How One Project Becomes Two

Our microwave quit working about a week ago. We took it to an appliance repair shop hoping for an inexpensive fix that would give us a couple more years, but that wasn't the case. So we spent part of Friday evening and Saturday afternoon looking for a new one. 

While we were out on Friday we did a few other things on our to-do list. Target was one of our stops, and  couple of new outdoor pillows found their way into my shopping cart. Today, I moved our small set of porch furniture from the back porch to the front, tossed on the new pillows, and decided the front door needs a new paint color. (We'll probably want some {more} furniture for the back porch eventually, too.

Porch furniture ca. 2004.  It's help up pretty well!  I like how the new pillows perk it up a bit!

I think the door will be a happy, peacock blue when A) it stops raining, and B) it's cool enough to leave a door open all day for paint to dry. 

And that is how one project quickly became two. (Never mind the imminent master bedroom makeover - I've got a few (small) new pieces on order of that room. They will be here in August, I hope!)

My Week - and I'm still Thankful (also Thursday Thanks Tank #25)

It's been an interesting one, for sure, but I still have a lot for which to be thankful.

We had lunch at school with the kids on Monday.  Our Valentine treat to them was bringing in Chick-Fil-A!  With the "lunch in the classroom" arrangement of their school, we aren't sitting in front of the preschool or K1 classes with our 'special' lunch - we get them from their classrooms all sit together at a special table.  We typically have some really fun family time when we do this, and Monday was no exception.  Have I mentioned this is a great treat for Mommy, too?  No lunches to pack!  And with the "free milkshake when you buy two meals" special that was running that day, Daddy got his favorite cookies-n-cream shake for dessert!  Thankful for a fun Valentine's Day (even though I forgot to get pictures)!

The interesting part of the week started when I picked the kids up from school that afternoon.  Miss M, who'd been feeling great at lunch, had a sore throat and her voice was hoarse and squeaky-sounding just a few hours later.  As a precaution, I took her to the pediatrician on Tuesday.  Turned out just to be a virus (thankfully!), but since she had laryngitis she also needed vocal rest.  Miss M on vocal rest?  That's funny.  So I kept her home on Wednesday as well - to be sure she didn't make things worse before her class field trip on Thursday.

Did I mention that I was scheduled to chaperone the field trip?  And did I mention that around midnight Wednesday night/Thursday morning Miss M vomited?  On the carpet?  And that we are scheduled for company this weekend?

Both kids woke up due to the ... event.  Which resulted in midnight bath time and early a.m. laundry.  And also carpet cleaning - as well as I could, at least, for something that really needed professional attention....  Thankful that Mister J got back to sleep pretty quickly and that the guest room was easily made ready for Miss M to relocate for the night (that's not always a guarantee, especially when clothing exchange season is on the horizon!).

Big J saved the day by working from home since Miss M could not go to school and arranging for the carpet to be cleaned approximately 12 hours after the event.  (Rock star, he is!)  Miss M woke up on time, hungry, and wanting to limbo (I'm not joking).  It wasn't a stomach bug, just a case of church supper not sitting well. Thankful on all of those counts, too!

I still chaperoned the trip, which was a good thing since two of Miss M's classmates got sick while we were there.  Then I came home and cleared out Miss M's room and the landing at the top of the stairs so the carpet could be cleaned.  I figure if it's getting cleaned, then we might as well have it cleaned to the corners!  So thankful for a local company that can come out and clean carpets on the same day you call.  They were already near our neighborhood.  Also, the cost was less than we expected - the bonus for being a repeat customer (yes, there have been other carpet cat-tastrophes - not a typo). 

With all of these surprises, I've managed to stay relatively calm - surprising even to me!  How am I maintaining my sanity?  Perhaps yesterday's walk with a friend was preventative medicine.  I'm so thankful for that spur-of-the-moment opportunity!  Now if I just had some spur-of-the-moment movers to help me get the upstairs back in order....  :)

And one more thing...

After all of the allergy news in our house lately, I thought this bit of news deserved its own post on its own day.

