The Glass Is Half Full-Kinda Girl

On Tuesday Emma went in for her kindergarten shots. No tears, no complaining. She did great.

Yesterday Emma woke up in a good mood. She sat down at the kitchen table and rubbed her right shoulder. She announced that the shots were working great! They had made the bones in her right arm stronger.

I was a bit puzzled and asked her what she was talking about. She lifted up her arm, displaying a very swollen right shoulder, "See, my bones are stronger."

Glad to see she looks on the bright side of things.

Umm, I'm not sure how to explain this to my husband. See, my kids were playing their usual games, namely, dump the books from the cabinet in the family room, climb inside, and shut the door. However, something went terribly wrong this time.

The cabinet is supposed to look something like this:

But now, it looks like this:

And this:

Maybe if he sees it here, before he gets home, my husband won't blow a gasket. Probably not.

By the way, the books are usually put in more neatly, but my only response to this whole fiasco was to have the girls put the books back in the cabinet by themselves. No help from me. Now that's tough love!

Conversation In The Van Today

At Christmastime it is cold and it snows.

Yeah, and Santa comes.

Mom, you know what? I heard the bells ring on Santa's slave last year.

Sleigh, Emma. Santa's sleigh.

Happy Birthday Ian!

Today is my oldest child's birthday. It was exactly eight years ago today that Ian was born and my life changed forever.


Ian, you have thrilled me, challenged me, and made me laugh and cry. You are a smart, funny, talkative, interesting boy.


I love your silliness, your ablity to talk nonstop about video games or Pokemon or whatever else is currently the object of your interest.


I have enjoyed watching you grow and can't wait to see where you will go inthe coming years.


Happy Birthday, Ian! I love you!

Funny Conversation

Zoe was in the living room when my friend, Amy, came by to drop something off for me. I answered the door, took my package, and said, "Thanks, Amy!" as she was leaving.

As soon as the door shut behind me, Zoe asked, "Why did you call her Amy?"

"Because her name is Amy. Mommy has a name, too. Do you know what my name is?

"Mommy."

"I have another name. Do you know what it is?"

Zoe got very quiet and whispered back to me, "No. Do you?"

Yes. Yes I do know my other name.

Being three is great somedays.

Bridal Shower Cake

This past weekend I was in Ohio, picking my kids up from Grandma and Papa camp. But, before I left on Friday, I made a cake for my husband's cousin, Martha, to be enjoyed at her bridal shower. My mother-in-law and Brendan's aunts were throwing a shower for her here in the Chicago area, and although I could not attend, I happily made a cake to be shared on the special day.

Her colors are going to be ivory and brown, so after many ideas and changes in plans, I came up with this cake:


This is my second cake using fondant. I make my own using the marshmallow fondant recipe. I was very happy with the results and thought it turned out very cute. Unfortunately since I was not able to attend the shower I don't know how it went over. Hopefully it was a hit.

Inside was a snickerdoodle cake with cinnamon buttercream frosting. I'm sure that part of it was enjoyed!

Here's one more close-up.

Generation Gap

Ian had his best friend, Parker, over today. On our way home from a visit to the pool the two were in the far back seat listening to the radio. Tom Petty's song I Won't Back Down was playing. All of a sudden I hear Ian say, "Hey, I think this song was in Barnyard"

Parker dutifully replied, "Yeah it was!"

They then went into a reverie of replaying certain scenes in the movie and laughing heartily.

Yeah, Barnyard, that's exactly where that song came from.

Discussion In Church

While kneeling in the pew after communion, Zoe tapped me on the shoulder and had the following conversation with me:

Zoe: "Can I take my shoes off?"

Me: "No, we don't take our shoes off in church."

Zoe (pointing to a girl two rows behind us): "But she has her shoes off."

Me: "She's littler than you."

Zoe: "Yeah, she's really, really little. I'm just a little bit little."

A Great Dinner Idea

On the way to school this morning, Emma says out of the blue, "We can have chili dogs for dinner."

I said, "Do you even know what chili dogs are?"

And her reply, "Yes, they are hot dogs that are cold."

