Mother of the Year?? Not This Time! (part 1)

Have I already written a post with this title? I really thought I had but I couldn't find one. Aaaanyhoo. Just as I was polishing my MOTY 2008 trophy and dreaming of being crowned the winner again my hopes were dashed by those crafty penguins. Always getting in my way! I am pretty sure the MOTY selection committee uses a point system. You can earn points for good things and lose points for slip-ups. Last week I decided to blow most of my points. Guess I'll have to try again for next year or be REALLY good for the rest of this year.....2012 here I come! Here is how it went down.

We were invited to a pool party on a Sat morning. We were a little rushed getting out the door but not a big deal since we were just in a hurry to have fun. Side note--I have been applying sunscreen to children since before aerosol hit the ozone. Maybe not that long but lets just say after 15 years of being a nanny and 3 kids this ain't my first rodeo! Maybe I was cutting corners or couldn't find some crucial supply or just spent too much time working on my hair; either way we get in the car and Medium start bawling, "My EYES my EYES!!!". Oh that Medium, she is such a wild card, you never know what she has gotten into. And no stranger to the drama...have you ever ridden in the car with her AND a flying bug? Well then you haven't lived. I check on her and decide she has gotten sunscreen in her eyes. I beg her not to rub her eyes and give her a baby wipe to clean off her hands and eyes. Just as Meds is winding down Large gets all teary and needs a baby wipe too. They are still sniffling and crying a little but not too bad. Then we hear this heart stopping scream from Small. While my Honey tries to keep the car on the road I whip around to see who is stabbing my baby. Poor Large reports, "Mom, he's rubbing his eyes!!!". Oh no, I am pretty sure it might have gone better with a stabbing intruder. He screams at the top of his lungs for at least another hour. I try flushing and comforting and washing and distracting once we get to the party but nothing works. One kind Mom at the party says, "Is he about 18 months? That's is such a hard age!". He stops a little while he is in the pool and was quiet while I gave him two donuts (after Lin asked me not to.......BAD Momma! But they were Krispy Kreme!). By the end our nerves were shot and poor poor Small was a hot mess! My friend was very sweet not to act like I ruined her party with my screaming baby and bad Mommy form. The good news is everyone is still alive and has full use of their vision!

That pretty much wipes out my points bank, right? Oh no, friends, that's not all I got! Tune in next time to hear more of my parenting errors and why I am no longer gonna slack off on my rule that the penguins only watch G movies!!

What's Happening at the House?

Sorry I have been a little sporadic (or absent) lately. Summer is busy time with less structure than usual (is that even possible??) which leaves little time for writing. So I thought I'd throw out some updates/random thoughts. The truth is I can't decide what to write about. What is important/interesting/funny after being gone for over a month. Writer's block is in no way funny, interesting or important that I do know.

1. Big News---I started a new book. I know that does not seem monumental but it is around here. I have ZERO time to read. I really love to read, but I only have time to read People magazine so that's all I do read. And it usually takes me way longer than a week to finish one. If you are a reader then you know how very sad that is.

Truth be told if I have time to read I should be spending it finishing Millie's thank you notes from her birthday party IN MAY. That might be the saddest thing I have said all day. I really would be working on them but I left them at home and I am out of town. Someday I will tell you about my ongoing inner struggle with thank-you notes. It's gripping, really.

2. And speaking of being out of town....I am living with my Mom this weekend. That's why I have 12 seconds to read a book or write a blog! :)

3. Why did I move to P-town for the holiday, you ask? Better fireworks? More hot dogs? No Way!! Lin (the handyman) Wright is remodeling our kitchen this weekend!!! YAY!! Guess you better come over and check it out or come over and bring your paint brush.

4. In other (REALLY) big news......Small is finally WALKING!!!! I guess it's not so amazing, after all it's not multiplication tables or speaking French. I'm sure some of you are saying, "That kid is not walking yet???". He IS almost 18 months old. He told me walking is for girls. Besides, why would you walk when people keep picking you up? He is absolutely too cute to pass up.

