Thanksgiving Come and Gone

Every year I marvel at how quickly the Thanksgiving weekend comes and goes. And this year is no different. For a few weeks, I couldn't wait for the "holidays" to get here, and now, well, that panicky, there's-so-much-to-do-and-not-nearly-enough-time-to-do-it-all feeling is setting in. But let's not get ahead of ourselves.

Thanksgiving was great--I might almost say relaxing. (But really, with two boys ages 3 and 1/2 and 1 and 1/2, is anything really "relaxing"? I think not.) My mom (Baba) arrived on Tuesday night and ran some errands for us on Wednesday, including hitting the dreaded grocery store on the day before Thanksgiving. She also started cooking. I went to work on Wednesday, and the boys went to daycare (after staying home both Monday and Tuesday--not a bad work week!), and I picked them up right after their naps. The boys played with Baba until dinnertime. After the bath-books-bed routine, Mom and I stayed up late making apple and blueberry pie tarts. On Thursday morning, we made a few side dishes and then headed over to Ed's parents' for Thanksgiving Dinner.

The boys had a great time, despite no naps and not eating, and we didn't get home until after 9:45 p.m. We were all tired, but it had turned out to be a stress-free holiday, which is the most anyone can ask for, right? On Friday, Ed had to work, and since the boys woke up super-early, despite their late bedtimes and lack of naps the day before, we laid low and played at home all day and guarded the naps. We did not participate in Black Friday, so no spectacular deals. But I'm really not a Black Friday kind of gal, so it's okay. (Although after reading some blog descriptions of the deals scored, I may have to give it a whirl next year!)

While we did not go shopping on Friday, we did get out both Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday, Mom and I took the boys to Target and then to buy new shoes. On Sunday, Mom and I went out while Ed stayed home with the boys, and Mom spoiled me rotten. New shoes for me, a new duvet for our bed, some toys for the kids, and some Christmas decorations--retail therapy at its finest! And when we got home, Ed had taken the kids to the mall to meet his parents, so I came home to a quiet house and was able to rest before everyone came home. Not a bad way to end a busy weekend!

So now I'm staring down the barrel at Christmas, and trying to stay focused on the pleasure of the season, and not the stress! Our plan is to get the tree up and decorated this weekend, along with the rest of the house. I have a few activities I want to do with the kids--make gingerbread houses and cookies and homemade ornaments. I also want to take them to get their Santa pictures, but I'm thinking we may play hooky one day to get that done. I've gotten most of the shopping done, although I have no idea what to get Ed. Usually I have least have some good ideas for stocking stuffers, but I'm drawing a complete blank this year. I may have to go with the meat-of-the-month club! LOL. Regardless, let the madness begin. I vow to control the things I can, to let go of the things I can't, and to keep expectations low! Mostly, though, I'm loving experiencing the joy of Christmas through the eyes of a 3 and 1/2 year old.

Thanking My First Commenters

I saw this post by Jennifer at Playgroups are No Place for Children, who got the idea from Neil at Citizen of the Month. I went back to my earliest posts, in September 2006, and in my first month, I got exactly 3 comments. (Not bad!) The first was from my sister, who doesn't have a blog, so I can't link to her blog. The second was from my friend, MJ, who didn't have a blog then, although she does now. And my third comment was from my friend Becky, who also doesn't have a blog, but who has been a loyal reader since the beginning, and whose comments always make me smile!

LauraC, whose blog inspired my blog, was my first "stranger" comment. I was beside myself when she first commented, since she kind-of had "superstar" status at the time. Of course, she still has "superstar" status, but it seems funny thinking of her as a stranger now, since we have actually hung out in each other's houses and she is now definitly a "real life" friend!

My SIL Cheri was an early commenter, and I'm very touched that she enjoys the blog so much.

My two most "famous" commenters were Jennifer from Playgroups, and Liz from Mom-101. I still can't believe that they took the time to comment on my blog. They have hundreds of readers and their blogs actually make money and they speak at conferences and go on TV and stuff.

I think those of us who blog can all agree that comments are awesome and very validating. I think I would still blog even if I got no comments, but thinking about my "audience" often inspires me to get off my butt and post. I have met so many amazing women through blogging, and I love the feeling of community that we have all built up together.

