Homeschooling mom to be.

Reading

Wow, my posts are getting further and further apart, it seems!  Oh well, things are busy around here.  I've been sick for a week with a cold that just won't let go.  Nothing terrible, but I'm tired all the time and my throat hurts.  Anyway, I started a reading program with my three-year-old.  My two-year-old listens in as well, but I don't expect her to learn as much.  But who knows, she may surprise me!  Anyway, I've only done four lessons so far, and my older daughter often randomly repeats parts of the lesson back to me throughout the day.  I'm impressed so far.  I also bought a Bible program for young kids, but I haven't gotten myself organized enough to plan out the lessons for it yet.

My oldest is in swimming lessons now, and it's so cute to watch her!  She's always loved the water.  What spurred my decision to enroll her was the fact that she always wanted us to let her go so she could "do it by myself!".  Only problem was, though she had the confidence, she didn't know how to swim!  So she's started her classes now, and loving it.  The first lesson I took her to, when it was time to leave, she started crying because it wasn't long enough!  How's that for a water baby?

I have to take a moment here to praise my wonderful husband.  I don't know where I'd be without him!  He's been so good during my sickness!  If I'm not up to it, he cooks supper, he takes the kids to a different part of the house after work so I can get some rest.  He's been getting them up in the mornings, dressed, teeth brushed, and fed before he starts work.  How I ended up with such an amazing guy, I'll never know, but I thank God every day He put us together!  My man was never that guy that said "I don't do diapers" or anything.  He's been a real hands-on daddy from the start.

Anyway, we have a super busy summer coming up.  My brother is getting married in May in Quebec, and asked my sister and I to sing.  My sister is then getting married in June back in Ontario, but out of town for us.  She asked me to be a bridesmaid.  Her matron of honour then informed us that she would be about 7 or 8 months pregnant at the wedding, so I offered my services with the rest of the matron of honour duties as well!  Oh well, my goal now is to lose weight for both weddings.  I haven't had much success so far, but something's got to work eventually!  Anyway, I'm achy all over so I'm going to find something to relax my sore muscles.  I'll check in with you all later.  God bless.

Mama J.

Help, it's a mini me!!!

Well, ok, she's not a clone or anything like that, but she's sure a lot like her mama as a kid!  I'm referring to my youngest daughter.  She's the one that's as stubborn as a mule, and not even wise enough to pick her battles....yeah, the one that inherited my mule-headedness.

I took my sister to a job interview in Toronto yesterday.  It was across the street from a big mall, so I figured I'd hang out there, let the girls walk around and burn off steam, see the sights.  Now, my daughter has a little doll stroller.  We got it as a Christmas gift for her, with the hidden agenda of encouraging her to walk more on her own without always asking to be picked up.  It worked.  However....isn't there always a however?  Anyway, she doesn't steer this thing too well yet.  So she'll be walking along, and I can see that she's going to run over someone's unsuspecting toes.  I put my hand gently on her shoulder to either hold her back or steer her around them, and she jerks away from me yelling "NO!" as only a two year old can yell it.  At one point, I had to hold her around the waist and sit myself on the ground until she was through screaming.  It seemed to work when I threatened to take the stroller away.

Anyway, I had a long discussion with my husband last night about how MY kids always behave, so it's HIS kids who are so tough on me.  After he finished chuckling at my rantings, we agreed to work on it together.  We're going to come up with specific consequences for her, because a two year old should never be this defiant or this resistant to instructions.  So I've got my heart armour on (I hate having to discipline my kids) and I'm glad my husband has finally seen that I'm not exaggerating how bad it is with her.  He's working all day, so he's not aware of it.  Anyway, it should prove interesting.  It's a weird feeling, fighting yourself in someone else.  :D 

Mama J.

Aaah!

It's actually been a relatively slow Christmas season this year for me, which has been nice.  We've had a few parties to go to, but nothing that we HAD to attend.  We did go, but it's been pretty laid-back.  It's so nice.  All of my childhood memories of Christmas were relaxed and happy, none of this running around like a chicken with it's head cut off!

