say what?

Does anyone else love the show "The Middle"? I love that show. It is ridiculous but oh my god it makes me laugh. Every character is hysterical and together they make me laugh so hard I have to use my inhaler. Yes, the show is that funny and if you don't think so then you are way too serious.
I have a problem though. The teenage boy character prefers to lounge about the house in his underwear. No, that's not my problem. My problem is that Sam thinks this is hysterical and worthy of imitation. I'm not a prude and honestly don't care if Sam wants to lay on the couch in his boxers, however I cannot have him wandering around the house in his skivvies when I have a houseful of daycare kiddos. EEC would look down on that sort of thing. Which is why I found myself saying the other day, "Sam, you are not allowed to walk around in just underwear when we have people over." Just another one of those things I could never have imagined I would need to say when I became a parent.

mean girls

My girls adore each other. They play together for hours and hours and leave a mess stretching from here to California to prove just how much fun they have had.

But sometimes, sometimes, they are absolutely horrid to each other. Teresa will make some snarky nasty comment about Katie's singing, drawing, dancing for no reason whatsoever. Katie will make irritating noises she knows bugs the hell out of Teresa until Teresa loses it and shoves her. They go back and forth in endless meaningless arguments until I am screaming for them to shut up. (I don't say shut up, it's not allowed, but while I may use more acceptable wording, believe you me, my tone is saying SHUT THE FUCK UP!) While this is happening I think to myself, "why? why do they do this?" "Will they always be so horrible to each other and miss out on having that sister bond?" "Will they end up scarring each other forever with the things they are saying/doing to each other?"

Once I finally take some deep breaths, I realize something. My sisters were the ones who tormented me by calling me "Dia-ree-ah" when I was small. I can't count the number of times I pulled my younger sister's hair or pinched her (sorry Carol). We made up less than flattering nicknames for each other (Carol and I) based on the shape of our heads. I got into verbal fights with my sisters that scared our friends with the nastiness. We excluded each other from clubs and games.

And yet, we still love each other beyond reason. Probably because, they are also the ones who made up gymnastics or dance routines for me so we could put on a show. They are the ones I stayed up late studying and laughing with. They are the ones who lent me their clothes. They are the ones who played animals with me until they wanted to die of boredom. They are the ones I visited at college and included me in all the cool college goings on. They are the ones I invited up to visit me when I was in college and I could share my cool college goings on.

When we get to reminiscing, we don't gloss over the times that are less than pretty. We drag those memories out and laugh over them. It is the sum of the good, the bad, and the ugly that make our bonds so strong. We learned how to get along in an imperfect world while we were learning how to get along with each other.

So, my girls may not have this sweet rainbow and unicorns existence with each other every single moment. But I'm guessing that there may be hope for them after all.

with open arms

Katie came home from her first day of school and handed this picture to me. I asked her to tell me about it. Katie looked at me as if I was just plain dumb and said, "Mumma, it's you. (duh! of course it is) I drew a picture of you waiting for me to come home so you can give me a BIG hug!" I think I melted into a literal puddle of mush on the floor after hearing that. My girl knows her Mumma, that's for sure, because as soon as I heard that bus coming down the road, I was waiting with my arms wide open so I could wrap her up and soak her in.

award worthy

So, as much as I tried to ignore it, the FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN, just refused to not happen. My girl was giddy with excitement. I have to admit, even though I would love it if she could be my baby forever, I am so proud of this kiddo. She has grown in leaps and bounds the past year. Situations that she shied away from in the past, she is jumping into with both feet.

I crept up to her room this morning and stroked her arm to gently wake her up. When I whispered "Good Morning Kindergartner", she shrieked in excitement and literally sprang out of bed. I think she must have dressed on her way down the stairs because she arrived in the kitchen dressed and declared she was ready to go. I suggested we brush that wild mop of hair first.

Hair brushed, shoes on, backpack shouldered and she was ready to go.


I was so busy taking pictures that I held it together while she was waving goodbye. But it was a different story as I walked back to the house. In years past when we'd put the kids on the bus, Katie and I would walk back up to the house together, her little hand in mine. This morning I walked back alone. I'd be a damn liar if I told you I didn't cry. The tears weren't all sad ones though. While I am sad about not getting to spend all day with her, mostly I was brimming with pride with how she was embracing every part of this whole adventure.

She came home this afternoon, talking non-stop about a brand new friend (she's unsure of her friend's name...and that just cracks me up), playing with playdough and in housekeeping, reading stories ("kindergarten has the same books we do!!!"), learning to walk in a line, and many many more wonders. Then she very proudly pulled this out of her backpack and announced, "Mumma, I did such a good job at kindergarten, I won an award!!!"

And guess what my little Katieladyboo...you deserve an award. You are Mommy's Kindergarten Rockstar.

Can you figure out what's missing?

Look closely at the box.


