smiley faces

Don't you just love seeing people that automatically make you smile?

It doesn't matter if they can see you or not, just seeing them brightens your day.

time for motrin

"Mommy, I'm feeving," says #5 whose poor little body had been fighting fever off and on all day today... her way of telling me that it was on it's way up again.

nuh - uh

So my sister calls me and says, "I have seen the face of God."
"Huh?"
"Yes, after all these years, I know what God looks like."
"... and? You gonna tell me?"
"He looks like an old black woman with long gray hair."
(silence)
"Y'ou see, there I was in traffic and I look over and saw a car, and on the front licence plate, it said, 'God is My Co-Pilot' and, well, there he was sitting in the passenger seat."

glimmer

Go here. Read the last part... the quote in purple. Wow.

yep, spring is on its way

I feel it in my bones: Spring is right around the corner.

Wanna know how I know? Because I'm feeling a major need to spring clean. But really, I'm after more than just spring cleaning ... I need to do more of a "deep cleaning", a "take-everything-out-of-the-house-and-only-put-back-what-we-need" kind of cleaning.

Sis and I were supposed to de-clutter a room or two of the house while she was here, but we just slap ran out of time. (Despite the fact that two of three nights we stayed up til 3 a.m.) But, fear not, dear friends. It will get done. I feel it coming on strong, much like a 10 month pregnant woman with a nesting instinct.

Hey. Come to think of it, I even look like I could fit that description. (Somebody hide the pickles!)

ps- I am not really pregnant

yuck

me. no. likey. when. hubby. is. gone.

assignment one: make room for guests

With spring on its way, I have a major desire to de-clutter my house. Not only will it look better it will be easier to keep clean and we can have a better feel for what we actually "need".


My sister has agreed to barter her time helping me de-clutter if I teach her how to sew. She will be here Thursday, so I got an early start on the process by cleaning out the guest room. I wish (now) that I had taken "before" pictures. This room contained the entire contents of #1's Irish Dance studio, which is in the process of changing locations. Thing is, the dance instructor has been in where-to-rent-induced-limbo and the boxes have been in there since July 5th. (Quick math tip: that's over 6 months!)

Last week a contract for a new studio was signed, which got me fired up. All the boxes are out of the guest room and packed to the top of our Yukon XL waiting to be handed over tomorrow. (Did you just hear my big sigh of relief?)

So, here's the big reveal.... (ten hours and the whole family pitching in)

Fun Sunday activity:

Take out all the baby albums and take a stroll down memory lane. It's neat to see how much the kids have changed over the years.

Note to self: write every detail on the backs of pictures from now on...memory fails quickly.

no fame, no fortune, no glamorous dresses, no glittery make-up .. but that is ok by me

If you "Facebook" you will probably know that there is this "retro" thing going around where folks are supposed to put an old picture of themselves as their profile picture. There are many of my friends who were very glamorous when they were younger. Dancers and singers in fancy costumes. Each was quite an accomplishment. Definitely a shining moment.

I got to thinking (you know me... always some mental cud-chewing going on), my one really really big accomplishment was not something I did when youth was on my side. It is something I am in the midst of: being called "mom".

try it, you'll like it

Next time you are making a salad, use half the amount of lettuce and replace it with a handful of shredded cabbage (Fresh Express with added purple cabbage and carrots - in the bagged salad section - the kind you use to make slaw).

Adds an element of "crunch" like you wouldn't believe.

the value of boy noise

I picked number 1 up from school today.
"It sure was quiet today in all our classes," she stated.
"Oh, really? Why?" I wondered.
"All of the boys were gone. They had that retreat."
"So, do you think you'd like an all-girls school?" I asked her.

After giving the question a bit of thought, she decided that while there would probably not be as much girl drama as there is in a co-ed school, she'd rather have the dull roar of boys around.

comic relief

This afternoon, my sweet 2 year old came up to me and asked me if she could have a house. I thought about it for a moment. Aha! She remembered making these:

It was her adorable way of asking for a graham cracker.

