STAR OF THE DAY!

Years ago, on a girls night out, I painted a plate at one of those fun pottery places. I made our family 'Star of Day Plate'. To be the star of the day you have to do something outstanding, help someone in a HUGE way (WITHOUT being asked), you know positively reinforcing the GOOD STUFF our cherubs do.

Cherub 2 worked sooooo hard all week on his unit spelling test (review 122 words). I told him I was so proud of all his effort he could get the star of the day plate.

Cherub 2: YAY! Because I have them all right?
Me: No honey, because you worked so hard!!
Me: Mommy doesn't care if you get half of them wrong on the test buddy, as long as you worked really hard, that is all that matters.
Cherub 2: YAY!

He was proud as a peacock tonight eating off that plate. He deserved it!

My cup runneth over.

Day vs. Night

Yesterday. Snow day. Fun day. PJ day. Great day.
Played, crafts, unpacked toys, etc. All in their jammies. Cherub 1 had her new friend from next door over. The little chefs made english muffin pizzas for lunch. Played hide-n-seek. Snow day. Fun day. School free day.

Last night. Leak night. Wet night. Mad night. Bad night.
Right before supper I was on the treadmill (btw, don't try to do the 'run' program until you can run-very different from jogging) and cherub 2 screamed, "Mom, it's another leak!" So here is how the next few hours goes:

Use towels to mop up leak. Confirm leak is still in same place it was last time the basement leaked during a snow/ice storm. Pondering why we haven't fixed that. Hmmm.


After temporarily fixing area of leak, I become SOAKED as water is POURING off of roof. Get on ladder to determine that the gutter is FILLED WITH SOLID ICE. Hubby & FIL had JUST cleaned out this gutter like 2 1/2 weeks ago. Grrr to nature. Try to free gutter. Fear causing avalanche on top of me. Stop.


Try to catch water in a cooler. Sure that this will buy me some time to reach hubby in TX and get advice. Within 25 minutes, cooler FULL. Three times in a row I empty cooler. Well, can't do this all night. FIL suggests I pitch wood under the deck so when it goes through it won't leak in basement. Hubby confirms we have no scrap wood. It is at the old house. Prop sleds under to deflect water. Hubby calls to check on me and tells me that I am must be confusing the situation? WHA?

Remember. I am SOAKED, COLD and have been working on this for about an hour and a half. ALL WHILE cookin dinner for cherubs.

I freak out b/c he is thousands of miles away, and I am not sure why he is focusing on the part I am wrong about (I was not explaining where the water was pouring down from correctly-so sue me). He in turn spout out some not nice words.


I finally give up after that call. I took a deep breath. Enjoyed the rest of the night with kids...put them to bed, then sat down with this. All while wondering:
1) if hubby will forgive my temper tantrum,
2) if he can quell his urges to tell me I am wrong when it DOESN'T matter,
3) and if the challenge gods will skip us for a week and let us just live. Happily.

Contagious?

I am not sure if adult A.D.D. is contagious. Hubby has clearly been on the A.D.D. spectrum for some time now. Cherub 2 definitely is as well. Cherub 1 has a touch of it. Lately though, add me to the mix.

Most recent scenario:
Mid email to someone. Realize I didn't do the dishes from lunch. Get up. Go to sink. Decide I am hungry. Eat a clementine. (Forget dishes.) See laundry hall out of corner of eye. (Previously forgotten to switch laundry.) Get to laundry hall and see the box that is half unpacked from this morning. (I wonder when I forgot I was doing that?) Switch laundry. Get a drink. See 'inbox'. Refile some paperwork. Realize I forget to finish my email. Sit down. Realize I didn't finish unpacking. Get idea for blog about A.D.D.. Blog.

Notice: Never finished email, filing, unpacking or dishes. Intervention needed.

Etiquette is a lost concept?

Daddy not home, mommy not cookin.

I picked up the cherub's and they were starving after school. Off to Friendly's we went. It was one of those bizarre nights that they actually got along, liked their food and shared stories.

There was a mom with an approx 15 yr old daughter sitting next to us. The mom kept trying to talk to me b/c her daughter was texting her friends THE WHOLE TIME. She said that my kids were bringing back memories b/c now her's don't talk to her.

I was horrified that the WHOLE time we ate, this teenager did not get off her cell. Text,text,text. How about manners,manners,manners? I am not saying that will not happen to me someday but I think I would simply TAKE IT AWAY.

