Before I get started I have to clear up one thing. I realize I may put too much of my life out here online, but besides some really helpful comments, I see that others of you still have yet to learn blog comment etiquette. I always appreciate debate and thoughtful insights, but never care for downright rudeness, which for some reason people seem to think they can do since they are posting anonymously. Because "someone" had to ruin it for the rest of you I will no longer accept anonymous comments. You will have to have an user ID and take responsibility for what you say.
There, done.
Our weekend, in a nutshell, what very nice and relaxing. Friday night we had family night in. Bill went to get a haircut and I ordered pizza so we could have a picnic in the living room and watch a movie together (picnic idea from my Aunt Jill). Saturday Bill went pheasant hunting bright and early. The girls and I stayed in our PJs until noon and just cuddled up, enjoyed our breakfast and time home alone. After lunch I took the girls to the park because it was an absolutely perfect day!! We all had fun, except Laila, who screamed bloody murder the entire walk back from the park. I guess you really can't please everybody...
When the girls woke up from their nap Bill was home so we played out back for the rest of the afternoon.
Saturday night we cuddled up again, made popcorn and had another family game and movie night.
Yesterday we did run a few errands - the usual, Menards/Target - to get the essentials for the week.
Having a low key weekend at home was just what the doctor ordered. Thank you to Mother Nature for getting the memo.
Next weekend....Moorhead!
Monday, October 13, 2008
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Little Miss Negative
That's Me. Little Miss Negative.
But here's why:
I am very busy with 3 small children. I do daycare Monday through Friday and wait tables on Sunday. I take 4 children with me 3 days a week to drop off and pick up Cecelia from preschool. I am the CEO of my household. In other words, cleaning, bill paying, cooking, project doing, winter preparing, laundry, feeding, diaper changing, phone answering and over all bossing around.
I am in a serious state of "It's All About Me."
There are a ton of people out there who help me out and make my life a lot easier. There are people who love me and love my family. In turn, I hope that they feel I do the same for them. If you're not sure let me just state for the record that I love you and am here for you if there is ever anything you need.
I'm trying to soak in this time with my family. I want them to be healthy, happy and rested.
In order for things to run smoothly I sometimes have to just say that I'm sorry, but I can't be everything for everyone. My family comes first.
I hope that it makes sense that I want to be flexible, but not at the expense of my own sanity.
I just look at those pictures above and remind myself that this time is finite and that it's OK to say no.
Friday, October 3, 2008
Where We're At
After all, that's what this blog is originally supposed to be about.
Cecelia: Almost 5. Wow. Started pre-school at the beginning of September and because my mind is full I didn't even get a picture of her first day. Bad Mommy.
Still loves, loves, loves to dress up. From morning until night she is constantly changing her clothes. She likes to play "make-believe". If you play with her, though, she plays her role and then will tell you who you are to play and what you are to do and say.
Even though she is getting older she still has moments when she gets upset and cries. Like if her sister messes up her toys, etc.
Lately, she has been considerably more cooperative. Less arguments and crying, thus, less time-outs.
Very helpful with her sisters. Helpful all around, actually.
Cecelia is a Daddy's girl - hands down. She adores her father and it's a beautiful thing.
Delaney: In to babies and fake food. She plays so well alone - something Cecelia never did like to do. I guess that means she's her own person. Hmm..
Still very funny. I mean, very funny. I don't know what it is about her that just cracks us up but we love every minute of it.
She talks pretty clearly at this point and comes up with the darndest things to say.
She too is a helper for her little sister, but the love is still somewhat fleeting.
She wants to do everything Cecelia does. She cries when CeCe goes to preschool and dance because she wants to go to.
If Cecelia is singing, Delaney will start to sing. If Cecelia is riding a bike, she wants to try and ride a bike. It is a serious case of Monkey See-Monkey Do.
Mostly still a Mommy's girl (probably because of her age), but definitely loves her Daddy. When Dad comes home from work she likes to screech and scream and jump in to his arms. But when push comes to shove Mommy usually is her go to person.
Laila: Cute as a button. Could be the next Gerber baby. Still has colicky moments, but is getting better. We have narrowed it down to when she's tired and has missed her nap window.
