P365 (+1) - 2012 - Day 91 - an early April Fool's...
My Wonderful Husband left today at noon for a conference in San Diego. He drove out to BWI and was sitting on the plane when they announced that the flight was overbooked and there was a child trying to fly home to San Diego - would anyone take a later flight and give her their seat? When he heard that it was a child and there were no other single passengers able to do it, My Wonderful Husband volunteered and let me know that he was headed back home for the night and would fly out in the morning. I did not let the kids know.... When he got home in time for dinner, he went downstairs to surprise them with an early April Fool's - I'm back! They were thrilled to get him back for the night! He'll head back to BWI tomorrow and get to San Diego in plenty of time for his conference and of course in time to go surfing too ....
P365 (1) - 2012 - Day 90 - a welcome sight
After two days laying on the couch with a stomach virus, The Princess finally got up, ate some dinner and started playing. It was a welcome sight! She tired out pretty quickly though and ended up going to bed, but those Barbies left on the family room floor were still a welcome sight.
P365 (+1) - 2012 - Day 89 - sing his heart out
Tonight was The Boy's concert at school. Unfortunately, The Princess was sick so she and I had to stay home. Luckily tonight wasn't a night that My Wonderful Husband had to teach, so he and The Bear were able to go and hear this handsome little guy sing his heart out. I'll watch the video later... :-)
P365 (+1) - 2012 - Day 88 - chalkboard wall
I was so sick all day - the day really slipped away from me. When I started coming back to life I mentioned that I didn't have a picture for the day yet and The Princess came up with an idea - she has been wanting to have me take a picture of the chalk board wall that we painted in the playroom since we painted it - it has been a big hit. So here it is - the chalkboard wall:-)
P365 (+1) - 2012 - Day 87 - reminder
While relaxing after putting the kids to bed, lamenting that no picture stood out in mind today to be the picture of the day, I looked up and read this sign that I have in my family room. It was just the reminder that I needed.
P365 (+1) - 2012 - Day 86 - adorable table
Last Friday, I found this adorable table - I gave it a fresh coat of paint to match the shelf above it and voila! I love it:-)
P365 (+1) - 2012 - Day 85 - Sneaky appearance
The stomach bug made a sneaky appearance in our house during the night. The Boy woke up during the night complaining that his belly hurt and before long he was throwing up. So he spent his day on the couch with his pillow, blankets, his trusty companions, Pluto and Pongo and the "throw up trashcan". This poor little guy fell asleep this evening and woke up with a raging fever to boot. I managed to get him some medicine and get him to bed. I am hoping he wakes up feeling better.
P365 (+1) - 2012 - Day 84 - Kids' Table
We finally got together with some friends that we haven't seen in
way too long. Those kind of friends that even though you haven't seen
them in way too long (because life gets in the way and time goes too
fast) that you can just pick up where you left off. The big difference
this time was that the "kids' table" had a new member - at least for a
little while before he joined the "adult table". It was so nice to sit
around chatting and catching up. Over heard from the "kids' table"
tonight - "Ok, what should we talk about everyone?" "Um, kid stuff."
"Like multiplication?"...... they had fun chatting and catching up too
and even more fun playing and laughing and being silly. Hopefully the
time between visits is shorter next time. :-)
P365 (+1) - 2012 - Day 83 - Date Day
I had a wonderful date day with My Wonderful Husband today. We started the day with a run - unfortunately not our long run after me being sick all week, but a good run to get back on track. :-) Then we headed over to Ping's for what I can honestly say was THE BEST meal ever!!!! I will dream about that avocado salad and sushi.....yummmmmm After that we did a little shopping around and I found a cute table and bench - great finds! We ended our date day with some coffee at C&C. It was a perfect day. Love that guy!
P365 (+1) - 2012 - Day 82 - Bunnies
The girls have plans to bring these matching bunnies to pajama day tomorrow. They were accessorizing them this afternoon in preparation.
P365 (+1) - Day 81 - an interesting dinner conversation
Yes,
that is a picture of my cell phone, which until recently I thought was
pretty cute with it's sparkly purple shell...very fancy. That was until
I was informed by My Wonderful Husband (who has the same phone minus
the sparkly purple shell) that his college students laughed at our
"ancient phone". News to me. Anyway, I thought it was fitting
that this be the picture today to illustrate the conversation that I had
with my children at dinner tonight.
