Beauty Shop

This morning I got my hair done at MC's beauty shop. She announced she was Miss Cathy (who cuts mine and the kids' hair) and told me to sit down.

I sat in a child's chair (which she asked me to move from the playroom into the bathroom). She gave me the rubber, non-skid padding that goes under her playroom table's tablecloth to use as a cape. I tucked it into my shirt like a napkin so it would stay put. "Miss Cathy" then used a comb and a brush on my hair. She said the comb puts tangles in it and the brush gets them out. Then we went back into the playroom (actually 3 times altogether) so I could (squat down awkwardly and) get my head under her play kitchen's sink and she could wash my hair.

When we were finished with this, we had to put all the babies to bed so they could go to sleep and not scare us. Then we were very quiet so as not to wake them up. As it turns out, we were stepping too fast, and scared them, and they had a bad dream. So we went over to them and gave them a little loving and told them it was only a dream and put them back to bed.

My hair looks great, by the way. And the babies are still sleeping in their bed.

Found It!

James found it, that is. J was no help when he came home from school. Turns out it was stuck down in the side of the sofa. I had lifted up the cushions, but apparently not in such a way that the remote was visible. James came home, pulled off the first cushion, and found it. He earned a lot of points doing that.

MC was spinning around this morning doing her "spinning wheel dance". Her comment when she was finished? "Whoa, I'm really busy! (get it? - rhymes with dizzy...) Cute.

Where's That Remote?!?

I really don't know what has happened to our new satellite remote for our downstairs TV. The last time I know of that we used it was Saturday afternoon, to watch a prerecorded "How the Grinch Stole Christmas". My parents babysat last night, and my dad wasn't able to watch TV due to the MIA remote. He survived, of course. So far I have too, but I have spent a lot of time looking for it. MC says she took it into the playroom and was playing with it, but I've been picking up, cleaning up and organizing things in there this morning and haven't seen it yet. She hasn't been able to tell me exactly where she remembers playing with it either, so it could be all made up anyway. I'm going to ask J when he gets home from school. Maybe he will remember where it is.

I hate it when I lose things. Hopefully a funny story will follow about where it shows up.

In the meantime...UGH!!!

My Three Favorite People

I took this picture of my family after church last Sunday. J and James often dress up alike for church (at J's request), and when they do - as you can see - it is very difficult to tell them apart. Hint: The older one's teeth are visible. If MC weren't wearing pink, you might have some trouble telling her apart too. The Moses genes are very strong. Whenever someone tells me one of my kids looks like me, I eat it up! (This occurs very rarely.)

Second Grade Humor

We were driving from church to our favorite Sunday brunch restaurant, The Irregardless Cafe, when we heard J say, "Boy this road sure is edible!" Me: "Edible?" J: "Yeah, do you get it? Like Rocky Road ice cream!!!" (The street was very bumpy.)

J makes up jokes all the time these days. Some of them are very funny. Many of them require an explanation like the above example before we "get it".

MC laughs no matter what. She loves her big brother.

Today J bought MC a bracelet from our gift shop at church (proceeds benefit outreach) for Christmas. He had already picked out gifts for James and me, which we had already opened at his request. Delayed gratification is not one of his strong points. She loved it and kept saying "Thank you for this bracelet J!" I asked J if it felt good to give presents, and he said yeah.

I am so grateful for their good relationship. They are best of friends, and I am glad they will have each other in the days to come as well. I think this Christmas may be the most fun yet for our family.

"Keek - Keek"

James and I have this clicking sound we make with the backs of our tongues when we want to call our cat Solomon to come inside, or just to come in our direction. Since it is a cat we're trying to call, our success rate is less than 100%. J has been able to produce this sound to a certain degree when trying to entice Solomon to come inside as well. MC's version of this sound is "keek - keek." She says it in a sing-song way, whenever she is looking for anything. For example, she was once looking for some of her Little People and was looking under furniture, calling out "Keek - Keek, People!! Keek-Keek!"