She smiles (BIG) and talks up a storm. Still waiting for that first giggle. It's my quest in life to get her to laugh for the first time.
Sleeping pretty well, but wakes up constantly to eat. I mean, like, every hour. I will keep feeding on demand until she turns 3 months old. We've created some bad sleeping habits for now, but I have learned that there is nothing habitual about a newborn. Best to start shaping them once they've reached that 3 month mark.
Weighed in at 11 pounds 4 ounces this week.
And I can't finish this post without mentioning our Bill. Today is his 32nd birthday.
Bill works so hard both at his office and at home. He is always doing something around here - whether it's mowing the lawn, changing a diaper, cleaning up after dinner, or giving the kids a bath. He loves his little cirlce of ladies and we love him. It takes a certain kind of man to balance a houseful of females. He is most definitely the perfect person for the job and I believe we're as good for him as he is for us.
He's our Super Dad and my Super Hubby.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BABY!!!
Lastly, here's a little something that I received as an email today. Enjoy!
On Being A Mom
By Anna Quindlen
All my babies are gone now. I say this not in sorrow but in disbelief. I take great satisfaction in what I have today: three almost adults, two taller than I am, one closing in fast.
Three people who read the same books I do and have learned not to be afraid of disagreeing with me in their opinion of them, who sometimes tell vulgar jokes that make me laugh until I choke and cry, who need razor blades and shower gel and privacy, who want to keep their doors closed more than I like.
Who, miraculously, go to the bathroom, zip up their jackets and move food from plate to mouth all by themselves.
Like the trick soap I bought for the bathroom with a rubber ducky at its center, the baby is buried deep within each, barely discernible except through the unreliable haze of the past.
Everything in all the books I once pored over is finished for me now. Penelope Leach., T. Berry Brazelton., Dr. Spock.
The ones on sibling rivalry and sleeping through the night and early-childhood education, all grown obsolete. Along with Goodnight Moon and Where the Wild Things Are, they are battered, spotted, well used. But I suspect that if you flipped the pages dust would rise like memories.
What those books taught me, finally, and what the women on the playground taught me, and the well-meaning relations --what they taught me was that they couldn't really teach me very much at all.
Raising children is presented at first as a true-false test, then becomes multiple choice, until finally, far along, you realize that it is an endless essay. No one knows anything. One child responds well to positive reinforcement, another can be managed only with a stern voice and a timeout. One boy is toilet trained at 3, his brother at 2.
When my first child was born, parents were told to put baby to bed on his belly so that he would not choke on his own spit-up. By the time my last arrived, babies were put down on their backs because of research on sudden infant death syndrome.
To a new parent this ever-shifting certainty is terrifying, and then soothing. Eventually you must learn to trust yourself. Eventually the research will follow.I remember 15 years ago poring over one of Dr. Brazelton's wonderful books on child development, in which he describes three different sorts of infants: average, quiet, and active.
I was looking for a sub-quiet codicil for an 18-month-old who did not walk. Was there something wrong with his fat little legs? Was there something wrong with his tiny little mind? Was he developmentally delayed, physically challenged? Was I insane? Last year he went to China . Next year he goes to college. He can talk just fine. He can walk, too.
Every part of raising children is humbling, too. Believe me, mistakes were made. They have all been enshrined in the Remember-When-Mom-Did Hall of Fame. The outbursts, the temper tantrums, the bad language-mine, not theirs. The times the baby fell off the bed. The times I arrived late for preschool pickup. The nightmare sleepover. The horrible summer camp.
The day when the youngest came barreling out of the classroom with a 98 on her geography test, and I responded, What did you get wrong? (She insisted I include that.) The time I ordered food at the McDonald's drive-through speaker and then drove away without picking it up from the window. (They all insisted I include that.)
I did not allow them to watch the Simpsons for the first two seasons. What was I thinking?But the biggest mistake I made is the one that most of us make while doing this. I did not live in the moment enough. This is particularly clear now that the moment is gone, captured only in photographs.
