Nashville, a Basement Flood, and Rainy Day Play

Posted on April 19, 2013May 4, 2013 by Amy

Well. I haven’t written a real post in over a week. Sorry.

I’ll spare you the details of why I haven’t written.

Like the fact that I’ve spent several evenings this week cleaning up the mess left behind from water than got into our basement while we were out of town.

Of the fact that I spent one evening filling out an application to adopt a puppy from a local shelter. He was the perfect puppy found on petfinders.com (a mixed lab, husky, and mastiff, blue-eyed little guy), and I was convinced that I had to fill out the application right away so we would be able to get him. Only to realize the next morning, through discussion with the husband, that this is really not a good time for us to get a PUPPY. Duh.

Or the fact that my youngest child is barely napping more than 30 minutes a day.

Or the fact that, becasue I finished weaning Sis last week, I spent all of last evening sitting with heating pads on my boobs, alternating sides with heat and kneading out knots from clogged ducts. Ouchie. I was sort of successful, as I ended up with two big wet circles on my shirt (clearly didn’t think that one through ahead of time), but I’m still trying to get it all worked out.

Anyway. I now have a little bit of napping from Sis, so I’m trying like heck to get this post done before she wakes up.

A quick catch-up on our happenings:

Last week, I spent the most awesome 24-hour period ever. In Nashville. Over night. With my husband. My mom watched the girls. We splurged on a fancy hotel.

Did I mention it was awesome?

We relaxed and went out for a nice dinner. Unfortunately it was slightly marred by the fact that the cab driver who took us to the restaurant was a “Too Much Cologne Wearing Man” and had apparently not only doused himself but also the seat of his cab with his chosen scent. I ended up with Eau de Bad-Man-Smell in my hair and on my dress (all I did was sit on the seat, I swear!), and my husband and I kept catching whiffs of it throughout dinner, making “ew, that stinks” faces, and then smelling ourselves, our hands, sleeves, etc., to try to figure out why the smell from the cab was still lingering. We both noticed it on our hands and made trips to the bathroom to wash, but it didn’t help. It wasn’t until we got back to the hotel that I thought to smell my hair and realized that I reeked of this guy’s cologne. And then I found that the back of my dress did too. Weird. And gross. And oddly sort of funny.

It was okay, though, since we got back to the hotel to find this lovely turn down service, complete with chocolate cookies that we were both too stuffed from dinner to eat.

I have to admit, though I love to stay in a fancy hotel sometimes, I always feel very awkward around the staff of such places. I never know when I’m supposed to tip, how much, and how to do it. I always end up averting my eyes and shoving some wadded up bills roughly in the direction of the person to whom I want to show appreciation while grumbling, “Uh, thanks a lot” or something like that. I think I was a little better this time than the last time we stayed at this place (mostly because I made my husband tip the valets and wrote all other tips on receipts), but I still always feel like a total hick in these situations.

The best part of the trip? We slept in and woke up to a room service breakfast and leisurely morning.

No one yelled, “I’m huuuuungryyyyyy!” No one spilled her milk. No one complained about the breakfast food offerings. It was lovely.

We topped off the day with a walk around downtown Nashville, some visits to art galleries, and lunch at a place called the Back Alley Diner.

It was a funky little place with a fun atmosphere and very good food. It made me feel young and hip again. Yes, I was once young and hip…

Our little side trip was an amazing perk of the visit with my parents. The girls did great while we were gone, as I knew they would, and I had some wonderful QT with my man.

It was a great visit with my parents. The girls had a great time, and they came home saying new things like “Doink” and “Big Honkin,'” as in “I doinked my head” and “Don’t take big honkin’ dragon bites [of food].” If you know my Mom, this will make perfect sense to you.

We were all sad to leave my parents’ house, but glad to be getting home.

Our travel day turned out to be a long one, with a flat tire on the way home and water in the basement once we got here.

But we’ve had a wonderful relaxing week at home.

Lass has been saving up her allowance money and finally got to order her “Rody” toy. It came in the mail the other day and she was so excited.

She has barely stopped bouncing on it and has even asked to take it to bed with her. I’m pretty easygoing about letting them take books and toys to bed, but I’ve drawn the line at that one.

So she bounces during nearly all of her waking moments.

