These are a few of my favorite things...

The older I get, (and the older my children get) the more I appreciate the holidays and the traditions that have developed in my family over the years.  A lot of families spend time at the Thanksgiving table going around having everyone say what they are thankful for.  Since I come from a family of seven and my parents both come from families of seven kids our holidays don’t have down time to hear each person talk.[1]

So today, since chances are I won’t get to talk much since there will be so many people around[2] I would like to give a shout out to the people that I am most thankful for.

1.   I am thankful for my husband.  He is both hardworking and loving.  He is appreciative and helpful.  He is a great dad and role model for my children. 

2.  I am thankful for my children.[3]  My mom wrote me a letter in 8^th grade which I still have that said “you will never know how much I love you until you hold your own baby for the first time.”  She was right on this among other things.[4]

3.  I am thankful for my parents.  They worked hard[5] to provide for myself and six[6] siblings and are always there to help with anything I need.[7]

4.  I am thankful for Matt’s parents for helping to raise my babies and for raising my husband to be a great guy and father.[8]

5.  I am thankful for my brothers and sisters[9] for each of their separate personalities but shared sense of humor.

6.  I am thankful for my few but true girlfriends that provide me with an outlet away from all the above mentioned people.

All of these people mentioned along with numerous acquaintances that I may not see as much as I would like to[10] continue to make my life complete.

I hope that everyone has a great Thanksgiving!

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[1] It wouldn’t matter if we did anyway, because no one listens to each other, they are just waiting for the other person to pause for breath so that they can jump in and tell their “much better” story that will more importantly put the focus back on them.

[2] Plus, I like to focus my attention on more important things, like eating.

[3] Most days.

[4] Not EVERYTHING Mom, this is not a concession.  Maybe next year?

[5] And continue to work hard

[6] Yes, 6.

[7] Especially babysitting.

[8] Could someone tell them I said that?

[9] In-laws included

[10] With the exception of light facebook stalking.

Girls Rule, Boys Drool

We left early Friday morning for our much anticipated girls weekend, where the theme was “Girls Rule, Boys Drool.”  We spent all morning Friday shopping through Birch Run, stopped and had a late lunch, and then headed over to the Bavarian Inn Lodge.

 Is anyone surprised that my daughter wouldn't cooperate for this photo?

I cannot say enough great things about this weekend-we had a blast!  We had 6 women and 3 toddlers (age 2.5, almost 3, and almost 4[1]) and we survived incident free.  Mostly.

We had a few scares, with my friend’s daughter stepping into the pool and going under for what seemed like hours until her mom jumped in and saved her in the 18 inches of water that she was in.[2]  Also, Ryann walked away from us as we were gathering our tickets in the arcade and we couldn’t find her forever[3] until my girlfriend happened upon her at the opposite end of the play center shaking hands with what I can only assume was going to be her new family.

However, seeing the girls jump on the beds and run down the hallways and dancing on the dance floor[4] made me feel like a kid again myself.  And getting to spend a lot of time with my girlfriends (and sister) was recharging as well.  We are already looking forward to next time-although I will remember to pack life jackets and baby leashes. 

    Ryann out like a light on the ride home.  

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[1] Half years count a lot more developmentally when they are young so I felt it was important to give an accurate age.

[2] It was seriously up to their waists.  Just goes to show you can never be too careful.

[3] Or at least long enough for me to run through the rest of my unhappy life in my head including my massive weight gain and divorce.

[4] Kids are welcome at both bars at the Bavarian Inn ;)

Girls' Weekend

This Friday I have the day off so a few weeks ago I got with some of my girlfriends and we decided to do a girls shopping day at Birch Run accompanied by a stay at the Bavarian Inn in Frankenmuth for the evening.   It would give us all a chance to hang out and get some holiday shopping done and in the evening we could go back to the hotel and let our daughters play, swim, etc. while we sit and talk about the way things used to be.

As soon as I booked the hotel, I started getting Ryann pumped up for it.  At first, she made me wish I had never mentioned it because she kept asking about it.  Anyone that has shared space with a toddler knows that they can be quite persistent[1] when they want the answer to something, and of course Ryann is no exception.