Mister J swam all by himself yesterday!  No pool noodle, not during a lesson, and all on his own.  I'd played in the water with the kids for a while, pretending to 'sit' underwater and let my body float up to the top (like my Dad did for me when I was a kid, and it was one of the turning points when I became more comfortable in the water).  Then he played with another boy for a while - whose Dad was pretending to be a shark and the boys just loved it.

After a snack break, the kids when back into the water while I sat on the side.  A little while later, Mister J called out to me, "Hey, Mom, watch me!"  And I watched him swim!

He was so excited to get home and tell Big J - and I was excited for him.  It was hard to hold my tongue and not spill the beans myself!

Awesome job, Mister J!

(Hopefully I'll get a photo to put up here one day - but I typically don't take my camera to the pool.)

Waiting patiently

For what? Scoop to follow...
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Using your head @ soccer practice

They were allowed to use their elbows, their knees, their noses, their heads.... Anything but their hands! I thought it was a fun (and funny!) way to emphasize the 'no hands' rule. The kids got pretty creative!

I am here (also Thursday Thanks #23)

Bible study at my church - "When Wallflowers Dance" by Angela Thomas

My apologies for the wildly askew photo (I think I'm channeling a bit of Esbee here). Just wanted to let you know that I'm still here. That things are OK. But that I'm taking some guidance from today's lesson, part of which included the suggestions to "choose to stop the chaos" and "choose to restore order."

I daresay it's been a full month since I've posted regularly. Life has been rich and full. The children are thriving in their new school. I have been busy with church and work commitments, extracurricular activities, and shuttling children from here to there. I haven't posted the first photo of Mister J in his soccer uniform. Of Miss M in her dancewear. Of a lunch in quite a while (though I pack them every night for school the next day). But trying to juggle all of the balls was wearing me out, so I've had to at least slow the chaos. I've pulled back from a few things - namely, the blog, email, and social networking. I've got photos I want to post, memories I want to document, and funny stories I want to tell. But for now, please forgive me for the lack of posts and photos.

I'm also choosing, in my case, to establish order. I'm trying to eliminate the clutter and disorganization in a pretty heavy-handed way around here. I'm trying to repurpose spaces and "stuff" in a way that makes sense for our family. It's going in baby steps, but the small victories keep me motivated.

I'm the midst of all of the de-chaos-ing and re-ordering, I'm taking a bit of time for myself. Not just doing the grocery shopping alone, but some real, adult time with other women in my Bible study. And here's my Thursday Thanks just a bit early.... I am so thankful for the women who are crossing my path as a part of this study. I am learning from them and connecting with them in new ways each time we meet, even if they are women I have known for years. In just a couple of hours a week, I am refreshed and energized in a way I'd forgotten existed.

I'll be back, though it may continue to be sporadic for a time. My goal is to complete some projects around the house, re-claim the calm that comes along with order and organization, and meet a couple of personal goals, including a return to more regular blogging.

See you soon.

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Our little garden is coming along nicely! We have a LOT of basil (anyone want to share some recipes?), cucumber and squash plants that have flowered and now have some tiny veggies growing on them, a couple of carrots, and some tomato plants that are growing quite well. We had several rainy days, which undoubtedly got things off to a good start. Since then we have had lovely, sunny weather - not too hot - and enough rain to keep things happy and healthy.

While it's been a lesson in patience, Mister J and Miss M seem to enjoy watching the progress. We are all looking forward to harvesting some delicious vegetables in the next few weeks!

Here's how our garden began, just a few weeks ago.

Spring Break, Day 2

So, what did we do this afternoon? Well, I'm glad you asked! We had the long-awaited-by-Mister J-since-the-snow-closed-everything-for-two-days-and-our-appointment-got-bumped trip to the dentist. The kids had back-to-back appointments, and thankfully Big J was able to get away from work to help out. Here's Mister J wearing his cool, dentist-provided shades to keep the bright light out of his eyes.

(Opening up to say, "Ahh," for the camera was his idea!)

Have you ever seen any better incentive for opening wide for the dentist? My kids are wild about video games (I have no idea where they got that from...), and were very excited that this one is a two-player game that doesn't need money. Woo hoo! Never mind all the rest of the swag they came home with....

