And just like that... There goes the weekend.

Well, we're on to Monday again tomorrow. Hope you're all ready for it. Honestly, I'm not sure that I am. It's just that it's... Monday. I guess it's best to get the most dreaded day of the week over with first, huh? Now, there's the bright side I was searching for.

It was a wild weekend over here. Didn't get out much so we are all feeling a bit cooped up. Ryan hit the books all weekend preparing for a busy week of tests ahead. I'm begining to see how much work that full time program is (and I'm quite happy to be doing this part time, thank-you-very-much.... There's enough days when I think even part time isn't possible!)

To add to the excitement... Hannah decided... She doesn't like the new crib we put her in. Or something. Because she has been an excellent sleeper. Twelve (or more) hours a night, three naps a day, no complaints going to sleep. Loved going to sleep. Until now. Last weekend we put her in Lydia's old crib because Lydia got a new bed (which her dad and cousin Dave built-- I'll have to post pictures when I get a chance.) Up until then, Lydia had been sleeping in her crib with one of the sides off and Hannah was still in a pack-n-play. I was feeling bad that she was still sleeping on that thin little mattress and assumed she'd love the crib. Hahaha. Joke's on me. Suddenly she's waking up at night. Huh? I'm not programmed for going backwards. It's not supposed to work that way.

Oh well. I've been spoiled because she has been so good... But...this can't continue forever. Right???!

Have a happy Monday.

Three year old logic strikes again

The two older kids went to Grandma's this morning so I could get some studying done. When she brought them back she said she told the kids she was going to have to take all the toys away and put them upstairs if they wouldn't clean up when they were through playing.

It is an ongoing struggle to get these kids to pick up their toys, their crayons, their play-doh.

So. After Grandma left, I told them I needed to talk to them. I gave them a little lecture about how it's important to clean up our messes after ourselves. When we're through with our toys, we pick them up, I explained patiently, whether we're at Grandma's, Auntie Trudy's, home, wherever. Because, the next time you don't clean up, Grandma's going to take all your toys and put them upstairs. Okay? They nodded as though they understood perfectly and they would never leave a single toy out again.

Feeling accomplished, I gave them a quiz. So, what will you do next time you go to Grandma's? I asked. Without hesitation, Lydia replied, "I'll go upstairs and play with the toys."

Monday evening musings

Pondering. Wondering. Reflecting.
It's Monday. Possibly the longest day of the week. Early a.m. clinicals, a good old case of the blahs, a test to study for, two fighting kids, and a husband who has class all day and all evening. One feeds off the next, and then the next, and so on and so forth. Gives me the shivers. It's so tempting to go pull out a book from my garage sale stash, make some coffee, and imerse my brain cells in a thoughtless plot. Instead I'll continue struggling my way through the efects of phosphorous imbalances and acid-base disorders. Wa-hoo. But, Tuesday's right around the corner. And Tuesdays typically make up for Monday's so it's all good.

I'm still not giving up on fall being long and warm... but my hopes have diminished greatly. Summer more or less shut off like a switch last week. It came on Friday (or was it Saturday?), left on Tuesday, and pretty soon I'm going to pull out the Christmas music. Nah, not really. But I will let you know when that debuts. I have been known to start listening to it before the leaves are done falling off the trees. It scares some people. I just like the songs. Relaxing. Reminds me of waking up at home as a kid, eating cream-of-wheat, feeling the heat of the woodstove radiating up from the basement. Pure comfort. But I am not a fan of winter, so I promise I'll wait till October to pull out the tunes. Just so chilly out there today, I couldn't help but let the thought cross my mind. (Now I've really shocked some of you: Christmas music? Summer is just walking out the door and she's already talking Christmas music? Wah. Nuts.)

Just to redeem myself- I'm not a fan of the all the Christmas stuff out in the stores in, like, September. I just like Christmas music... And how did I get on this subject?

Note: In the few minutes it took my to type this blog entry my kids emptied out the entire contents of the toybox, smeared chapstick all over their faces, gave the end table a spit-bath, and retreated upstairs giggling about something. This is not good. They're moving too fast for me again.

Jumper cables & Lost microwaves

As we were taking off this evening to go to my sister's, I looked in the rearview mirror and there's Ryan standing on the middle of the road waving his arms. (We were going in two seperate vehicles in case I felt like staying later than he.) So... I reversed down the road to see what the issue was. The hood on the car was already up, so I pulled in right along side of him, hopped out and without a word went to retrieve the jumper cables from the back of the van. Something felt much to routine about that whole act. Too well cheoreographed for me. Like... Maybe we've done this one to many times recently? Ryan said we were like a regular pit crew. Huh. Not sure that's real great, but, okay. It's always good to work as a team, I figure. And if jump starting our lousy cars seems to be our specialty... well... at least we can do something right.

Okay. Gotta go find a microwave for Mark & Emily. Remeber not so long ago I was questioning how we could lose towels? That suddenly doesn't seem so bad anymore. I've now lost our old microwave in my upstairs. It's like quicksand up there. Put something down and SCCHLLOOOP! Gone. Never to be seen again. I'm begining to think it would be pretty great to have personalized GPS to navigate my way around. Make a left turn at the next basket of unfolded socks. Go straight over the crayons lying on the floor.

