A Preschool project - I know he had help, but the Thankful feathers brought a tear to my eye...Monday, November 23, 2009
Thankful
A Preschool project - I know he had help, but the Thankful feathers brought a tear to my eye...
Saturday, November 21, 2009
William
One of William's favorite activities lately:
Digging through the kitchen drawer until he comes up with the bright green oven mitt with pink watermelons stamped throughout. He puts his whole arm into it and then requests:
"Shake my hand, please!"
And then giggles like crazy when you do it.
Story 2
The other day at preschool, one of the other mom's asked William what his name was. He half mumbled under his breath:
"Big Brother"
Since I was standing there, I clarified with the other mom and went on my merry way. Later, after thinking about it, I asked William what his name was.
"Big Brother" was his reply.
So, now we're working on getting him to tell us his name and not calling him Big Brother so much. Cause I think at least my kid should know his own name. After working on this for a few days, he still replies "Big Brother" as his first response without thinking, pauses and shouts "William!!".
Digging through the kitchen drawer until he comes up with the bright green oven mitt with pink watermelons stamped throughout. He puts his whole arm into it and then requests:
"Shake my hand, please!"
And then giggles like crazy when you do it.
Story 2
The other day at preschool, one of the other mom's asked William what his name was. He half mumbled under his breath:
"Big Brother"
Since I was standing there, I clarified with the other mom and went on my merry way. Later, after thinking about it, I asked William what his name was.
"Big Brother" was his reply.
So, now we're working on getting him to tell us his name and not calling him Big Brother so much. Cause I think at least my kid should know his own name. After working on this for a few days, he still replies "Big Brother" as his first response without thinking, pauses and shouts "William!!".
More Paint
We started taping our room for the second color of paint to create the striped effect described in Nicole's plan for our room. The actual taping of the lines was.....painful. I think we ended up with 7 stripes 12 inches in width on our walls. I am positive we spent at least 20+ hours just putting the tape up. The painting was a walk in the park comparatively. So, here is the tape:
Nice, bright green tape. Please note: these are not correct color as it is night time with a flash on. So, this color is not showing true.
The main problem with the taping is our ceiling. We have vaulted ceilings in our room and in the lowest area, the ceiling is not level. This is a problem because it is closest to eye level at not supposed to be a diagonal line. So, getting the stripes to match up at all was a major issue. It required two laser levels, two regular levels and a lot of gnashing of teeth. We would get a level line going all the way around the room and then.....the lines wouldn't match up by the time we got to the other side of the room. So frustrating! After about 8+ hours of trying to make it work without success, we had to rent an industrial laser level and tripod deal in order to get our lines to match up on either sides of the room. After we brought laser level home that could do the whole room at one time (for the four hour rental period), we were able to get 2-3 lines marked pretty quickly before we had to return it. Without the laser level, we were left to use the lines we created and an old fashioned pencil/ruler combination to mark and tape the rest of the lines.
Last night we finally got to the painting portion and here are the results. We can't put furniture back, etc because we still have some touching up to do, but there were a few people who needed to see pictures...
It is so drastically different from what we had before (I'll post pics of before eventually) I think it will take some getting used to. But, I'm pretty sure I'm happy! Happy enough to send a little love to Nicole in Chicago today via snail mail!
Close up reveals some touch ups needed
Nice, bright green tape. Please note: these are not correct color as it is night time with a flash on. So, this color is not showing true.
The main problem with the taping is our ceiling. We have vaulted ceilings in our room and in the lowest area, the ceiling is not level. This is a problem because it is closest to eye level at not supposed to be a diagonal line. So, getting the stripes to match up at all was a major issue. It required two laser levels, two regular levels and a lot of gnashing of teeth. We would get a level line going all the way around the room and then.....the lines wouldn't match up by the time we got to the other side of the room. So frustrating! After about 8+ hours of trying to make it work without success, we had to rent an industrial laser level and tripod deal in order to get our lines to match up on either sides of the room. After we brought laser level home that could do the whole room at one time (for the four hour rental period), we were able to get 2-3 lines marked pretty quickly before we had to return it. Without the laser level, we were left to use the lines we created and an old fashioned pencil/ruler combination to mark and tape the rest of the lines.