Next on our list was the grocery store. I usually love going to the grocery store. I usually go alone, while the kids are in preschool. Today was a reminder of why.... When Mister J asked if he could push a small cart today, I thought he was talking about one like the lady is pushing in the background of the photo below. Nope, he meant the tiny, kid-sized carts - and he pulled out one for Miss M, as well. I forgot they had them at this particular store.... Two small carts + two smallish kids + one nutty mom = lots of comments from other customers, some of them unwelcome. Do I sound like I have a story? You guessed it, I do! Miss M's cart wasn't quite as easy to push as a cart designed for a child should be. I was trying to help her steer when she told me (in a less-than-patient manner) that she didn't want me to help. Lady (not in photo) walking by laughed out loud at the exchange. Then, she wanted to tell me a story about her granddaughter that I wasn't very interested in listening to - aside from the fact that she laughed out loud, I still had another child to keep track of, and he was walking in the opposite direction! To say I was somewhat frazzled at the end of this grocery run would be quite an accurate statement. To say that I missed preschool today would be accurate, as well. Here are my two personal shoppers. Jonah is trying to explain to me how the ice cream scoop he is looking at works, and why we need it. We actually have two ice cream scoops, which I have found to be plenty, so we did not purchase the ice cream scoop in question. Please ignore the frozen french fries and pay more attention to the organic lettuce....

It's been overcast all day today. It's supposed to rain the rest of the week. On our way out of the grocery store I stopped by the redbox for a movie we could enjoy as a family. It's not animated, so I expect it'll be just the adults watching. I'll let you know how it goes.

Pancakes

I should have taken pictures, but the house (as usual) is a mess. The kids are out of school today, so we made pancakes this morning. The kids wanted blueberry, and I wanted to try a new recipe for sweet potato pancakes, so we made both. They were yummy - both kinds. The kids ate more than I thought they would, which is just fine by me. Miss M didn't like the sweet potato pancakes (no surprise) and Mister J did (again, no surprise).

The kids were great helpers - pouring and stirring and then getting seated while Mommy cooked. It didn't take too much extra patience on my part - I'm trying to relax and let them participate more, and I guess I'm getting better. It was actually fun. Now back to real life - cleaning up the kitchen, emailing everyone I owe a reply to, and washing some laundry (well, maybe not the laundry....).

Sweet Heart (also known as Overheard ... #9)

I had to make a stop at the hardware store/satellite post office yesterday (yes, that's one stop - in the same building - odd, but convenient). Miss M was patient as I picked up a couple of shipping boxes, then helped me choose just the right ball of twine to make bird feeders for the trees around our house. As we paid for our purchase, she asked for my change. Here's how it all worked out as we completed the purchase and walked out of the store:

Miss M: "Mommy, I need some money."

Mommy: "You do?"

Miss M: "YES! I need some money!"

Mommy: "What will you do with some money?"

Miss M: "I put it in the red bucket!"

Can you guess what she was talking about?

She was talking about the Salvation Army bell ringers and their 'red buckets' that we see so frequently during the Christmas season. Mister J and Miss M get to put change in the buckets whenever we see one. Even if it's only a few coins, I give them whatever change I have so they can put money in every bucket we see. I want them to learn to be generous; I want giving to be a habit. And my sweet little Miss M - my 2 1/2 year old 'baby' girl - remembered that we should give away that spare change even at a store where there was no bucket. To say I am proud does not fully describe my feelings at that moment. She got my change, and we will save it until we see another red bucket.

Overheard...

... today, as I was ferrying a hundred different things (apple slices, soup, crackers, drinks, flatware) to the table for lunch:

Mister J (frustrated): Mom, I don't have my drink yet!

Mommy (with as much patience as possible): I know, sweetheart, I'm working as quickly as I can. I only have two hands.

Mister J (incredulously): Only two? Not six?!?