And of course, I love my "real life" friends and family who read my blog and either comment on my posts, or send me emails (TF and ME), or tell me that they read my blog when they eventually see me. Sometimes it's a bit disconcerting, and I have to admit that I do censure what I write, knowing whose reading my blog, but that's okay. I think that's all a part of it. If I was only writing for myself, I doubt I would have kept this up for so long.

So thank you, thank you, thank you to all my readers--those of you who take precious time out of your day to catch up on my life. It means a lot to me, whether you comment or not! I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving, with fabulous food, family, football, and fun! (How's that for alliteration?) And I am determined to get lots of family pictures this year. I say that every year, but this year, I'm really going to follow through!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Casa Hahn

And so we begin. This is our "home." I put it in quotes because we are renting. We signed a 2-year lease, but I think Ed would be willing to break it if we find the house of our dreams. At any rate, this picture was taken in the dead of winter, so you don't get to see all of the green plants and flowers that grow around the foundation. You also don't get to see my pots of pink geraniums and variegated ivy that are still blooming on the front stoop, nor my pots of pink begonias that are also still blooming. I know I should have done the mums and pansies a while back, but I really don't like mums and pansies. Anyway, moving on.

When you open the front door, this is what you see. Living room and dining room when you walk in, then straight through to the eat-in kitchen, and a bump-out family room. I should mention that this townhouse is really big. I think it's about 2500 sq. ft., and the ceilings are 9 ft. Not bad for a townhouse!
This is the view of the front door and hall closet from inside, with the stairs going up and the stairs going down.


This is a closer view of the living/dining room.


The living room from the other direction. Now I can start telling you a little bit about our interior design theme. We call it, "put all the inherited crap together and call it a room!" The couch was Ed's parents' living room couch going back to the early 80s. It's actually comfortable, so I don't mind it too much. The club chair and ottoman belonged to Ed's aunt and uncle. It's a hideous paisley pattern with turquoise blues and pinks. It goes so nicely with the garden-theme rug from Ed's parents. The coffee table belonged to my parents. It goes back almost 50 years. My mom and I stripped it and refinished it a while ago. It's kind of rickety, but it's the kind of table you can put your feet on. And Seth loves to climb on it. It has rounded corners as an added bonus. The entertainment center is actually the first piece of furniture Ed and I bought together. I like it, even though entertainment centers are so yesterday. I don't like the speakers on top, but whatever. The cabinet in the window is actually a cool piece of furniture--it's a wet bar: the doors open and the top flips open and there's all kinds of compartments and drawers inside for storing liquor. I don't really like the style, though. I think it's Danish teak. At the very least, it's 50s mod (Art Deco LJ?) and just not my style. So, that's the living room. Moving on!

Dining room: This is where we crammed the rest of our furniture! Ugly ugly Danish teak table that I will be so happy to get rid of! Ed inherited it from someone--don't know who. The china cabinet is from Ed's grandmother. I like it a lot, but it's pretty beat up. Regardless, I'd like to eventually get a table and sideboard to complement it. The piece in the corner is a 1919 Victrola. It works, and it's really cool. But it's big and there's no good place for it. I got it for Ed for his MBA graduation. The piano is awesome, but not in the dining room. The little table to the right of the piano is kind of cool, but it's just there because we have no other place for it. It's also in terrible condition, but I think it came from Ed's grandmother, too. Finally, the picture over the piano is one of the few pieces of artwork that we actually have on the walls. Because we're renting, Ed is very disinclined to hang pictures. They're all stacked in his closet, still in their bubble wrap. It does seem like a huge effort to get them out, hang them, only to have to repack them and then Spackle and paint walls in less than a year and a half. But I know it would make the house look so much better if we would just put stuff on the walls. So my compromise is to find light wall decor that we can hang with the 3M sticky stuff or very small tacks. Still working on that.

So then we get to the kitchen. I actually like the kitchen a lot--not the wood cabinets so much, but the layout and size. There's tons of cabinet space, and I love the island.

This is the view from the other side, looking back into the living/dining room.


What I really love about the kitchen is my pantry. I don't think I can ever live without a pantry again. All of my appliances and platters and serving dishes are in one place--by the kitchen! In my past two houses, I had to store that stuff in the basement. But no more!