Last night we finally got to the painting portion and here are the results. We can't put furniture back, etc because we still have some touching up to do, but there were a few people who needed to see pictures...
It is so drastically different from what we had before (I'll post pics of before eventually) I think it will take some getting used to. But, I'm pretty sure I'm happy! Happy enough to send a little love to Nicole in Chicago today via snail mail!
Close up reveals some touch ups needed
Friday, November 20, 2009
Buckling Down
We have a lot to do. A lot of projects in the air. Little things like cookies for upcoming holiday parties and finishing up the painting in the master bedroom. Some crafty projects for the holidays. Packing for the week we will be out of town. Learning how to use my new flash. I think I have some pictures to post, but I think posting will be light until after the holiday/birthday/wedding craziness we have coming up.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Monday, November 16, 2009
I love you
"Oh William!" is a phrase I must say over a thousand times a day. I can tell you without hesitation that this phase we are in now I either want to pick him up and smother him with kisses because he is the sweetest thing ever or I want to poke my eye out because he is...well, just smothering him isn't a very nice thing to do.
I think I have mentioned that lunch time is the absolute worst time of day around here*. William is either underfoot in the kitchen, tripping me at every turn while keeping up a running commentary about every single thought that goes through his head or tormenting his sister until she screams or cries. Amelia is either underfoot or screaming/crying in the other room because her brother has taken another toy away or pushed her down. Again.
And it doesn't end when the food hits the table ever. William dislikes the arrangement of food on his plate or the cup his milk is in. He takes issue with the fold of the sandwich I have lovingly created for him or the invisible spot on his banana. One hundred percent of the time he prefers my yogurt cup to his, even if they are identical. He stands up in his chair, blows bubbles in his milk, puts his feet on the table, puts his hands into his milk and smears it into his hair. He tips his empty plate and cup over and spreads crumbs and dribbles of milk everywhere. All which area certainly Against the Rules. And the ever popular "I have to go potty" line that just cannot be ignored.
Amelia needs help getting the food in her mouth in a timely manner and is frustrated she cannot do it all by herself. When she can't take anymore waiting or when I move further than an arm's reach from her chair, she shrieks loud enough to be heard a block away. She bangs on her tray and bounces Cheerios in every direction including down the heat register located in the general area of her chair. She smashes banana into her hands and then runs her fingers through her hair until it stands on end or drops the banana chunks down her shirt to be discovered six hours later at bedtime.
Somewhere in there today I had a bite of food almost to my mouth when I noticed it was baby food. Mmmmm.....rice cereal. I was so distracted I didn't notice what I was doing until it was almost in my mouth. Yuck.
After a particularly loud luncheon today, I was wiping off William thinking to myself "At least it is over. No more lunches until tomorrow. You survived and didn't eat baby food. That is what matters here."
William turned to me and patted my face with a jelly sticky hand and said "I love you Mama."
As frustrated as I was by his behavior moments before, I stood there quietly, willing myself to tell him I loved him too. In the moment, I regret to admit that love was the furthest thing from my mind and I struggled for a long pause to master my negative feelings.
Tired of waiting and now clean from my wiping, William replied to himself "and you love me too, Mama. Yes you do."
And you know what? It is the truth. Even when I have to dig deep to find it during a tantrum or deal with naughty behavior, I do love you William. More than words can say, baby boy.
*Blogging is a useful tool. After complaining about our lunch time now several days in a row, I now think it might be helpful to analyze what is happening that pushes my buttons/William's buttons/Amelia's buttons so I can make some changes so it is less frustrating for everyone. First up may be a pair of earplugs.
I think I have mentioned that lunch time is the absolute worst time of day around here*. William is either underfoot in the kitchen, tripping me at every turn while keeping up a running commentary about every single thought that goes through his head or tormenting his sister until she screams or cries. Amelia is either underfoot or screaming/crying in the other room because her brother has taken another toy away or pushed her down. Again.
