time I had told him to use his nice words, he went from saying under his breath to yelling it as loud as his rebellious three year old lungs could do it. By this time, Sarah is the only on who I haven’t made cry (although I offered to try if she felt left out).
So we finally get them home, and changed, and fed and put to bed. And yes, I am still the worst mommy in the WHOLE WORLD! Especially since at 8:00 I MADE THEM GO TO BED!
But the really great news is that once I finish with all that I still get to go clean the bathroom of one of the recently vacated apartments!! Well at least tomorrow already has something going for it……it isn’t today!
Of course once I got home, I knew I would have to take the kids swimming in the big pool. Anarosa and Alana had earned dollar store inner tubes on Sunday by sitting through Sacrament Meeting and staying in Primary the whole time (I know, but apparently I am not above bribery, and Jacob hasn’t been to primary in five weeks!! So I’m getting desperate) Jacob didn’t quite make it for the whole time so he is going to try again next Sunday. Well, the girls have been beside themselves waiting a whole 24 hours since they got the swimming inner tubes! And we have been repeatedly warning them not to be too rough with them or they will pop! Of course as soon as I get home they are ready to suit up and get to the pool. Once I say we can get ready everybody changes into their suits and in the excitement Anarosa “accidentally jumps” on her inner tube and it pops. Literally, not a small hole, an 8 inch whole on the inside of the tube! She immediately falls into hysterics so we hunt up the duct tape, and do the best we can to repair it.
Once we get that done, we head to the pool.
As soon as we get there, Jacob realizes that he is the only one who doesn’t have a tube, and he immediately falls apart. I know, I know, but I really need him to want a tube bad enough to go to Primary and to keep the yelling to a minimum in Sacrament meeting… So I am not going to give in, the girls can share with him if they want to, but you guessed it nobody wants to. So he is miserable and lets me know it. Next, Anarosa’s inner tube deflates in the water, the duct tape just wasn’t able to do it. And she immediately falls back into hysterics. Now my Anarosa has always been the sensitive one, which can be a very endearing quality. This however, is a full blown tantrum. And no I cannot make Alana give her, her inner tube just because Anarosa’s broke. And yes, I do know that I have ruined her life, and we spend the next 20 minutes with Anarosa throwing a fit! (Jacob also still upset) Next, comes Alana who declares she cannot swim with all this crying and yelling (I’m sure the entire apartment complex agrees with her by now). And you guessed it she starts crying too. Yep, it is definitely time to go home now! Besides it’s like 65 degrees outside and overcast and it looks like it’s going to start raining any time now! So I pack them all up, howling and crying and drag them all home. Jacob unfortunately had to sit in time out as soon as we got home, because the whole time we were walking back to the house, he kept calling me a Dufus, and after the third time I had told him to use his nice words, he went from saying under his breath to yelling it as loud as his rebellious three year old lungs could do it. By this time, Sarah is the only on who I haven’t made cry (although I offered to try if she felt left out).
So we finally get them home, and changed, and fed and put to bed. And yes, I am still the worst mommy in the WHOLE WORLD! Especially since at 8:00 I MADE THEM GO TO BED!
But the really great news is that once I finish with all that I still get to go clean the bathroom of one of the recently vacated apartments!! Well at least tomorrow already has something going for it……it isn’t today!
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Fourth of July and Other Stuff
We, packed up and drove to Hollister for the long weekend. They called us a few days before to tell us that some of their kids were sick, but that they were pretty much over their little flus. We were going to spend three days and two nights at our friend's house (they have four kids all five and under, so they're the same kind of wonderful crazy that we are!) We got there on Friday afternoon and the kids had a great time running around and playing in the backyard. About every five minutes they asked if it was time to set off the fireworks. Finally, around seven thirty it was time. So we sat them all down on the front lawn and started to set off the fireworks in the culdesac. The kids abosolutly LOVED it! They jumped and screamed and laughed. Finally, a bunch of neighbors came out with their kids to see what our kids were doing, and we ended up with an impromptu block party! We didn't get to bed until waaaaay after bedtime.
This was definatley the kid's favorite fourth of July. That night our hosts got sick with the flu though, so we had to cut our weekend a little short.
