Sentimental for the Old Days

originally posted oct 1, 14

This evening I was stopped at a traffic signal next to a small blue car. I glanced over and saw the male driver with a smile upon his face. From the corner of my eye, I noticed an infant car seat in the back. I smiled as I thought of the days of early parenthood. I looked at the car again. This time I noticed that the mother was in the backseat with the baby. I could see just a little bit of curling brown hair sticking out over the seat. The mother was talking and smiling as she looked at her beloved child. The look upon the father's face was of complete happiness.

After Counting to180, She's Out

Originally posted on Bubblews, 8/20/14

The littlest of my littles should have fallen asleep before her head even hit the pillow. The girl has been tired, tired, tired since this afternoon. She had a full afternoon playing in the sun at a friend's pool. As we drove home, she nearly drifted to sleep. However, we arrived home just in the nick of time to keep her awake.
Then she had a meltdown after dinner, again, EXHAUSTED. She recovered with a zing!
Next came the five minutes until bedtime tears. She cried. I held her. She was so close. So close.
We snuggled close into bed. I waited anxiously for that deep breathing that signals sleep. Yet, wait, what happened? The girl was suddenly smiling and happy and AWAKE!
Another two hours passed. The next thing I know, the energized three-year old began counting. She reached 180 with glee!
Where does a girl get such energy?
11:10pm, she finally drifted off to sleep.
Now I am awake.

Conversations with Ella

The One Word Edition, originally posted on Bubblews on 9/1/2014

This afternoon we were talking about Ella's upcoming dental surgery. We have wondered at times if she has an underlying pain that she doesn't complain about, but that bothers her. And we jokingly say that this is why she is so moody all of the time.
Seriously, she is my most "spirited" child. She throws fits the likes of which most of you have never experienced.
I have been saying that she will miraculously be constantly cheerful after her upcoming surgery.
Today, I said to Ella, "Ella, one of these days you are not going to be grumpy all the time."
She responded, "When?"
The best part of her simple response was that she seemed to genuinely wonder WHEN she would not be a grump anymore. It was priceless

Why Do We always Break Things?

Recently, I wrote a post about how my house is like the Bermuda Triangle. Things get lost often. Another annoying thing about my house is the way this seem to be broken.... often. There are always cups, bowls, plates, etc that end up breaking. It is not even always the fault of my children, though most of the time it is.

About two weeks ago, I broke our new beer mug and a favorite bowl of mine because I was trying to move a cutting mat. I had no idea that it was touching something that was touching something that was touching something. It was like a house of cards that all came tumbling down.

Tonight, my daughter was attempting to reach a plate which was beneath a mug in a cabinet. The mug and plate proceeded to fall to the countertop and landed, along with a whole stack of other plates, atop a glass measuring cup and wine glasses. Needless to say, glass shattered. A mess spread everywhere.

Why does it seem that we break EVERYTHING?

This post was originally posted on Bubblews by me on June 20, 2014