Disconnected, in more ways than one.

Hey friends. My back hurts right about now, what about you? It has been the third day in a row that I have been going NONSTOP from morning wake-up to evening bed-time yet I can't even tell you what I've constructively accomplished other than the daily dishes and 1.5 loads of laundry which still leaves a Mt.Everest size pile waiting for me. Ugghh, laundry, it never ends does it? I swear it would be the one thing I could magically take off my plate if I could.

Anyway. My dinosaur of an iphone FINALLY made its last call. How the hell this phone made it past 3 years with the way my kids and I use it is beyond me. But here's the problem. I ordered my new iphone last week--which was going to take 2 weeks for delivery. No problemo I thought. Surely my bagphone iphone will make it 2 more weeks. Not a chance.

Long, long, boring story short---I waited in the godforsaken Mac line at the mall with 2 hungry kids for what seemed like an eternity and sure enough I got the new iphone. Yay! But then I came home and found that my husband replaced all of my restored contacts with his contacts and now my new phone has about 500 educational contacts loaded into my phone and the only mother grubbing way to remove them is MANUALLY. ONE BY ONE. 

Siri, SUCK IT!!!!!

And when I literally told Siri to suck it, this was her response:

"I don't know what you mean by 'Suck it Siri'. How about a web search for it."

Okay, techno rant is over.  

On to happy things, like my super duper big boy Chance going to his first ever dentist appointment!!

It was such a sentimental moment for me. For one, this was his first time really having to sit and listen to someone other than family, and seeing him (or any of my children) react to a new environment or situation is so much fun. It's a mama thing. But you guys,  he was such a good boy and did everything he was asked to and was very cautious and I don't know, it just made me proud.

that is a mirror reflection btw,  I too did a double-take

The dental assistant informed me that he has a brand new molar that just popped through. And for the life of me, I couldn't believe that I completely discounted that. I think somewhere along the 2nd birthday I began to categorize him as a big boy and NEVER ONCE thought about teething at 26 months. DUH! Well, gee, that would explain his strange eating habits, or lack there of for the past 2 weeks. Shit, you really think I'd learn after three kids :)

And he has three more that still need to make their way out. 

Which, I'll try to keep in mind when he's a little crabby or fussy with food.

Sidenote-- I've just stared at the above picture for about a solid five minutes now. Thinking how much I love him. Thinking about how grateful I am that he and I have some quality one-on-one time now that the girls are in school. Thinking how unique he looks with his beautiful red hair, deep brown eyes and infectious smile.

This year will be special for he and I. I have big plans for us--which mainly include spending the minutes between 8:45 and 11:45 M-F kissing, hugging, laughing and learning. 

He'll go to preschool next year and I'm sure he'll love it. 

But this year, it's us baby! 

And on that note I just asked Siri, "is it possible to love your children too much?"

and she replied, "I'm thinking about it. How about I do a web search"

Not really necessary.

I blame retail America for why my Halloween decorations are already up!

I mean c'mon,  I've stared longingly in the aisles at the candy corn and canned pumpkin for about a month now, jack nabbit, it's time!

But what time is it, exactly?

Friends, it is my MOST FAVORITE TIME OF THE YEAR!!!!

A 5 month Mia enjoying her 1st fall!

The spooky decorations, the fall leaves, the plastic pumpkins that look real, but can actually be thrown across the room at another sibling. YES IT IS THAT TIME!

Hot cider, pumpkin muffins, football games.

A 5 year old Bella wearing a 24 mo. jersey for Bears Day at school. Now that's some spirit!

Hayrides, costumes, apple picking.

Sweatshirts, gourds and mums.

I LOVE IT ALL.


This past weekend, we decked out our kitchen table with our homemade banner and our creepy Halloween tree. I loved every lovin' moment of it.

And then went back to Michael's for more. Somebody stop me.

Fall 2012

Mia's 1st Day of 4K!

We celebrated Mia's first day of school this morning and I tried my best to show the same amount of enthusiasm as we showed Bella 2.5 weeks ago. They keep count, these kids. I've already dealt with Bella complaining that she only got pancakes with the #1 for first grade, while Mia "got her name and an s and a t and a 4 and a k Mommmmm!!"

Oh, gag me. Sibling rivalry makes me nutty.

But back to the sweetness and happiness that is this day, the first day of Mia's 4k preschool.

She mentioned last night she was nervous and happy. But this year is different, she's got experience under her belt and sure enough, she woke up more excited than ever to go to school.