I have all my shopping done, all the wrapping done.  The only thing I haven't done is mail out our cards, but that was due to circumstances beyond my control.  Besides, who said they cards have to stop as soon as Christmas day is over?  I'm sure people will still enjoy getting them!  My grandparents-in-law sent us money to get the gifts for the girls and ourselves, so we had a little more shopping than we thought, but that's all done.

So the gift we got for ourselves was a Wii Fit.  It's amazing!  It's so much fun!  I'm not going to deceive myself that all I have to do is play a game to get back into shape, but it does improve my posture, balance, and carriage, which in turn will help when I go to the gym.  I'm so excited.  I may actually start to see results this time!  Well, I'm off to a candlelight service and potluck!  Have a great week, everyone!  God bless.  Merry Christmas!

Mama J.

Capes Photo!

And old Adage

You know that one that says "if you try to please everyone, you won't please anyone?"  I'm in that exact situation right now.  Everyone is telling me what's the most important for me to accomplish during the day.  It's way too much for one person to do, but I try to keep everyone happy.  I'm getting stressed trying to keep on top of it all!  If I make one person happy, it requires me being out of the house for the majority of the day.  To make the other person happy, I have to be home all day.  And that's just two of the five people I live with.  I'm stretching myself too thin, getting annoyed at all that falls to me to do.  I need to sit down, write out which priorities are the most important, and stick to those.

It's been a really long weekend and this morning was the breaking point that brought me to this decision.  I'm afraid probably some people will be upset at the result, but in all honesty, I'm not wonderwoman, and I can't keep them all happy.  My responsibility is to my husband and kids first, and that's where my priorities will be from now on.  I would appreciate prayers for this.  I think once the initial upset is over, it will eventually work out well for us all, but I need some help somewhere to keep on top of my daily to-do lists that keep expanding.  I'm at peace with my decision and as I said, it will help in the long run.

Mama J.

Winter Time!

We've consistently been getting some snow.  Not enough to do much in, but enough for the girls to get excited about and want to go play in!  We've gotten some of our Christmas decorations up now as well.  I've been trying to get out for a walk every other morning, before our day gets off to a start.  Even after signing my kids up for babysitting at the gym, it's hard to get out there on a regular basis.  I have to find something that I can do consistently, so I chose walking.  I hook up my phone to my earphones, and I'm off, listening to music.

I finished my Christmas shopping too!  I can't believe it, because I always take so long to decide what I'm going to get each person, but this year, a bunch of things just jumped out at me, and I'm done!  My youngest is pretty much potty trained now as well.  That is soooo nice.  It'll save us a bundle not to have to buy diapers anymore.  She's even mostly got it through the night too, which was a shocker for me, since her older sister still isn't night trained.

Speaking of kids, things are a wee bit tense at home right now.  My husband and his parents run a business out of the basement.  I knew this, and agreed that I would keep the kids under control during working hours.  But the past few weeks, I've been told many times a day to keep them quieter.  I think they're fine.  They need to be kids still.  They're not running wild, screaming, jumping, etc.  But they're not silent either.  So I've had to leave every day of the week, just to let them burn off steam outside of the house.  But that creates complaints about the housework being neglected.  As much as I'd like to approach the parties involved about this, I have a bad feeling that it'll turn on me and they'll begin pointing out what they take issue with about me.

It's survivable.  It's by no means a crisis, but it is very inconvenient.  I would appreciate prayers about this.  As much as I'd love to just say, "let's move" I believe God is trying to teach me a deeper meaning to living peacably.  Anyway, I finished sewing some lovely capes for my girls.  I'll have to try to remember to post some photos when I get a chance.  Now, however, my parents are coming over for dinner.  Hope everyone's having a good week so far!  God bless.

Mama J.