And it doesn't end when the food hits the table ever. William dislikes the arrangement of food on his plate or the cup his milk is in. He takes issue with the fold of the sandwich I have lovingly created for him or the invisible spot on his banana. One hundred percent of the time he prefers my yogurt cup to his, even if they are identical. He stands up in his chair, blows bubbles in his milk, puts his feet on the table, puts his hands into his milk and smears it into his hair. He tips his empty plate and cup over and spreads crumbs and dribbles of milk everywhere. All which area certainly Against the Rules. And the ever popular "I have to go potty" line that just cannot be ignored.
Amelia needs help getting the food in her mouth in a timely manner and is frustrated she cannot do it all by herself. When she can't take anymore waiting or when I move further than an arm's reach from her chair, she shrieks loud enough to be heard a block away. She bangs on her tray and bounces Cheerios in every direction including down the heat register located in the general area of her chair. She smashes banana into her hands and then runs her fingers through her hair until it stands on end or drops the banana chunks down her shirt to be discovered six hours later at bedtime.
Somewhere in there today I had a bite of food almost to my mouth when I noticed it was baby food. Mmmmm.....rice cereal. I was so distracted I didn't notice what I was doing until it was almost in my mouth. Yuck.
After a particularly loud luncheon today, I was wiping off William thinking to myself "At least it is over. No more lunches until tomorrow. You survived and didn't eat baby food. That is what matters here."
William turned to me and patted my face with a jelly sticky hand and said "I love you Mama."
As frustrated as I was by his behavior moments before, I stood there quietly, willing myself to tell him I loved him too. In the moment, I regret to admit that love was the furthest thing from my mind and I struggled for a long pause to master my negative feelings.
Tired of waiting and now clean from my wiping, William replied to himself "and you love me too, Mama. Yes you do."
And you know what? It is the truth. Even when I have to dig deep to find it during a tantrum or deal with naughty behavior, I do love you William. More than words can say, baby boy.
*Blogging is a useful tool. After complaining about our lunch time now several days in a row, I now think it might be helpful to analyze what is happening that pushes my buttons/William's buttons/Amelia's buttons so I can make some changes so it is less frustrating for everyone. First up may be a pair of earplugs.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Sick? Or something?
We're sick around here. Or something. William ran a fever for a day or so and has been extra special crabby*. On this day, he went down early for his nap and ACTUALLY WENT TO SLEEP. It was Big News around here. He woke up about an hour later, crying. I went in to him and it became clear he wasn't done sleeping. Eventually he wiggled out of my arms and put his head back on his pillow, still crying. I covered him up and he sighed deeply and went to sleep. An hour after that, he woke up again crying. I picked him up and brought him to the living room. He snuggled into my side and promptly fell back asleep. Amelia woke up from her nap and I was forced to slide William off my lap to get her from the crib. I thought that movement and the noise of his sister playing with his toys would be enough to rouse him. I did what any parent would do:
I hurried up and took his picture.
Half an hour later, he was doing this
And a full hour later, he was doing this.
And because this makes me laugh. If your pet isn't sleeping well, there are now orthopedic options available. Just so you know.
I hurried up and took his picture.
Half an hour later, he was doing this
And a full hour later, he was doing this.He finally woke up just moments before John walked through the door. A four hour nap sure made for a peaceful afternoon.
*I was certain we had the H!N! flu at this point. Fever and I think he coughed twice. I had resigned myself that the whole family was going to be sick over the next week or so and made some mad runs to the stores to stock up on sick supplies (soup,cough drops, adult cough medicine, tissues, etc). In hindsight, it turns out to just have been a virus lasting just over a day. Oh well, I'm sure we'll pick up the flu for Christmas. We like to bring the drama at the holidays around here.
*I was certain we had the H!N! flu at this point. Fever and I think he coughed twice. I had resigned myself that the whole family was going to be sick over the next week or so and made some mad runs to the stores to stock up on sick supplies (soup,cough drops, adult cough medicine, tissues, etc). In hindsight, it turns out to just have been a virus lasting just over a day. Oh well, I'm sure we'll pick up the flu for Christmas. We like to bring the drama at the holidays around here.
And because this makes me laugh. If your pet isn't sleeping well, there are now orthopedic options available. Just so you know.
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