The next night Sarah came down with the flu. And then on Tuesday Jacob woke us up at 2 am by coming into our bedroom and throwing up on our bed. But so far, no one else has gotten sick (knock on wood). For me it's kind of like watching the dominos fall and wonder who will go next. But it's been three days and no one else has gotten sick, so maybe we're done!
Mark had an interesting incident in the park. I won't go into detail, since I'm sure he'll end up testifying in court about this one, but he ended up stopping some people in the park, getting a weird vibe from them, calling in their license plate number to the police department and finding out that the car they were in had been carjacked! It's never boring for him....
This week has just been hot! Today was the first non-miserable day for me. Although the kids are loving it, because I finally broke down and bought them new bathing suits (the only box we lost in our move was the "summer" box that had all the pool toys and bathing suits in it) and a new inflatable swimming pool that is shaped like an alligator. They love their new little pool! Although I think it probably has a leak in it by now, apparently cheap inflatable swimming pools do not hold up well to three rambunctious kids who have been couped up in a hot house for a week. But I also got brave and took them to the big pool in our apartment complex. We usually go a lot during the summer, but this year was more difficult since we are now the full time managers. I hate going to the pool, because we are also the pool police and have to deal with everone who sends their kids to the pool unsupervised (really people!). But, our kids are little water babies and they love playing in the big pool. Our big excitement is that Alana has grown and can now stand up by herself in the 3 feet area!!!
Well I know this rambled a bit, but I think those are the major updates.
This was definatley the kid's favorite fourth of July. That night our hosts got sick with the flu though, so we had to cut our weekend a little short.
The next night Sarah came down with the flu. And then on Tuesday Jacob woke us up at 2 am by coming into our bedroom and throwing up on our bed. But so far, no one else has gotten sick (knock on wood). For me it's kind of like watching the dominos fall and wonder who will go next. But it's been three days and no one else has gotten sick, so maybe we're done!
Mark had an interesting incident in the park. I won't go into detail, since I'm sure he'll end up testifying in court about this one, but he ended up stopping some people in the park, getting a weird vibe from them, calling in their license plate number to the police department and finding out that the car they were in had been carjacked! It's never boring for him....
This week has just been hot! Today was the first non-miserable day for me. Although the kids are loving it, because I finally broke down and bought them new bathing suits (the only box we lost in our move was the "summer" box that had all the pool toys and bathing suits in it) and a new inflatable swimming pool that is shaped like an alligator. They love their new little pool! Although I think it probably has a leak in it by now, apparently cheap inflatable swimming pools do not hold up well to three rambunctious kids who have been couped up in a hot house for a week. But I also got brave and took them to the big pool in our apartment complex. We usually go a lot during the summer, but this year was more difficult since we are now the full time managers. I hate going to the pool, because we are also the pool police and have to deal with everone who sends their kids to the pool unsupervised (really people!). But, our kids are little water babies and they love playing in the big pool. Our big excitement is that Alana has grown and can now stand up by herself in the 3 feet area!!!
Well I know this rambled a bit, but I think those are the major updates.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
I know, I know it's been forever since I've posted anything. I just love Saturday mornings at my house. It's one of the only times I get to .........ahhhhh.. .THIS IS WHY I don't get a chance to blog very often! Just as I sat down to write this miss Anarosa got out of bed to tell me that her tummy didn't feel good, and you guessed it, puked all over our three month old carpet!! (and the kitchen coutner, and the bathroom floor and the bathroom sink, but you get the picture! (and is it only my kids who can stand on a tiled floor and still manage to puke on carpeting?)
Now that I've finished with that, Jacob is busy trying to convice me to give him a high five with my teeth! (????)
Anyway, as I was saying last Saturday it was cute because we were just hanging out in the morning in our pj's and Jacob was on my lap. He started to give me a shopping list of things he wanted me to buy him, among them new EYEBROWS, snow for the back yard (which I can understand that would be cool) and a car, with only one seat (so he doesn't have to share with Alana) that he can really drive in the street! Well that's my boy!
As most of you know, my sister Sarah came out last week to spend the summer with us. The kids just LOVE her! Everything is better if Auntie Sarah does it with them. They are having soo much fun with her, especiall since she doesn't mind them spraying her with the hose in the back yard! (Mom is not nearly as fun as that!)