Blessings

If you have kids, you'll definitely know what I'm talking about in the next bit.  I get some days where I wonder if anything I'm trying to teach them gets absorbed at all.  I wonder if my kids will grow up and think I've just messed them up completely.  It was so nice, the other day, I came into the livingroom to do my Bible reading.  I tell the girls that they have to be quiet while Mama reads, they can read or sit quietly, but they are not to disturb me until I'm finished.  This particular day, my three year old asked me if I would read it out loud to her.  I was reading in Romans, and I read a chapter out loud, trying my best to explain it to her as I went along.  When the chapter was finished, she asked me to keep going.  I read three entire chapters to her, and she loved it!  Then, the next morning, she asked me to do it again!  So far, we've been reading "together" for a week.

It was such a nice blessing to receive.  It was nice to know that not everything I work for goes down the drain.  Of course, I know that in my head, but some days it really does feel like it's all for nothing.  But this was not one of those days!  I was so thankful.  God allows me little blessings like that when I get too discouraged.  Of course I need to learn not to get so discouraged all the time, but still, He's so patient with me as I try to learn that, and He still allows for my human-ness.  I'm so glad.  Guess what else!  My two year old is now potty trained!  It's NOT my favourite part of parenting.  It's such a long process.  But she finally got it, and as a reward, I took her out and let her choose a package of "big girl panties" to wear.  Whew, I'm so glad that part's over.  She's actually training herself for night as well.  Yes, it means she gets up half a dozen times after we put her to bed, but she's getting up to go to the washroom, and waking up dry!

Another blessing is that my sister and her beau have had problems with his van since he purchased it.  Finally, she was driving one day, and the wheel just fell completely off.  Thankfully, she was going slowly, and wasn't hurt.  But they were able to purchase a newer car.  To them it feels like wasting, because he hadn't had the van for a year, but I'm so glad that God gave them the funds to purchase another car.  They live in separate cities, and wouldn't be able to see each other if they hadn't been able to get a newer car!  God is so good, and I'm so glad that He allows us blessings like these to remind us of that, since we're so forgetful!

Mama J.

A test in faithfulness

So after all my complaining in my last post, someone's runaway jeep hit our car.  It's not "serious" as in we can't drive it, but it's got a nice big dent in the fron that rattled something loose in the body.  I honestly had to sit back and laugh.  I mean, we had just gotten our car back from the mechanic after a long and expensive process to fix the power steering.  But you know what?  We don't have to pay to get it fixed this time.  And it's not the end of the world for me to have to take the girls on the bus.  They're big enough now that they can walk to and from the bus stop.  They can carry their own backpacks with diapers and clothes (because we always carry a change at these ages).  I don't have to carry them onto and off of the bus.  The bus is a breeze.

I have started a preschool curriculum with these two, and my oldest loves it!  She's learning so much, but more importantly, she loves learning!  I have to admit, I am slacking off on it this morning.  I woke up with a pretty bad cold.  My concentration is shot.  My head feels like someone filled it with swamp water.  I'm actually not too bad, aside from completely brainless.  But it's not going to be an overly productive day.

I went to visit a friend of mine yesterday.  She has a baby who's 5 1/2 months old.  I know I sound crazy, considering how young and how close together my two girls are, but I almost miss it!  I almost want another baby.  I'd love to have a boy.  My husband is NOT looking to have another baby yet.  I realize that he's a little bit stressed, since providing for our family rests on his shoulders.  His business hasn't "taken off" yet.  And we're living with his parents.  He wants to wait until we have our own place and the business can survive without him for more than two days.  I can handle that.

Believe it or not, he feels "old" to be having another baby.  Shows how much he worries about it, I guess.  He's only 34.  Poor guy, I've been praying for him a lot lately.  He is also dealing with his best friend's separation.  His best friend lives in Germany, and emailed my husband that his wife left, completely by surprise, unwilling to talk about it at all.  It' hard on my poor man.  He wants so much to be there to support his friend.  The distance is hard on him.  We've been praying for them so hard.  There's a child involved as well.  It just seems to be happening all over the place, Christian marriages breaking down.  Satan's really attacking hard.

Mama J.

Car woes and Company wishes.