There is one picture of the three of them sitting in the grass on a quilt in the shadow of the swing set on a summer day, ages 6, 4 and 1. And I wish I could remember what we ate, and what we talked about, and how they sounded, and how they looked when they slept that night. I wish I had not been in such a hurry to get on to the next thing: dinner, bath, book, bed. I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less.
Even today I'm not sure what worked and what didn't, what was me and what was simply life. When they were very small, I suppose I thought someday they would become who they were because of what I'd done. Now I suspect they simply grew into their true selves because they demanded in a thousand ways that I back off and let them be.
The books said to be relaxed and I was often tense, matter-of-fact and I was sometimes over the top. And look how it all turned out. I wound up with the three people I like best in the world, who have done more than anyone to excavate my essential humanity. That's what the books never told me. I was bound and determined to learn from the experts.
It just took me a while to figure out who the experts were.
Cecelia: Almost 5. Wow. Started pre-school at the beginning of September and because my mind is full I didn't even get a picture of her first day. Bad Mommy.
Still loves, loves, loves to dress up. From morning until night she is constantly changing her clothes. She likes to play "make-believe". If you play with her, though, she plays her role and then will tell you who you are to play and what you are to do and say.
Even though she is getting older she still has moments when she gets upset and cries. Like if her sister messes up her toys, etc.
Lately, she has been considerably more cooperative. Less arguments and crying, thus, less time-outs.
Very helpful with her sisters. Helpful all around, actually.
Cecelia is a Daddy's girl - hands down. She adores her father and it's a beautiful thing.
Delaney: In to babies and fake food. She plays so well alone - something Cecelia never did like to do. I guess that means she's her own person. Hmm..
Still very funny. I mean, very funny. I don't know what it is about her that just cracks us up but we love every minute of it.
She talks pretty clearly at this point and comes up with the darndest things to say.
She too is a helper for her little sister, but the love is still somewhat fleeting.
She wants to do everything Cecelia does. She cries when CeCe goes to preschool and dance because she wants to go to.
If Cecelia is singing, Delaney will start to sing. If Cecelia is riding a bike, she wants to try and ride a bike. It is a serious case of Monkey See-Monkey Do.
Mostly still a Mommy's girl (probably because of her age), but definitely loves her Daddy. When Dad comes home from work she likes to screech and scream and jump in to his arms. But when push comes to shove Mommy usually is her go to person.
Laila: Cute as a button. Could be the next Gerber baby. Still has colicky moments, but is getting better. We have narrowed it down to when she's tired and has missed her nap window.
She smiles (BIG) and talks up a storm. Still waiting for that first giggle. It's my quest in life to get her to laugh for the first time.
Sleeping pretty well, but wakes up constantly to eat. I mean, like, every hour. I will keep feeding on demand until she turns 3 months old. We've created some bad sleeping habits for now, but I have learned that there is nothing habitual about a newborn. Best to start shaping them once they've reached that 3 month mark.
Weighed in at 11 pounds 4 ounces this week.
And I can't finish this post without mentioning our Bill. Today is his 32nd birthday.
Bill works so hard both at his office and at home. He is always doing something around here - whether it's mowing the lawn, changing a diaper, cleaning up after dinner, or giving the kids a bath. He loves his little cirlce of ladies and we love him. It takes a certain kind of man to balance a houseful of females. He is most definitely the perfect person for the job and I believe we're as good for him as he is for us.
He's our Super Dad and my Super Hubby.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BABY!!!
Lastly, here's a little something that I received as an email today. Enjoy!
On Being A Mom
By Anna Quindlen
All my babies are gone now. I say this not in sorrow but in disbelief. I take great satisfaction in what I have today: three almost adults, two taller than I am, one closing in fast.
Three people who read the same books I do and have learned not to be afraid of disagreeing with me in their opinion of them, who sometimes tell vulgar jokes that make me laugh until I choke and cry, who need razor blades and shower gel and privacy, who want to keep their doors closed more than I like.
Who, miraculously, go to the bathroom, zip up their jackets and move food from plate to mouth all by themselves.
Like the trick soap I bought for the bathroom with a rubber ducky at its center, the baby is buried deep within each, barely discernible except through the unreliable haze of the past.
