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It began with mozzarella

When I was pregnant with Paisley, I craved mozzarella sticks from Denny’s all the time. As we drove away from her graduation, we stopped at Denny’s again and had a nice round of them with Posy and Ben and I thought, how fitting, to finish off Paisley’s childhood in a similar way to how it began, with mozzarella sticks.

The busyness of the last few months has kept me from really focusing on the hugeness of the changes that are afoot. There has been the usual Spring craziness of Lent and Easter, and there has been the rush to finish up college and financial aid applications and a little bit of surliness left to assert who is an adult and who is not. I kept getting a glimpse of what I was going to have to face – that my oldest child is… nah, I can’t say it yet – I haven’t had time to process any of what was going on.

Last Wednesday was the Baccalaureate mass for her class. They have been together to celebrate mass over the last few years so many times and now this was it for them. They left with a song about praying for each other and it left me wondering what things will be like for each of them when they come back for a reunion ten years from now. That mass was very special and showed me that all that sacrifice for tuition was well worth it. (When asked, Paisley’s take on it was that it was cheesy and lame, but I think it meant more to her than she was willing to say.) At one point I got all teary eyed and worried that I might become a quivering puddle of tears, but Jay’s mom fixed that by leaning over and whispering that one of the girls looked trashy. That was it, my tears were gone as I stifled a laugh.

Then Thursday was the graduation. It was hot in the church and the speeches were hard to hear, but it was amazing to seem my little girl, a high school student no more. Just that morning she had attended her Freshman Orientation for college. She graciously posed for pictures afterwards and then went off with her friends. I felt so happy for her, but so sad that my little girl was… nah, I still can’t say it.

I am grappling with the reality that one of my children is moving on to the next stage of life. Just when I was kind of getting the hang of having teenagers, THIS comes along. I remember being pregnant with her. It seemed like that first pregnancy would last a lifetime, I just couldn’t really imagine having a real baby to care for all the time. It was a totally alien experience and I wouldn’t know what it was about until I was there. Now here I am at the bridge to adulthood for her, feeling the same way. I can’t even imagine what it might be like to have one of my children grown, no longer under my roof. I know I will be her mother forever, and my job as a meddling, annoying, bossy, parent is still in full force, but it seems there has been another umbilical cord to sever. And it hurts.

This time is full of joy and tragedy, pain and excitement all at once. I am sure there will be more to discover as the summer moves on.

Cinderella Before the Ball

Whenever we have an event to go to, I always feel like Cinderella before the ball. There are a million things to be done and I need to get everyone else presentable first. By the time I am done with that I run into the bathroom and finally get a look at myself.

I look like the ugly stepsisters ripped me apart.

My hair is mussed up, I have graham cracker goobers and snot all over my shirt, and there is very little left of whatever makeup I managed to put on in the morning. Oh, and I stink too by this time. Sigh.

So I start trying to piece myself together as fast as I can. A quick spritz with body spray and new deodorant, clean clothes, touch up the makeup, my hair will just have to get re-pony-tailed. I have this fantasy of getting to actually style my hair one of these days But it only happens every couple of months or so. By this time the natives are getting restless and I need to make a run for it. I head out the door one more time looking like somebody’s mommy who threw herself together, which is entirely true.

Glamour is something that comes with a Fairy Godmother I suppose. (And not having to get a bunch of kids ready as well.)

Laundry Nightmare

Laundry is just be bane of my existence. The sorting and washing is not so bad, but I can NOT keep up with the folding right now. Lily wants me to be in sight of her at all times and I just can’t find the time to keep up with the folding of what I have washed.

After folding about half of what I needed to get done last night I gave up and made dinner. Time was running out on a busy evening and dinner held priority. The uniforms were clean so that was all that really mattered.

Last night, after falling into bed completely exhausted, I had a laundry dream. My entire house was covered in piles of laundry. Huge piles. There was even one on my stair well that was easily 15 feet high. You couldn’t step anywhere in the house without stepping on a laundry pile. So I thought to myself (in my dream) “I’ll just really have to stuff the washer full.”