However, the tables have turned, because Ryann is so excited to stay the night with her friends that I can get her attitude adjusted in a heartbeat.

“If you aren’t going to be nice to your brother, then you can forget about going to girls’ weekend.”

“You better try some of those vegetables or no way can I take you to girls’ weekend.”

“Stop whining or else I am calling and canceling girls’ weekend.”

“Rub my back until I fall asleep so I can rest up for girls’ weekend.”

Okay, the last one was a joke[2]-but you get the idea.   Of course, I am glad that it is finally this weekend, mainly because I am sick of hearing myself threaten about girls’ weekend[3] all of the time but also because I am so very excited to spend some time shopping and relaxing with friends.  Plus, I know that I have Santa Claus to call this coming month if she gets out of hand.  Now I just need something for the rest of the year…

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[1] Like, Chinese water-torture persistent.

[2] Kind of.

[3] Ryann pronounces it “go streakin” which cracks me up all the time.

Turning a mole hill into a mountain.

Today I have nothing on the agenda, so I decided today was the day that I would tackle our cuarto del terror (terror room, in Spanish) which is our bedroom/office/laundry room that resides above our garage.  I think I am safe in assuming that most people have a room like this in their house, or at least people that are friends with me do.  This room is full of laundry, books, shoes, and other things that don’t really have a “home” within our home. 

The problem with me cleaning is that I have severe ADD when it comes to organizing so I can spend hours on a project and in the end nothing looks any better.  Here is how I spent the first few hours this morning.

1.  Enter el cuarto del terror.  Have no idea where to start.  Decide to put a load of laundry in to knock down the pile and hopefully get a glimpse of the hamper buried beneath.  Start folding the pile of clean laundry that has been sitting in the basket for a day.[1]

2.  Start putting the laundry away.  Note that there isn’t much room in my closet.  Start pulling out things that are either out of season or that I shouldn’t be wearing.[2]  Put those to the side.

3.  Go back to the laundry that is now done, start putting the kids stuff away.  Notice that there is a lot of stuff in THEIR closet that no longer fits.  Get boxes and start pulling things out of their closet to give away. 

4.  Noticing now that I have a bunch of empty hangers, I start to go through the hangers and get rid of some of them.  Since I have a garbage bag now, I start walking through the upstairs throwing things away.

5.  While I am emptying the garbage can in the bathroom, I notice that it could use a good cleaning.  Put the garbage bag down and get out the cleaning supplies. 

6.  Start cleaning the bathroom and realize I can’t wash the rug from there because the washer is full.

7.  Load the stuff from the washer to the dryer, start folding the things in the dryer.

9.  Notice a lot of the things from the dryer is summer wear.  Fold that and put it to the side.  Figure if I want to put the summer stuff away, I should get out the winter stuff. 

10.  Pull the Rubbermaid full of winter stuff out of the attic.  Dump it out.  Put the summer stuff inside.  Put the winter stuff in a pile to be washed.

11.  Eat a cold piece of pizza while standing in front of the fridge.

12.  Decide that I should update my BLOG.

13.  Finish typing the BLOG, and realize that the room looks worse than when I started.

See why it is pointless for me to clean?

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[1] Week.

[2] So long, maternity clothes. (Not you, maternity pants, I may need you for Thanksgiving, see #11)

Halloween Hangover

I have always enjoyed holidays, but I think once you have kids there is a lot more pressure on you to really get into the spirit so that they can start to appreciate holidays as well.  I figured Halloween was an easy sell.  Ryann would get to walk around after dark up to strangers’ houses and get free candy from them.  What is not to love?

