Wow. June 6, 2008

Well. Shannon over at Rocks in My Dryer is hosting a ginormous stupendous mega CD-giveaway courtesy of the folks at WOW.

 

Did I mention how much music we listen to around here? We tend to listen in cycles. Currently we do a whole lotta David Crowder Band (the eldest’s favorite is #3 on ‘A Collision’ – he listens raptly) and a whole lotta Sandra Boynton (Kate Winslet/Weird Al duet, anyone?). We also add in a little Mozart, Jack Johnson, Nickel Creek, some Over the Rhine and the occasional Dixie Chicks (’Home’, a fantastic CD). My husband has been known to spin a little Red Hot Chili Peppers too. So sometimes we hear a tiny voice requesting the ‘red hot chili chicks, pwease’.

 

Lovin’ all that stuff, but would really love a whole new set of tunes to add in!

 

Maybe this will be the bloggy giveaway I win.

 

Wow!

Works-For-Me-Wednesday: Duct Tape Sculpture Bonanza June 4, 2008

Ok, I should clarify right up front that my eldest is a mere two and a half years old. He doesn’t tell me that he’s bored. But sometimes it is obvious.

 

In these cases, I get resourceful. I grab something that is not actually a toy and toss it in his direction. Something like a cereal box or an empty paper towel roll or an old oatmeal carton. Today it was an empty and cleaned plastic mayonaise container. With a rockin’ snappy lid! Well. He stayed busy with that for ages.

 

Well, he’s two. That does it for him.

 

Here’s what I’d suggest for older kids who might just present you with a raised eyebrow if you present them with an empty box of Total. Toss in a few items, not just one. Dig through that recycling bin. And then- toss them the duct tape, along with scraps of paper (magazines, junk mail, used printer paper, construction paper), crayons or markers (or, if you’re feeling gutsy, paint), and scissors. Turn them loose on the deck, porch, or kitchen floor.

 

Let the Art start!

 

For more Mom-I’m-Bored ideas on this Works For Me Wednesday, be sure to check out Rocks In My Dryer!

About Bedtime June 3, 2008

My eldest child, shortly to turn 2 1/2, has always loved bedtime. Loved it. Enthusiastically hit the stairs at the appropriate time. Cooperated cheerfully during diapering and pj’ing. Happily settled down with his trusty thumb when the lights went off.

 

It is just possible that we have hit some sort of Developmental Snag in the bliss that is bedtime. Some sort of i-want-to-stay-up!- mechanism may (just may) be kicking in.

 

It is possible.

 

Tonight’s bedtime procedures:

 

Trooping up the stairs, Mommy and two little boys (Daddy works late).

Teeth brushed.

Faces washed.

Overnight diapers in place.

Pajamas on.

Blinds and curtains closed.

Noise-making fan on high.

Baby monitor glowing red.

Lamp on, overhead lights off.

Pacifiers strategically placed in crib in case of overnight insecurities.

Two clean and pajama’d boys deposited on the eldest’s twin bed for books, prayers, songs.

 

One Mommy gazing at these beautiful creatures sitting side by side with expectant and happy faces. Settling onto the bed beside them. And then one pair of eyes gets a little wider and brighter. A lip trembles just slightly. A small voice breaks the Motherhood Nirvana moment.

 

‘We are going to SWEEP??’

 

Yes, Baby. We are going to sleep. Just like always.

 

‘We will NOT go downstairs??’

 

No, Darling. That’s why we came up to brush teeth and get in p.j.’s. That’s why the room is dark and we are going to say our prayers. We had a nice day today. We will have another nice day tomorrow.

 

Pacified, he accepted my answers. Wiggled and giggled while his baby brother nursed, then smiled at me as I laid baby down and burnt some rug tiptoed out of the room.

 

But, I am thinking, a window has been cracked open, in this oh-so-easy bedtime ritual of ours.

 

Backyard Bullying June 2, 2008

This evening as my potato fizzed in the microwave I leaned my elbows on the counter and peered out the back window sort of absently. And then I saw a flash of bright red.

 

A cardinal hopped around outside in the grass, and because I thought he was handsome, and was way in the frame of mind to observe Something Quiet And Unimportant, I kept looking.

 

That’s when I noticed he wasn’t alone. A very small finch was right next to him, focused and pecking intently at the grass. In another moment, it became obvious that the cardinal had no interest in whatever sort of bird gourmet buffet my backyard may provide.

 

He was totally just stalking that little finch.

