Happy Halloween!

Well, I have had a very fun Halloween. Yesterday I left work early and went to Logan's school to volunteer in his classroom for an hour. I went with the kids to two other rooms to assist them and the teachers with Fall/Halloween themed activities. The kids were a lot of fun...for two hours. I can't imagine how those teachers do it every day all day. A room full of five year olds is a loud, energetic bunch. Kudos to all kindergarten teachers out there.

After I left his school I went to Grace's daycare for her Halloween party. All the kids got to dress up, have a party with lots of yummy snacks, and go trunk or treating in the parking lot (thanks to parents and their creativity). Gracie wasn't so sure about it when she first saw all the cars with crazy decorations, but once she realized they were putting candy and cookies in her bag, she was all for it.

This is a picture of the awesome hat her teacher, Miss Anna, made for her. She made a different one for each kid in the class, and they were all very beautiful and incredibly creative. Of course, yesterday was Graces last day in that class, but a good note to end on.

After that we came home, picked Logan up, and went to my friend Sidonie's house to help her make Halloween cupcakes for her son's kindergartener class.

Aren't they cute? We used crushed oreos to make dirt and 100 calorie snack pack peanut butter cookies for the mummies. Logan and Jaden ran around the entire time, but Gracie wasn't sure what to do with Sidonie's 17 month old daughter, Cheyenne. In the end, Gracie realized that she was more like a real life baby doll than an actual playmate, and spent the last part of the evening holding her hand and walking her around the house, trying to pick her up to put her in her high chair, and rocking her in her swing. Even though it was a late night for all of us, we had a great time.

And of course, the grand finale was trick or treating tonight. Here are my two cuties:

Dr. Logan and monkey Rowe had a fun time and got tons of candy just walking around the block in our neighborhood. Example A - the loot.

Two full buckets of candy, candy, candy just waiting
to rot their little teeth (and mine and Joey's ;-).

Hope everyone had a great Halloween!

Michelle Needs and Wants

So I was reading one of the blogs I like and she had a post where you Google your first name followed by "needs" and see what comes up. Here's the top ten:

1. Michelle needs your help. - always
2. Michelle needs a family that will be patient, consistent, kind, loving. - already got that
3. Michelle needs every advantage possible to attain this goal. - I should probably figure out some goals - potty training two kids comes to mind
4. Michelle needs to excercise her right to shut the f*** up. - always, again
5. Michelle needs to take an extended break from golf after this weekend. - hmmm, this is doable since I've never played golf
6. Michelle needs to pee. - always (damn mommy bladder)
7. Michelle needs help translating. - I do work in a German firm
8. Michelle needs a nickname. - please be nice about this
9. Michelle needs change. - of the Obama variety?
10. Michelle needs to be back in school. - one day

I decided to take this fun experiment a step further and Googled my name followed by "wants." Here you go:

1. Michelle wants to show you a cool trick. - I guess I need to learn a cool trick.
2. Michelle wants to earn money to buy a teeshirt. - Well our budget isn't that tight.
3. Michelle wants a guy she can take home to meet the family. - I've already got one.
4. Michelle wants a little action. - Joey will be so excited.
5. Michelle wants to make a space for community use on a rental basis. - Not really.
6. Michelle wants to be home when they get home from camp. - I don't know anyone who's gone to camp.
7. Michelle wants to be Queen of Kenya. - My, I'm ambitious.
8. Michelle wants to make sure we know she's an elitist. - And uppity.
9. Michelle wants to learn how to think on her feet. - I could improve on this.
10. Michelle wants to be more like her big sisters. - I am the big sister, but this is excellent advice for my younger sisters.

Winget Park Fall Festival

Yesterday was the Fall Festival at Logan's school. It was basically a bunch of inflatable bouncy things and a train you could ride on in a circle. Joey wasn't feeling well enough to go with us, so my sweet friend Jessica went with us. Thanks to the generosity of our family and friends who bought things for Logan's fundraiser, he got a bracelet that allowed him to do all the activities for free. We had a good time, but for all the overpriced fun, I think we enjoyed playing on the playground the most. Enjoy some pictures!

Little Miss Bossy

Do you remember this book series from your childhood? I do. And now I'm reliving it through my sweet daughter.

