The girls finished their week at Vacation Bible School. It was Anna's first time going to a class - and she had a blast. The girls really seemed to enjoy every minute. I don't think Anna has realized she's not going back this week.
At the end of the week, Anna's leader gave her a note to give to us. It said what a wonderful little girl she was and how much fun they all had with her, and she'd love to babysit her if we ever needed someone.
I don't think she knows there are three of them... and she never met Emma... but it's good to know someone out there wants to babysit.
Speaking of babysitting (tangent... I know) how much do you pay for babysitting? We finally found someone who we were comfortable having watch the girls - and she charges $15 an hour. Holy Moly. We have paid $3 per kid in the past - but $15 - that's a lot of buckage. So - please tell me how much you pay.... and if I'm just behind the times!
So, summer...
We've been spending some time at the beach. We're lucky enough to have access to many different Ocean beaches within 4-10 miles of us. We usually go to Lake Beach and Wavy Beach. Those are the names the girls gave them. Lake Beach is actually an Ocean beach - but because of the set up, it's pretty tranquil. The girls can play un-attended (but well supervised) in the water and they usually have plenty of beach to spread out on to build castles or make houses for their snails. Wavy beach is a more stereotypical Ocean beach with well... waves. Anna and Emma don't enjoy the waves very much. They mostly run out to their shins and then run back to the beach when a wave comes. Any deeper and they have to hold our hands. Julia, though, has discovered the fun of big waves. Boogie Boarding and body surfing are her favorite beach activities.
This weekend was our last quiet weekend (with just one birthday party!) until the middle of August. Can you believe it? From here on out it's a bunch of wedding trips, visits to the cabin, day trips, etc. Crazy. If only gas prices would creep down a bit - we'd be able to do this without the pinch!
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Loading the ipod
I should be working. (I have clients people - clientS !!) It's Sunday and I have hours I can invoice by Tuesday... but I found a stack of CDs next to my computer and I had the brilliant idea of moving music from CDs to my computer. Brilliant - right?
Except my computer didn't really have the memory to lose - and it's addictive. Especially if you are one of THOSE people (which I am) who have a mix making addiction.
So, I've been listening to music that I love, music that I fondly remember from way back when.
I have been know to be sidetracked, veer off on the occasional tangent if you will. It's a well established fact that I have Music ADD. I have a hard time listening to an entire song if I'm only listening.
My internet use is the same way. Once I start researching a subject (one of my more well aspects of my business) I find something of interest and start following that trail and before you know it I have 50 tabs open about combination gardening in the Southwest.
Ummm - anyone notice how I just went off on a tangent, about going off on a tangent.
TOLD YA!
At first I started by uploading entire CDs to my itunes. Then it dawned on me - download the songs you might actually listen to. So I have found I have many a CD where I only really want 1-2 songs. Then there are others (Pearl Jam Ten, Eric Clapton Journeyman & Time Pieces, Peter Gabriel So immediately come to mind as recent uploads) that I pretty much just upload the entire CD.
We're getting to Road Trip (of course it's capitalized... have you never been on a Road Trip??) - and of course this used to mean hours spent pouring over my Cd player/Cassette player Duo deck and making the "perfect" mix. Now I usually spend about 5 minutes syncing my ipod and off we go. Nothing like having 5,000 songs with you at any time. Unfortunately Emma is too young to keep the headphones on for the rear DVD system - so we're mostly stuck listening to "Barbie Mariposa", "Mary Poppins", "Annie" or some other kid movie addiction du jour. Hell, Hard Knocked Life can be fun too!
Except my computer didn't really have the memory to lose - and it's addictive. Especially if you are one of THOSE people (which I am) who have a mix making addiction.
So, I've been listening to music that I love, music that I fondly remember from way back when.
I have been know to be sidetracked, veer off on the occasional tangent if you will. It's a well established fact that I have Music ADD. I have a hard time listening to an entire song if I'm only listening.
My internet use is the same way. Once I start researching a subject (one of my more well aspects of my business) I find something of interest and start following that trail and before you know it I have 50 tabs open about combination gardening in the Southwest.