This morning J had let Solomon in and MC asked him if he said "keek keek". It's very cute. I hope I can remember more of her sayings and record them before they disappear in never-to-recall-again-land.

One of my favorite J-isms was calling our Harris Teeter grocery store "Heeter-Heeter". He also referred to ketchup as "kepich" which sounded like "cabbage" at times. Both of them (not J now) call napkins "nakums". This was one of, if not the last J-ism before he started saying most everything correctly. It is refreshing when he reads aloud or uses a word he's obviously read before but not heard pronounced and it comes out not quite right. I need reminders like this that he's still just a kid every now and then.

Feeling Better

There is such a difference between the personality of a sick person and the personality of a person who is feeling better. When MC was sick, she was more subdued, a little grumpier, and simply less - overall. We knew she was feeling better when her smiles returned, and she began singing and dancing again. And resuming the constant talking that makes me refer to her at times as "Chatty Cathy."

It's easy to forget what their normal personality is like when they're sick, too. It affects the parents' attitudes as well, and as a result the whole household is more subdued, a little grumpier, and simply less - overall. It doesn't help when the mom is sick too. I realized yesterday that the sinus infection for which I had been treated over 3 weeks ago had not ever completely gone away. In fact it was getting worse. Sleep deprivation had been accumulating as well, and was zapping my energy and source of optimism.

So, my wonderful husband called me from work yesterday to check in and asked me if I was going to see the doctor. I said maybe tomorrow, because the bus is coming and MC is napping now, and excuse and other excuse, etc. He asked if it would help if he came home right then, and I started to say no, don't worry about it. But I didn't. I can't get better if I don't have this infection gone, and the opportunity to catch up on my rest. So I said yes, please. That would be great.

When he came home, I drove to a Minute Clinic at a local CVS pharmacy, where within 15 minutes I had been diagnosed officially with a sinus infection and given a prescription for a different antibiotic. I had it filled and came home to supper in the oven and kids and dad watching The Little Drummer Boy on DVD. After supper I took a nap, then went to bed at 9:30 for the night.

This morning I'm feeling more optimistic and aware that the drugs are working already. The kids woke up in great moods this morning. I want to publicly thank James for the wonderful man he is and all the support he gives me so that I can be healthy and have my usual optimistic personality with me most of the time. He and I believe that God meant for us to find each other, and when I look at our family, I know that is true. I am grateful for my family, my overall health, and my optimism. I know others who are struggling right now and I wish for them peace. I also pray that they might be given glimpses of true blessings in their lives amidst the troubles. It is those moments when I realize all that I have to be thankful for despite any negativity in my life that my faith and positive outlook become even stronger.

Hate It When That Happens

I hate it when I've just typed a blog that I really like (like I just did), am previewing it before posting (like I just did), try to make a correction in the preview page (like I just did) and end up deleting the entire post before it can be published (like I just did)!

It was a good one too. Sorry you missed it. Lucky for you, though, my mind keeps thinking of new things to say. If not now, then later. Maybe another time I'll try to recreate part of what I tried to post a few minutes ago.

MC is feeling better today, and I'm grateful. It is so sad when your kids are sick. I am thankful for doctors and antibiotics. And the opportunity to be an at-home mom so I don't have to worry about taking time off from work when they are sick.

Happy Birthday, Lynn!

Just for the record, I'm publishing this around 9:00am on 12/7 - I messed with the date and time stamp, and they say it is an illegal post time. Oh well.

Breakfast Smiles

I've got to say, that I didn't realize what a huge impact my preparing breakfast for my family each morning would have. It has helped us find peace on school and church mornings through establishing a new routine that everyone looks forward to. It has created a time for family communion in the morning. We don't usually have deep conversations at this time, but lately we have been sitting at the table smiling at each other while we eat. This is simply fun! J by far eats the most, and I am happy to send him off to school with a good energy start. James reports he has noticed feeling better on a daily basis since we started this at the beginning of the school year. Having a responsibility like this in the morning helps me get started on my day more easily. And the warm feelings at the table make it all worthwhile.