After the laughing died down, I asked her how someone makes a chili dog.

She answered, "You take a pot of boiling water and put the hot dog in."

I told her, "That's how you make hot dogs, not chili dogs."

Emma thought about this for a moment and said, "That's right. That's how you make a hot dog. To make a chilly dog, you put in in the refrigerator and cool it down."

Exactly.

Brendan - I Found the Perfect Vacation!

This is what I want to do - Anybody with me!?!

First Communion Banner

As thousands of second graders are doing this Spring, Ian will be making his first communion in May. In preparation for this sacrament, Ian and his classmates have been studying the Bible, praying the rosary, making his first reconciliation (and second reconciliation already!). Ian is very excited to receive this sacrament and part of the process of getting ready for communion is the making of a communion banner.

When the banner materials came home a few weeks ago, I sat down with Ian to discuss what he wanted on the banner. I suggested the chalice and host, as that would be representative of his first communion. Ian thought a cross would be nice, so I sketched out a cup, host, and cross. I thought there would be space for one more item and asked Ian what he would like included. Ian suggested the Bible, and I thought it was an excellent idea as he truly loves reading the Bible. We decided his name and date shouyld be included, and I added that maybe some ribbon around the edge would look nice. When asked what color the words and ribbon should be, Ian paused, then responded with the color red. "Because it reminds me of Jesus' blood," he explained.

So, after some planning and a trip to JoAnn Fabrics, I spent a few nights tracing, cutting and gluing together Ian's communion banner.

Here it is:


I'm proud of how it turned out, especially the Bible which I stitched the words "Holy Bible" on with gold thread.

But more importantly, Ian is happy with it. I overheard him telling Zoe, "Isn't it pretty?" I think so, and I'm glad Ian does, too.

This Is Going To Be So Much Fun

I bought Ian a shirt at Kohl's today. With the shirt came a little personal FM radio that looked somewhat like an iPod. The shirt is for next year (I bought it on clearance at 80% off) but the radio looked like fun, and given Ian's interest in iPod's I thought he would enjoy it now. So, cutting it off the hanger, I opened it, plugged in the included headphones and handed it to Ian. He immediately sat down at the kitchen table, opened our newest issue of Family Fun, and listened to the radio for the next half hour.

The rest of the evening was pretty much the same, Ian listening to his new radio every moment he could. When it was time to go to Boy Scouts, he brought his new radio to listen in the van. He asked me what I was listening to ( 93.1 WXRT) and then I asked him what he was listening to. He said, "The River," and went back to listening to his music.

About two minutes later he announces in the too loud voice of someone who hasn't listened to a lot of music through headphones that there was a really good song on the River. "At least in my opinion it's good," Ian said. "It's called 'Rock Sled.'"

Upon hearing the title my interest was really piqued, so I turned the van radio to the River to hear this good song. It was "Roxanne" by The Police. I suppressed a chuckle, enjoyed listening to Rock Sled and then got to hear Legs by ZZ Top, which Ian also thought was a good song.

I'm glad Ian's developing his own taste in music, and can't wait to hear the names of some of his newest discoveries now that he has his own radio.

Is It Magic?

Emma, my middle child, the one who asks me everyday, "Is it two o'clock yet?" because she is not allowed to have a snack after lunch until then, asked me if she could have some popcorn. I said, "Sure," because it was after two o'clock and it seemed like a decent snack compared to all the pastel M&M's and SweetTart chicks and bunnies she'd been consuming throughout the day.

I pulled out the butter light bag of microwave popcorn from the pantry and proceeded to remove the plastic overwrap around the bag. Emma asked where the popcorn was. I said I had to make it still. She asked me, "How do you make it? Is it magic?"

That really threw me for a moment. It made me realize that Emma didn't know what popcorn kernels looked like because they are always inside the microwave bag. She has never had the joy of watching kernels sit in hot oil in the bottom of a popcorn popper and then suddenly explode into their white puffy glory. It is a fond memory I have from my childhood and makes me wish I would have kept that Stir Crazy popper I received as a wedding gift.