Big J (from the other room): snorts of muffled laughter

Yes, Big J is raising his own mirror images. ::wink::

The Paci Chronicles, Part 2

It's been a little over a week now since Big J started Operation No More Paci. It's been going very well. Really, it has. Except that Miss M has refused to nap for 4 days in a row now, and for most days since the beginning of Operation NMP. That has been hard. She might stay up in her room playing for about 45 minutes, then she will go to the top of the stairs and yell, "Mommy, I waked up! I waked up!" As if she ever went to sleep! This is one of the few times we have listened to her with the 'room monitor' function of our phones. We listen to her sing and play - she sounds so sweet and happy. If you look at her room afterwards, though, you will see that she's unloaded the basket of stuffies, dumped the basket with all of the dollhouse people and furniture, and unloaded the bookshelf. Nice.

I am feeling total defeat on the nap issue. Yesterday, I didn't even try to put her down for a nap. I just sent the kids out in the yard to play since the weather was so nice. I am feeling total defeat on the nap issue. The trade-off to not napping, though, is that she fell asleep during our later-than-usual dinner at 7:15. At the table. And even through the change into pjs and a clean pull-up, she barely woke up. She did ask for her blanket, which I went back downstairs to retrieve. She was snoring before I made it back to her room.

This morning, I realized that Operation NMP still has a ways to go. Our sweet little girl came into our room at 5am this morning. I wasn't ready to get up, so I tucked her into the little "bed" I've created for the kids, and she went back to sleep. When she woke up again at 7am, she came over to my bed and whispered to me. Among other things, she asked, "Where's my paci?" Ugh. I whispered back (so as not to wake Big J), "I don't know." That seemed to satisfy, as she didn't insist upon finding one, but I know that she hasn't forgotten about it. I guess that will take a while. I'm glad that her dolls only have bottles....

Reclaiming Some Space

I have reached the point where a change must happen. Actually, I want to see a lot of change around my home. I want to rid the place of all the clutter. I want to catch up on my kids' scrapbooks so I can toss the rest of the "stuff" I'm holding on to so I can remember the dates and times and places that go with all of the photos. I want to be able to park the mommy-van in the garage again. But first, I want to reclaim my space in bed.

Our kids know that if they wake up in the night and need something, they can come to us. If they need a snuggle, they know that they can climb into bed and snuggle until morning. There's plenty of room. In fact, that's why we got the gigantic bed in the first place. When Mister J was little, he slept with us most nights until he was around a year old. Miss M spent several nights with us early on, as well. (No shrieky-shrieky allowed - it's a personal decision, let's leave it at that.)

So why, with the gigantic bed and the open invitation for so long, have I changed my mind? Because the goal is really not about being selfish, it's about getting enough sleep be able to function the next day. You see, the kids are getting older (surprise!), and as they get older, they get bigger (I know, you are shocked!). And since they both seem to like sleep upside down and sideways in the bed, it gets crowded really fast. Plus, Mister J is truly a bed hog. I'm not making that up. Also, I'm kind of a light sleeper. It doesn't take a kick in the face wake me up (yes, that really happened), just one of the kids rolling over. So, with two extra people in the bed, trying to snuggle next to me from about 3am to real, sunshiny morning (around 3-4 hours), and me usually not getting to bed until midnight, I'm averaging around 3.5 hours of good sleep, and then 3.5 hours of crappy sleep. At that rate, after a few days, I should not be allowed to drive. Something had to change. And it did. And Big J was shocked.

I cleaned out the corner of the bedroom nearest my side of the bed. Then, I took a comforter that isn't currently in use on a bed and folded it into a kid-sized, bed-shaped cushion. I put that into the corner, along with a pillow and a baby quilt. Viola! My kids now have a place to sleep in the middle of the night when they come into our room. And I get a better night's sleep! And Big J doesn't get disturbed as much, either.

When the kids saw me putting the new kid-space together, they asked what I was doing (after all, I was cleaning, and they were perplexed). I told them what the new space was for, and explained that when they came into our room at night, this is where they would be sleeping now. Of course, they both wanted to check it out. They thought it was really cool. But the big test would come around 3am.

The first night, Miss M came into the room. She fussed about being tucked into the kid space. She wiggled and squirmed. In the end, we were up for the day at 6am, and I'm a 7am kind of girl.... When Mister J came in for his first try, he fell right to sleep and even slept late. Miss M's next time, she wiggled and squirmed and I gave in and pulled her into bed so I could sleep. On her next try, she stayed in the kid space and even slept later than her set-in-stone-no-matter-what 7am wakeup.

