Missing Them In The Other Room

Hi there!

I don't think anyone other than maybe the Hubs (because he told me last night that he does still come over here from time to time) still visits.  It's just like everyone else's situation in that Facebook, IG, and other 140 character thoughts dominate our sharing of our minds and hearts.  I'm not too worked up over it, really.  I haven't been here in three years.

Except that I have a sieve-like memory, and I hate that.  So, I'm going to try to get thoughts on virtual paper as often as I can so I don't forget things entirely and so that "one day" my kids will have this to hold on to, if they need it.

So, today is the start of our Spring Break in our homeschool, but I had some articles due for a local magazine for which I write.  (That's Parents & Kids, btw.)   I told my kiddos that under penalty of tragediacal (check your Kacktionary) pain, they were in no way to come into the school room and talk to me while I get these finished up.  They, for the most part, have left me alone.

Now, I hear them in there talking, sometimes arguing, and generally playing around.  And I miss them.  :-)  I'm so glad that I miss them and that I'm able to feel that feeling instead of having the feeling of "ugh, I don't *want* to get up and go deal with the kids".  Don't misunderstand - I'm no saint.  I have the latter feeling plenty of times.  Any mom who says she doesn't is either fibbing or really needs to start educating the rest of us.  But, today, I miss them, and I'm ready to go in there and settle down the arguments and tell them that I'm through with that work and ready to engage again.

Which is good, because I need to get them fed and get people ready to hit activities this afternoon!

P.S.  This post will be tagged with "Thoughts From The Lawnmower", but I'll explain that one in a later post.  I have to be reasonable about how I share my thoughts - if I want to do it, I need to do it concisely or it won't get done!

I just need to vent.

I was talking to my brother last night, and he told me that baby Audrey was already sleeping 4 hour stretches at night!!! Go girl!!! What a blessing...... which made me think about Tooter when he first came home from the hospital. He was such a good little sleeper. He had his days and nights worked out in less than a week, and almost never felt the need to play when he woke up for a diaper change or to eat at night.

sigh....

And then the eczema hit. And we have been battling it ever since. We've had good nights in amongst the bad nights. And I know that this is all but for a season - it will pass. But indulge a tired mommy for just a moment, and allow me to whine a bit. I am sooooo tired!

It is been in a flare-up lately. After the round of recent illnesses and the immediate onset of pollen season after that, in addition to his being able to play outside, there really isn't a clear spot on him. I so much want to try to avoid giving him any stronger medicines than he's already having to use. But it's just wearing me out.

Last night, he literally couldn't sleep for more than an hour without waking up to scratch. There were multiple times where he would grab for my hand, put it on his leg or foot, and have ME scratch him. I remember that awful feeling. Where you'd rather scratch your skin till it bleeds instead of feeling the itch. But for some reason, I was able to get mine under control so much more easily. Maybe because it came on later, so I was able to take care of it myself. I dunno.

Thing is, some of what is on his legs isn't eczema. It's just some allergic reaction to SOMEthing outside. Grass, pollen, who knows. But I can't treat him like the boy in the bubble. He's otherwise healthy, and I want him to feel normal. But so much of what he touches outside irritates him.

So, we're trying a combination of Zyrtec in the morning, and his nightime antihistamine before he goes to bed. Maybe we'll get it all under control. I dunno. I HATE having to give any kid this much medicine. But you should see the circles under his and my eyes this morning. We are just about to hit the wall.

waaah waaah waaah. I know he could have such worse problems than this. So, in a weird way, I'm grateful that this is the extent of his being "sick". But I'm so tired this morning that I can't help the whining.

But, maybe now that I've gotten this out of my system, I can go find my facial highlighter and good concealer, and hide the evidence. ::smile::

Missing Storytime

Unfortunately, due to some sick monkeys, Tooter in particular, we're going to have to miss storytime at the library today. Poodle, who has only been a few times, has come to just love it. (Stacey and Amy, we sing the "shake your sillies out" song around here all the time now. Joy! ha!)

Anyway, due to our impending absence from the frivolities of stories about teeth today, I feel it necessary to share some pictures from storytime a couple of weeks ago. It was "hair stories" day, and everyone was to come with crazy hair. Here was Poodle's contribution!







I got to complete a couple of twists and braids, and aided in securing a few bows that wanted to go astray. But, mostly, this was Poodle's creation.

Viva la crazy hair!

For SueSue & PopPop

As the story goes, Jmk spent some time in his younger years as a puppy dog. This picture proves that the imagination apple falleth not far from the proverbial tree.

Although, technically, Poodle is actually being a kitty cat. I had to put some sunflower seeds in the bowl to be her "kitty food"!

Oh my stars. I'm not going to make it.

He's not even 2 yet. Heck, he's not even 15 months old yet. He's such an unassuming little tyke. At least with Poodle, we knew she was fearless almost from day one. Tooter, however, didn't strike me as quite so gung-ho'esque.

Hmmph. Apparently, I have a lot to learn about my dear boy.

Or maybe I just have a lot to learn about boys, period.

So, we're outside yesterday afternoon, taking advantage of the briefly warmer weather. The kids are running around willy nilly and I'm pooper scooper'ing the yard. (tmi? sorry.) Anyway, I spot check Tooter, and he's engaged in investigating a pine cone. I scoop, and turn back around barely 10 seconds later, and he's halfway up the stairs that lead to the decking at the top of the slide part of the swing set.

Oh good heavens.

So I go running to the swing set and spot him the rest of the way up, and help him slide down. We do this at least a million times and he finally gets interested in something else.