What is wrong with our world? Those of us that still remember Emily Post are cringing right now over the lack of table etiquette.

A New Goal

Officially, I am in training. Over many drinks Sat night it was decided. We (hubby, L, B, & I) set a goal to run a half marathon this fall. At the time I thought it was hysterical but when I woke up this morning feeling like my body was 90 instead of 37 I put on my running shoes.

After the kids got off to school I took care of a few odds & ends and set off. Here is my first day:

1) Huh, the missing sole of my sneaker actually is a problem b/c when I was running little pebbles get in there. New sneakers needed. Yes, baby sis, I am finally giving in.

2) It is very important to have your ipod charged ALL the way. When it clicked off half way through I fought to keep my mojo. It is already plugged in for the next run. :o)

3) Don't answer your cell while running, even if it is the much awaited doctors office b/c you don't have your calender in front of you. I now have to call back to reschedule the appointment I made.

4) I realized how much I MISSED running. Alone. Without my little cherubs in tow. I can fly, not be paranoid about traffic and lose myself in my tunes. I feel guilty about that. Pause. I am over the guilt.

5) When it is 9 degrees out it takes approx 1 minute not to feel your nose and 15 minutes until your legs feel funny.

6) I now need to wash my gloves b/c it was 9 degrees out and I didn't bring any tissues.

7) I know, you want the skinny. How far. I ran for 20 minutes and walked for another 30. For me that is probably almost 2 miles running. Remember, I haven't run in a while.

8) I can't wait for the next one. :o)

A Mom's Heart Breaks

Cherub 3 is so little. If you have been following our crazy blog you will know that this is his second year battling GI issues. The doctors were leading towards reflux but now his response to the medicine is inconsistent. I feel like he has been through too much already. CAT SCANS, blood work, Xrays, blech. They are now sending him for an upper GI.

This morning he started vomiting again (more than you need to know right before lunch time). While he was sick this is what he said to me:

Cherub 3: (with tears in his eyes) Mom, maybe I put too much salad dressing on my salad last night. Maybe that is why I am sick.

Me: (feeling my heart skip a beat) Buddy, you didn't do ANYTHING wrong. It isn't your fault that your belly hurts. It is nothing you did. The doctors are going to try to help us figure it out, ok? I love you! We are going make everything better.

I had to turn away so he could not see my tears. My little cherub. I think his little comment broke my heart. He is SO little to think he is doing something wrong. Arggh.

What field are you on?

Today is my day to be a floater sub at work. In other words, I 'float' from classroom to classroom, as needed, to cover meetings that the teachers have. During downtown today, I covered in the front office. Now, I NEVER blog much about work but I have to say that something happened today that made me feel MUCH better as a mom.

Approximately 11 items (homework folders, gym sneakers, snacks, water bottles, etc, etc, etc) were dropped off within the first 45 minutes of the day today. I felt on a more level playing field as I realized that I am not the only one that has forgotten to send the gym sneakers or whatever on the correct day.

Maybe that playing field is low, slummy mummy playing field, but hey, at least I am not alone.

Lookalikes get the Licks

Driving home today, cherub 2 was so excited he could barely get his story out:

Cherub 2: MOM! Guess WHAT?
Me: What?
Cherub 2: I got two icecreams at lunch today and I was the ONLY one that got two icecreams!!
Me: Did they serve icecream with hotlunch?
Cherub 2: Yay, and I was the ONLY ONE THAT GOT TWO!
Me: Why did you get two? (Silently praying he didn't swipe the second.)
Cherub 2: Because the cafe aide gave me a second and said I could have it because "I look JUST LIKE MY DADDY!"
Me: Who is the cafe aide?
Cherub 2: (shrugging) I don't know their names. Two ladies. But they know I look like Daddy.
Me: Cherub 1, do you know the cafe aides?
Cherub 1: No.
Me: Well that is awesome! (dial phone to TX)

Hubby: Hi.
Me: So, who are the cafe aides? Do you know them?
Hubby: Wha?
Me: (told story~we are both laughing) So...are you SURE you are in TX and not hanging around with the lunch ladies at the school?

The mystery goes unsolved as to who the aides are. They do however, know both hubby and cherub 2~who DO look exactly alike.

