....that is all.
Monday, March 19, 2012
Friday, March 16, 2012
Too pooped to pucker (aka the Rip Van Winkel nap)
Yes, I used the word 'poop', or at least a derivative of...but I digress.
With B.D. having been gone for the last three weeks and all tasks, chores and responsibilities laid upon my weary lap I have become, well, wearier. (I know single moms do it every day 52 weeks of the year...I have been on that road myself)
There is something to adaptation. I have been a single mom but I had a simpler life. I had one child, most things were within walking distance; she was my only responsibility. I worked part-time or, for part of it, went to school, could keep up with housework, had no babysitter to worry about, had me and a 3-5 year old to feed...
I got married, inherited 4 more children, gave birth to two more, began working full-time, became a part-time photographer, became voluntold to be very involved in a church and to keep up with the trophy-wife expectations...and I became accustomed to having two grown ups somewhat splitting the running around and the chaoticness of days.
Now I am in school as well, taking a class through distance-learning...and my husband is gone every second week. Weekly reprieve is sweet. This past month, it has all been placed in my lap and I have been too exhausted at the end of the day to study. I picked up my books, read the same 8 words repeatedly with no comprehension, set my books down, defeatedly, and slowly crawled into bed.
B.D. comes home today....maybe I can actually get some help.I am so tired, I am looking forward to him possibly grabbing hold of the baton and running the next stretch of this relay while I fill the tub with steaming hot water, soak for 10 minutes, slither out of the tub, pour myself into my pajamas and pull my sorry butt the 10 feet to my bedroom where I will promptly channel Rip Van Winkel and sleep for hundreds of years...
...or at least 12 hours. {sheepish grin}
With B.D. having been gone for the last three weeks and all tasks, chores and responsibilities laid upon my weary lap I have become, well, wearier. (I know single moms do it every day 52 weeks of the year...I have been on that road myself)
There is something to adaptation. I have been a single mom but I had a simpler life. I had one child, most things were within walking distance; she was my only responsibility. I worked part-time or, for part of it, went to school, could keep up with housework, had no babysitter to worry about, had me and a 3-5 year old to feed...
I got married, inherited 4 more children, gave birth to two more, began working full-time, became a part-time photographer, became voluntold to be very involved in a church and to keep up with the trophy-wife expectations...and I became accustomed to having two grown ups somewhat splitting the running around and the chaoticness of days.
Now I am in school as well, taking a class through distance-learning...and my husband is gone every second week. Weekly reprieve is sweet. This past month, it has all been placed in my lap and I have been too exhausted at the end of the day to study. I picked up my books, read the same 8 words repeatedly with no comprehension, set my books down, defeatedly, and slowly crawled into bed.
B.D. comes home today....maybe I can actually get some help.I am so tired, I am looking forward to him possibly grabbing hold of the baton and running the next stretch of this relay while I fill the tub with steaming hot water, soak for 10 minutes, slither out of the tub, pour myself into my pajamas and pull my sorry butt the 10 feet to my bedroom where I will promptly channel Rip Van Winkel and sleep for hundreds of years...
...or at least 12 hours. {sheepish grin}
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Where'd my little girls go?
****WARNING**** *****WARNING**** TOO MUCH INFO ALERT ****WARNING****
The following post contains girly information that some may find embarassing, offensive or too much information... You have been warned.
Today I lost my little girl. She threw a ginormous grin at me as she jumped out of the car this morning, hobbling her sprained ankled self into the school, ready to spend the day at the ski lodgegliding down the hill watching her friends roll down the hill as she stayed safe and warm in the lodge mending a bad sprain from yesterday's Pirate Tag...
Pirate Tag... yesterday, a young girl, carefree...between Barbies and ponies and nail polish and hairdo's.
She asked me, last night, if she could sleep in my bed with me - a heartbroken little girl who needed her mama to snuggle her through the disappointment of not getting to participate in, what would have been, her first ski trip ever. So,we snuggled...she slept in the bed with much comfort and room and I slept with a size 7 foot nestled, ever so lovingly, against my cheek... {Grin}...my baby girl...
Upon picking the kids up from their friends' house (I had no idea I was suddenly in the presence of a young woman), a quiet, somewhat embarassed voice (because her little brother was in the car with us) whispered "Mom, I think I got my thing..."
A quiet metamorphasis transpired in the blink of an eye. My baby girl, on the edge of awkward teenagehood, became a young lady on the edge of girlhood...a beautiful, rare, genuine, passionate, kind, awkward with an inner grace, merciful, compassionate, intense, loving young lady.
Where has time gone? In the blink of an eye, Jellybean has gone from a pudgy-cheeked baby to a ladybug loving toddler to a gangly pre-teen with a heart of gold and a desire and zest for a life full of life and hope...a toddler who, due to verbal apraxia, could speak only a handful of awkward (sometimes made up words) to a young lady who can captivate an audience or a hard-hearted gang member with her words and electrifying personality.