Everyday she comes home from daycare with a sheet telling me how she ate and slept and what activities they did. At the bottom they write something specific she enjoyed doing that day. Yesterday, it said, "Grace enjoyed looking for bugs and bossing her friends around." Oookay. Since her teacher didn't mention it to me, Joey and I decided that she meant "chasing" her friends around, since they were outside looking for bugs and all.

Today I pick up her up and she has orange paint in her hair - it was paint day. Her sheet says, "Grace enjoyed painting and telling her friends how to paint." Awesome. I have never pretended that Gracie was an easygoing child who didn't care what was going on. She is an alpha and does not appreciate being told no, or what to do. She screams and cries (literally, screams - it's lovely), will try to hit, and throws herself on the floor. She loves telling her brother what to do, however. She'll tell him to come on if he's slow coming upstairs for his bath, she'll repeat me if I tell him to stop doing something, and she'll tell him to "Come on, Woaney" (that's how she says his name - I don't know why) when she wants him to play with her. However, I thought she reserved these lovely behavior traits for our house and her lucky family. Not so much. Apparently she is now also bossing her friends around. I haven't been able to talk to her teacher about it yet, but I'll let you know when I do. In the meantime, I'll be trying to tie some reigns on my own "Little Miss Bossy."

Television Addicts Anonymous

Is this a real group? It should be. Of course, I would only attend if it met over the internet, to which I also suffer a mild addiction. Over the summer I really enjoyed not feeling tethered to the TV. I kept up with my magazines (I have 1 weekly subscription and 4 monthlies) and read a ton of books. I slept more and kept a better home. But premier week draws me back like Meredith to McDreamy. My addiction isn't quite so severe, though, this year. I begin my week with Desperate Housewives on Sunday, and while I enjoyed it's return I also found it mildly annoying. Susan causing her marriage to collapse over something beyond her control that wasn't her fault is ridiculous. Gabby wearing those nasty, frumpy clothes just because she has two kids is insulting. Brush your hair and put on some makeup. It's not that difficult. And the kid is 4 and a half, it's not a newborn. But anyway...

Monday night is Heroes which I am thrilled is back. It has been gone since the writer's strike began so long ago. They picked it back up with a lot of story lines that are very different from where they last left off. The first two episodes have been great.

Wednesday night is Project Runway which, sadly, is almost over. It began over the summer so it had a head start. The chick who used to be my favorite is now an annoying bitch, so that sucks. But it's still a very interesting show to watch. The next season will be on Lifetime which will be hard for me to accept. In general, I refuse to watch that channel based on the number of stupid made for TV movies. I'll probably cave quickly, though.

Thursday night is Grey's Anatomy. The first show was good, but it didn't feel very different from last season. If that's a good thing or a bad thing, I'm not sure. It didn't affect my loyaltly one way or the other. I also love The Office on Thursday nights. However, both of these shows are on at 9 and it isn't possible to watch one show and record the other with my DVR, so I've chosen Grey's over The Office. I still keep up with it online, though, and watch reruns when I have the opportunity.

Hmmm, that's all there is. I thought there were more. I could also throw in Lost, which doesn't come back until next year and I also love. But that's really it. It's much improved from previous years, but it still feels like I feel compelled to sit in front of the TV quite a bit. Ah well. If you want to know when and where our first meeting is, you can find me sitting in the recliner eating some popcorn and watching TV.

A Good Mommy

There is a single question that plagues me about 75% of the time. Am I a good parent? A good mom? (Wait, that's two questions...my bad.) If I asked someone this question I know (or at least hope) they would automatically say "Of course you are." But let me tell you, this does not cure self doubt. Because when you are around others or out in public, you tend to be the best version of yourself as a parent. You're patient (or as patient as you can be with a 5 year old running around Target), you're understanding, you're making your kids laugh, you're attempting to get your child to behave without screaming; you're doing all these things knowing that there are people watching you. Judging you. Judging your child. Being a parent is hard.

