Spaghetti
I don't want to be a once-a-week blogger. Not that I fear I'm disappointing the three of you who read it, but because it seems there is so much I'm forgetting about life.
And now that the big yellow buses are once again roaring by our picture window, and the countdown is officially on, I feel an urgency to remember everything.
Everything.
Like how Aden has started doing pat-a-cake on his own, clapping and chanting "ah-AH! ah-AH! aaaaaaaAH! (that's 'roll it up') aaaaaaaAH!" and then waiting for me to stick it in his pan.
Which is a roasting pan, by the way.
Or how Trey has elaborate basketball games with himself - everything from opening warmups to the jump ball, whistles, fouls, halftime, and finally, a buzzer-beater finish where he always sinks the winning shot.
Or how Brandon comes home from work and practically tackles the boys into a hug, because he has missed them so much after their summer together.
Or how Aden, when restrained from grabbing at things he shouldn't, shreik/growls until his face turns blood red.
Or how Trey cries more over impending discipline than the discipline itself, then promptly declares, "Now I'll make the right choice."
Everything. Even the not-today stuff.
Working on choices with Trey. Right vs. wrong. He gets praise for making the right choice on his own. When he makes the wrong choice, we discuss what the right choice would have been. It's effective, sometimes.
So, the kitchen. We had gotten to the point where the obnoxious yellow walls were causing me to be nauseous. Not kidding. So over vacation a friend came over and painted for us. The kitchen/hall and Trey's room. Which looks great - more on that when the big boy room is fully complete.
I wanted something neutral and warm, and ended up deciding on a muted, light green. It went very well with the countertops, and, let's face it, anything would have been beautiful next to that yellow.
Or...not.
The excitement built on our drive home from the beach. I would walk in the house and the angels would sing. Audibly.
They didn't. My heart actually dropped just outside the door of the kitchen, looking in the window and seeing what looked like plain drywall surrounding the now very orange and bulky-looking cabinets. Think white paint with a few drops of blue, green, and gray.
No warmth. No contrast to the white trim. I can't bring myself to hang stuff on the walls, as that would be acceptance. I can live with it. But I hate it.
The room looks huge, which is the one plus to all of this. That, and the yellow is gone. The room is no longer nauseating. Now it's depressing. Ugh.
I know I'm being petty.
It's dry around here. Have I mentioned that? How we haven't mowed since the beginning of June? How when the kids run outside, dusty dirt swirls around their feet? How my beloved hydrangeas (and most other landscaping around here) have wilted into Tim Burton-esque plant corpses? How Trey is convinced it's fall (and refuses to be persuaded otherwise) because of the ever-thickening layer of dead, dark-brown leaves atop our crunchy, light-brown grass?
We had a half-hour shower on Sunday, and it almost brought me to tears. If I hadn't had a sick baby sleeping on me I would have taken a picture.
Aden's top two front teeth broke through last Monday, when he started running a fever off and on, coughing, struggling with alternately stuffy and runny nose, and having some bowel issues. It was a rough week for poor Aden. Of course I chalked everything up to the teeth, as underreacting is mandatory with second children.
Until Thursday night/Friday morning, when his eyes started oozing green stuff. A trip to the doctor's office revealed a sinus and ear infection, and the doctor said it was likely all the pressure in Aden's head that was causing his eyes to ooze.
Bless his heart. Antibiotics have already made a huge difference. He's doing much better now.
A quick life lesson for you. One of the greatest pieces of advice I could give to any mom is to choose a nice-looking pediatrician. You've got kids - guess what, you're going to spend a lot of time at the doctor. Might as well have something to look forward to.
We made a good choice. :)
I am appalled at the cost of children's shoes.
We finally have a taker for all our baby things - a precious couple in our church who will, by complete surprise, welcome their fourth baby boy in a few months. And by complete surprise, I mean they had given away every baby thing they had.
So I have been not-at-all-sadly packing box after box, setting aside a small pile of sentimental things, just in case Trey or Aden should ever give me grandboys. Or just in case I need a deterrent from strangling one of them during the obnoxious teenage years.
No, not sad over giving away the baby stuff. My baby phase has come and gone. Giving away the toddler stuff a little ways down the road will be much harder. The snuggly, wobbly, drooly phase - this one I love. And will miss terribly.
Aden's vocabulary is exploding. Perhaps I can put together a dictionary for you. It's the neatest thing.
Gotta go now. Hopefully it won't be another week before I post again. Trying a new recipe tonight. And what is likely the final result of this summer's ch-ch-changes will be revealed in a week or so!