Moving on! Looking past the kitchen, you'll see the "family room," with the eat-in part of the kitchen to the left. The family room is a bump-out, maybe 10 x 10. We didn't put any furniture in this area, preferring to use it more as a playroom for the boys. To the right is a glass-sliding door that leads to a little deck. Unfortunately, there are no stairs leading from the deck to the ground below. We have to go down to the basement to go out the back.

Also, if you look closely at the above picture, you can see the pictures we had done of the boys at Picture People a few weeks ago. I haven't even unwrapped the picture yet. I don't think we're going to hang it there, anyway, because it's not big enough, and I have another picture I want to put over the fireplace. But I do want to hang the picture somewhere!

Anyway, this is a closer look at the kitchen table area. It's screaming for something on the walls. I have something in mind, but I just have to convince Ed that we can use tiny, light nails.

We also have a powder room on the main level, to the left of the kitchen as you're walking in. I did frame some of the boys' artwork in plastic, acrylic box frames, and I hung those in the bathroom, and over the desk area in the kitchen.


So now, moving upstairs. When you get to the top of the stairs, you'll see our laundry room. (It's actually a closet, but whatever.) I LOVE having the laundry room upstairs!

To the left is the master bedroom. We have a duplicate of the lovely garden rug that graces the living room. It goes so well with the duvet cover on the unmade bed. (My bed is always unmade.) I hate that we sleep on a boxspring and mattress, and don't have a real bed. We bought a bedroom set when we got married, but were too cheap to buy the bed. Plus our last bedroom wasn't really big enough for a full headboard and footboard. But that was a BIG mistake.

Anyway, the bedroom is huge and has two walk-in closets. My closet is on the right. That's also my computer desk to the right. It's a cheap little desk that I bought when I first moved in with Ed. It does the job, I guess. The master bath is the door to the right. The bathroom is over the bump-out family room on the main level. It's huge!

It's also ugly! I'd replace the vanity and paint the walls if this was my house. But it's not. So I don't even bother using matching towels and accessories. What's the point? It has a great soaking tub, though, and that's where the boys usually take a bath every night. The shower stall is to the right of the tub, and sometimes the boys will shower.


Speaking of the boys, this is Seth's room. I took this picture at night while he was asleep. Holy flash! If you look closely, you can see him in the crib. I want to hang the curtains that go with his bedding, but again, why put holes in the walls if we're gonna leave soon?

I hung William's valences, but only because the little hooks were already there. And I hung them on those cheap rods that are meant to be covered. It was supposed to be temporary, but I have a feeling it will stay like that until we move out. The furniture in William's room was Ed's when he was growing up, and it was Ed's dad's before that. Eventually, William will get our bedroom furniture, and Seth will get this set.


This is the boys' bathroom. At least I hung a shower curtain!


Now we're moving back downstairs and down one more flight of stairs to the basement.

The couch and chair in this room were part of Ed's family room growing up. It's This End Up furniture, so it's basically indestructible. For that reason, we'll probably always keep it to put in the playroom or basement or whatever room the kids hang out in the most. The rug is the infamous "monkey rug" that we bought off of overstock. We thought it would be whimsical and cute for our family room in our old house. We were going to return it, and then our cat threw up on it. So it's ours forever. I think the pale yellow and greens nicely complement the light blue and mauve tones of the aztec-style sofa cushions, don't you? Actually, I can buy replacement cushion covers, so my thoughts are to switch to a tan and white, tight check pattern for the sofa and chair--eventually. For now, who cares? Anyway, looking straight back, you can see the ever-popular vertical blinds that cover the glass-sliding door that leads outside to the patio and the "back yard."

Standing with your back to the couch, you'll see the Ikea Expedit book shelves we bought last Christmas to hold all the toys. (Joanna--this is where we keep all that crap those toys!)


Standing in the back of the room, this is the view. You can see the playhouse and the train table.


The basement bump-out is Ed's office. The green couch came from Ed's grandmother. It's hideous, but you can tell that it's a quality piece of furniture and probably worth something. And Ed likes it. So here it is. The cat likes it quite a bit, as you can tell from scratches on the arms.


There's a full bath in the basement. (Thank goodness! A Godsend when potty training.)

And finally, there's a room that we use to store all of our junk, and where the cat does his business. I guess it could be a bedroom, since it has a ceiling fan and a closet. Or it could be a craft room or an office. But for now, it's a junk room.