I then got to thinking about my kids suburban upbringing. We go apple picking every fall, we go to local farmer's markets during the summer, but otherwise they have very little experience with knowing where food really comes from. Granted, I didn't excatly live on a farm growing up, but my parent's house backed up to a field that was planted with wheat or soybeans or other crops each year. My grandpa was a farmer and died at home in his farmhouse just a few hundred feet from a once busy and full barn. I grew up sitting on the tractors in his barn imagining driving through the fields and climbing into the lofts with my cousins or siblings and hiding among the itchy bales of hay. The first time I liked any corn other than corn on the cob was when I ate the corn my Uncle Dave and Aunt Louise froze from their modest garden. I worked for two summers at a farm stand selling produce the farmer's grew and picked. I even hoed and weeded the melon field when the migrant workers hadn't come yet and the work needed to be done and picked green tomatoes for customers who wanted to fry some for dinner.

Now my kids don't even know what popcorn looks like. I'm not even sure they know that it is from the same plant that grows the corn that we eat for dinner at least once a week, whether from the freezer or from the farmer's market. I even have a cousin whose husband grows corn for one of the major popcorn manufacturers, but my kids don't know that.

It really saddens me that they won't have those same experiences of truly working with the land, or at least being a part of the process in some way of seeing how food is truly produced. Maybe I'll finally get around to planning and planting a garden with them. It's the closest thing I can think of to really teaching them that food comes from the earth, not Dominick's.

Too Much Praise?

While at my Mom and Dad's house for Easter, my oldest brother pulled me aside and told me about an article he had read called "How Not To Talk To Your Kids." He said that basically kids who were praised for their intelligence too often ended up being more interested in maintaining that recognition of being smart, instead of wanting to be challenged in their activities. He mentioned a study by Carol Dweck in which fifth grade students were separated into two groups and each given a puzzle to solve. When the puzzle was completed, one group was praised for how smart they were that they were able to solve it. The other group was praised for how hard they worked in order to solve it. When each group was then offered a choice between doing a puzzle of similar challenge to the first, or one that was more difficult, overwhelmingly the children praised for their intelligence chose the one that was the same as the first puzzle. On the other hand, the group praised for their effort overhwelmingly chose the more difficult puzzle.

I have to admit, I was intrigued. I consider my kids to be pretty smart, and know that my oldest has a bad habit of giving up on tasks he thinks are too difficult. I just put it up to his personality, that because things have come easily for him he doesn't like it when they don't. And while that may be part of it, I needed to know more.

So, I searched the internet and found the article my brother was referring to. It is from New York Magazine and can be read in full here.

Dweck had suspected that praise could backfire, but even she was surprised by the magnitude of the effect. “Emphasizing effort gives a child a variable that they can control,” she explains. “They come to see themselves as in control of their success. Emphasizing natural intelligence takes it out of the child’s control, and it provides no good recipe for responding to a failure.”

I found it extremely compelling and think it should be required reading for all parents and teachers. I know I will be trying to modify my praise for my kids, telling them specifically what they did that was so important, not generalized empty praise.

Wilbur Cookies

My son's second grade class just finished reading Charlotte's Web and were going to watch the movie in class today. And while they all hoped it was going to be the new live-action new version, it turns out their teacher could not get it and is showing the old animated one.

Last night after the kids went to bed I thought that it would be really cute if the students in my son's class had a snack to eat during the movie today. So, I took some store bought sugar cookie dough and shaped these adorable little piggy cookies. When Ian saw them this morning he asked me what (or who) they were for. I told him I made them for his class to eat during the viewing of Charlotte's Web. That's when he named them "Wilbur cookies."

For the Love of Shakespeare

This is for my Shakespeare lovin' (and performin') brother-in-law. Enjoy!

Pretty Flowers

Moving into our house at the end of July, we didn't have the benefit of seeing some of the Spring shows that our new trees and bushes will provide for us annually. We have a beautiful Gardenia bush out front that has opened up many of it's creamy white buds, giving all of us a delightful taste of Spring. Even in the dreary gray of this morning, the flowers still looked lovely as shown here by these pictures I snapped this morning. Enjoy your day!