No... I'm pretty sure the microwave is part of the massive leanging tower in my craftroom, but one can only guess. Is it the base...? Or the lump halfway up? Searching for something is always an adventure in this house. Never know what you might come across. Maybe while I'm at it I'll find a birthday present for my sister who's birthday was this past week. Hey. You never know until you've seen my upstairs.

And, I believe I should stop right there. I've exposed enough of my true habits for now. G'night.

Garage saling, McDonalds, and sugar-loaded cosmic brownies

In a weaker moment of parenting, we decided it would be fun to take the kids garage saling tonight. That led to McDonald's for supper, to Wal-Mart, and then to a playground. Aside from Grandma & Grandpas, I'm pretty sure this covers all of their favorite places to go. So the brilliant ones we are, we decide to cram it all into one evening.

Garage saling was a hit. The second sale had been going on since 10 a.m. so at quarter to five it was rather dismal. However. Let me tell you: the free bins were gold mines to the kids. We let them go at it for a few minutes selecting things like broken cameras and plastic jewelry boxes. They tore through the boxes hardly able to believe their good luck. It was a chorous of: Mom! Can I take this? to which I'd reply, Oh, sure... why not? So as we tell them it's time to go, Ryan fills his arms with Jack's treasures and I turn around to take Jack's hand to lead him out to the van. There he is, busy grabing whatever else he can possibly fit into his hands as fast as he possibly can. I wished I had my camera because it was... great.

Then it was on to McDonald's. I sat there in amazement as my kids marched right in, knew exactly what they wanted (cheeseburger happy meals, thank-you very much) and proceded to find a booth for us to sit in. It got better. When Ryan came back with the food, they proceded to lay out their meals in front of them, plop their straws in their cups, and divide up the ketchup with no help from me. Okay. Backtrack. I think the last time I was at McDonald's with these two Jack was sitting in a carseat sucking on french fries making sour faces from the salt. Yet here they were: as comfortable with the whole scene as if we were eating pb & js in the backyard. I believe Grandma and Grandpa might have a hand in that one. Considering Hannah was the one in the carseat chewing on fries tonight I came to the prediction that the next time I'm in their with my kids will be, oh, I'd say 2 years from now? (Note: this does not mean I haven't eaten there since then. But my idea is a trip through the drive through with 1$ cheeseburgers all around, an order of value menu fries to split, and a few waters. This particular experience was all new for me.)

Wal-mart turned out to be much the same. I rarely step in that store with kids anymore, but apparently my kids frequent the place at the same time they're off eating at McDonald's. And then on to the playground- my three-year old gave us directions how to get there. Something tells me that wasn't her first time there.

So. After an event-filled evening, we made it home and ate sugar-loaded-cosmic brownies for a snack. Kind of fun to play Grandpa & Grandma. Every once and awhile.

If you don't listen...

As a mother, I find myself throwing out cautions to my kids on a daily basis. You know, things like- If you don't eat your vegetables, you won't grow tall like Dad. Or... If you leave the caps off your markers one more time I'm throwing them all in the garbage... OKAY. Next time, I'm throwing them ALL in the garbage. And that's a promise. And then there's the good old things uttered in moments of little patience like, If you don't brush your teeth, they will fall out... You're gonna get a bellyache if you eat anymore candy... see? What did I tell you?

Oh, as mothers we just can't help sending out warnings- even if we see those warnings simply rolling off our tounges and onto the floor at our children's feet. Huh? All I heard her say was something about eating more candy! Yessss!! Yet... it's one of our greatest duties to keep firing those warnings out. Don't run with a sucker in your mouth- you'll choke. You need your shoes tied- you'll trip. Ah. It gets exhausting, all this warning.

But one thing I find myself saying far too often and much more than anything else is: You're going to fall and crack your head open. Hm. I think I was told this a lot myself as a kid. So now it just spills out of my mouth without control as my kids are climbing on the table, jumping on the couch, slithering over the arms of the chair, standing at the top of the slide, balancing on the side of the sandbox. It's like the ultimate warning to a kid. The top-of-the-line, can't-be-outdone, better-listen-because-I-think-this-is-serious warning. And oh, what images it must conjure in a three-year-old's brain. Because lately the favorite response to that open-ended threat is: "I didn't crack my head open, mom! See! It's still there!"- and then she pats the top of her head as if to prove to me and herself that it's still there. And that, I believe, is my cue to breathe a sigh of relief. Whew.

So, with Monday outta the way

... We're on to Tuesday. And Dad's been gone all day and won't be home until the kids are in bed. And it's a humid, hot afternoon which leaves me feeling lazy, tired, and... well... lazy. I did manage to wash some clothes but my washer and dryer are located on the second floor- and since the upstairs feels like a sauna- welllll- I used that as a good excuse to stay as far away from there as possible.

Instead, I pulled out some material... looked at it for awhile... debated, considered, imagined... and then left it there and read a book instead. Wah. Productive, eh? I can't even get inspired to sew on a day like today.

School started today for many. We have a bit longer before that becomes a part of our routine which is okay with me. But I do have a bored almost-four year old over here who... loves my continuous, undivided attention. "Mom, wanna help me do this? Mom can you play with this with me?"

Okay, I'm smelling smoke... I've deteremined it's not coming from my house (pretty sure anyways) but I think I gotta go check this out.

Allright, checked it out, and as far as I can tell it's probably just my neighboor burning supper. Hopefully. Nothing major.

Time to go start our supper. Hm. Pancakes? Dad's not home, sounds good to me.