The ramblings of a tired teacher/mother/wife/housecleaner

I am so exhausted all the time now. I forget how much teaching wears me out. Also, Jack's insistence on a bottle every morning at 3 am is pretty tiring. And I can't fall back asleep because all I can think about is how my alarm is going to go off at 5 am. So, yeah, that's why the old blog has been pretty dead. I am enjoying my classes, though.

Ellie is adjusting to being back in daycare. I would say that the teacher pulls me aside almost every day with a bad report about Ellie. But she also pulls me aside almost every day with a good report. One day she told me that Ellie was a 14 year old in a 4 year old body. Tell me about it.

Jack is doing well in daycare. He likes being able to freely crawl everywhere and all the toys and things to explore. The only negative is that he still can't really nap there so he went from two solid naps a day to one 30 minute nap. And yet he still wakes up at 3 am?

Our house is still for sale and we had a showing every day for the past 3 days. My house is cleaner now than it has ever been! I am actually hoping no one buys it right now, though, because things are so crazy and we haven't even picked out a place to move! Our house has gotten way too small for us, but I think I will miss this little place that I brought both my babies home to.

A Farewell to Summer

I returned to school on Monday for a week full of teacher in-service days. Good times. So, on Saturday, Tom and I took the kids to the Aquarium to enjoy our last real day of summer. We went on a few of the rides while we were waiting to be seated for lunch. It was crazy hot out and we were disgustingly sweaty within minutes.

Once we were seated, Ellie was in awe over all the fish swimming around. She had previously stated that she wanted mac n cheese for lunch, but after seeing all the “cute” fish, she declared that she wanted to eat fish. I know. What is wrong with my child? I tried to talk her out of it, but she persisted, so I ordered the fish sticks. She took one bite and then acted like she was going to vomit. Nice waste of $7. I have to say that I was really annoyed with her…and even more annoyed when I took her to the bathroom and realized she was going commando. Ellie has issues with clothes. She just doesn’t like to wear them. Especially underwear. We are working on it.

Ok, moving on…I think her favorite part of the day was when she got to pet the stingrays. They were so friendly, literally jumping out of the water to be petted!

We finished up by riding the train through the shark aquarium. It sounds more exciting than it was.I am sad to see summer behind us. Dropping the kids off at daycare yesterday was difficult, especially Jack. But they both had a great day and seemed perfectly fine with me dropping them off again this morning. I think it is just one of those things that is harder on the parent than the child.

Dear Jack - 10 Months

Dear Jack,

Today you are 10 months old and, boy, you are giving us a run for our money. I spend all of my time chasing you around the house fishing small items out of your mouth or wrestling cords from your fingers. You are so fast, both crawling and cruising from one piece of furniture to the next. Now, I know it sounds like I don't child-proof, but you seem to have a knack for finding the hidden dangers. I have to watch you every second. Just to type you this letter, I had to put you in your exersaucer, but even then you have managed to rock yourself over to the curtains and are attempting to pull them down on your head.

You get so mad when we take anything away from you. You pout and cry and refuse to be distracted by other toys. You dad and I just laugh at you, but your sister is a sucker and will run over to comfort you immediately. You love to follow your sister around and, for the most part she enjoys your company, even when you are destroying her towers or putting her My Little Ponies in your mouth.

You are jabbering up a storm, and you actually seem to use "daddy" and "mama" in the correct context. You love to play peek-a-boo and pattycake and you will take my hands and try to make me do it over and over again. You can drink out of a sippy cup, but still prefer your bottle. You are getting more and more picky about baby food, spitting it out if it doesn't meet with your approval.

I noticed today that your face is thinning out and I can actually see your neck. I hate these little signs that so much of your babyhood is already behind us. Thankfully, you still have the rolls on your legs and fat sausages for toes. And your cheeks are still chubby enough to shower with kisses. I love how when I walk into the room you beeline for me with the biggest grin on your face, and when I pick you up you give me big open mouth kisses (only occasionally biting me with all SEVEN of your teeth). You still have the most ticklish tummy and your screams of laughter are so contagious. You are a joy, little man, and I love you with all of my heart.

Love always,

Mama

What...a weirdo

I was really busy yesterday washing windows and painting the back door and trim. This morning I went outside to take a picture of all my hard work. When I walked back inside, I happened to notice how Ellie was watching TV.
What? It is totally normal to sit on tables playing the drums topless while watching Max and Ruby (there is a Matthew Mcconaughey joke in there somewhere). The thing is, it is actually kind of normal for Ellie. We have been really lax this summer about letting her run about the house in whatever suits her fancy. When it is time to go out, we do make sure she is fully clothed, but she sometimes looks like an eccentric homeless person masquerading as a princess. Anyway, Ellie is returning to daycare in a week and I think it might be a rude awakening for her to have to get dressed in "normal" clothes each day.

Side note: I realize this blog is starting to become a "Weird Things My Daughter Is Wearing" blog lately, but I just need to make sure I have enough footage to properly embarrass her when she is a teenager.

It's a zoo around here

Went to the zoo today with Daniel, Sabrina, and their kiddos. It was hot. We walked a lot. The kids had fun. I'll let the pictures tell the rest...

Garage sale and lemonade stand: FAIL!

I held my very first garage sale last Saturday. I have only been to a handful of garage sales in my life, so ever the librarian, I did some research on the internet. I am pretty sure I ended up over-pricing things even though my research said to price 1/3 to 1/4 the original price. I initially had a lot of business, but then it was just me sitting all alone for several hours. I took advantage of this time to clean my garage.


Ellie has been begging me to have a lemonade stand so I figured my garage sale would be the perfect time. Poor kid, no one would buy from her even though her lemonade was very reasonably priced (I think). I actually gave a lady a quarter so she would buy from her.

I also had someone shoplift from me. Imagine! Someone shoplifting from a garage sale! It was this multi-use mixer thing, new in box, that was probably over-priced at $5. If they had just come back at the end of my sale, they could have had it (and all the other little things I didn't sale) for free! Actually, as I was still dragging things out to the curb, a family in a van pulled up and just started helping themselves.

I ended up making about $120 so I still say it was worth it, but I don't think I will hold another garage sale any time in the near future. And definitely no lemonade stands!

Imagination Station

Ellie is really big into imaginary play, as most four year old's are, and lately she has been putting on plays for me. Here she is dressed in her version of a princess. In case you were wondering, she is wearing pajamas on her head, held in place by two tiaras. And I'm not sure why she went with the Elmo slippers when she has a closet full of dress-up shoes. I will say this, she keeps me entertained.