Barenaked Love

I have been a huge Barenaked Ladies fan for many years, well before they became a huge hit in the US with their album Stunt and single One Week. To be honest, while I pretty much love anything they've done, I was (and still am a bit) sick of hearing One Week played over and over and over again. That is until today. I stumbled across this version on You Tube and thoroughly enjoyed it. I also listened to several other enjoyable bethroom sessions and encourage anyone who loves the Ladies to take a look, you won't be disappointed.

Sunny March Day

Wow! The weather has been absolutely unbelievable for the past two days. And today, the kids and I are spending as much time outside as we possibly can. So ar we've taken two walks and bike rides today, and I anticipate much more outside time later this afternoon.


Here are a few shots of the girls. It was so sunny Zoe needed sunglasses, and since I can't locate her Winnie the Pooh sunglasses anywhere, she borrowed mine.

Growing Older

As I have gotten older, overall I am happier with my life. Staying home to raise my kids has been a challenge, but after 7 1/2 years of not working professionally, I am content with my place. I am more comfortable standing up for myself or my children, and I feel as though I have a network of friends whom I can truly trust, count on, and turn to for support.

But, with growing older comes the more uncomfortable aspects of life. A professor and mentor from college was diagnosed five years ago with Alzheimer's. His wife, who happened to be my cooperating teacher when I was student teaching and I are good friends, so I've heard first hand many of the struggles they are both going through in dealing with this disease.

When I was teaching, a colleague who was my same age, 25, found out that her father had a brain tumor. Within six months he died.

Today I mailed a card and a letter to two old friends, one another colleague from my teaching days, another an old acquaintance from college. When I began teaching in 1995, I worked with a wonderful teacher and woman named Mary. She was the model of patience with students, and I quickly came to admire her gentle and kind words she had for all people. We became good friends, and we often sat together at lunch or chatted before school with one another. She was the first person I told I was pregnant (after Brendan of course). She had a daughter named Heather who was just starting college and two younger sons. During the four years we worked together, her youngest son was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. He was only in junior high at the time. When I received her Christmas card this year, she informed me that he died about a year ago this month. He was only 21.

My other friend was someone I was never close with in college, but because of mutual friends we knew each other fairly well. We have spent college reunions eating dinner together and hearing about one another's families. She, like me, had three children, though she had three little boys. Her youngest, a little guy name Mikey, just died at the tender age of 13 months. He had many complications at birth, and finally lost his battle just this past Tuesday.

As much as I like the self-confidence of becoming more comfortable in my own (somewhat wrinkling) skin, I can't escape the fact that bad things happen to people we love and care about. It really tore me up to send that card and letter, but I'm sure it was absolutely nothing compared to what Mary and Danielle are going through in the loss of their children, or what Joan is going through in the slow deterioration of her husband to Alzheimer's.

I am going to take this day and do what those two mothers can't do, and that is hug my kids and tell them I love them. I don't want to take them, or anyone else that is important to me, for granted.

Zoe Makes Me Laugh

Today I brought out a surprise for my two girls, ages 4 1/2 and almost 3, to play with. It was my entire collection of Strawberry Shortcake dolls from when I was a kid that my mom in her infinite wisdom kept for me so that someday my kids could enjoy them.

I love(d) my Strawberry Shortcake dolls. I have an entire original set (I think) that consists of Strawberry Shortcake, Blueberry Muffin, Huckleberry Pie and Apple Dumpling and her pet turtle. I also have numerous others, along with their pets and even the two villains, the Purple Pie Man and Sour Grapes. I played with these dolls for many years, from at least fourth grade well into junior high. What can I say? I love dolls with scented heads.

Anyways, my girls have had a surging interest in Strawberry Shortcake recently with the multiple viewings of SS DVDs (we own three different ones), listening to SS CDs from the library and reading SS books. So, today I decided to quit being overprotective of my little dolls and share them with Emma and Zoe.

They were an instant hit. Emma quickly claimed Sour Grapes, a girl that wore a green and pink dress and had green hair, and Cherry Blossom, a little girl with pink curly hair. She had the Purple Pie Man and Sour Grapes getting married, go home, pop out the pink haired girl as their new baby and was well on her way to having lots of fun.

