Mr. T at the pumpkin patch

I have stuff to do....

there are soccer parties to plan and Miss E's birthday post to write (yes, I'm the mom of a 7 year old now!), and plants to plant and bills to pay and reading to practice and chemistry kits to put together and painting projects to be done and meals to plan and football things to brag about and friends to see and my photography class homework and the numerous school things I have somehow gotten myself into not to mention blog posts to write....

BUT

I have an eye infection. And that's pretty much stopped me. AN EYE INFECTION. It hurts like the dickens, as my grandfather would say.  It's actually hurt for 2 weeks ( I know....) and I ignored it, hoping  things would get better and they didn't. Until finally the inner voice in my head yelled - SARAH! It's your EYES! Your freaking EYES! Why are you messing around with what you know is an infection and HOPING it gets better? In your EYES?! - Yes, my inner voice yells sometimes but really, what was I thinking? Eyes are kind of important you know. So today I headed to the eye doctor and you know what? It turns out that you can't go years of changing your contacts without washing your hands or cleaning the containers, or trying to save money by wearing your month-long contacts for 3 months or having a glasses prescription that is so old it's at least one or two prescriptions behind your contacts so you never really wear them, without something getting infected. Who knew?

This is kind of the story of your mid-30's - a bunch of various medical professionals telling you that your body actually CAN'T absorb the sort of abuse you heaped on it in your 20's. Flossing? Exercising? Changing your contacts? Eating vegetables? Getting enough sleep? Turns out you actually have to do those things.

My formal punishment is 3x daily antibiotic drops, new glasses, and pain for the next few days. I am sincerely hoping to not have to repeat this little life lesson.

Winner winner chicken dinner

I've been taking this photography class one night a week that's been pretty good overall. I don't necessarily like the teacher as a person but he is a good teacher so I am sticking with and enjoying the class.  (hello maturity - where were you in college?)

We've been practicing photographing movement and while I had very little time to do the assignment, the wrong lens on my camera and several settings adjusted wrong, I ended up somehow with this picture which I liked very much. He liked it to apparently even though (as he put it) "most of the good components were by happy accident" - you gotta love a back handed compliment/insult. But I felt really good about it because I know that I'm a better photographer than he thinks I am. And I really like this picture of Miss E in all it's blurry disarray.

Other Parents

After school snack for my little foodie

Dear Other Parents:

Are you kidding me? For real serious kidding me? You see at the beginning of soccer season when no one volunteered to organize the end of the year party, I silently hoped that one day I would see the email with someone volunteering. Then half way through the season when our coach said "hey all...we should have an end of season pizza party " kind of like every grade school soccer team ever does.... there were crickets. A few of you brazen folks e-mailed back with "that sounds like a great idea!". Yeah it does. Here's the issue for those who aren't getting it. The coach is the coach. His commitment to the team extends to being a volunteer coach. He does not traditionally, have to plan the end of season party. The e-mail was a indirect (and albeit, ineffective) way on his part of soliciting a volunteer. Again, I hoped that someone would volunteer. I wanted to ask someone to do it but that seemed lame. However,  here's what's on my plate - my husband is coaching a different soccer team, I am the room parent for my son's class, I'm the snack coordinator for the soccer team already, I work part time, I volunteer in the library and the classroom and help out with girl scouts. I know we are all busy. Some of us more than others but for right now, I'm full. I'm doing my part for the school. However, after hearing 3 weeks of crickets while the coach dropped hints (dear coach - don't drop hints just ask directly) and then finally hearing him say he'd put his wife in charge, I opened my mouth and said I would help her. And then, long story short, ended up doing the whole thing  - pizza party, coaches gift, etc.

Now, I am the first to admit that I am choosing to do this. I didn't have to open my mouth and volunteer and that's fine. But here's the rub. I finally found a place and a time (which was not easy since about 30 soccer teams are ending their season that day) and here's a sampling of the responses I have received thus far:

"Could you move it to another day since I'm setting up for the auction that afternoon...." (umm...really? Move the entire party because you have a commitment?)

"We're not coming because that place doesn't have vegan pizza" (Ok seriously. Your daughter is 6. She wants to be with the girls. Bring her your own slice of freakin vegan pizza and show up...WTF.)

In short, other parents, get over yourselves. I am the first one to say that spending Saturday afternoon at a pizza parlor while 15 girls run around begging for money for video games is not my idea of a good time. But this is one of the things we do for them. They have played soccer in 90 degree heat and freezing muddy rain. They have showed up for practice once a week when they were tired after school. It's a celebration of the end of the season. So please, suck it up.

