Thursday, June 26, 2008

Our New Favorite Thing

We went camping this week and I am happy to say it was a huge hit! Even though it was raining, no make that torrential downpouring, most of the time we were there. We went to a campground that I grew up going to, which was exciting for me to bring my own children there. We stayed in a little cabin since we were not too sure how the kids would do with the sleeping and such. Turned out to be a great move what with all the rain. I have to say, I am very proud of us for not letting the rain get us down. We loosened up and let the kids play in the rain and get muddy, we took the time to enjoy each other and to relax. No whining or stressing about what we were not able to do. The kids had a blast playing in the rain, of course. At one point Morgan was sitting in a puddle that was at least an inch deep. They loved it and even better, they slept great! The cabin had a double bed and a bunk bed, I thought for sure I would end up in the bunk with a kid or two and Joel would be sprawled out in the big bed alone, but they did great. Morgan fell asleep while I was reading to her and then Oliver climbed up on top and went to sleep without a fuss. They slept hard, both nights. It was great! Tuesday night, after the kids went to bed, Joel and I were even able to sit out by the fire for a while. The rain cleared up just in time for us to have that time. Joel liked doing the fire. He started one in the morning and tried to keep it going all day, even in the rain. He was drenched, but the fire was worth it.
I am so looking forward to the next time we go. We're thinking about maybe next month sometime. Anyone want to join us?
I want to post some pictures, but I think I will wait until I have a faster connection.

Oliver cooking his first hog dog. We made him promise to eat it...he ate one little tiny piece.

Fun on the bunk bed!

"Cleaning" the cabin.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Famous...sort of

Hey, check this out!
We did this Relay for Life last weekend. Cute picture, huh?

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Superwoman

Ok, see those links to the right? I totally just did that all by myself without any help from the computer whiz (Joel). I'm so proud of myself right now. Of course it probably took me ten times longer than it would have had I asked for help, but sometimes I just want to do it myself.

Today was my first full day off and I really enjoyed it. Had a nice relaxed morning with the kids. I actually made a roadway with them out of Fun Foam. Spent a long time measuring and cutting out pieces. I even made a couple tunnels. Am I Mom-of-the-year or what? Yeah, they only played with it for a little while, then they were more interested in the little scraps that I left on the floor. Oh well, I tried.

The Peapod Man (grocery delivery) came, which always causes quite a stir. Oliver nearly pees his pants with excitement and Morgan spends the hour before he is scheduled to arrive asking me if he is going to ring the buzzer. She hates our door buzzer and climbs my leg every time it buzzes. The anticipation of it is almost more that she can bear. Then, when the truck pulls into the parking lot, they have to go out into the hallway and wait for him to come up the stairs. When he finally gets into the apartment Oliver has to describe everything in the apartment and everything we have done thus far this morning. "We have fishies. We made a road today. This is my pick-up truck."At which point the Peapod Man just smiles and nods...Oliver is hard to understand when he speaks normally, but when he is excited, forget it. Then, the unpacking begins. I think this is my favorite part. It's like a little bit of Christmas every time. No matter what it is that they find in the bags, they yell it out with joy. Bread! Napkins! Cheese! Oh the joy! Actually, they are rather helpful with the putting away. What with the delivery and the putting away, I hardly have to do anything. It's great...it really is a little Christmas every time.
After lunch, we headed out to an appointment and then to the playground. We had the whole park to ourselves which was great. Could this girl get any cuter?? After that, we made an impromptu trip to the Farmer's Market with our friend, Miss Jennifer. Bought some fresh asparagus which I ate ALL of tonight with dinner, as well as some zucchini and some snap peas. (Does it really make your pee smell funny? I guess I'll have to let you know.) We had an ice cream and enjoyed the afternoon. I guess I am glad that I am not home every day like this, because then it wouldn't seem so special.
So, I did all of this AND I am blogging, thus Superwoman.
Oh yeah, and...I made this cake a few weeks ago. Impressed?

