snow??

Two days until April and it decides to snow!!! It is the weirdest thing and I'm not liking it much. I'm eagerly anticipating spring, warm weather and instead I get four inches of snow. The dogs had a great time wrestling around in it though.

Our neighbor's tree cracked under the pressure and is hanging over their driveway and yard. It will be weird to see their house in full view when they presumably cut it down.

today you are you

Today you are you! That's truer than true!
There is no one alive who is you-er than you!
Shout loud, "I am lucky to be what I am!
Thank goodness I'm not just a clam or a ham
or a dusty old jar of sour gooseberry jam!
I am what I am! That's a great thing to be!
If I say so myself, Happy Birthday to me!"
-Dr. Seuss

One year ago, I signed up and filled out and broke the ice with an inaugural "here I am, brand new to blogging" post. It seems forever ago and feels sort of weird now. A lot happens in a year and I wasn't sure if I would even stick with it or how much I would share or if I would even post pictures of my children's faces. I look back sometimes at the things I posted and think to myself how silly I was or how I wished I could have expressed my feelings different or the feelings I didn't express and wished I had.

In a weird way, it's been a journey. A journey of self reflection involving joys, rants, misunderstanding, hopefulness, fun, exploration, growth, and expression. A dear friend once said of blogging as cathartic. Oh how true she is. There is something about emotionally purging in written word that automatically makes you feel better about everything.

So here I am one year later, one year older, one year wiser, one year different but also the same and I say to myself I am what I am! That's a great thing to be! If I say so myself, Happy blog Birthday to me!!

corner pocket

I found these terrific pool balls at an antique store. I put them in a clear jar on top of our TV cabinet for all to see. I love them!

parenting tip #2

If you have multiple kids sharing the same cold and flu season, try giving each a color coded small, juice cup for rinsing and storing their toothbrushes. It helps keep the germ spreading down by not sharing the same cup to rinse and it keeps all those little paper cups out of the landfill. It took me one really bad cold season for me to figure this one out. The kids kept passing back and forth the same awful cold. Nightmare!! I swear we were sick for a month!! I originally purchased some really cheap, plastic juice cups and used a sharpie to write their names on the cups. The problem, the sharpie would wear off in the dishwasher. Yesterday I saw these cute different colored cups for 99 cents each at Target. Instead of writing the kids' names on them, I just picked out a different color for each.

three potato four

A new favorite must see site and blog. Swoon.

aloha

The big J-man and I are Maui bound this summer for 7 nights in honor of our 10 year anniversary. I couldn't be more thrilled! J and I are home-bodies in a big way, so this is a major deal for us to leave the 2.5 kids and 1.5 dogs with the grandparents to vacation on a tropical island. Now we are on Maui diets!!!

perplexing

Things I don't understand:

1. why bananas make me cough
2. bike riders who ride on the white line causing traffic to slow down to 15 so they don't get hit by on coming cars in opposite lane . . . . . why not just ride in the bike lane????
3. cats
4. why bad food always tastes so good and good for you food always tastes so bad
5. clutter accumulation (I swear it breeds when I sleep along with dirty laundry - it's a conspiracy)
6. gas prices
7. Fiber One bars (speaking of gas)
8. neighbors
9. poodle hair cut
10. toddlers
11. George W. Bush
12. people who don't use their turn signals
13. energy drinks
14. Yogos
15. sibling rivalry

c'est la vie

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this print from dazeychic!!! I want to order it but I keep holding off. But I can't tell you how much I am in love with it. From it's juicy green back ground to one of my most favorite sayings, I feel the need to have it. So J if you are reading, this print needs to live in our home. Wink, wink!!

You can find other lovely work from Studio Mela at her etsy shop. Everything is really fabulous!

people, people

I ordered these super cute little wooden dolls for The Divine Miss O and they arrived yesterday. The "love sisters" are super sweet and the balding head of the doctor just proves the detail that went into these. You can find them at april m designs. Miss O loves them so much, that I ordered the grandma and grandpa set yesterday.

play ball

shop update

I finally posted the adorable gingerbread girl top and pants set in our Etsy shop. Go take a look. Wendy did a fabulous job on the pants. She's a sewing genius!!

go green

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!

truths and lies

Telling the truth and lying has been a big topic of conversation in the Little Irish house with our six and half year old. Wonder Boy is now of the age where he realizes telling the truth about doing something that isn't nice or wrong will ultimately get him in trouble. He's taken to immediately blaming his little sister which pushes our family into a tailspin of crying and yelling and mass confusion. The noise level instantly goes up fifty notches with just three simple words: "She did it!" As a parent this saddens me a tad because all I want to do is to trust and protect my children.

"It's just the age" I'm often reassured. I know this is true. There is that time in your life when you realize you can do what you want, lie about it to avoid punishment and if you are manipulative enough, you are successful. Some children grow into adult and still posses this trait. They get so good at lying and manipulating in which it just becomes a daily habit. I know one or two very well. They just don't mind the consequences that eventually finds them; or by the time the consequences finds them, it's been so long that the punishment is never hard enough therefore doesn't affect their life enough for them to stop lying.