Zoe looked at all of them and grabbed Orange Blossom to play with. She had a grand old time running her around the room, making her cry or fly or ride in wagons. She played with a few other dolls, but kept coming back to Orange Blossom. As I was getting lunch ready in the kitchen I heard Zoe exclaim, "She's all brownie!" and then let out a great big giggle of delight. I couldn't figure out what she was talking about until I peaked in and found that she had undressed Orange Blossom completely, including those green and white tights that all (old) SS dolls have.

After lunch I re-dressed Orange Blossom while Zoe was busy playing with her brother's trains. When she saw me putting on the doll's shoes, Zoe looked at me with a frown and said, "I like people being naked. Naked people are my favorite!"

What more can you say to that?

Things You Never Expected To Hear Your Four Year Old Daughter Say

"In the underworld there's two zombies."

Happy Valentine's Day!

These are Emma's homemade Valentines for her classmates in pre-school. She was very proud of her heart flowers and very excited to share them with her friends today.

Have a great Valentine's day!

These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things

I was drinking a really yummy coffee that I made right here at home today when I thought about all the things I love and enjoy right now in my life. Yeah, yeah, the kids and husband are great, but there are things I see or hear or taste or smell regularly that I just really enjoy right now. Here is a short list of some of those things.

1. Land O Lakes Peppermint Mocha Half and Half - A fantastic product I just found today. Unlike the non-dairy versions, this one tastes delicious!!!! Warm it up, add it to your coffee, and you have a delicious holiday drink.

2. Listening to (and singing with) my daughter Emma as she belts out Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. She sings it with such energy that you can't help but be filled with the Christmas spirit. Also, I love when she gets to the end of the song and sings that Rudolph goes down in a mystery, and tells me it's okay if I sing that he goes down in a story. Makes me smile every time.

3. Starbucks gingerbread lattes. I used to always order the peppermint mocha at this time of year, but sampled the gingerbread latte, and now I'm hooked. (Plus, see #1, I don't have to get them at Starbuck's anymore.)

4. Old Christmas movies and TV specials. Anyone who knows me well knows my all-time favorite is The Year Without A Santa Claus. Who doesn't love Heat Miser and Cold Miser singing their songs? My brothers, sister, and I can sing each song in it's entirety, and have done so at family gatherings to the dismay of our spouses. (They got used to it!) I also have to put a nod out to the old movies that I have grown to love since meeting my husband. It's a Wonderful Life and White Christmas are now required watching each Christmastime. Add The Bells of St. Mary's and A Christmas Carol with Patrick Stewart playing Scrooge, and I have my December viewing planned.

5. Seeing my brother-in-law, Kevin, play young scrooge and nephew Fred in The Drury Lane's children's production of A Christmas Carol this year. The show was fantastic, Kevin's performance was great, and getting to see it through Ian's eyes was just plain fun.

6. Hearing my 2 1/2 year old daughter shout, "Christmas clock!" every hour. We have a Christmas clock that my mother-in-law gave us several years ago. We get it out each year and on each hour it plays a different Christmas carol. This year is no different; when we began decorating, we got out the clock, put in the batteries, and set it on the mantle. However, Zoe found the clock fascinating, and every time she hears a carol play on it, she makes sure no one in the house misses it. Brendan and I like hearing Zoe do it so much that we have taken to shouting out "Christmas clock!" as well.

Strawberry Scents

When I was a little girl in the 1980's, I loved Strawberry Shortcake. I had (and still have, thanks to a diligent mom) all the original characters from the very first year, plus many of the characters that appeared after Strawberry Shortcake became so popular. I loved sniffing their heads and smelling that sweet strawberry (lemon, orange, cupcake) smell that became so familiar to me. I played with the dolls well into seventh grade and have wonderfully fond memories of them.

So, last year when I saw there was a Strawberry Shortcake Christmas special, I bought it for my two daughters, hoping to set some of the Strawberry Shortcake magic alive in them. Yes, she now wears trendy clothes instead of her cute little strawberry dress and enormous hat, and yes her friends wear cool clothes, too. However, the story was very sweet and Emma really enjoyed it.

