WordFul and WW: Where's the rest of this moose?

"Why don't you forget the moose for a moment?"

While vacationing in Chetek, I thought of my blogger friend Kay when we saw this moose in the Army surplus store. Totally remembered a line from our fave movie, Arthur, and just knew I had to post a picture when I got back! The guy at the store was cracking up when I asked if I could snap a picture. He must have really thought I was an indoors kind of girl-like he couldn't already tell!

To Play WordFul Wednesday hosted by Angie, click below on the Seven Clown Circus button! (Or click the on on my sidebar if this doesn't work!

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Open Mouth-Insert Foot and Please say a little prayer......

At the new delicious health club yesterday I was pretending to break a world record (in my head) as I raced on the elliptical machine trying to get 6 miles in under an hour. I don't know if that is fast in the world of EFX machines, but my heart was pounding, my entire body literally dripping with sweat (even my arms!-ew) AND Marilyn Manson was screaming at me about beautiful people which kept me right on going since I wasn't one of them-at least for that moment.

Then I noticed a fire truck pulling in to the complex---lights and sirens whirring away.
Instantly my IPOD got snapped off and images of Sophie hurt danced in my head as I held my breath waiting for the loud speaker to call me to the children's gym.

No such announcement. Confident that I am just an overprotective, nervous, first-time mom and that Sophie is fine, I turned the IPOD back on to continue the race.

Then I saw a police car coming in following an ambulance also with lights and sirens. Hmmm. Now I'm thinking building on fire? Nope-didn't hear alarms go off. Oh, must be someone having chest pains or someone fell off the rock wall and potentially broke an arm or something. Poor guy. (In my head it's always a guy who gets hurt.)

Back to the races--I'm at 51 minutes, 561 cals burned, but only at about 4.2 miles. **Sigh** Only 9 minutes left and just about 2 miles? The thoughts of finishing were getting a little hopeless. Rage Against the Machine helped me along with "More human than is human" or whatever the song is called. (my angry work-out music)

When the second fire engine showed up followed by the fire chief AND 2 more cop cars I knew something must be up. Were they doing a drill? No, the lights and sirens wouldn't be on. Hmmm. That's when the trainers all came up to clear the fitness floor and shew us down to the first floor lobby.
OK. Now I'm panicking. Where's my daughter? What's going on? Get us out of here!

Ran down to kid's center-all is well except I cannot check out Sophie without my ID to prove who I am. Rats! Ran back to locker room to grab purse and ID and just when I am about to move out-a bunch of women start coming back into the locker room. We were all being sent here to sit and wait. No one in, but if we wanted to leave we could go through the pool to the outdoor exit.

Um, yeah, I'll do that as soon as I pick up my daughter.
"No I'm sorry, you have to stay here. "
I'm going to get my DAUGHTER! (and I'm an over-reacting emotional mom who's never left her kid anywhere but here.)
"NO-you can't leave the locker room unless you go outside through the back."

I almost started crying. WTH??? Why can't I just get my kid? I want to leave! Just then about 8 paramedics went by with a guy on a stretcher through the side door which happens to go out just past the kids gym.

Once it was gone I was able to go get Sophie. She was sobbing when I got to her, as were about 20 other kids and a couple of the employees. Apparently all of them had to go into the back of the gym where there weren't any windows. Sophie did not like this AT ALL! This is nuts--we got out of there.

Sophie goes, "Why didn't you come get me Mom?"
I started to really tear up as we left. I told her the second she wanted me I would always come. Today I didn't. Oh, I was so sad as I picked up my phone to tell Nate on the way home. Thank God is was pouring rain so no one could see my tears. Nate was all mad of course and told me that next time I should just push whoever out of the way and go get Sophie.

I left a message for guest services to call and explain themselves. I was so angry that because someone needed medical attention I couldn't pick up my daughter? I have worked at a health club and this sort of thing happens a lot at gyms. Why would they clear the floor and hide all of the members in the locker rooms AND terrorize the kids too? I wanted answers or I wanted a refund-we just joined 4 days ago for pete's sake. Is this standard procedure when someone gets hurt?

Nope. It's not. It was simply out of respect for the man who passed away! The manager called me back and said this had never happened, but if anyone perishes on the premises, the gym is shut down until the deceased is moved out of the building.

OMG!

I felt like the biggest jerk--but soooo sooo sorry for that man. How HORRIBLE!!!!!!!
Say a little prayer for that guy and his family. I can't imagine the hell they are in right now.

In the meantime, Sophie and I will be going back today so that we can move on--and hopefully she will forget all about it.

It will be a long time for me though--because the man I saw the paramedics with wasn't being taken to the hospital. God bless that poor man.

