House of Estrogen

Neighborhood Little Sister

Last weekend, while Elise and Nina were both away at camp and grandparents', respectively, the doorbell rang. I answered the door to find two of Nina's buddies - first graders who live in the neighborhood. I told them that Elise and Nina were out, but they were actually looking for Addie. They asked if Addie wanted her face painted. Addie nodded, so the girls got to work.

 
Neither of these girls have younger siblings, so I guess they had decided Addie would be a willing participant for their face painting agenda.

 

Addie is accustomed to being Nina's play thing, so this was just like a typical day for her.

 
Face painting turned into hand painting, and Addie seemed to be enjoying the attention.

 
She's the neighborhood little sister. :)

 

 

 

Creepy Crawlies

Last year, I made spider web cookies for a Halloween treat. I loved the way they turned out, so I made more this year for the bake sale at the girls' school. I needed to make something for the cake walk too though, so I decided to try Bakerella's spider cupcakes as well.

Check out this cute little guy.

 

Yes, I know spiders are supposed to have eight legs. but six looks OK, right? This is Halloween afterall - maybe they are mutant spiders. 

 

EEK!  It's the invasion of of the mutant six-licorice-legged spiders.

 

Two Lessons Learned This Week

1. Lesson learned by Elise: If you're going to secretly stay up past lights-out time playing on your iPod, do not play Words With Friends (Scrabble) with your mother. 

2. Lesson learned by Ann: If you get your flu shot really early in the season, then J.C. is left to take all three girls for flu shots when he gets his. Even better, with his impressive skills of distraction and a little help from M&M's, not a single tear was shed. He is now responsible for all future flu shots.

Simple Woman's Daybook, October 25, 2010

 

For Today...

Outside my window... the plants around our mailbox look so lovely and tidy now that J.C. trimmed the jungle that had begun to grow there.

I am thinking... that I desperately need a shower. I just worked out on the elliptical machine and exercise bike. Yea me!

I am thankful for... our quiet weekend. Elise had a wonderful time at a Girl Scout camp-out all weekend. Nina spent about 24 hours having fun with her grandparents. J.C., Addie, and I had a nice quiet weekend as a family of three. I don't remember thinking that one child was easy when I only had one, but it sure feels like a carefree vacation now.

From the kitchen... I'll be baking some cookies or cupcakes this week for the bake sale at the girls' school fall festival. Anybody have cute Halloween-ish ideas?

 I am creating... a few blog posts.

I am going... to fold laundry all day today. Sigh.

I am reading... not much. It has been a rough week. I think I read a page or two of People magazine, and that is about it. Technically, I'm still reading Mini Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella, but I hardly touched it this week.

 I am hoping... the muscle spasms in my neck and shoulder stop soon.

I am hearing... some birds singing.

Around the house... clean laundry begging to be folded.

One of my favorite things... my new camera bag! It just arrived this week, and I love it. I bought it from Janine King Designs on Etsy.

A few plans for the rest of the week.... thankfully, not much. This week shouldn't have quite the frantic pace of last week. Since I am a room mom in both Elise and Nina's classes, I have a bunch of responsibilities at their school Fall Festival on Friday night, but that should be fun.

Here is a picture thought I am sharing... a warm October day.

  

    To read more Daybook posts or learn how to participate, visit The Simple Woman's Daybook. 

Nina on Trunk or Treating

"I wint trunk or treat no [on] sunday. It wus fantastic. I had fun. I wus skidols [Skittles]. I have a favrorite cande. I bet you are gesesing wut it is? It is budr cup. I love the tast [taste] uv it. Elise is a cande con fare [candy corn fairy] and Addie she wus a lade bug."

Based on that rave review, I would say our trunk or treat outing was a success.

When Did Fun Become So Difficult?

This afternoon, we had plans to go to a Trunk or Treat event. I thought I would score some fun-mommy points with that activity. What kid doesn't love dressing up in a costume, getting candy from the trunks of cars, and playing carnival games? Doesn't that sound like kid-heaven?

 

The drama fun started with, "OK, everybody - go get your costumes on!" The candy corn fairy began whining that her neck was itchy and her wings were too tight. The ladybug yelled, "NO WINGS! I NO WEAR WINGS!" and tore her antenae off her head. (Note to self... never buy costumes with wings.)

 

Next there was the battle of the trick-or-treat buckets. The weird neon green pumpkin bucket was apparently a hot commodity. Much yelling, screaming, and tears ensued over the $%*@# buckets. The Skittles bag even declared that she wouldn't go if she couldn't have her bucket of choice.  Then the screaming sounded remarkably like my voice, "This is SUPPOSED to be a fun activity. If you guys can't get your acts together to have FUN, we are staying home!"

 

Frazzled and irritable, we all piled into the car sans wings and antennae and made it to the trunk or treat. Remarkably, we all had fun. Was it worth it? I'm really not sure. Fun should not be such a struggle. Perhaps we'll just consider this our trial run for Halloween. Maybe Halloween will go more smoothly. I sure hope so. If not, don't be surprised if Halloween is cancelled this year at the House of Estrogen.

 

Finding That Perfect Pumpkin

Finding the perfect pumpkin starts with a trip to the pumpkin patch every year. I hope it is many, many years before my children outgrow the fun of the pumpkin patch.

 

We started off in the corn crib.

 

I'm pretty sure they never would have noticed if I left and came back for them hours later. They couldn't have been happier jumping around in the corn.

 

I'm still finding corn kernels all over the house.