We invited friends and family over around 3:30 for white chicken chili and appetizers so that the grandparents could see the kids in their costumes and Matt could see some people outside of the working world on his first day off in a few weeks[1].  Ryann, of course, took a longer nap than usual, and as part of some twisted plot to destroy me, everyone showed up around 3:30.[2]  I was upstairs nursing Matthew, Ryann was sleeping, and none of the snacks had been set out yet.  I would have had it all set, but Ryann wanted a Dora pumpkin and that took me longer than I expected to create.[3]

Ryann woke up in a bad mood[4] and didn’t want to put her costume on.  I finally convinced her[5] to get ready and she headed back downstairs and really enjoyed herself for the remainder of the evening.  She trick-or-treated with the neighbor, visited with her best girlfriend, and slept like a baby.  Besides Ryann dealing with a little bit of an upset stomach[6] I think that she really enjoyed her first “official” Halloween. 

Now I have a few weeks to decide how I am going to turn myself into a sweaty mess on Thanksgiving.  Maybe we will try shopping that morning for an outfit!

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[1] Guess my “honey do” list can wait a while longer. Grrrrrr……

[2] This is unheard of in my family.

[3] All morning.

[4] BIG SURPRISE.

[5] Through an assortment of bribes and threats

[6] Which includes filling diapers with flesh-eating diarrhea

Save the Drama for your Mama.

This weekend was very exciting.  A younger cousin of mine had her wedding on Saturday and Ryann was to be the flower girl.  I had been prepping her for days[1] about her big walk[2] down the aisle to the point where I had her practicing walking down our hallway with a basket waving and blowing kisses, Toddlers and Tiaras style.

Saturday morning we woke up early to ensure that everything was prepared.  Matt had to work all day so I had to get the kids and myself ready so that I could drop off Matthew with his uncle and head to the church with Ryann by one o’clock.  We spent the morning doing our grooming rituals[3] and destroying the house so I would have something to dread coming back to on Sunday. 

I have no history of delusion so I think I am pretty correct when I say that my daughter is a sweetheart 95% of the time.  I also know that the 5% of the time that she is not in a good mood, there is no talking her out of it.  I started to get nervous when she cried putting the dress on.  She pulled it together by the time I got the kids loaded into the car and was even in a pleasant mood as we stopped by CVS to get her a healthy snack[4] and a wedding card[5].

We got to the church and she was still a little cranky acting so I tried my best to get her in a good mood.  This included pumping her full of skittles and sweethearts and promising her a shopping spree for whatever she wanted at Toys R Us the next day if she did a good job walking down the aisle.  I think you know where this is going.  Below is the result of all of my hard work.  Can’t wait to see her in my sister’s wedding in March!

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[1] weeks

[2] debut

[3] Which, for Ryann, included hours removing sponge rollers from her hair, styling her hair, clipping and painting both finger and toenails, putting lotion on, etc. while for me included trying to brush my teeth and straighten my hair while putting on makeup in under 10 minutes.

[4] Rice Krispie treats seemed the least likely to stain.

[5] Why haven’t I picked one up in my last 10 weekly visits to Target?  Probably because I would miss turning into a sweaty mess every time we have to go somewhere that requires a card.  I am not even sure I have ever filled out a check outside of my car.

Get some use out of those Halloween costumes...

So I haven't had a spare minute to blog or even find material to blog about (unless you want to know what we've been eating for dinner).  Matt is working tons of hours right now and we have a family wedding this weekend in which Ryann is the flower girl (wish us luck).


This week coming up has a lot of Halloween themed activities for you to get some bonus use out of that costume.  Check out my Yahoo! calendar for ideas or if you know of anything great send it to me and I will add it.


http://calendar.yahoo.com/downrivermom1

Hi, I'm mommy, your entertainment coordinator for a lifetime.

Yesterday we went to our friend Craig’s house to watch the Michigan vs. Michigan State game.  It’s amazing to think that just 3 years ago I was up tailgating at MSU and partying[1] with friends without a worry in the world and now we are at a friend’s house surrounded by children.  The parties are more now for the children than for us.  They didn’t care about the outcome at the game, they were just into playing with each other and it gave us adults the chance to talk about things other than Dora and Diego.[2]

Craig does not have any children, but his house is amazingly kid friendly for a bachelor pad, and he does everything he can to make sure that all of their needs are met while we are there.[3]  I was smiling inside as Ryann and her friends ran laps in the front yard, eager to reap the benefits of an all day playdate by her sleeping in today. 