And now that the big yellow buses are once again roaring by our picture window, and the countdown is officially on, I feel an urgency to remember everything.
Everything.
Like how Aden has started doing pat-a-cake on his own, clapping and chanting "ah-AH! ah-AH! aaaaaaaAH! (that's 'roll it up') aaaaaaaAH!" and then waiting for me to stick it in his pan.
Which is a roasting pan, by the way.
Or how Trey has elaborate basketball games with himself - everything from opening warmups to the jump ball, whistles, fouls, halftime, and finally, a buzzer-beater finish where he always sinks the winning shot.
Or how Brandon comes home from work and practically tackles the boys into a hug, because he has missed them so much after their summer together.
Or how Aden, when restrained from grabbing at things he shouldn't, shreik/growls until his face turns blood red.
Or how Trey cries more over impending discipline than the discipline itself, then promptly declares, "Now I'll make the right choice."
Everything. Even the not-today stuff.
Working on choices with Trey. Right vs. wrong. He gets praise for making the right choice on his own. When he makes the wrong choice, we discuss what the right choice would have been. It's effective, sometimes.
So, the kitchen. We had gotten to the point where the obnoxious yellow walls were causing me to be nauseous. Not kidding. So over vacation a friend came over and painted for us. The kitchen/hall and Trey's room. Which looks great - more on that when the big boy room is fully complete.
I wanted something neutral and warm, and ended up deciding on a muted, light green. It went very well with the countertops, and, let's face it, anything would have been beautiful next to that yellow.
Or...not.
The excitement built on our drive home from the beach. I would walk in the house and the angels would sing. Audibly.
They didn't. My heart actually dropped just outside the door of the kitchen, looking in the window and seeing what looked like plain drywall surrounding the now very orange and bulky-looking cabinets. Think white paint with a few drops of blue, green, and gray.
No warmth. No contrast to the white trim. I can't bring myself to hang stuff on the walls, as that would be acceptance. I can live with it. But I hate it.
The room looks huge, which is the one plus to all of this. That, and the yellow is gone. The room is no longer nauseating. Now it's depressing. Ugh.
I know I'm being petty.
It's dry around here. Have I mentioned that? How we haven't mowed since the beginning of June? How when the kids run outside, dusty dirt swirls around their feet? How my beloved hydrangeas (and most other landscaping around here) have wilted into Tim Burton-esque plant corpses? How Trey is convinced it's fall (and refuses to be persuaded otherwise) because of the ever-thickening layer of dead, dark-brown leaves atop our crunchy, light-brown grass?
We had a half-hour shower on Sunday, and it almost brought me to tears. If I hadn't had a sick baby sleeping on me I would have taken a picture.
Aden's top two front teeth broke through last Monday, when he started running a fever off and on, coughing, struggling with alternately stuffy and runny nose, and having some bowel issues. It was a rough week for poor Aden. Of course I chalked everything up to the teeth, as underreacting is mandatory with second children.
Until Thursday night/Friday morning, when his eyes started oozing green stuff. A trip to the doctor's office revealed a sinus and ear infection, and the doctor said it was likely all the pressure in Aden's head that was causing his eyes to ooze.
Bless his heart. Antibiotics have already made a huge difference. He's doing much better now.
A quick life lesson for you. One of the greatest pieces of advice I could give to any mom is to choose a nice-looking pediatrician. You've got kids - guess what, you're going to spend a lot of time at the doctor. Might as well have something to look forward to.
We made a good choice. :)
I am appalled at the cost of children's shoes.
We finally have a taker for all our baby things - a precious couple in our church who will, by complete surprise, welcome their fourth baby boy in a few months. And by complete surprise, I mean they had given away every baby thing they had.
So I have been not-at-all-sadly packing box after box, setting aside a small pile of sentimental things, just in case Trey or Aden should ever give me grandboys. Or just in case I need a deterrent from strangling one of them during the obnoxious teenage years.
No, not sad over giving away the baby stuff. My baby phase has come and gone. Giving away the toddler stuff a little ways down the road will be much harder. The snuggly, wobbly, drooly phase - this one I love. And will miss terribly.
Aden's vocabulary is exploding. Perhaps I can put together a dictionary for you. It's the neatest thing.
Gotta go now. Hopefully it won't be another week before I post again. Trying a new recipe tonight. And what is likely the final result of this summer's ch-ch-changes will be revealed in a week or so!
Comments