This morning, Brenna caught her finger in her bike helmet buckle. Then she cut through her shirt and her skin with her scissors. Tonight, she somehow collided with out neighbor so that his teeth left a substantial gash in the side of her head. It's been a rough day to be Brenna.
*****
We sleep with three pillows on our bed. One for each of our heads (obviously) and one that we call my Boyfriend, or alternately, "Phil". Last night, Brian cuddled up to me, so that he was laying on Phil; I told him, "you're going to fall asleep on my boyfriend, so that I can't have him when I want him."
My mind was going a million miles an hour, so by the time I was calm and ready to fall asleep, Brian was asleep and I was laying on Phil. But clearly, somewhere in the back of his head, Brian remembered what I had said. He rolled over, yanked the pillow out from under MY head and handed it to me. Then he apologized. For falling asleep on the pillow, NOT for yanking it out from under me. I could not. stop. giggling.
I have wished since the beginning of my marriage that I would get it together and keep a journal next to my bed for the sole purpose of writing down the things Brian has said and done in his sleep. So here's to a new tradition!
*****
Whenever I have to list hobbies, on Facebook, or whatever, I write "sewing". I think I'm going to start writing "seam ripping" instead. I do a whole lot more of that.
*****
Speaking of sewing (or more precisely, seam ripping): Brenna's quilt. Just shoot me now. I don't think that thing is EVER GOING TO GET DONE. And it has caused me to hate my sewing machine.
Showing posts with label 7 Quick Takes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 7 Quick Takes. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Friday, January 7, 2011
Lots of Random
I shared this on facebook, but I thought I'd share it here too:
Today Nathan and I were talking about (of all things) the gender roles of women in other cultures (have I mentioned that this kid asks a lot of questions?). He asked me for a specific example, and I, as usual, couldn't come up with something when put on the spot. I told him, "I can't think of anything off the top of my head."
"Do you have anything at the bottom of your head?"
Hmmm....
*****
Paisley loves Brian's shoes. She loves all of the shoes she finds, but she curls up and sleeps on top of Brian's with her mouth open, so that her tongue is against the inside. Yum.
*****
I was totally craving mashed potatoes earlier this week, during my monthly bout of insanity. So I made A TON. And they're now sitting in the fridge, because my kids won't eat them unless under duress. I think we'll be eating Shepherd's Pie tonight.
*****
I've ordered our literature supplies for the rest of the school year, and little by little, they're arriving. New books! And the one day that I didn't put the RING THE DOORBELL AND DIE!!! sticker out, the guy rang the doorbell. I would get a plaque if it weren't that the schedule is not consistent throughout babyhood.
*****
Isaac and Paisley are sort of hysterical together. Isaac is so strong willed, I haven't figured out how to enforce appropriate behavior with the pup. Consequently, our day goes like this:
Isaac attacks Paisley.
Paisley attacks Isaac.
Isaac cries.
I come to the rescue, separate the offending parties, calm everyone down.
Isaac attacks Paisley.
*****
Speaking of Isaac, he's calming down!! Sort of. This week, he discovered that the tops come off of the six inch gutter drain thingies. Our toy car bucket has been reduced by about half.
I feel the need to note, though, that we cleaned out toys in a massive way last weekend. So the toys now floating somewhere underground? Those were the few we wanted to KEEP.
While I was on the phone lamenting the situation to a friend's voice mail (so that I would not lament the situation to my toddler at top volume), Isaac was pulling the keys off my computer keyboard. So if you notice anyplace that an "r" is missing, it's because that one is broken and wobbly now.
Also, I got the requisite Toddler With Lipstick All Over His Face Picture yesterday. He was cute, I have one of each of the kids, and he didn't ruin the lipstick, though (like Brenna did for her picture), so I'm not holding that one against him.
*****
I think there's a huge benefit to having a puppy while having a toddler. Bodily fluids are such a part of my daily existence, that another creature having accidents on the floor doesn't even phase me.
*****
So things are kind of busy around here, what with the new puppy and all, however, our floor has never been cleaner! Since Paisley thinks anything left on the floor is hers by default, it all get picked up. And put on a counter or table. So if you come to my house, just stare at the floor, and you'll think I have this thing figured out! But you might run screaming from the house if you happen to glance at any other surfaces.