Yesterday, Wonder Boy had two little moments in his life where something happened and we were unsure of "who did it". When I asked Wonder Boy about it, he denied it. After somewhat grilling him over it, he fessed up to the first "no-no" which in hindsight was not a big deal. He wasn't respectful to something of mine basically. It was the lying about it that upset me most.

"Why not just tell me what happened?" I asked. "Because I knew you would get mad about it." he said. "But don't you understand that lying about something gets you in far worse trouble then what actually happened?" I answer. Through tears . . . "yes" he replies.

The second situation is still leaving me in uncertainty. I heard something being said, something not all that nice, at a birthday party. When I asked Wonder Boy if he said it, of course he denied and blamed it on the boy sitting next to him. I don't really have a way to investigate. I could ask around and see if anyone else heard who said it, but do I really want to admit to friends that my child said something inappropriate and hurtful????? Which is what I would be doing. I explained to Wonder Boy calling people names or commenting on their body types is just not okay. I reminded him that his feelings would be really hurt if he heard someone say such things about him. All of which he seems to understand fully. He is a sensitive lad . . . . . most of the time.

With all this swirling through my head and us sitting at the dinner table last night, Wonder Boy picks up a McDonald's toy with a real-life picture of a woman dressed like Ariel, The Little Mermaid. "Are there real mermaids?" he asks. Scanning the room and seeing his four year old sister looking up at me with all the mystery and magic a little girl could possibly muster up in her little girl head. Staring up at me with her big brown eyes as if to ask "Well mom, are there?" The words "Yes, of course" pop out of my mouth before I could stop myself. Moving my eyes slowly back to Wonder Boy and feeling a sudden lurch in the pit of my stomach. I just lied, in a way, I think.

As parents, we often 'fib' to our children: Santa Claus, flying reindeer, the Easter Bunny, Leprechauns, fairies, elves, mermaids. As we take a bite out of those cookies and make Easter baskets in secret to be left out for morning, we know there won't be a man dressed in red squeezing down our chimneys and there won't be a rabbit hopped up on growth hormones with a vest and bow tie dropping off baskets for the kids on Sunday morning. We are creating magical moments in our children's' life. Fantasy. Mystery. Enjoyment. And I whole heartily want to create these fantastic memories for my children to be passed onto theirs. What I struggle with is the consumerism of these holidays. Another toy, another basket, another thing to buy just to be buying. After all, these are the fundamentals of making money at Disneyland let us not forget. Created magic to be bought into. But I'm not bashing Disneyland because I Love it there. I buy into it one hundred percent. I'm the one skipping down the street to the music and pointing hysterically to Alice and the Mad Hatter.

However, can we really teach kids to not lie when we are ourselves are asking them to buy into the "not truths" all the time? Can we teach our kids to always tell the truth when we tell them Santa Claus won't bring them toys if they aren't good? After a few minutes lost in my thoughts, struggling with what is real and the truth with what is downright lying and fibbing for the sake of childhood memories is where I sit. At my dining room table. Staring at my inquisitive son eating his dinner seemingly pondering the world around him. "Actually Wonder Boy. This picture is a real woman dressed up like Ariel for the Disney on Ice show based on the Disney cartoon, The Little Mermaid. She, herself, is not a real mermaid." I say. "Oh! Can I have more rice?" he says.

Go figure!

project daily: day 6

1. toddler carnival

2. lunch with friends

3. birthday party fun

project daily: day 5

1. hike with the girls (in the rain)

2. pick up Wonder Boy (no pic)

3. dinner out with the fam - yum!

project daily: day 4

1. drop Miss O off at school

2. preschool land for Baby Love and I

3. pick Miss O up from her dance class (no pic)

3. impromtu lunch/play date with ballerinas

4. home

5. pick Wonder Boy up school

6. tae kwon do

7. home

8. pilates (imagine this picture with a big ball and very, very sore legs)

project daily: day 3

1. drop Wonder Boy off at school

2. early to speech, stop at Starbucks
3. drop Miss O off at speech
4. Target run
5. pick Miss O up from speech

6. home (no pic)

7. pick up Wonder Boy

8. play date with cake!

9. home again

10. hot yoga - awe!!

project daily: day 2

1. drop Miss O off at school

2. Baby Love and I go to preschool land

3. drop off movies

4. get money

5. home again, home again, jiggy jig

(Frieda the Super Mutt waiting for me)

6.pick up Wonder Boy

7. stop for a pick-me-up (Don't judge me, I have three kids!)

8. weight watchers

9. home at last - g'night!

project daily: day 1

Oh the places you'll go . . . .

1. drop Miss O off at school

2. Baby Love and I go to preschool land

(The Reptile Man came to preschool land with interesting critters! What fun!)

3. pick Miss O up from school

4. Home! Found gift on front door from my Mystery Mama (Yay!)

5. Pooch Spa came to us for Angus' first hair cut

6. pick Wonder Boy up school . . . this was the first day they got excused from class without their teacher walking them to the kindergarten gate.

7. back home (didn't take another picture)

Angus Andrews II

Pooch Spa came to our house today for Angus' first grooming appointment. The Divine Miss O's observed "He is a 'fancy boy' now!!" He's a fancy boy indeed.