There are times when life can be so frustrating.  This is one of those times for me.  We had our car in the shop a week ago, and got it back the next day.  Unfortunately, the problem was not entirely fixed, so it went back in on Friday, and we got it back yesterday, to the tune of over a thousand dollars.  My poor husband has been trying to pay down our credit card and start some savings, but every time we make some progress, something like this comes up.

As for my husband's business, they get people approaching them that seem like really good "fits" for them, and things start moving along, going great, and then something happens, be it the person shows true colours, or whatever, and things go back ten steps.  It's so frustrating!  This poor business desperately needs a break to be able to make it, and opportunities come up, get close, and the door is slammed.

I know I shouldn't be complaining so much, but it is so discouraging.  He puts in so much time and works so hard, why is it too much to expect that he can have a break once in a while? This year was the first time he took time off for a vacation in three years, and in doing so, he stressed the whole time we were away, and it meant the business actually lost money with him being away.  I just wish I could see something on the horizon that says we won't be stuck in limbo forever.

Mama J.

Photos are done!!!

But they're not in yet, so I can't post any.  I have a website to direct people to, but I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post in on here or not, does anyone know?  Anyway, the photos are only on the website for a month.  We go in this Friday to edit with the photographer and then I'm not sure how long after that before we're going to get to take them home.  The photo session was a lot of fun.  We had a great  photographer too!  She would get as many shots of the girls as she could until they got restless, and then sent them off to play with a box of toys while snapping my hubby and I until the girls were ready to sit some more.

I have to say, my youngest daughter is an absolute attention hog!  My oldest is exactly like her dad, she does NOT have a natural smile for the camera, and neither does he.  They both squint while smiling for it.  But we got 131 shots on the website right now.  I don't know how many we actually get with our package.  I had really, really hoped to have their capes done, but I didn't.  I'll have to save that for Christmas.

I got a preschool curriculum for my girls, and the LOVE it!  There's always been this really awkward time mid-morning where they're bored with the activities they'd been doing in the morning, but it's not late enough to make lunch together, and I'm wondering what to do with them now.  Well, that's where this curriculum is a life-saver.  They spend the morning doing their chores, playing outdoors, and colouring, and then when they get bored, we pull out the "homework" and they have a blast!  My oldest is soooo routine-oriented and needs a lot of structure, so this is perfect for her.

Funny thing is, in some ways, it's almost below her.  I guess I have been teaching her without really knowing it.  She knows how to spell her name, mom, and dad.  She recognizes at least half of the letters, and she knows 1+1 and can add other numbers, with some help.  She also has two Bible verses memorized.  So I have to kind of work the activities suggested up to her level, but that's great.  I'm so proud of her.  I had someone on the weekend tell me they couldn't believe she was only three and a half.  Let me tell you, if I ever forget that, her attitude quickly reminds me!

Anyway, since I don't know about the whole website thing, if anyone wants to see the photos, message or email me, and I'll let you know!  God bless and have a great week.

Mama J.

I'm back!

I didn't really go anywhere, but it feels like it's been forever since I've blogged.  Anyway, we had an interesting Thanksgiving.  My daughter woke up the night before our big day screaming, and I thought it was her ear, the poor child.  I took her to the E.R. and found out that she was having a muscle spasm in her neck!  It lasted two days!  The poor girl was in quite a bit of pain.  We spent from midnight till four thirty in the ER.  But, she's much better now.  Our Thanksgiving dinner was wonderful.  My dad didn't end up coming as planned because HE went to the E.R with a very bad eye infection! 

Anyway, everyone is doing much better now, the dinner was lovely, and it was a success in spite of the health issues.  We're getting our family portraits done today!  I was sewing capes for the girls to wear, but they're not going to be ready on time!  I couldn't figure out the fusible interfacing.  It's supposed to be easy, but apparently the material I chose isn't the greatest for that.  I was so excited too, I thought they would look so adorable!  Oh well, perhaps for their Christmas photos.  Blue velvet, with a white faux fur muff.