Humbled

Raise your hand if you kids woke up this morning and fought over everything before school - breakfast, toys, getting ready - EVERYTHING. There were tears and pushing and everything was a crisis - the backpack, the shoes, the lunch - and then you lost it and yelled in your really really loud and scary voice at them right before you left for school. Enough so that each kid in the car had tears in their eyes that they wouldn't let spill because we were headed to school. And you told them you wouldn't walk them in, that it was curbside drop off which you know your son hates, and then as they got out of the van you see your daughter, who had done nothing but be mean to him this morning, grab his hand and comfort him as they walked in together hand in hand. And then you felt small and guilty and mean.


(raises hand)

Miss E's note to the Tooth Fairy

We had a fantastic three day weekend full of fun and sports and family and it was just awesome. You know those days where everything seems to click, nobody calls their brother or sister stupid and you just look at the people around you in awe of how lucky you are? Yeah. It was that kind of weekend.

On Saturday Miss E lost her first top front tooth. At her soccer game. About 10 seconds after they shot the team picture. She didn't want to put it under her pillow Saturday night because we stayed at my sister's house and she was worried that the tooth fairy wouldn't find it. So tonight she pulled out the tooth pillow, wrote the note below, and put it next to her pillow, waiting for the tooth fairy visit. All evening she kept grinning at me randomly and saying "tonight is my night!". It was so cute. As is the part in her note about how the tooth fairy should check in on Mr. T. He was feeling a bit left out since he hasn't lost any teeth yet and she was reassuring him tonight that his turn is coming soon. Apparently she wants the tooth fairy to be ready.



The note (with her spelling):

Dear tooth fairy...

I just got back from Engen visieting my casinse. I lost my tooth after soccer picters on Saturday. I decited I would wait till tonight to put it in my tooth pillow. I like when you leave me money to buy my own prize. Could I please keep my tooth? My room might look diferent beacase we moved it around. I also like when you levea me a presint.

Love, E

P.S. - this is my 4th tooth

P.P.S. - Whale your visiting please take a look at my brother.

P.P.P.S. You only have to do this caseue he is going to start losing teeth.

P.P.P.P.S. - Just so you know him.

P.P.P.P.P.S. - You don't have to if you don't have time.

Love, E

P.S. My birthday is 10-23-11

Snippets

Snippets of our day:

Miss E's new list of preferred jobs when she grows up (in order) - veterinarian, paint-your-own pottery place employee, school teacher.

Mr. T let me sleep until 7:40 (no school today) and then came up to cuddle with me in bed because "he thought I hadn't had a cuddle in awhile"

Pizza with Daddy at the fire station for lunch.

Mr. T running and running around the bay so I could take photos for my photography homework, declaring that he was too tired from running, and then running 10 more laps.

Miss E helping Mr. T with his homework and both kids laughing and talking about their reading teachers.

Miss E telling me that I am the "greatest mommy ever" out of nowhere at dinner.

Making or should I say - failing miserably at making carmel apples.

It was a good day.

Green Monster

I'm not proud of this, but in the last year this girl's total vegetable intake has consisted of about 3 pieces of lettuce and 1 potato. French fries are not included in this total. Her fruit intake is somewhat better, in that she eats some most days but it's still pretty abysmal. I have let it slide because 1) I can't make her eat and 2) we've had so many other battles going on that I don't want EVERYTHING to be a fight. So she has continued on with her diet of carbs, cheese, peanut butter and the occasional apple, grapes or pears. To be fair, while she is not eating an abundance of healthy food, she is also not eating junk food. Very very small amounts of candy, chips and no soda pop. She and I both like to drink carbonated water with fresh squeezed orange in it and to her that is "soda". We of course have home-cooked cookies and treats but not alot. And so it has continued on for about a year, this diet of unhealthiness. But it nags at the back (and front) of my mind that she's not eating vegetables, that she's growing rapidly, that a multi-vitamin just isn't enough. So, as of late, I have renewed energy on getting the kid to eat some vegetables. Since I have given up on her doing it outright, I am going the hiding route which philosophically I don't agree with but at this point we're down to whatever works.

