status updates

-guess what's for dinner?  this looks too easy to be good.  i'll let you know.

-stinkhorns.  they live.  they multiply.  they spread.  this week's mission: take down all stinkhorns.  equipment:  rubber gloves, plastic bags, shovels.  goal: not to vomit when i touch and smell them.

-my goal of wearing fun, cute clothes each day has crashed and burned.

- i should be making a grocery list and cleaning, but instead spent the last 10 minutes looking up different versions of videos to this song

cut and paste

so i have not posted pictures from Christmas because I am awaiting a new computer.  this poor machine can hardly handle any more pictures.  i have decided today to post some of the many, many blog posts that i started but never finished.  when put all together they give you something to read.

Jan 11, 2010
family. sweet family. gosh we are blessed to have such good family.
frank and hank are ready for us to all get one big house together.
i'm cool with that as long as shannon agrees to homeschool my kids and dress them.

Jan 7, 2010
why do we own toys that go off and make noises without anyone playing with them?  it creeps us all out, especially the dog.

last night, Noah's Ark started making noises around 2 am in ford's room while he was asleep.
michael had bad dreams because it sounding like his cadence he used to play in drum line practice.  he dreamt that ford was standing up in the crib, drumming out the cadence on the crib rail.

Jan 6, 2010
frank said this morning: "i get one dream pack every night.  and sometimes when i have a bad dream, i just take it and throw it out of the dream pack.  i don't come to your room all the time when i have a bad dream."

Dec 15, 2009
Thoughts that float through my mind throughout a typical day:
"damn dog"
"I wish i could try out that nail polish that i am giving as a gift.  do you think anyone would care?"
"give me patience, Lord"

Dec 6, 2009
Notes to self:

• You really, really, really need to take a picture of what you want your hair to look like when you go to get it highlighted and say, "I want something different."  
• You should know how to work your child's humidifier and how to fix it when it is not working, so that your husband doesn't have to got out at midnight to the drugstore to buy a new one 

Sept 22, 2009
I hate cleaning.
Unless I am in a bad mood.
Then I like cleaning because it is better than thinking.
But when I feel happy and content
I want to read, write, visit, laugh and play.
I do not want to fold laundry or load the dishwasher again.

When you work at a job you have lists of things to do.
There are things that you enjoy...you do those first.
There are things that are easy, but mundane, those are next.
then there are the things that you hate, and you put those off as
long as possible....at least if you are like me.

Cleaning is on my list of hates.
So to my friends and family that suffer my failures as a domestic engineer,
i apologize...I am the worst homemaker that I know.
But ask me about what I am reading, or who I talked to today, or what Frank and I visited about, and i feel that my days are at least somewhat redeemed.

sidenote: i think i am learning to like cleaning slightly more since last september - it can only be the Lord

i am still at a literary loss for blog posts.  instead, here is a glimpse of what i am doing today.

1.  trying on clothes and variations of the new clothes that i purchased while shopping with my pro-shopper sister-in-law, shannon.  i was thinking about posting pictures of these various outfits to get your feedback.  then i felt like that might be weird, as i am not so much into putting pictures of myself on the internet.  of course my children are all over the internet...maybe i should re-think that also. 
2.  experimenting with socks/tights and how they look with various shoes to wear with the various outfits.
3.  looking at the strange, short, gray baby hairs that stick up all over my head in the sunlight. 
4.  changing poopy diapers.  ford poops 3 - 4 times per day - it is ridiculous.  i found a tiny gold coin that is part of frank's playmobile pirate set in ford's poop before naptime.  buried treasure.
5.  cleaning.  dirtying.  cleaning again.
6.  listening to Ladysmith Black Mambazo
7.  opening mail.  my least favorite
8.  watercoloring with frank
9.  now i am fixin to go to the park to meet a friend

Untitled

I am at a loss for blogging.  "so why are you writing about it?" you may be saying to yourself.

that is a valid question.  do i like to hear myself talk?  maybe...a little bit...but mostly because I just want you to know that i am trying.  not that you really care if i write a blog entry or not.  I am not so vain as to think that you are anxiously awaiting my lame commentary on mothering, music and food.  But I am writing to tell you that i do care about you all.  There are not very many of you who read this blog, but the ones who do, i really value that you take the time to double click and check on me, so i just wanted to say thanks for that, even though i am feeling boring and uninspired.