The Princess
was telling me that they watched a movie today in school about the
invention of the telephone and she says, "it was invented by two people - one guy
whose last name was Bell and one guy whose name was Thomas". I said,
"Yes, Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Edison."
So
The Bear then asked who invented the cell phone - to which I had to
admit I didn't know. (which was met with surprise by my children as I
had just finished telling them earlier that I know everything... but I
digress...) (By the way - I researched it and Dr. Martin Cooper invented
the modern day cell phone. - see kids, even when I don't know something
- I go find out.) ;-)
What I told them at the
time, however, was that cell phones were still a fairly new thing in the big scheme of things.
While they know no different having been born in 2003 and 2005, cell
phones haven't been something everyone has had for a very long time. I
went on to tell them that I didn't get a cell phone until 2004. At this
bit of information The Princess's mouth practically drops and she says,
" YOU DIDN'T HAVE A CELL PHONE IN COLLEGE!" She was clearly in shock.
So I went for the knock out, "No, and I didn't have a computer in
college either." The Princess responds by shaking her head and lamenting the fact that it was like we had "no technology". At this, The Boy says, "Oh man, did you even have a
T.V?"
Now there is something that I learned a long
time ago working with kids that has been reinforced by my own
children. They have no concept of time or age. Clearly, if I lived in a
time with no cell phones or computers, I must have also lived
with dinosaurs. So I took it upon myself to clear up some of these
misconceptions and explain to them how someday they will be sitting at
the dinner table telling their kids that they never had whatever new
invention their kids now think is indispsensable.
To The Boy's question
about a TV I informed him that while yes I did indeed have a TV growing
up and a color one at that, his grandparents would all remember getting
their first TV and also when they finally added color. What I didn't
think of at the time of this conversation but will include now for my
children - I had a TV, but it had limited channels, that you changed by
getting up and turning a dial and I couldn't "demand" any show at any
time. Oh the humanity!
"What about cars?" they ask. Now at this
point, I am getting insulted and wondering if they are playing with
me..but I tell them (again to give them perspective) that while I had
cars and their grandparents had cars, their great grandparents would
remember the early days of cars. At this point, The Bear suggests that
maybe someday they will have flying cars. I see I will have to
reintroduce them to The Jetson's - that pipe dream has been around
awhile - but who knows....
After all of these startling revelations, I
explained how everything that we have now at one time had to be invented and
up until that point people managed without whatever it was they didn't
know they "needed". I fear that my kids will never truly understand that
concept as things progress so quickly now that not only do we "need"
each new invention, we "need" a new one every year to keep up. Clearly,
based on the "ancient" phones that My Wonderful Husband and I still
lug around, we don't completely buy into all of it, but I say that as I
type on my laptop, upload pictures from digital camera, read off my
kindle, check facebook, and Pinterest and well you get the idea....
In
the end, I told the kids that maybe they will invent the next big thing
that people can't imagine living without which started a conversation
about more flying cars, robots that blow your nose for you and other
such interesting topics. All in all, an interesting dinner
conversation.
P365 (+1) - 2012 - Day 80 - drifting down the stairs....
After playing outside for a short time, the kids came in while I was making dinner and had a very elaborate set up going on upstairs in The Bear's room. There jungles and castles, all sorts of characters, and a lot of laughing was drifting down the stairs.... I love when they play like that.
P365 (+1) - 2012 - Day 79 - I took one yesterday
When The boy came in from playing outside he was still sporting some left over lunch around his mouth along with one sweaty head, and dirt all over his face. Given all of that, when I said, "Oh Boy are you going to need a shower tonight." his response was "Really? Why? I took one yesterday." ;-)
P365 (+1) - 2012 - Day 78 - cute yard boy
It is a beautiful day outside and I am trapped in the house coughing up a storm and feeling awful! But there is a really cute yard boy outside that keeps passing by my windows.... ;-)
P365 (+1) - 2012 - Day 77 - chicken soup
I woke up yesterday not feeling much better and my cough had even gotten worse. I hate being sick, I hate laying around feeling yucky and this cough has gotten the best of me. Thankfully I have a pretty fantastic husband - not only has he been taking care of the kids and me, he also made me chicken soup for dinner. He is doing everything he can think of to make me feel better.
