N is for Not there yet

I’ve not liked the look of my blog for months.  I’m clearly still not there, but it’s 11:30 and I’m going to bed now.  I hope you’ve had a nice day.  Mine started off a bit rocky, mostly due to my bad mood.  But it improved vastly throughout the day.  The children played fantastically with all sorts of toys all afternoon and evening.  I love hearing them all play together.  Such amazing imaginations they have!

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M is for Me

Today I give you 25 random facts about me.  It’s essentially the same list I used for that huge facebook meme several months ago, though I’ve edited and changed a few bits.  

1. I don’t think well on my feet; I need time to mull things over. I think this is why I don’t use the telephone much and why I like to write things out on paper before typing them.

2. This winter we traded in our rabbit ears for a real deal, pre-cable/satellite days house antenna. Now we get NBC and sometimes PBS!! (Our tree line prevented us from picking up the signal on the satellite with local channels.) [Actually, we often get CBS, ABC, and FOX now as well.  The only thing I’ve watched on any of those channels so far is Martha.]

3. I make lists for everything and keep a pen handy to add things I did, but forgot to write down. I also keep a marker handy for crossing things off the list.

4. I live in a town of around 4000 people.

5. What I miss about living in Lubbock (besides our friends) is being close enough to NM-Santa Fe and Taos-to visit yearly.

6. I can see the mountains from my home and regularly drive to “the other side of the mountain” to go to the grocery store and Target.

7. I’m the youngest of 3 children and the only one of us to leave TX. 

8. I’m a planner and a people pleaser. Unfortunately this leads to many Saturday mornings of me asking J, “What’s the plan, Stan?” because I desperately want a plan but I also want to make him happy. He doesn’t like this much.

9. I think it’s exciting that I have no idea where I’ll be living two years from now.  [We are beginning to get a plan in mind for July 2010-June 2011, but I can’t share that until things are a bit more firm]

10. I’m in a constant tug of war between the world of convenience and doing things the “old” way. This relates to cooking, sewing, raising my kids…everything.

11. I don’t like to admit my mistakes because I keep thinking, given a little bit more time, I’ll be able to fix it.

12. I rarely make it through the night without being woken up by a child.  [This has been much better this summer!  Hooray for sleeping through the night!]

13. I like my cornbread sweet. My Dad thinks it’s terrible and a Nothern/Yankee thing to do; but hey, that’s how I like it!

14. I ate beans (not counting green beans or sickeningly sweet baked beans) and liked them for the first time in the last year.

15. J and I had our first kiss on Friday the 13th. He was expecting a little peck on the lips, but he got a bit more than that!

16. I don’t know how people live without digital cameras-I often take more than 100 pictures in one week.

17. I’m coming to terms with the fact that Little Lamb will be our last child.  As crazy and hectic as things are, I’m a little sad not to see all those precious firsts again.

18. J and I were friends for a year before we dated. As little as 2 weeks before our first date, I NEVER would have guessed we’d get together, much less be married and have 3 kids together.

19. I believe God brings you just what you need when you least expect it.

20. I think there is nothing cuter than 1-3 year old boys in Jon Jons. 

21. I love the sound of a good belly laugh.

22. I moved once as a child, but 6 times since I’ve been married.

23. I love to cook and bake from scratch as much as possible. I’m thinking homemade pasta may be my next experiment.  [Still haven’t tried this.  Though I’m tackling bread right now.  Pasta WILL be next!]

24. I don’t think a family can ever have enough children’s books.

25. I have an uncanny ability to overlook mess while obsessing over important matters-like identifying the birds in my yard with my kids.

I know after I originally did this, I thought of all kinds of “better” random facts.  Fortunately for you, I can’t remember any of them now.

L is for Library

Not long ago, I wrote about my love for our library’s summer reading program.  I really do love it, and my only complaint is that it is simply too short!  We had some books that were due today, so I looked online to check the hours for today.  I was sooo glad I did because today was the celebration for the last day of the reading program.  Every year they thank all the kids for participating by hosting an ice cream party at the library.  They also announce how many books were read.  This year the total was over 8400.  Just in our tiny town!
The kids had a great time, and even got the chance to meet Biscuit, the much beloved dog.  We have several of his books, so the kids were anxious to give him a hug.  Little Lamb chickened out in the end, but gave him a couple of sweet waves.  That’s all I really expected anyway.  Here’s a few fun pictures of our evening.  I know, actual pictures!  J isn’t home from work yet, so I was able to sneak a little laptop time.

Little Bear was happy to give Biscuit a big hug!

So was Belle!  This is a seriously big step for her.

Little Lamb enjoying her ice cream sandwich.  In the interest of keeping her from making a complete mess of herself, I took the fall and ate half her sandwich.  Tough job, but somebody has to do it!

Little Bear chose a popsicle which turned his lips and tongue ridiculously red.

