Innocence
{ 5 comments }
Family Life
I’m always thinking of a ton of things to blog about, but I’m a little sleep deprived these days, so I keep forgetting what they are.
But when Pumpkin Girl and Bip took me to see “lookout rock”, I remembered to take my camera along.
This hangout of theirs is on the bluff the rises behind the park across the street from our house.
It’s not a difficult climb if you’re young and spry and fairly close to the ground and don’t have a camera banging around your neck. But I did my best, encouraged by Bip saying, “Come on, Mama, it’s easy!”
Here it is, lookout rock.
Perched upon this rock, you can spy on the whole neighborhood and see a good portion of the city.
The rock has fun hiding places, too.
Another close-by rock, in the “spy zone” as the children call it, has a little cave.
You can see our house from up there. I think I should go back and retake this picture with the depth of field reversed. Look at me with my photography jargon! It means with the house in focus and the tree branches blurred.
We think it’s a perfect place to play!
{ 10 comments }
Yesterday was just one of those days.
We needed to be four places at once and with only two drivers, that just wasn’t going to happen. We blew off one activity this week – next time that will be the one we go to- and packed up dinner to go and loaded a ballerina, a soccer player, a baby and mom in one car, and another soccer player and dad in another. Away we went, waving to each other as we all pulled out of the driveway.
Soccer practice was cold. 53 degrees is actually fairly mild after a long winter, except the sun was going down and the wind was howling. Pumpkin Girl and I managed to get a blanket laid out on the very dead grass and anchored it with bags and water bottles. She attempted to eat her dinner but ended up taking refuge under a tree to prevent dry grass from blowing into her meal. Little Pipsqueak was not happy with the wind in his face so I stood up and turned my back to the wind. He was in my sling and I pulled my coat around him as best I could. Even with my back to the wind my hair was all over my face. I turned my head to look up and then I saw Bip.
His soccer ball had rolled down the hill and into the parking lot and was heading right towards an oncoming car. And Bip was heading right for the ball. I yelled his name.
“Bip! BIP! STOP!”
The driver of the car saw him, or actually probably saw the ball, and stopped. Bip kept right on going and picked up his ball which had come to rest at the car’s bumper.
When he came back, he was sobbing and kept saying, “I’m sorry, Mommy,” over and over again. I held him as best I could with the baby in the sling. Poor Bip wanted to leave. We shoved everything into his soccer bag, told the coach what had happened and left practice 10 minutes early. Bip cried the whole long walk back to the car. He did hear me calling, but thought his ball would be smashed and he’d never see it again. I told him that I was afraid that HE’D be smashed and I’d never see him again.
On the road to the ballet studio, he and I talked about what had happened and what to do next time. I emphasized the importance of obeying. We thanked his guardian angel.
The rest of the evening went without a hitch. Bip sat on my bed to watch “Curious George” until the rest of the family came home. We’re going to learn our lesson and move on.
{ 1 comment }
Chinese New Year was celebrated on February 3rd this year. I totally missed it. Oops.
This is the Year of the Rabbit. We don’t have any rabbits in our family. Two tigers, a dragon, 2 rams, 2 roosters, but no rabbits. In any case, here are the traits of those born in the Year of the Rabbit:
“People born in the Year of the Rabbit are articulate, talented, and ambitious. They are virtuous, reserved, and have excellent taste. Rabbit people are admired, trusted, and are often financially lucky. They are fond of gossip but are tactful and generally kind. Rabbit people seldom lose their temper. They are clever at business and being conscientious, never back out of a contract. They would make good gamblers for they have the uncanny gift of choosing the right thing. However, they seldom gamble, as they are conservative and wise. They are most compatible with those born in the years of the Sheep, Pig, and Dog.”
I’m one of the roosters in my family. I am a deep thinker, capable and talented. True, true. Philip insists that he is a ram, but many zodiac calendars list him as a sheep. Either way, he is warm, woolly and prone to head butts. Actually, his year description doesn’t fit him at all.
What’s your year? Does the description fit you? You can check here:
Chinese Zodiac
{ 3 comments }
Can you believe it has been 3 months since little Pipsqueak arrived? He is a joy, of course, but he sure is putting us through our paces. He is not quite so high needs as Boo was, but he is not as easy going as Pumpkin and Bip.
I remember those first few months with Boo. I had joined a new moms group that met at the mall once a week. We had a little class taught by a pediatric nurse, then social time. All the other babies played nicely on their blankets. Not Boo. During the whole class I stood and bounced and rocked and rocked and bounced. He just fussed. A friend from that group introduced me to Dr. Sears, and from there I discovered the whole concept of the high needs baby. Reading about “fussy” babies and how to help them changed our lives.
And here I am again, with another high needs little dude. Funny enough, their birthdays are 5 days apart, their birth weights were within 2 ounces of each other and they were both born in the Year of the Tiger. Hmmmmm…
But I am (much) older now, and hopefully wiser. I have more helping and eager hands. I’m also much busier, with schooling 3 other children. I am very aware that those eager helpers are watching and internalizing everything I do to mother this little needy person. Especially Pumpkin Girl. What will they take away from watching their mother care for their youngest sibling? Good things, I hope.