Everything in all the books I once pored over is finished for me now. Penelope Leach., T. Berry Brazelton., Dr. Spock.
The ones on sibling rivalry and sleeping through the night and early-childhood education, all grown obsolete. Along with Goodnight Moon and Where the Wild Things Are, they are battered, spotted, well used. But I suspect that if you flipped the pages dust would rise like memories.
What those books taught me, finally, and what the women on the playground taught me, and the well-meaning relations --what they taught me was that they couldn't really teach me very much at all.
Raising children is presented at first as a true-false test, then becomes multiple choice, until finally, far along, you realize that it is an endless essay. No one knows anything. One child responds well to positive reinforcement, another can be managed only with a stern voice and a timeout. One boy is toilet trained at 3, his brother at 2.
When my first child was born, parents were told to put baby to bed on his belly so that he would not choke on his own spit-up. By the time my last arrived, babies were put down on their backs because of research on sudden infant death syndrome.
To a new parent this ever-shifting certainty is terrifying, and then soothing. Eventually you must learn to trust yourself. Eventually the research will follow.I remember 15 years ago poring over one of Dr. Brazelton's wonderful books on child development, in which he describes three different sorts of infants: average, quiet, and active.
I was looking for a sub-quiet codicil for an 18-month-old who did not walk. Was there something wrong with his fat little legs? Was there something wrong with his tiny little mind? Was he developmentally delayed, physically challenged? Was I insane? Last year he went to China . Next year he goes to college. He can talk just fine. He can walk, too.
Every part of raising children is humbling, too. Believe me, mistakes were made. They have all been enshrined in the Remember-When-Mom-Did Hall of Fame. The outbursts, the temper tantrums, the bad language-mine, not theirs. The times the baby fell off the bed. The times I arrived late for preschool pickup. The nightmare sleepover. The horrible summer camp.
The day when the youngest came barreling out of the classroom with a 98 on her geography test, and I responded, What did you get wrong? (She insisted I include that.) The time I ordered food at the McDonald's drive-through speaker and then drove away without picking it up from the window. (They all insisted I include that.)
I did not allow them to watch the Simpsons for the first two seasons. What was I thinking?But the biggest mistake I made is the one that most of us make while doing this. I did not live in the moment enough. This is particularly clear now that the moment is gone, captured only in photographs.
There is one picture of the three of them sitting in the grass on a quilt in the shadow of the swing set on a summer day, ages 6, 4 and 1. And I wish I could remember what we ate, and what we talked about, and how they sounded, and how they looked when they slept that night. I wish I had not been in such a hurry to get on to the next thing: dinner, bath, book, bed. I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less.
Even today I'm not sure what worked and what didn't, what was me and what was simply life. When they were very small, I suppose I thought someday they would become who they were because of what I'd done. Now I suspect they simply grew into their true selves because they demanded in a thousand ways that I back off and let them be.
The books said to be relaxed and I was often tense, matter-of-fact and I was sometimes over the top. And look how it all turned out. I wound up with the three people I like best in the world, who have done more than anyone to excavate my essential humanity. That's what the books never told me. I was bound and determined to learn from the experts.
It just took me a while to figure out who the experts were.
Friday, September 26, 2008
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
The Best for The Best
One thing I forgot to tell you all about was where we had Rick's memorial service.
This is an absolutely beautiful and amazing place that I wanted to share with you.
The link will take you to Lakeview Cemetary's website.
Sit back, look around and read about Wade Chapel. It is certainly impressive.
Nothing but the best for our Rick.
http://www.lakeviewcemetery.com/interest.html
This is an absolutely beautiful and amazing place that I wanted to share with you.
The link will take you to Lakeview Cemetary's website.
Sit back, look around and read about Wade Chapel. It is certainly impressive.
Nothing but the best for our Rick.
http://www.lakeviewcemetery.com/interest.html
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Wow.
Apparently I have moved into dangerous territory in creating an open dialogue about politics.
I believe we only have some 40 plus days until the election and all I was really trying to do was educate myself on the candidates a little bit more before voting day. I figured since I took the time to do a little "surfing" I would share what I found - in case you didn't have the time to do it yourself.