So your tour is done. That's our house. There's a lot I'd like to do to make the place look better. (I guess I could start by making my bed.) But when push comes to shove, we always decide that we don't want to spend the money right now, or make the effort right now. But I can tell you that in our next house, I will not put up with that attitude. I will paint walls and hang pictures and spend money when I need to. Maybe by then we'll actually have a little more money. Then again, who am I kidding? We'll have a mortgage, and I'm pretty sure it's going to be more than we're paying in rent!

Sick Day

We are home today because Seth developed a fever overnight. He's had a cold for 9 days now--goopy nose and chest congestion. I thought he was getting better, but then he must have gotten new germs on top of his old germs. Lucky us. We went to the doctor this morning and fortunately, he's fine. No ear infection, throat looks good, lungs sounded clear. Just a virus! He's been sleeping horribly, but I think that has more to do with teething than his cold.

Despite all of that, we had a good but low-key weekend. Ed worked most of the weekend again, and since both boys have colds and I do, too (I'm pretty sure I now have a sinus infection), we didn't go anywhere more exciting than the grocery store. I got a few things done around the house, including dusting and laundry. Mostly I just played with the boys. William has started asking me to play with him, so we played trains and tower crane and built a lot of things with blocks and I rode in the monster truck or digger or dump truck or whatever it was the couch happened to be at that moment.

Which brings me to something I forgot to mention in my toy post on Friday. One of William's most favorite toys is not a toy at all. It's our sofa. He is forever pulling the cushions off and building forts and stuffing his cars and trucks between the cushions and bring kitchen utensils to use as digger controls. He and Seth love to pull the cushions off and jump all over it. And while there are times (okay, usually) when I wish we had nicer furniture and a more put-together house, when I watch them playing with the sofa, I'm glad that it's a hand-me-down from Ed's parents, and that I don't care if chocolate milk and OJ and snot and pen marks and God-knows-what-else gets all over the sofa. When the boys get older and we have more money, we'll get nice stuff. For now, our house will have that nice, "lived-in" look.

Speaking of that "lived-in" look, Laura challenged her readers to show off their houses. At first, I thought, "No way." I'd be pretty embarrassed for some of you to see my house. But on second thought, I figured, what the heck. Who am I trying to impress? This is my house, and my blog is supposed to chronicle my life. So I'm going to let it all hang out. So stay tuned for my next post: Casa Hahn!

Phone Photo Friday: Toy Edition

For the last month or two, I've been making lists and reading reviews and trying to figure out what Santa and the various relatives should bring William and Seth for Christmas. This is serious work, peoples! I've made wish lists on Amazon, which I love, because you can add ideas and toys from any other Web sites or companies to your Amazon wish list. It's a great way to stay organized. Anyway, as I've been doing this, I've been going through the toys we already have, and I thought I'd share our most-played-with toys. I'm starting in the basement playroom, and then moving upstairs.

First and foremost: BLOCKS! William LOVES playing with blocks. He has this basic set, and the set below that came with a box truck. I love watching him play with the blocks because his imagination really takes off. Seth mostly enjoys knocking blocks down, but he always pulls them out to play with them. An additional set of blocks (you can never have too many) will definitely be under the tree this year.

Train table: William plays with this every single time we come downstairs. Seth mostly tries to pull the tracks apart, but he enjoys linking the trains together.


Big dump trucks: We actually have two of these that are the same size. (One is Tonka, one is Fisher Price) Seth and William race around the playroom with these. William hauls his blocks around. Seth likes to put his sippy cups in them.


Fisher Price cash register: Both kids love playing with this, and I love it because it's a throwback to my childhood. Seth hasn't quite mastered the different coin sizes and colors in the different slots, so he can't really play with it by himself, but it's a really great teaching toy, IMO.


Gears: Both William and Seth enjoy playing with this. I was surprised that Seth is so into it. William can spend lots ot time arranging and rearranging the gears. I'd like to get more gears playsets, and preferably, the ones that have no batteries.


Tower crane: This is a Playmobile crane and it has seen a lot of play. It goes back and forth between downstairs and upstairs.


Ball popper: This was the hit Christmas gift last year. It's noisy, but Seth plays with it every time we go downstairs.
Backhoe loader and forklift: William loves his trucks and construction toys and these are no exception. He uses them with his blocks, most often, but they get played with every time we go downstairs. These also move throughout the house. There's also a large skid steer loader that is currently upstairs. And Santa might bring him a cement mixer.


