First Stitches

R got his first stitches today. We went to the park after school and he saw a ball beckoning him to save it's life on the boring side of a fence. So he decided to rescue it. He climbed up only to have his hand catch on the fence as he fell. Thank goodness there was a dad watching and he ran over and rescued him.

We took him to the doctor. The nurse called the doctor over and the doctor said that we needed to go to the hospital because he needed stitches.  Sorry, but it seems to me that doctors should be able to stitch up a gash in their office. But, oh well.

I called W and he said come on in and we'll fix it.  An hour later they came out of the hospital and R was very proud of his stitches.  He was helped by the fact we promised to get him a new DS game.

Eight years with children and these are the first stitches.

Ten Year Anniversary

W  was so sweet. He told me that he wanted me to get a special piece of jewelry for our tenth anniversary.  He's never said that before that I can remember.  So we walked to the stores near where we live, but I didn't find anything that seemed to jump out at me.

But I did get hungry and we decided that we were going to go out to dinner.  I'd never been to Outback Steakhouse and so that is where we went. They had a special going so we got two specials and some mac n' cheese (and a blooming onion).  It was so good and it was lovely not to have to do the dishes.

I know going to dinner with the whole family on our anniversary may or may not seem like a big deal to some and W's co-workers would probably call him cheap, but let me assure you, it was Heaven. Plus, the place had a parking lot (extremely rare in NYC). It made it feel quite suburban.

I told the kids about the day we got married, when and how W and I met, and they listened and I felt so blessed.  I looked into W's sparkly eyes and felt so in love.   I am so glad I have him!

We came home and watched a movie together.  It was a great anniversary.

 
Here is to ten years with my best friend, ever. And then to eternity! I love you, W!

My Favorite Funnies

From here.

Also from here.

From the geniuses at nickmom.

Not sure where this is from, I got it from Pinterest.

From here.

Found it on Pinterest, if you find the original source let me know and I'll change it. I'd like to thank them personally for lifting my days. :)

I'm so excited.

Today, as I walked from the gym to my friend's house I pretended all the leaves on the trees and bushes were cheering for me. I imagined they all had little faces and green hands that were clapping wildly.  They were cheering and I practically started bowing and waving, but refrained.

Then, I dropped my screenplay off at my friend's house. He is a cinematographer and I hope, hope, hope that he likes it and will give me some good ideas for improvement.

Then, I hope he and his amazing wife say, "M, you should make this movie. Kris will film it. It will be good."

As I walked away I got some bananas.  I'm pretty sure they were complementing me all the way home. And, the applause was practically deafening, of course that could have been the wind giving me it's two cents worth.

Gulp, pray for me. :)  If they don't like it, then I will re-think it. It will all be great.  I feel so grateful to live in a place where I have access to amazing people like that.

GM Cleanse

I've kind of always wanted to try a cleanse. But not one of those only drink muster plaster type of cleanses.  I do not like to starve. It gives me a headache.  And, I love to eat.

So after W's cousin posted something on Pinterest about a cleanse where you actually eat I thought, why not?!  

W's theory is that anything with the word "diet" around it, is just a fact that it will not work.  I have been on the cleanse for four days and have three days left.  

The GM cleanse, still makes me hungry, especially when particularly less-than-healthy options are around.  But I have been strong. I made "The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies" for W's birthday and took them to his work to share.  I did not eat any.  [Cue the "Hail the Conquering Hero" music].

Day 1: all fruits (no bananas)

Day 2: all veggies (one potato)

Day 3: all fruit and veggies (no potatoes or bananas)

Day 4: up to 8 bananas and 3 c. milk and veggie soup

Day 5: Lean beef with 6 tomatoes and veggie soup

Day 6: Lean beef with all veggies

Day 7: Lean beef, brown rice all veggies and fruits

 Here is how I felt on the previous days.

Day 1: I ate a lot of watermelon and cantaloupe.  It was tasty.  It filled me up and then I was hungry quite soon afterward.  So I would have some more. A lot of water . . . going all day.

Day 2:  Rather hungry, potato with pat of butter for breakfast (which my sweet T shared with me).  Ate a lot of veggies. Needed to drink more water.

Day 3: Felt bloated. Need more water.

Day 4: Bananas are so yummy.  I love a banana shake.  Need more water.

I just made the cabbage soup.  It tastes amazing. I followed the one on the website sort of . . . except instead I doubled the recipe and instead of an onion I added the acceptable (according to other websites) onion soup mix with four cups of water. Too many onions make it taste less desirable. :)

28 oz, Water, 6 Large Onions, 2 Green Peppers, Whole Tomatoes (fresh or canned), 1 Head Cabbage, 1 Bunch Celery, 4 Envelopes Lipton Onion Soup Mix, Herbs and Flavouring as desired.

Then later it states the recipe as:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup shredded cabbage
• 1 cup sliced celery
• 1 onion, minced
• 2 sliced green peppers

But the one that tastes amazing is:

2 c. shredded cabbage
1 c. chopped celery
1 c. chopped zucchini
1. c. chopped carrots
4 c. water
1 packet onion soup mix

Or maybe I'm just really craving salt.

I'll let you know if I notice a big difference weight wise. So far, my pants seem to have more room.  Just a little.  I wasn't very good with the before recording part (sorry) so the after recording part will not be magical.  But I will have done it. And it will be great. Another thing I have done scratched off my bucket list.

If I can ever figure out the new blogging options (they changed everything and it is not as intuitive as before) then I'll add a page with my delightful life-long bucket list hopes.  :)  What's on your bucket list?

A Moment of Silence-ish

I have a secret. . . kind of.

Sometimes when my children are . . . well let's just look to the classic 1995 version of Pride and Prejudice,

I have hardly had time to write. My [children] have taken almost every moment! But they are such dear children. [This] mother indeed finds their exuberance a little trying for her nerves.

In such times as these and my children seem to be hopping and hollering around me and every fiber of my being seems to be shouting out "BE STILL!"

I take a deep breath. Put on an excited smile and softly say, "What's that? I think I hear something. Listen."

They all stop hollering and hopping to hear.  If I just stand there then I can almost say five seconds will be quiet.  If I act like I'm following a sound and walk to another room, there may be a few more seconds of excited silence-ish.

Then if you I really hear anything and kind can't find anything that I can really hear (something mysterious like a dripping faucet or the heater/air conditioner, the neighbor's lawn mower, traffic, etc.) then I say, "Just kidding" and laugh. They'll think you're the funniest/most fun mother ever and they'll copy it, when the moment seems right to them.

*Just a note. This works best on children ages 3 and up.  Starting when they finally get the idea of whispering or telling secrets--another thing they love and quiets the mood.

How did he do it?

T just ran up to me a few minutes ago. He'd been concentrating on drawing for a long time (about five minutes). We had the following conversation:

T:  Mommy, is this you?  It's a boy.

M: Then it's not me. I'm a girl.

T: I can't draw girls. They're too hard.

I then looked at the picture.  Maybe it is me. That's exactly how I feel right now.  

This child may have a real future in art if he can capture my emotions in such detail.

The kidlets are now going to bed.

School

Some weeks I just take my kids to school and then I have the whole time they are in school to myself.  I am not sure what has changed but I realized that the last few weeks I have been inside the school, during the school day more than two or three days a week. And it's not like I just drop off lunch. No, I go and help out in the classes or with the PTA.


But this last week S had learned her first complete song on her violin and was bound and determined to play for her music teacher during music time.

She loved it.  Her teacher said she had a very good tone. Yay S!

Then two days later T and I went for her publishing party where she got to read her report aloud on parakeets. 

I'm so proud of my little princess.