Pipsqueak has turned our lives upside down. But look at him! He is so worth it.
{ 5 comments }
Ever since we moved in to our new house we’ve been doing our part to stimulate the economy. It’s our civic duty, you know. I lo-o-ve me some internet shopping! Never have to leave the house, lots of selection, easy to compare prices. Love, love, love.
The only problem is customer service. I’ve been sitting on a complaint I’ve been wanting to air on my blog. I ordered a product from what was clearly a work at home mom. She got it wrong. She promised to replace it. After several emails, it was clear she was ignoring me. I am out my money and the product is no good. I really want to give you more details, but I just don’t think it is the right thing to do. I’ll just assume she got in over her head and got embarrassed and didn’t think she could fix it.
That sound you hear? That’s me biting my tongue. Or sitting on my fingers. Whichever.
Anyway! How about some good customer service stories?
Lands End – if you place an order through a Sears store, you will get free shipping and they will honor any sales prices or coupon codes you have. You can return any Lands End product to Sears within 5 years, even without a receipt! AND you don’t have to pay return shipping.
QVC – I’ve shopped with QVC for years. I love almost everything I’ve purchased and what I haven’t loved, I’ve returned for a refund. Recently I bought a food product from them that was incorrectly labeled. I sent them an email just to let them know, and they ended up refunding my entire purchase price.
Yugster – I don’t know much about this company, but Philip bought something from them recently. The product broke, but the manufacturer would not honor the warranty because they said Yugster was not an authorized seller. Yugster, on the other hand, refunded the entire price – over $200.
Good customer service is just good business. It’s not about giving people their money back or about the customer always being right. It is about doing what is right and making the customer feel good about shopping with you. So many times we hear all about the bad, I just felt like sharing the good.
Do you have any good customer service stories to share?
{ 7 comments }
Signs that your children are enjoying Harry Potter?
When they dress their little brother up as a dementor. Anyone out there able to whip up a good Patronus?
{ 0 comments }
I’ve been encouraging the children to get more involved with cooking meals, but this is a bit much.
{ 6 comments }
As I sit here typing, the snow is coming down and our lows tonight are going to dip past 0 degrees. Wind chill will be -20. Negative twenty. Fortunately Philip came home early and he doesn’t have to go back to work until next year. We are stocked up with winter storm essentials – toilet paper and eggs. We haven’t had much snow this season at all, so we’re hoping for enough to sled.
Looking back at this last year is always fun, so here it goes.
In January I turned 40. I got some pretty good gifts!
In February I was happy to start baking bread again and Boo became a Boy Scout.
March brought two new family members – our kitties Mittens and Cinnamon.
We traveled to Tucson for Easter in April where we attended the vigil mass and were the godparents for my cousin’s son.
I finally admitted in May what I’d known since the end of February – that we were expecting another baby!
June found us sailing away to Mexico.
In July I reflected upon the things we learned during our first year of living in Colorado.
Pumpkin Girl auditioned for the Nutcracker in August.
I got brave in September and shared some pages out of my watercolor journal. Only one person commented (thank you, Jani!)!!! Ouch. 
As October came to an end, our little Pipsqueak arrived and Boo turned 12, all in the same week. Amazing.
Speaking of Pipsqueak, November was tough on him as he fought off jaundice and had kidney ultrasounds.
We wrapped up the year remembering Becca on her seventh birthday and celebrating Pumpkin Girl as she turned ten.
All in all, a good year! I’m looking forward to seeing what next year brings.
{ 4 comments }
Ten years ago I was pregnant. The fun and excitement of Christmas was over and we were enjoying the peace and quiet of the days that follow. Our baby was due during the first week of the new year and we were mostly ready.
I’d taken a walk with my mom that afternoon. It was a crisp, clear day in a Maryland suburb of DC. The baby felt really low. Really low.
I decided that it was as good a day as any to wash the cover on the infant car seat. I threw it in the washing machine with some other items. It was done drying by the time Phil got home so I had him install the car seat into the car. Just so we’d be ready.
In the meantime I sat on the floor, folding the rest of the laundry. My mom was in the kitchen with Boo. I felt two pops. My water broke!
We didn’t leave for the hospital for another hour. During the short ride to Andrews AFB, my contractions grew stronger. By the time we arrived it was clear that I was definitely in labor, but they put me in the labor and delivery triage room where I continued to labor.
I will spare you the details of the complete chaos and buffoonery that followed when they finally realized that not only was I really in labor, but that the baby was coming RIGHT NOW!
I did make it to the delivery room just fine before I pushed twice (please don’t hate me) and our little Pumpkin Girl was born.
All 5 pounds, 12 ounces of her. Thick black hair and big brown eyes. Sugar and spice and everything nice.
Happy Birthday, Pumpkin Girl! You bless us every day with your beautiful smile, you dancing feet and your quiet, but funny sense of humor. You are a princess among the princes, the crown jewel of our little kingdom. Proof that every good and perfect gift comes from above.
{ 0 comments }
Shoot me an email
Follow me on Twitter
Subscribe