Anyway,  believe it or not, I'm pretty much half done my Christmas shopping already.  How pathetic is that???  But in all honesty, when we were in N.B. I bought my m.i.l something, and my husband suggested I put it away for Christmas.  So I did, and then every so often, I'd see something that would be perfect for someone else, and just do the same thing.  It doesn't usually work that way for me.  I usually spend weeks looking for the right thing, and then have to go with something else because I can't find what I'm looking for.  It's getting harder and harder to buy because there are so many people.  So I buy inexpensive nice gifts for those I can, and a nice card for those I can't.  At least our families are understanding.

Something else that just came to mind, I haven't yet posted any photos from our apple picking adventure.  I'll have to do that soon!  I have them on my computer now, but no time at the moment to upload them.  I have to get my girls ready for our portraits!!!!!  Have a great week-end everyone!  God bless!

Mama J.

Bits and Pieces

Hello there!  Not much to blog about, but bits and pieces for now.  I took the girls for a bike ride yesterday.  I chose something a little overambitious.  I rode from my house to my mom's, which is a twenty minute drive.  When we got there, we had lunch and then spent the next three hours walking.  I went straight back to the bike after our walk so I could get home in time.  Wouldn't you know it, I couldn't quite make it home!  I got about fifteen blocks from home and couldn't go any further because I couldn't breathe.  But, I said I needed exercise!

I started sewing some capes for the girls for our family portraits next week.  My husband did some work for the photographer/owner of the studio, so she's giving us a portrait package voucher.  I'm excited about it.  The last time we had that done was when our oldest was three months old.  Plus, they can wear their capes with their Christmas outfits too!  Yikes, am I really talking about Christmas already??

We are entertaining a total of sixteen people this weekend, including ourselves, for Thanksgiving.  It'll be nice to have all our families together.  This is one of the extremely rare times both my family and my husband's family are together at the same time.  Even my grandmother is coming!

My daughters just finished a round of antibiotics for bronchitis, and my oldest daughter is still coughing pretty bad.  I have a feeling it's linked to allergies, but I can't seem to clear it up.  Poor kid, she finds it hard to sleep too.  I"m going to run the vaporizer tonight and see if that helps any.  Well, that's all for now.  I'm going to the market tomorrow, and leaving early, so I'd better get some rest!  Have a great weekend all!

Mama J.

Here We Go

I ordered a preschool curriculum for my girls!  I know it's not necessary, but I was pulling my hair out trying to figure out how to keep them, especially my oldest, from boredom all day long.  I haven't started using it with them just yet, since I want to have time to go over it and get it all sorted out in my head.  I'm excited about it, though.  My oldest is so eager to learn.  I bought some preschool workbooks at Walmart for her, and she can go through one in a week.  She loves doing her "homework" and actually cries when I tell her we have to put it away so I can make dinner!

Otherwise,  my hubby and I have decided that every night, before we turn on the tv, we're going to do crunches, pushups, "planks" and lunges together.  It's not enough for exercise, but at the same time, it's a start.  I have to start somewhere, right?  I'm trying to find healthier snacks as well.  It's tough to do!  I'd like to eventually cut out the majority of our snacking altogether, but we'll take baby steps.  Besides, we need to teach our kids good eating habits too.  They certainly come by their sweet tooth syndromes honestly!  I'm a little better than my husband and resisting the temptations, but not by a whole lot.  I'll cave if he's eating what I want.  If it's my alone, I'm alright, but when he's breaking out the chips and cookies, I want some too.

So other than that, I took the kids apple picking yesterday.  We had loads of fun!  We took a horse-drawn carriage ride in the park, they had a playground with huge slides and hay at the bottom, a petting zoo, and of course, the orchard.  The kids had a blast, and I'm going to have to get the photos off my camera to post some here!  I hope we can do it every year.  I used to when I was a kid, and it's made for some of the best memories I have.  Anyway, I'm turning in for the night.  Have a great start to the week tomorrow everyone!

Mama J.

Shaping Up.