The best news in all of this? For the most part, the kids are staying in their beds all night. In the 2 weeks since we have implemented this new arrangement, I think the kids have come into our room a total of 5 times. They might not be sleeping all night, but if they wake up, they are soothing themselves back to sleep. And I'm sleeping like a baby.

A Sleeping Baby by Francois Boucher

The Paci Chronicles, Part 1

Back in March, when we took the kids to the dentist, Dr. Easy-On-The-Eyes told us that Miss M had to lose the paci. He told us that the deadline was when she turned two. I told Big J that he was more than welcome to get to work on Operation No More Paci at any time. Preferably while I was in Cali. In June. The week before Miss M turned two. He laughed at me. We are now 3 months post-deadline, and the kids went to the dentist again last month. And we got busted. By the dentist. Easy on the eyes, not so easy on the tender mommy heart. (BTW, I didn't choose him because he's easy on the eyes, that's just a pleasant bonus.) He was nice about it, but I felt guilty.

We never had to deal with paci issues with Mister J. When he was about eight weeks old, he quit taking the paci. That's another issue entirely. Equally as stressful but for different reasons. Mister J couldn't do anything but eat, sleep, cry, and poop when he gave up the paci. Guess which one of those he used to tell me he needed something? Being a freshly-minted mommy, I was still learning to decode cries. And he wouldn't take the paci. What's a mommy to do? But, I digress....

Recently, we decided to give Operation NMP a try. We started by simply pretending the paci was lost, and leaving Miss M tucked into bed while one of us went to "find" it. (Don't even start on me about the fact we were lying. To our baby. It hurt me more than it hurt her.) Sometimes she would fall asleep, sometimes she'd come looking for one of us to see if we found paci. Then we moved on to the pacis being "old and yuck" - the one we found behind the chest in the master bedroom defintely was! I even persuaded Miss M to toss that one in the trash. Then, Big J got hard core about it, and started telling Miss M that big girls don't use a paci and she had Kitty Cat (and other assorted loveys) to watch over her. It's been three days now, and no paci at nap or bedtime. Just Blanket, 4 loveys, and a minimum of 6 books. I have persevered, and not let her sweet little eyes sway me. Not even her sweet voice telling me, "I need my paci." She's even started asking for them by color. This is particularly noteworthy since she often pretends not to know her colors if I'm the one that's asking (she had me totally snowed for weeks and I worried that she might be colorblind or something!). If it's important enough to ask for by color, surely Mommy can be persuaded to join Miss M in the search for the long-lost, dirty paci - right? Nope.

I can't believe it is working - on her or on me. Knock wood. Now. Yes, you. NOW!

We have heard of all of the "Paci Fairy" and "Give them to the babies that need them" ploys. We just didn't feel that Miss M was developmentally ready to go along with them. But she understands when you can't find it. She understands if it's yucky. And so far, so good. So I'll keep sticking to the plan, thankful all the while that Big J's determination was the encouragement that I needed. 'Cause I'm a sucker when it comes to the kids. And they know it.

PS - Please vote in the poll! Upper left. Just for fun. More my fun than yours, I guess. Consider it practice for November. 39 days and counting!

Paint My Numbers

J is very interested in numbers. He likes to count things, read numbers, and has been known to ask, "What number are you?" No, it's not like asking, "Hey, what's your sign?" It's his way of asking how old you are. He also asks, "How many ____s until ____?" For example, how many days until Grandma gets to our house? Since he is so interested in numbers, I drew him a big number chart on a piece of poster board, and now we are decorating it. We started today with watercolors - only had a bit little of time while M caught a quick nap. While my goal is to have J work on it as much as possible to encourage his creativity. I also let him practice his management skills today and tell me what color to paint and where to paint it. He asked me, "How do you do that (stay in the lines)?" so we got to talk about working slowly and practicing to get better at something. And, he got to practice cleaning up. We were sitting on the kitchen floor with the paints and this big poster, and he got paint on the floor a few times, so we kept a box of wipes nearby. Amazingly, he didn't complain about cleaning up!