After Christmas, the DVD went away with our numerous other Christmas DVDs to be stored until this Christmas. Out it came this year and now Zoe has also grown very fond of the sweet little girl who claims that "giving is berry, berry nice, indeed!" Both the girls have watched the DVD several times this year since it's reappearance from the basement.

But, this morning, before putting the DVD into the player, I noticed something that I'd never noticed before. As I waited for the DVD carousel to spin to an empty slot, I held the Strawberry Shortcake Christmas DVD close to my face. I noticed a familiar scent. I pulled the DVD closer and sniffed. It smelled like strawberries!!! I sniffed again to make sure I wasn't daydreaming, then I sniffed the DVD case. All of them smelled of Strawberry Shortcake! How did I miss this before?

It's an interesting concept. Not sure it is necessary, but interesting nonetheless. Zoe is getting a Strawberry Shortcake DVD for Christmas, I know I'll be checking it for good strawberry smells!

Terror Alert in Michigan

My Dad sent me this one. It's never too early to start preparing for the big game.


Michigan football practice was delayed nearly two hours today after a player reported finding an unknown white powdery substance on the practice field. The head coach immediately suspended practice and called the police and federal investigators. After a complete analysis, FBI forensic experts determined that the white substance unknown to players was the GOAL LINE. Practice resumed after special agents decided the team was unlikely to encounter the substance again

GO BUCKS!!!!!!

Everything Comes As A Family Package

My daughters, age 4 and 2 1/2, are always grouping everything we see into a family unit. It doesn't matter what it is, there is always a mommy and a baby, and depending on the number of items, a daddy and brothers and sisters. It has been this way for as long as I can remember with my girls, though not for my oldest, who happens to be a boy.

I'm not really sure why they group everything this way, although I'm sure it has a lot to do with the fact that 95% (or more) of their time is spent with us, their family. I'm also sure it has something to do with estrogen, because Ian did not have the desire to group everything into nice little family units.

Nonetheless, it provides for some fun and funny explanations of things we see on our everyday adventures.

For example, at our old house, the neighbor who lived directly behind us had two dogs, a little white fluffy thing and a big golden Lab. Emma and Zoe were both convinced the Lab was the white dog's Mommy. Anytime we saw them outside it was, "Where is the baby?" or, "The baby wants her Mommy."

Last Sunday when we were driving home from dinner at my mother-in-law's, we saw an air-blown inflatable Halloween decoration. It was three jack o'lanterns stacked on top of one another. Emma immediately said it was a daddy, mommy and baby pumpkin. Ditto for the three ghosts coming out of a pumpkin at another house.

But today had to be my favorite example of the Mommy/ Baby grouping. Ian had set up several action figures on his train table and wanted to play "war" with me. (Notice, no families, just teams of heroes, bad guys and one robotic T-Rex wanting to beat the tar out of each other.) As each figure became eliminated from the game, Ian generously told his little sisters they could play with them.

Zoe found two Spidermans, one smaller than the other. She giggled with delight when she saw they were the same character, and turned to me and said, "Mommy and baby." Then she made the little Spiderman cry for his mommy and the mommy Spiderman gave him a hug and made baby Spiderman feel better.

I doubt any Spiderman action figure creator (or brother) ever imagined them being played with like that!

Fall Fun

Today was a great day to be outside! Even though the sun wasn't shining, the weather was mild and several of our neighbors were out enjoying the (slightly) warmer temperatures. The kids and I ventured out after Ian got home form school, and while they played I took advantage of the opportunity to rake leaves in the front yard.
I haven't had to rake leaves in six years, so it was kind of fun making two big piles, then letting the kids run and jump in them. Here our neighbor, Anthony, and Ian have fun throwing leaves up over their heads.

Look at me, I'm cute!

Leaves everywhere!

I love Autumn!

