Tomatoes & Tinkles

Today I'm thankful for...

1. The first little green tomato on our tomato vine! Lillian gave me four starter tomato plants for Mother's Day- her school has a plant sale fundraiser every year that is strategically scheduled the week before Mother's Day. ;-) After a disappointing (as in virtually non-existant) harvest last year I wasn't planning on doing, tomatoes this year. However, Lillian knows how much I aspire to have a vegetable garden just like Gpa's (and tomatoes also happen to be her favorite food), and when she presented me with the plants for Mother's Day my hopes and dreams were rekindled. Each tomato plant has its own pot along the front walkway, where they've been lovingly watched over and watered during the course of the past few weeks. First we noticed the plants having growth spurts, then little yellow flowers started popping up, and finally today Lillian noticed the first tomato So exciting!

2. A bathroom that no longer smells like a Porta-John. I used to think that it was a lucky blessing that boys were programmed with the ability to pee standing up. Now I'm convinced it's a curse- at least for every Mom who ever has, currently is, and someday will, potty train a little boy. Liam is finally almost completely potty trained, and his aim is actually pretty good most of the time. But every now and then he won't be paying attention when his little hose starts a-spraying, and that, combined with the absence of my weekly cleaning of the bathroom, tends to leave it pretty stinky the majority of the time. I sincerely apologize to anyone who has had to subject themselves to the usage of my bathroom recently. It's clean now, but it won't last long! Thank goodness for disinfecting wipes and bleach.

3. Friends who are like asphalt. My heart has a little ache for my friends who are moving away this year. I'm excited for them and the new phase they are about to begin in their lives, but I'll miss their companionship. I love the way this quote explains friendship; it's so true.



4. And speaking of hearts... Yesterday the kids were drinking Capri Sun juices. They had just come out of the fridge and Liam was chugging his through the straw. Then he suddenly stopped, all out of breath from drinking so much, and he declared, "My heart is cold!!" Haha!

Mini-golf, Leap-frog and more

Today I'm thankful for...

1. Bobby's surprise trip home. He spends a lot of time driving and sacrifices many hours of sleep to be home with us. I'm grateful that he wants to be home with his wife and family.

2. Mini-golf at Franklin Square! I scrapped my YMCA kettlebell workout so we could join some friends for the outing. The initial plan was for Lillian to go with them while I took Syd and Liam to my Y workout, but late last night I got word from the mom that she actually didn't have room in her car due to seating arrangements and such, which meant Lillian couldn't go. She had been so excited and was telling everyone about her plans earlier that day. She was totally heartbroken when I gave her the bad news, but she handled it very well despite the fact that I could tell she wanted to burst into tears about it. I felt so bad for her, and the next thing I knew I was offering to skip my workout so I could take her instead. I love my kettlebells, but I love Lilly more. And mini golf was fun! Lillian got two hole-in-ones- the best one was the last one which was the Liberty Bell and she made it ring! Sydney swung her golf club like a baseball bat, and Liam never took less than 20 strokes to get the ball in each hole. I see a bright future of mini-golfing for my family.







3. Leap-frog and leg wrestling on the living room floor, followed by a silly dance party.

4. My whole little family gathered around the dining table together to share a taco dinner.

5. Kids in bed when it's still light outside.

Best Day Ever

Today I'm so thankful for...

1. Energy and a joyful heart.

2. Hosting an awesome play date in the morning. Sydney invited over a little boy from her primary class at church and ALL the kids played together so nicely... a mother's play date dream come true! He brought a bag of pretzels to share with everyone, we did tornadoes in a bottle which entertained them for much longer than I expected and it was awesome to see how excited and interested they were in it. We changed it up a bit and dyed the water blue, then added some bubbles and that was fun. On another round we added some oil to the water to see what that would do. After tornadoes we did exploding volcanoes with baking soda and vinegar. Then the kids played house and family, vet and construction worker. It was play date bliss.