And it has been hot this week! I know that we have great weather in the bay area and that everyone else in the country has to put up with much more than I do, but I am still the biggest babby when it comes to dealing with temperatures over 85 degrees. I refuse to turn on the stove, so we have to subsist on cereal and milk, and every day when I get home from work, I send all the kids to the back yard and turn on the sprinklers!
Thankfully we only had three days of high temperatures this week. We ended up buying a second portable air conditioner. I didn't think we needed one that badly but Mark did. Come to think of it the heat doesn't bother Mark as much so maybe he needed ME to have another air conditioner! hmmm.....
Now that I've finished with that, Jacob is busy trying to convice me to give him a high five with my teeth! (????)
Anyway, as I was saying last Saturday it was cute because we were just hanging out in the morning in our pj's and Jacob was on my lap. He started to give me a shopping list of things he wanted me to buy him, among them new EYEBROWS, snow for the back yard (which I can understand that would be cool) and a car, with only one seat (so he doesn't have to share with Alana) that he can really drive in the street! Well that's my boy!
As most of you know, my sister Sarah came out last week to spend the summer with us. The kids just LOVE her! Everything is better if Auntie Sarah does it with them. They are having soo much fun with her, especiall since she doesn't mind them spraying her with the hose in the back yard! (Mom is not nearly as fun as that!)
And it has been hot this week! I know that we have great weather in the bay area and that everyone else in the country has to put up with much more than I do, but I am still the biggest babby when it comes to dealing with temperatures over 85 degrees. I refuse to turn on the stove, so we have to subsist on cereal and milk, and every day when I get home from work, I send all the kids to the back yard and turn on the sprinklers!
Thankfully we only had three days of high temperatures this week. We ended up buying a second portable air conditioner. I didn't think we needed one that badly but Mark did. Come to think of it the heat doesn't bother Mark as much so maybe he needed ME to have another air conditioner! hmmm.....
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Balloons, Balloons, Balloons!
Now, the first thing that you must understand is that my children LOVE balloons. They are not just amused by or fond of balloons; they love them more than life itself, more than candy, more than toys, and definitely more than each other (or so I thought). I even have a “No Balloons!” rule in our house, since I am so tired of constantly refereeing fights that inevitably end in somebody popping somebody else’s balloon and the bloodshed that immediately follows.
So imagine my joy when we went to an outdoor birthday party for their three year old cousin and they immediately shrieked at the sight of the helium balloons that were tied to each picnic table. The begged and pleaded until they were each allowed to take a balloon, and were running all over the field with them. Of course, Anarosa’s was the first to slip out of her hands and fly away. And of course there was screaming and crying. Jacob was soo happy to have his balloon, but of course his was the next to go. Now being three-years-old and going to someone else’s birthday party is hard enough, but to loose your balloon is unbearable. But, and here is the strange part of the story, Alana saw him from across the field ran over with her balloon and said: “Look Jacob, I’ll let mine go too” she let her balloon go, put her arm around Jacob and said “Look there it goes… it’s up there with your balloon! Look how high they’re going, Look! Look!
And that my friend is what can bring a grown woman to tears at a three-year-old’s birthday party.....
So imagine my joy when we went to an outdoor birthday party for their three year old cousin and they immediately shrieked at the sight of the helium balloons that were tied to each picnic table. The begged and pleaded until they were each allowed to take a balloon, and were running all over the field with them. Of course, Anarosa’s was the first to slip out of her hands and fly away. And of course there was screaming and crying. Jacob was soo happy to have his balloon, but of course his was the next to go. Now being three-years-old and going to someone else’s birthday party is hard enough, but to loose your balloon is unbearable. But, and here is the strange part of the story, Alana saw him from across the field ran over with her balloon and said: “Look Jacob, I’ll let mine go too” she let her balloon go, put her arm around Jacob and said “Look there it goes… it’s up there with your balloon! Look how high they’re going, Look! Look!
And that my friend is what can bring a grown woman to tears at a three-year-old’s birthday party.....
Monday, May 5, 2008
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Alana dropped the Pizza!
It’s never just as simple as “Alana dropped the Pizza” it’s always just a bit more complicated than that.