I'm trying to get back into shape after three years of doing nothing.  Doint noting wasnot by choice, I had very problematic pregnancies.  But finding time is a lot harder than I ever expected!  I joined a gym, knowing that I'm not a very good self-motivator.  I could bring the kids with me, but I'd have to pay their staff to watch them.  So after discussing it with my husband, we decided that I'd go in the evenings, and he'd watch the kids.  Sounds simple, right?  It's not.

First off, being self-employed means he has to do the work when it's there.  Since we arrived back from vacation, he's spent almost every evening doing something.  When it's not work related, he's doing other stuff.  Our church has finally started a young men's Bible Study, and he went to that.  I don't in any way begrudge him that, but it's so frustrating that he has a completely full social calendar, and I can't find two evenings a week to work out!  Does this get easier as the kids get older?  Mine are two and three years old, so I do realize that they're young and still a lot of work.

I did go tonight though.  I'm just so disgusted at the way I've ended up that I want results now.  I have no idea how long it's going to take for me to see ANY results.  I am realistic, knowing that it's going to take time, but if I could at least see that SOMETHING is happening, then I'd be satisfied.  Anyway, I should stop complaining now.  My hubby brought me some dried mangoes, so I'm going to enjoy those before I let sleep claim me.  This rant has been brought to you by....

Mama J.

Changing seasons and colds.

It never fails.  As soon as our season changes, the girls get sick with a cough.  Sometimes it is a dry cough that lasts for weeks.  Sometimes it turns into a chest cold that I can't get loosened up for days.  I don't put them on medication for it, since it never worked when I used to anyways.  I've tried putting them over hot bowls of steam with ginger in the bottom.  I add ginger to their baths at night.  I slather their chests and backs with Vicks.

Well, I have done some of the natural remedies with them as well but I'm becoming more and more convinced that time is the only cure for this type of cold.  I used to get chronic bronchitis as a child, and it was the same thing.  Time was the only cure.  It's just tough watching them go through that each season's turning.

This is exciting!  My oldest daughter is starting to tell me what letter words start with! She's three and a half years old.  It started a week and a half ago when she came and said, "mom, train starts with t!".  She knows B, T, N, M and D.  Not bad!  She doesn't yet visually recognize the letters, but I'mnot at all worried about that.  I hope I can keep her excited about learning!  Have a great week everyone!

Mama J.

How do YOU keep them clothed???

My goodness, it is hard to keep my girls in clothing!  They are either growing out of them, or ripping them apart!  I was doing laundry today, because I had to buy some second-hand pants for my oldest daughter.  Every pair that I tried to put on her a couple of weeks ago was too short.  Then, the one pair I found that did fit her, she put holes in the knees by "being a dog".  It's almost scary to see how long the pants are that I'm buying for her now!

As for the younger one, she gets a lot of hand-me-downs.  But she can't keep any shirts.  She spills and stains, or she rips the sleeves off ( I have no idea how), or she tries to take the tags out and rips holes in the back.  And shoes!!  Well, don't even get me started on that one!  Suffice it to say we'll need to budget monthly for those at this rate!

We've been reading a wonderful little book to my girls called "God's Wisdom for Little Girls" by Elizabeth George.  I love this book!  It's a rhyming poem based on Proverbs 31.  Both of my girls actually sit and listen to the whole book, which is a miracle in itself.  I had just borrowed this copy from our church library, but I think I'll have to buy a copy for ourselves.  Anyone with little girls?  YOu should definitely look into it!  Well, I have to go run some errands.  Have a great weekend!

Mama J.

Silence the best idea?

We've had a very difficult time with a family member lately.  As a result, our family has had to close communication until the situation improves.  I received a disturbing email from this person last night, stating that they would "lower themselves" to ruin my relationships with extended family, none of whom are believers, as they say I did to them.  I know I am not guilty of the accusation.  What worries me is that I will end up being an outcast from my extended family as a result.  I am not willing to start any verbal sparring with this person.  My folks have suggested I say nothing at all.  Not in response to the email, nor in defense if anyone asks me about any accusations made against me.

