Look Before You Leave

Today was one of those on-the-go days, the kind where you can barely catch your breath and grab a drink of water between errands. It started off, as so many of my days now do, with me fighting with Jordan about the amount of breakfast he needs to eat to be prepared for school. This morning he thought that should be none, and I thought some would be better. I gave my usual running countdown til bus arrival time, while he threw an even bigger fit than usual. Finally at 8 minutes and counting he wolfed down his breakfast, speed-peed, threw his shoes and backpack on and ran out the door. (Nope, no time for proper dental hygiene today). Then I went upstairs to get Sasha, who was saying "Mama, fick it fick it" (fix it) over the baby monitor. I replaced the offending pillowcase, picked out her clothes, changed her diaper, got her dressed, and gave her a bowl of cereal. Then I carried on a non-stop conversation with her, along the lines of "mama's coming, eat your cereal, ooo nummy cereal, I'll be right there, we'll go bye-bye after you eat your breakfast, Daddy's at work, yes, Jo-Jo took the bus to school, you'll see him after we go to Mommy's work, Mommy will be right there, eat your cereal, just a minute, Mommy's getting dressed, etc." while brushing my teeth, straightening my hair, and throwing on some clothes. Then I washed Sasha up, cleaned off the bib, high chair, and counter, packed the diaper bag, and we were off. I had 2 hours to make the 15 minute drive to Stoughton, go to St. Vincent's, the co-op, and the resale store, and drive back home before I had to make lunch, change Sasha, repack the diaper bag and drive to work. When I got home from running errands (15 minutes later than planned) I happened to glance in the mirror, and it was at that point that I realized my shirt was on inside out. Now, I'm going to give myself the benefit of the doubt and assume that I put it on wrong at St. Vincent's when I was trying on clothes, and that I didn't put it on wrong two times in one morning. But still, I can't believe that no one felt the need to tell me that my shirt was on inside out. Geez!

Summer, Don't Go!

I really don't want summer to be over, ever. We got a postcard in the mail yesterday with the kindergarten registration dates. I'm going to miss Jordan so much once he starts school - all day Monday through Friday. Sasha and I will be lonely and bored, I think.

Anyway, these water bottle holders, which I can only describe as awesome, totally say "summer" to me. I have to have water with me at all times, and I hate hate hate carrying it with me when I walk. These really come in handy for walking, running, biking, fairs, craft fairs...any time you want your hands free but you might get thirsty. They also work as a great insulator for your drink on a hot day.

I crocheted them myself using cotton yarn. Although I got the idea from a book, I made the pattern myself. I can make them in any color, and I can make the strap any length. I got some great pictures of my sister Miriam modeling them too.

I think the best thing about these water bottle holders is the reaction they get from older women at craft shows. They don't know what they're for, and their first reaction seems to be that they do something naughty, judging by the giggling. So apparently they have multiple purposes. In any case, they're for sale in my online store at http://www.rainwaterlily.etsy.com/.

Snotty Olives

I, as I imagine most people would be, am pleased any time my children show evidence of possessing interesting or unique talents. Sasha's predilection for squirting pieces of food out of her nose, however, is not my favorite discovery. First there was the fettuccine incident, and now we've had an olive incident. Yes, my daughter somehow managed to inhale several large chunks of black olive into her nasal cavity while eating. She then fussed and cried and said nose nose nose for several minutes, until I finally realized she was saying nose, got a tissue and told her to blow. At this point I saw a little bit of olive poking out of her nose. I told her to blow again, but she's not very good at it yet so that had little effect. Finally I managed to sort of squeeze the olive chunks out of her nose. I can only imagine what she'll get in there next. The only thing I ever had to extract from Jordan's nose was a pea that he inserted himself, in the conventional manner of small children.

In other news, we definitely need to knock down the wasp nests underneath our deck. There are four of them, growing larger by the day. I think they're also building under the kids slide, because Sasha got stung by one the other day when she was over there. Apparently the fact that she can distinguish between flies and wasps and name them correctly doesn't mean that she knows better than to touch a wasp. I had forgotten how much wasp stings hurt, until I accidentally put my arm down on one while hanging up laundry. Thirty-six hours later I have a large red patch surrounding the bite mark on my arm, and it seems to be spreading. I called my mom to ask her if I should be concerned, and she offered helpful advice like "if you can't feel your fingers, then you should be concerned".

