Monthly Archives: March 2012

Five Question Friday

Posted on March 9, 2012 | 7 comments

TGIF, here are a few things I’m looking forward to for the weekend…

  • Manicures with Keri this afternoon (the weekend starts at noon today, didn’t you hear?) and a pit stop at Sugar Momma’s.
  • Simon’s taking Liam to a monster truck show tonight… I’m not sure who is more excited about this the big guy or the little one. I’m excited to put Jack in bed and enjoy a glass of Malbec (has anyone else enjoyed the box wine from Target – I kind of love it).
  • Saturday night is date night! Whoot! Sadly, after date night Simon will have to go to work for a few hours and with the time change he’ll end up coming home after midnight – sad face. But working Saturday means he gets to leave early to take Liam to the show tonight – a fair trade.
  • Sunday afternoon we have small group and I’m so looking forward to it, I really like our new small group! It’s been a long time since we had a small group and our last one spanned five years so we’ve definitely lucked out with the groups we’ve been put in. Some of the women from our group came over Tuesday night and we had a great time talking and getting to know each other, such a treat!
  • Actually having time to work out… since Jack can’t be trusted while I work out when he’s still awake and now takes forever to fall asleep since moving to his new bed I haven’t been able to get my mid-week workouts done. I can’t wait until it is warm enough to take them walking again…

1. Are you looking forward to the time change this weekend?
I don’t think that anyone with children looks forward to any time changes – it always screws up someone’s schedule. Hopefully this one will be as pain-free as possible, except for Simon who will be working and losing an hour of precious sleep. I much prefer gaining an hour in the fall.

2. Are you getting the new iPad/would you want a iPad?
We aren’t getting a new iPad (we opted to go for the Kindle Fire) BUT if Apple ever wanted to send us one for comparison purposes (also because my husband doesn’t really get to use the Kindle) we would absolutely take one. 🙂 I will continue to enter drawings to win one when I see them!

3. If money was not a problem, what is the one thing you would splurge on?
First class tickets. Even business class. Heck, even premium economy. Because it’s definitely a splurge if upgrading to premium economy for ONE flight would cost the same as purchasing all our round trip tickets to Australia. [I learned this when I inquired about upgrading on our return flight since we got inexplicably bumped up on our way to Australia; to my credit I did not choke when the desk clerk told me the cost. Ummm, no thank you.]

4. How did you and the Mr. (or Mrs.) meet?
Blind date set up by my lovely friend, Jonna. She has had a 100% success rate with her matchmaking skills (we were her one and only journey into that realm). We met at Panera in the mall and closed the place down, perhaps because we can both talk a lot, but really because we just really liked talking to each other. On the way home I ended up stopping at my college roommates’ house and recapping the date with her and I remember thinking, I might have just met the man I’m going to marry. And I had.

5. Summer is right around the corner. Bikini or one-piece?
Ummm, really?

Linking up with Mama M for Five Question Friday!

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Posted in Five Question Friday

I want to tell you…

Posted on March 7, 2012 | 5 comments

Jill from Diaper Diaries retweeted a link to a Hallmark contest from Mary at Giving Up on Perfect yesterday and I thought, sure, I’ll leave a comment and then I thought, why not write a blog post? The prompt was to say what you need or want to tell someone. Get ready for a genuine post, not one that is snarky and addressed to the people at the gym next door or judgmental shoppers at the grocery store – I’ve thought and said plenty to them (pretty much entirely thought, aside from that one time I told off a rude old lady at the post office).

One of my resolutions in 2011 was to send real mail to people which I opted to do for my friends and family at holidays like Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. It felt so good to send those little treats to people and I’d like to continue to send real mail or notes of encouragement over email so people know I’m thinking about them or have them on my minds. But while I get my act together on that, here are a few things that should be said.

  • Thank you to my parents for raising me right and never once making me feel like I was an accident (because hello, I’m pretty sure I wasn’t planned when I came along 19 years later)
  • I want my brothers to know that despite the big gap, I so love them and appreciate their roles in my life. This also goes for my sister-in-laws because I’ve known both of them nearly as long as I’ve known my brothers.
  • I want my sister-in-law in Australia to know how thankful I am that she played such an important role in Simon’s life and that we appreciate beyond words everything she does; also, take it easy because she pushes herself too hard.
  • I want to tell my high school youth group leaders that without them I would not be the person I am today. It’s because of their love and Christian example that I ended up going to the college I did and that set the path for where my life is today.
  • I want to say thank you to my high school yearbook teacher for encouraging the creative side of me and introducing me to graphic design, without him I might have ended up pursuing my teenage aspirations of being a pediatrician for far longer than I should have.
  • I want to say to Julie that I miss you and your friendship but I understand the distance.
  • I want to tell my First Rooks Girls (so named because we all met living on that floor in college) that you are my heart and without your friendships I would be lost.
  • I want to tell my MOPS ladies that you have given me so much more than I could ever give you, making new friends as an adult is hard but you guys make it easy.
  • I want to tell Simon that I know our current work/life/house situation isn’t ideal but there isn’t anyone else I’d rather go through this with and in another couple of years this will all be behind us and we’ll be stronger than ever. And I still love your accent and you.
  • I want to tell Liam and Jack that they have made me a better person because I am their mother and that they have taught me how to love selflessly, endlessly and fiercely.
  • I want the future wives of my boys to know that I am praying for them and hope we have a good relationship but that they can feel free to tell me if they feel like I’ve ever over-stepped my bounds and also to please not take my sons from me (dramatic, but you know what I mean).