We didn't even fight about her outfit! In fact, the outfit gloriously stayed the same as the one we picked out last night! See, usually what we pick out the night before and what she actually ends up wearing is sometimes two completely different outfits. She's got a knack for throwing a curveball at the last minute or in her case, a fashion fit. Not today though.

She shimmied into her dress and shook her tooshy as she brushed her teeth. She spun around in circles once her backpack was on and I knew her enthusiasm was genuine. She wasn't sad or nervous or remotely apprehensive.

Girl was ready!

And before I even had a chance to tear up in the dropoff lane, she gave me the biggest neck hug from behind, jumped out of the car and bolted for the door. I even drove away REALLY slow so I can catch her eye contact if she turned around.

But she never looked back.

Uncharacteristic: The Best Morning Wake-Up

I'm a sucker for quick and easy activities that are both family friendly and educational, which basically can totally sum me up: I'm a Momma who loves to laugh and learn with my kids. However, in the event that said activity goes beyond the point where we all lose interest or patience or would rather bang our heads against a concrete floor than listen to each other for ONE MORE SECOND then yeeeaah, not gonna happen.

My New Years resolution in January of 2011 was to start a "Word of the Day" with the kids. A simple ten minute activity that we could all do together and create a worksheet that documents our word with artwork and application etc. 

It's been a huge hit. Well, except for that one day, The Day of the Living Dead. 

After taking a WOTD break this summer we started it up again last night. My rules are simple:

1) Each day one child picks a letter to chose from

2) I'll flip through that letter's pages in our childrens dictionary until my child tells me to stop

3) They'll point to any word on the page, cannot be a picture.

4) No matter what the word is--it's the WOTD.

We'll then learn it, apply it, write it and draw it. Let's use last night's word as an example, shall we? Bella chose the letter U. I flipped through the U's until she said stop, she pointed to the first word she saw and it was UNCHARACTERISTIC.

So we highlighted it in the book

and wrote the definition on a plain piece of paper. I talked about a few examples of how people can do things that are uncharacteristic of themselves yadda, yadda, yadda and then let the girls apply the word in a sentence.

This is where it ALWAYS gets nasty. Like Kardashian nasty. They argue over who the story is about, they argue over the names, they argue over the plot line and disagree about pretty much everything! But somehow, someway they both came up with this:

Of course Mia had a shit-fit over the fact that Bella chose "monkey bars" and went ahead and crossed through it which meant that Bella  outright refused to draw the picture leaving Mia to quickly do a pencil sketch of a playground with SWINGS--because people that's what she wanted to chose, SWINGS!!! But I think she felt bad and drew the monkey bars anyway. UUGH, it's enough to make you wanna chuck the dictionary out the window, huh? It did for me! Thankfully, it was right before bedtime so the arguing moved from the kitchen to the bedroom and before I knew it they were fast asleep.

This morning, while totally asleep laying on my side, I was tapped awake at 6:30 by Mia. Half asleep, and totally bleary eyed I leaned my head forward and kissed her good morning.

And you know what she said?

"Good thing you just kissed me mommy, it would be very uncharacter-issic if you didn't"

I would have married her right there if it would have been legal.

A Little Recital

I've been around nursing homes quite a bit since I spent most of my summer breaks working at one. It can be terribly heartbreaking one day and thoroughly uplifting the next. Yet some of my greatest advice has been given to me by my "friends" I met there. Without a doubt, I adored that job above any other.

Every so often my kids will perform a little recital at our local nursing home in hopes of brightening someone's day and making someone smile. We've been doing this for a couple of years now and each time is special and funny and adorably cute. But beneath it all, I want my kids to know the real meaning of compassion. And selflessness. And maybe they won't understand all of it right away, but I hope one day they will.

Until then, baby steps.

And here's some bonus material. Mia, my 4 year old, closed out our nursing home recital with a little solo that she learned in school. 

She signs the song What a Wonderful World and every single time I see it,  I smile. 

And tear up. 

It's my job.

I tried convincing her to be homeschooled-it didn't work.

"How much fun are YOU having today, Mom?" screamed Bella, rather loudly from the bathroom stall next to mine. Ya know, she's old enough to go without me now, in her own stall with her own toilet seat cover, which is exactly how she sounds when she says it to me, like a teenager!! Normally, I might high-five this independent streak, but not today.

"So much fun Bella," I responded a little quieter since I knew everyone in this mall bathroom must be listening to us right now.