I Survived Craft Fair #2

Last weekend I did my second craft fair (in Edgerton). In case anyone couldn't tell by the fact that I've been MIA on any and all social networking sites for the last few weeks, I was a bit busy getting ready. Translated that means, running around like a crazy chicken with my head cut off. But I made it. And I even made some money. Of course, I didn't have nearly as much stuff made as I wanted to/should have, so I didn't make nearly as money as I wanted to/should have. But I did make a small profit after covering my entry fee. And Justin and I had a nice relaxing (ie. kid-free) day together manning my booth. The weather was beautiful and the park where the craft fair was held was very nice. I sold some of my fabulous peppermint bath salts, a cute and cool girl's poncho, one of the water bottle holders I'm so proud of, and a whole bunch of beaded elastic bracelets. Some of my stuff is for sale online at http://www.rainwaterlily.etsy.com/, and I'm hoping to get some of my left over items from the craft show listed soon. If you've got a gift-giving occasion (birthday, baby shower, wedding) coming up and you're looking for something unique for that special someone, drop me a line and I can help with ideas and custom orders. Now I've just got to apply for my next craft show, get more stuff made, and work on getting my freelance writing business off the ground - never a dull moment!

Water, Water Everywhere...

We have tadpoles swimming in our backyard. I really can't believe it. I stand in the dining room and look out into the middle of our backyard and I see what seems like hundreds of tadpoles swimming around, sometimes even leaping out of the water. The kids think it's fabulous and have taken to wading in with Jordan's butterfly net to catch them. Yes, the marsh is now covering about half of our yard, the new compost pile is completely underwater, and the willow tree we planted on what used to be the edge of the marsh is drowned under several inches of water. A family of geese (mom, dad and three babies) has made our yard their home (ie. toilet). Yet I can't find it in myself to be upset. Our home has been spared unlike so many others, and the kids are having a blast. Plus I can get a lot of weeding done in the garden while they're tadpole-hunting. Life continues to surprise me. And speaking of surprises, when I checked my email yesterday, I discovered that I'd made my first sale on Etsy. So exciting! My crafts business is (sort of) taking off. I sold one of my small drawstring crochet cases and am now listing them as a custom item - size, color and type of yarn your choice. Check out my shop at www.rainwaterlily.etsy.com!

Rain, Rain, Go Away

I like rain. Actually I love rain. It makes me moody and happy all at once. One of my favorite feelings. I love to watch rain, listen to it, stand out in it, smell it. I just wish my backyard wasn't full of it. The marsh behind our house has officially taken over our yard. Last year's compost pile is a foot under water, and the new one is well on it's way to being submerged. While I was fine with losing about 8 feet of the the thistle field that was the back of our backyard, losing approximately half of the back yard to water is a bit much. Actually the front yard is pretty much one giant puddle too. Ah, well...not much I can do about it. At least we don't have to go far to find wildlife to expose the kids too. Last Thursday afternoon two of my less squeamish sisters came over to play Frog Hunt with the kids. Jordan, Sasha and our neighbor Abby were thrilled to see and feel a toad, a pine snake, several frogs and some giant earthworms. Even I, who as just about everyone knows, am "such a total girl", was pretty excited by the nature extravaganza. Two of the frogs even still had their little tail stumps. So cool. Especially when the girls put one in our (overflowing) rain barrel so we could get a close up look at the frog in action. I just hope that my garden keeps growing and the new willow trees we just planted survive the deluge.

An Appetizing Tale

The other night for dinner I made fettuccine and scallops with a wine butter sauce. Classy right? So the kids and I are sitting down to eat when Sasha starts choking. I look at her, and can see no evidence of food in her throat, at which point I start to panic. I can't remember if she's had seafood before or not, and figure it would be just my luck that she would be allergic and going into anaphylactic shock. As I sit there wondering whether or not I'll have time to put the food away before heading off to the E.R., she settles down and stops coughing. But a second later she starts crying and saying "nose, nose". She refuses to eat anymore, so I wash her up and set her on the floor to play while I finish my dinner. She fusses and cries, saying "nose, nose" on and off for ten minutes or so. I wonder if her throat hurts from choking and if she's just confused as to what body part is in pain. All of a sudden she walks over by me and sneezes, at which point eight inches or so of fettuccine noodle shoots out of her nose, dripping with snot. No wonder the poor girl was saying "nose, nose". I guess she must have inhaled the noodle while she was choking. I can only imagine the discomfort. I grabbed the noodle and put it in a cup on the table so I could finish eating. A few minutes later I look over just in time to see Sasha grab the cup and eat the noodle. Disgusting! Too bad I didn't have my video camera at hand or I think we'd be up for some serious cash on America's Funniest Home Videos.

Random Notes

Sasha's Vocabulary List: mama, dada, papa, food (which can mean food or, in combination with boob-grabbing, "nurse me NOW"), cheese (which also means any kind of food she likes), ba (means bath), poop, truck/sock/quack/cracker (all pronounced "cock"), hat, bankie (blanket), Jo (Jordan), Ka-ee (Karlye), eye, nose, teeth, cheeks, chest, foot, shoe, ball, bike, Abbie (the neighbor girl), baby (usually in reference to her baby doll), me (while admiring herself in the mirror), boop (means book), a wide array of animal sounds with gorilla (complete with chest thumping) being the current favorite, and several I'm sure I'm forgetting

Theory Confirmed: Just because Sasha is more independent than Jordan was as a baby does not make her easier to care for. Example: Earlier this week she decided to put her face in the water at bath time. She doesn't know that she needs to hold her breath. Bath time ended dramatically with a lovely choking, coughing, crying session. Jordan wouldn't put his face in the water until last summer, age 4. Go figure.