There were certainly many great moments about our trip up north that are blogworthy, but i cannot possibly capture them all, and the thought of even trying to put it in words makes me feel tired.  Instead, i am just thinking about you all, while still trying to find spots for the Christmas gifts that made the journey home with us. This means that old things must go to make room for the new as i have no basement, no usable attic, tiny closets, and a nasty garage that we like to call "purgatory."  The cabinets need reorganizing, the old tupperwares must go, the shelves need dusting, and that red christmas tree that was once so pretty to me is now like a glowing red eyesore reminding me that it, too, must make its way back to purgatory.

I am praising the Lord for a new year, for grace and forgiveness for my terrible parenting of this past week, and for continued opportunities to grow as a person, wife and mother in this next year.  I don't make resolutions because I never keep them, but i do feel excited when i think about the year ahead.  i am not generally a glass-is half-full kind of person, so this is a new emotion for me.  maybe i drank too much coffee this morning and i am confusing it with excitement.  regardless - i will take it.  and hope that you are excited about 2010, too.

breaking in 2010

i really really like m. ward.  i am finally listening to his latest album, Hold Time, thanks to my husband's persistence with checking it out from the library.  i own his previous albums.  i love listening to them all, especially in the car.  they are beautiful and fun.  frank loves them, too.

that is all i have to say about that. 

Merry Christmas

our yearly nativity scene picture (taken at our church Christmas play: Every Man Heart Lay Down)

Unhappy with recent posts that I have written, then left unpublished, I will close out the year with an old standby of photos and frank quotes.  I hope you have a very Merry Christmas and can't wait to see so many of you so very soon!"

-"i don't think that i want to grow up very fast.  i don't want to get speeding tickets."

-"what's that on your face?"
 just some red lipstick
 "its beauuutiful."

-do you want to play drums?
"no.  i want to play peenano."

"mama, i weally, really, wreally think that santa claus is going to give God a present for Christmas."

"I have been to lots of countries. and I am going to go to more: Kansas, Oklahoma, South Arabia, Africa, Russia, Hawaii, Arkansas, Germany, and Texas."

days of the week:  "monday, wednesday, tursday, friday, saturday, and churchday"

Ford is one.  Ford is walking - like a drunkard, but walking nonetheless.  He is snotty and cutting teeth, learning to dislike foods and how to throw his sippy cup.  I'd say he is right on target.

 

 

and here was our shooting star, (photos taken in sequence prior to the Christmas play):

 

 

 

Impetigo or Acne?

So i have these little tiny, almost cute dots around the corners of my mouth.  They are not actually cute, but I don't want to gross you out and say that I have little pimples around my mouth, but in fact, that is what they are. 

Or are they?  You see, last week my beautiful eldest son developed a spotty face rash himself.  On his smooth, creamy skin it was clearly a rash.  For a while i thought it was our old friend, eczema, coming to rear his itchy, ugly head.  So I went back to my hypervigilent ways of slathering my son in a thick shiny layer of vaseline day and night.  but the rash didn't go away - it just moved up his face and onto his thumb.  So, at the encouragement of GoGo and for fear that sweet face would still have spots at Christmas, I took him to the doctor. 

Diagnosis: impetigo.  Eeew.  Isn't that something that dirty kids get?  oh wait, that's right, i have a dirty kid.  he crawls on the floor of the church and parking lots and then sucks his thumb.  of course he has impetigo. 

I have spent this last week obsessed with the spread of impetigo and how to stop it.  The slightest bump or skin irritation on Ford gets immediately covered in Bactroban.  I saw spots on his cheek while we were at Target and I got nervous.  moments later i noticed matching spots on the opposite cheek.  I then began to think about leaving immediately to get home to our tube of salve.  I was all ready to call CPS on myself for allowing my baby to get this yucky rash, when michael pointed out that he had been kissing Ford with his itchy beard.  phew. 