Today Nathan and I were talking about (of all things) the gender roles of women in other cultures (have I mentioned that this kid asks a lot of questions?). He asked me for a specific example, and I, as usual, couldn't come up with something when put on the spot. I told him, "I can't think of anything off the top of my head."
"Do you have anything at the bottom of your head?"
Hmmm....
*****
Paisley loves Brian's shoes. She loves all of the shoes she finds, but she curls up and sleeps on top of Brian's with her mouth open, so that her tongue is against the inside. Yum.
*****
I was totally craving mashed potatoes earlier this week, during my monthly bout of insanity. So I made A TON. And they're now sitting in the fridge, because my kids won't eat them unless under duress. I think we'll be eating Shepherd's Pie tonight.
*****
I've ordered our literature supplies for the rest of the school year, and little by little, they're arriving. New books! And the one day that I didn't put the RING THE DOORBELL AND DIE!!! sticker out, the guy rang the doorbell. I would get a plaque if it weren't that the schedule is not consistent throughout babyhood.
*****
Isaac and Paisley are sort of hysterical together. Isaac is so strong willed, I haven't figured out how to enforce appropriate behavior with the pup. Consequently, our day goes like this:
Isaac attacks Paisley.
Paisley attacks Isaac.
Isaac cries.
I come to the rescue, separate the offending parties, calm everyone down.
Isaac attacks Paisley.
*****
Speaking of Isaac, he's calming down!! Sort of. This week, he discovered that the tops come off of the six inch gutter drain thingies. Our toy car bucket has been reduced by about half.
I feel the need to note, though, that we cleaned out toys in a massive way last weekend. So the toys now floating somewhere underground? Those were the few we wanted to KEEP.
While I was on the phone lamenting the situation to a friend's voice mail (so that I would not lament the situation to my toddler at top volume), Isaac was pulling the keys off my computer keyboard. So if you notice anyplace that an "r" is missing, it's because that one is broken and wobbly now.
Also, I got the requisite Toddler With Lipstick All Over His Face Picture yesterday. He was cute, I have one of each of the kids, and he didn't ruin the lipstick, though (like Brenna did for her picture), so I'm not holding that one against him.
*****
I think there's a huge benefit to having a puppy while having a toddler. Bodily fluids are such a part of my daily existence, that another creature having accidents on the floor doesn't even phase me.
*****
So things are kind of busy around here, what with the new puppy and all, however, our floor has never been cleaner! Since Paisley thinks anything left on the floor is hers by default, it all get picked up. And put on a counter or table. So if you come to my house, just stare at the floor, and you'll think I have this thing figured out! But you might run screaming from the house if you happen to glance at any other surfaces.
Happy New Year, Y'all!
Friday, November 12, 2010
Oops, Forgot One
Quick Take #8 (how could I have forgotten?)
He was at the table peacefully coloring, or so I thought, when he unscrewed the top of the pepper grinder and dumped it on the floor. I'll just let you imagine what happens when a full grinder (just refilled it last month) of pepper balls hits a hardwood floor from about three feet in the air.
And by the way, those things are hard to sweep up, because if you use a regular broom, they just keep right on rolling past the pile you're attempting to make.
So yeah. Isaac's week. I'll try to think of something else to write about soon, but I can't make any promises, because chasing him around is pretty much all I think about.
He was at the table peacefully coloring, or so I thought, when he unscrewed the top of the pepper grinder and dumped it on the floor. I'll just let you imagine what happens when a full grinder (just refilled it last month) of pepper balls hits a hardwood floor from about three feet in the air.
And by the way, those things are hard to sweep up, because if you use a regular broom, they just keep right on rolling past the pile you're attempting to make.
So yeah. Isaac's week. I'll try to think of something else to write about soon, but I can't make any promises, because chasing him around is pretty much all I think about.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
7 Quick Takes, A Day Early
So, I know I've mentioned a time or three how hard Isaac is. Well, Isaac being hard has been the theme this week. So in honor of 7 Quick takes Friday, I will list seven thing that Isaac has done with the express intent of giving me a heart attack this week.
