Closed Door Policy!

So, yesterday morning, I had a good laugh while in the rush to get out the door to church.  Typically, I am not allowed a private moment in the bathroom.  I don't know why this is.  I can go in any room in the house, and for the most part, no one cares.  The SECOND I walk in the bathroom, I hear little footprints stampeding towards the door.  It has gotten to the point that I rarely even bother with closing it behind me anymore.  There have been several occasions where we have had company, and I have been about to sit down, and realized I didn't close the door!  Opps- I will apologize if this ever does happen while you are here! 

Anyway, back to yesterday.  Normally while getting ready the door is wide open the entire time, shower and all.  I am not a fan of it, just the way things go around here.  I shower, get dressed, maybe slap on some make-up (I need to get better about that) and then dry my hair.  Within seconds of the hair dryer turning on, I hear the stampede, and the door slams shut.

For some reason yesterday it cracked me up!  Yesterday, just before slamming the door, he yells at me, "You're so loud!"  I hope everyone finds this as funny as me!  This from the pot that runs through the house screaming, and is always at a 10 instead of a nice inside 2.  It caused me to crack up!  I don't want to forget the crazy things he does, but I may start turning on the hair dryer every time I go in the bathroom....

Grateful!

Today I am grateful.  The local radio station is doing a St. Jude Radiothon to raise money for a such a great organization.  Throughout the day they play inspirational songs, that have people talking about how they have benefited from St. Jude.  Some of the songs can be downright heartbreaking. 

It always causes me to pull my family a little closer, hug a little tighter.  I am so grateful that we have our health and we are well.  There are so many daily things that cause me to forget how lucky we are to have that.  It is such a basic gift that God has given us, and I don't thank him enough for it.  There are so many families suffering from cancer and its horrible affects, we aren't one of them, and I am so thankful.  My heart goes out to those who are. 

I get so wrapped up in everything else day to day that I hardly notice the bigger picture, and today driving home from preschool I was reminded.  Tears streaming down my face, I vowed to be more patient, to soak in the time I do have with my children.  I can so quickly get caught up in the frustrations of everyday life, and so I am going to start working on my patience, and not be so quick to give into that frustration.  I am lucky to have the opportunity to be frustrated.  So many parents are robbed of that too soon. 

Preston can be mind numbly slow.  Brandon and I always joke around that he has a double dose of "assing around."  He gets if from his Grandaddy, and Grammy.  They both have all the time in the world, especially when it comes to getting out the door.  He has all the time in the world for EVERYTHING.  It can make us crazy, but I am going to work on not letting my frustration of that escalate into yelling.  I will try and speed him along, but I will also know, that it is part of his personality.  His curiosity.  He is learning.  Right?

Today though, I will spend "one more minute" after stories in bed with Preston.  I will cuddle him a little longer.  I will (probably) eat a little healthier for the little brother.  I will make a hearty dinner for Brandon after his long day of taking pictures.  I will probably even make something with meat it in. Today (and hopefully many more) I will soak it all in, and work on being thankful and grateful for what we are blessed with. 

Wordless Wednesday

 I can't think of anything to say today, and since I haven't put any pictures up recently, I thought it was time to do a picture post...

The V-Day party at Preschool

Our Secret- that quickly became public knowledge!

Yes, Brandon is riding the horse!



Just out of this picture, Brandon is taking a ride!



Despite the face, he does love his chore chart!  He has already earned a trip to the zoo, but we are still waiting on a warm day! 

Habits, and breaking them!

We have created a creature of habit.  He is into routines, and everything same.  We did this. Intentionally.  We knew that creating sameness gives to a sense of normalcy, and security.  We wanted him to always feel safe.  I think we have done well to accomplish that.  He has little fear, although he is shy, but I believe that is passing. 

Today has me thinking about all the things we have done to create routine in this child.  It started before he was born.  When I was still pregnant, I would blast a kid's CD in the car when I was all alone, sometimes singing along.  I think I read somewhere that this was good for their development before they were fully developed... Being a good first time mommy, I did it.  Low and behold though, once he was here, and we were driving in the car, if he got irritated, I could pop in that CD, and it was an instant calm.  It was amazing, and wonderful.  We have since misplaced it, but I am planning to do the same for the new babe.  Purely for sanity's sake on long days of running errands. Or road trips.  I need to get on that......