Home schools and Health Clubs

SO, summer is done. Finally. I have so much to say on the subject, however TIME is a huge issue, so I may not get it all in. Summer wrap-ups and final photo scrapbooks are being put on hold until our new FALL/WINTER schedule gets comfortable. Whenever Sophie and I go through a change it is usually a very slow process, and starting our home preschool is no exception. My new catch phrase is officially SLOW DOWN.

I decided to tackle the Montessori method of preschooling and it is turning into quite a thing. No problem, I like a challenge, but in the meantime, a schedule needs to be put in place so Sophie and I can re-connect and give us some time to get used to changes. Her and I have been butting heads again and her ego is picking fights with my ego and she is winning! I can't let this continue because I run the risk of spoiling her instead of teaching her and I don't want that to happen. Permissiveness is no way to parent a child. Neither are harsh words (yelling) and consequences and it seems that I have been going from one extreme to the other lately. It's been sooo crazy. Seriously, if I am not yelling at her for not listening, I am letting her do and have anything she wants because I'm done dealing with it. The terrible three's-ick. My fault though--I will make this better--now! (I have to admit, with my head hanging in shame, that Sophie has acquired 6 new dolls in the past 2 weeks! Oh yeah, must make changes NOW! This is nuts!)

OK, back to the home school. I need to set up a 'classroom' for her, schedule the appropriate time, and be available most of the day to help her through. Now, I need some time for this so for the past 2 weeks and for the rest of this week that is the goal. We will be starting our official 'school' schedule next Monday and starting today giving it a test run to see how it goes. I think it is going to go very smoothly and am very excited to try our new things--especially an earlier bedtime with a more structured routine--no more late night movies. Underdog has been fabulous, but sorry Pup, you need to go.

She's at a stage where she still wants me close, but wants to have friends too. I finally figured out this one--we joined a health club! It allows me up to 2 hours a day child care while I work out. This is no ordinary child care though. They have a play room, a giant climber thingy, an outdoor playground, a huge gym for sports and activities, and a computer room. They also pop in movies occasionally with a giant screen TV and they have a room for babies, should we get the chance to grow our family. This place is awesome! Sophie loves it. She gets to play and make new friends while being close to me without me actually being there. She has tested the system and has had me paged several times, but she is getting used to it and I think by now confident that I will always come and get her when she calls. Life is good.

To top it all off, I get to workout again. It feels fantastic! Of course, it'll feel even better when I actually lose the rest of this baby weight, but one thing at a time. I will also hopefully be able to enroll Sophie in some swim lessons this winter AND we get to swim whenever we want in the indoor family pool-it even has a giant water slide. This place rocks! Sophie has already said she wants to climb the rock wall too, so as soon as she's old enough I'll enroll her in that class as well.

So, while slowly transitioning to a new phase in this little ones life, we have been doing all sorts of things to get ready. Last week our big task was new clothes and shoes for her but before we shopped we had to measure to get an idea of what sizes to start with.

First I had to outline her whole body so we can see all the parts we had to measure.

Then Sophie had to outline bunny bear.

Then it was time to actually measure. I don't have a cloth measuring tape, so I used extra cable cords to wrap around her torso and just measured that on the metal tape measure. Sophie was having a ball measuring bunny. It turned into a fun little project.


Life size Sophie next to real-life Sophie~! She was so proud of her bunny sketch and measurements. She was excited to go shopping. I'm glad I did this first because it turns out that Sophie's waist is a 2T but her legs are a 4T and with her torso she measure almost 41" tall!!! She is one lean, not-so-mean, preschoolin' machine! She was happy enough with all of this that she even tried on clothes in the store AND let a stranger measure her foot! Wow, she really is getting big. **sniff**
The plan is to document our new journey together in the land of home schools and health clubs so more posts will be coming. I'm starting to get excited too because music class starts next week and Fall is officially here with chilly nights and warm, sunny afternoons. I LOVE FALL!!!!!!! Can't wait until the pumpkin patches open up--soon too!

PSF and a Good Laugh!

First of all, can I just say, it's GREAT to be home PSF'ing like usual. One week gone feels like a year in isolation!


Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

This was Number 9 on my Thursday 13. I want to elaborate on something that really made me laugh--the kind of laugh that hurts your belly, but gives you the "woo-I needed that" feeling.

NON-LISTENING PRESCHOOLERS Part 2: After Jamison threw his shoe in the water (from the only pair he brought!) Nate had to jump in the canoe and go fetch it before it got lost at sea. Well, Nate almost fell in while getting in the canoe which jump started my laugh attack. Too bad for me Nate wasn't laughing with me because he couldn't get the rope untied to get off shore. Once he managed to move toward the shoe Sophie was still trying to 'skip' rocks and managed to throw some at his head! He started screaming like crazy "Sophie! You are not allowed to throw rocks at Daddy!" which made everyone crack up and I started running to get the camera. I almost peed I was laughing so hard--I couldn't help it! Then he had a hard time actually getting the shoe without practically falling out of the boat. He had to turn around like 3 times before he was close enough to reach, without falling, to grab the shoe. Thank God it was a Croc-or poor Jamey would have had one wet foot! It was absolutely the most hilarious part of the trip.