P365 (+1) - 2012 - Day 76 - I hate being sick!
It turned out that those allergies evolved into a sinus infection. We were supposed to leave for the beach this morning but after no sleep last night and intense pain in my head, face, nose, ears.... it was time to visit the doctor. I am now fully medicated, hoping that all of this works, and heading to bed. I hate being sick!
P365 (+1) - 2012 - Day 75 - Allergies stink!
I would like to preface this by saying that I love this beautiful weather - it has been such a fantastic week. However, my allergies are completely out of control and I am currently one.hot.mess. This box of tissues (and every other box in the house for that matter) are my best friend today. I can't seem to go two minutes without reaching for one. I fully expect to look like Rudolph by the morning. This is so not fun. Allergies stink!
P365 (+1) - 2012 - Day 74 - Breakfast Club
We all sat down for a big breakfast together this morning. It was a great start to a beautiful day!
P365 (+1) - 2012 - Day 73 - Dear Mother Nature
Dear Mother Nature,
Great job this week - the weather could not be more perfect! If you don't mind, how about more "windows open, gentle breeze blowing, soccer playing, short sleeve days" .....please? If it's not too much to ask... how about from now on?
Thanks!
P365 (+1) - 2012 - Day 72 - This is what it looks like...
This is what it looks like in our house after the kids get home
from school - the only difference today is that My Wonderful Husband has
spring break so he was home when the kids got home from school and had
no classes to teach tonight which was a nice treat! The Boy got started
on his homework while The Bear and The Princess had snack and told us
all about their first day taking the PSSA's - "It was easy!" was the
verdict. They didn't stay inside long though - as soon as homework was
done and snack was had, they ran right outside to play in the beautiful
weather!
P365 (+1) - 2012 - Day 71 - It's just soooo preeetttyy!!!!
Today was "operation re-do the laundry closet". I'm not sure what has happened to me or when I became the person that gets downright giddy about re -doing a laundry closet, but there it is. I was giddy about this project. Given the fact that I spend a good deal of my life standing in front of this laundry closet, I wanted it to be pretty! Is that crazy? -perhaps. But, thankfully I have a wonderful husband who not only puts up with my craziness and grand plans but actually agrees to do the painting. I decided that if this space was going to be my pretty sanctuary (yes I know it's a laundry closet...) then it had to be pink! But this project not only involved painting - it involved moving the washer and dryer multiple times and squeezing behind the dryer to reattach the hose - all done with minimal complaining (he is wonderful - but still human). There was also the issue of the light. I found a pretty drum shade that I planned to hang in place of the fluorescent light on the ceiling. After three trips to Lowes, three different light kits, and quite a bit of elbow grease to get the fluorescent light down, we discovered that in order to hang the, a fore mentioned, pretty shade he would have to cut the drywall, add a light box, re- dry wall, and hope there was a joist in that spot on the ceiling. I tried to help - I googled directions and told My Wonderful Husband how much faith I had in his ability (did I mention the pretty shade?)... But in the end, it was a no go. But once the washer and dryer were back in place and the new shelf was up and I put in all of my baskets - I was in Heaven - pink Heaven! It's just soooo preeeettttyy!!!!
P365 (+1) - 2012 - Day 70 - her class
When I went upstairs this afternoon, I heard The Princess reading out loud and peeked in her room to see what she was up to.... She was reading her Fancy Nancy books to her "class" of beanie boos. I ran for my camera so fast, I am surprised I didn't jam my toe again... haha
P365 (+1) - 2012 - Day 69 - Fingers and (bruised) toes
I have been wearing flip flops this week not because of the lovely weather, but because I jammed my toe so bad on Monday that I haven't been able to wear a shoe since then. :-( Sadly, my toes were not flip flop ready before my injury... Today I had enough and since most of the swelling had come down I decided to paint these piggies! (my foot was not feeling good enough to have someone else do it...) Now, if you know The Princess, you know that I can't very well go painting my piggies and not hers so... I decided that we both needed fingers and toes painted this afternoon. I found a cute green color for The Princess, since it is March and she is more color adventurous than I am, and I got myself a dark purple that looks black. I figured that wouldn't clash with the bruise left on my foot - haha! There is just something about freshly painted nails that makes everything else better. :-)
P365 (+1) - 2012 - Day 68 - Game on.