Budding Artists

The weather was so beautiful today that the girls and I decided to do some painting outside on the deck. I pulled out all of my acrylic craft paints, some paper plates, a large roll of paper, and paintbrushes. We sat for a glorious hour creating one masterpiece after another. Here are a few pictures from our creative venture for the day.
Here is Emma as she paints a cake.

This is Zoe working hard on her painting.

And one final photograph:An artist satisfied with her work.

Reading

Ian has been taking karate for close to two years now, and he is now in a class that is late enough in the evening that I don't have to take the girls with me when I take him to class. So, since his Dad and I can both take him, and then have 45 minutes of alone time, we decided to take turns taking him each week. One parent gets one on one time with Ian in the van on the way to and from karate class, as well as 45 minutes of solitude, while the other parent gets two little girls, nineteen months apart in age, all to him/herself for the evening, and then gets the pleasure of getting them both ready for bed, all by him/herself.

As you can guess, we both look forward to our week of taking Ian to karate.

This week was my first week to take Ian, and I postively jumped at the chance. I have recently rekindled a love of mine that somehow got lost in the busyness of raising three kids and keeping a household together. Since we moved to our new house at the end of July, I've found several moments to look through the adult section of our library and just browse the shelves for some enjoyable reading. I have always loved to read, but I just haven't read novels in a long time. Self help books, magazines, newspapers, children's books, but not novels. So, after checking two books out of the library, not wanting to set too lofty of goals for myself, I slowly reclaimed my love of reading novels. I have now read five novels and have refound the joy in the written word to tantalize, excite, and draw out great anticipation.

Tonight was no exception. I could hardly wait to get Ian into his class so that I could run off to the library and look for a few new books. I also started a book a few days ago that I was sure I could finish today, if I just had the time.

And tonight I had the time. What amazed me, though, as I sat in a comfortable chair upstairs in the library, was how indulgent it all felt to me. Here I was, reading a book I couldn't wait to finish, while my girls were at home with their Dad STILL AWAKE. What surprised me even more was that I felt this way. It felt decadent and extravagant to have 45 minutes to read and look for new books. It also made me wonder how my life has gotten to this point, that 45 minutes of companionship with a good book makes me feel extravagant.

I guess being a mom, a wife, a sister, daughter, volunteer, it all adds up in your life, but also takes from it. While I completely feel you must do for others, that you could not or should not be selfish, sometimes taking a little time for yourself is the best thing you can do.

I did tonight, and it felt great. It also made me realize I'm a very lucky woman.

Insect Close-Ups

We have spotted a very mature praying mantis sitting on our house several different times this summer. After pointing him out to the kids, I often sit and marvel at how interesting this insect is.


As a sophomore in biology class many, many years ago, I had to make an insect collection of forty insects, and we were not allowed to capture praying mantises because they were rare and ate so many other insects. That experience of catching, killing, and mounting insects to pins on a board for display gave me a good understanding of the difference between insects and regular "bugs." And while I still don't like bugs or insects a whole lot, I also find them somewhat fascinating, especially the praying mantis.


So, taking a page from Ree's love of close-ups, I have put a few pictures of our praying mantis I took on Saturday. Enjoy!

Aaargh! For the life of me I can't get my link to work! Go to http://pioneerwoman.blogspot.com to see some beautiful close up pictures.

Frightening Sunday Drive

Yesterday, on the way home from a bowling birthday party that Ian attended for one of his classmates, we hit a car. Brendan was driving, I was in the passenger seat, all three kids were sitting in their respective seats in the back of the van when we crashed into a vehicle that pulled in front of us.

We were travelling on a one way street at dusk in a slight drizzle. To the right of us at the intersection was a woman in a brown car stopped at a stop sign. We had no stop sign and so proceeded through the intersection when all of a sudden the driver of the car just pulls out in front of us. I couldn't quite believe what I was seeing, thinking we had to be able to stop, knowing that we wouldn't be able to. Brendan slammed on the brakes and we hit her on the driver side right behind her seat. Her car spun around across the intersection and ended up on the curb on the other side of the intersection. Brendan pulled through the intersection and onto the side of the street.