Enter the green monster smoothie! I pulled out this recipe and made it for an after-school snack today. We were out of bananas so I skipped those but I did put everything else in and I have to say, the end flavor was orange juice. If your eyes were closed, you would think you were drinking an orange citrus smoothie. It was a bit tart without the banana but she drank 2 glasses! Mr. T drank 1! I put it out there as a "treat" that I made for them after school and it went over so well. For the first time ever, that girl has a full serving of spinach in her! And there was no fighting or bargaining over dessert or whining!

Yes, that's a lot of exclamation points but even if I put 40 of them in a row, it wouldn't adequately express how awesome this is. (Just please don't tell her...shh..)

The Birthday List

Peter and Miss E on their way to a wedding last weekend.

Miss E's birthday is coming up this month and she has been diligently working on her birthday list. She doesn't want a party with friends or anything special on her birthday other than a picnic at the park but she does have a list that she has been carefully crafting for the last few weeks. It is so unusual and speaks so much to her personality that I had to share. 

Miss E's 7th Birthday list:

Lock for my bedroom door (I clarified she means lock from the inside, not the outside, she looked a little horrifed when I suggested that although I'd be lying if I said Peter and I hadn't ever considered it.)

Musical Card

Pot holder weaving kit

New games for my Leapster

Venus fly trap

Match box cars - specifically police car, fire engine and ambulance

Lego kits - Hillside house, Space alien, City Airport, City Train Station, Winter Village, Log Cabin

Smiley Face stickers

Magic 8 ball - the grumpy one

Whoopy cushion

Big swirly lollypop eraser

Science isperamint kits (her spelling)

More Captain Underpants books (ummm....no)

An American Flag

More Fudge books

More Magentic blocks

Some Ruby Lu books

More Nana takes the Reins books

A pillowcase for playing in

Some seeds to plant in the garden

Some more Ramona books

A Pogostick

An orange bell and horn for my bike

Some oil pastels

A white t-shirt that I can color on

Face painting sticks (also no)

Judy Moody Mood Journal

Judy Moody's Book of Fun Stuff to do

It is the most comprehensive adorable list and I am trying to refrain from getting her everything on it. With no party, there is a bigger budget for presents but we aren't going to get her all of it, as I think that sets a precedent that we don't want to. Also, and I'm pretty sure this takes us out of the running for parents of the year, but the van needs new tires so party money for the party she doesn't want is going to go to that. Please don't judge.

I am setting a few things aside for stocking stuffers, and tooth fairy gifts but really, how sweet (and random) is that list?

Speaking of over-committed.....

Saturday we had two soccer games, and then the firefighter's union picnic. Miss E played in her game, which was an accomplishment in itself, and Mr. T scored his first goal in his. The Union picnic had bounce houses and you know what tires kids out? Soccer games followed by bounce houses. They both were asleep by 7:30 although Miss E felt the need to yell for about an hour previous to that. My migraine was not amused.

Sunday Peter took Miss E to watch the cross country races. It was rainy and cold but she is always up for adventure and they had french fries and hot chocolate and it seems to have gone well.  Mr. T stayed home with me, I was finally feeling good after saying good-bye to a 4 day long migraine and Mr. T, well, he's about as much of a home-body as me. He spend the entire day playing with Lego's and the Magnetic blocks (best toys ever). I cleaned this and that and did a few projects and mostly just enjoyed the upper half of my body feeling normal again.

This morning (Monday) I spent 2 hours at the school helping with vision testing, another 2 hours shelving books in the library and then went to work for another 5 hours. It was a long long day. Remember when I was saying I had over-committed myself at the school? Yeah, that's what I'm talking about. Fortunately, the vision things was a one-time thing and I am gracefully bowing out of the commitments that I can and things should no be so busy next month. But I am tired. And we have birthdays to plan, trips to figure out how to pay for, calendar things to schedule, and things to clean. Not to mention kids to read to and play with.

Overall though, we are plugging along. Everyone is getting more used to the schedule, the kids been on a much more even keel and things are just continuing on.

Random bit from the weekend: At the union picnic, at one point the bounce house fan stopped working and the house collapsed on itself. Mr. T was bouncing in it so I got up and started walking over just to make sure he was OK. I wasn't too worried as it was a pretty small bounce house and really, what better place to get trapped in one that at a picnic filled with firefighters, but I still wanted to check. Just as Miss E ran up to me freaking out because she thought Mr. T was trapped in there, he came popping out of nowhere and in his happy, excited voice slapped me a high 5 and said "I got out of there just in time! The roof almost fell on me!" Seriously. The kid is even excited when a building collapses on him. Future firefighter indeed.