Playhouse: Seth plays in the playhouse more than William, but William likes climbing on top and "fixing" the roof. Seth likes climbing on top and scaring me to death.


Ride-on car. This is considered "Seth's" because William has another ride-on car that you'll see in a minute. Seth loves for us to push him around the kitchen, playroom, and living room on this car. He also likes to push William around in this car.


Tinker Toys and playdough. Both boys love to play with both. I was surprised that Seth likes the Tinker Toys as much as he does. The playdough only keeps their attention for a short time, but it gets played with a LOT.


Garbage truck: another truck that usually lives downstairs, but has been upstairs for a little while. William likes stuffing the truck with the plastic grocery bags.


Small cars and trucks: This basket is chock full of all manner of cars and trucks. Hotwheels, matchbox, tractor trailers, motorcycles, helicopters, airplanes, small-scale construction equipment. This gets dumped out almost every morning, and again, almost every night when we get home from school.


Ride-on truck, mobile crane: The ride-on truck is this cheapy, plastic, Rite-Aid toy that my 10-year-old cousin picked out for William two years ago, and it has probably become the most-played-with toy of the entire collection. The back wheels pop off all the time, the seat is cracked, but it doesn't matter. Both boys love it. The mobile crane mostly lives upstairs, although it sometimes travels. The crane is another one that gets played with almost every night when we come home from school.


So that's a pretty good summary. I should have taken pictures of all the non-toys the kids play with. Right now, the number one non-toy is pens and paper. Both boys LOVE to "write." Seth also enjoys playing in the pantry. So does William, for that matter. As of right now, Santa is bringing just two toys each for the boys this year, because Lord knows they will be getting a LOT from their grandparents and families. Seth is getting a kitchen and a sit-and-spin, and William is getting a cement mixer and a space shuttle playset. Santa will also stuff their stockings with playdough and books and Hotwheels/Matchbox cars. I think it will be a GREAT Christmas, and I really can't wait. But I also hope we can manage to drag the season out a bit.

So what about the rest of you? I know Maria is looking for mechanical hamsters (LOL). Anyone else want to share?

What's Called the Hoover Dam, Mommy?

Lately, William has been asking me for the definition of things. But he phrases it in such a cute way: "What's called a [fill in the blank], Mommy?" Tonight we were watching Transformers (for the gazillionth time), which explains why he asked what the Hoover Dam was. (For those of you who haven't had the pleasure of seeing Transformers, the government built the Hoover Dam to hide an alien robot that was discovered in Antarctica in the 1920s--or something like that.) Anyway, It's been challenging to come up with definitions of places and things. "What's called a memorial?" "What's called a lounge?" (For that one, we had passed by a bar called 201 Lounge, and William read the letters and asked what they spelled. Then he asked what a lounge was.) What's called lose it? (That was after I told him and Seth I was going to lose it if they didn't start listening to me.)

In other news, I've caught Seth's cold, and I'm feeling pretty miserable tonight. I'm gonna make some tea, watch Lost, and go to bed. Seth is still hanging in there. He started coughing a little last night and today, but his mood has been pretty good. And last night he actually slept through the night. He only slept 9 hours, but it was an uninterrupted 9 hours. So I'll take it. I know better than to even ask for a repeat performance, though.

I also screwed up dinner tonight. I had planned to have chicken and dumplings in the crock pot. I got up a little early this morning (well, I was already up because Seth woke up at 5:15, but whatever) and put everything together in the crockpot. And I even remembered to turn the crock pot on before I left. But when I got home, it turned out that I had turned the crock pot onto "keep warm" instead of low. So I had to throw it all out. I made eggs and sausage and green beans instead. Oh well.

Oh yeah--I almost forgot the last thing I wanted to write about. One morning as I was passing through the magnetometer at the entrance to my office building, making chitchat with the Capitol Police officers, I said, "Ugh--I wish it was Friday." And one of the officers said, "Don't wish your days away." How's that for an awesome piece of unsolicited advice. I think of that often when I find myself trying to rush through the week. How is it that we want time to both speed up and slow down? One of those ironies of life, I guess. Or is it a paradox? I'm too tired to figure it out. But I do know that I'm glad that it's only Tuesday.

What Should I Write About?