By being a mother, I've learned exactly how short my temper can be. I DO NOT appreciate being splashed when my kids are in the bathtub. I don't want the bathroom floor covered in water and my clothes to be so wet I have to change when bathtime is over. I DO NOT like it when my children don't listen to me. You would think something as easy as, "Grace, we don't sit on the kitchen table, we sit in our chair," would be pretty easy to follow. However, my hard headed cutie pie believes everything should be done her way, how and when she wants it. So we quickly evolve into me giving my 1-2-3 warning, yanking her off the table, and sitting her little butt down in the chair. Then she begins crying because a) she didn't get her way, and b) mommy yelled at her. Which begins a meltdown, which means I've got to suffer through her crying (which can be exhausting) or I've got to pick her up and calm her down which will undo anything I may have just managed to drill into her little head about listening. With Gracie, I tend to pick her up and comfort her. With Logan, I'll let him cry for a while. I'm not sure if it's because he's older and I know he can handle a little crying, or if it's because he's a boy and I think he should "man up" as I like to say. Gracie's my baby girl, hearing her cry and seeing her puppy dog eyes breaks my heart. I'm going to go with I do it because he's older. Anyway, I DO NOT like it when my children get out of bed once I put them in it. We have a nighttime routine. Every other night they take a bath, and every night we read two or three stories on Logan's bed. Logan turns on the classical music CD he listens to, gets a drink of milk, kisses and hugs, and he's done. I take Grace to her room, we read or rock or sing sometimes, she drinks some milk, she lays down, kisses and hugs, and two kids down. Logan has gotten pretty good about staying in bed. Gracie...not so much. It's her age and I just have to deal with it, but it's aggravating. I sit down to write this blog, hear a noise behind me, and Gracie is on all fours crawling across the floor to me. Back to her bedroom we go, rock in the chair, down in the bed, kisses and hugs, and I'm done for the second time. Some nights are better than others, and it will pass, but it's still annoying.

But along with the things I don't like, comes the things I love. I LOVE when Gracie gives me a big squeeze around the neck for no reason. I LOVE when Logan tells me I'm his best mommy (the irony really gets me). I LOVE laughing with my kids. I LOVE watching them play together nicely. I LOVE when they're in their pajamas after a bath, cuddled next to me on Logan's bed, reading stories. I LOVE (even though I shouldn't) when they crawl in to bed with me to snuggle in the mornings. I LOVE when they tell me they love me. I LOVE them so much that I can't imagine my life without them.

Being a parent is hard. You love these children so much and never want to see them hurt, but in order for them to learn how to follow the rules and learn how the world works, you sometimes have to be someone you don't want to. You have to yell, and smack little hands, and force them to sit in time out. That part sucks. They're so sad and hurt that the person they (hopefully) love most in the world was mean to them. But they forget about and move on. Time outs over and they're into the next thing. One day I'll probably look back and reminisce about the days when all I had to do was put them in time out for 5 minutes and it was all over. One day, as I'm grounding them for sneaking out, I'll miss the days when all it took was a smack on the hand to correct bad behavior. But for now, I'll try to keep my temper in check and remember how lucky I am to have such awesome kids. And that I wouldn't trade them for anything.

A Consistent Blogger

A long time ago when my sister Catherine began blogging, I thought it was a really good idea. I could start keeping up with her "real" life. When we talk on the phone, we talk about main tidbits - Logan did this, Potter chewed that, Dave got a new job. But when I read her blog, I find out about all the little things going on in her life - her stress level related to school, how much she enjoys being able to read what she wants, Dave getting to race with Potter - okay, that's from Dave's blog, but you get the picture. I always thought it would be something fun to do, but thought it would be one of those things where I started out strong and quickly faded until it was forgotten completely. That hasn't quite turned out to be true. I definitely started strong, and I am fading, but I don't think I'll completely forget it. I've found that I really like having a blog. I like the idea of people being able to keep up with me and the kids and whatever excitement is currently going on in our lives...without having to make multiple phone calls to tell the same story over and over. But if you've noticed that I haven't been updating quite as frequently - you're right. During the week I feel like I have so much to do, what with the new TV season starting ;-), that I don't have or make the time to sit down and write a blog. And on the weekends, I'm playing catch up on all the things I need to do around the house and all the sleep I've missed through the week - that I still don't take the time to write a blog. I have things floating in my head waiting to be written about, now I just have to sit down and do it. Stick with me friends - there's more to come.