 

The finch hopped and pecked. The cardinal followed. Got right in his face. Chirped. The finch ignored him, hopped further away. The cardinal kept up.

 

In a nearby tree, a flock of finches fluttered around, nervously moving from branch to branch.

 

My potato dinged. I hit ‘minute plus’ and shot back to my window. Geez, I thought, by this time totally into this little drama, are they going to help him?

 

They did. Sort of nervously. But nonetheless.

 

Swooped down, chased the cardinal away. Back to their tree.

 

Coast clear, the cardinal flew back to his stalkee(?) and got back to business.

 

Curious about things nobody else is curious about (if you’ve made it all the way to the end of this post, maybe you dig a good bird story?) I am wondering:

 

Why that one particular finch?

What was aggressive Mr. Cardinal trying to accomplish?

Was that finch some sort of vigilante of the bird world?

Maybe that patch of grass is Cardinal territory?

Is there a turf war right in my backyard????

*Holy cow*. 

Bloggy Un-Bliss May 30, 2008

Dear all of my Readers,

 

I love to write.

 

But apparantly I can’t write on command….I’ve had a family blog for over a year now, updated a couple of times a week with stories and pics of my kiddos, and sometimes with my own unrelated thoughts. I decided to begin a new blog specifically for those unrelated thoughts, and as a platform to join the larger blogging community. Sounds like fun, right? And so easy! Because I love to write! I positively cannot keep up with all of my post ideas; they’re so plentiful.

 

Except, apparantly, now. Got a new blog. Joined my favorite blog carnival. Am now able to yap on about one of my favorite topics -books- without having relatives scroll through quickly (where are those kid pics anyway??).

 

And now- I’m drawing a blank.

 

Nothing.

 

It seems I am paralyzed by this must-keep-them-coming-back mentality. Which is a bit silly. I don’t have any ads on my blog. My Amazon links are just that- links. Maybe it’s that familiar bit of psychology- things you think you have to do, you just don’t want to. Am I still a 13-year old at heart?!

 

So- well, we’ll see.

 

If you’re one of those random readers who found me while clicking through random links and comments, thanks for reading. I’m not deserting. But perhaps my self-imposed Monday thru Friday schedule is a little too daunting for a beginner.

 

Any advice? Experience?

 

Hello?!

 

Love,

Me

 

 

Chastened Me May 27, 2008

We have these neighbors. You know, *those* neighbors. They live a few houses down. Their front porch perenially displays a jumbled assortment of odd and broken items; their backyard even more. They are, however, super nice – although if I’m being honest I’ll add that our on walks past and during our neighborly exchanges of hello-nice-evening-he’s-getting-so-big!-have-a-good-one we have often strongly suspected that their happiness does not come, er, unassisted. Wink, nudge, sniff.

 

My toddler likes to stand on our deck and stand on tiptoe to catch a glimpse of their backyard from a couple of houses down. There are, it must be said, lots of interesting things back there. And lots of interesting noises. Who wouldn’t be curious?

 

So the other evening, having nestled the children snugly in bed, I was blithely grating cheese (yes, blithely; the house was still and quiet) for a late supper when I heard a Weird Noise. Sort of a cross between a howl, a honk, and a moan. My eyebrows flew up as the cheese fell into the bowl and that’s when I -dumdadum- Leapt To Judgment.

 

It went something like this:

 

Man, what is that?? ….Is that, what, a dying cow? I bet it’s coming from those crazy neighbors. What do they keep in those sheds down there anyway? Some sort of ill, sad bird?

 

And so on.

 

Until the noise happened again.

 

And I realized it was coming from my very own baby monitor.

 

In my very own living room.

 

Brought to me courtesy of my very own toddler.

 

Apparantly testing his vocal ranges before consenting to the above-mentioned nestling.

 

Oops.

P.G. Wodehouse May 23, 2008

Downright, harhar laugh-out-loud wit, characters you’ll get a giant kick out of, short tales, long tales, you name it. P.G. Wodehouse is your man. A friend bought me Life with Jeeves a couple of years ago – 3 books in one. The first two are short stories and the last a short novel. My wise-on-all-things-funny hubby recommends reading them in this order: middle, beginning, end.

Honestly, this is the kind of book you’ll be annoying people with, if they have the luck to be in the room when you’re reading.

 

It will go down as follows:

 

You: snarf snarf hahahaha choke gasp

Your companion: Are you ok, or what?