1. I talked with a very lovely woman at Poison Control after Isaac swallowed 6 to 8 (I think) allergy pills. Apparently, with this particular pill, he would have had to swallow 13 (THIRTEEN!) in order to require an emergency room visit. Afterwards, he took a four hour nap, which was awesome, except for the expected concern and frequent trips upstairs to make sure he was, you know, breathing and stuff.
2. He BROKE the cabinet latch. The one designed to keep HIM out of the cabinet that holds Brian's tools, our art supplies and my camera (consequently, in a fit of frustration, he threw an 18 inch long screwdriver at me when I tried to get it from him).
3. I've had to put the stool that Brenna uses to wash her hands on top of the kid's hutch to keep Isaac from using it to further endanger himself or our belongings. I made this decision after he used his fingers to dig into Brian's deoderent and eat it.
4. He also uses the now out-of-reach stool to flip the light switches, which is fun and usually harmless. Except when the best light switches are at the top of the stairs. There's nothing like coming around a corner to find your toddler stretched up on his tip toes on a stool six inches from a flight of stairs.
5. More about that stool: earlier this week I found him digging through the caddy with all our toiletries on it (and allergy pills, apparently). When I told him to get down, he shoved me, pointed out the bathroom door, and in his firmest voice, yelled, "Go-Go!"
6. On the upside, he's really getting the hang of sorting the silverware! And un-sorting board games.
7. This morning, I accidentally grabbed Brian's keys instead of my own. He keeps a vial of his medication attached to his keyring. When I turned around to lock the front door, I dropped them. As fast as Brian does it, Isaac screwed the top off the vial and had a pill in his mouth. You better believe that boy was pinned to the floor before he knew what had hit him. It hadn't made it past his lips, yet.
So. On my agenda today is finding some way to lock up every medication in the house (thankfully, there aren't many) and also finding a safe, but convenient place to relocate the keyrings. Prayer would be very much appreciated.
1. I talked with a very lovely woman at Poison Control after Isaac swallowed 6 to 8 (I think) allergy pills. Apparently, with this particular pill, he would have had to swallow 13 (THIRTEEN!) in order to require an emergency room visit. Afterwards, he took a four hour nap, which was awesome, except for the expected concern and frequent trips upstairs to make sure he was, you know, breathing and stuff.
2. He BROKE the cabinet latch. The one designed to keep HIM out of the cabinet that holds Brian's tools, our art supplies and my camera (consequently, in a fit of frustration, he threw an 18 inch long screwdriver at me when I tried to get it from him).
3. I've had to put the stool that Brenna uses to wash her hands on top of the kid's hutch to keep Isaac from using it to further endanger himself or our belongings. I made this decision after he used his fingers to dig into Brian's deoderent and eat it.
4. He also uses the now out-of-reach stool to flip the light switches, which is fun and usually harmless. Except when the best light switches are at the top of the stairs. There's nothing like coming around a corner to find your toddler stretched up on his tip toes on a stool six inches from a flight of stairs.
5. More about that stool: earlier this week I found him digging through the caddy with all our toiletries on it (and allergy pills, apparently). When I told him to get down, he shoved me, pointed out the bathroom door, and in his firmest voice, yelled, "Go-Go!"
6. On the upside, he's really getting the hang of sorting the silverware! And un-sorting board games.
7. This morning, I accidentally grabbed Brian's keys instead of my own. He keeps a vial of his medication attached to his keyring. When I turned around to lock the front door, I dropped them. As fast as Brian does it, Isaac screwed the top off the vial and had a pill in his mouth. You better believe that boy was pinned to the floor before he knew what had hit him. It hadn't made it past his lips, yet.
So. On my agenda today is finding some way to lock up every medication in the house (thankfully, there aren't many) and also finding a safe, but convenient place to relocate the keyrings. Prayer would be very much appreciated.
Friday, July 30, 2010
7 Quick Takes Friday
I have a whole lot of little random things rattling around my brain lately. I keep thinking I should write a post about that.... but it would be one sentence. When I saw 7 Quick Takes Friday over at Conversion Diary, it was a little gift of brevity from God!