Bubble tornado

3. Sprinklers and Slip n Slide in the neighbor's yard.

4. A surprise trip to the nail salon for a manicure, treated by my other neighbor, while the sprinkler neighbor watched all my kids. Now my nails are so pretty and shiny! They gave me a great excuse not to do the dishes tonight. :-)

5. Dinner out with the kids and my manicure neighbor... He's like the best neighbor ever. Especially for putting up with Liam who kept jumping in the seat, hanging over the back, and needed constant reminding to eat his food.



6. The library and electrical workers. When we were leaving for dinner a big thunderstorm hit. By the time we got back home the power was out on our street. We went to the library instead where the lights were on and the air conditioning was still working. An armful of books later we went back home. The power was still out so we got flashlights and hung out outside with the rest of the neighborhood while the kids chased fireflies around. Just as Sydney was starting to get really sad about the power being out and Daddy being gone, the lights came back on! Yay!

7. One tuckered out little boy.

I'm a Hero and I Rock!

Today I'm thankful for...

1. Liam's monster drawing




2. The picture Lillian drew for me, of me.



3. My Hero status. I came across Lillian's autobiography project and found that she wrote this about me. It made my heart soar! I don't feel like a superhero mom, but it's nice to know that someone around here thinks I am. :)


Transcription: My mom is my hero because she does everything for me like makes my dinner, makes lunch, helps me when I get hurt and makes my eggs for breakfast. I love her because she does my hair in a bun, braid or ponytail. I especially love my mom because she rocks!

4. The way Sydney sleeps with her little hands tucked under her head. She has slept like that ever since she was a baby and it's the cutest thing. I hope she never grows out of it.

I'm a Hero and I Rock!

Today I'm thankful for...

1. Liam's monster drawing




2. The picture Lillian drew for me, of me.



3. My Hero status. I came across Lillian's autobiography project and found that she wrote this about me. It made my heart soar! I don't feel like a superhero mom, but it's nice to know that someone around here thinks I am. :)


Translation: My mom is my hero because she does everything for me like makes my dinner, makes lunch, helps me when I get hurt and makes my eggs for breakfast. I love her because she does my hair in a bun, braid or ponytail. I especially love my mom because she rocks!

4. The way Sydney sleeps with her little hands tucked under her head. She has slept like that ever since she was a baby and it's the cutest thing. I hope she never grows out of it.

Today I'm thankful for....

1. The way Liam says "conscuse me" instead of "excuse me."  It makes me smile and laugh inside every time I hear him say it.  I know I'll miss it when the day comes that he figures out how to say it the right way.

2. Kettlebells.  They make me sore in all the right places.  A few weeks ago I did 500 kettlebell swings during class.  Today we were swinging and squatting, and doing burpees in between.  It feels great!

3. Summer Vacation!  Lillian had her last day of school yesterday.  She's officially done with second grade!  I'm most excited because I don't have to pack a school lunch for the next two months!  Or go to the bus stop twice a day.  Or remember to sign the homework and reading logs.  Or help with homework, presentations, and writing assignments.  Or remind Lillian to do all of her homework, presentations, and writing assignments. Or drop her snack off at the front office when she forgets it at home.  I LOVE summer vacation!  :-)

And YAY for Lillian for doing an awesome job in second grade!  She learned so much this year. In math- counting money, telling time, adding and subtracting big numbers in a million different ways that I never knew existed (some of which still don't make sense to me...the way they teach math these days is just weird), solving countless word problems about stickers; it's not always her favorite subject, but she does well in math.  In reading she progressed so much.  It's amazing to hear her read out loud, and she even started reading Harry Potter recently.  She also started Spanish this year and was part of a Spanish play called "Animales Internacionales" put on by the entire second grade.  In science she did weight and motion, grew plants, watched caterpillars morph into butterflies, and lots of other stuff.  She really likes doing science experiments and exploring things.  I want to cultivate this interest within her.  In social studies she learned maps just like Grandpa Barker. :-)  She also learned about Harriet Tubman and her work in the underground railroad, and she dressed up as Susan B. Anthony for the Second Grade Wax Museum.  It was a busy, fun, and productive year.  Here's to a wonderful third grade year as well!