I don't cook much, really. Just some low-fat link sausage (the kids like the apple and blueberry flavored chicken sausage) and fruit. MC adds a cereal bar to her breakfast (J sometimes too) and J gets an additional bowl of oatmeal.

I had read in a book about getting enough sleep by Mary Sheedy Kurcinka that this routine could help people fall asleep better at night as well. She had witnessed the power of a family breakfast at a friend's house and recommended it in her book. I very much admire and respect her child-raising advice, so I decided to give it a try. It is, afterall, something within my power to do. As you know, so many things about raising a family are not within my control - especially temperaments of children and spouses which differ from my own.

Clarification Part 2

Again, because of my need to get the details all right, here is the order in which I wrote my posts, even though they are not posted in this order. They might make more sense if read in this order (and from now on, I am not messing with the time and date stamp for my posts, even if the clock for posting is off by 3 hours!)

Starting Over
changing email addresses
Hate It When That Happens
I found it!! "Good for Christmas' Sake"
Clarification
Breakfast Smiles
Clarification Part 2

Clarification

Because I am not only a control-freak, but also a perfectionist, I wanted to make it clear what just happened with my posting.

After I posted the "hate it" post, I found the one I had tried to post. So I posted it. But, the draft saved automatically by the blogger site (great feature, by the way!) has the date stamp of Thursday Dec. 6.

Oh, Duh!!!

I just realized that today is the 6th! It is Lynn's birthday today, if my mind works correctly. I tried to change the date to one in the future - no wonder I was told it was "illegal"!

Anyway, I'm going to post this one as the 7th, so it will go on top of my other two posts. Then I'm going to change the time and date stamp back for my next post. If I remember.

I found it!! "Good for Christmas' Sake"

My kids really like the song Santa Claus is Coming to Town. They appear to be (like their mother) lyrically challenged to a degree, and instead of singing "...so be good for goodness' sake" they sing "for Christmas' sake"!

I've noticed that J (age 7) is being especially "good" lately (over the past 48 hours, anyway) and I'm wondering if this will last after Christmas, or will just be a seasonal thing. It's nice for now.

Part of why things are going so well, I think, is because I am backing off a good bit. If I don't push him, he has nothing to push back against, and the result is much more peace in our home (and car, public places, etc.). This exercise is so difficult for me, because (I confess) I like to be in control. I have to do a lot of self-talk to convince myself that J's timely completion of his homework can be done if I stop asking him about it and (poor guy) demanding he share his plan for it to be completed. What a nightmare for him!

I've also noticed that he likes having some more responsibilities, like letting the cat in and out (and in and out and in and out), helping me set up for choir rehearsal, taking groceries out of the car, etc. The key is that I have to ask with minimal words in a tone of voice that truly conveys it's optional, but I sure would appreciate his help. As many of you know, using few words is not my forte. But I'm getting better.

By the way, MC seems to be feeling much better today. I got most of my email transition stuff done yesterday. Today is the satellite TV installation segment of bundling our services. One thing at a time...

changing email addresses

Today I have been sitting at my computer for long periods of time trying to complete a conversion from an old email address to a new one. There are so many things to think about. I'm sure I've cut ties with some people who had my old email address, but I somehow didn't notify them of the change.

I contacted my creditors so that the notifications they sent to me about when my statements are ready to my old email will now be sent to my new one. Most everything has gone smoothly, but I don't trust it all until I see it working. And, I'm sure there are things that I've signed up for that use my old email account, and I won't be hearing from them again.

Poor MC (I'm going to use my children's initials like my sister does in her blogs) is fighting an ear infection today. She's getting mucho TV time. I need to go check on her to get her to drink some more fluids. Although I hate that she's sick, it has been helpful to me today to do all my computer stuff!

Starting Over

Hello again, those of you so patiently waiting for me to blog some more. I got a new email address, and I'm hoping to have a fresh start. So, here is the new blog, since the old one didn't have many entries anyway.