Call me Mow

See?  I told you she was getting crafty.  Rose is starting to blossom into one of the most rewarding areas of life -- making stuff.

That's the technical term.

Of course, when you start making stuff -- okay, when you start crafting, you start wanting to make things for other people.  And I, as her loving mother, am honored to get first dibs on her crafting prowess.  Everybody wants to make stuff for their moms, right?  I mean, I am her biggest fan.

And oh, yeah.  I've now gone from "Mom" to "Mow."  But I think it has a nice ring to it, don't you?

 
She was so delighted to get this for Christmas.  And she was bugging me for days to get started.  But it is in my nature to micromanage.  Therefore, she had to wait until I could sit down with her to get her started, and there are, like, three other kids, and, like, where did all these kids come from???

But when I actually did schedule the time, of course, since she's one of the smartest people ever, it took about half a minute to explain it to her so that she would understand.

Fine then.

She may as well move out and get a job.

But I would miss her.

Never mind that her necklace has way more beads than mine.  It's not a reflection of her feelings toward me, but more that this was her first necklace, and she hadn't yet realized that she would eventually run out of materials.

I'm, like, 85% sure.

Like, my California roots are showing.

I digress.

Here's the one Rose made Ivy.  Gotta think of your sisters.

And Lily's.  Isn't it beautiful?  I may never have to spend another dime on jewelry as long as I live.  I mean, the colors just brighten up your face.  

I would show you the one she made Nana, but she's selfishly wearing hers at the moment.

I'm so excited.  It's only the beginning, I'm sure.  Of course, she's already mentioned to me that at this rate, she'll run out of beads very soon, long before she's done making necklaces.

Oh, dear.  

Better start saving, Rose.  Welcome to crafting.

Cheerful

Reasons for me to be cheerful this lovely Florida winter afternoon:

1.  I just had a lovely lunch of egg sandwich on and everything bagel with cheese and Tabasco.  I love Tabasco.  I put Tabasco on eggs, on my cheeseburger, on my Tabasco.  It's delicious and spicy.  And now my dream is that someone from the Tabasco corporation will see this post somehow and send me some.

Thanks in advance, Tabasco person.

2.  I looked up my credit score the other day.  It's wayyyy better than I thought it was, which after the troublesomeness (Yeah, it's a word... that I made up) of the past few years, was a bit of a happy surprise.  I now have new found motivation to save for a house for me and the crew.

Splendid!

3.  The twins wanted two kisses apiece this morning when I left them at daycare.  Lovely toddler kisses.  And it was an added bonus that neither of them stuck a tongue out at the last minute.  They do that sometimes.

4.  I'm back home!

5.  I have found that my oldest daughter is crafty.  Not sneaky; I mean she loves crafts.  She's actually the opposite of sneaky.  She's terrible at hiding things.  She's very upfront and honest and loud, and I like these things about her.  But she also loves making things and drawing, and as an art history major and crafter myself, this pleases me greatly.  Now we have something to bond over.

6.  My feet are chilly.  While that may not cause immediate cheerfulness, I am cheerfully looking forward to putting on my warm, soft, cozy socks.

7.  My son loves hanging out with me.  He's three, and it probably won't last long.  I'm loving it while it lasts.

8.  My friends and family make me laugh... intentionally.

9.  I got a gift card to Old Navy, and I used it.  I have a package coming with clothes for me!  Not the kids, me.  Me, me, me, me, me.  I was told I wasn't supposed to spend it on the kids this time.

Ouch.  Don't twist my arm.

10.  God loves me.  And while that should always be enough, sometimes I forget.

But I'm remembering now.  (Insert smile here.)

Erstwhile...

I have been absent.

Again.

Good reason, actually.

Farewell to hectic city life...

Hello again to relaxed Florida life... and friends we missed... and loverly weather...

Yay!

Still getting settled in, though.  So hope to get revved up again soon on the old blog-a-rooni.  

See you soon...  

Happy Friday

 

Here's to the telecommute day.

Here's to getting to drink coffee so strong you could stand a spoon up in it instead of the daily gamble brewed by the inconsistently cantankerous man in the cafeteria at work.  (This is after putting a ton of half-and-half in it.  Yummmm.)