It was the end of a hectic week. Friday was slow in coming, but had finally arrived. Mark decided that I wanted a new cabinet for the bathroom, and incidentally, a matching cabinet for the wall. (Actually, Mark decided that there was too much of my stuff, on the very small bathroom sink and no place for his razor.) So he spent most of the afternoon and evening in various stages of “putting them together.”
Now I don’t at all mean to sound ungrateful. I certainly don’t like being the person who has to put stuff together using in the ridiculous instructions and using the even more ridiculous fake tools that inevitably come in the package. That being said, I have (after 8 + years of marriage) finally accepted the fact that during this process, I cannot make things better. There will be grunting and the occasional outburst, and it is best just to stay out of the room and take the kids away from underfoot.
This particular Friday I was tired, and had to stay late for a meeting at work that my boss hadn’t bothered to show up for. I spent the first hour-and-a-half after I got home, straightening up a minor mess and catching up on some housework that hadn’t gotten done, and by the end I was way too tired to even think of making a roasted chicken with several sides for dinner.
But knowing that we all were needing a little break, I decided to go to one of the “take-and-bake” pizza places, and pick up a pizza or two. Alana had been particularly good that day (and she was fully dressed) so I very quietly went up to her and asked if she wanted to go get pizza with me. She was busy on the computer and after thinking it over for a second decided that she really didn’t want to come. That was fine, I asked Anarosa if she wanted to come. Yes she did! Of course Jacob overheard and he wanted to come too. Anarosa just needed to find shoes, but Jacob was dressed in a princess skirt, batman cape and glass slippers. So we had to get him dressed from scratch. And once they were both ready, Alana decided that she didn’t want to be left out, so she was coming too! Well, twenty minutes later we all get into the car.
We were just a tad rowdy getting into the car. By this time, they’re hungry because dinner is late. And so before we get out of the car to go into the restaurant I give them the “we are going to listen to mommy and be good in the store” speech. Now, I’ve been watching Super Nanny lately, so I’m very sure that this is a good speech and given in just the right “kind but firm” tone of voice. In fact I’m very proud of the speech. We get inside the store, and order the pizza, the kids do reasonably well, with just a few reminders that they need to stop jumping off the bench and trying to land on the pizza logo in the middle of the floor!
We finally get our pizza, soda, and breadsticks home. Everyone wants to carry something into the house, Alana gets the pizza, and after several warnings to carry it with both hands straight upstairs. She of course tries to pirouette in the driveway, and in slow motion the pizza tips and then, everything falls to the ground, toppings first of course!
Words cannot describe how frustrated I was! (Well now, yes they can, but I can’t cuss, so I didn’t) I just yelled ALANA!!!! And went upstairs and hid in my room for about 10 minutes, when I calmed down, I took the sobbing Alana and went back to the pizza store, to pick up another pizza!
It was the end of a hectic week. Friday was slow in coming, but had finally arrived. Mark decided that I wanted a new cabinet for the bathroom, and incidentally, a matching cabinet for the wall. (Actually, Mark decided that there was too much of my stuff, on the very small bathroom sink and no place for his razor.) So he spent most of the afternoon and evening in various stages of “putting them together.”
Now I don’t at all mean to sound ungrateful. I certainly don’t like being the person who has to put stuff together using in the ridiculous instructions and using the even more ridiculous fake tools that inevitably come in the package. That being said, I have (after 8 + years of marriage) finally accepted the fact that during this process, I cannot make things better. There will be grunting and the occasional outburst, and it is best just to stay out of the room and take the kids away from underfoot.
This particular Friday I was tired, and had to stay late for a meeting at work that my boss hadn’t bothered to show up for. I spent the first hour-and-a-half after I got home, straightening up a minor mess and catching up on some housework that hadn’t gotten done, and by the end I was way too tired to even think of making a roasted chicken with several sides for dinner.
But knowing that we all were needing a little break, I decided to go to one of the “take-and-bake” pizza places, and pick up a pizza or two. Alana had been particularly good that day (and she was fully dressed) so I very quietly went up to her and asked if she wanted to go get pizza with me. She was busy on the computer and after thinking it over for a second decided that she really didn’t want to come. That was fine, I asked Anarosa if she wanted to come. Yes she did! Of course Jacob overheard and he wanted to come too. Anarosa just needed to find shoes, but Jacob was dressed in a princess skirt, batman cape and glass slippers. So we had to get him dressed from scratch. And once they were both ready, Alana decided that she didn’t want to be left out, so she was coming too! Well, twenty minutes later we all get into the car.