He comes back for a few more sliding sessions, and then he takes off for one of the palm trees. I take advantage of the moment, and sit down at the laptop that I brought outside an hour earlier, to get some work done on the Junior Miss script.

I swear - I think he must have Star-Trek-transported himself back to the swingset, because I really was paying attention. Or at least I thought I was.

I look up, and the boy has climbed all the way up the stairs and is sitting in the upper deck-thing of the swingset, trying to position himself to slide down the slide. Oh. My. Gravy.

The blasted thing is, what, 4 1/2 something feet off the ground?

I won't tell you what all went through my mind. Praise the Lord nothing happened to him - although I'm not entirely sure my heart has gone back into rhythm yet.

Playtime outside this summer is sure to be an adventure. I think I'll need Prozac!

A day of wow and wow.

My first wow - and it's not as though this is the first time she's done this, but it just wow'ed me more than usual yesterday. I had laid out Poodle's church clothes yesterday morning, as is usual for me. She was to wear a jumper dress, turtleneck, tights and dress shoes. Later in the morning, she shows up in my bathroom as I'm putting on makeup with all her clothes on (and on properly), including her shoes. The only thing she hadn't done yet was zip up her dress, but the zipper was on the back, so who can blame her? Like I said, this isn't the first time she's gotten herself dressed. She's been doing that for, gosh, I don't know - months? She can't button or zip all the way yet, but the clothes part is getting easier for her. It's just that for some reason, yesterday morning - with the tights and everything - it just wow'ed me. She wows me. She is just such a blessing and joy.

My second wow came during church. I had taken Tooter out and was letting him go up and down the stairs in the foyer of our borrowed church building. (It was the activity that was keeping him the most quiet). And, as I walked him across the balcony and down the stairs to let him start over, I was just overwhelmed with love for him. I have these moments with my kids. I don't know if it's normal or not, but while I always love them, I have these moments where my heart overfills with intense emotion and it just spills out all the way down to my toes. It's probably the drama queen in me. I was wow'ed at how blessed I am - and I don't say that lightly. I truly mean Heavenly blessed - I give all the glory to the Father for allowing me to take care of His children for a brief time. I'm not worthy, and I certainly don't do the best job of it most of the time. But I'm so grateful.

I just had to spill this out to the universe!

Tooter's Expanding Vocabulary

Okay, it's just one new word, but this one word doubles his vocabulary! Of course, "Dahdee" was his first. And now.... (drum roll please)..... we have cracker! Technically, it is "cah cah cah cah". BUT, he is using it to request the actual item. Often. I think he just likes having a word that he can use and we understand at the same time. Buy stock in Nabisco - we're going thru a ton of Saltines right now!

Interesting side note, "cracker" was also Poodle's first word. I still rememer her pointing to the cabinet where we kept them at the time, and saying "cahcah".

Reminder - cracker, for Tooter, is not "cahcah". It is "cahcahcahcah". Let's be clear about that! ::smile::

What they hear....

...when you really think they're not listening:

"We can't see God if we look at the sky. But, if you close your eyes, you can see God in your heart. Because God lives in Heaven. And Jesus was born as a little baby!"

Poodle informed me of this yesterday in the van.

Have you seen that Volvo commercial where the dad puts the little girl in her car seat and can't close the door because she is talking talking talking.... and then it cuts to a shot of him driving and smiling at her thru the rearview mirror while she just goes on and on and on in a world of run-on sentences?

Apparently it is a skill that all 3 year olds posses. At the very least, mine certainly does! I got tickled yesterday when I realized that for most of her rambling I had been saying "mm-hmmm" and "ahhh" for about 10 minutes but hadn't heard a bit of what she was saying. So I decided to listen. That's when I caught the above.

In other news:
Things are being somewhat more cooperative with the internet connection, but we're still a bit spotty. Hopefully it will continue to get better!

It has finally happened.

We have lost one of Poodle's loveys. She isn't attached at the hip to any one thing at all times, but of all her "favorites", Suzanne is at the top of the list. Suzanne, (named for Amy Suzanne, the original purchaser of the prized pup), is a little white plush puppy with pink heart shaped polka-dots. We had it at church yesterday, and that was the last time we remember seeing her.

Have NO idea what happened.

Poodle is taking it pretty well. Right now, we're telling her that we left Suzanne at church, and we'll get her next time we go.

So what did I do last night? Of course. Got online and started hunting. Finally found it on Ebay, and ordered it immediately. The new Suzanne will hopefully be here in a few days!

This is why "they" say to help your child get attached to a lovey that is easily replaceable. Yeesh!!!

This was what I signed up for.

Okay, see, Jmk and I started buying a meaningful ornament for ourselves starting with our first Christmas together. These days, getting to Hallmark together is more of a job than fun, and shopping online for the ornament just doesn't have the same feel to it. Sooooo, the kids and I just made up a batch of ornament dough, cut them out into fun shapes, and I'll let Poodle go crazy with the paint for the "special" tree ornament! We'll just write the date on the back. Who needs Hallmark? (And all the extra ones are likely to find themselves serving as gift tags).

We even did handprints of both Tooter and Poodle. heehee.... THIS is the kind of thing I signed up for in my mind when I thought about being a SAHM during the Christmas season. This was so fun!

Thus, for all parents so inclined - here's the recipe I used. But I think you should Google "ornament dough" and find a recipe that calls for a 2 to 1 flour to salt recipe. Mine needed extra water, and it didn't specify an oven temperature. (I think 300 degrees is probably best. I tried 200 and 250, and I don't think that was quite hot enough).

Overall, it's easy breezy - go have FUN!!!