Thursday 13: I am officially CRAZY!

Since he was a small kid, my husband has been going to the same cabin getaway in the north woods Chetek, WI every year. It is a very 'boy' place meaning you get dirty, sweaty, swim (and for some bathe--EW) in the lake, sit around a fire at night, and work on the cabin when needed, and of course-lots of fishing. Nate has always adored going to this cabin with his family, and since we've been married has said that he couldn't wait to bring his own kids there.

The only problem? Me. We stayed at a house on a lake once in WI when I was a kid--and you know something? Ick. It sucked. We only did that once. Absolutely HATED it. After that the closest I got to 'roughing it' out in the country was having to stay at a hotel outside of Disney World instead of inside the park. Seriously, we were just not a Swiss Family Robinson kind of family unless we were actually standing in the tree next to the Pirates of the Caribbean exhibit, eating chocolate-covered Mickey Mouse ears.

So you can imagine how different an experience being up in WI is for me. I had been there once after we were married for a year, and I had sworn then that I wouldn't go back. Not because it's a bad place or anything, it's just not a vacation for me-too much work--too much 'boy' stuff and ickiness.

But, I decided last week to just bring Sophie up there and get it over with. He has been talking about taking Sophie since the day she was born. Fine. Nate left on Wednesday with his 3 brothers, mother, and nephew and I decided that on Friday, Sophie, Jack and I would surprise him. We had found a hotel with a vacancy so I was going to get my internet access and air conditioning, and Nate was going to get to share everything he loves about this town with Sophie. Jack just loves the cabin, the water, and Gamma's black lab-Bella. So I thought everyone would win.

Wrong.

13 Reasons I SHOULDN'T have joined my husband on a fishing trip.

1. MONEY ISSUES: (isn't $ always an issue?) I had told Nate that if his bonus checks arrived with enough time for me to book a hotel, we would drive up. We were expecting 2 bonus checks and BOTH of them were late. Really late. BOTH of them! I should have seen this as an ominous sign NOT to go. I should have-but didn't. This wouldn't have been a big deal, except that I refused to drive 6 hours without an ample supply of emergency money in the checkbook-so I couldn't even make my decision to go until the last minute and this is not the kind of trip you can spontaneously pick up and leave-especially with a 3 year old and her BIG dog too.

2. TEMPER TANTRUMS: (what???not my kid!) Sophie was not having a good time shopping and prepping for the trip. We went to Walmart to buy kid-friendly-car-snacks and bring some extra food for when we were up north. Unfortunately, Sophie thought this was another fun shopping spree with mommy and actually threw her first official temper tantrum in the middle of the store-over a Snow White doll. I was stunned. Really. I just stood there. For like 5 minutes! I had no idea what to do. Finally, I just grabbed her and tried like mad to distract her. I finally did with another toy (a little barbie hair dryer to replace her broken one) I had no intention of buying. By the time we got to the checkout line though I had managed to get her happy enough to accept that when we go see her daddy, he will most likely buy her something (like maybe a dolly)-so she happily put back the bribe toy I had given her. That's my girl. She's usually very reasonable when it comes to toys--so you can imagine my surprise when she threw a fit. Just another sign I shouldn't have been preparing for this trip.

3. BROKEN AIR CONDITIONER: -oh this was fun -in 85 degree weather with 90% humidity. I took a picture of the ice ball and water dripping and emailed my dad to see if I could fix it myself--with none other than some extra tape and a little time to defrost. Turns out you are supposed to replace the filters on your furnace. Oops. Missed that one. So, once the unit is defrosted, a new filter in place should do the trick. Nope-it didn't. Or so I thought, but really hadn't defrosted the entire thing. So, on Friday, the day I was trying to leave, I had to postpone leaving to wait for the fix-it guy. He came first thing in the morning only to say that he needed to come back in the afternoon once it completely thawed out. Well, long story short, he told me that his little $88 service call needed to turn into a $625 big repair job that they wouldn't be able to do until the following week because of the Labor day holiday. What? NIGHTMARE! So no air over a very hot weekend? EW. I just turned it off. Yeah. I took it as a sign TO go, but once it defrosted it was OK. No big fix needed. So had I stayed home I would have known this by Friday evening and spent a delightful long weekend playing with Sophie. The house was a delicious 85 DEGREES when we got home Monday night. So much fun! At least I was able to cancel the big repair as we have not frozen yet and now it looks like the weather is taking a turn for the Fall! Whoohoo!