I am so surprised by the things we talked about today - but glad that he is hopefully learning some good lessons in the quiet time we have together.

By the way, I will post pictures soon - some in-progress shots and another once it's complete.

Catching up....

You've probably noticed that there are a few new posts up here at once - and you may wonder why they are mixed in with posts you have already read. I've been drafting some blogs this week while Daddy/Big J was out of town, but I wasn't quite ready to post them. So, I'm finishing them all up and posting them now that Big J is home (yay!). The following is from an email reply I sent to a friend who emailed me mid-week. I think it's a pretty good illustration of what days are like around here - call it normal, call it crazy, but I call it a pretty good day for the middle of a long week!

Monday and Tuesday were ROUGH - but we are doing better now. I don't know how single parents do it - except that they probably aren't home with the kids all day since someone has to pay the bills! I gave myself a bit of a break and we have used paper plates and bowls all week - that's saved a ton of work! J and I teamed up to tackle the toy mess yesterday - he loves to sort stuff, for which I am very thankful! The kids also thought it was pretty cool to rearrange the furniture in the den - they liked "riding" the chairs around the room. We've had plenty fun, too - arts and crafts, playing outside, and cuddling on the couch. J is really missing Daddy - he won't let me tuck him in at night since I don't do it "right." We do call Daddy every night at bedtime, though, to just check in and talk about the day. Truth be told, I think Daddy is really missing them, too. So, we are all looking forward to him coming home tomorrow :) It'll be late when he gets home, kids will probably already be in bed, so they will be anxious to spend Saturday with him.

At this particular moment, I'm eating my lunch and working on the laptop at the kitchen table. The kids finished their lunches before I ever sat down. J is crashing Matchbox cars under the table, and Maggie keeps coming over to steal " 'matoes " and " 'cumbers " off of my salad. I asked J if he could stop crashing for a few minutes and he said no, because his rescue trucks need something to do. I am sure we are quite a sight, but for the most part we are happy and having a good day!

NB: The kids were not in bed when Daddy got home, thanks to some long, late-in-the-day naps. J was thrilled - especially since he got a tuck from Daddy tonight!

Bloomin'

A few weeks back, Grandma and Grandpa R came for a visit and brought us some daylilies. They'd thinned theirs out, and knew we would be interested in any low-main-
tenance color we could add to our all-green landscaping. (Or, as the helpful lady at a local nursery put it, these are "plants that can handle neglect." Gee, thanks... I'd rather worry about feeding and watering my kids, thankyouverymuch.)

J was very excited about helping plant the daylilies, and was equally excited about the prospect of helping water them daily (well, almost daily... and sometimes Mother Nature gives us a hand....). Seeing as how he was so excited, Grandma was a little worried that they might not bloom. These lilies were being transplanted north, and they'd already bloomed before they were dug up and split. Plus, maybe they would just be mad about being dug up. Well, apparently the growing season here is a few weeks behind and they like their new home.... We have flowers!

When Only Dad Will Do

After visiting Grandma for a few days, we came home to be with Daddy for a few days before he went to Texas on a business trip. Since he left, I have answered lots of questions about how Daddy got to Texas (on an airplane), about how airports work (Daddy did not take his car to Texas with him on the airplane - he parked it, walked into the airport, then walked out of a very special door to get on the airplane), and why Daddy had to go to Texas (to go to school and be a teacher). Daddy even sent us some pictures of airplanes and some video of airplanes taking off - ah, the wonders of technology!

I've been able to satisfy J with my answers to most of his questions. But what I can't do is tuck him in at bedtime. His bedtime routine includes, among other things, a story, a song, and a bedtime prayer, which Mommy does most nights. Then, after a kiss from Mommy, he asks for a tuck and a kiss from Daddy. While Daddy is gone, I have offered to tuck him in, and he has refused each night. Refused! I was surprised, a little sad that I wasn't "enough," but also glad that he and Daddy have that bond.

Each night at bedtime we call Daddy to talk about the day and say goodnight. Still, after our bedtime routine J asks, "can you tell Daddy to come tuck me in and give me a kiss?" It breaks my heart a little bit each time.... So, we are counting down the nights until Daddy gets back home. J is a little sad each day that it's not "today." And, even though it will be past bedtime when Daddy gets home, and J will probably already be asleep, Daddy has promised that he will go in and give J a tuck and a kiss.