What would you like to say to someone?

5 Comments

Posted in Confessions, Friendship, Life in general

Remorse, or not?

Posted on March 7, 2012 | 4 comments


That video up there is just so very pathetic and his lisp with the word, sorry, so very cute. My dear, sweet second-born decided not to listen to me while we were in the checkout at the grocery store. He did so knowing the consequences for his actions would be missing out on watching Dora while Liam played the Wii. Rather than keeping his bottom in the shopping cart, he stood up and pulled handfuls of candy from the checkout lane. I was calm and measured when I told him in no uncertain terms that he was therefore missing out on Dora when we got home. He responded by crying so loudly and dramatically it would have appeared that I pinched him or carried through on some other threat of bodily harm. The checkout employee smiled at me sympathetically, other shoppers just avoided eye contact and Liam continued prattling on to anyone and everyone around us about Very. Important. Things.

Jack carried on with his crying and sobbing until we were loaded in the car and halfway home he sadly squeaked out, “I’m sorry for making a bad choice at the store, mommy.” This was without prodding from me and I hadn’t made any comments along the bad choice line, he picked those words all on his own. I reiterated that I forgave him and I was glad that he was sorry, but he still wasn’t going to get to watch Dora. Cue: more dramatic sobbing.

Once we got home and the groceries were unloaded, I gave the boys a snack (monkey drinks, as they call them) and Jack repeated his apology. So I had him say it one more time for the camera (which you see above). He seems perfectly remorseful and properly sad about what has taken place, right? But what if I told you that seconds before this apology replay, he was laughing wildly with his brother while they made raspberries at each other. Would you think he was truly sorry then? Yup, me neither. And despite his utter cuteness, he did not get to watch Dora that evening. He was very sad, I was very righteous.

Truly sorry will come when he doesn’t display behavior he knows he’s not allowed to do. But it may not come the next time this happens and the same consequences are doled out again (or maybe the time or two after that). Kids will never learn right from wrong if they get what they want for simply apologizing (no matter how pathetic and cute they are doing it). Following through on threats is a skill I’ve had to beef up as my kids get older. Because it would be so nice to avoid the tantrums in the store and the endless crocodile tears that flow when something is lost as a consequence but what’s even nicer is to NOT have the bad behavior happen in the first place and at the end of childhood to end up with two boys who are respectful and don’t act like entitled spoiled brats. Please remind me of this whenever you get a chance because in theory, this is wonderful but in practice, much harder to keep up with. Parenthood, it’s not for the faint of heart.