4. BROKEN CAR PARTS: The driver's side door lock on my truck broke. I simply ignored it--to overwhelmed at this point. Totally blew it off. It's still broken.

5. LONG CAR RIDES: The ride up was OK, but took way longer than the 6 hours expected so we didn't arrive until almost 10:30PM. Sophie and I jammed tunes, sang songs and ate goldfish and twizzlers--soooooo our thing. It wasn't too bad. I thought the car ride home would even be better because we would be joined by daddy, but by the end of the trip Nate and I were hardly speaking AND my IPOD roadtrip player broke. We rode home in silence. Oh, and we hit Labor Day traffic. 8 hours in the car ----- sigh.

6. SMOKEY HOTELS: The hotel I booked only had a smoking room available and I didn't think it would be a big deal since I wouldn't actually be smoking but holy cow was it the grossest smelling room in.the.world!

7. EMOTIONAL MELTDOWNS: Sophie cried EVERY night, big boo-hoo tears because she wanted to sleep, and I quote, "at home where I belong!" Poor thing was soooooo sad that all of her dollies were home alone without her. The first night there was no consoling her until she finally fell asleep around 1:30AM! The second and third nights were a little better, but there were still lots of tears. I never anticipated that. Who knew?

8. CABIN CHAOS: The cabin that Nate and company stay in is owned by his mom's aunt and everyone pitches in to help around the house. The cabin itself just made me cranky--there were so many little messes laying around (unorganized boy stuff) --and there were so many people staying in one small place. UGH. With one bathroom. I could barely stand it. (oh--and my mother in law was there! -bless her heart-she's a great gamma to Sophie, but I have no business going on vacation with her--we just don't have that kind of relationship. I'm whispering this she doesn't hear me say "that which is supposed to stay unsaid.")

9. NON-LISTENING PRESCHOOLERS: Sophie loves playing with her cousin, but would not listen to a word either of us said. That got on my nerves BIG time because Sophie has always been a really good listener--but when she saw that her cousin was allowed to do things, she thought it was OK for her too. No, you can not throw shoes in the lake, you MUST wear a life jacket when in the water, on the dock, and on the boat ALWAYS!, and you can't just get naked whenever you feel like it. These are just some of the things she tried to get away with. Sorry, none of this was going to work for me-but unfortunately I was the only one who thought it was a big deal. I guess men really do think differently from women.

10. PRIVATE CABINS: We checked out of the stinky hotel after that horrible first night and found a cozy little private cabin located on the lake at a local resort. The owner was a very nice guy from Chicago and let us rent for just a couple of nights, instead of the usual week you were supposed to book. Well. The nice-ness stopped there. I lost air conditioning and internet access when we made the switch. (I REALLY missed my blog and more importantly my fave blogs I read) I also lost housekeeping services, towels in the bathroom, and ice and vending machines. Oh, and we lost the king bed which means Nate and I had to sleep in separate rooms. Rockin' good times.

11. NO HAPPY PILLS: I had forgotten my medications at home. Not a huge deal because they are not the life-supporting kind--but still medications just the same and I had to endure almost 4 days without them-at a time when I really needed them most. One of them is so I am happy and the other is so I don't eat the world. I don't mind saying -- I was the crankiest pig on the planet. so much fun.

12. SMELLY DOG: We tried to wash Jack the best we could because the lake made him smell like 3 day old road kill, but we didn't do a great job. I now understand what the 'unbearable smell from the back seat' is like when you take a family road trip. Ew. Let me say that again--EW! His collar smelled like rotten hot fish feet and he is now shedding by the buckets. I have to vacuum twice a day. GROSS!!!!!!!!!!

13. CHORES --TO GO HOME? You don't just get to pack your bags and leave. You have to empty garbage and take out recycling. That was just at the resort. THEN we had to go back to the cabin so Nate could help out before leaving. His mother was finishing up painting the boat house (!!!), his brothers were vacuuming and cleaning, (2 of them were still sleeping) and Sophie and Jamey were trying to go swimming one last time-making my head about to explode. Now, the day before I had asked if we could take anything home since we had so much room in the truck, but never got an answer until AFTER I had packed our car. Now I had to re-pack the car to fit not 1 but 2 golf bags. grrrrr. I ended up throwing half of Nate's clothes in the dirt while I re-arranged--only to realize that I am the one to do laundry when we get home, so I actually only created more work for myself. It was this childish behavior of mine that caused my dear hubby not to speak to me for the first 3 hours of the SiLENT trip home. (remember the broken ipod?) Good times!