We were just a tad rowdy getting into the car. By this time, they’re hungry because dinner is late. And so before we get out of the car to go into the restaurant I give them the “we are going to listen to mommy and be good in the store” speech. Now, I’ve been watching Super Nanny lately, so I’m very sure that this is a good speech and given in just the right “kind but firm” tone of voice. In fact I’m very proud of the speech. We get inside the store, and order the pizza, the kids do reasonably well, with just a few reminders that they need to stop jumping off the bench and trying to land on the pizza logo in the middle of the floor!
We finally get our pizza, soda, and breadsticks home. Everyone wants to carry something into the house, Alana gets the pizza, and after several warnings to carry it with both hands straight upstairs. She of course tries to pirouette in the driveway, and in slow motion the pizza tips and then, everything falls to the ground, toppings first of course!
Words cannot describe how frustrated I was! (Well now, yes they can, but I can’t cuss, so I didn’t) I just yelled ALANA!!!! And went upstairs and hid in my room for about 10 minutes, when I calmed down, I took the sobbing Alana and went back to the pizza store, to pick up another pizza!
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Well, not much to report this week. We've been doing everything we usually do. We thought that Anarosa might have another case of shingles. But, the doctor we saw yesterday didn't seem to think that that's what they were. (she gave us the medicine for shingles anyway, just in case!) I think she could tell that I wasn't quite convinced that they weren't shingles, and I was prepared to come right back in the next day if they got worse!
Mark went camping with the young men last weekend! He hasnt' been camping for a while now, so I'm sure he had fun. We got to stay home all weekend (since Mark had the car) It was nice, and I finally got a Saturday to catch up on housework! Oh, my other big excitement is that Mark helped to pick a TON of lemons off of our tree. I bought a new citrus juicer, and after juicing less than half the lemons we collected I had four cups of lemon juice in the frig! So I have a feeling we'll be drinking lemonade for a long time!
Mark went camping with the young men last weekend! He hasnt' been camping for a while now, so I'm sure he had fun. We got to stay home all weekend (since Mark had the car) It was nice, and I finally got a Saturday to catch up on housework! Oh, my other big excitement is that Mark helped to pick a TON of lemons off of our tree. I bought a new citrus juicer, and after juicing less than half the lemons we collected I had four cups of lemon juice in the frig! So I have a feeling we'll be drinking lemonade for a long time!
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
April Showers
And speaking of Jacob, the little stinker……
I took the day off yesterday, and naturally didn’t get around to taking a shower until mid-morning. Jacob heard the water and immediately wanted to get into the shower with me. I’m not sure what came over me, but I didn’t particularly want to share my shower, so I said no. Now once I’ve said “no” I’ve painted myself into a corner. There was pleading and wining and crying. But I held firm, (on principal) I had said no and I meant no.
Jacob went away but came back about a minute later, and knocked on the bathroom door, “Can I come in mommy’s shower” “no” knocking on the shower curtain, “Can I come in the shower” “No” Now, he does his version of whistling at me – Which is really just yelling Whoo, wooo woot! “NO!”
He goes away again, and about 30 seconds later comes back.
“I have to go to the bathroom.”
(we’re trying to potty train)
“okay”
“I need help taking my pants off”
“okay” (pants come off)
“I need to take my diaper off”
“okay” (diaper comes off)
“I need to take my shirt off”
“no just leave it on”
“I can’t I have to go potty NOW!”
“all right” (shirt comes off)
“I don’t have to go potty anymore, I’m ready for my shower”
Needless to say I got out of the shower, and Jacob got in. I’m not exactly sure, but I think he earned it.
I took the day off yesterday, and naturally didn’t get around to taking a shower until mid-morning. Jacob heard the water and immediately wanted to get into the shower with me. I’m not sure what came over me, but I didn’t particularly want to share my shower, so I said no. Now once I’ve said “no” I’ve painted myself into a corner. There was pleading and wining and crying. But I held firm, (on principal) I had said no and I meant no.
