I just found this clip from over the summer. It cracks me up. They were so little!
My Funny Valentines
Yes, Valentine’s Day was two days ago, but I took the photos on Valentine’s Day. You didn’t really expect me to do anything on time, did you?
It was a good one. We had a picnic in the living room of cheeses, bread, fruits, sausage, and wine for Dad and Mom. We went through Spencer and Axel’s Valentines from school and Charley and I had a good laugh.
A few popular Valentine card themes this year:
High School Musical. “Rock On Valentine!” (tattoo of Troy included)
Transformers “Freedom is the RIGHT of all sentient beings, Valentine.”
Nascar “9” I’m guessing if you are a true Nascar fan you understand this.
Bratz “Have a fun and flirty day”
*Please God, let Bratz be passe’ by the time Piper and Tuesday are in school.
Apparently Smurfs and Ms. Pac-Man are no longer en vogue.
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A good man is hard to find
Saturday has fast become my favorite day of the week. I’m sure that Spencer and Axel agree. I sleep in and they help dad make pancakes. I’m not sure how it will go when there are four little butts up on the counter, cracking eggs and mixing batter, but for now, Saturday morning is bliss. The past two weekends I woke up to jammie clad little people climbing in to my bed to proclaim, “It’s time for PANCAKES!” And don’t forget the fresh cup of coffee. Lovely.
Pardon me while I brag on Charley for a moment more. Flowers delivered two weeks in a row, AND he did the plumbing in my new laundry room and bathroom. Flannery O’Conner said it best, A Good Man is Hard to Find. How did I get so lucky?
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Heath Ledger, Cloverfield, and the search for contentment
Two noteworthy things happened this week. Charley and I went to a movie, which happens about 4 times a year, and the death of Heath Ledger.
I’m not a Heath Ledger fan. It’s not that I didn’t like him, it’s just that I wasn’t all that familiar with his work. Like I said, we only get to the movies about 4 times a year and Brokeback Mountain didn’t make the list. My knowledge of him comes entirely from flipping thru US Magazine while getting my hair done or toes painted. But I was shocked by his death. My first reaction to the news of his death was, “Oh no! Doesn’t he have a baby?” It was pointed out to me that he is not my age and that I was in fact 7 years older, but we are both parents of little ones and it just really shook me. I felt the same way when River Phoenix OD’d. I was backpacking through Europe with my best friend and we heard he died and I started to cry. It didn’t seem possible. He was young and just having a good time. Like me. And now I’m on the other side of things. The parent side, and again I’m thinking, He’s young and just having a good time. They are saying that we’ve lost a great actor and I’m sure that is true. But a little girl lost her daddy and where I am right now in my life, that is too painful to even think about.
I’m not a Heath Ledger fan. It’s not that I didn’t like him, it’s just that I wasn’t all that familiar with his work. Like I said, we only get to the movies about 4 times a year and Brokeback Mountain didn’t make the list. My knowledge of him comes entirely from flipping thru US Magazine while getting my hair done or toes painted. But I was shocked by his death. My first reaction to the news of his death was, “Oh no! Doesn’t he have a baby?” It was pointed out to me that he is not my age and that I was in fact 7 years older, but we are both parents of little ones and it just really shook me. I felt the same way when River Phoenix OD’d. I was backpacking through Europe with my best friend and we heard he died and I started to cry. It didn’t seem possible. He was young and just having a good time. Like me. And now I’m on the other side of things. The parent side, and again I’m thinking, He’s young and just having a good time. They are saying that we’ve lost a great actor and I’m sure that is true. But a little girl lost her daddy and where I am right now in my life, that is too painful to even think about.
There was the same reality check in Cloverfield. I’m not in to horror flicks, but I do like J.J. Abrams and we were excited to see it. Without giving too much away, it’s a Godzilla-like movie for a new generation. It’s a little but scary, a little bit fun, and in the end the monster destroys life as you know it.
So that is the theme this week. I don’t like it. Just a good reminder to enjoy life, our kids, each other, the triumphs and the mundane, because life is precious and you never know what lies ahead.
Wow. That really turned in to a downer post.
So that is the theme this week. I don’t like it. Just a good reminder to enjoy life, our kids, each other, the triumphs and the mundane, because life is precious and you never know what lies ahead.
Wow. That really turned in to a downer post.
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My ears have been plugged for 6 days now. It started as a head cold and moved in to my ears. I’m thinking about sticking a pencil in there if I don’t get some relief soon. I’ve been Googling for home remedies and the best I’ve come up with is “try swallowing a few times in a row or yawning.” Wow! What a great idea?! Yawning? I never would have thought of that.
It’s not that I’m looking for some magic pill. What I’m looking for, is well, magic. The kind of magic that grandma had. (Ok, not My Grandma) What I’m looking for is some old timey remedy. Aren’t we moms supposed to have an arsenal of those tricks in our bag?
My husbands’ Gram used to cure a sore throat with something he refers to as a “potato peelus”. I’m sure the name is wrong and his memory isn’t quite exact, but it entailed putting a potato in a pair of her underwear and tying that combo around the victim, I mean, patient’s neck. I suppose the thought was that the potato would leech the infection out through your neck, and the underwear, well something magic must happen when potatoes and polyester are in close contact. Whatever. Just ask Charley. It worked. He mentions it every time one of us gets a sore throat. It worked because
A) You were going to get better in the next 24 hours anyway (and the potato pellus was just a bonus?)
B) Some Psycho-somatic potato power.
C) She said it works. End of discussion.
That’s what us modern day moms are missing. Some of that magic factor. The pomp and circumstance and dare I say, which craft rolled in to one. We’ve got Tylenol or Motrin. Don’t get me wrong, they have saved me and a screaming baby more that once, and yet, no magic. I’ve done the chicken soup, cold wash cloth on the forehead, olive oil in the ear, but 9 times out of 10, if the kids are sick it’s the Pediatrician’s recommendation to give them a little Tylenol. If your son comes home with a black eye are you going to bust out a steak? Nope, Motrin.
Maybe it’s just me. I did grow up in an Alternative Medicine family. My dad was a chiropractor, back when it was still embarrassing to be the kid of a Chiropractor. But I’m still going to look for those magic remedies. I might even start inventing my own. Bruise on your knee? Rub it with a shiny quarter. Chicken Pox? You’ll need a carrot juice enema. Ear infection? stuff your ear canal with a little bread soaked in vinegar. Then my kids can say to their kids, “Your throat hurts? What you need is a good old fashion Potato Peelus.”
Ok. I’m off to stick some vinegar soaked bread in my ear canal. I’ll let you know if it’s works. And even if it doesn’t, my kids will remember it as one of Mom’s magical cures.
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