So there it is-13 reasons I shouldn't have gone. But I went anyway. ?. God tried everything to get me to stay home--looking back the signs were incredibly clear and I missed every single one. ***Big. Giant. Sigh.*** I, AGAIN, swear I will never go back. Ever. From this moment forward my husband has my blessing to go fishing without me whenever he feels the need. I will happily stay home and go shopping.
Wow, it feels good to get all of this out of my system. NOW--- I do have some good parts to the trip, so from now on I will focus on those when I speak of Chetek. I have lots of pictures to show--it was a very beautiful place--to look at, not live in (for me) and I had a great time on the boat. More on all of the good stuff soon.

In honor of my Polish theme, I'm posting Wordless(ful) Wednesday on Thursday!

WW: It's a Polish thing...........
My husband and his whole family (paternal and maternal sides) are 100% Polish.
They are VERY proud of their heritage.


I bet you couldn't tell.

For more wordful Wednesdays please visit Angie or click on the Seven Clown Circus button on my sidebar!


A man walked into a bar and asked the bartender, "Hey, have you heard the latest Pollack joke?" The bartender replied, coldly, "No. And I'll have you know I'm Polish." That's O.K.," said the man, "I'll talk slow."

A Pollack walked into a bar and sat down at the bar, where a news report was on TV. On the news a man was on a ledge outside an upper floor of a building threatening to jump. The bartender, who'd seen the news report before said, "I'll bet you $50 he's going to jump." The Pollack took the bet and put down a $50 bill on the bar. Then the man on the ledge jumped to his death. The bartender picked up the $50 bill but then, realizing that he'd taken advantage of a poor, dumb Pollack, his conscience got the better of him and he said, "Look, I'm going to give you back your money. I have to confess that I saw that news report before." "That's O.K.," said the Pollack, "I saw it before too, but I didn't think he was gonna do it again!"

PSF and BIG FISH

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

I have never been a fan of fishing. I refuse to touch a worm, I run away from the pole if the fish starts bouncing around once it's been caught, and I absolutely WILL NOT touch a fish. I don't eat fish, can't tolerate the smell of fish, and if they are pets in my home, I will absolutely (although not intentionally) kill them--go here and here and here for examples of my fish extermination.

But, Sophie likes to fish with her daddy and he bought her a little princess pole all for herself. Last weekend I thought, well, I suppose I could sit in the sun for a bit and just watch the two of them catch some fish. I do tend to worship the sun, so how bad could it be?

Once I saw Sophie holding her fishing pole and asking what to do if she catches one, I wanted one two! It took about 2 more minutes before I took over Nate's fishing pole. I actually liked it! The anticipation of whether a fish would bite or not was fun, and let me tell you--when they did bite? Holy cow-how exciting to reel it in! It was so cool! We ended up fishing both Saturday and Sunday and had tons of fun. Weird huh?



Sophie and I caught the very 1st fish of the day at the exact same time!!!! Mine was the big one! Neither one of us would go near them though so Nate double fisted the fish!



Here's mine up close--we named him Buster the Bass!



Look at Nate's forearm--yep--that's gross huh? That little fish must have seen me standing there-I am after all--the evil executioner!



Sophie was thrilled see got a fish, and in mommy style-kept her distance!



Sophie caught a total of 3 fish that day-had to show Nate her GOD BLESS pose! (Look at the muscle in her legs and shoulders--man she is strong!)


Piece of cake--this is sooooo easy!



Nate's big catch the next day. Sophie had long since lost interest. She liked chillin' in the shade with her puppy.

This one was named Walter (about a 3 pound bass) because the day before Nate swore it was the 'one that got away' when Sophie and I ran home to grab the picnic lunch. He was so excited when Walter came back out to play on Sunday--just to prove he existed!

Admitting it is half the battle.......

Guess what? I'm so naive. I am finally admitting it. I know parents with only one kid really don't have the right to an opinion.....now I get why. You see, I have been enjoying all of the little kid quirks that I read about in the blog-o-sphere like peanut butter covered cell phones and outdoor urinals in the bushes, because I honestly didn't think Sophie would ever pull these sort of tricks. Really. Not MY kid-she's such a well-behaved, perfectly sweet little girl! Well, she's is all of those things, but she is also a completely normal kid like everyone else, and is starting to learn the joy of 'what will happen if I do this?' syndrome. I am truly naive!

The other night Sophie and I were having our pre-bedtime Popsicle in the family room while we watched T.V. with Nate. I thought Sophie was pretty content playing Barbies and didn't seem to need my attention, so I was actually concentrating on the show. About every 45 seconds Sophie would run into the kitchen, do something, and come running back into the family. She must have done it have a half-dozen times before I finally noticed.

Sophie, what'cha doin? (I said this sweetly with as much interest as possible so she doesn't clam up--or try to pull a cover up.)

Making juice.

Really? How? I didn't ask these questions, but she was so honest and proud of herself when she answered that I was intrigued. So I got up to see.