I am always, and will always, be open to comments and opinions by my readers. After all, this is a public forum that I have entered in to.
I am also open to conflicting information/facts/knowledge by any of you who are willing to share.
I try my best to be open minded and kind and only hope that you can find it in yourself to be the same.
I believe we only have some 40 plus days until the election and all I was really trying to do was educate myself on the candidates a little bit more before voting day. I figured since I took the time to do a little "surfing" I would share what I found - in case you didn't have the time to do it yourself.
I am always, and will always, be open to comments and opinions by my readers. After all, this is a public forum that I have entered in to.
I am also open to conflicting information/facts/knowledge by any of you who are willing to share.
I try my best to be open minded and kind and only hope that you can find it in yourself to be the same.
Monday, September 22, 2008
I Can't Stop Myself
What really matters in this election this year? Does it really matter whether Obama will be the youngest President if elected, or that McCain, if elected, will be the oldest? Does it really matter whether Obama’s former pastor said outrageous things or that John McCain, an Episcopalian, has struggled in the past with the religious right, calling them intolerant? Does it really matter that Obama is multiracial or that he was exposed briefly in his youth to Islamic teachings? Does it really matter whose wife is most attractive - or richest? No, I think not.
What really matters this year, according to national polling and reported recently by National Public Radio in order of their relative importance to Americans are: 1) The economy; 2) The war in Iraq; 3) Health care; 4) Immigration, and; 5) Climate change.
On the economy, both Obama and McCain acknowledge that we’re going through tough times. But McCain, parroting President Bush, believes that the basics of our economy are still strong. Although he has opposed the Bush tax cuts in the past, he now supports them and believes that he can trim enough waste from government spending to eventually balance the budget. Obama recognizes that America is on the economic ropes largely owing to the Bush tax cuts that favor the wealthiest, deficit spending to finance a war that most Americans now think we should never have started in the first place, jobs flowing overseas because of “unfair” free trade policies, and deregulation of the finance/ banking industries. He advocates reducing taxes on the middle class, whose disposable incomes contribute most to consumer spending, and balancing that with increased capital gains taxes which almost exclusively affect the wealthiest who can afford to contribute more. He wants to get us out of Iraq soonest and shift the spending there to spending here to restore our infrastructure, create jobs, and invest in human capital. He would also move to renegotiate NAFTA to more favorable terms for us and to offer tax incentives for corporations to create and retain jobs for Americans.
On the war in Iraq, the comparison could not be starker. McCain believes that we must stay in Iraq for “as long as it takes,” and would commit us to a continuation of current policies in the War on Terror. Obama believes that by giving Iraq’s political problems back to the people of Iraq, we can shift our emphasis back to al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan and the border areas with Pakistan. By pursuing more diplomacy and less unilateral force in the world, Obama believes that we can save billions, reduce military force structure issues, and win back the support of our allies.
On health care, Senator McCain would replace the current tax-free status of coverage provided by employers with refundable tax credits worth $2,500 for individuals and $5,000 for families to help purchase insurance, which sounds like taking from Peter to pay Paul to me, except that more Americans are working part time jobs without employer-paid coverage. Obama would create a new plan for those who lack other access to coverage, as well as a National Health Insurance Exchange to help pool the purchasing power of small businesses and individuals. Obama would also offer a combination of subsidies and tax credits to help make coverage more affordable. He would mandate health insurance coverage for children but not adults. So his plan is not the same “universal” plan that Mrs. Clinton advocated.
On immigration, Obama and McCain come closer to agreement than on any other issue. Recognizing that current law is not working to stem the flow of impoverished workers out of Mexico, Obama voted for the Senate immigration overhaul bill that McCain co-sponsored in the Senate. The bill would have strengthened border controls, create a guest-worker program and legalize millions of foreign workers here now. Obama also backed the Secure Fence Act. As a presidential candidate, McCain has been attacked by more conservative Republicans for his stance on immigration. Accordingly, he has since said that he believes in securing the borders before legalizing immigrants.