Back to why I am thinking about routines.  Today, I made the mistake of turning on the radio in Preston's room, to let him listen to the radio while getting dressed.  I thought it would entice him back to his room so we could get ready for preschool.  It worked.  Now, though, the CD player won't play.... If you have ever been in my child's room, you know that he has 24/7 classical lullabies playing.  It has gotten to the point that Brandon can't sleep without it either. 


Rest Time is not going well.  I can't make a peep.  He hears me. There is no music in there playing to drown my noises of laundry, tidying, possibly putting more tape up for painting in the nursery.  I am closed off in my bedroom, hiding out. If you want to think of me sitting on my bed with the covers over my head, my comforter is dark gray and silver.  I'm not, but I halfway feel like I should be.  He was acting really sleepy at lunch, and probably needs a good rest today.  It might help everyone this afternoon.

He is so attached to this music, and I have been over to his room no less then 7 times in 50 minutes.  I don't think I will ever get this post out.  I like that he likes his routines and when one falls out of place, he acts as if his left arm is somehow missing.  I like that he knows what to expect.  We did this.  It is our fault that he can't rest without the precious music.  I knew this day was coming, I did get this CD player for Christmas from my parents when I was in MIDDLE SCHOOL.  I am not going to go into how many years that is, but trust me, this CD player has put in its time. 

So, in a panic, I call Brandon and tell him he must go to walmart and get a new one, as he is stopping by here before he has to go to an appointment up here.  He doesn't have time.  So here I am, hiding out.  Pray that I can find something quiet to entertain me until 3 o'clock when rest time is over! 

First Follower!

I haven't been on in a while, it has been all I can do to read my favorite blogs! I apologize for my lack of entertainment.  Maybe this is why I only have one bona-fide follower, but I know you all are out there because the stats say that you are!  Thanks Carly for being my first! ;)

Onto the good stuff... We have had a lot of spring like days lately and it has been blissful!  I was being to feel that I had lost "it,"  my desire to do anything spontaneous, fun, exciting.  We had become creatures of habit. Monday- groceries, Tuesday- preschool, Wednesday-nothing, Thursday-preschool, Friday-possibly Pump It Up.  I had lost my desire to be outside and moving.  The fact that I am 25 weeks pregnant is not helping me get off my tail either. 

However, in the last week or two we have seen lots of 50-60 degree days, and I have gotten it back.  Either that or I have started nesting.  I believe nesting has something to do with lots of cleaning and organizing, and I am ashamed to say, that is not what has started around here!  We have been what I like to call parking it a lot.  We visited the awesome park in town that has something for everyone, including a bike trail.  The day that we went though the bike trail was a bust because there was 100mph winds, making it impossible to ride anything.  Coolest thing yet, though, happened last week.  We discovered a secret, not half a mile from our house!  We have a new playground, and we found it first!  I don't know that we really found it first, we just got there first!  It is AMAZING and wonderful considering the size of our little community! It has the TALLEST slide, that Preston hugged me tight and we FLEW down! I wish I had had my camera the morning we went and snapped a thousand pictures of the joy of our discovery. 

It was so exciting that as soon as Dad walked through the door he heard all about it, until we loaded up, and walked back to the playground. We wore short sleeves and walked! It was wonderful to have the sun on our backs, heating us, while we walked/waddled back. Preston showed his dad all the cool new stuff, and gave him the grand tour before our secret was discovered by every kid in town within 30 minutes.  It was almost comical at the number of kids pouring out of the minivans!  It was fun to sit back and watch Preston make new friends and learn their games.  It is amazing how much he has grown in the past three and a half years, that now he will play with random kids at the park without us.  It makes me a little sad to see him gain that independence from us, but glad to see that he will be self-sufficient one day!

Today, though, schools were closed, yes, closed.  We got enough ice to make it dangerous for the kids to be out and about (at least at school) today.  I didn't want any part of it.  So we dropped the blinds, stayed in our jammies, and made plans to work on the nursery and get it ready for painting. Then later we planned to fill the tub, and play pool.  That is where we are now. I am typing this from my beach chair in the bathroom, while my little three year old gets wrinkly in his swim trunks.  While typing Buzz and Woody have each had a time out, and now some kind of Tarzan game ensues. It is entertaining. I hope that the promise of 50 degree comes back soon. I don't want to get back in a rut. 

It's coming, yesterday was proof!

