UGH!

Can I please go back to bed now? I know it is only 8:15 am but I have had enough of this day already.

- Chase got up at 5:00 to eat. He only does this once in a while anymore. Most days he sleeps until I wake him at 6:30 and doesn't eat anything until 7:30/8:00.
- Thought I wouldn't fall back asleep so I turned off my alarm. (What a dummy!) Of course then I DID fall back asleep and ended up getting up at Adam's alarm which makes me officially late for the day.
- Did all the usual mom-morning things... got self ready, got Bri up and going, got Chase back up and dressed and medicined, got breakfast for Bri, packed my bag, packed Bri's bag, made lunch and snack for her, put own shoes on, Finally got around to putting Bri's shoes on her... (Yes, I know she's almost 7 and CAN do this on her own but that would take 5x as long!)
- Brianna, who still hasn't finished her breakfast, looked right in my eyes and said, "Are you ready for my shoes, What took you so long?"

People- I almost lost it right there. I have never considered slapping my child before but some little part of my hand itched in that moment. I had to walk away. We were already 5 minutes late but I had to go to another room and chill for a couple minutes before I could look at her little face. Thank God I have a wonderful husband who was dealing with the boys at the time. Although he wasn't nearly as helpful when I came out and Mr. I-think-I'm-soooo-funny said "You wanted to have kids!"

By the time I got to school I was more than 15 minutes late, my students were waiting for me, and of COURSE my principal happened to be hanging out in the hall I had to pass through. My lesson isn't long enough, I gained back the 2lbs I lost last week, and my throat hurts.

Calgon, Take me away!

Deluding myself as usual

What a nice quiet weekend!

My parents and sister took the big kids from Saturday lunch to Sunday lunch so Adam and I were left with just little Chaser!

We cleaned, we napped, we grocery shopped without someone pulling on our hand or running away every 3 seconds.

Very quiet... nothing big... no one started crawling or anything!
(I refuse to believe that he did and therefore it is true!)
(YIKES! Where did my baby go?)
(and where did the baby gates get stored?)

My little darling

Chase,

You are going to be 8 months old tomorrow. It amazes me all the things you do and how fast the time has gone. You would think, since your our third, that I would be used to the growth rate of babies and no longer be amazed. That couldn't be more wrong.

You roll yourself everywhere! You would really like to crawl but haven't quite figured that one out. However, you have figured how to get from your belly back up to sitting on your butt. From there, you throw yourself in whatever direction you'd like to go, roll a bit, and sit back up. You can move yourself a good foot that way. Do it over and over, you get to every little piece of paper, every sticker, every not-safe-for-children-under-3 toy we own.

You are so happy! It still amazes us that you just seem to go with the flow most of the time. That is, unless dinner is a minute late, then you become a crying pile of mush. You love Cheerios and fruit. You HATE veggies, we have to trick you into eating those. We will start meat dinners this weekend. I was going to start them earlier this week but we had to wait due to another first.

Your first ear infection, and therefore your first amoxicillin. Actually, this is the first ear infection our family has ever had. Brianna and Grant never, ever, had one. I was amazed when the doctor told me that was the problem. Even he didn't believe me when I said we'd never had one before. :-)

You are a great kid but you are different from the big kids. From the first moments of pregnancy, you just did different things. I don't know if it's because you are the third, or if I am different in how I deal with you. I wonder daily if you will continue to be different as you grow or if you will start to resemble the big kids more.

Every day is an adventure and I'm so glad your here!
Love,
Mommy

little things

There is still time to vote! I won't win but I like seeing my numbers go up!

I'm posting here about the honesty of my 4 year old. Yikes!

Bueller, Bueller?

Is anyone out there?
I know I have a whole 3-5 readers everyday! :-)

Why am I the only one voting for me?????

I like strange music

For reasons I decided not to explain*, I have been listening to a lot of Musicals/Show tunes today. I thought I wouldn't like it when I had to, but I actually like a LOT of show tunes! What does that say about me?

Given the free time now, I am listening to High School Musical 2, because I WANT to! I'm also downloading the complete soundtracks to Oklahoma, Annie, Sound of Music, Grease, and others. Later I think I'll find and download the other two HSM soundtracks.

Oddly enough, these cheesy songs from plays/movies with ridiculous stories are making me calmer and happier... something I really needed today. What music do you listen to that might surprise us?

*Has to do with a project I'm working on with the kids at school.... LONG story, you don't care.

Don't forget to VOTE FOR ME everyday!

Vote Early, Vote Often!

I completed an interview at Blog Interviewer!
See it HERE!

You can vote for me daily!
Look for the little "Vote Now" button near the top! On my computer, it is mixed in with the ad's at the top....


Thanks!
And welcome to any who've come here from the interview... I'm excited to have you here!

Hooked on a Feeling....

Oh, the productivity!!! Can you get high from productivity? Can you get addicted?

Last week, I had no choice but to get stuff done! Have to keep up with those new projects I took on and since one of them involves my daily lesson's for my students- no choice there! Felt good though, and a couple people complimented me on the speed at which I responded to their emails/requests! (Man, I must have been REALLY off in March!)