1. I've been getting ready to start our home school year all week. The curriculum I'm using is ordered, and I'm very excited about it, so our actual timeline will likely depend on when it gets here, since we'll probably just dive right in.
2. I'm contemplating, after these many years of using children as an alarm clock, getting my own. I KNOW! It sounds terrible. But there may be some relief in having my coffee before there are three little voices at the side of my bed making their imminent starvation my problem.
3. I've also been working on Brenna's quilt, and as I've mentioned a time or two, I like to make things harder than they were supposed to be. Due to my overestimation of my own abilities, I'm having a problem with the dimensions of the quilt. The style I chose moves around a lot. Anyhoo, I also don't really love the way it's all coming together. It makes me glad I'm getting all this learning out of the way while my children are young enough to think everything I make is THE COOLEST THING EVER!
4. Isaac is killing me. He is loud, insistent, obnoxiously stubborn, LOUD, he hits, he throws, he screams, he's fearless to the point of injury, and he's loud. All the time. If he's awake, I'm stressed. Definitely my hardest toddler. Then he smiles, and oh.my.word. He's beautiful. Charming. Such a gift. Then he throws his shoes at me.
5. It's been hot. Big surprise, right? So we've been traveling around the area finding things to do on the weekend just to get out of the house. We figure it's better to be hot someplace interesting.
A few weeks ago we went to Oak Alley Plantation. It was beautiful. The tour probably would have been better if the above mentioned toddler hadn't felt it was imperative to be louder than the guide at all times, causing the two of us to have to leave, much to the relief of the other paying customers.
This weekend we're going to New Orleans Museum of Art. It'll be the kids' first time at an art museum. Yay for culture!
6. I can't figure out what to do for the Brenna and Nathan's birthdays. I'm a little wary of inviting three or four six year old boys over to climb my walls for a couple hours, but it will be too hot to do anything outside and I'm not willing to pay several hundred dollars to rent a birthday party venue for a total of eight children. Anyone have any ideas for me?
7. Ummm...
We got a good coupon for a set of tires, which we will need reasonably soon.
Or,
I can't find a picture I like for the place of honor in my wall of pictures, so the frame is still empty. It's starting to bug me.
Oh, I know!
This week I wrote my to-do list on the white board, really big. It's awesome, because I can't ignore it! I have been so productive. Of course, that means that my children REALLY, REALLY need to use the white board that they've been ignoring all summer, because clearly it's the most desirable space in the house.
THE END
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Miscellany 12.20.09
I have about a million pictures on my camera, so my next few posts are going to be pic intensive! I have one (count it... ONE) deep thought in my head, but I'm not sure how to articulate it, so that will be coming sooner or later.
Tonight at dinner, I served twice baked potatoes. As some of you know, my two eldest children don't consider potatoes edible unless they are of the french fried variety. Nathan asked me in his most polite voice, "Mom, could you never, ever make this ever again?"
Brian is dog tired after working from 4am to noon Saturday and Sunday. I am thrilled for the two coming four day weekends.
I'm pretty sure Nathan's quilt will be done for Christmas. Yay!! It's weird to have a project that I've spent a year working on, but Brenna is eager for me to start on hers. It will be pink and pupple (yes, I meant to do that).
We have an ornament graveyard going on the kitchen counter. And none of them were broken by the baby.
An old friend brought a great book store, Better World Books to my attention. They have a 5 for $15 bargain bin with free shipping, so I just scrolled through books until I found five that I knew I wanted for the kids. Only a couple of them are appropriate right now, but I got Sarah, Plain and Tall. It's a short little book, and I decided to read it because I remember not really caring for it as a kid. It's heart wrenching. The story is about a widower who advertises for a wife in the newspaper, and his two children, as they prepare to welcome Sarah into their lives. The most important criterion? That she sing, because there has been no music in their house since their mother died. It's got me thinking about emotional maturity and when it's appropriate to introduce negative emotions in a safe way. I can't remember when I read it... probably around third or fourth grade.