Ummm - anyone notice how I just went off on a tangent, about going off on a tangent.
TOLD YA!
At first I started by uploading entire CDs to my itunes. Then it dawned on me - download the songs you might actually listen to. So I have found I have many a CD where I only really want 1-2 songs. Then there are others (Pearl Jam Ten, Eric Clapton Journeyman & Time Pieces, Peter Gabriel So immediately come to mind as recent uploads) that I pretty much just upload the entire CD.
We're getting to Road Trip (of course it's capitalized... have you never been on a Road Trip??) - and of course this used to mean hours spent pouring over my Cd player/Cassette player Duo deck and making the "perfect" mix. Now I usually spend about 5 minutes syncing my ipod and off we go. Nothing like having 5,000 songs with you at any time. Unfortunately Emma is too young to keep the headphones on for the rear DVD system - so we're mostly stuck listening to "Barbie Mariposa", "Mary Poppins", "Annie" or some other kid movie addiction du jour. Hell, Hard Knocked Life can be fun too!
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Lu*nesta
Tonight I watching some random tv show while I was folding laundry. A commercial came on that completely cracked my ass up.
It was a commercial for a sleep aid. It mentions, "Call your doctor right away if after taking Lun*esta you walk, drive, eat or engage in other activities while asleep."
I have heard of this phenomenon before, but tonight it got me thinking.
How is this not the excuse of every drun*k driving, philandering, fat person out there (and not necessarily all three at once...).
Driver to police officer, "No sir, I'm not drunk, I'm sleeping."
Cheating husband to wife, "I have no idea how I got here, or how I ended up in bed with this woman, I was asleep, I SWEAR!"
Woman - to herself, "Ah hell, here I am again in the kitchen at 3am, eating the leftover potato salad from the picnic, this medication is terrible!"
Seriously. That's a pretty messed up side effect of a medication if it can make you DRIVE while you are asleep.
Just a thought.
It was a commercial for a sleep aid. It mentions, "Call your doctor right away if after taking Lun*esta you walk, drive, eat or engage in other activities while asleep."
I have heard of this phenomenon before, but tonight it got me thinking.
How is this not the excuse of every drun*k driving, philandering, fat person out there (and not necessarily all three at once...).
Driver to police officer, "No sir, I'm not drunk, I'm sleeping."
Cheating husband to wife, "I have no idea how I got here, or how I ended up in bed with this woman, I was asleep, I SWEAR!"
Woman - to herself, "Ah hell, here I am again in the kitchen at 3am, eating the leftover potato salad from the picnic, this medication is terrible!"
Seriously. That's a pretty messed up side effect of a medication if it can make you DRIVE while you are asleep.
Just a thought.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
howdy doody
Don't get me wrong - there are lots of good things going on. When I sit down to write here though, I feel the need to preface everything with what is going on that is not so fun. I've been doing a lot of writing (for money this time!!) and I do notice that it seems to drain me a bit and it's harder to write creatively after hours of technical writing.
So, this was my half assed excuse for the lack of content here.
Things are good. We have our health (Julia's face/mouth is quickly healing and my thumb is finally closed (did I not mention I hacked through my thumb to the bone while showing my kids how to take the pit out of an avocado - with a de-boning knife? Oh - well, I did. It was so much fun the knife actually stuck in my thumb, I was apparently trying to de-bone myself. That takes a special kind of skill my friends. Some of my friends thought it was so funny she bought me brand new shiny Santoku knives to slice off more skin. Thanks KAM!)) and we have each other.
A lot of each other.
So much together it's a bit much. 24/7 of the family. Julia at least gets to get out of the house for 7 hours a day - the rest of us - together. ALL OF THE TIME! Usually this is when I am on the phone or in the bathroom. I find that's when my family likes to be with me the most. Julia has two more days of school... then all five of us will together. ALL OF THE TIME!
Trust me, I'm regretting the day I made the decision to work from home. Anyone have a full time job for me?? Anywhere else but here?
Just kidding. Well, sort of. We have definitely reached the saturation point of time together, but it is nice to have someone around.