We brought up Miss’s Rody from the basement, which she got for Christmas two years ago from my in-laws. The games they are playing with these guys and the stories they make up are priceless.

They even hold them during their special time watching “animal shows” with their Dad in the evening.

The weather is still awful here. It’s snowing as I type this, and yesterday it rained all day. I used the weather as a good excuse for a lazy jammy day. We didn’t get dressed. We didn’t go anywhere. We did school in our pajamas, which the girls think is hilarious.

And they played and played and played.

Getting back into our home routine and hoping for better weather soon.

Happy weekend!

A Wrestling Meet, a Birthday, Some Great-Grandparents, and Disney World

Posted on February 21, 2013 by Amy

Warning: This post has a lot of photos in it.

I can’t help it. We are on vacation, and in the past week we’ve watched a cousin compete (and win 5th place!) in his HS State Wrestling tournament, had a birthday (and multiple parties), taken a plane ride, visited a great-grandpa and then a great-grandma (in different cities), and gone to Disney World. We’ve been in Iowa and all over the state of Florida. These events and their corresponding photos should have been put into several different posts, but we’ve been adventuring, and I haven’t wanted to stop to take the time to post before now. Here’s a little glimpse of the first half of our vacation.

Last Friday we got to watch part of the Iowa High School State wrestling tournament from a box. It was great for the girls to be able to watch their cousin’s semi-final qualifying match and then play cards or read or color at a table in the box the rest of the time. They really got into the excitement of cheering for their cousin, whose match was very exciting, and the other wrestlers from his team.

On the day we went to the tournament I asked Miss at bedtime, as I do every night, what her favorite part of the day was. She said it was watching her cousin wrestle.

On Saturday we had a Snow White themed birthday party for this girl who turned four.

It was a great party, with lots of family and fun, though I kind of spoiled the opening of her one present she has been asking for for weeks. She really wanted a Merida doll and I was so excited to give it to her. I kind of get into the present opening part of a birthday for my little ones, and I love watching their little faces light up and taking pictures as they exclaim over opening just what they wanted. Well, Miss went over and started opening her gifts while I was still feeding her baby sister and tending to Lass after her cupcake. When I realized it, mid-open, I hollered, “Honey, wait! Wait! WAIT!!” She didn’t wait. I didn’t get a photo of her opening the gift. I made an annoyed face at her when she didn’t listen to me. Though I recovered myself and told her “I was sorry for yelling but had wanted to be with her and take her picture while she opened her gift,” the moment was already spoiled. This is the photo I did get of her and her much-anticipated Merida doll. I felt like a total jerk.

We regrouped though, and she has been enjoying her doll.

Note to self – a photo is never that important.

On Sunday we flew to Florida.

I got headphones for the girls and packed their backpacks with their Leap Pads and Tag readers, books, puzzle books, coloring books, and crayons in a travel soap box. Lass thought the head phones were quite cool, though she wasn’t exactly sure how (or what) to plug them in.

The flight was fairly painless. The girls did a great job.

After we landed we got in our rental minivan and drove.

First we drove two hours for a quick visit with Great-Grandpa C who lives in a veteran’s home. It was wonderful to see him, as well as my uncle and his wife, though sad to only be able to stay a short time.

Next we got back in the minivan and drove two more hours to Great- Grandma B’s house. We spent the night and got up Monday morning (Miss’s birthday) to play with all sorts of fun stuff that my Gram had gathered and put out for the girls. Golf balls, plastic food container lids, baskets, and empty egg cartons were only a few of the things she pulled out to entertain my lovies for hours.

They were in heaven with all the toys, and then she whipped up a “country breakfast” for us, complete with eggs, sausage, biscuits, gravy, and a huge bowl of cut fruit. Yum.

She had tons of balloons that she blew up for the girls to play with and for Miss’s birthday celebration.

Great-Grandma had a big to-do for Miss’s actual birthday with pizza and cake and ice cream.

Baby sis got her first taste of ice cream.

We really had a wonderful time with my Grandma and my aunt and uncle (who live next door to her). My Gram really went above and beyond for my girls, which meant so much to me.

We had a too-short visit with her before hitting the road again for two more hours to head to Disney World.

We checked into our hotel and played for a while before dinner. The “playground” at our resort was pathetic. It consisted of lots of fake rocks and coral and three small slides. The girls had fun sliding and running anyway.