Oh, how I love Spring and Summer, and have been looking forward to them since it officially became Fall!  It is so bad, that I even have Preston believing that winter is no good, and he will occasionally throw me a bone, and tell me he doesn't like winter either! 

Yesterday was a perfect day.  It was like God knew that we needed a reprieve from all this bitter cold and snow, and wrapped up a nice beautiful sixty degree day and plopped it on our doorstep.  Right after Phil failed to see his shadow, so only 6 more weeks until Spring!  It made me giddy!  I had to go down to my mom's in Staunton to pick up some boxes from her, so I thought we would make a day of it, and feed the ducks at the park in Staunton. 

It was gorgeous out. Preston fed himself and the ducks, although the swans were his favorite and he only wanted to let them eat. I didn't even worry about the mud. Preston had such fun running out his energy, and breathing in the fresh air.  We even took the long way out of the park to leave our windows all the way down just a little longer.  I didn't want the day to end. I wish we could have stayed in the warmer sunny air until it was time for the seventy, eighty and ninety degree days when we will sit around at the pool all afternoon. 

When we got home, I was so ready for summer, and long days at the pool, I asked Preston if he wanted to sign up for swim lessons again this year. Of course, since he doesn't truly remember the money we wasted last year pleading with him to do what his teacher asked, he was thrilled at the idea!  I called the pool this morning to sign up, and lo and behold, they haven't started lessons yet, but I am only two weeks early. 

Of course it seemed that as quickly as the wonderful day came, in came the blistering cold winds, wiping away any trace of spring.  Nothing would make me happier than to see all the snow melt, and have it be done until the next Christmas. By the time Brandon and I got home from our date night, we were freezing again, and I was wishing for summer again.  Soon, it will be here soon.

New leaves

So life is changing for us, in more ways than one.  We are adding to our family, I am officially a stay at home mom, and I am going to start cooking meals.  I am putting this in writing and hoping (praying) that this will keep me accountable.  I hate how often we eat from a can, or out of the freezer.  I don't want my kids growing up on boxed dinners. 

It all started when I stopped working outside the home, and started doing child care.  It became impossible to cook a meal that would have been done at a decent enough hour to eat.  It has frustrated me for far too long, and now that I am no longer doing child care, I am getting my house clean and organized, and I am going to start making home cooked meals again!  This excites me more than you know.  I love to plan meals and than have them turn out delicious and yummy.  Seeing my child regain his appetite would be a major plus too! 

I started my quest my browsing a few blogs and getting some ideas.  I found several that I have bookmarked, and several that just seemed to steal recipes off cooks.com or another similar website.  I found one that did seem to do her own recipe and I hope I have found a new favorite at our house- homemade pop tarts!  Sound great right? I will let you know tomorrow if they are a hit!  Now just getting up before everyone to make them before everyone else scarfs something down! 

We started the day making banana bread, instead of just throwing away the three last bananas that were becoming riper by the minute.  Preston thought it was great to mash up the bananas, he thought he was getting away with murder!  I wish I had taken pictures, but it was too risky that the bananas end up on the floor or in the wrong bowl, so maybe next time. 

Some of the recipes I came across sounded oh-so-good, but seemed too intimidating for me.  I thought maybe I will be ready for them by summer. I am going to stick with this, I feel I have to, for my kid's health, for my family's health.  I don't want my kids growing up on fast food, and boxed dinners.  I told Brandon a couple weeks ago that I wanted to join a CSA, and he responded quickly with "Next year."  I am going to remember that.  I love the idea of getting a week's worth of produce every week all year!  Imagine how diverse our meals could become! 

Dinner this evening was baked potatoes with chilli, cheese and sour cream and a salad.  Preston ate all his salad, and all but two bites of his potato, and all but one section of a mandarin!  He stuffed himself to the brim, it was truely a lot of food.  I would have loved to had more chilli, but this child growing in my belly had other plans that involved taking up as much space in my belly as possible, so I could hardly sit comfortably, let alone eat. 

I have plans for every night this week, plus some.  I look forward to feeding everyone home cooked meals that are satisfying.  We are turning a new leaf in this house, starting today.  No longer will I only cook meals on Christmas morning, and birthdays, if I even cooked on birthdays.  My kids will know that they can go out and play as long as they are back in time for supper.  My dream would be that they would want to be home for supper, but I know that is a dream because I am sure that they will rather eat with their friends! 

So wish me luck, and send me any ideas you have for our new dinners!