Little Language

Peenabudda. Raceted. Translation= Peanut butter, raced. The allonedon'ttakeabreathword or add a t to everything with an ed word. These are the pronuntiations I will miss when the boys outgrow this young stage.

January 20, 2009

A new day for America. A speech that promises to rebuild and restore. Approx 1,400,000 in person witness President Obama's inauguration. As one news person stated, a person must have a hard heart not to be moved by the days events.

Someone once told me...

Someone once told me that if you didn't truly love someone~ you wouldn't care enough to disagree. With hot tears spilling down my cheeks tonight, I am heading off to bed. Obviously feelin that true love because disagreements hubby & I have had.

Tomorrow is a new day. Hubby, you still make my heart go pitter patter.

Love you,
xoxoxoxo.

At least they didn't steal the jewels..

Drive around the parking lot. No space.
Hubby: Maybe it's a sign?
Me: What, you don't want to go through with it?
H: Do you?
Me: Do you? Do you have an opinion or not. You never tell me what you want?
H: B/C if I do it and you change your mind, you'll never forgive me.

Park, walk in, hubby, cherub 3 & myself.
Check in, pay co-pay. Start walking down the hall.
H:Are you ok?
Me: (Burst into tears. Right in the hall of the Lahey. Right in front of cherub 3.)
A private, yet notsoprivate discussion ensues about what to do.
Me: Isn't this a discussion we should have had at home?

A nurse from down the hall starts calling hubby's name, "Hubby? Hubby? Hubby?"
A second, emotional, notsoprivate discussion ensues in mid-hallway. Finally, we determine we are OLD and we have THREE wonderful busy children that are OLD so we should STOP having kids.

Hubby goes. I stay. Silently struggling to play tic-tac-toe with cherub 3 and silently struggling with the question, do we want more kids?

5 minutes later, Hubby came out:
Me: Oh, thank God.
Hubby: I took one look at that white table and the knife and said to the nurse, "I just left my wife in tears. We don't know if we are sure. Do you think I should do it?" I am PRETTY SURE the nurse DIDN'T have the answer.

Rescheduled for (the second time) for March:
Hubby: Why couldn't you have cried before he payed the copay?
Me: (Unlady like response given.)

While walking to the car:
Me: Are you ok?
Hubby: (with a big smile on his face) Yup, my jewels are intact.

Watch Closely

...each day so you don't miss the small moments of love.

This morning I turned 29~again. It really is like the fountain of youth over here. (wink.)

We went to family mass on this very snowy morning and were handed life's best treasures. If we blinked too quickly, focused a little to much on the wrestling in our pew or weren't paying attention, we may have missed my birthday gifts.

Cherub 1 was singing in the church choir and was thrilled to play the rain stick instrument for the first time. The sounds were beautiful but her excited glance to hubby and & I after she made the first attempt was precious. Sometimes as adults we get caught up and forget how exciting every little new adventure can be.

Cherub 2 went up to the alter during the children's mass. The Deacon asked if anyone could remember who was baptized in the readings. His hand shot right up. I held my breath, not sure if we might get 'super mario' or some crazy answer. His answer of Jesus blew us away. Not b/c it was right. Lucky guess or not, it was a sign that something had sunk in. The funniest part though was when the Deacon was trying to get the kids to talk about water and it's significance. He gave them a hint and asked them if they washed up this morning with it. "NO", cherub 2 shook his head. I didn't wash up today. So, our scrubby little cherub was on the alter but hey, dirty or not, he was really there. Hubby & I were keeling over laughing in the pew.

Cherub 3 cuddled with me all throughout mass until one moment when he broke into a serious wrestling match with cherub 2~right there in the pew. Hubby & I found ourselves muttering, break it up, break it up. Classic.

Hubby grabbed my hand during mass today. A small gift of love for my birthday that no one needed to see or know about. One that I felt, that meant the world to me. As we watched our cherubs grow up, we shared the laughter, the pride, the craziness~together.

Kiss the Bride

Just when you are worn down, just when you think you can't repeat one more thing, just when you wish they would listen the FIRST time~just once, they say the CUTEST thing and all the frustration melts instantly away.

After the NEVERENDING bedtime routine of reminders (and threats) to stay on track and do what we have to do (shower, pjs, potty, teeth, etc), hubby came home from TX in the middle of it. He gave me a big hug & kiss in front of cherub 2 and told him, "I miss mommy when I am away." Cherub 2 responded:

"I like it when you guys kiss. You are in llllooooovvvve. KISS THE BRIDE!"