Then we headed out for a birthday dinner,

and back in for an early bedtime.

Miss got this “nighttime gown” like Wendy’s from Peter Pan for her birthday. She loves it. I got it from Esty (I love Etsy) here.

The girls watched the Disney bedtime story on the TV and we went to bed early to get ready for our big day at the Magic Kingdom.

On Tuesday:

We did the Magic Kingdom.

Tea Cups (one of my favorites):

Casey Jones splash pad area, which was clearly the favorite of the girls:

As an aside, I love these dresses, and so do the girls. They’re another Etsy find. You can get them here. They were perfect for wearing to Disney, and the girls also wore them to Miss’s party on Saturday. They were cool and comfy (I saw lots of little girls in big puffy dress-up dresses who looked hot and uncomfortable), washed up very easily, and my girls can wear them any day. The girls got drenched in them twice and they dried quickly and were no worse for wear.

It’s a Small World:

A few other rides, and then it was time for lunch at Cinderella’s Royal Table.

We had a nice lunch, with excellent food and service. The girls liked seeing the princesses. Each of them said Snow White was her favorite.

My favorite was Ariel. She really tried to talked to them (though they were a bit shy), rather than just signing her autograph and posing for photos.

She was even attentive to Sis.

The girls got magic wands and made wishes during the “Wishing Ceremony.”

And we had another little birthday celebration (she always plugs her ears during the Happy Birthday song!).

Afterwards, all they really wanted to do was to go back to the splash pad. So we did that for a while, got a few souvenirs, and hit the road.

It was only 3 when we took the ferry back to the parking lot, but the girls were totally worn out.

I have to say, I was pitifully unprepared for all the little tricks of the Disney park experience. I had done a bit of Pinning, read up on a few things, and gotten a couple of apps on my phone, but was totally crushed by the huge crowds and immensity that is the Magic Kingdom. It was extremely crowded, which made it all the more overwhelming. In about five and a half hours we went on four rides (Prince Charming’s Magic Carousel, Dumbo, Mad Hatter, and Small World), played in the water, had lunch with the princesses, and picked out a few souvenirs. The rest of the time was spent wandering around trying to figure out where to get fast passes (most of them were not located right outside their rides, which seemed quite stupid to me), trying to find the rides that we wanted, or waiting in line. We got one fast pass for the Little Mermaid ride but then just missed our window to ride it while we were having lunch with the princesses. We never even made it out of Fantasyland! I learned a lot though and will be much better prepared next time.

One of the highlights of the Disney day for me was that we ran into some friends of ours from when we lived in North Carolina. We haven’t seen them in almost five years, and yet there they were, shuffling along next to us in the crush to get through the entrance to the park. I’m still marveling that we saw them at Disney World, of all places. How likely is it to “run into” someone on a busy day at the Magic Kingdom? Amazing, but we did. And it was so fun to see them, even if it was only for a few minutes as we were herded through security.

For the past two days we’ve been relaxing at my in law’s house. Lass, Sis, and I all have yucky colds (which means unfortunately we can’t visit some of my friends we had planned to see while we’re here, because one of them can’t be around sick people). We’re still enjoying the warmth and soaking in the Vitamin D. Eventually I’ll post about the rest of our adventures. Tomorrow we’re going to the beach. Saturday we’re going home.

“Vacation” isn’t relaxing anymore since having little ones. But it is so much more fun.

A Holiday Movie Tradition

Posted on December 10, 2012December 11, 2012 by Amy

Have I mentioned how much I love holiday traditions?

Yes. Of course I have. I’m a holiday tradition junkie.

One of my favorites is the tradition my Mom and I have of watching the movie “Heidi” every Christmas. I know it’s not a popular holiday movie, but we’ve been doing it every year since I can remember (you can read about the girls’ first exposure to it last year here).

My Mom and I recite the dialog together. “I think there ought to be a Frau Schultz!” and “My word! A gorilla!” and many, many more lines of this adorable movie.

We laugh heartily at the same scenes, every. time.

This year my girls laughed with us.

For the first time, my girls actually paid attention throughout the movie and seemed to get into it (Lass got distracted for a while in the middle, but was pretty attentive for the first 30-40 minutes and the last 15 or so).

They cracked up at the craziness that resulted when Heidi let the monkey in the house. They were distressed with Grandfather was placed in jail and couldn’t find Heidi. They were on pins and needles about “When will Clara walk?”

