Menu Monday

This really helps me get (and keep) my act together. I make the menu before I go to the grocery store and then (try to) follow it all week.

This week's menu...
Monday - Chicken Veggie Subs
Tuesday - New Year's Day Party
Wednesday - Crock Pot Swiss Chicken
Thursday - Stuffed Green Pepper Casserole
Friday - Lasagna Casserole
Saturday - Pizza and Salad (or leftovers depending on what's left over)
Sunday - Leftovers

No Regrets

One year ago yesterday I posted this journal entry under the title "This Is What I Mean By Flexible Dreams." I post it today under the title "No Regrets" because I have NONE. I'm still pleased with my decision.

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This Is What I Mean By Flexible Dreams

For as long as I can remember I've wanted to be a mom. Not just have a kid but be a mom as a profession. After I got married (at age 19) and realized that being a mom wasn't going to happen right away I decided I'd better do something to earn some money while I waited for that dream to come true.

I was a nanny for a while. Seven years, two families, five kids. It was sometimes fun and a lot of work. Then I went back to school to be a teacher. I began to realize that if I was to become a professional mother pursuing teaching was a waste of my time, so I changed my major to psychology. Seemed like a good idea at the time.

Before I graduated from college I worked a summer as an assistant camp director at the YMCA and ended up taking my psychology degree to the Y and staying for five years. Who knew I'd fall in love with camping and the mission of the Y? A couple years back someone asked me what my dream job would be and I described it in detail. Who knew I could have a dream job other than being a mom?

Two years ago Christopher came and my dream of professional motherhood was finally realized. I love it. I love both my kids and I love being home with them.

Two days ago I got a call from the other world. The other world called to offer me my dream job. That other dream job. The one that didn't even exist when I dreamed it up. They want ME to come and do it. They sat around a table and decided that I was the one they wanted.

This morning I went in and turned them down.

I know what I want to do. I want to be a full-time mom. I am a full-time mom. But there's that other dream out there too.

It was really hard to say no.

My Kids Are Even Cute For The Babysitter

Emily watched our kids on Thursday. She posted the hilarity here.

My kids are a riot!

And The Winner Is...

... The visitor from Great Falls, VA!

At 10:14 AM you made the 1,000th page view on this blog. Congratulations.

I have no idea who you are.

Kids Say The Darndest Things #2: Christmas Highlights

Sitting at the dinner table with my husband's entire family. There's a lull in the conversation which Christopher fills with, "Mom. If you have to go poop just let me know."

Yes, everyone laughed.

Merry Christmas

Christmas was great and today promises to be a good day. The kids are playing with their new toys. I'm playing with my new toys and cleaning up the house.

I'll post about Christmas and do some product reviews in this next week.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

Now That's Some Advertising Staying Power

I heard a little clip of classical music this morning. Did it relax and soothe me? No. It brought the "lyrics" of this 1980's McDonald's commercial right into my mind, where they have been ALL MORNING. How can I perfectly remember a 20 year old commercial but not my grocery list?

SPOILER ALERT!!

I took the kids to the doctor this morning.  They both have this runny nose cough thing that just isn't going away.  I was debating if I should take them in and decided that I wanted them checked out before the weekend/holiday insanity.

I'm glad I did.

Christopher has bronchitis.  Hannah has an ear infection and pneumonia.  

The doc gave them some good antibiotics so they should be happy and healthy by Christmas.

We were in the pharmacy waiting for the prescriptions when the security guard engaged Christopher in some interesting conversation.  

Security Guard: Are you ready for Christmas?

Christopher: Yes!

SG: Are you ready for Santa to come?

C: Santa isn't coming.

SG: (pause) Are you going to get some presents next week?

C: We're going to celebrate Jesus' birthday next week.

SG: Well, Merry Christmas.

C: MERRY CHRISTMAS!

This is interesting because we haven't really addressed the Santa issue around here.  We don't encourage the idea but we haven't told them that Santa is fake.  He has Christmas books about Santa and books about baby Jesus.  I guess the right things are sinking in.

(I'm sorry if this ruined the Santa thing for you.)

Works For Me Wednesday

I've never had great skin. Oily in the summer, oily AND dry in the winter (I never understood that). Having kids and hitting my 30's has calmed down and evened out my oily face issues but only made my dry skin worse. It's not bad in the summer but when the temp drops and the air dries out my skin dries out right along with it.

The crisp fall air ushers me right down the lotion and hand cream isle looking for the latest and greatest remedy for my dry skin. The worst part is that it doesn't really look that different, it's just SO STINKING ITCHY!! I give up my yummy shampoo for an itchy scalp shampoo and try to remember to use lotion every day.

I had an ah-ha moment last month. If the itchy scalp shampoo makes my head stop itching maybe it would work on the rest of me.

IT DOES!!!

I started using Head and Shoulders instead of my regular body wash about three weeks ago and it's done an amazing job of keeping my winter skin at bay.

For more Works For Me Wednesday tips visit Rocks In My Dryer.

HannahSpeak

I was having a rather depressing conversation with a friend the other day about what would happen to our kids if they got lost. Oddly enough one big concern for both of us is that our kids wouldn't be understood. I spend so much time with Hannah and Christopher that I know what they're saying because they say it over and over and over and over (and if I'm not getting it they say it again and again and again...).