On global warming, McCain was the lead author of a Senate proposal to reduce carbon emissions by 65 percent by 2050. Obama would have us reduce carbon emissions by 80 percent by 2050. McCain supported an increase in auto fuel economy to 35 mpg but opposed a 40 mpg standard which Obama supported. Obama would reward domestic automakers for producing more fuel-efficient vehicles by helping them to fund health care for their retirees. Both are much closer to being “good stewards” of the environment, which George Bush claimed to be in one of his nationally televised debates with John Kerry in 2004.
COMPLETELY AND ENTIRELY STOLEN FROM: http://kgarry.wordpress.com/2008/06/28/swiftboating-on-a-budget-what-really-matters-in-this-election-year/#comments
What really matters this year, according to national polling and reported recently by National Public Radio in order of their relative importance to Americans are: 1) The economy; 2) The war in Iraq; 3) Health care; 4) Immigration, and; 5) Climate change.
On the economy, both Obama and McCain acknowledge that we’re going through tough times. But McCain, parroting President Bush, believes that the basics of our economy are still strong. Although he has opposed the Bush tax cuts in the past, he now supports them and believes that he can trim enough waste from government spending to eventually balance the budget. Obama recognizes that America is on the economic ropes largely owing to the Bush tax cuts that favor the wealthiest, deficit spending to finance a war that most Americans now think we should never have started in the first place, jobs flowing overseas because of “unfair” free trade policies, and deregulation of the finance/ banking industries. He advocates reducing taxes on the middle class, whose disposable incomes contribute most to consumer spending, and balancing that with increased capital gains taxes which almost exclusively affect the wealthiest who can afford to contribute more. He wants to get us out of Iraq soonest and shift the spending there to spending here to restore our infrastructure, create jobs, and invest in human capital. He would also move to renegotiate NAFTA to more favorable terms for us and to offer tax incentives for corporations to create and retain jobs for Americans.
On the war in Iraq, the comparison could not be starker. McCain believes that we must stay in Iraq for “as long as it takes,” and would commit us to a continuation of current policies in the War on Terror. Obama believes that by giving Iraq’s political problems back to the people of Iraq, we can shift our emphasis back to al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan and the border areas with Pakistan. By pursuing more diplomacy and less unilateral force in the world, Obama believes that we can save billions, reduce military force structure issues, and win back the support of our allies.
On health care, Senator McCain would replace the current tax-free status of coverage provided by employers with refundable tax credits worth $2,500 for individuals and $5,000 for families to help purchase insurance, which sounds like taking from Peter to pay Paul to me, except that more Americans are working part time jobs without employer-paid coverage. Obama would create a new plan for those who lack other access to coverage, as well as a National Health Insurance Exchange to help pool the purchasing power of small businesses and individuals. Obama would also offer a combination of subsidies and tax credits to help make coverage more affordable. He would mandate health insurance coverage for children but not adults. So his plan is not the same “universal” plan that Mrs. Clinton advocated.
On immigration, Obama and McCain come closer to agreement than on any other issue. Recognizing that current law is not working to stem the flow of impoverished workers out of Mexico, Obama voted for the Senate immigration overhaul bill that McCain co-sponsored in the Senate. The bill would have strengthened border controls, create a guest-worker program and legalize millions of foreign workers here now. Obama also backed the Secure Fence Act. As a presidential candidate, McCain has been attacked by more conservative Republicans for his stance on immigration. Accordingly, he has since said that he believes in securing the borders before legalizing immigrants.
On global warming, McCain was the lead author of a Senate proposal to reduce carbon emissions by 65 percent by 2050. Obama would have us reduce carbon emissions by 80 percent by 2050. McCain supported an increase in auto fuel economy to 35 mpg but opposed a 40 mpg standard which Obama supported. Obama would reward domestic automakers for producing more fuel-efficient vehicles by helping them to fund health care for their retirees. Both are much closer to being “good stewards” of the environment, which George Bush claimed to be in one of his nationally televised debates with John Kerry in 2004.
COMPLETELY AND ENTIRELY STOLEN FROM: http://kgarry.wordpress.com/2008/06/28/swiftboating-on-a-budget-what-really-matters-in-this-election-year/#comments
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