But then what about me?  i have a problem.  I don't know my diagnosis, you see I ran out of my night cream at the same time as the impetigo was healing in our home.  Knowing I couldn't get an order from Avon in time, i went ahead and bought some cheap night cream at Target - we go there a lot.  So...are the strange little dots around my mouth impetigo or acne related to changing night creams?  any good scientist knows, there are too many variables at work here.  So, i have been putting bactroban on my skin at night before applying the night cream, because I just cannot sleep without some night cream.  it is like some people's white noise and other's earplugs.  i gotta have the night cream.  and each morning i wake up with a few new little spots.

and now, as the car talk dudes say, you have just wasted a perfectly good few minutes reading this post.  hope your day gets better than this. 

the foot goes down

No longer able to tolerate the incessant flow of verbage that fills my ears from the moment i turn off cartoons in the morning until the moment i send michael to put frank to bed at night, today i said, "Frank.  Listen here, buddy, you cannot talk all the time.  You must practice being quiet some of the time.  I love you and love to listen to you, but my brain cannot listen all day long.  My brain needs rest."

to this, i got no response. does that mean he was listening to me, or offended?  i am not sure, but we had a solid minute of quiet today. 

in case you are wondering where the birthday and Christmas play photos are...i have not forgotten about you...we'll get there....

Papa says, "make sure and give this recipe to Rose."

I planned on not giving out this recipe.  I love it so much that I feel like I own it - even though I don't.  Yet sometimes I develop these weird habits of wanting to protect recipes so that I and I alone will be the master of _______ (whatever recipe it is).  The truth is, I will never be a master at any recipe because without fail, whenever I try to recreate something really excellent that I made "that one time" it always falls flat on the second and third try.

Except for this recipe.  It seems to be fool-proof.  I have made these cookies 4 times and they are always perfect and earn me the greatest of compliments.  This builds my self-esteem.  When I make them I feel pretty.  In the spirit of giving and sharing for the holidays, I want you to get compliments and feel pretty, too.  (disclaimer: if you eat more than 5 cookies in one sitting - you will cease to feel pretty)

So here is the Iced Meyer Lemon Cookie recipe that will brighten your winter days. 

final note: you must use meyer lemons - regular lemons in these proportions are too tart

prison and poison

I sent Jerry and Rose to the prison tonight - to sing Christmas songs and hand out soap and cookies to the prisoners.  I sent them to the prison and was expecting them back by now...

in the meantime, Ford put his hand in some sort of camphor inhalant that goes on top of the vaporizer, then proceeded to put that sweet chubby hand in his mouth before I could stop him.  Poison control asked if I had left it out on purpose for him to get into.  What kind of mother do you think I am?  If I left it out on purpose, would I be calling poison control???  I am negligent perhaps, but not malevolent.

frank said, "i want to go to prison with daddy and GoGo and PaPa!  Why can't I go to prison?"  ...this has led to all kinds of fascinating discussions today.  

for the record: camphor is very dangerous for children and can cause seizures, but in this particular substance it is in a tiny amount and may just cause some diarrhea.  thank the Lord, I can handle that sort of crap any day.

the shooting star

During the last song, of the last night of the Christmas play, all the cast was on stage singing and dancing.  Frank was being silly but doing a surprisingly good job at the movements and singing. 

Then it happened...the sneeze.  It was a big sneeze, producing approximately a 6 inch long strand of snot out of his nose, which he caught on his little white glove that the stars all were wearing.  This caused his PaPa and Mama to burst out laughing, which caused Frank to look at his shiny white glove which was now saturated with snot, which caused Frank to start to cry, and cry loud, and then louder until the director behind him told him it was okay to go off the stage, which led to him running off the front of the stage into my arms. 

Later as I explained what happened to a friend that evening; i was still laughing.  She commented it that it must be fun as a parent to laugh at your child's pain.  I stopped to wonder if it is wrong to laugh at something that made my son so upset, but then i just re-envisioned that long string of snot that projected from his nose and I start laughing all over again.

