acktivitees

today i found myself completely inspired by counting on me to make a list of new adventures that ge and i could go about accomplishing this summer. i tried to modify her list, but gave up after a while. her list was perfect for a toddler, and even for a normal child, but ge is anything but normal and he makes creating days incredibly difficult. i literally laughed out loud when i read the dress up in mom and dad's clothes idea. if i tried to get ge to play dress up he would slap me back down to size reality with a comment that would most surely be, "mom, those aren't my clothes. i am not a growed up. i won't put those clothes on. put dad's clothes back, mom"

but i love the idea. and i now have a resolution to create a new day and share an activity with ge for four of the five days that we share while daddy is at work. i would say five, but mama needs her cleaning day and so does the house. and so, inspired me took the kids out for a walk to the river today. we are spoiled to live right next to the beauty that we do. i so often forgo taking advantage of being able to walk out of our door and be in the most beautiful area i have ever seen, and counting on me reminded me to stop shutting myself in. tomorrow we are getting up and heading to the zoo to visit the animals. one of these days i would like to pretend that i am crafty, again.

it's funny, i steal people's craft ideas at least once a week in hopes that i, too, might become a crafty person, but i am not. i know ge doesn't know, and is unable to judge me, but that is one of those chicky things i get down on myself for sometimes. i have such respect for you crafty women out there. ge is quickly getting better than me at all of that stuff and i am sure one day he is going to rip the glue gun out of my hand, bitch slap me, and tell me to step aside while he makes the crafts his bitch. you think that is crazy talk? spend five minutes with the kid ... you'll be scared of him, too.

schuykill river trail

 our personal clover field

 ge's favorite stream

thursday i'm in gloves

i tried to blog yesterday, i really did, but blogger decided to go on a sucking binge and break down for quite some time. i am glad it is back up and running. i am filled with anxiety today and blogging really calms that down for me.

one of my favorite "mommy tricks" i keep in my arsenal comes into play every thursday. thursday round here is toy box (that's what i call our home) cleaning day. normally chunk chooses thursday as the day she refuses to nap, and ge turns into a needy mess, and i am left pulling out my hair and scrubbing in between the madness. i love ge, and i love that he wants to help, but his idea of cleaning and my idea of cleaning are completely different. and so, a few months ago, i devised a plan to keep him occupied. i thought about drugging chunk to help her, but then i remember that is wrong. very, very, wrong.

i declared thursday to be craft day! brilliant mom! i wait until chunk's long nap (the one that is at least a half an hour) and i set ge up with a craft i can trust him to do on his own while i set about blasting the bathrooms with bleachy goodness. it is a win / win because ge loves it, and it is good for him, and my bathrooms finally smell good and become so fresh and so clean clean! i can normally fit both bathrooms into this time frame and then i cross my fingers and hope that this thursday will be the toy box cleaning day that chunk sleeps for at least an hour.

if not i can normally set her up in her chair to watch her brother be creative, and they are both happy with that option, while i work on whatever room they are currently in. i have learned the tricks of transportation and bribery to pull of a cleaning job that i can feel good about, which, on average, consumes about 6 of my hours during the day. oh, ocd, how i love thee.

and ge and i often keep an open dialog going so i can also try and have a teaching moment with him. i love the painting crafts because we can talk about colors, and which colors mix together to create other colors. he starts off creating little patchworks of color, but paints all find a way to mix together and eventually it is a gray / brown mess of color, but he is pleased because this is his work, and he still has enough innocence to be proud of himself.

and the kid is thorough and paints every space available. and my bathrooms are sparkling. and chunk is still a horrible beast, but we love her anyway. in the other rooms ge picks up and wipes things off as he helps me clean the rest of the house. thursday is process, an often stressful one, but i have eliminated a large chunk of that stress for myself an ge with craft time. plus, i have a lot of fun little things to keep from this time in his life.

recipe for success

glass of wine. indian chicken curry. sleeping kids. good conversation. angry birds. mma. retail therapy. and the hopes for an eventual night of sleep.

chunk finally slept last night. thank you, gods of teething. her second tooth was a bitch. and i don't mean a female puppy. or dog. apparently i like periods. tonight. this has been a long week, but tonight i feel better. lack of sleep and emotional stress are not my friends. neither are my neighbors. in fact, they have never brought me cookies. perhaps i should bring them some.

i am trying my hand at cross stitching. my sister told me that, "you just count." she was right! it's actually kind of easy. again, something related to a neighbor i once had.

charli is babbling. gage's favorite thing to do is ask us a question and then tell us we are wrong. i am ready for spring and for walks and for temperatures out of 40. over the hill temperatures. i am glad it is the weekend. i am glad that my husband is awesome. i am glad that i have leftovers for breakfast. and i am glad that my glass of wine is still half full.