Thursday, June 12, 2008

2 More Days

Can school just be over now? I am so done and needing a break from the routine. Monday is the last day of school and then Tuesday and Wednesday we have clean up days. I don't mind those days so much - no kids, no problem. But, man, these kids are driving me nuts. (For once, I'm not referring to my own.) Here are some of the issues I have been dealing with recently:
1. Playing in the gym, I tell the kids to put all the balls in the middle. "C'mon guys, balls in the middle!" So, one of the second graders starts laughing and pointing at his nether-region saying, "Get it, balls in the middle?" SECOND GRADE!!! I don't think I would have gotten that joke in second grade.
2. I see two boys tackling each other on the Lego rug, so I run over there thinking they are fighting and one says that the other was poking him in the butt and he didn't like it, then a whole bunch of them say they are poking each other in the butt. Sometimes, I just want to look at them and say, "What are you thinking?" I often wonder if it is okay for me to just tell them to stop poking each other's butts or if I have to make a big huge deal out of it and talk about keeping your hands to your self and how butts are private, etc.
It's hard for me to keep a straight face most of the time. Like if a student tells me that another kid called him/her annoying or stinky, etc. I just want to say, "Well, are you?" Because honestly, most of the time the answer would be yes.
Oh kids...
Things on the homefront are fine. We were allegedly going to go to Chicago next week, but that got "postponed". I don't really think we'll ever go. Not that we don't want to, but it is nearly impossible to coordinate our schedules and money and children and cars and all that a road trip entails. I am trying to convince Joel to take us camping for a few days instead. I've been dying to take the kids camping. I think they would love it. I know I miss those camping days.

It is way past my bed time.

Sunday, June 08, 2008

Catching Up

Ok, so I've been enjoying reading other blogs lately and have decided to get back on track with mine, though at this point, I probably am the only one who looks at it.
We've had a busy weekend. My niece graduated from high school on Saturday. Ok, why can I not get through one of those things without getting choked up? I can't figure it out. Mostly I am jealous of their new beginning. Looking up at those 30 or so kids in her class, I kept thinking about how they are about to start the most amazing journey of their lives. College and then the "real world". Life is never the same. At least it wasn't for me. College for me was a blast. I made some of my best friends, learned so much about myself and God and others and had tons of fun. I love where I am now, but sometimes I long for that new beginning of college again. The feeling that the good stuff is all about to come. It was so exciting. I feel like sitting Em down and saying "Enjoy every moment, remember everything, skip class sometimes so you can do fun things with your friends like play video games for an hour. Just don't let it pass you by so quickly - the real world is not all it's cracked up to be."
Speaking of the real world, 2 and 3 are killing me. It is a busy, crazy time. I am running in two different directions and giving double time outs and spankings. As soon as Ollie does something and I say no, Morgan is right on his heels to get in on it, too. Time outs are very effective with the boy, not so much with the girl. She trots right into her room, sits on the bed and waits patiently for me to come in and talk. Sometimes she even thumbs through a book while she's waiting. Then when I ask her why she has a time out, she replies with a big grin, "I did something naughty." Then we talk about it, she says sorry, kisses me and is on her merry way. A mere inconvenience in her 2 year old agenda. Oliver on the other hand, hates to be alone so a banishment to his room is a fate worse than death. He goes in kicking and screaming and once in there yells to us, "I don't want to be in here, somebody get me outta here. Mommmy, Dadddy, get me out." Oy.
I seem to have a new hobby, well as much of a hobby as a mother of two toddlers that works part time can have, cake making and decorating. I have found that I really love to do it. I made the kids' birthday cakes and then this weekend I made Emilee's grad cake. Caramel nougat cake with chocolate ganache frosting and fondant decorations. It came out great, if I do say so myself, and I had a really fun time doing it. I'll post pictures another time when I am not about to fall asleep at the computer.
So, I'm back. Let's hope I can keep it up.