I can’t even express how happy I am that I could share this tradition with my girls this year. I watched them watching it almost as much as I watched the movie.

What’s your favorite holiday movie?

When Grandma is a Children’s Librarian

Posted on October 25, 2012October 25, 2012 by Amy

We read a lot at our house. I mean a lot.

I read many books to my girls every day. We talk about what we read. Sometimes we even do little activities related to what we’ve read.

When we come to Grandma’s house, things get taken to a whole new level.

She brings home wonderful new books from the library, where she works as the children’s librarian.

Beautiful books that beg to be read over and over and over. Books that are so well written and illustrated that I actually enjoy reading them over and over and over.

Then Grandma does one better.

She busts out the felt board with all sorts of laminated animals and vegetables and fruits to go with classics like “Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?,” “Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear?,” and of course, “The Very Hungry Caterpillar.”

I love that she makes many of our old favorites come to life in new ways.

Last night she brought out a bag full of camels with different numbers of silly-looking humps, from five down to zero. She taught the girls a goofy song about “Sally the camel.” It was a little math lesson too, with her number of humps decreasing by one with each round of the song.

Miss got really into it and cracked up laughing every time the song ended with Sally having “no humps” and the revelation that she was a horse. She thought that was pretty clever.

Lass totally didn’t get the words, but she sang at the top of her lungs anyway.

I love this stuff. I laughed hard last night with my girls and my mom.

This week has promoted good bonding for my girls with each other and with Grandma and Grandpa.

We went as a family to story time at my mom’s library yesterday. I asked my husband to come with us, but then felt a little guilty about it.

I second-guessed my request that he join us right before we left and told him he didn’t really need to come. He was entirely willing to come, but I was still feeling bad and thinking, “Why did I ask him to come? I should be able to take my kids to story time by myself, for pete’s sake” (Mommy guilt is so stupid). He came anyway. And of course I did have reasons for asking him, knowing that the timing of the story time coincided with Lass’s second feeding of the day. It would have been a little tricky to help my older girls with the activities I know my mom packs into her story times (in yesterday’s story time they colored, heard two stories, used finger puppets and needed help to get them on their fingers, did a group numbers puzzle, had a craft project, and ate a snack) while nursing a baby.

And yes, I could have done it by myself.

But it turns out it was really good he was there. He held Sis so I didn’t have to wear her while sitting with the big girls on the floor. And of course in the middle of the second story, just after I had helped Lass get ten little monkey puppets onto her fingers, she announced that she had to go potty.

And Sis needed to eat right after we got back from that bathroom trip. So Daddy and Grandpa helped out with the craft project of the day. I just know that if my husband hadn’t been there, Lass would have waited to announce the need to potty until I was in the middle of feeding Sis, in the middle of the second story, right after getting ten monkey puppets on her squirmy fingers.

It was a little reminder that, even though I can manage to do all sorts of things by myself with my girls, sometimes it’s cool to ask someone to help. Having my hubby there made the morning infinitely easier. Thanks hubby.

This week is coming to a close way too quickly. Tomorrow we will be visiting with my brother and his family, and all too soon we’ll be heading home. I so wish my family lived nearer. My girls are blooming this week. Grandparents rule.

Leaves

Posted on October 21, 2012October 21, 2012 by Amy

At home, we are well past the peak of fall color. Things are starting to look a bit brown. It’s getting cold and I can feel winter coming.

But this week we’re visiting my parents. They live 10 hours south of us, and still have lots of wonderful color and nearly-80-degree weather to enjoy.

It’s warm and beautiful. And we’re taking full advantage.

There’s lots of room to run at Grandma and Grandpa’s house. And I just can’t resist taking pictures of my gorgeous girls in these gorgeous leaves.

Of course, my girls love playing in the leaves. I got them searching for big, different, colorful leaves.

We collected a bunch of leaves and then the girls went to town playing in them.

I was really excited to have the girls do some leaf rubbings after their naps.

I helped each of them do a maple leaf, but they were much more interested in just coloring. I tried to talk to them about the differences in the leaves and the types of trees from which they came. We had collected maple, oak, dogwood, and something else. Hickory, I think. I was really excited to get into the leaves. I thought I was going to have one of those super-fun-and-totally-educational-awesome-mom experiences with them.