5. Medium is totally potty trained and accident free!! Less poop to clean up in my life is super spectacular!!!!! Fewer diapers to buy is pretty nice for my budget, too. :) She is still just as charming and funny and naughty as ever!

6. Ha! I forgot to tell you the name of the book I started, it's good so far. Minding Ben by Victoria Brown. Pretty light, about a nanny from Trinidad in NYC. Good summer reading. It would be much better if I were sitting on a beach. Then again wouldn't most things?

7. I felt God pulling me toward ministry again this morning. Sometimes I wonder if I am just too easily swayed; I always think pastors are talking to me when they teach about following God's plan. Even as a child, every time I heard any missionary speak about anything I would think THAT'S what I need to be doing. I thought maybe putting my thoughts out there for the world to see I might get some feedback or pushing or face some accountability.

8. I don't think God is unhappy with what I am doing for Him now, but I know he has plans for me after I am finished being up to my elbows in yogurt and dirty diapers.

9. Large developed some friendships over the past year or so that are very important to her. As I make an effort to help her keep up with her peeps it is fascinating to see how she interacts, reacts, grows and relates to her peers. These families have really blessed our lives. Large is an introvert trapped in a(n) (animal) house full of extroverts. That should be enough for a collective 'Aaawwww' for poor Large. She will definitely be on facebook when she is 15 searching for her 'real' family. Sorry, Baby, you are stuck with us (and we are so glad!).

10. Lin and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary with a little weekend trip to lovely Washington DC. We learned a few things about ourselves. We are sleek modern hotel-type -people not beautiful historic hotel-type-people. Truly we are B&B type people but that's a different story. We need naps more than we need museum exhibits. (Gasp if you want, our kids are 4, 3, and 18 months....we need like 100 naps to recover from that) We LOVE True Blood! Who Knew?? We really really like each other. I mean really. ;)

Thanks for checking us out today. I am so glad you came by. I must head outside now to marvel at my girls' sidewalk chalk creations and move Small toward the shade before his sweetness melts onto the sidewalk!

What a Mighty Good Man!

Now who has a song running thru their head? Whatta man/whatta man/whatta man/ whatta mighty good man. Salt-N-Pepa?? Anyone? I KNOW my sister will remember because I am pretty sure I got the smack-down or at least a dirty look for 'borrowing' her tape. It could've been a different tape or a shirt or her tennis racket ;) ....who really remembers! Anyway, Lin's birthday is tomorrow and I have about 10 minutes to write a love letter. How about if I just name off all the things I love about him until I have to go, okay? You can stop reading now if you think you might puke.



Things I love about Lin: He is handsome, soooo funny, very loving and thoughtful.
He is the life of the party and the butt of the joke.
He supports all 5 of us almost completely on his income alone. That might seem like a weird compliment but in these times it's pretty amazing.

Or how about if I run out of time and wait 5 days to get back to my love letter....sweet. It is now actually Tue but I still love Lin and I would still like to share with you some of the reasons why.

Things I love about Lin part 2: He always picks out movies that I love, even when I am convinced I will not like it. When I pick movies....you might as well leave when your popcorn runs out because I always pick the wrong grocery line and the worst movies.
He loves to straighten up the house. We have already talked about this, Ladies. If you drool on your keyboard it will no longer work.
Lin wants more for us. Sometimes I act like that's a flaw but in reality he is the one who motivates this family. Whether it's a bigger house, or improvements in our marriage, or a church that more closely matches our needs, or even better behavior for our sweet sweet penguins, these are all things that he makes a priority in our family. If it were all left up to me we'd be much more stagnant.
I am impressed that he is so self-aware and willing to make changes in himself. That's really amazing.
I love that he is so athletic and outdoorsy. I would be aggravated if I constantly had to drag him off the couch to go outside. He likes to do stuff and so do I.....it might not always be the same stuff but that's no biggie.
He is an incredible father to our children, they are totally in love with him. It shows every time he comes home from work, they all three run (or crawl) to the door screaming, "DAAAADDY!!"