On Saturday- a lovely day in Chicago at the Start Early Run with the family! (Pictures to come) We walked, we talked, we relaxed, I got in WELL over my 10,000 steps for the day- Felt good!

Sunday, we slept in a bit and went out to breakfast. We had talked about taking the kids and hitting the gym but I felt like cleaning! If you know me and your heart just stopped, I'll wait for you to catch up! I cleaned all day Sunday. It felt SO good! I threw away 2 bags worth of crap, I pulled everything out of the boys dressers/closets and boxed up what didn't fit anymore. Some is ready to be donated, some is in storage for Chase. (Brianna's stuff got partially done and will need to be finished this weekend.) I did 7 loads of laundry. I don't even know what I did but somehow I got over 8000 steps not even leaving my house! (I sort of love the pedometer on my phone!)

Monday is here and I am still feeling the good vibes! Taught 4 good lessons, ready to grade papers and keep planning! Hitting the grocery store tonight for low-cal foods, fruits, veggies. Not going to cook tonight though... let's not get crazy! :-)

Easter 2010

First, the Easter Bunny came bringing stereotypical gender fun!









Later, we got dressed up and had an egg hunt in GG's yard!
Grant ran around seriously looking for eggs!








Brianna could not be bothered with her adorable headband due to the serious competitive streak!











Cooperation was often achieved too!










At the end, everyone had more eggs then they had basket space!








Chase stayed safely out of the way in the arms of Aunt Jamie with and blew raspberries at Grandpa Phil.


After the festivities were over, Silly mommy insisted on a picture with GG... clearly Grant was pleased over this interruption into the candy eating time!

Bits and Pieces

AT WORK things have really relaxed and my work load dropped significantly... SO I decided to take on 2 new projects! Yaha... I'm an idiot!

CHASE is either teething or starting separation anxiety. Either way, my gentle little, go with the flow guy, is cranky! But it's odd- he's fine as I leave the room, if he sees me come back he melts down! Its like he didn't really realize I was gone until he sees me enter the room.

GRANT is so aware of the things around him. It's like I can see his little brain growing everyday. He asks what words mean and why things work and a zillion other thoughtful questions. Then 5 minutes later he throws a temper tantrum because he can't have exactly what he wants, exactly when/where he wants it, and I know my baby is still in the big boy shell.

BRIANNA is 6 going on 17. She has friend issues and emotional breakdowns and wants to wear dresses/skirts everyday. Except that she's still a kid because the friend issues are short lived, the emotional breakdowns can still be healed with hugs, and the clothes never match the shoes.

ME... well, I blogged about weight over at Changing our Weighs. I desperately need to clean my house and organize things... probably should have done that over spring break instead of sitting on my hiney... but my hiney and I had a nice relaxing time.

ADAM- who cares about him! It's all about me, right? :-)

Heaven help me!

Yesterday was Easter. (Happy Easter to all of you who celebrate it!)

We drove up to my grandma's house to meet up with the whole family for a nice lunch. It was wonderful to see everyone, especially my spit-fire grandma who will be 97 this June!

On the way up in the car, we were listening to the radio ( country as usual!) and the kids wanted to know the title to every. single. song.... !!! But that is not the point right now. The song "God Bless the Broken Road" by Rascal Flatts came on. I LOVE Rascal Flatts and (after giving the title) starting singing lightly and off key as a usually do. I was interrupted by a thoughtful Grant who asked, "What does Bless mean mommy?" On Easter of all days, that question brought me to tears.
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You need to know about me... I was raised Protestant Christan but always questioned my own faith and the beliefs of the church. As a teacher of ancient history and religion, I find my questions even greater as an adult. To complicate matters further, my husband was raised Jewish. Although his family doesn't really practice their faith on a regular basis, his parents especially still have strong ties to the faith.

To this date, I have done nothing in the way of religious education for my children. We celebrate various holidays of both faiths with the appropriate family. We go to church at Christmas. We've talked about God and how he created all things. We've explained to the kids that our family who've died have gone to heaven.

I won't choose any faith that tells the children that other faiths are wrong. That biased view not only alienates part of our family but goes against one of the beliefs I feel strongly about. I also don't want to give up my Sunday mornings but I suppose I might have to bite that bullet. I have found a local Unitarian Church that seems to fit our needs but it's a bit loose even for me. Although I don't know if I have another option.
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So back to the point...
My 4 year old brought me to tears because he didn't know what Bless meant! And I couldn't explain it to him. I felt like the most awful mother in that moment. I want my children to have the freedom to question faith but first they need to know about it. I only hope its not too late, and I hope that the Sunday school teachers don't think I am awful when my kids finally do start religious education and know nothing! Oh the questions that will bring up...

It was totally for him...

Today, I took Grant on a play date to one of his best friend's house. There were 3 other little friends there and he had a BLAST!

Happy side benefits:
- Adult conversation with people who I like and have things in common with.
- People with whom I can gossip a bit.
- Nice people who admire the baby and tell me how cute he is.
- Fun for all!

Lets be honest, I have a great kid in Grant and I'm glad people want him to be friends with their kids...But I'm most happy that they want me to tag along! I think kids were invented to help adults socialize!