Now I have been trying to wash slightly smaller loads since pant legs always get all tangled in my front loader (Whirlpool Duet, how I love thee…) but this was a laundry emergency. It could only happen in a dream, but I got ALL that laundry done in two loads. Thank goodness I woke up before I had to fold it all!

Spic and Span: Step 1

The house is on the market again. Last year we put it on the market and set the listing to expire two weeks before my due date with Lily. That turned out to be a good thing since she was born just a couple days after the listing expired.

So this year we will list it again in hopes of moving closer to school and church since we are forever driving there anyway.

In spite of the fact that no one is looking at this point, we still need to keep the house ready to be looked at, and I admit it, I like having the house clean. It is a more peaceful place when thing are done and reasonably picked up.

My morning routine now needs to include three things:
Getting the kitchen clean
Getting the laundry under control
Tidying up the upstairs (bedrooms)

Each day I will check in and let you know if Step 1 is done. No computer or email until it is. Maybe that will keep me in line.

Baby Numbers

How long have I actually nursed?
Paisley 20 mon
James 33 mon (actually 36 months but was tandem for the last three mon)
Posy 27 mon (actually 48 mon but tandem from 27 mon to 4 yrs)
Ben 33 mon
Tessa 28 mon (I think…)
Max 22 mon
Lily 8 mon and counting

For a grand total of 171 months or 14 years and 3 months.
That is a loooong time!

I also figured out that if you throw in being pregnant in with that I have NOT been either pregnant or nursing for somewhere between 7 and 10 months of our marriage. We will be married for 18 years this July.

CHOMP

Guess who got a tooth a few days ago?
Guess who appears to be getting another one?

Lily Goes Vertical!

Lily is growing and developing by leaps and bounds, she has recently begun to crawl and pulling up has followed closely behind it.

Just today she mastered pulling up all on her own:

Step one – find something low to reach up to.

Step two – Once your hands are up off the floor, straighten your legs.

Step three – Look around for where to go next.

Step four – Go for it, you’re almost walking now!

So not only is she pulling up, but she is already, as you can see, trying to cruise furniture.

Then… if that wasn’t enough, she achieved another balance milestone tonight. She hates crawling on the tile, and will usually just cry when she gets to the edge of the carpet. But tonight she REALLY wanted to get to me, and I was about four feet beyond the edge of the carpet, so very carefully and very slowly she crawled on her hands and FEET. She had to set her knees down a couple of times to get her balance but she only did it when she had no other way to keep moving.

Tooth Fairy Scam

Tessa lost her first tooth a couple days ago. She was so excited, she actually pulled it out herself! We got it all ready in an envelope and put it under her pillow, but a few minutes later she came to me and said, “I want to take it to school for show and tell before I give it to the tooth fairy.” So I said okay, and told her to go put it in her backpack.

Then last night, she did put it under her pillow. I didn’t remember it was there and apparently my husband didn’t either, so when she woke up and checked, she was just destroyed. The tooth fairy hadn’t come.

So Jay went and got a couple of dollars and went to go help her look for it and see if maybe the Tooth Fairy had just left the tooth, since it was her first tooth and all, she might want to keep it. He reached behind her bed and pulled out the $2 and said, “Oh, here it is!”

Tessa replied, “No, that is just the money I took out of my piggy bank.”

So he had to leave her with the $2 and we have to try this ALL OVER AGAIN tonight. (Drat! Why do we never have any cash around here?)

That Tooth Fairy, she is a busy gal! Sometimes it can take a few days before she picks up your tooth!

Little stinker! She is going to get paid twice!

Posy’s Family Poetry Assignment

Biography

Lily
Small, smiley, cute, wanting to move around
Loves our cat and dog, mirrors, and Peek-a-boo
Who needs to learn to swallow baby food
Who fears not seeing mama
Who wishes she could crawl.