They just wanted to color. Oh well.

It was a fun afternoon. And we’re at Grandma and Grandpa’s. My girls are laughing like crazy and getting tons of love from my parents. Can’t beat that.

Their Touchstone

Posted on October 6, 2012October 7, 2012 by Amy

Most days, I juggle spending time playing with my girls with all sorts of other daily stuff-I-have-to-do, like folding laundry, cooking dinner, grocery shopping, showering, and so on. It’s just the nature of being a mom. I’d like to spend tons and tons of time just playing with my kids. But I have to get other stuff done. So I alternate playing and doing something on my never ending mental to-do list. They play on their own. They’re pretty good at it. I think it’s a good thing.

But even though they’re good at entertaining each other and themselves, I do love to get down on the floor and just play with them without distractions. I do this at least for a little while every day. Today I made a point of skipping the laundry and other stuff and just being with them. We played dress up and sang songs. I was alternately assigned the roles of Beast, Evil Queen, Happy (dwarf), a giant, Snow White’s mother (?), Prince Charming, and Gaston.

And just when I thought I was being Super Awesome Mom and we were having the best. time. ever., Miss asked, “Is anyone coming over to play with us?” She was referring to a babysitter. I told her that no one was, that I was staying and playing with them.

“But I want someone to come play with us.”

Huh? I’m your Mom and I’m here, laughing and tickling and being silly and wearing crazy hats and playing all these stupid characters and you want a babysitter?

Yeah. Okay. I love that my girls like their babysitters. That’s a good thing. But when it comes to this sort of stuff, being compared with babysitters, Mom kind of gets a raw deal. I mean, let’s face it, I just can’t compete with someone who gets paid to do nothing but lavish all her attention and energy on my kids for the entire time she’s with them. She doesn’t have to do laundry, make beds, vacuum floors, make grocery lists, and on and on while trying to attend to my three kids. And while I’m pouting about this, I can’t compete with my husband on this stuff either. But that’s mostly just because he is totally willing to play monster and chase and hide and seek all. evening. long. with my two older girls. And truth? I really don’t like playing chase and hide and seek, so I’m giving that one up to him. But still …

Watching the game!

I know. There are lots of times when my kids want only me. When they’re sick, or hurt, or scared, or tired. Or nervous, or excited, or proud. If I’m on the phone or trying to have a discussion with another mom at a play date. They want me when there’s a book to be read or a song to be sung. No one can tuck them in quite like me (though Miss chose to have my mom tuck her in every night when my parents visited recently).

I had to take the girls to the doctor today, because Miss had an ear infection. Third trip to the doctor in four days.

Sometimes other people, like Daddy, grandparents, and babysitters, are popular with my kids because they can provide them with undivided attention for extended periods of time. I do it sometimes too of course, though not as much as I’d like. Even when I make a point to just play, things don’t always work out the way I plan (today was a day for just playing, but then Miss complained of ear pain so we had to go to the doctor and then to Target for a prescription).

As Mom, I often have to divide my attention between my three girls or between my girls and the myriad other things I have to do each day. They are often excited to have a babysitter to play with them. They’re always excited for grandparents and their Dad.

It never bothers me that they love being with other people. I think it’s great. And it truly doesn’t bother me that they sometimes choose other people over me (though I was kind of shocked today to be dissed while I was doing what I thought was some super awesome playing with them).

Thing is, it’s not a competition. No one else can be their Mom. No one else will ever fill that role for them but me. And if they’re secure in that, then they’ll be happy to have great relationships with the other special people in their lives. They have awesome relationships with their Daddy and grandparents and aunts and uncles. And yes, clearly they enjoy their babysitters. Each of these relationships is special and important for each of my girls.

I don’t give my girls undivided attention all day long. I don’t think any mom does. It would be weird and helicopter-ish if I did. Instead, I spend some time giving them focused attention and the rest of the time they have me here, nearby, all day every day as their sounding board. Their touchstone. When they run to me or call to me countless times each day, I’m always here to answer, to listen, to watch.

They know that I’m always here, and that I always will be. Even when they choose the babysitter (or Grandma or Daddy) over me.

Running On Empty

Posted on September 15, 2012September 15, 2012 by Amy

I’m staring at the screen tonight, not really sure how to write what I want to write.