We all giggled. Ahh, goodnight on a good note.

Is this what I was missing?

Guess what time I went to bed last night? 8:09pm. The cherubs having a snowday, playing referee, SNOWBLOWING in hubby's absence, and the usual chores while recovering from a throat infection did.me.in.

This morning, I felt like a new person. It is amazing what a little sleep will do for you. Is this what I have been missing all those years? All the sleepless baby nights, sleepless going.back.for.my.masters nights. If only I could go to bed at 8pm with the cherubs every night! I might always feel great, eat right, have a clear head, get stuff done, play referee WITHOUT losing my mind, live.

With all this sleep AND the kids back in school today, it is the bestdayeva.

All Sorts of Forts...

BOX FORTS
Three huge boxes...what more do you need?

First we decorate the inside of our houses. I am all excited, thinking we are going to finish and then attach them! What fun.


Then they starting poking holes with a vengence...what was I thinking? Daydream of cute little normal forts-crushed.



Later, we use flashlights to see the "stars" through the roof of our box homes. Ok, back to normal, no strange poking or craziness. Creativity back!


I think we have been through all the normal (and not normal) uses for the boxes today. Off to find our snow pants. Time to built a fort OUTSIDE!!

SNOW FORTS
The boys & I had a blast making our big square snow fort!




This is cherub 1, sulking on our great big rock. What's to sulk about? I tried for 1/12 hrs to get her to smile. I finally gave up and let her sulk. She was "bored"!


Warming up with hot cocoa after. I declared that my cocoa tasted just perfect! Cherub 3 answered it was "almost perfect hot cocoa"! Ok. We'll take almost. :o)

Two's Company

Three's a crowd.

You know the old saying, right? Well that is my house. Everyday. The title of my blog is "In (Not) So Perfect Balance". Think of it really, two on one side of the scale, one on the other. The scale is ALWAYS tipped one way or the other.

Before 8am today, before my coffee, I had already referee'd two major arguments in which both times, cherub 1 was 'left out'. (I guess it is her turn today.)

Here is my advice to the world who is considering having a 4th child. DO IT. Obviously, having a 4th to "even it out" is not a good reason to have one (hence, why I didn't) but to be perfectly honest, hubby & I talk all the time of our sneaking suspicion it would've helped sometimes. When 4 kids are in the mix and they start ganging up on each other (face it, it is part of growing up no matter how much I teach them to include all), there would always be a partner to be 'left out' with.

So, as you can imagine, I am THRILLED that we are having a snow day today. I just pulled an old mommy trick. I got the BIGGEST box that we have and a thing of markers. Let's make a fort!! Ahhh, peace for a few minutes.

Coolest Gift Eva

For Xmas, hubby surprised me with the coolest gift eva. Seriously, it was thoughtful, original and way cool. I have been blogging since late fall 2006. I always tell him that someday, when I am gone, he has to make sure that the cherubs get a printout of the blog so they can have their own record of our crazy life.

He published my blog into a hard copy book!

The book includes my profile, all posts and the images that were posted as well. It is awesome! He said that every year we will publish a new hard copy book from Jan-Dec.

So I can stop beating myself up about baby books and photo albums. This is way better. Now they will have the pics, the crazy stories and a little piece of my crazy perspective. (Pretty cool..I am officially an author!)

Top Ten

Right before Xmas, cherub 1 was really coming down on cherub 2 for no good reason. She was in the mood (pretty much everyday) to push his buttons and was trying really hard to get him in trouble. I had a heart-to-heart with her about how much he loved her and how it was unfair that she continue to torture him. I asked her to take some time and write a list of 10 reasons that she loves cherub 2.

Top 10 Reason I love cherub 2, written by cherub 1:

He is:
1. Funny
2. Fair
3. Creative
4. Agreeing, sometimes (The sometimes makes me chuckle)
5. Fast
6. Cheerful
7. Sporty
8. My little brother
9. Kind 50/100 times (It was killing her to say he was kind)
10. Sugary (aka-he gets hyper after eating sugar and this makes her laugh)

It took her about 20 minutes to make this list. I could be a wise guy but I must tell you, she really put her heart into it. She was very careful about her descriptions. She told me after that she was going to try to give him a fair shake about things going forward. That lasted about as long as it took her to make the list. :o)