Guess what happens to Popsicles when you take them out of the freezer?

Guess where a red Popsicle shows up the best when it doesn't get eaten?

Guess who doesn't get to leave the room when she eats a Popsicle anymore!

As I was cleaning up the hallway floor, I asked her if she had planned on drinking the juice. Without missing a beat she said, "Moooommy, I drink juice from my sippy cup. This juice is for Jackers!" I'm willing to bet he's the only dog who gets served Popsicle off a foyer floor-right?

So after this little episode, I decided to take a closer look around the toy room(s) and found that she has in fact begun experimenting. First, she ground an entire cherry cola lipsmacker into the top of the princess lamp on her little picnic table. It looks like a lava lamp now. Then I saw the crayon marks on her play kitchen that lead right up to a picture hanging on the wall-back down to the floor. AND, the other day Nate came running upstairs in the morning while I was putting on my makeup to grab the plunger. A) -he scared me and I poked my eye with the eye pencil. B) -Sophie was left to tinkle by herself. I didn't go near the downstairs bathroom until he was completely finished-I know myself too well.

So it starts. My innocent little girl is officially a normal kid. I can't wait to see what else she does! I'm actually kind of excited too-to tell you the truth. She's pretty clever, so there's no telling what she'll come up with --PLUS-- it will give me some more good blog material.

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Sophie, let's learn to speak French!

Why? (She was completely UNinterested.)

So we can go to France!

You want to go to what? (She asked this like I had just said a bad word! Nothing against France I'm sure because she apparently doesn't know what it is yet.--oh and I love that she said what instead of where!)

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Sophie, can you clean up your Barbie's before we go up to bed?

No thanks!

Sophie, clean up your Barbies --please --it's bedtime.

Um, not just yet.

Sophie, you can clean up your Barbies, because if I have to do it-I'm throwing them away!

Mooooomy, can you just give me a hand please?

**sigh** How about asking Daddy to help you-while he laughs his head off?

(Nice to know we amuse someone!)

Oh yeah--I left the bag of fortune cookies on the table last week. Yep--every single cookie was opened, the fortune UNread because she can't quite read yet, and the entire bag of cookies crumbled across the kitchen table to the floor to the family room. She's sooooooo normal!

WW: Magic pencil!

NOW YOU SEE HER!



NOW YOU DON'T!

Anyone moving to Chicago? Want to invest in a condo?

A little FYI: my husband's business partner has some Chicago property for sale. For more info please go to my other blog--Widloe World--I posted a slideshow and contact info there.

PSF and a Guessing Game.

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

They say that 50 is the new 30. Is it true?

The following is a list of tasks for a young woman to accomplish on her birthday.

1. Appointment at the hair salon for a cut and color.
2. Trip to the mall with friends for a 'power' shop--candles, perfume, make-up, cd's.
3. Late lunch at some non-healthy yummy restaurant.
4. Home for a strawberry themed birthday party from Cold Stone Creamery: strawberry blonde ice cream, strawberry shortcake pie, strawberry passion cake, and strawberry banana rendezvous.
5. Watch her favorite summer olympic finalists to see if USA wins more gold. (she only gets to do this every 4 years, the first (for her) being in 1976)

Can you guess her age?

I'll give you some more hints.......

The music on the CD Walkman while waiting for her color to take is OMD and The Church. Her perfume is most likely LAUREN by Ralph Lauren or POISON by Christian Dior. Her make-up will include zinc pink. Her cd's will most likely be a pick between Midnight Oil, INXS, Gun-N-Roses, Poison, Madonna, and Cheap Trick. Oh, and since she's a cheerleader at heart, she may look at Paula Abdul's, Forever your Girl.

Can you guess now? Does 1988 ring a bell for anyone?
If you guessed 15 (35) you'd be right!
There are only a few things different: no starbucks back then and today I will be on a hunt for the new coffee mug; I didn't even have a boyfriend when I turned 15 much less a husband; there's is no chance in h*ll I could still fit into my cheerleading uniform. sigh.

How fun is it that 20 years later I am still doing exactly the same things I did back in my teen years? Birthdays NEVER get old, just people! I hope I am still celebrating like this 20 years from now when I hit middle age;) (seriously 42 is my actual 'scary' year but I hope to push it back to 55--I would just love to make the centurian club someday!)

BUT, the good news is I'm not in high school anymore (THANK GOD) and here are a bunch of reasons why I would never go back................................................


painting with water colors with mommy for the first time. soooo fun!

Sophie is one serious arteast!

Hanging out with Mommy at Johnny Rockets-dancin' in the seats! The two of us bellied up to the counter to sit on the 'high' chairs and proceeded to spin in circles laughing our heads off.

(trying to pick my nose--eeeewwwww!)