I guess I’m not entirely sure what it is I even want to say, so I’m just going free form here, and hopefully something coherent will emerge.

The past week has been a rough one for me. I’m far from the perfect mom, but there have been moments this past week that I’ve struggled to even feel competent. I mentioned that I don’t much enjoy the weeks when my husband works nights. I have less back up and less time with him. Plus I think my girls miss their time with him, so they end up being less easygoing as well. I don’t have family nearby, so when circumstances align so that my husband’s availability is limited, my sleep is less than optimal, and my older girls are listening to me about as well as my dog (who’s deaf) does, I end up feeling very cranky and impatient. Adrift and lonely.

I have to take more deep breaths. I have to tell myself to chill out. I have to get creative to keep everyone mostly sane. I sometimes have to apologize to my kids for being a big jerk. I pay a babysitter to get an hour of uninterrupted time by myself. I count the minutes until a play date with a cherished friend, whom I don’t get to see often enough now that summer is over. I keep telling myself, “The reinforcements are coming. And it’s gonna be good!” And it will.

My parents are coming tomorrow to help out while my husband is out of town for the next ten days. Hallelujah. We are thrilled to have Grandma and Grandpa coming.

Because Grandma does much better than throwing a bunch of crap on the table and calling it “craft time.”

Because Grandpa and I can put together something much better for dinner than a PB&J picnic/movie night.

Because I’ll pull myself out of this funk and get my mommy-groove back.

I’m not really sure what has had me so out of sorts this past week. Yes, I have missed my husband (still do), but that’s not all. I’m tired, lonely, and feeling frayed. I suppose all moms have times like these. Hell, I sure hope I’m not the only one!

My reinforcements are coming. I’m running on fumes, but soon my tank will be full again.

Memories in a Box

Posted on July 9, 2012 by Amy

When I was a little girl I loved to go to my Grandma’s house. She had a jewelry box full of costume jewelry that she let me play with to my heart’s content. I would go back to her bedroom and put the jewelry box on her big bed. I’d drape myself in her jewels all afternoon. She had long necklace strands with funky beads, tons of bangle bracelets, brooches, and clip-on earrings, essential for my very young and at that time un-pierced ears. I have many memories of these adventures. And I don’t remember this, but one story goes that, as a tiny tot, I once placed all of my Grandma’s necklaces on at one time and somehow fell over, calling out in my little voice, “Help! Help!” because I could not get back up.

My Grandma passed away about two and a half years ago. This past week, my Mom gave me her jewelry box with her costume jewelry in it. Oh heaven! Now, I was a little sad because it wasn’t the same box, and much of the jewelry I played with wasn’t there anymore. I had had visions of opening my Grandma’s white jewelry box to find all the fun beaded strands I had played with in the late 70s and early 80s. I guess Grandma got some new stuff since then. The new box is dark-stained wood. But happily, a few of the pieces I remember playing with were still there and some other items I remember seeing her wear, even if I didn’t play with them. It was magical to watch my girls’ faces light up as they explored this treasure trove.

They both loved to see themselves all decked out. Lass repeatedly said, “I go wook in miweh (look in mirror)” and “Sissy, wook miweh too, huh? Come on!”

They were princesses in their finery. Then Miss decided they needed to be “scullery maids” (we had been watching Snow White). So she changed into her “raggy jewelry” for cleaning house and she and Lass went to town.

Oops.

Anybody remember these?

Those old Fisher Price toys were the other thing I used to play with at my Grandma’s house. The “Mommy” with the blue body and yellow hair was a toy I used to love to carry around with me all the time. Sort of like how my middle child has to carry around her “Wedda” (Cinderella) doll at all times and always in her left hand (check the photos above, she’s always there). My girls weren’t into the little people like they were the jewelry. Miss said, “Oh, cool people!” and then went back to playing with her princesses. Oh well.

We’re home now, trying to get back into the swing of things after yet another week of travel. We’ve been on the road a lot the past few weeks to be with family. I am thinking about my grandmas, and my husband’s grandma, and my girls’ grandmas. Grandmas are just special. I have always loved and appreciated my grandmas, but I find myself cherishing them more now that I have children. I wish my girls would know my grandparents the way I did. I know I can’t make that happen (though I try with visits as much as possible), but that makes it all the more important to me that they will have wonderful special relationships with their grandparents. So we travel. We get sleep deprived from driving late into the night and sleeping in cramped quarters. We rack up the miles on my vehicle. We get flat tires that my poor husband has to change at 11:00 at night. But you’d better believe my girls will have amazing memories. Someday they might have a special item that brings those memories flooding back, like the box of my Grandma’s jewelry. Definitely, they will know the specialness of their grandparents. And that makes it all so worth it.