Did I mention that he is funny and hard-working and adorable? And completely wonderful to me? Well he is! I LOVE you to the moon and back, Honey!!!!

A Message For My Medium Girl

My Dear Sweet Medium,

There are just not going to be enough words to describe how much I love you. But I'm gonna give it a shot! ;) You stole my heart from the word go. I was supposed to be wishing for a boy (cuz your Dad wanted a boy) but I really wanted Large to have a sister so I prayed for a girl anyway! Nana and I were SO excited to find out we were having another girl. I love my sister to the moon and back, I am happy everyday that you and Large have each other.

You smile and spirit bring so much light to our home. I love your sense of humor and the way you use it to your advantage. I love that every time I am aggravated at you, you either hug me or tell me that you love me. In your endless quest to keep up with your sister you have become quite the smart little cookie. You make me proud everyday!! I only know one person who hugs tighter than you my sweet Medium girl, that might be my favorite thing about you.....if I had to pick one thing.

Loving you is easy (most of the time) oh my little lover of spinny dresses, yogurt, Sam's Club, playgrounds, Dino Dan, Little Einsteins, balloons, and Jack B!!! You are silly and headstrong, and outgoing (when your not busy being coy) and excitable. I am amazed at what you remember and what you take in and what you forgive. The way you love others is exceptionable. Every time I see you squeeze Small or tell Large how she is 'your best sister ever' my heart nearly bursts.

I love you my sweet baby girl, have a great birthday! I guess I found some words ;)
Love Always and Forever, Mom

Moving Toward the Goal!

I do have some long term goals for this blog. Let me make it clear I am not a 'set goals' kind of person. I am not driven or organized or particularly motivated. I like ideas (especially my own ;) but I am not very good at following through. That's one reason I love raising children, it's daily work that can't be left behind or forgotten about. It's more about developing good habits and less about completing a project. Plus, you get lots of chances to fix your mistakes. And sometimes, the rewards are immediate. I am very easily distracted but if someone asks you for 'cold-ice-freezy-water' six times then it is harder to get derailed. So what was I saying?? Oh right, goals!


-I would love to have advertisers


-I would live to have our own web address (sorry blogspot!)


-I would like to have sections.....maybe a prayer request corner, or maybe pictures (probably not since Lin and I are fighting to see who can be the worst family historian in history), a 'parents share advice corner' would be great.....stop laughing! I did not say parenting advice from me!! I said 'parent share'. Maybe share recipes?





Anyway, I am not saying that I do anything to make these ideas come to life, just that they float around in my head waiting for my assistant to take care if them. HA! Hold your breath, people! On second thought don't, if you are reading this I automatically like you so please don't hold your breath. :0)





The point is, I am throwing out a piece of valuable advice today. I started an iron supplement this week and the package said 'Iron overdose is the leading cause of fatal poisoning in children under 6'. Did you know that? I did not! This may not be meaningful information for some of you but it made me sit up and take notice. Do any of you know how many times I have called Poison Control in the last year-18 months? Want to guess? Well it's enough that the last time I called I felt compelled to ask them if they keep track of how many calls came from each household. She promised me they don't keep track. Take That CPS!! More valuable info from me to you!





Lin and I gave it some thought and I think it's been 4 or maybe 5.


-Large ate an entire bottle of Hylands Teething Tablets (apparently you can eat these until the cows come home without any effects).

-Medium ate most of a tube of toothpaste (they seemed concerned about this). They told me to make her drink milk and that she would probably throw up.