Max
Ambivalence, hungry, loud, energetic
Loves Thomas the tank engine, show-tunes and the outdoors
Who needs to potty train
Who fears diaper rashes
Who wishes he could go on an adventure with the Little Einsteins.

Tessa
Pink, silly, curly haired, all girl
Loves to read, sing, color, and play the violin
Who thinks she needs more books and craft supplies
Who fears being alone in a room at night
Who wishes she was a princess.

Ben
Ticklish, stick-thin, creative, funny
Loves fish sandwiches, the wii, and comedy
Who needs to gain weight, and stop procrastinating
Who fears being tickled
Who wishes he could be a snack-a-tarian.

Character

I am a family photo;
With faces big and small.
A smile. A blink. A “not ready” face.
I sit in your house, un-looked at, untouched.
Dust is collecting on my broken frame.

Haiku

The sky grows darker.
Both laughter and sorrow fades.
The family sleeps.

Field Trip

Today was a lovely day for a field trip. I dropped Max off with his Nina (Godmother) and Lily and I went to join Tessa’s kindergarten class at the science center.

But a simple trip is never nearly as easy as it sounds. Halfway there I realized that I had no cash and was going to have to park downtown. I called Jay, the Human Map of Phoenix and asked him where the nearest bank was. Money, check. On to the parking garage.

We drive a large vehicle. A very large vehicle. We drive a Ford 15 passenger van (with the back bench taken out to make room for multitudes of stuff) and it is very tall. I am not sure how tall, but I know that I have squeezed into parking garages that said 6 feet 10 inches and have hit the bar in ones that say 6 feet 6 inches. I have been to the Science Center many, many times. They have a nice parking garage that the van fits in and, when you get your ticket validated at the science center, it only cost $1 to park. Not too bad! But today when I pulled in to park in that garage, the bar said 6 feet 6 inches. WHY ON EARTH would they lower the allowed car height? I know my van can fit in there, but now it won’t fit under their stupid bar at the entrance.

This is the SECOND time this has happened to me this year. Just a few weeks ago I had to take Max to a specialist appointment at Phoenix Children’s Hospital. I have parked in their garage a dozen times at least but they had changed their allowed height and put a bar in the entrance that measured 6 feet 6 inches. In fact, that is where I learned that I couldn’t fit under it. Shh, don’t tell. At Phoenix Children’s Hospital though, there is NO OTHER PATIENT PARKING. None. Zip… well, except for handicapped. I looked and looked for a place to legally park and could not find anything that did not have either a handicapped sign or say “Reserved for Dr So-and-so”. So I parked in Dr So-and-so’s space and hoped that I didn’t get towed. What is a girl to do when there is NO OTHER PARKING?

Anyway, back to today. I couldn’t park in the Science center parking garage so I had to go across the street and park (for TEN dollars!) in the Civic Plaza garage. Whatever. We made it in on piece and got to take part in the field trip.

We used to be members of the Science Center, but now I remember why we are not any more. First they charge you either membership or entrance fee. No problem (except that it is super expensive!) but then they have taken up huge chunks of their floor and exhibit space for special features that you have to pay extra for. So even if you are a member you will have to fork over a whole ‘nother wad of cash to get access to the few exhibits that have not already been there for more than ten years. To me it sounds like a bit of a r-i-p o-f-f. Take floor space away from the membership paying public and put it all towards events that their membership doesn’t cover access to. I was actually thinking that we should renew our membership just the other day so that I could take Max there more often. We won’t be doing that. They took away the little children’s area to put in… you guessed it, a paid exhibit.

But the field trip itself was lovely. The kindergarteners had their sixth grade buddies with them (so Tessa really didn’t spend much time with me, but she wanted me there anyway) and they got to see an Imax movie as well. I kind of got to watch it, I saw the parts that I could see when Lily wasn’t grabbing the 3-D glasses off my face. Then we all went to the park for lunch. A bit of an adventure, but a lovely day nonetheless!