I don't put this out on the "interweb" to one day embarass Jellybean but to, one, mark time; two, share with other moms that open discussion with your girls (even boys) about the facts of life, of what to expect in life/from life and they will come to you with their questions, their concerns instead of going to their friends and other sources to get their information. Create moments and opportunities to build trust and foundations with your children that you become their go to person, that they know you will be open, upfront and honest with them in, of course, age appropriate ways.
I have spoken, in some manner or another, to each and every one of my children with open-ended conversations about every aspect of life and growing up. If they have a question, I will never dismiss it; I will answer it as best as I can in the most age-appropriate manner I can. There have been times I have said something along the lines of there being more to it but, that at their age, that is all that needed to know for right now until they were a little older or more mature and they honor that...
Because of that, Jellybean feels that she is able to come to me as she discovers things that shock her about growing up - people she knows turning "emo", cutting, friends with eating disorders and I talk to her about my experiences, share with her honestly, don't dismiss her...if she doesn't have the knowledge, hear the experiences, hear the truth as I see it and discuss with me the topics as she formulates her opinions of what she wants for her life based on these topics, she gets lead, blindly by her peers. Do I really want her peers formulating her morals, her ideaology of what is right and wrong, her theology...?
Talk with your children...not to them...not at them...talk with them. Communicate. Interact. Engage. Make and take time for...
The following post contains girly information that some may find embarassing, offensive or too much information... You have been warned.
Today I lost my little girl. She threw a ginormous grin at me as she jumped out of the car this morning, hobbling her sprained ankled self into the school, ready to spend the day at the ski lodge
Pirate Tag... yesterday, a young girl, carefree...between Barbies and ponies and nail polish and hairdo's.
She asked me, last night, if she could sleep in my bed with me - a heartbroken little girl who needed her mama to snuggle her through the disappointment of not getting to participate in, what would have been, her first ski trip ever. So,
Upon picking the kids up from their friends' house (I had no idea I was suddenly in the presence of a young woman), a quiet, somewhat embarassed voice (because her little brother was in the car with us) whispered "Mom, I think I got my thing..."
A quiet metamorphasis transpired in the blink of an eye. My baby girl, on the edge of awkward teenagehood, became a young lady on the edge of girlhood...a beautiful, rare, genuine, passionate, kind, awkward with an inner grace, merciful, compassionate, intense, loving young lady.
Where has time gone? In the blink of an eye, Jellybean has gone from a pudgy-cheeked baby to a ladybug loving toddler to a gangly pre-teen with a heart of gold and a desire and zest for a life full of life and hope...a toddler who, due to verbal apraxia, could speak only a handful of awkward (sometimes made up words) to a young lady who can captivate an audience or a hard-hearted gang member with her words and electrifying personality.
I don't put this out on the "interweb" to one day embarass Jellybean but to, one, mark time; two, share with other moms that open discussion with your girls (even boys) about the facts of life, of what to expect in life/from life and they will come to you with their questions, their concerns instead of going to their friends and other sources to get their information. Create moments and opportunities to build trust and foundations with your children that you become their go to person, that they know you will be open, upfront and honest with them in, of course, age appropriate ways.
I have spoken, in some manner or another, to each and every one of my children with open-ended conversations about every aspect of life and growing up. If they have a question, I will never dismiss it; I will answer it as best as I can in the most age-appropriate manner I can. There have been times I have said something along the lines of there being more to it but, that at their age, that is all that needed to know for right now until they were a little older or more mature and they honor that...
Because of that, Jellybean feels that she is able to come to me as she discovers things that shock her about growing up - people she knows turning "emo", cutting, friends with eating disorders and I talk to her about my experiences, share with her honestly, don't dismiss her...if she doesn't have the knowledge, hear the experiences, hear the truth as I see it and discuss with me the topics as she formulates her opinions of what she wants for her life based on these topics, she gets lead, blindly by her peers. Do I really want her peers formulating her morals, her ideaology of what is right and wrong, her theology...?
Talk with your children...not to them...not at them...talk with them. Communicate. Interact. Engage. Make and take time for...
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
One Year Old Beauty
You had me at the first moment I laid eyes on you...you know, your first 10 minutes of life...so beautiful...so perfect...
Last month, you turned one...walking, full of mischief and wonder, an expert at the "Elvis lip"...so beautiful...so perfect...
SO LOVED
Last month, you turned one...walking, full of mischief and wonder, an expert at the "Elvis lip"...so beautiful...so perfect...
SO LOVED
Monday, March 5, 2012
Science Fair (Round 1) Pictures
Jellybean's Science Fair...Round One.
She still has a Round Two to go as she won silver at the School level and is going to Regionals.
The display...looking all professional and, dare I say, cute and sassy.
Bug's Science Fair project. First one ever.
Magnetizing a nail with a battery.
Adorable...and professional...and VERY nervous...
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