She didn't want me to interupt her singing with all of my picture taking!

Swimming in the pool turned to playing in the rain turned to freezing in the air conditioning while watching an afternoon movie with her cousin Jamey.

Our latest trip to the zoo.

I sooooo want to buy one of these picnic tables!

Sophie was actually chasing my shadow trying to stomp on my head.

Today I am truly -- truly grateful for growing 20 years mentally and a little physically (alright a lot physically), while stopping my emotional maturity from ever reaching adult status -- to achieve maximum longevity. So I suppose they are right about 50 being the new 30. The trick is just to simply ACT at least 20 years younger. How easy is that? Happy Birthday to me!

Thursday 13: Boost Mom-Confidence & Wife-Esteem

Lately, I've been telling myself that I don't have time to do the things I love and enjoy because my 'responsibilities' are more important. As if in my own head other stuff needs to come before me --like cleaning and cooking. Um, yeah--don't think so. Now, I have no problems putting Sophie ahead of me, and when necessary Nate too, but to put washing a floor or folding laundry ahead of what makes me--me? No way! Yeah, I am quickly-but not soon enough-correcting this thinking. So, here's something that has been on my mind lately as I begin to wind down after ONE.CRAZY.SUMMER!

1. TELL MYSELF I'M GREAT! No kidding. Each night before bed I make sure to tell Sophie how fantastic I think she is, (read about that here) and each morning I do the same for myself. I have a personal "ME" journal where I write all the good stuff I can think of. This way I can start each day with a reason to be happy-with myself. It is VERY easy for me to forget ME when praying about how grateful I am for things. I really think it helps me to be a better mom: more patient, tolerant, kind, understanding, and loving. So like in the movie Enchanted, should I be asked, "Do I like myself?" I will honestly be able to reply, "What's not to like?"

2. TALK LIKE A BAD A*S IN THE CAR WHEN SOMETHING GOES WRONG. This sounds stupid, but seriously, I'm a big chicken when it comes to telling people off, so I pretend I get the chance when I'm in the car. This way I can voice my authority and superiority (even though I know I don't have any) over the little twit who couldn't bag the groceries right causing the bag to rip when entering the car. This avoids my becoming that grumpy, mean lady at the store--you know, like the one who pitches a fit when her peaches don't ring up for the sale price and holds up 5 people in line for 15 minutes over a whopping $.30. Yeah, you know the one. So I can be nice, cheerful, and understanding in the store, and still get to b*tch about it, without hurting feelings-while acting like a bad chick who doesn't put up with nonsense. This totally makes me feel somehow~~ powerful?? Sounds weird, but so true.

3. TEACH SOPHIE SOMETHING NEW. Nothing makes me feel more confident as a mom than seeing Sophie accomplish a brand new task, learn a new skill, or simply have a 'light bulb' moment. Last night while she was playing with her foam letters in the bathtub, she finally realized that a group of letters make up a word! WHOOHOO for reading! Anyway, she said, "Look Mommy, I spelled the word cup! ZCDAPTU!!!:) A little bit of work on the particulars and she'll be reading in no time--WHOOHOO for Sophie! See? I totally rock!;)

4. SING LIKE A ROCK STAR. No matter where I am, or who I am with, singing ALWAYS makes me feel good. Sometimes it's the songs I listen to, sometimes it's the people hearing me sing well that makes me feel good, and sometimes it's just the simple act of doing anything other than cleaning that makes me feel good. Singing rocks!

5. EXERCISE. Ugh. Had to put this on the list. As hard as it is to admit, and even harder to actually start doing, I ALWAYS feel great about myself, like I can 'conquer-the-world' great, after a rock star round of TAE-BO, or a marathon race on the elliptical. (The treadmill is officially stupid and will be ignored by me indefinitely.)

6. DAYDREAM. Sometimes it's fun to just let my mind wander, relax, and think about the impossible or unimaginable happening-(like winning 10 mil in the lottery) and what life is like if it happened. Lately I've been daydreaming about Sophie becoming an Olympian--in every sport of course and what our life looks like that way. I always feel so inspired when I think about the possibilities in front of us that it actually gives me a little boost in creativity-and a little zest in our family life. The other night a bunch of us ROARed with laughter daydreaming about what the U.S. Diving team would look like if Nate and his best friend Chris were the new duo for synchronized diving! (you had to be there)

7. READ SPIRITUAL BOOKS. In addition to my "me" journal, I also like to read a little something uplifting everyday. For the past two years, my husband and I have been reading Joel Osteen books-a couple of pages a day and talking about them each morning before we start our day. It's how 'connect' on a mental and spiritual level to keep our marriage as strong as possible. Our morning time (while Sophie is still sleeping) is my favorite part of the day (as a wife) because we get to focus on us as a couple whether we are talking about God, or ourselves, or our parenting. It's nice.