Jacob went away but came back about a minute later, and knocked on the bathroom door, “Can I come in mommy’s shower” “no” knocking on the shower curtain, “Can I come in the shower” “No” Now, he does his version of whistling at me – Which is really just yelling Whoo, wooo woot! “NO!”
He goes away again, and about 30 seconds later comes back.
“I have to go to the bathroom.”
(we’re trying to potty train)
“okay”
“I need help taking my pants off”
“okay” (pants come off)
“I need to take my diaper off”
“okay” (diaper comes off)
“I need to take my shirt off”
“no just leave it on”
“I can’t I have to go potty NOW!”
“all right” (shirt comes off)
“I don’t have to go potty anymore, I’m ready for my shower”
Needless to say I got out of the shower, and Jacob got in. I’m not exactly sure, but I think he earned it.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Flying Kites
Flying Kites
This title immediately makes me think of the last scene in the movie “Mary Poppins”. An idealistic family, whose distant father has now become a bastion of familial attentiveness, skipping arm and arm down a London street singing passionately about the simple pleasures of flying a kite. My own experiences with kites have not been the same.
I arrived home from work yesterday tired, but ready to tackle the challenges of the day. The house was in need of immediate attention, by that of course I mean that lunch was still on the table in all its glory, and someone other than the ants should start cleaning it! I was immediately greeted by three very enthusiastic offspring who had evidently been waiting with baited breath for my very arrival. All of whom were under the impression that I had come home for the express purpose of taking them to the park to fly kites!
“Kites, I said we don’t have any kites!” (I know this because I purposefully did NOT buy them kites at the grocery store the last time we were there – but I digress)Yes, Kites, and then I spied the kites, my mother-in-law had included in their Easter baskets…….Well, as a parent this is the moment of decision. Do I crush their eager faces and give in to the mundane demands of housekeeping and the social pressures of maintaining at least a “presentable” house, or do we through cleanliness to the wind and head off arm and arm down the street singing the praises of high and holy motherhood? Well the first I must admit. After trying diplomatically to come up with several excuses as to why Mommy didn’t think it was a good idea to go to the park today, and explaining multiple times how I didn’t think that flying them on our deck (beneath the pine tree) was a good idea, I finally succumbed to the fall back position: “why did your dad tell you I would do it anyway.” This not being entirely fair since Mark took off the minute I got home to go finish the maintenance at the apartment buildings. (He also left before I could see if he was smirking, so generous as I am I will give him the benefit of the doubt)
Well after 20 minutes of stalling and furious cleaning on my part, and 20 minutes of whining and crying on theirs we finally grabbed the keys and the kites and headed to the car. (okay 20 minutes of cleaning and whining and 15 minutes finding shoes, but you get the idea).
After settling everybody in, and buckling about 500 safety buckles, we are finally on the road, and I am feeling immensely proud of the parent I have become! We are being spontaneous, I am responding to the call of childhood. So, we reach the park whereupon I realize that I have three children and three kite packages, but not enough parts to construct three kites! So after some very interesting negotiating we decide how to divide two working kites between three very avid kite flyers.
Now the hard part. I had naively assumed that being an adult of average intelligence I would be able to assemble a child’s kite. But alas, this was not to be. We finally constructed something very much like a kite, but at this juncture Anarosa decided it was finished and ran into the wind. It never really flew, but she had fun and only got it caught in two separate trees. The next kite was put together much more easily, but unfortunately with little more success. It however was also fun to run around the empty field with. It was a very windy day and we were right off of the shore, so thankfully the kites were always “flying” just never more than about four feet off the ground. Jacob and Alana took turns with the other kite and Anarosa took turns instructing them in the art of kite flying (which consisted of “This way! This way! Not that way!) After the first thrill of flying the kites was over, we began to squabble over turns and why they weren’t flying and anything else we could manage to squabble over. The kites of course at this point are intertwined and Jacob wanders off to the playground to slide on the slide.
Since I’m about ready to wrap this whole kite experience up. I calmly give them a “five minute warning” at which point Alana realizes she has not yet swung on the swings. Seeing her, Jacob naturally wants a turn and while I am turning around to help Anarosa untangle the kites, Alana lets go of the plastic swing, which immediately hits Jacob in the face and gives him a bloody nose.