So Julia is done with 1st grade on Friday. WOW. Dan and I are going to ambush her off the bus on Friday with a couple of balloons (of the water variety) and the Super Soaker Sneak. I put together a little summer gift basket for her and we're using our gift certificate (thanks Wendi!) to go out to dinner to celebrate the end of school and the beginning of summer. Her gift basket is a little sand pail (she wanted one like her sister although she plans to use hers as a temporary snail holding facility), a chapter book (she actually already owns it but hasn't seen it in a year so I'm re gifting it back to her), bubbles, a 1st/2nd grade bridge workbook (that she also already owns - but I'm cool like that), some colored pencils, handmade coupons for fun things (trips to the beach, a treat from the ice cream truck when it passes by one of the million times a day, trips to the library, play dates with friends, etc) and a little journal. So for $10 including balloons, I think she'll be thrilled.
Saturday I am having a little double birthday party/going away party for her two little buddies next door. They chose a jungle theme and so we're planning quite the bash. Other neighbors offered to chip in certain things so it should be really nice for them.
This was going to be a little update and became quite the saga. That's what "they" tell you to do with writer's block - just sit down and start writing and eventually something will come. Apparently what came for me was a bunch of rambling - but hey, that's me!
So, this was my half assed excuse for the lack of content here.
Things are good. We have our health (Julia's face/mouth is quickly healing and my thumb is finally closed (did I not mention I hacked through my thumb to the bone while showing my kids how to take the pit out of an avocado - with a de-boning knife? Oh - well, I did. It was so much fun the knife actually stuck in my thumb, I was apparently trying to de-bone myself. That takes a special kind of skill my friends. Some of my friends thought it was so funny she bought me brand new shiny Santoku knives to slice off more skin. Thanks KAM!)) and we have each other.
A lot of each other.
So much together it's a bit much. 24/7 of the family. Julia at least gets to get out of the house for 7 hours a day - the rest of us - together. ALL OF THE TIME! Usually this is when I am on the phone or in the bathroom. I find that's when my family likes to be with me the most. Julia has two more days of school... then all five of us will together. ALL OF THE TIME!
Trust me, I'm regretting the day I made the decision to work from home. Anyone have a full time job for me?? Anywhere else but here?
Just kidding. Well, sort of. We have definitely reached the saturation point of time together, but it is nice to have someone around.
So Julia is done with 1st grade on Friday. WOW. Dan and I are going to ambush her off the bus on Friday with a couple of balloons (of the water variety) and the Super Soaker Sneak. I put together a little summer gift basket for her and we're using our gift certificate (thanks Wendi!) to go out to dinner to celebrate the end of school and the beginning of summer. Her gift basket is a little sand pail (she wanted one like her sister although she plans to use hers as a temporary snail holding facility), a chapter book (she actually already owns it but hasn't seen it in a year so I'm re gifting it back to her), bubbles, a 1st/2nd grade bridge workbook (that she also already owns - but I'm cool like that), some colored pencils, handmade coupons for fun things (trips to the beach, a treat from the ice cream truck when it passes by one of the million times a day, trips to the library, play dates with friends, etc) and a little journal. So for $10 including balloons, I think she'll be thrilled.
Saturday I am having a little double birthday party/going away party for her two little buddies next door. They chose a jungle theme and so we're planning quite the bash. Other neighbors offered to chip in certain things so it should be really nice for them.
This was going to be a little update and became quite the saga. That's what "they" tell you to do with writer's block - just sit down and start writing and eventually something will come. Apparently what came for me was a bunch of rambling - but hey, that's me!
Friday, June 13, 2008
Finally...
Julia has finally lost a tooth...
Sadly, it occured as a result of yet another injury to her face. She has just finished healing from being smacked in the nose with a plastic bat two weeks ago, and is completing a treatment of Mederma to reduce the scarring on her chin from her road rash accident.
Apparently she had a run in with the playground equipment. Another tooth went all the way through her lip...
Update: Her bottom lip is bruised and swollen but will be fine. Her jaw is sore from the impact, but will also be fine. He tooth did indeed go through her lip, and she had three stitches to close it (it's on the outer edge of her lip so the plastic surgeon did it).