Sentimental Moment: My baby's growing up too fast (and not the little one either). Jordan had kindergarten visitation today! I can't believe I'm old enough to have a child in kindergarten. I'm beset by elementary school flashbacks...

Economic Nightmare Resolved: We had a panic a few weeks ago when Justin (along with 234 other Sub Zero employees) received word that they would be laid off indefinitely as of June 13th. Not only is this not the time to be looking for a job, but even in the best economy other manufacturing jobs around here don't come close to paying what he makes now (ie. enough money to pay our mortgage and assorted other bills). Fortunately they've since lowered the number of lay-offs, and he will not lose his job (or so they say).

Wednesday's Aren't Always Fun Either

I don't know if it's the winter blues or what, but this week just doesn't seem to be getting any easier. I've got a headache that won't quit, and my life has shrunk (was it ever any bigger?) to work, home, and the car. Maybe I'm just too idealistic. I've got a few dream lives stuck in my head, and I don't see any way of making my life more like any of them. Why do I have to be so moody anyway? I complain so much I irritate myself, so I'm now going to attempt to be positive.

Actually there is some exciting news. Miriam's water broke last night, and she's showing signs of actually going into labor. So my newest niece should be here soon! The whole thing still feels unreal to me, but holding the baby always changes that. Another fun occurrence - I beat Jordan at the Thomas the Tank Engine board game we played tonight, in spite of letting him cheat on several occasions. I know you're always supposed to let the kid win, but I'm trying to teach him about fair play and being a good sport (plus I really hate losing every time). We really aren't making very much progress on that front though. In spite of calling it first winner and second winner instead of winner or loser, he still gets upset when he's not first winner, while I maintain the calm and philosophical attitude that you don't always get what you want (otherwise know as "you get what you get and you don't get upset").

Another Un-Fun Monday

Mondays are really never any fun, but today is really extra Monday-ish. Part of that may be that Jordan has the stomach flu, but I think a lot of it is that my weekend wasn't very fun or relaxing. Saturday consisted of Justin being gone all day long for "bar Olympics". Taking care of the kids by myself for the entire day was even less thrilling than usual given that I had to take Sasha in to urgent care in the morning after she fell and hurt her foot. It turned out to be just a little bit of a sprain, but she was limping around miserablely for most of the day. Jordan was just upset that the day wasn't "super fun", since we had to cancel plans to go and visit Miriam and he hates it when we stay home by ourselves. Sunday was actually extremely productive for me (I did 4 loads of dishes, 3 loads of laundry, made ointment and 2 kinds of lotion, and almost finished a doll dress I'm sewing for Karlye), which felt good, but not relaxing. And last night I was up most of the night because of Jordan's stomach ache, etc., so I started off today already wiped out. On the upside, Sasha seems to be pretty much back to normal today, and played quite cheerfully while Jordan languished on the cough watching movies and napping. She was also more than happy to spend snack time and dinner time dropping things off her high chair and saying "uh-oh, dropped" over and over. I think she was worried about Jordan though, because she kept trying to hit him over the head and steal his pillow while he was napping. When he perked up a little bit tonight and sat on the floor by her, she immediately went and sat on his lap and said "sit sit" which is a new word for her. Those two are so cute together. I just hope everything gets back to normal tomorrow and that I get some decent sleep tonight.

The Sasha Is Brilliant Saga Continues

Miss Sasha (often known as Miss by Mom and big brother Jordan) can now say several words, "cheese", "up", and "Dada" being the current favorites. "Yes", "teeth", and "hat" show up sometimes, while "Mama" has all but disappeared. If Sasha's very excited to see me I'm DaDA!, otherwise I have no name.

Always a precocious communicator, Sasha has really started to top herself. A few days ago she was extremely crabby, and it was past nap time. She got my attention, cried for a few seconds, flopped face down on the floor and fussed, then sat up and said "up, up, up" and went over to the stairs. Clearly she was asking me to take her up to her room and put her to bed. She's started bringing over the "diaper bucket" on command when it's time to change her, and today she brought it to me without being asked after she wet her diaper. This evening I was giving her the ultimate treat - bare butt time, and she was being super crabby, so I let her sit on the couch next to me. I thought I smelled something and so I told her no pooping on the couch. About 5 minutes later she got up off the couch and brought me a clean diaper wrap. I asked her if she wanted a diaper on (which normally she avoids at all costs) and she said "yes". So I put one on her and 10 seconds later she filled it up. This from a child who in the past has shown no compunction about wetting and dirtying my carpet at every available opportunity. I must say I was impressed - after all, she's only 14 months old!