*************

Then, a tad later in the day, I was showing my 10 year old Celtic fiddler this and my silly willy 4 year old who is two rooms away says to his brother, "I hear music. It reminds me of leprechauns."

where have all the spoons gone?

The other day when I picked the kids up from school, they brought home more than just their backpacks. They brought excitement. They were so wound up about that night's possibility of snow (10%) that I didn't think I was going to be able to get them to do their homework.

Once home, while they were eating their snack, they were sharing each of the tidbits that they had learned from their friends that day. My favorite was "if you put your pj's on inside out and sleep with a spoon under your pillow it will snow".
"At Mass today, Fr. Mark told us that if we were going to pray for snow, to pray for a bunch," said number 3.

They hurried through their homework, ate their dinner, and nearly fell going upstairs to get their jammies on wrong. They laughed in surprise when even King came downstairs with inside-out pajamas. After we prayed and they said goodnight, taking their spoons with them, I remembered being that excited about snow. Getting to be out of school, even an hour or two delay, was so thrilling.

That child-like, magical wishing... something that just may come true.... the excitement is simply palpable.

When we awoke the next morning, each of us wanted to open the curtains and see a beautiful white blanket of snow on everything in the yard, our seams, spoons, and prayers defying the weatherman's percentages. Sadly, it did not snow, this time.

But then again, I forgot to turn my pj's inside out.

bumper sticker

ruffling feathers

This weekend, in a rare the-TV-is-on moment, King and I watched the Sunday morning political show line up.
I was impressed by Brit Hume, who announced his prediction that Tiger Woods would return to golf after his "drama" dies down. He went on further to say (paraphrasing here) that he thought Tiger to be a Buddhist and encouraged him to convert to Christianity where he could find healing and forgiveness.
I figured he would ruffle a few feathers. I hear through the grapevine that he has indeed!
Go, Brit, go!

just askin'

If you treat others the way you would like to be treated and they don't reciprocate, does that cancel the Golden Rule, thereby getting you off the hook for being nice?

spazmodic: relating to spasm

Is there something wrong with me that I dribble coffee every time I drink it out of a cup with this kind of lid?

in brief

Today was good. I am thankful for

1. hard boiled eggs
2. toasted almonds
3. liquid stevia

Easy Peasey = big pack of chicken breasts on a cookie sheet, sprinkle with curry, cut and use in salad as needed during week

Almost as easy = 1 lb ground chuck mixed with 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese and 2 eggs made into meatballs and baked until done.... served with creamed spinach. YUM

well, there's a first time for everything, right?

trampoline

Guess who got on a trampoline for the first time in her life?

I was just SURE that the neighbors had a video camera pointed my way, because I heard the laughter of two people from somewhere nearby. I was also sure that those same neighbors were going to be big winners if I came crashing through the middle, landing with a thud in a cloud of dust.
I was so scared. I kept asking Number 2 to check the WARNING LABELS for a weight limit. But, after all was said and done, I had actually worked enough nerve up to allow my feet (yes, both of them) to come up off the surface to the point that you could say I was airborne.
Let there be no doubt that it is a good workout. King says he read somewhere that it is a better workout than jogging. So, I'm thinking about adding it to my workout routine.

Besides, my neighbors need to remodel their kitchen.

Remember this when you can't quite see a light at the end of the tunnel as a mother.

(ps - Thanks, Sue!)

do black-eyed peas, ham, and collard greens cause hallucinations?

Happy New Year!

Number 4 came up to me this morning and said, "Oh, Mommy, I want to tell you about the dream I had about My Angel!"

My angel was blue. She was in a bag. (All the angels were in bags and they came down from the sky.) She told me I had to be good, but I don't know how. She showed me how to be good and made everything right, like the books and all that stuff. She wanted me to be an angel, but I didn't want to. I wanted to be five, and I wanted to stay home with my family. She saved the city and got back in her bag.