More fun on Friday the 13th.... her inner stitches popped and so we are heading back to the ER to have them done again.
The fun just never ends around here.
Sadly, it occured as a result of yet another injury to her face. She has just finished healing from being smacked in the nose with a plastic bat two weeks ago, and is completing a treatment of Mederma to reduce the scarring on her chin from her road rash accident.
Apparently she had a run in with the playground equipment. Another tooth went all the way through her lip...
Update: Her bottom lip is bruised and swollen but will be fine. Her jaw is sore from the impact, but will also be fine. He tooth did indeed go through her lip, and she had three stitches to close it (it's on the outer edge of her lip so the plastic surgeon did it).
More fun on Friday the 13th.... her inner stitches popped and so we are heading back to the ER to have them done again.
The fun just never ends around here.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
So many questions...
I don't like not having the answers. I really don't like it when I don't have the answers to the BIG questions.
How do you respond when someone your child knows almost dies (practically in front of them) from an overdose?
How do you explain that not all drug users are "scary bad people" but still warn them about drugs?
How do answer when you kid watching the ambulances assembled outside asks you, "Mommy, what's an overdose?"
Parenting can sometimes be hard in ways you don't expect. I certainly didn't expect this topic at 7 years old.
I didn't want this for my kids. I didn't want to answer these questions today.
How do you respond when someone your child knows almost dies (practically in front of them) from an overdose?
How do you explain that not all drug users are "scary bad people" but still warn them about drugs?
How do answer when you kid watching the ambulances assembled outside asks you, "Mommy, what's an overdose?"
Parenting can sometimes be hard in ways you don't expect. I certainly didn't expect this topic at 7 years old.
I didn't want this for my kids. I didn't want to answer these questions today.
Saturday, June 07, 2008
Cute or what!
This is Emma's new Summer MUST have fashion item. It's the bow from her sisters Vermont Teddy Bear Birthday Clown... Last night we had to trick her out of taking it off at bedtime. 
Aren't they cute???
Wednesday, June 04, 2008
Sunday, June 01, 2008
Half way
We are half way through Julia's softb*ll season and she is still enjoying it. The games don't take nearly as long since the girls are hitting the ball, and they are calling outs even though they still bat through the order each inning so it's not so bad.
Julia has an awesome arm, probably the best in the league so far. She's the only one I've seen throw it from the outfield to the pitcher. most of the kids are lucky to get it to the 2nd baseman from three feet away. The catching thing - she's getting better. She doesn't run away from the ball anymore - but she's also not holding her glove out for it. The hitting thing is literally hit or miss with her. Sometimes she gets up there and takes 40-50 pitches (NO exageration) other times she hits great on the first or second.
The end of the season involves pool parties and a Sea Dogs game! Julia is pretty excited about both.
Beach
So - today we finally made it to the beach!
Our beach passes arrived last week and so begins the journey's to the sand.
Today we took one of Julia's friends with us - and she wasn't so big on the sand thing. She told us many a time that she was more of a Winter kind of kid. It isn't dirty in the winter. She got into it eventually and I think had a good time.
We built and destroyed sand castles. Dug deep holes and filled them back in. Played in the water. Anna was able to swim and so she was happy. Emma wasn't sure she liked being sandy all that much either - and Julia just ran in an out of the water.
Fun.
Our beach passes arrived last week and so begins the journey's to the sand.
Today we took one of Julia's friends with us - and she wasn't so big on the sand thing. She told us many a time that she was more of a Winter kind of kid. It isn't dirty in the winter. She got into it eventually and I think had a good time.
We built and destroyed sand castles. Dug deep holes and filled them back in. Played in the water. Anna was able to swim and so she was happy. Emma wasn't sure she liked being sandy all that much either - and Julia just ran in an out of the water.
Fun.
No matter what
There are just some things I can not - and not for lack of trying - do as well as my mom. Make her fluffy chocolate chip cookies for instance. Oh - and ice water. She makes really good ice water.
Yes mom, my cookies turned out flat - yummy but flat. Oy
Yes mom, my cookies turned out flat - yummy but flat. Oy
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