4. Swimming at the pool, even though it was freezing.  I packed a picnic dinner and we ate on towels in the grass at pool-side.  The kids were so cold after swimming that Sydney was shaking so hard she could hardly hold her fork still enough to stab her food, and Liam was wrapped up so tight in his blanket that he couldn't get his arms out so I fed him all his food.  Despite the cold they had such a good time.  Lillian even got back in the water twice after drying off.  Liam is still a little fish who loves getting wet and going under water.  He can now float on his back, which he is very proud of.  Sydney was tickled pink that she could touch the bottom with her toes and keep her head above water at the same time.  It's proof that she's growing!  :)  I look forward to getting into the water with them all summer long!

5. Quiet, uninterrupted time to sort through boring stacks of paper.  My desk and the surrounding area are being overrun by papers and clutter piles.  A dear friend watched Sydney and Liam for me while Lillian was at a birthday party so I could sort, file, shred, and organize in peace.

6. Bedtime with Daddy.  Bobby has been away a lot the past two and a half months.  He's rotating in Baltimore again, which means he's only home on weekends (unless he's on call) and maybe one other night during the week.  Last year Lillian had a hard time with this and her stomach would often hurt around bedtime.  This year, it's Sydney's turn to have a hard time.  When she gets sad or upset, she will often burst into tears and cry out, "I want DADDY!!!!"  When she misbehaves or throws a fit, the excuse for her behavior is, "I just miss Daddy," and it's usually accompanied by a very pouty-looking face.  She frequently asks when Daddy will be home or if he's on call.

At bedtime I see it the most.  She feels unsettled, needs a lot of comfort items around her, and makes a lot of requests for things like her special blanket from Grandma BB and Grandma Rita, foot rubs, a back scratch, eye massage, leg rubs because she has growing pains, a drink of water, her Moon Book (that lights up), the lights on more, the lights on less; she wants me to lay with her, sing her a song; she wants to lay in my bed, she has to go to the bathroom.....it takes her for.ev.er to fall asleep.  She used to always be the first one asleep, but since Bobby has been gone she's usually the last.  I guess it could be attributed to her developmental stage and is 'just a part of growing up,' but my hunch is that it's because she misses her daddy.  When he's around she snuggles with him more than she ever has, and I often catch her giving him surprise kisses on his cheeks.  Bobby of course soaks it up as much as he can, which he should.  Winning Sydney's love and affection is no easy task, and it's definitely something to cherish.

7. And speaking of bedtime and children sleeping...I love it when all three of them fall asleep in my bed and when I go in to check on them, they are laying all over the place and all over each other.  Sydney will have a leg draped over Liam, whose head will be on Lillian, whose arm will be across Liam's face.  I don't know how they sleep like that, but it cracks me up.  My little angels asleep in a heap.

Michael Jackson and Tacos

Tonight I'm thankful for...

1. Michael Jackson dance parties with neighborhood friends.

2. The way my kids devour tacos and how Liam gets sour cream on his nose.

3. Holding hands with Lillian while I sing bedtime songs and she drifts off to sleep, then giving her 3 squeezes to say I-Love-You and getting 4 squeezes back to say I-Love-You-Too...our secret little code we've been doing for years.  She's still my little girl.

4. The way Sydney will eat an entire bowl of cherries, and then inevitably have diarrhea later, but how that won't stop her from eating another bowl of cherries tomorrow.

5. My house.  I have to remind myself how happy and excited I was to move into it three years ago.  Now that we are very settled into it and we've had time to examine and experience every crack and flaw that it has to offer, I have to still be grateful for it.  It's a huge improvement from where we were before (in terms of both space and location), plus it's on an awesome street, and I know I won't live here forever (just one more year, in fact...not that I'm counting down or anything).  So even though it seems like clutter piles are EVERYWHERE and toys are spilling off shelves and laying all over the floors, and sometimes I think I'm going to explode from the chaos that is housed within these walls, I am still grateful to call it home.

6. My malfunctioning endocrine system and the anxiety that it causes.  I'm not actually grateful for this, but I am grateful for my improved ability to identify it, recognize it, and realize that it's not a normal way to feel.  I do not take my "normal days" (which hopefully are more often than not...) for granted, and I've learned to recognize those as well and to savor in the ease and joy that they bring.