I guess I don't really have a problem with that advice, but it would break my heart if my girls couldn't see some of their extended family because they believed this person and cut ties with me and my little family.  If it were just me who would suffer, it would be one thing, but my girls would inevitable feel the sting too.  They can't understand something like this.  I've been praying so much about it since last night, but I don't feel settled about the issue yet.  However, I don't know if that is a result of my own worrying or not.  Could you guys pray for us, please?

Mama J.

Regression

My dear sweet daughter, who's been potty trained for at least a year, has suddenly started wetting her pants again!  It's frustrating beyond measure!  I don't quite know what to do about it.  She's very calm, and says she does it because she wasn't listening (meaning to me or my instructions), and I don't know how that correlates.  I feel like a dismal failure in regards to this particular daughter.  She and I have always clashed.  I dont' know how to change that, and I have a feeling that this is just the latest "vent" for her because of it.  I'm not saying she's doing it in direct defiance just to push buttons, but I think that she feels the strain, and this is one of her ways of saying so.

Where did I go wrong with her?  I've never shown favoritism to her or her sister.  But I'm sure she can sense my frustrations with her when she does stuff like this.  So how do I break this cycle before I lose my girl completely?  It breaks my heart!  She's gone from being a sweet, eager to please little girl to a sullen, pouty, whiny girl.  I can't pinpoint any one thing that would have caused the change.  Any one have any advice for me, please?

Mama J.

Leaving today!!!!

Yay!  After a bunch of hemming and hawing and back and forth decisions, we are leaving today for beautiful New Brunswick!  We'll be gone for a week.  Most of that week will be taken up with travelling around to see people, but still, we're going!!!!  I haven't been since my three year old was an infant of four months!  I am so excited.  We're stopping at the midway point so we can visit my brother and give the kids a break from the car.

It'll be nice, too, that our girls will have the chance to meet their great-grandparents.  My husband is from there.  His grandfather was admitted to the hospital with cerebral hemorrhaging, so he may not have much time left.  We'll get to see him just before he goes into surgery on Monday.  His other grandparents have written back and forth with my girls, so it'll be nice to see them face-to-face.

I know my husband has a desire to move back there someday, but right now he needs to focus on his business.  He's homesick, though, so this trip will be really special for him.  I'm so glad we are able to go.  We'll see you all in a week or so!

Mama J.

One of THOSE days.

Whew!  I can finally sit down and type in some peace and quiet!  Of course, those of you who have, or have had, toddlers, can attest to the fact that some days are just THOSE days.  I had one today!  It seems that everything we had taught our girls flew out the window today.  Whether said flying occured with help or not, only my girls know, and they're not telling!  I came into the dining room to find that they had taken their "school" supplies and dumped them all over the floor, for no apparent reason.  I told myself they were testing the theory of gravity, but for two and three, that's quite a stretch.

Next, I went into the living room to find that they had found and dumped a bag of chips all over the coffee table and floor, where the dog was happily crunching his new-found treasure.  Tempers flared, pushing and yelling were regular accompaniments to my day-to-day chores.  And asking them to help??  Well, I might as well have been asking the trees to please refurl their leaves into buds!  It just wasn't happening.  So at dinner time, my dear husband asked me, very eagerly, "what's for dinner honey?"  I was prepared, amazingly enough.  I told him, " you are barbequeuing steak while I boil corn on the cob and pan-grill some veggies, and then I'm leaving".  He hasn't yet learned that he doesn't have to ask why when I say that.  Every time, the answer is the same, because I had a rough day with the kids, and since they belong to you too, I'm exercising my parental right to pass them off to you and take a breather!

So I went to the gym.  I figured if I can't throw them around, at least I can throw some weights around!  And who knows, I might even lose some of this blubber, which I got as a result of those kids, by they way, in the meantime!  So that was my "one of THOSE days" story for today.  Let's just hope tomorrow will be better, and how do I get that dog to stop following the girls around, hoping they'll drop more goodies his way?

Mama J.