8. LEARN SOMETHING NEW. I'm a nut for learning, so every couple of months or so I like to tackle new projects and teach myself something in the areas I like to play in --like digital scrap booking, html codes, or preschool activities and crafts. The new ones I am starting soon are photography (once I buy the new camera) and homeschooling 'Montessori' style for preschool. Learning new things help to remind me that I have purpose in this world-and I also have lots to contribute to it.

9. PLAY LIKE A 3 YEAR OLD. This might be my favorite way to stay confident as a wife, mother, and even a woman. There is nothing more exciting to me than going to the zoo and having a hot pretzel while oogling the silly polar bears, and then heading off to the petting zoo to laugh my head off when the donkey starts squawking and makes me jump ten feet. OR- eating giant lollipops while wearing a silly hat on my head and watching the Wizard of Oz. Or taking a bike ride stopping at all of the parks in the neighborhood pretending that Sophie is the princess and I am the queen. Yesterday I had to be the evil queen. nice. When we got home though I felt really satisfied that I spend great quantity and quality time with Sophie and even though I hadn't even brushed her hair that morning I was still one-great-mom!

10. SPEND GOOD QUALITY TIME WITH HUBBY. We try to take time for 'just us' in addition to our morning talks to laugh and play like only married couples can. It's always fun to be together and last weekend we got a reminder of how much fun we have when we went to a White Sox game--it was awesome. We don't get a lot of this kind of time anymore, but we certainly appreciate it and know that it is a vital part of our lives together.

11. EAT HEALTHY FOOD. I've discovered that what makes my taste buds happy, almost always makes my tummy (and mood) icky. Twizzlers even has a commercial out there, 'makes mouths happy' but they neglect to mention what candy does to the rest of the body. So, healthy food for confidence. Easier said then done. BUT, if I am eating it, there's a good shot that my family will too. That makes me feel like a better mom, you know what I mean? (Even though a bag of carrots will never taste as good as a bag of chips, they certainly make me feel good!)

12. MAKE A TOUGH DECISION AND STICK TO IT. I didn't learn this one until Sophie was born. I learned that once a decision for my family was made, I had to make it my own and not compare to others. This was tough, but it really helped me to understand the 'what works for us' mentality especially in the parenting and married arenas. I was able to not only make the decisions, but not regret them as well; I choose to bottle feed instead of nurse; I choose to use smart love parenting over the other more popular types; I choose co-sleep (and still do btw); I recently made the decision to home school preschool for one more year. These were all very hard decisions to make. I've made even tougher ones with my marriage, but for the sake of post-length I won't divulge all of them. It really helps my confidence and esteem to know that I choose the things I choose for very specific reasons-no matter who agrees or disagrees. I really like 'what works for us!'

13. PRAY. I decided to put this one last because I think it's the most important. While I am not a religious person, I do believe in God, and I believe a relationship with God is incredibly important for long term health and happiness. Some people like to go to church, some people like to pray before a meal, some people get on their knees by the sides of their beds at night, and some people pray whenever and wherever. I'm in that last category, but mostly I pray in the mornings and I try to stick to what I am grateful for. An attitude of gratitude can help me through the rough, boring, happy, mundane, exhausting, scary, hysterical, and crazy parts of life-pretty much keep me seated while riding this never-ending roller coaster. When I am close to God, I am a better person all around-thus helping me be a better mom and wife.

So, there it is-some of the things that make me the mom and wife I am today. Just thought I'd share. I can't wait for this non-structured, hazy, lazy, crazy days of summer to come to an end. It happens every year right around this time that I have officially had ENOUGH! I want my schedule back!

Just practicing...........size still matters....

I've been wondering about the size of the pictures I keep seeing in the WW meme and the PSF games I play. How do you get such giant pictures in your posts????? When I use the blogger 'add image' button, I get to choose from small, medium, and large. The large is the size I used for today's WW. You can barely see Jack because it's so small.

Then it hit me! Edit Html! I can add pictures using an IMG SRC code from photo hosts! I use photobucket for my backgrounds and blog layouts, but I use picturetrail for slide shows. Heeeeeellllllllllo, McFly!
I've only had those slide shows for how long? About a month after I started blogging. DUH! WHOOHOO for me! It only took me all of about 10 months to figure this one out! Not only that, but I also figured out if you click on the picture you can go to the actual album and see LOTS of pictures-and comment on them with smileys! Great, that's what I need--a brand new obsession to distract me even more! Oh well-who doesn't love these computers?

SO! Here is a NEW WW of the same Jack! NOW you can really see some detail!


Yeah for me! I learned something NEW today! Whooohoo!

WW: Hmmm, vacuum or blog......

Jack: Anyone want to donate a Dyson?