Dressing Up, Kentucky Style

Posted on July 4, 2012 by Amy

You’ve seen lots of posts showing my girls’ dress up adventures recently. They’re really into it. They’re just like their Mama in that way. I’ve also posted recently about the dearth of dress up items in my Mom’s closet when I was growing up. She came through with a few fun things for the girls yesterday though. Check out this hat.

It was made, of course, by my Grandma.

Lass loved it.

The girls loved seeing their Grandma try on this clown costume, also made by my Grandma. It is actually a full clown costume with a baggy one piece suit that has big buttons down the front. But I’m not sharing that photo.

When I wrote about my Mom’s dress-up-lacking closet recently in this post, I mentioned the one item she did have that I loved to dress up in – the beautiful silver shoes. I forgot about the beautiful silver purse that went with those shoes. My Mom brought it out yesterday and I was so happy to see it. Seriously. I gasped and exclaimed, “The silver purse!” The girls are loving it too.

Miss really got into carrying it around.

Before I gave it to the girls, I opened it up to make sure there wasn’t anything in it that they couldn’t play with. Turns out I was the last one to use it. Here’s what I found:

This is what I used to carry in my purse. My keys, “address book,” and um, FBI identification card?

Miss enjoyed my special purse contents too. She was very animated in discussing the importance of having her “message” (the FBI card), her “keys to go for a trip in the car,” and her “book to read in the car” in her purse.

I love playing dress up with my girls.

A Reunion

Posted on July 3, 2012 by Amy

I love family reunions. Especially reunions where all the generations are represented in force. We had one of those yesterday at my parent’s house. My Grandma was here.

One of the very fun things about our family reunions on my Dad’s side of the family is that they are quite extended. And because my Grandma and her sister married my Papa and his brother, and my Grandma’s family and Papa’s family (meaning their siblings) all grew up together, we get reunions with great aunts and great uncles from all over the place. My Grandma’s sister and two of her brothers were here with many members of their families, as well as my Papa’s sister and one of her daughters. I’m not sure if these are my second cousins or third or fourth, but it was wonderful to see and visit with them.

I love watching the interactions amongst family members who have known and loved each other for decades and yet rarely get to see each other. There were elderly siblings. There were in-laws who are a link to a beloved but deceased family member. There were nearly as many family members here from my Grandma’s generation as from my girls’ (six and eight, respectively). There was lots of reminiscing and catching up. There were plenty of long, good-squeezing hugs too.

My cousins were here and we saw lots of photos that my Papa took in the 1960s and 70s and 80s. He was quite the photographer.

Speaking of photography, I really wanted to get a good photo of my girls and my brother’s kids (who were the only kids at the party) with my Grandma. This was easier said than done, mostly because poor Lass was not interested in posing for this photo. She tried to run away. She screamed and cried. She was desperately in need of a nap.

Of all the pics snapped, my husband managed to get this not-too-bad shot of all the kids with my Gram.

Yes, my girls are all dressed alike. I can’t help myself.

My Grandma went home today, so unfortunately our visit was a bit short. We had a chat last night. I asked her what project she is currently working on. She told me that she had been working on Lass’s quilt (each of her grandchildren gets a personalized quilt; you can see Miss’s here), and had gotten it all ready to put together and finish when she realized that her clothes were not quite right for her trip here for the reunion, so she had to make some more clothes and adjust the fit on some others (yes, my Grandma makes all her own clothes, including the outfit you see her wearing in the above photos!). And then she’s been working on a military quilt, which will be sent to a military hospital when she’s finished. She’s also been working on afghans for a girls shelter and lap afghans for the veterans at a hospital near her. I’m sure there’s at least one thing I’m forgetting too. It makes me tired just thinking about all that. She is never idle. I love that about her. I think of all the stuff she is constantly doing, and then I am inspired to do more myself.

Getting lots of family time this week. It’s so good for my girls. And it’s good for my soul.