Just kidding, inconsistently cantankerous coffee man.  Please don't spit in my coffee.

Here's to having a bit of time to research the perfect recipe for making deliciously strong iced coffee (FOUND IT!  see: Pioneer Woman - Perfect Iced Coffee) to take to work to save paying money for aforementioned daily gamble made by inconsistently cantankerous coffee man.  (I've tried to take hot coffee to work, but by the time I get to enjoy it, it's disgustingly lukewarm.  Ew.  Coffee either needs be very hot or very cold and very, very strong.  Don't mess with my standards.)

Here's to my sweet, sweet at-home work set-up.  Yes, that is my great-grandmother's antique sewing table.  Yes, that is a TV tray for my awesome ergo keyboard.  Yes, that is evidence of my mad organization skills scattered round my laptop.  Don't be jealous because I'm fancy.

Here's to being able to wash bibs and towels, listen to NPR, eat a terribly messy egg and cheese sandwich bagel, wait for the cable guy, work on my intellectually stimulating blog (don't laugh), and sketch room organization plans whilst waiting for my next assignment. 

I can't help it.  It's a good morning.  Have a wonderful Friday!

Tough Love

My beautiful, sweet mom asked me toward the end of a recent evening if I was in a bad mood.  I said no and asked why she would think such a thing.  Apparently I was short with the kids.

Pshaw.

What some would consider short, I consider the thin line between the world's smallest semblance of order and utter hurricane-force chaos.  I think of myself as less the irate, harried, nearly-psychotic mother I seem on the outside and more as a cool capable drill sergeant toughening up these little pansies to become better, stronger versions of themselves. 

In fact, I've come to appreciate what I call the Captain Von Trapp style of parenting.  I think it's absolutely ridiculous to have let that hippie Maria woman come in and turn such a orderly household completely upside-down with her laughing and singing nonsense.
 

Obviously, I would never allow such a thing to happen with my charges.  No singing.  No laughing.  No playing of any kind.  ORDER!  I MUST HAVE ORDER AT ALL TIMES!

Now, where did I put that whistle?

 

Bubbles, Bug, and Gamer Guy

Okay.  I always hope nobody is peeved by my bogart-ing their awesome pics.  But I couldn't help it.  You can see why.  This is a picture of my friend Bubbles and her Little Bug done by Zoey Photography, who, by the way, does the cutest child photography as you can see.  I love how non-staged this looks and how much it just completely shows off Bubbles' beautiful personality, and it's just so dynamic. 

I just can't stop looking at it.  But I'll try.

And it's apropos (there's an idea) because Bubbles is on her way... I mean, driving hundreds of miles... right now!  Yippee!!!  SO EXCITED. 

Give me a minute while I collect myself.

Okay.  I'm done.

I haven't seen them since before Little Bug was born, and I've missed them.  And now I get to look forward to good wine, good company, good food, and just being our good ol' selves for the weekend while I show them around my fair city.  Gamer Guy, her husband, will also be accompanying them, which is awesome because he is awesome, and he's pretty good at keeping us rowdy girls somewhat grounded.

Somewhat.   

Did I say YIPPEE!!!?

I'll let you know how it goes.

'Til then...

Laziness Continued...

Yet another gratuitous sleeping baby shot.  Rose when she was one and being spoiled by her mama whilst clutching her absolute favorite book at the time.  "Honey, you don't feel good?  You can sleep in the big bed."  Sippy cup - check.  Pooh - check.  Pacifier - check check.  Awwwww....

Anway.... back to this post.  So I thought that I might post some original thoughts on my blog, but then I had another thought.  It went something like, "Eh....(sigh)... nah." 

I'm a deep thinker.

So I thought I'd give a shout out to another one of my favorite bloggers.  (See:  The Pioneer Woman)  I love this blog.  I love this woman/family in a not quite stalker-ish sort of way.  But that's what happens when you happen to be awesome and funny and write about it. 

I wouldn't really know...

Anywhoo, she published a post regarding her favorite John Hughes films.  Since I mostly agree, and would have said practically the same thing if I'd thought of it and had energy and brain capacity, here you go: 

Favorite John Hughes Films

You're welcome.  I have to online movie shop now...