When I finally pulled them away from the corn, we headed over to the slide where a little sisterly love was evident.

 

Addie must have gone down that slide 50 times, and thankfully, she had a sister at the top to help her into the slide every time but once. That time, I was at the bottom waiting for her when I heard her distinctive, "MommaDaddy, MommaDaddy, MommaDaddy" wail and realized a long line was forming behind her. She was able to climb up the hay bails but wasn't quite tall enough to climb in. A nice momma in line helped her, but that was the last of the slide for us.

 

From there, we tried out the hay ride.

 

 

Last, we went in search of the perfect pumpkin,

 

posed for a picture,

 
 
and learned the hard lesson of the day... hay doesn't taste so good.

 

 

 

 

Simple Woman's Daybook, October 18, 2010

 

For Today...

Outside my window... it is a beautiful, sunny fall day. I just came in from a walk where the nip in the air was so refreshing.

I am thinking... that I'm hungry. I need a snack.

I am thankful for... my moms' weekend at the beach.  It is amazing how restorative just a few days away can be. We weren't on any set schedule. We could swim in the ocean without looking out for children. We could sleep as late as we wanted without being awoken by little pattering feet entering our rooms. We were able to go out for nice dinners without crayons or having to cut anyone's meat. Best of all, we could have uninterrupted conversations - long, engaged, meaningful conversations without hearing, "But, Mom..." or "Hey Mom! Look what I can do!". We were able to just talk... talk, and laugh, and share. It was just what I needed.

From the kitchen... grilled tuna steaks, zucchini, squash, and red pepper on the grill, pasta w/pesto, and whole wheat bread.

 I am creating... I want to start working on Elise's room. I really need to paint it.

I am going... to clean house today. Bah.

I am reading... Mini Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella.

 I am hoping... that my cousin doesn't need too invasive a surgery for her oral cancer.

I am hearing... J.C. working from home. Since he was chasing the girls all weekend while I was away, he ended up weightbearing on his knee (and torn MCL) too much. He's staying home today to keep it rested.

Around the house... so much crap. How do those of you with 3+ kids keep your houses clean? Or have you just given up?

One of my favorite things... Addie's age right now. She is so verbal and fun these days.

A few plans for the rest of the week.... too much going on... doc appointment for me, dentist appointment for Nina to get her palatte expander, two girl scout meetings, volunteering in both girls' classrooms, one parent-teacher conference, and a meeting with the financial planner. Whew!

Here is a picture thought I am sharing... moms' wild weekend at Myrtle...

I think I was using the atm when this first one was taken. Oops!

 

I look insanely tall in this one. I promise I'm not actually that tall. I had on big chunky heels.

 

 
    To read more Daybook posts or learn how to participate, visit The Simple Woman's Daybook. 

Team MimiMike

One of the hardest moments as a working mother is that first day going back to work after maternity leave. It isn't so much the working that is hard (since a piece of you is desperate for adult conversation and a break from diaper changes). What nearly rips your heart out is having to drop off your baby in the hands of someone else. That new little person in your life has been with you 24/7 since she arrived, and now you're having to entrust someone else to take care of her, love her, and hold her while you're busy bringing home a paycheck. I won't lie. It sucks. That first week or two are torture. If you're lucky though, you end up with a caregiver who loves your child, sings to her, reads to her, kisses her boo boos, and who does her job so well that  you can go off and do yours, feeling completely confident in your childcare choice.

For us, Mimi has been that person. We dropped off Elise with Mimi on her first day of daycare, and we have been dropping off a child with Mimi almost every day for the last 8 years. She was Elise's teacher for two years, then Nina's teacher for almost 3 years, and now she is Addie's teacher. We've known Addie's other teacher Mike for just as long. He was support staff in the center when Elise first started and was loved by every child there. He moved into a teacher position with Mimi when Nina was two. We couldn't have asked for better teachers. The two of them make the perfect teaching team, so we were thrilled when Addie was assigned to their classroom. It was like coming back to family.

Addie's class has been really tight-knit, and the kids all seem to call Mimi and Mike by the single moniker, "MimiMike". We'll ask, "Who did you play with today?" "MimiMike".  I'm not sure how it started, but it is as though they are a single person, the mythical "MimiMike". We adore MimiMike, so when a parent in the classroom made these "Team MimiMike" shirts for the class, it couldn't have been more perfect!

 

Addie will move up to a preschool class when she turns 3, and it will be the end of an era with Team MimiMike. I guess it is just one of many "lasts" that we'll experience with Addison. I know our family is complete, but every milestone will be tough knowing it is the last time. For now, we're going to keep loving our time in Team MimiMike's classroom and not think about that last day!

 

Next Time I'll Just Stay in Bed

At 4:30 a.m. last night, I heard the tired moaning of "Mommy, Mommy" coming from the toddler room. "She'll fall back to sleep", I said to myself. The voice got a little louder, "Mommmmmy, Mommmmy."  My bed was so warm. I had been deep in sleep and was so cozy under the blankets. I didn't want to move. "Surely she'll go back to sleep. I'll just let her fuss a little longer," I thought.  The voice ramped up, "Mommmmy!! Mommmmy!"  I grudgingly rolled out of bed and shuffled down the hall to her room to comfort her. As I put my hand on her back and said, "It's OK... You're OK. Go back to sleep." She responded with, "NO MOMMY!  DOE AWAY!" 

Awesome.

Next time, I'll just put a pillow over my head and go back to sleep.