My three angels.  Nevermind that it looks like LB is bleeding all over his mouth.  He saved that for the road home when he announced he was bleeding in his nose.  Poor kid was digging for gold, I guess, and gave himself a whopper of a nose bleed.  As for Belle’s smile, I have no explanation.  I’m working on it, but clearly haven’t come up with the magic words.  Little Lamb was far too concerned with her messy hands to worry about a picture.

K is for Kind

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, there is nothing as important in the life of a parent as teaching your children to be good people.  Academics, sports, whathaveyou will all come in time and can readily be taught by someone else besides yourself.  But character, that’s one I am not willing to pass over to someone else.  That’s not to say they can’t learn good behavior from teachers or other adults, but it’s not their duty.  It’s mine and J’s, as the parents to our three children, to help them be kind and gentle children who will some day grow up to responsible, thinking adults.       Unfortunately, not everyone shares my opinion.  And while I’m not so bold as to speak up to a random child out in public, unless perhaps they do something to my child, I’m not afraid to say something when I’m in an authority position of some kind.  Take for instance my week teaching VBS.  I was the crafts teacher, so I dealt with all the children each day.  There was one group in particular that tested my patience regularly.  As is usually the case, there was one child that seemed to light a spark of misbehavior in the other children.  At one point one of the boys (not the starter, but frequent joiner) did something particularly mean-I don’t remember the exact offense, but it likely involved smacking someone with that days’ craft.  I looked at him and said “Alex* was that a kind thing to do?”  He looked back at me, stunned, as though he had never been asked that before, and said “No” turning his eyes toward the floor.  I asked him to think about that next time before he did something to a friend.  I didn’t make a big deal about it, but I wanted to give him something to think about.  I don’t know that it changed his behavior much that day, but I do hope that some day he will remember to stop and think first.
      I am often complimented on my children’s behavior.  When Belle was young, I usually made an excuse like “She’s just shy” or something.  But now, I thank the person for noticing and generally I tell them that we (meaning J and I) have worked hard to make it so.  Parenting is hard work, but the payoffs are immeasurable!

*Clearly I changed the name, seeing as I’m not certain I even remember the child’s name anyway

J is for Jumping back in

Sorry for the absence, my parents came in town for the week, taking my children and I to Baltimore for vacation. I thought perhaps I’d get around to writing a time or two while we were there, but I never managed to have the energy when I had the time. I suppose “jumping back in” isn’t quite right because I’m keeping it short tonight and going to bed. More like dipping in my toe…

I is for…I don’t know what it’s for!

I just can’t think of anything to use with “I” besides possibly interesting and that just seems silly. I’m in the midst of a “hurry up and clean, my parents are coming in a few hours!” kind of day, so I don’t have much time to sit here at the old computer. I did, however, want to drop in and tell you about something unexpected I found. (If only I could have come up with an “I” word that meant unexpected…)
We headed to Target yesterday for the first time in quite a while. My love runs deep for Target, but it’s often rather difficult for me to stay within budget, esp when I have all three kids with me. We were browsing through the dollar aisles, as we always do, and made a surprising discovery…chapter books! They are “Junior Classics” which means they are somewhat abridged versions of the original tales, but I think that puts them at just the right reading level for Belle. I snatched up Anne of Green Gables, Little Women, Tom Sawyer, and Black Beauty. While I’d like Belle to read the original writings when she’s ready, I’m excited to add something new to our list for her this summer.

Difficult discussions

(AKA H is for Hard topics)

There are a lot of topics that can be tough to bring up with your spouse.  Maybe it’s your sex life (yes, I just wrote that), maybe it’s money, or kids, or maybe it’s death.

Strange, I know, but it’s something J and I have talked about somewhat.  Mostly on long car trips when we have hours to spend just talking to each other (and dealing with the children).  I was listening to Dr. Oz on XM several months ago talking about organ donors.  There is a much greater need for organs than there are donors.  That’s not surprising really, given our selfish natures.  However, for me, personally, being an organ donor is a no brainer.   Should I become ill and need an organ, I would hope and pray that someone would be willing to help me out.  It’s my philosophy that if I’d want someone to do something for me, I have to be willing to do it for them.  Make sense?  
Some people believe that putting a sticker on their Driver’s License is enough, but according to Dr. Oz and his guest, they may never even look at your license until it is too late.  If you want to be an organ donor, you need to tell your spouse, your parents, your children (when they are old enough to understand).  That’s who the doctors will be asking, should the time come.
I’ve also told J that, should I be killed in a car accident, I don’t want him to put up a sign on the side of the road.  I understand why people do that, but it’s just not what I would want.  If he and the kids want to plant a tree somewhere to remember me, that’s fine with me.  But I don’t want a physical reminder for the kids in the exact spot where I died.  That seems like too much for them.  Ultimately, I’d like them to forget the details like that and remember my love for them and for God’s beautiful creation.  
Ugh.  When I planned to write this, it seemed like a good idea.  Now, as I write it out, I’m tearing up at the thought of being separated from J and the kids.  I guess that’s the point, though.  We have certain ideas-hopes, dreams, plans-for our lives and it’s not fun to think about what would happen if… We need to talk with our families about these things.  I think, ultimately, it would be a comfort to know that you knew what your spouse wanted, that you were upholding their wishes.  If you never have the conversations, how would you know?
I pray that is a very, very long time before I have to deal with any of this heavy stuff.  But, it does give me a little peace to know that J and I have discussed these things.  And I promise tomorrow I’ll be back to my happy, fluffy posts.