It's a good thing I didn't participate in NaBloPoMo. I'd have failed miserably. The more pressure I feel to write something, the less articulate I feel about anything. I've also been stuck in that nightly ritual of decision-making: do I blog, read, watch Lost, or sleep? Blogging has not been winning. I did finally finish The Omnivore's Dilemma (really really liked this book, although it has forced the issue a bit in terms of how I want to feed my family, but that's fodder for another post), and I finally finished Season 1 of Lost, and have now started Season 2. (I have 3 seasons now to watch before the season premiere in January.)

Anyway, the kids have been great mostly. Seth has added lots of words, lots of attitude, and tons of cuteness to his repertoire. Words include

• Up-uh: He wants me to pick him up
• Um (said repeatedly until he gets what he wants): Some, meaning he wants some of what I have
• Muf-muf: Muffin
• Wee-yuh: William
• Neckace: Necklace (which is a tribute to the fact that I've been trying to wear jewelry more often)
• Eyes, ease, mou, nose: Eyes, ears, mouth, nose (accompanied by pointing to either his or someone else's eyes, ears, mouth, nose. He's been doing this for a while now, but I forgot to acknowledge it before)
• Issue: Tissue (usually said while pointing to his runny nose)

He's been waking up a LOT at night for several weeks (months?) now. It started when his molars came in, and it hasn't stopped. I think his eye teeth are working their way through, so he's close to having all of his teeth. After the eye teeth, it will just be his 2-year-old molars that need to come in. So combine teething with the general 18-month-0ld sleep regression, and it has not been fun. But we'll get through it!

Seth is learning a lot about sharing and taking turns. He doesn't like to do either. But after he pitches a fit about it, he'll give in and share. It's kind of cute. He also knows that he's not supposed to hit or scratch or hurt other people. If he does, he'll try to make nice with a kiss and a hug. He's learning empathy, for which I'm grateful.

He and William have been playing together more and more lately. They run around chasing each other, laughing and carrying on. Until, of course, someone gets hurt. Which someone always does. It's inevitable. When Seth gets hurt, he often goes to William to get a hug and a kiss. It's so cute! Seth loves to hold William's hand when we're out and about. William is usually fine with that, which is really sweet.

Speaking of William, he is learning and growing so quickly these days. He has started writing his name (very crudely, but writing it nonetheless) and has suddenly realized that letters form words. And it has dawned on him that he can actually identify letters that are on signs and trucks and buses and just about everywhere he looks. And he often thinks about what letter a word starts with. Although he gets the syntax a bit backwards. He'll say, "B starts with bus, Mommy!"

He's really into space and planets and rockets right now. But as always, he loves his trucks and cars. And he's been watching Transformers lately (the first movie), so he talks about robots all the time. (Ed let him watch Transformers one day. If it were up to me, he wouldn't have seen it at his age, but there are worse movies out there, I guess.)

His two best friends at school are Rowan and Caroline. He's doing really well at school, too. No acting out, no serious meltdowns or disrespectful behavior. The same at home, too. Our biggest struggles are getting him to stop playing to come to the table to eat, and just getting him to stop playing with his toys whenever we need him to do something else. Like most 3 year olds, he doesn't do transitions well. He needs lots of warning, and we're all so much better off when Ed and I stick to our guns. He has gotten very good at whining and repeatedly asking for something even after we've said no a thousand times. And he's getting good at tuning me out. He's in the "poopy" stage, where he loves to say "poopy" and "pee-pee" every chance he gets. It's a lovely stage, that I mostly try to ignore.

Mostly, though, he's funny, sweet, thoughtful, inquisitive, silly, and happy. I really look forward to seeing him when I go pick him up from school. And I love seeing William and Seth play together and watching them take care of each other. I know the fighting will get more intense as they get older--I fully expect it. But I hope they have a strong foundation of friendship and that they will always care about and for each other.

In the meantime, we'll just keep on keeping on. I can't believe how the quickly the Holidays have arrived. It's crazy. Ed has been working constantly for about 2 weeks and our house is filthy and I've been doing the bare minimum I have to to get by. But that's okay. No one looks back and thinks, "I should have dusted more." When you can't do it all, you do what you can and keep your eyes on the prize.

And now I need to go clean the kitchen and fold laundry, and maybe watch an episode of Lost. I have a couple of good posts in mind for the future, so hopefully I won't let blogging take a back seat to the rest of my life. So stay tuned!