For the past couple of weeks, our bird friends have been building their yearly nest in the shutters outside our bedroom windows. If that sounds sweet and quaint to you then you have never been woken up at dawn by the sound of birds barreling into your windows, tunneling under your shutters, and hanging on your screens. You have never opened your blinds in the morning to find a peeping tom bird hanging there starring you in the face only to have that bird chirp loudly, as if you are disturbing him, and push off of your screen to fly away making you certain that there will soon be a huge hole in that screen. So sweet and quaint? Not so much. Our bird friends have also returned to our front porch where they have been following a similar routine to the one from the bedroom windows. Both of these places inevitably end up covered in lovely "bird mess". So if it seems that I am a bit hostile towards these birds, then that is certainly possible. But I think I am justified in my hostility. So today when I came home from my hair appointment and found this quite large bird just sitting on my back porch, I took notice. He sat there for a long time and seemed to be looking me right in the eye while I stood at the door. It appears that the birds are now sending in reinforcements - it is not enough to wake me at dawn, scare the bejeebers out of me when I open my blinds, and destroy any outdoor sitting areas that I have - now they are sending in their goons to try to intimidate me. Ok birds - message heard. Game on. Welcome to spring 2012.
P365 (+1) - 2012 - Day 67 - some creativity
There was some creativity going on in the playroom tonight after dinner. I love that they can sit around coloring and having fun.
P365 (+1) - Day 66 - Birthday Boy!
When the birthday boy came home from work tonight we had a birthday dinner and his special orange cake for dessert. Happy Birthday to My Wonderful Husband! We love you!
P365 (+1) - 2012 - Day 65 - birthday cake
Tomorrow is My Wonderful Husband's 42nd birthday and tonight the kids and I made him a cake. Not just any cake - but his favorite childhood birthday cake - orange cake with butter cream icing. The kids did a great job and the end result has the house smelling delish!
P365 (+1) - 2012 - Day 64 - a pretty Kindle!
I finally got a Kindle and while I have had it now for several weeks, my new Kindle skin came recently so now I have a pretty Kindle! No seriously, I loved this even before the pretty pink skin...I was unsure about the Kindle thing for awhile - but I am officially now a convert. I have been reading like crazy since I got it and the fact that it is now pretty and pink is just an added bonus. ;-)
P365 (+1) - 2012 - Day 63 -Charm City :-)
We went to Baltimore today - first to the National Aquarium, then to The Hard Rock Cafe for dinner, and ended our trip with dessert at Vaccarro's - yum! We haven't been back to Baltimore in three years and I didn't realize how much I missed our old city! The kids really enjoyed the aquarium even more than previous visits - The Boy was THRILLED to see the rain forest that he has been learning about in his class. The dolphin show and Australia were hits with everyone and they all loved seeing the sharks, rays, turtles, and other fish. Getting to pick new "bedtime friends" was an added bonus! Dinner was good too but the cherry on the cake of the day and the true early birthday celebration for My Wonderful Husband was dessert at our favorite place in Little Italy. I think we miss you most of all Vaccarro's...
P365 (+1) - 2012 - Day 62 - Borrowed words...
Today I will borrow the words of Dr. Seuss...
For my children....
"Live with intention. Walk to the edge. Listen hard. Practice wellness. Play with abandon. Choose with no regrets. Appreciate your friends. Continue to learn. Do what you love. Live as if this is all there is."
- Dr. Seuss
and because this day has a more personal meaning.....
"Remember me and smile for it is better to forget than to remember me and cry." - Dr. Seuss
It is impossible to believe that you have been gone for 6 years Mom, but I remember you and smile every day.
P365 (+1) - 2012 - Day 61 - Perfect!
A neighbor started making these awesome subway signs and I thought they would be perfect for the big wall downstairs. I am so excited that she finished them and they turned out fantastic!!!! The first one is all of the places that My Wonderful Husband and I have lived since being married (including the beach house :-)) and the second one is our house rules. I love love love these signs!!!!