I am summer camp....

Yes, I am saying this to myself a la the Lightning McQueen mantra and hoping that it gives me strength, patience, courage, and overflowing creativity, craftiness, and imagination. If that sounds like a tall order, read on....

Since the kids aren't in camps this summer, I'm trying to provide them with at least a taste of the activities they enjoyed in preschool - art, music, and of course, playtime. Well, the playtime is easy enough - playdates, the backyard swingset, and our outdoor toys provide plenty of play and exercise (for Mommy, too!). We also have a jog stroller, tricycle, and bubble mower - so we are set for many forms of outdoor fun. The music is also not a stretch for me. We have lots of kids' music, several music instruments that the kids can use to play along, and of course if we clean up enough we have a dance floor in the den. It's the art that leaves me anxious. When it comes to crayons and stickers, I'm ok. When it comes to projects - with stuff like markers, glue, or paint - that's where I get a little nervous. I am afraid of getting messy and staining things. I am most anxious about setting my kids loose with paint and brushes, but I still bought them some paint yesterday. In the best case, we will paint outdoors on a nice day, and I will try to find old t-shirts for the kids to wear. I bought washable paint, so how bad can it really be? That's what I am afraid of. I need a little courage. I need some craftiness (well, more than I have). And I need a little more imagination - to help me imagine how much fun it can be so I can get excited!

I am glad to say that I survived our first attempt at craft hour this morning! I found some cute foam sunglasses and foam stickers during our craft supply adventure. They turned out really cute (check out the before-and-after-and-afters below)! J had to do his twice (he's a bit of a perfectionist) and M lost interest in about 12.5 seconds, so she played with the foam stickers while I decorated her glasses with a little help from J. As you can see, she didn't want to wear them for an "official" portrait, so J took the picture with me wearing her glasses. Don't I look like the coolest mom around?
































I am curious about what I will learn from the kids and this experience over the summer. I have already learned that J, not surprisingly, is good at sorting. He will gladly sort things and package them up in the process. Yep, he helped me clean up the art project! I just didn't call it "cleaning up" - lesson 1 of Project Summer Camp. I'll keep you posted on what else I learn - including if J is as good (read: neat) a painter as his preschool teacher said!

Storm Warnings

What an eventful night we had last night. Around 9:45pm, a line of storms started moving in, and within 15 minutes the thunder was so loud that both of my kids were awake. As usual during this type of weather, they ended up in bed with me. The difference was that this time, I had the idea to show my older child the weather report and radar to explain a little more about the weather. I didn't even have to turn to the all-day weather forecast - our favorite local station was already on with news about thunderstorm warnings and tornado watches. Just a few minutes later, there was rotation in the atmosphere indicative of a possible tornado - about 5 miles from our house. The forecasters were warning us to get into the lower lever of 2-story homes, into a small room or closet with no windows. They did not have to ask me twice. Downstairs we went, and I sat the children nearby as I emptied the floor of our closet under the stairs. My husband gathered some pillows and a comforter, then helped me finish cleaning out the closet. The kids and I went inside while he listened to a bit more of the weather report.

It's quite interesting to sit in a small, un-air conditioned space with 2 preschoolers who are up in the middle of the night. My son wanted to ask LOTS of questions (really not that different from any other time) and my daughter just didn't want to sit still. My kids started playing (um, fighting over) the flashlight until we started making shadow animals. They were quite entertained - and even tried to make their own, but they just aren't quite coordinated enough.

Another interesting thing? What crossed my mind as I considered what to take into the closet just in case things got really bad. Aside from the kids, I grabbed my purse (which is where I keep my camera, insurance cards, keys, and cell phone) and the external hard drive that's my photo backup. My husband grabbed his wallet and keys. Not much else mattered at that point. I realized how little the "stuff" of life actually means, and how replaceable many things really are.

As it turns out, several homes in our town and one nearby received significant damage. We were quite lucky, both that we had no damage, and that the kids quietly went to bed 2 hours later and slept through until morning.