Cut to seven in the morning.  Ryann is up and ready to find out what fun thing we are doing today.  I’ve mentioned before that I’d read that having a toddler is like having a houseguest in the house-they always want to be entertained.  But it doesn’t last for a weekend.  It lasts for years.  Pumpkin patch here we come.   Maybe we will be rewarded with a long nap this afternoon.[4]

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[1] Well, more visiting than partying, Ryann was just a little more than a zygote.

[2] Although one of the little girls at the party and her brother were being Dora and Diego for Halloween.

[3] He even texted me in the morning to see if I needed him to pick up anything for the kids-how about a padded room full of toys with a video monitor?

[4] Doubt it.

Grocery Shopping Will Never be the Same

I really enjoy grocery shopping.  Were it not for the business of loading the food into the cart, loading it out of the cart onto the belt, loading it back into the cart, loading it from the cart to the car, and then unloading it from the car into the house and then again into the cupboards, I would probably grocery shop every day.  That being said, I had an epiphany while grocery shopping last week. 

Shopping with both kids is tough, and I try to avoid it if possible but some days it just has to be done.  The main problem is that carts are not really built for newborns, and even if they were, I would prefer that Matthew stays in his carseat[1] and I need to basically keep Ryann sitting[2] in the back of the cart.  However, since the carseat blocks my vision, Ryann can and does get into mischief while in the cart surrounded by groceries.  She has chewed her way into cereal boxes, crushed bread, and torn open rice packages.  Not on purpose mind you, her main concern is getting the price tags off.

So my idea is for grocery stores to provide “cart assistants”[3] which are basically high school kids who come and work at the grocery store from 4-8 every day (longer on weekends).  These kids work for a basic wage and then the customers will also tip, say based on the total of their grocery bill.  

So the customer walks in the store, pushing her two angel babies[4] in the double stroller.  She has called ahead and reserved her “grocery boy”[5] and he is now waiting with an empty cart, ready to follow her around the store.  She pushes the stroller, and he follows behind her, never more than an arm’s reach away, so she can grab[6] the things she needs and throw them into the cart.  

Once the customer is done shopping, she walks right through the check out and has a seat on the bench so she can watch the groceries being unloaded onto the belt and back into her cart.  She pays for the groceries, and her personal shopper[7] pushes the cart out to the car and unloads the groceries into the back while she loads her children[8] into their car seats.  The customer then thanks the young man or woman, hands them a cash tip if they didn’t already add the tip to the grocery bill, and then they are on their way.  

This would be a great job for a high school student, and I know I would be more inclined to shop longer and buy more things if I had a cart full of room and someone to deal with all of it until I got home.  Maybe I would even be less inclined to stop at Subway[9] on the way home since I wouldn’t already be sick of seeing the food I just bought.

If any reader out there is in a position to make this happen, I am available at the e-mail address listed for consultation purposes.

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[1] The only time I ever put Ryann in the provided “infant” seat at a store, her nose was completely stuffed by the time we left the store.  True story.

[2] trapped

[3] Best name I could come up with-feel free to suggest a better one.

[4] It’s my dream, I can tell it how I want.

[5] Do you like that name better?

[6] Or just point to, depending on how much she plans on tipping

[7] What about that name?

[8] Now sleeping soundly

[9] McDonald’s

Little Laid Back Brother

Just wanted to post a quick picture of Matthew yesterday.  He was a complete dream as we walked around Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village indulging in Ryann's every whim.  I guess its right (and slightly sad) what they say about second children in that they learn to be patient due to parents always having to meet the demands of the older child first.   I hope this relaxed demeanor carries him through toddlerhood!  

A job ain't nothing but work.

The difference between being a mom and a teacher is basically that I don’t have to feed my students dinner.  Yet. 

I am back to work and really enjoying my new school.   The staff and students are great and although we are still in the “honeymoon” phase, I am excited about the start of a new school year.  That being said, I have done pretty much nothing but eat, sleep, work, plan, cook[1], and clean.[2]  I am tired!