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Posted in Parenting

Tuesday Randoms

Posted on March 6, 2012 | 5 comments
  • My friend, Heidi, is having a baby today – so firstly, congrats to her! I’m super excited to meet her little guy! Though you gotta feel a little bad for him, the only boy with three sisters, but his future wife is going to be incredibly lucky because between his wonderful mama and sisters, he’ll be a fabulous husband – not to mention, I think her own husband will teach him a thing or twenty.
  • I made The Pioneer Woman’s French Onion Soup on Sunday, I think I still smell onion coming out my pores, but oh is it so worth it (my apologies to everyone who has seen me in the last 48 hours); especially when served with homemade rosemary and sea salt croutons and grated Gruyère cheese. Oh, so good and so worth it.
  • Simon had a man date with two friends to go to a Griffin’s hockey game… he adorably went to the bar nearly 45 minutes early to ensure they had a table to eat at (or perhaps to escape our house, I give it 50/50 odds between the two of those)
  • I was not without girl time and got a chance to hang out with some of my college besties on Friday night: laughter, Mexican food, margaritas and carmelitas… all the best things.
  • I had a rather hilarious moment after MOPS on Thursday (some people would say embarrassing, but I’m sticking with hilarious because I have my pride). Simon met me at church to pick up the boys (as he usually does so I can go back to work after MOPS) and when I got to my vehicle, I realized I still had the diaper bag on my shoulder. Simon had just backed out of the spot about 5 spaces down from me so I thought I could catch him and give him the bag (I thought wrong). So I start toward our minivan and he’s barely inching forward and I think he’s noticed me but then he keeps moving forward so I start running after him, yelling his name. This continued for a few parking space and then he sped off through the parking lot, leaving me in the proverbial dust. I would have never mentioned this but my friend, Keri, witnessed the whole thing and she was dying laughing as she walked toward where I was standing dejected in the parking lot. We both laughed so much we had tears running down our faces, causing another woman to ask if we were all right. Good times.
  • I like taking Liam shopping with me; on Friday afternoon we went to Kohl’s and he raved so much about a jacket I tried on, I ended up buying it – everyone should have a cheering section while shopping for clothing, though it’s probably not very budget-friendly.
  • I also got to hang out with my friend, Stef’s, three marvelous daughters last week and they were so sweet to me; it was a nice treat to see what life would have been like with girls. Plus, her littlest cuddling up on my lap caused Jack to display some jealous tendencies and he scooted in on the lap action as well.
  • Speaking of Jack, one night last week he decided he didn’t want to sleep in his big boy bed for the rest of the night and he didn’t want to sleep with us, but instead he plopped his pillow pet down on the floor in our room and slept the rest of the night in front of the bathroom door. At least he was sleeping. We did throw him a blanket, we’re not heartless, after all.
  • Jack has also decided he is over putting his pee in the potty. After a week of using the toilet non-stop and having dry diapers, the thrill of it all has worn off and even though he still tells people very seriously, “I’m potty training” he has zero desire to actually sit on the potty, no matter what the incentive. Fiddlesticks. At least he’s cute.
  • If you want to be entertained by a little cross section of pop culture and blogging wonderfulness, please see this post by The Bloggess: You’re Ruining Nathan Fillion for Me, Nathan Fillion. Alternate title: But I forgive you (read the whole thing, don’t worry, I’ll wait)
  • This is my current favorite song: Forever and Almost Always (Kate Voegele; yes, she was on One Tree Hill) I just love a good piano accompaniment.
  • Liam nearly broke Simon’s heart on Sunday night when he exclaimed during the MSU/OSU basketball game, “I don’t care who wins… it just matters that they played a good game.” Simon said, “Well, we want MSU to win.” [Sadly, they did not; win or play a good game.]
  • It’s Shamrock shake season. It’s also Girl Scout cookie season but I had the foresight not to order any… I’m saving myself for carmelitas.
  • Liam’s super star of the week at school this week; this means we had actual homework over the weekend and I had to print photos for him to take to school to show how he’s grown from birth. He also got to bring the Franklin doll home for the weekend and draw a picture of Franklin’s time with us. Liam drew he and Franklin having a sleepover in his room, things he chose to highlight in his drawing: a box of legos, his bed, his keyboard, toys on his dresser, his pop top collection and his closet door. Love that kid.
  • Messes Jack has created in the last week: lining all our pouch applesauces in the basement up on the basement stairs; leaving a pile of half-eaten pretzel carcases in the cup holder of my elliptical (they were pretzel + cheese sandwiches, but he only likes to lick out the cheese); overflowed the bathroom sink with soap, water and lotion; drew all over his face and plush angry bird with washable [I’m no dummy] marker; shredded two pages from his notebook and stuffing the pieces into an old phone case, calling it is money and wallet (I thought his was clever); every meal he’s eaten. [This list could also be called, things Jack has done while his mother was otherwise occupied.]
  • I’m a little [read: ridiculously] excited for the Hunger Games movie to come out later this month!
  • On my last post of randomness, I received the following spam comment: “Previously you’ve to have efficacious online income techniques to get you started across experiencing details good for an individual’s web-based business organisation. e-wallet” [how is it an effective use of anyone’s time to create a program that sends that comment to people’s blogs?]

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Posted in Life in general

Music Monday: College Songs 2

Posted on March 5, 2012 | 3 comments

Part two of a series of who knows how many (part one here) looking at songs that bring me right back to college. Music is one of those things that brings me right back to a moment, drumming up all those feelings (the good and the bad).

Time of Your Life (Good Riddance) | Green Day
This song was featured in an episode of ER (a dorm favorite) where a young character had died and one of the other main characters sings it at his funeral. Needless to say, we were all sobbing while watching the episode.

If I Had Only Known | Reba McEntire
This song was in the movie “8 Seconds” with Luke Perry, the true story of a bull rider… we did not have high hopes for this movie but we all LOVED it and were all sobbing uncontrollably for quite a while after the movie ended (apparently friends who cry together over pop culture stay friends forever, love you girls).

In the Light | DC Talk
We used to listen to DC Talk while playing “evil” Uno – our version of Uno where anyone could play on the last-played card. This is the epitome of Christian Contemporary music for me, I just loved it (also loved “Jesus Freak”).

Strawberry Wine | Deana Carter
My roomies and I listened to this song fairly often the first semester of our sophomore year, way back when I was stealing Swedish Fish from Kara’s hiding spot amongst her sweaters in the closet (guess she forgave me for the stealing since we were in each others’ weddings).

This Kiss | Faith Hill
Another throwback to my brief stint as a country music lover. I ended up seeing Faith Hill and Tim McGraw in concert and we all went into the concert thinking Faith Hill was going to be awesome but it was her husband who ended up blowing us out of the water.

Crash Into Me | Dave Matthews Band
I can’t talk about college and not mention DMB, but then I’ve already gone on and on about my love of DMB and their music. But I did see Dave in concert for the first time in college (with Sparky Mark – so named because I didn’t feel that “spark” for him but still went with him to the concert – someday I should write a post about the nicknames we had for people in college, really, just the boys).

I’ve featured two other college favorites in other posts: A Long December (by Counting Crows) and Freshman (by The Verve Pipe – who I get to see performing their family album in two weeks!!)

 

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Posted in Music