"Well, I'm having one hundred-thousand-percent fun today Mom!" I smiled and teared up right there in the public bathroom. She and I were on a shopping date, for new school clothes and new shoes. The entire time I walked around holding her hand I was in shock, wondering when did she get so tall? We tried on new shoes, and somehow-somewhere in the past month her foot decided to grow a size. What? Now? How dare it! I stared at the shoe attendant in disbelief. Not that I wasn't willing to go up a size but that the truth was harder for me to swallow. Yet another sign of her impending growth which made this day, the day before her 1st grade, harder than normal.

She picked out her "1st grade 1st day" dress and twirled around the dressing room with the hugest grin. All I could do is smile back at her. I couldn't help thinking that one day I'll be sitting in the same seat watching her twirl in a prom dress or even further down the line, twirl around in a wedding dress. And probably feel the same sort of emotion, on a much grander scale-yes, but the feeling will still be the same--this tugging emotion of both happiness and excitement and sadness to see this last stage pass.

This is motherhood. 


She woke this morning three hours before the bus was to arrive. And brushed her hair and teeth in record time. Excited? You betcha!

We made our celebratory 1st grade pancakes.

We packed her lunch (in her fancy bento) which she had planned out for months.

And as a family, we all helped hoist up her heavy backpack.
With the weight of every school supply imaginable, she smiled so confidently.

And just like that, she left me again...

Happy-Sad, 1st Day of 1st Grade, Bella.

Movie Under the Stars

Let me shout from the rooftops, "THIS WAS THE BEST DAMN SUMMER EVER."

Because, it really was. Late nights, sunscreen, watermelon, I could go on: swimming, dancing, lemonade--all the ingredients that made our summer perfect.

But just when we were getting a little too used to our carefree schedule, lazy mornings and playing until we're dirty-- ding! our summer timer went off, reminding us that the end is near.

But over here, we go out with a bang.

This past Friday we bid farewell to our favorite summer by hosting a "Movie Under the Stars" backyard party and invited all our friends and family, and the girls' school friends and their families.

We were giddy all week planning. In fact, watching my kids help party plan was so adorable. They had a say in every decision that we made, from decorations to which candy is most preferred--they were a part of it. This was their party.

Bella even painted a huge banner--after a little lesson in proportions and letter spacing, homegirl was ret-to-go but get this, she went back and forth for several days debating over whether her sign should say "so long summer" or "farewell summer." I mean, tough choices, huh?

Movie choice was another HUGE debate in our household. First it was Toy Story 3, then it was The Lorax both really good choices, but then in a moment of brilliance I thought about  The Muppets. 
Talk about a win-win. All us parents got a little mushy over reliving our childhood through the Rainbow Connection and all our children got to laugh along with Fozzie and the crew...it was full circle in oh so many ways.

After rescheduling because of thunderstorms the day before, we couldn't have asked for better weather. Picture perfect sunshine all day long that dried the grass and warmed us all.

The candles were glowing and the tiki torches were lit. At dusk, families descended on our yard, chairs and blankets and cookies in hand.

What movie party wouldn't be complete without freshly popped popcorn?  And we had plenty!

We even had a Popcorn Bar where guests could add some of their favorite snacks to their popcorn boxes. Which btw, THE KIDS LOVED. Okay, so did I. Have you ever tried M&M's with popcorn? Delish!

I scored those little chalkboard tin pails from the $1 bin at Target!

The crisp cool night air was perfect sweatshirt weather, befitting to our summer departure, we all glimpsed Autumn right around the corner and gathered together for a final farewell.

Looking out seeing a sea of neon glow sticks and glow necklaces being twirled and tossed around made me so happy, knowing that these moments, here and now, are defining my kids' childhood. That they'll look back and see that we really do know how to have fun. I swear, we do.

For a moment, I wanted so badly to get all the moms together and gab about the upcoming school year or gossip about the Real Housewives or coerce all the adults into a round of drinking games. But had that happened, then it would have taken away from the real spirit of the night--which was families huddling together as their own unit, cuddling under the blankets, sharing their popcorn, and enjoying these last minutes of freedom, together.

 I looked out and saw 10 or more families in our yard and I felt so grateful to be a part of a community that cares about their families as much as we do.

We're all on this journey of parenthood together, why not make the very most of it, right?

This picture might have been cute had Amy Adams not stole our spotlight!

Way past their bedtime, my kids fought off exhaustion running solely on sugar fumes and finally secumbed to their pajama's. As I pulled up their blankets and kissed them goodnight Bella waved me in closer and whispered in my ear, "look Mommy, I crossed off the last of our summer list."

I glanced to the closet door, the one that has safeguarded our summer list for these past three months and sure enough, there in white chalk, she checked off "look at stars."

And my heart lit up all over again.

Farewell Summer

2012