I have spent the last year at home with Ryann and so I am getting pretty used to understanding her moods, likes, and dislikes, and as a parent I am her first teacher-knowing all that stuff is important.  However, to be a successful classroom teacher, one must know their students the same way.  Trying getting to personally know the likes, dislikes, and moods of 150 different kids is a little bit more demanding.  I think this is the main reason why the beginning of the school year is so exhausting-sure, you have stuff you have done in class before, but just because it worked last year doesn’t mean it will work this year, and during this honeymoon phase a lot of the time is spent trying to figure out how to meet the needs of many different personalities.[3]

In the same way that I hope I am being a positive influence for my child, I hope that I can in some way impact the lives of the 150+ kids I see every day in class, and for that reason, even when I am not at work I am thinking about work-so while teachers aren’t in the classroom every day, the students of my classroom enter my mind daily.  I talk about them like they are my own.  I have gotten stopped mid-story before by someone who said “wait a minute-how many kids do you have?”  I realized that I was telling a funny story about a student of mine, and of course had started out the story with “one of my kids…”

So while today’s blog has nothing to do with my family, I am hoping those moms who follow and check out the Yahoo! calendar for things to do will be patient-I will be adding to it soon-lots of cool stuff for the fall is coming in-and if you find something cool let me know! 

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[1] Or my version of cooking, which includes opening up different cans, mixing them,  and turning the stove on.

[2] The jury is still out on whether or not what I do can be considered “cleaning” but it sounds better than “hiding stuff”

[3] This is without the option of just having the grandparents take them for the day so you can recharge.  Also, a 2 minute time out for middle school children doesn’t really affect them the way it affects my daughter.

Inspiration from Starbucks

The Way I See It #198

"You can shower a child with presents or money, but what do they really mean, compared to the most valuable gift of all-our time?  Vacations and special events are nice, but so often the best moments are the spontaneous ones.  Being there.  Every moment that you spend with your child could be the one that really matters."

-Tim Russert

Host of NBC's "Meet the Press" and author of "Wisdom of our Fathers."

I have had the above posted on my fridge for probably a couple of years now, it is a quote that was written on the side of my Starbuck's cup.  Today I noticed it again and it really got me thinking…

We consider ourselves to be pretty hands-on with our kids, myself especially since I have been off for 64 weeks.[1]   However, I am wondering if the moments that I spend with my child where I am so frustrated I could flip the couch over are also the ones that really matter.  Ryann woke up from her nap yesterday in the worst mood.  She was crying and complaining for like an hour[2]  and my patience was wearing thin.  Needless to say, she was not happy with us.  I put her up in her room so she could calm down and Matt went up to talk to her.[3] 

I hate to get mad at Ryann especially because she doesn’t understand why I get frustrated when she is merely trying to “help” me bring my fork to my mouth by holding on to my fork while I try to shovel in some food between toddler and infant demands.[4]  I realize that everything she does is a reflection of things we have taught her, directly or indirectly, and that she doesn’t know any better on some things but it doesn’t make it any less frustrating when we have one of “those” days. 

So Ryann finally settled down and we got ready to go watch her Uncle Tom play J.V. football for the evening.  She was a sweetheart at the game, blowing kisses to Grandpa and Uncle Tom, and walking up and down the bleachers making friends.  Matt wondered aloud why she wasn't always that sweet with us.  I was reminded of something our friend Carl (who has high school boys) said last time he visited.  Matt mentioned that he couldn’t believe that one day Ryann was going to tell him that she hated him and Carl replied that “that is how you know you have done your job right.”  So I guess EVERY everyday moment is one that matters-because whether we are having a great time or counting down until bedtime we are still doing it together.

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[1] Do you think my laundry would be all caught up by now?

[2] probably more like 15 minutes, but time passes slowly when your blood pressure is skyrocketing

[3] Time that I think would have been better spent fixing me a strong drink

[4] Yes, she really does actually hold the end of my fork and repeat “Careful mom, careful mom” the entire time I eat.