-Medium got into a sample bottle of Zyrtec and a couple of Tylenol chewables (no big deal--to the poison control people)

-One time Lin and I both gave one of the kids a dose of some medicine within an hour of each other. Because I am a GOOD mom I can not remember which kid or what medication. Probably Large with some sort of prescription cold medication.

-There might have been one more...or maybe not! I thought I was going to have to call again today after I spotted Small chewing on an unknown object while we were in Large's class at school. I raced over to do a finger sweep but it was long gone. He was hangin out in the book corner...lets hope it was some paper. Good thing he is our third baby, it takes ALOT to make us panic now. Sorry Baby Boy!!!

The good news is poison control doesn't keep track and everyone is still alive and dust bunnies are non-toxic.

That's MY Girl!

Hope y'all had a great Mother's Day! I was headed to CWD to do a little shopping while Large was at school and here is how my conversation with Medium went:

Medium: Mom, where are we going?
Me: We're going shopping, Honey.
(A thoughtful pause)
Medium: Mom, I like shopping, there are no bees and no yucky pottys.

I am a proud Momma today! One thing you should know about me is I LOOOVVE to shop. Anywhere, anytime. It is probably my all-time favorite activity. Second only to sniffing fat baby cheeks.

In case you are wondering about a 'yucky potty'....Medium had her first experience with a port-a-potty this weekend. She was not impressed. And, in usual Medium fashion, she politely declined to use it. HA! Fooled you!! She cried hysterically even after Nana took her out of there. And she has reminded me of her 'no yucky potty' rule in just about every other sentence for the rest of the weekend. Since Large has a strict 'no hand dryer' policy we are pretty limited here about which facilities we can use. She (Large) tried to pass a 'no automatic flushing' law but I had to put my foot down and pass the 'we have too many idiosyncrasies' bill.

Have a great week! May none of your pottys be yucky!

Happenings at the House

I wonder what's going on at the Animal House? I thought you'd never ask! :D

It's Friday. Sleepover day. We loooove sleepover day here. Sometimes I love it so much I feel guilty, that's real love. Today the penguins and I were in the van headed to meet my Mom (let's call her QUEEN of the sleepover!) and all three were quiet little angels patiently waiting to make it to P-town.....

Guess again people, Large and Medium were screaming at each other. Well let's be clear Medium makes any kind of noise and Large barks, 'Stop that!' or 'Don't do that!' so Medium makes said noise over and over again as loud as she can until poor Large is so angry she practically has a seizure. And Small? He just likes to chime in and be heard, he has no idea why they're angry. He just thinks hollering is fun. Or he's trying to get the attention of some other girl. Shameless. So lets just say it was REALLY loud in my car. This might get to some people (ahem, Lin!) but not me. I was cool as a cucumber. My dear SIL can attest to this, she was trying to talk to me. HA! There are probably plenty of 'good' parenting strategies I could use to combat this behavior. That's for sissys. I like to turn up the radio, or put on 'kid' music. Why not, who couldn't use a little more noise and chaos? I did remind them to use their inside voices which worked out great for about 3/4 of a mile. As soon as there is quiet for 3 seconds Small can't stand it, he has to yell. And Medium has to answer him! Precious. Today I just floated over to my happy place and thought, 'Aaaahhhhh, 6 more miles until SLEEPOVER! Sweet!'. I know the day will come all too soon that I will miss those obnoxious, deafening, nerve-smashing noises. For now, perhaps I should ask for some high quality ear plugs for Mother's Day.

And speaking of Mother's Day......

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY, MOM!!! I love you so much!!! We have a very fun tradition of going to the Museum District Home Tour every year. I love spending time with my Mom that does not involve 'changing of the guard' (or changing of the diaper!) and I can't wait until my girls are old enough to join us. Well, actually I can wait until they are old enough to join us, I am currently working on a plot to actually freeze the penguins at these exact ages (perhaps I'll freeze Medium AFTER she's potty-trained!). They are so cute and squeezable even if they are exceptionally loud on a car ride.