G is for Girls!

I knew when Belle was born that I’d dodged a big bullet.  I’d never have to hope and pray the “next one” would be a girl.  At the time, I was fairly indifferent about having a son.  J didn’t have huge aspirations of having a son either, so we were both somewhat relieved to have a girl.  (Of course, now that I have a son, I realize I had NO idea what a blessing it is to have a son.)  In fact, J and I were a bit apprehensive to learn we were having a son when I was pregnant with Little Bear.  We’d always imagined having two little girls in frilly dresses and sweet hairbows.  But we knew above all, that we were thankful for a happy, healthy baby, no matter the sex.  Then, when Little Lamb was born, I was excited to finally have two girls to dress is pretty dresses and play with their hair.
The funny thing is, these two girls of mine are so very different from one another.  When Belle was 2.5, she refused to wear anything but dresses.  She knew every princess movie forwards and backwards.  She sang songs in her sweet little girl voice and danced to the Sleeping Beauty music in her room every day.  When it came to accessories, the more the better.  Sparkly shoes, a feather boa, sunglasses, necklaces, bracelets, crowns were all a daily affair.  Belle was (and still is) a girly girl through and through.  
Perhaps it’s due to her proximity in age to Little Bear, or maybe it’s just how she’s wired, but Little Lamb just is not the girly girl that Belle was.  She will wear dresses if I pick them out, but she doesn’t choose them herself.  I tell her she has to wear hairbows “to keep her hair out of her face”, but she generally pulls them out half way through the day.  She wears sunglasses to keep the sun out of her eyes, but she’d much rather have Little Bear’s Wall-E glasses than her own flowery ones.   She hardly knows the princesses by name, but she knows who Peter Parker, Bruce Wayne, and Tony Stark are.  (That’s Spiderman, Batman, and Ironman, if you didn’t know.)  She’d rather be Anakin Skywalker than Princess Leia any day.  In fact, she’ll probably cry if you ask to play as Padme or Leia.  She likes animals, much like Belle, but she often picks cows over cute things like cats or dogs.  She does play with girls when they play Pollys, but she’s had some pretty big fights with Little Bear over our two boy Barbies.
Little Lamb is a fun little girl, that’s for sure.  And, she’s growing up far too quickly for my taste.  I didn’t expect her to be just like Belle, but I never would have guessed the princess castle would sit untouched all this time or that I’d have no need to replace the broken crown in the dress-up box.  Belle is still hoping she’ll come around and start liking more girl stuff.  Me, I’m just having fun watching her be her own little self.  There’s no greater gift than to watch your children blossom right before you eyes!

F is for Finished!!

Yes, friends, I did indeed finish BOTH pillows. The second one went much faster than I expected, which was a happy surprise. I won’t be able to share any pictures until tomorrow as J’s laptop is in the windows mode and I can’t download the photos until I get it back in mac mode. That sounds more complicated than it really is. Mostly I just have to wait until morning, when he’ll be finished recording his music, and restart the computer.
I am super thrilled with the pillows! Now if I just had a sofa worthy of the pillows…Another day, perhaps.

Here’s the early design phase, showing the napkins in their original state.  (And a rather lumpy pillow insert.)

Here is the first pillow.  The patchworking went quickly enough, but the hand stitched circles took a little extra time.  In the end, I think it was time well spent.  I have it sitting here with the table cloth that matches the napkins.

Here’s the second pillow.  I switched it to a different pillow insert which fits it better, but I’d already taken the picture and I’m just lazy enough not to take another!  I was quite nervous with how the machine stitching around the circle and the flower would go, but I’m really happy with it!  It’s purposefully imperfect.

And now, I’m working on a third!  I seem to have some sort of illness…

E is for Excellent!

And Exactly what I needed!

We had a really great day, here in depechemom land. I filled a plastic bowl with water out on the deck and the kids spent hours playing Polly Pockets in the “pool”. They used the Mickey Mouse Playhouse slide for a fun entry and splashed away. Thank goodness for the two princes we have from the Disney sets, so Polly’s aren’t just a girl thing.
Meanwhile, I drug out the sewing machine and started working on some pillow covers for our sofa. J bought me some nice pillows a year ago, but it wasn’t long before they were full of stains. Most of them have silk covers which have to be dry cleaned-that’s not happening any time soon! I found some cloth napkins on clearance that coordinate with our table cloth and the general colors of our living/dining room. I have one nearly finished and the other is still in the design phase. If I’d kept them more simple, they’d already be finished. I just can’t leave well enough alone. That’s alright, though, because I’ve had a ton of fun designing them. With any luck, tomorrow will be F is for finished!

Here’s a couple pictures of the the kids playing away.