We have only one meal's worth of turkey left from Thanksgiving, and I've decided that next year I'M NOT MAKING A TURKEY. Blasphemy, I know. But I've never particularly liked turkey, and having several meals of it after the big day, on top of the work of making it in the first place... just not worth it. Besides, Thanksgiving is about the carbs anyway, right?
Okay, I think that's it. My brain is sort of empty for the moment. If you made it this far, thank you!
Tonight at dinner, I served twice baked potatoes. As some of you know, my two eldest children don't consider potatoes edible unless they are of the french fried variety. Nathan asked me in his most polite voice, "Mom, could you never, ever make this ever again?"
Brian is dog tired after working from 4am to noon Saturday and Sunday. I am thrilled for the two coming four day weekends.
I'm pretty sure Nathan's quilt will be done for Christmas. Yay!! It's weird to have a project that I've spent a year working on, but Brenna is eager for me to start on hers. It will be pink and pupple (yes, I meant to do that).
We have an ornament graveyard going on the kitchen counter. And none of them were broken by the baby.
An old friend brought a great book store, Better World Books to my attention. They have a 5 for $15 bargain bin with free shipping, so I just scrolled through books until I found five that I knew I wanted for the kids. Only a couple of them are appropriate right now, but I got Sarah, Plain and Tall. It's a short little book, and I decided to read it because I remember not really caring for it as a kid. It's heart wrenching. The story is about a widower who advertises for a wife in the newspaper, and his two children, as they prepare to welcome Sarah into their lives. The most important criterion? That she sing, because there has been no music in their house since their mother died. It's got me thinking about emotional maturity and when it's appropriate to introduce negative emotions in a safe way. I can't remember when I read it... probably around third or fourth grade.
We have only one meal's worth of turkey left from Thanksgiving, and I've decided that next year I'M NOT MAKING A TURKEY. Blasphemy, I know. But I've never particularly liked turkey, and having several meals of it after the big day, on top of the work of making it in the first place... just not worth it. Besides, Thanksgiving is about the carbs anyway, right?
Okay, I think that's it. My brain is sort of empty for the moment. If you made it this far, thank you!
Friday, December 4, 2009
7 Quick Takes Friday - New Orleans Edition
I've wanted to do a New Orleans edition (I typed 'addition' twice) since we moved here, and finally I'm remembering before Saturday. Woohoo! Here goes:
1. First things, first, here is a map of the city. We live in the Lower Garden District, which is at the bottom right of the crescent (circled, a little hard to see). Brian works right now up in the Jefferson Parish (northwest of the crescent) while they prepare to start work on the levee, but the levee is actually in St. Tammany Parish (East of the crescent). Click on the map to view it full size.
2. Neighborhoods in Brief Here's a brief summary of each of the major neighborhoods. A little bit of history and the boundaries. I found it interesting.
3. How Ta Tawk Rite The street names here are a whole mix of languages, and this guide cracked me up. I was so proud of myself when I was able to pronounce the names of the muses... but who knew, New Orleanians pronounce their names phonetically (for instance, Calliope. Pronounced Cuh-lie-oh-pee, right? Nope. Here it's cal-ee-ope. It feels so wrong!) Oh, and my favorite street name, we live a couple blocks from Tchoupitoulas. That's Chop-it-too-las.
4. As soon as we moved here, we made a beeline for the Louisiana Children's Museum. It's wonderful, but has the most horrendous parking. Trying to park at this place has almost broken me a couple times!
5. The place we're spending the most time exploring right now is The Audubon Zoo. This is absolutely the most beautiful zoo I've seen, and we really loved the Columbia, SC zoo! Today, when Isaac wakes up we're going to visit the Insectarium. Nathan is SO excited!
The fountain in the zoo entrance
A huge grove of oaks in the center of the zoo
A little fairy descending from Monkey Hill
7. Tomorrow, we're going to spend the day at Shady Pond Tree Farm hanging out and picking out a Christmas tree. The kids are very excited about the tree, and Brian and I are very excited about a (very cold) day spent outside exploring what looks like a beautiful farm! I plan to take my camera and make the kids wear clothes that don't clash wildly in an effort to get some great Christmas pictures of them. We'll see how that goes!
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