Things that I am into: 3rd installment

My new niece, Sloane Elizabeth, who appears practically perfect in every way

Jerry and Rose coming to visit...stupid snow, they would be here now if they didn't close the airport!

Seeing Ford as the giant, toddler-sized baby Jesus in the church Christmas play practice.  It made me cry. 

Seeing Frank as a dancing star in the church Christmas play practice.  This made me cry for an entirely different reason.  I actually heard Michael laugh out loud during the practice, while watching him.  When all the other stars squat down, frank stands up.  when they face forwards, he faces backwards.  He is so silly and adorable, no one even tries to correct him.

Advent.  Each day brings a new story from the Bible, and a few new pieces to the Playmobile nativity set

Cowboy boots in every shape and style - they are so cool

Borcato hair products.  The heating/styling product that protects your hair when you blowdry is amazing.

Eggnog...especially the boozy kind

The red Christmas tree

it got a touch up this year.

The Woody Guthrie Children's Album: Songs to Grow on For Mother and Child.  I cannot say in words how much fun frank and I have had listening to this. 

and of course...these guys in the kitchen

Snow

It is snowing.  In Houston.  Snowing in Houston for over five hours now.  It isn't really sticking and is much too wet to capture and shape the snow.  Chances are slim that there will be any snowmen or sledding going on.  But it is a marvel nonetheless.  A city like Houston practically shuts down for inclimate weather.  People here just cannot cope.  Perhaps it is because we all have been victim to hours of weather related traffic in this town - that in my opinion, never should have been settled all those many years ago.  Who was it that saw a flat, hot, humid, mosquito invested swamp land and said, "let's make this home!"

Regardless of the origins of the city, it is snowing today.  All that frank can do is open his mouth and eat the snow falling on his tongue.  He spent some time sweeping snow off my car and dancing over the slush.  I so wish for him to be able to really play in the snow.

 

Some of the greatest moments of my childhood revolve around snow.  If i think back hard enough, i can see my pink, burning wrists where the snow always slipped into my heavy mittens.  I can taste Mrs. Behrens' special chicken noodle soup after a morning of sledding down the hill in Kristen's backyard.  All she really did was add extra noodles to the Campbell's soup, but to me it was extra special.

We used to go sledding at Rosehill Park.  You would take your sled or innertube down the hill and come so close to the creek, i was always afraid with glee.  And I can remember how much it sucked to drag your sled back up the hill to do it all over again, with the snow starting to sneak into the cracks of your snowsuit at your ankles and your wrists, and heaven forbid if your glove came off in the snow... then you were just screwed for the rest of the day with that wet, cold glove that you never could get dry again. 

I love snow angels and snowmen, though i was never skilled in the latter.  I much preferred to watch my dad making the snow creatures from safe inside the house where it was warm.  And that man has some skills.  There was a bunny once, and a giant Snoopy.  Nothing makes a girl prouder than to have the coolest snow creatures of the neighborhood in your own front yard.  

I look at my sweet boys today and so very much hope that they get enough time in the snow while they are still young and silly enough to enjoy it. 

a picture of this week

yesterday, i took a big bite of hot lasagna.  about halfway down my throat, a tomato emerged from its pasta encasement and seared the back of my throat.  i quickly spit it out as fast as i could.  it landed on the floor and angus ate it.  I now have a burn in the back of my throat.  it feels like i am all choked up...all the time. 

the other day I hit "reply all" with a personal prayer request to an email that I thought only included my best college girlfriends.  turns out it was an email to quite a few other people i might not have shared my personal prayers with.

according to michael, frank was "shooting" everyone at Christmas play practice last night with his fingers shaped as guns.  Including the adult directors and teachers.  i threw all the guns away when they came home.  michael dug one out of the trash.

the dog is afraid of a little Melissa and Doug puzzle that we have.  It makes barnyard animal sounds when you put the pieces in.  He hasn't move away from my leg since the boys started playing with it.... yesterday.