On a positive note I thought I'd document some of Hannah's more interesting words. (So if you find her lost in the mall you can know she's being polite and asking for a drink.)

ngang ngoo - thank you
uh-oh a-buck-a-boo - uh-oh spaghetti-o
mano-mano - drink, or all done - it depends on the context
moogik - music - means she wants me to turn on the radio in the car
buddy - bunny - a must have for naps and sleeping
pa - pacifier - a leftover word from when Christopher was a baby

A childless person is probably wondering how on earth I could know that mano-mano means drink or any of the other of the translations I make on a daily basis. It usually goes like this...

A couple of weeks ago Hannah comes into the family room, looks me right in the eye, and says, "A-ga-mum."

I repeated it back to her.

She said it again, with purpose, "A-ga-mum."

"A grandmom?" I asked.

"A-ga-mum."

Apparently not.

We went back and forth like this for a while. Her repeating the mysterious word and me trying to guess what she was talking about.

Finally in exasperation she says, "ngang ngoo." To which I replied, "You're welcome."

"A-GA-MUM!!" She shouted, "A-GA-MUM!"

So now I know when I say thank you and Hannah says a-ga-mum she's really being very polite.

Handy Christopher

My son is all boy. He's obsessed with tools and will take apart anything in the house as long as he can find a screwdriver (which I am constantly hiding). This afternoon I found him under the dining room table taking the screws out of one of the chairs.

His expertise isn't limited to screwdrivers. A couple of months ago I bought two POÄNG chairs from Ikea. I had almost finished putting the first one together when I had to leave the room for a minute. I returned to find Christopher busy with the allen wrench and at least four bolts on the floor. I tried to put them back in but couldn't figure out what he had done. I ended up taking the entire chair apart and starting over.

Thanks to Handy Manny he also says things like, "I'm off to do a repair." And, "Let's head back into town."

I need to remember to put that dining room chair back together before someone sits in it.

Under The Influence of Grandpa

My dad took Christopher out this evening to look at some Christmas lights and get a snack. They stopped at a donut/ice cream shop just down the street and Dad let Christopher get ice cream AND a donut. Not a donut hole, a full sized donut.

Apparently Dad took a bite of the donut while Christopher was busy chewing. Christopher looked at Dad and said, "Let's stop this nonsense."

Where does he get this stuff?

Needless to say, he was WIRED (and sticky) when he came home but crashed as soon as I put him in bed.

Refining My Look

I wish that meant getting a new hair cut and losing 30 pounds.

Really it just means a new look for my blog. I'll also be going through my blog roll and deleting blogs that I no longer read. If I know you and delete your blog it's only because you rarely, if ever, post anymore. NOT because I don't love you.

Christmas Card Failures

Why is it that kids never want to do what you want them to do when you want them to do it? They're cute when no one is looking. They're obedient when no one is listening. They love taking pictures when they're dirty and wearing pajamas.



And why, three minutes before I'm about to take the Christmas card photo does Hannah faceplant on the kitchen floor and turn half of her face red? I had to wait almost an hour for the mark to fade. Fortunately she didn't get another bloody lip. Like earlier this week. When I had to postpone the photo session.



Christopher was a champ. He kept trying to smile and keep his arm around Hannah... much to her annoyance. What a great kid. Hannah's a great kid too, when I'm not trying to capture it on film.

Around The House

I got a new oven this past week. I bought it used from a man used it as an additional counter top instead of an actual appliance. Other than being covered in dust it's in fantastic condition. I've never had a ceramic top range before so this is exciting for me. More exciting is the $75 I spent on it.

Sadly, about six minutes after getting the oven installed and working I went downstairs to change loads of laundry and discovered the dryer BROKEN!! The repair man said a new motor in our 15 year old dryer would be almost as much as buying a new dryer.

The new dryer is coming tomorrow.

You may be thinking to yourself... didn't Amy's house come with a brand new washer and dryer? This appears to be yet another lie told to us by the former owners of this house.

All's well that ends well though. At least I didn't pay full price for a new oven.

Discipline

We do a lot of counting around here. I'm trying to get out of the habit now that Christopher has figured out he can wait until I get to three before he starts to obey me.

A couple of days ago Christopher walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge. In my best no-nonsense-hint-of-threat voice I called, "Christopher." And Hannah followed with, "One... two... fee!"

We use time-out as the primary form of punishment. It works pretty well because Christopher hates to stop playing and sit still.

I had just finished talking to Christopher about whatever he did to get himself into trouble and sent him on his way. Hannah walked over to me and stood right where Christopher had been standing. She ranted off a long line of very animated gibberish and then said, "Toy Boat!" Then she marched herself over to the time-out spot and sat down.

Maybe I won't ever have to discipline her. She can just pick it all up from observation.

Starting Over **UPDATED**

Hi, I'm Amy. I wrote my first blog post on July 4, 2004. It's been a great three and a half years of blogging; I'm so happy I began.

I'm starting over for a number of reasons. The biggest one is that I'd like to give my family greater anonymity. My kids are getting older and my blog is being read by more and more people that I don't know personally.

I tried transferring my old blog over to this one by backdating posts. What a wasted week that was. Hours and hours of editing out my kid's names and other identifying information only to realize that it was going to take me months to complete.

So, here I am. Starting again. I'm so glad you've decided to join me for this journey. If you're jumping over from the old blog you may recognize some of my stories. If you're new, I hope you enjoy it all.

Feel free to comment anytime you'd like.

**UPDATED**
I went ahead and imported some selected old posts.  I'm sure everyone subscribing to my RSS feed is going to wonder what the heck happened.  At least now all my labels will link properly and I can more easily reference old posts.