So the next time you’re watching Mary Poppins and the Banks family skipping merrily down the street, flying their beautiful kites in the London air, you may now picture me, the mom with the three dollar-store kites, two of which are tucked under my arm, one howling three-year-old with blood covering his face tucked under the other arm, dragging one very sulky five-year-old with one shoe and calling out to a sobbing seven year old who is still trying to “fly the kite to the car.” And you will have the part of domestic bliss that Mary Poppins forgot to mention.
This title immediately makes me think of the last scene in the movie “Mary Poppins”. An idealistic family, whose distant father has now become a bastion of familial attentiveness, skipping arm and arm down a London street singing passionately about the simple pleasures of flying a kite. My own experiences with kites have not been the same.
I arrived home from work yesterday tired, but ready to tackle the challenges of the day. The house was in need of immediate attention, by that of course I mean that lunch was still on the table in all its glory, and someone other than the ants should start cleaning it! I was immediately greeted by three very enthusiastic offspring who had evidently been waiting with baited breath for my very arrival. All of whom were under the impression that I had come home for the express purpose of taking them to the park to fly kites!
“Kites, I said we don’t have any kites!” (I know this because I purposefully did NOT buy them kites at the grocery store the last time we were there – but I digress)Yes, Kites, and then I spied the kites, my mother-in-law had included in their Easter baskets…….Well, as a parent this is the moment of decision. Do I crush their eager faces and give in to the mundane demands of housekeeping and the social pressures of maintaining at least a “presentable” house, or do we through cleanliness to the wind and head off arm and arm down the street singing the praises of high and holy motherhood? Well the first I must admit. After trying diplomatically to come up with several excuses as to why Mommy didn’t think it was a good idea to go to the park today, and explaining multiple times how I didn’t think that flying them on our deck (beneath the pine tree) was a good idea, I finally succumbed to the fall back position: “why did your dad tell you I would do it anyway.” This not being entirely fair since Mark took off the minute I got home to go finish the maintenance at the apartment buildings. (He also left before I could see if he was smirking, so generous as I am I will give him the benefit of the doubt)
Well after 20 minutes of stalling and furious cleaning on my part, and 20 minutes of whining and crying on theirs we finally grabbed the keys and the kites and headed to the car. (okay 20 minutes of cleaning and whining and 15 minutes finding shoes, but you get the idea).
After settling everybody in, and buckling about 500 safety buckles, we are finally on the road, and I am feeling immensely proud of the parent I have become! We are being spontaneous, I am responding to the call of childhood. So, we reach the park whereupon I realize that I have three children and three kite packages, but not enough parts to construct three kites! So after some very interesting negotiating we decide how to divide two working kites between three very avid kite flyers.
Now the hard part. I had naively assumed that being an adult of average intelligence I would be able to assemble a child’s kite. But alas, this was not to be. We finally constructed something very much like a kite, but at this juncture Anarosa decided it was finished and ran into the wind. It never really flew, but she had fun and only got it caught in two separate trees. The next kite was put together much more easily, but unfortunately with little more success. It however was also fun to run around the empty field with. It was a very windy day and we were right off of the shore, so thankfully the kites were always “flying” just never more than about four feet off the ground. Jacob and Alana took turns with the other kite and Anarosa took turns instructing them in the art of kite flying (which consisted of “This way! This way! Not that way!) After the first thrill of flying the kites was over, we began to squabble over turns and why they weren’t flying and anything else we could manage to squabble over. The kites of course at this point are intertwined and Jacob wanders off to the playground to slide on the slide.
Since I’m about ready to wrap this whole kite experience up. I calmly give them a “five minute warning” at which point Alana realizes she has not yet swung on the swings. Seeing her, Jacob naturally wants a turn and while I am turning around to help Anarosa untangle the kites, Alana lets go of the plastic swing, which immediately hits Jacob in the face and gives him a bloody nose.
So the next time you’re watching Mary Poppins and the Banks family skipping merrily down the street, flying their beautiful kites in the London air, you may now picture me, the mom with the three dollar-store kites, two of which are tucked under my arm, one howling three-year-old with blood covering his face tucked under the other arm, dragging one very sulky five-year-old with one shoe and calling out to a sobbing seven year old who is still trying to “fly the kite to the car.” And you will have the part of domestic bliss that Mary Poppins forgot to mention.
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