You: Listen to this! [and you will start reading aloud, if you can, that is, between giggles]

 

It’s Friday. Have a little literary fun!

The Mysterious Disappearance of Neck Cheese May 22, 2008

Here’s what a nerd I am. I’m not just a 21st century nerd; I’m a nerd stuck back in the second grade. In the second grade something life-altering happened to me: I read my first Nancy Drew book. Then I read all the rest. Then I read the newer ones (not as good) the files (a little predictable; plus suddenly people were getting killed, which never happened to 1930’s Nancy). Anyhow, I still love mysteries.

 

And so, when wrestling my squirmy baby into his onesie recently and upon noticing something startling (how ungrammatically correct is this sentence already??) — I immediately thought to myself, ‘there has been a mysterious disappearance of neck cheese here’ . Instead of something normal like, ‘huh, his neck gunk finally cleared up.’

 

My youngest child is one of those crazy fat squishy babies. His older brother was always long and lean, but this one has creases in impossible places. And in some of those places, he likes to hide stuff. Snacks for a rainy day? I don’t know. I’ve been doing battle with neck cheese for months now. Wiping it out, washing him off, putting ointments on his skin to keep moisture out and the stinkies at bay.

 

Total failure.

 

My yummy fat happy baby had the stinkiest neck on the block.

 

And now-  the neck cheese is gone, filed away under ‘funny things about Baby You’, or ‘things we will tell your fiancee someday’. Just another reminder that this Baby is scrambling, racing toward Toddler. So, though you might think a normal person would be relieved at the sudden decrease in the daily quota of used washclothes, I’m just a little wistful.

 

So here I am. A nerd who labels the everyday (and frankly, gross) with mystery titles, because, underneath the motherly angst, joy, responsibilities, and laughter, deep down– I want to be racing around in my roadster, golden hair flying in the wind, with a suspicious character in black sedan close on my tail.

 

There was probably no neck cheese in Nancy’s life.

 

She really missed out!

 

 

Works For Me Wednesday: The Junk Drawer That Could May 21, 2008

 

I haven’t yet met a kitchen without a junk drawer.

 

In every home we’ve lived in, the kitchen junk drawer fills up quickly. I took a curious glance in there a few minutes ago and saw the following:

 

loose batteries (do they work? how long have we owned them exactly- 5 years? more?)

lock de-icer (which we’ve used exactly once)

super glue (also used once, glued two fingers together, and gave up completely)

old keys (that we’re afraid to throw away….what if they unlock the buried treasure in our basement??)

small screwdrivers (for reattaching those cabinet knobs that my toddler loves to unscrew)

red tape to repair a tail light (when did we need this, exactly?)

a tape measure (listen, you can always use a tape measure)

an oddly shaped metal thing (no idea what this is; could be a crucial part of something)

 

Listen, you might say, just organize your junk drawer already. Well, you could be right. Someday I might do just that. All of those homeless and forgotten items might be appropriately allocated to locations that actually make sense. But not anytime soon. Standing in line are all of those things that we organize and re-organize in cycles: closets, basement, files, toy chests, the plasticware cabinet, the garage. My car! My husband’s car.  Oh, man.

 

I’m already a little tired. But I love me some organizing, so I’m up for it all! Meanwhile, my junk drawer will remain delightfully, happily stuffed to the brim with odd items which defy memory or explanation. The lone spot defying the stampede of organization that is taking over television, magazines, and the internet. For a quick fix, I shoved everything into small plastic trays. Somehow, this seems to help while still maintaining the junky integrity of such a drawer.

 

Get a junk drawer. Or if you have one already, love on it a little. After all, it’s the last thing that needs or wants your attention (is there a prize for that?)! My junk drawer works for me. For more great tips (or if you’re sorely disappointed in this one) check out Rocks In My Dryer!

Impossible May 20, 2008

Here is one of my favorite quotes:

‘There is no use trying,’ said Alice; ‘one can’t believe impossible things.’ ‘I dare say you haven’t had much practice,’ said the Queen. ‘When I was your age, I always did it for half an hour a day. Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.’  –Lewis Carroll

A pair of blue jeans lies on my living room floor…..attached to a rumpled t-shirt….filled out with the lean soft body of my 2-year old. His arms are spread to his sides and he is holding very still. He is on his tummy, face pressed to the grates of a floor vent. I watch the back of his homemade haircut, waiting.

And then….

“There IS a fish swimming down there!” he yells exuberantly. He hops to his feet, satisfied, and runs off to his next impossible thing.