Come to Momma

This weekend, D decided to take the kids to Corvallis for a visit with his parents. And not only that! It's lambing season to boot! Who could pass that up, right? Apparently NOT my hubby and kids, that's who! This is the second year in a row that somehow my FIL has managed to coerce them into making the three-hour drive in an attempt to watch a sheep give birth.

I'm not as easily convinced. And just like last year, I decided to sit this one out.

One of my favorite things to do is to hang out at home when it's quiet and clean. Unfortunately, that seldom happens for more than a couple of hours at a time; hours which are usually spent cleaning in hopes that I can sit down and enjoy the fruits of my labor for a few minutes before the truck pulls up, the three musketeers come strolling in, and the house is messy in a snap!

They left Friday afternoon. I had a previous engagement at J's school that I attended but cut short at the last minute. I wouldn't have bailed out had it been a big deal, but since it wasn't, I didn't want it cutting into MY time. I went out and got some food to bring home, poured myself a glass of wine, and sat by the TV catching up on shows.

Saturday morning was glorious. I woke up to quiet......I stayed in bed for a few minutes and just listened to nothing. Once I got up I poured myself a cup of coffee and sat on the couch watching yet more shows until I decided to stay home all day and tackle my craft closet. It was a daunting task but one that I'm happy to report is almost done. That evening I headed out to dinner with the ladies of the neighborhood. We had good food and conversation. And then I came home, watched more TV, and headed off to bed.

Another quiet morning awaited me. At 9:25 I went to Safeway to pick up some meat for dinner. By 10 it was sitting in the Crock Pot waiting for my peeps to get home. I worked on the craft closet a bit more, went to Barnes and Noble to get a Nook issue dealt with; even spent a few minutes on the phone with them once I got back. Got it fixed, scraped a page, took a shower, organized some pictures, and at about 4:30 greeted the family at the door.

While it's nice to have the time to unwind, I can't imagine doing that day after day. My beloved quiet would probably drive me mad.

I can't really say that I missed them, but they were only gone 49 hours ~ That's not a typo. It was 49 ~ However, I'm very grateful that they're mine; that they're home is here. With me.

That doesn't mean they're not available for loan, not at all. They just have to come to momma after a couple of days.

Cuteish

This week, M was voted "Best Dressed in the Neighborhood" by the good folks over at the bus stop.

There's no denying the girl loves clothes. My mom often recalls how at a very young age, when most kids are only interested in the toy aisle at a store, M always ran to the girls' department first.

Every morning she wants to wear a dress. If she doesn't have a wearable dress available, she frowns upon wearing a skirt, but its stock quickly surges when she realizes the only option left is pants.

D likes to tell her she looks fresh. An expression he uses on anybody/anything that appeals to him. She doesn't want to look fresh, she tell him. She likes to look "Cuteish in my clothes."

Lucky for her, she could don a potato sack and still look like a princess.





One day while browsing through Marshalls, I ran across a sign that said,



"Know who you are and accessorize accordingly."




M takes the mantra to heart.




She doesn't like her hair up in any type of contraption no matter how cute it may be. She likes lip gloss, hair detangler, and her princess brush.



She likes shoes. All shoes. She's an equal-opportunity shoe connoisseur.



She'll wear her Lunar Glide 3s with a skirt and tights, her ballet flats with shorts, and her rain boots with a princess dress. If she's wearing it, she's rockin' it. There's no doubt about that.





She likes purses and phones.



She likes hummus, yogurt, cheese, crackers, and Cuties. For lunch. Everyday!



She likes IQey (Calliou) and Olivia. And she pretends to like Ninjago and the Avengers in an effort to be cool in the eyes of J.



She likes school, gymnastics, and ballet even though she's never tried ballet.

She wants to take swimming lessons, play soccO, and go to Hansen so she could ride the bus with her brother.















She doesn't like me to take pictures of her, yet she won't pass up an opportunity to strike a pose!

If the girl wants to be Cuteish, who am I to say otherwise?

Science and Ribbons

The school science fair was last Thursday. J wanted to participate. I was kind of at a loss. Neither D nor I remember doing this at his age. We wanted to make sure that he did something age appropriate; that he understood the concept of, and that he could do himself without much assistance from us.

And, we wanted it to be fun.

He decided on a volcano. While D did lend a hand in the putting together of the structure, he was able to cause the eruption.

I have to admit that at first I thought it was a little too easy. I had a big display board and not enough info to cover it. (Disclosure: I did the whole board, but that was the one area where the school had asked for volunteers to come in and help other students.) Once we walked into his classroom and I saw how impressed his classmates were with his model, however, I knew this was perfect for him.

There were plenty of other projects to ooh and ahh about, mostly by the 5th graders who are required to turn one in. Even some of the underclassmen had amazing boards; whether or not they had "extra" help is not my business. I was happy with J's effort and so was he!

The weather put a crimp in the judgement of the K-4 kids. There was a two-hour frost delay which caused that part of it to be canceled. By the time I got there in the afternoon, J had already done his presentation and my neighbor said he did an amazing job. She said he had a huge crowd and explained the chemical reaction like "a teacher."

Though I wish I had been there to see him, maybe it's better that I wasn't. A lot of times, when we're around, he looks over and it's as if he's talking only to us. I'm proud just knowing that he did so well.

In my previous post, I talked about our special Lenten Prayers. On Thursday night J said,

"Dear God, thank you for Science. I had fun today. Thank you for ribbons. I got one. I don't know if you made science and ribbons, but I want to thank you anyway."

God had a hand in Science; probably one in ribbons too. And most certainly in one of his greatest creations: Our wonderful, wonderful J!