Veterans Day Tribute

Of course I've spent some time today thinking about those who serve in the military, those who risk their lives for our freedom, and those who have paid the highest price. I'm humbled by their sacrifice and willingness to endure hardship. But the people I really want to honor today are the military spouses and children. Their hardship and sacrifice is equally as humbling, the price they pay is just as high.

I have two specific friends who I'm thinking of--one has 3 boys and works full time, the other has 1 daughter and stays at home. Their husbands are gone for weeks and months at a time, and these women hold it together like nobody's business. I'm not sure who has it harder--the one who works or the one who stays home. I think, as we all know, it's equally hard, regardless of circumstances. What it comes down to is that their husbands believe in our nation, and my friends do, too. How else could they make that sacrifice?

Ed has started taking a class two nights a week, from 6-10 p.m. He doesn't get home until 11:00 p.m. He also has a project at work that must be completed by Monday. Needless to say, I've been doing a lot of solo parenting lately, and today especially, I'm inspired by my friends, and all the military families, that do this all the time. (And also by single parents, but since today is Veterans' Day, I'm staying focused.) It is hard. No question about it. And while it can be nice to do things your own way, rather than have to consider someone else's desires or opinions, sharing the responsibility and the daily grind is a lot less exhausting, both physically and mentally.

So, if I had a beer or a glass of wine, I'd raise it to the military spouses and families. Instead, I'm so freakin' tired from having to do everything by myself that I think I'll go to bed. And I'll say a small prayer of thanks to those who serve the military, both in uniform, and on the home front. And I'll say a really big prayer for those soldiers in harm's way. And also for my friends, SG and SBC, that their husbands may soon stay stateside permanently.

Weekend Report

What a jam-packed weekend we had. Yesterday morning, Ed and William got the oil changed in my car while Seth and I went to the farmer's market. Then the boys got haircuts (after Seth took a mid-morning nap). It was Seth's first cut, and he did great! At first he cried when the barber put the drape over him, but he settled down quickly and after that he was fine. Ed took some pictures for me. They're blurry, but they captured the moment all the same.


After the haircut and a quick lunch, we took the boys for a nature walk at a local park. The weather was gorgeous, and I was hoping I'd get some good photos of the boys that we could use for holiday cards. No such luck, however. The boys were completely uncooperative. (And that includes Ed!) The walk was nice, except for Seth being a total PITA (wanting to be held, not wanting to be held, wanting to wander off the path) and William getting very tired and whiny before the walk was over. So really, the walk wasn't that great. But we were outside and together as a family so it was all good.


After the walk, I went to get my haircut, and then came home and made dinner and ate dinner and did the bath-books-bed routine and then watched 2 episodes of Lost. (I'm still on the first season peeps. I don't think I'm gonna get through all of them before Season 7 starts!)

Today, we went to the Picture People to get studio pictures done. The boys had school pictures last week, but Seth freaked out when he saw the photographer, so they didn't get any pictures of him. So I decided to try the studio. When we first went into the photo room, Seth started to freak out. But the photographer got him smiling, and we did the family pictures first. Then we did Seth and William and we finally got some of each of the boys on their own. In the end, we got some AWESOME pictures. I'm so glad we went! And now we have good Christmas gifts for the grandparents!

After pictures and lunch, I took the boys to the playground (another GORGEOUS day today, with highs in the mid-70s!), and then to the grocery store while Ed stayed home to do work. We ended the night with a classic Sunday dinner (roast chicken, green beans, stuffing, and dinner rolls), nebulizer, bath, books, and bed. I'm exhausted, but so happy that we managed to do everything I had wanted to do this weekend. I even did laundry! The weekends ahead are only going to get busier as the holidays approach, so I better figure out how to cram it all in. This weekend was good practice. I'll leave with a few pictures from the playground. It was so nice to finally have great weather on the weekend!

Phone Photo Friday--Archives Edition

These are the first pictures taken with my iPhone, almost a year ago. I'm getting into the Christmas spirit already (don't roll your eyes! Yes--I know it's not even Thanksgiving yet, but the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas fly by so quickly, and I want to enjoy the holidays this year! So sue me.) so I decided to post these for Phone Photo Friday.

The boys look so little! And I can't wait 'till Christmas!