If you guessed the pieces of Katie's quilt you would be 100% correct! Today I sewed the last row onto the rest of the top. I pressed all the seams and then spread it out on the floor of Sam's room. It looks amazing! I am beyond excited how beautiful it turned out. I have to admit, I was skeptical of using blacks in a child's quilt but that Katie sure knows her stuff. It is stunning.

I do still need to add the borders before the top is officially finished but the tricky stuff is done. We will make a trip to the fabric store to pick out border fabrics and backing fabric so stay tuned for the last couple steps!

Irene's the talk of the town

We got side-swiped by Irene last weekend. We were some of the lucky ones who only lost power for just about 24 hours. Some of our friends and neighbors went four or more days without power. We did not get off completely unscathed. After Irene swept through we were short two very tall pine trees in our backyard, a couple sections of our fence and one of our small playstructures.

Here's a view from the deck of the mess the storm left behind.

Why, hello there, big humongous pine tree that doesn't belong in our yard, let alone through our fence.

Goodbye little green slide.


The kids were surprisingly good about the loss of power and the absence of television, video games, computer games and movies. Not to mention microwave popcorn. They entertained themselves completely the entire day we were stuck at home. So much so, I was able to read three entire books.

At one point I found all three of them in the dog crate, which they had draped with quilts to make a little cave. When asked what they were doing, I was told they were playing poor people. The crate was their cardboard box that they lived in. Sounds like a fun game. Kooky little kids. They also sat and colored for a bit. I call what they created "art therapy."

Sam drew a picture of the storm being defeated by his and the girls' stuffed animals.

Katie's picture shows the downed trees with the storm still raging overhead.


Teresa's picture depicts another dog crate activity of the kids. They crawled into their cave with flashlights and books (Sam's very extensive library of books about hurricanes) to read together.

We are slowly cutting up the trees and raking up the billions of small pine boughs and leaves. I hope we are able to get rid of this tree more quickly than the one that fell down this past winter. It was in our yard so long the kids actually named it. Bob. Bob the tree. Joe had just finished cutting it all up about a week before Irene. Mother Nature has a twisted sense of humor.

what are the odds?

Hello. I don't believe I've ever introduced you to Sam's pet frog or toad or whatever it is. He got this little guy for his birthday a couple years ago. Lava is one of those indifferent pets. He doesn't snuggle or do anything cute and endearing. He's just there. It is pretty cool when he eats his worms. That's always a good party trick. For the most part though, Lava just hangs out in his little habitat, waiting for worms to drop out of the sky.

I am the one who cleans out his habitat and to do this I scoop him out and deposit him in the tub while I dump the old water and wipe out the tank. Mudge walked into the bathroom once when I was doing this and noticed the small critter cautiously hopping around the bathtub. All at once, Mudge's ears went up and he cocked his head to the side. I could practically hear him thinking, "WHAT THE HELL???" I shooed Mudge out of there ASAP but the damage was done. He knew there was another animal in that habitat and made every effort possible from that moment on to find out what it was and if it was edible.

I sometimes bring Lava's tank out of Sam's room to show off the aforementioned party trick to the childcare kids. Usually it sits on the kitchen table for the day and I return him to Sam's room at night. I did this just yesterday. Unfortunately, I forgot to make the return trip. We were in a hurry to get out of the house and run some errands and Lava, being the non-presence that he is, just got overlooked.

We came home and laden down with bags and boxes made our way into the playroom. Sam instantly let out a shriek of horror. I dropped every box and bag I had, scared out of my wits and terrified at what could possibly be making Sam sob in that way. And I saw it. The plastic habitat, that had so recently held Lava, laying on it's side in the middle of the playroom. The dogs had the good sense to look ashamed of themselves. Daisy huddled under the kitchen table and Mudge peered out from behind the chair in the living room. Teresa and Katie started to cry as they realized what had actually gone down while we were out and Sam continued to sob.

I grabbed the dogs' collars and unceremoniously dragged them through the house and out the back door. Then I sent the kids into my room so I could clean up the mess and possibly spare them the sight of poor Lava's mangled remains. I doubted I'd find a trace of him anyways but you just never know. I picked up the parts of the habitat and put it together and then used towels to clean up the nasty water on the floor and table. I concluded they must have swallowed Lava whole since I found not a sign of him.

Sam came out of my room, tears streaming down his face, to ask me if Lava made it. I wrapped my arms around my sad little boy and delivered the bad news. Sam cried for his lost little friend, his whole body shaking with his sobs. But then, wonder of wonders, Sam screams "LAVA!!!!" and I turn to see the miraculously lucky amphibian hop from beneath a bookshelf in the kitchen. He was covered in dust and cat hair but he was alive. I don't know how he did it, and Lava is not offering any details, but somehow he managed to elude the dynamic duo and survive. I really think Lava should play the lottery.