It was so fast. Driving, talking about going to get McDonald's for dinner, seeing the car stopped, seeing it pull out right in front of us, hitting it - hard. I don't really remember the impact itself. I mean, I remember the realization we were going to hit her, the sound of the hit, her car spinning, but I can't recall the feeling of the impact - the crash and bump I should have felt. It wasn't until after I checked on the kids that I noticed a scrape and a bruise on my shin, where my leg hit the dash under the glove compartment.

After Brendan jumped out of the car to check on the other driver, I jumped out and opened the back door to check on the kids. Emma and Zoe were so frightened, whimpering and crying, but safely buckled into their car seats. Ian seemed fine, his glasses were gone from his face, but he was worried about finding his GameBoy - so I knew he wasn't hurt. After calming everyone in my vehicle down, I waited to see what Brendan was doing. I knew the other driver had to have taken a much worse blow than we did, she was in a car, and was the one being hit by a minivan on the driver side, so I was a little worried.

Very quickly two police officers came and checked out the incident, called an ambulance for the woman and had an EMT check Brendan, myself and the kids out. Thank God we had them in car seats - all three of them. A few years back Illinois passed a law that said kids had to ride in booster seats until they were eight years old. It seemed a bit excessive, but we followed the law. Last night, Zoe was in her convertible car seat with five point harness, Emma was in her full back booster seat with seat belt adjuster, and Ian was in his backless booster. And I'm so grateful that they were. The girls appear to have no injuries whatsoever, and Ian has a nasty scrape/ bruise from the seat belt on his neck - but that's it.

While we waited for the police officer to finish the paperwork and let us know that we were not being cited, Emma kept inquiring about the accident. She told me several times that, "Daddy should be more careful." I tried to explain to her that it wasn't Daddy's fault, that the lady should have stayed stopped at the intersection but she didn't. She asked if our car was broken. I told her it was, but that we'd get it fixed. Her response to that was that we should get new pedals that would stop faster so we wouldn't crash again.

I've never been in a car accident before. This was really crazy. As I watched it happen, I just couldn't believe my eyes. Turns out the 21 year old driver of the car doesn't have a driver's license. It just reminds me that you can be the best driver in the world and do nothing wrong, and still be in an accident. Truly frightening.

I hugged my kids a little tighter and a little longer last night. I told each one of them that I loved them. I'm glad we're all safe.

For some photos and Brendan's take on the accident, click here.

Buying Shoes

I took Emma to Target today to buy some new shoes for school and the upcoming Fall/ Winter seasons that are fast approaching. I was thinking maybe we'd pick out some cute shoes that would look great with dresses, skirts and pants. Maybe a little something like this:

Or for something a little different, maybe a shoe with a little color, like this:

But Emma was not going to confined by the standard footwear of girls all across America. No. Emma tried on a few different shoes, some pink clogs, a brown Mary Jane, a pink leather Mary Jane, and then she saw it. The PERFECT shoe for her. It was this:

Pink cowboy boots. She loved them the instant she saw them, and putting them on only furthered her resolve. She must have the pink cowboy boots. I asked her if she would wear them with her dresses and to pre-school. She said she would.

So, I walked out of Target with bright pink cowboy boots for my four year old daughter. Definitely not what I had in mind when I went there this morning. But the smile on Emma's face told me I'd made the right choice in letting her get those boots. She wore them to school when we picked up Ian, and she wore them over to her friend's house and all over the neighborhood when they played outside.

Here are a few photos of her with her new boots on. One demonstrates her sassy cowgirl attitude, the other her cute cowgirl side.



I decided that if anyone can pull off pink cowboy boots with style, it's an adorable four year old. Emma fits the bill perfectly!

(And yes, in the bottom picture one foot is facing forward, and the other completely backward. It's a special talent she has!)

I Need To Wear Perfume More Often

I was putting a hairbow in Emma's hair, at her request, before we left to take her to her first day of pre-school. She sniffed the air as I brushed her hair off of her face and she said,"You smell good."

"Thank you," I replied.

"Are you going to church while I'm in school?" Emma asked.

"No," I answered.

"Then why do you smell so good?"

Apparently I only wear perfume to church. At least she notices, though!