I Am There! I Am Finally There!

Where, you ask?

Remember back to your childhood. You know, that time when your parents made you do housework while they sat around (they probably weren’t sitting around, but that’s what if felt like when you were little), and you mumbled under your breath, “I can’t wait until I have kids cuz I am going to make them do all the work, while I sit around doing nothing.”

Well, I am there. I am finally there!

There was a pile of rags in the dryer and I had tossed them on the sofa. I was busy doing something of extreme importance--I swear--so I asked Molly to do me a favor and fold the rags.

And just look at what she did:

Check out the technique:

I mean, does it get any better than this?

She was even proud of herself when she got done!

I don’t know how long it will take until she catches on to the fact that this in actually not all that fun, but until then, I am going to milk it for all that it is worth. Oh, yes I am.

Even better than this little trick, is when I pull a Cinderella on her. I put my on best evil stepmother voice, and shout, “Cinderella, is your room clean? Go clean your room and don’t come out until you are finished!”

She is so thrilled to be playing Cinderella that she will actually spend a good hour cleaning said room. And I do mean cleaning. Bed made, furniture dusted, dirty clothes in the hamper, toys all put away where.they.belong!

I have to admit she is a bit of a neat freak so this isn’t a stretch for her but this evil stepmother is wringing her hands and giving an evil cackle as she thinks of other ways to use this to her advantage.

And look. She is none the wiser…yet!

Speaking of making my life easier…bath time got a whole lot easier ever since we discovered a new use for our front loading washing machine: Before you call Children’s Services on us…THIS IS ONLY A JOKE. We have never done this again, after the first time. Never Ever.

In other happening this week, Molly continues to stun and amaze me on the playground. This time she showed me this new little trick: Not really so amazing at first glance. She slid down the fire pole last year. But this year she is not sliding down. Scroll back and look.

She is climbing up! Go, Molly!

And she performs these amazing feats in a polka dot dress--that pulls out like a princess—and sandals. You go, girl!

And here’s another cute pic just for you, Mom and Dad. For the rest of you, I know it is not all that different from the one above, but to them it’s night and day.

And just one last gratuitous cute shot of Molly and the girls.

Love those girls!

Matthew and Peipei, A Repeat Performance

Remember that blog a few weeks ago? The one where my good friend Peipei visited from Washington? I was thrilled that I got to spend a day at the zoo with her and her son. After our outing, she flew home and I figured it would be quite a while before I got to see her again.

As good luck would have it, Peipei needed a root canal. Well, it’s not lucky that she needed a root canal, but it is lucky that her sister is a dentist here in town. She wanted her sister to do the procedure so she flew back here for a week and brought Matthew with her.

Instead of being able to spend one day together, we had six! Yes, six busy, activity filled days. See, told you I was lucky!

The pictures don’t really need explanation. They are just of our kids having fun. Not every minute was fun. The kids had their share of whining and an argument or two, but I didn’t take pictures of that.

There were plenty of giggles and hugs. That’s what I photographed.

Touch A Truck

I have to admit that when I saw the signs go up around town advertising Touch-A-Truck, I thought: boy thing. I dismissed any relevance it had to my life because I have a daughter, not a son.

So how did we end up at this event? Well, my friend Stacy and I were in charge of planning playgroup this month. Another friend, Lisa, suggested Touch-A-Truck so I gave it a little looksee. It ended up to be very cool.

Basically, the city fills a park with all sorts of service vehicles (and those from local retailers), open the doors and let the kids explore them. How fun is that for a four-year-old who sees these vehicles on the streets each day.

When we arrived, we stood in line to get freebees (yeah!) then headed out to check out the trucks.

Molly has had a school bus obsession for years. She likes to see if they have boy drivers or girl drivers. She talks about when she is a school girl and can ride in them. She wants to go touch them in parking lots. But she has never got to go inside one. Until now.

I practically had to pry her out of the drivers seat. She would have drove the bus—and honked the horn--all day long if i would have let her.

But there were other things to see, so off the bus she went.

Next stop: The Police Car. No, she was not allowed to use the siren. Good thing.

  The girls were so excited that a pink limousine was there. Limos are always cool, but paint one pink and you have a little diva’s dream car.

  Another stop inside a fire engine—no sirens there either. Phew!

In addition to the trucks, there were all kinds of mascots dressed up in costumes.

Molly has begged for us to take her to Disneyworld. Our excuse has always been that she would be too scared to see all of the Disney characters, which are a part of the whole experience.

Why bother going to Disney if you are not going to hug Mickey, right?

Well….

I guess we are out of excuses…

And one more… A trip to Florida may be in our future.

Our little group pretty much outlasted the event. We were still there playing long after the trucks, and the people, left. Hey our girls just want to have fun.And they did.

Mother’s Day, It Never Gets Old

When you wait as long as I did to become a mother, you never let a day pass without appreciating the fact that you are indeed, a mother. And that you have been blessed with the most magnificent gift.

Even if that gift throws tantrums. Or refuses to eat dinner. Or tells you that she doesn’t want to be around you. Because you know that those things are part of being a mother.

And you know that with the bad, you also get the good. The way that she smells after a bath. The belly-laughs that make you feel happy just by hearing them. The kisses and cuddles that melt your heart.

It’s nice that that Hallmark (or whoever it was) established Mother’s Day to honor mothers but honestly, I am the one that is honored. I am honored every.single.day. because I get to be Molly’s mom.

 

At school, they celebrated the day by hosting a Mother’s Tea. Molly was so proud to have me there (I hope she always feels that way, but I am a realist--I know the teenage years are coming).

I even got to be a fill-in mom for this little cutie until her mother arrived.

I got handmade gifts. Love that!

And I also got one of those melt-your-heart hugs. See how lucky I am?

The fun did not stop there. On Sunday I got more gifts. Gee what could it be?

A frying pan? Yes, I am a lucky mom! And just so you know, I have wanted this pancake griddle for quite some time. I just never got around to shop for it.

I also got a gift certificate for a pedicure. At the spa. That doesn’t allow children. Woo hoo! Even the best mother needs some time for herself. Not that I am claiming to be the best mom, because I’m not. But I try. I think that my wee one may have had some help with these gifts. Thanks,Tony. And thank you for spending Mother’s Day weekend working nonstop installing the hardwood floors. You are all done and they look awesome (just like you)!

Finally, thank you Molly, for being the sweet, stubborn, loveable, exhausting, most perfect daughter in the world. I love you.

Azaleas Through the Years

Each year our azaleas welcome spring with an explosion of white blooms. And each year I drag take Molly outside and force ask her to take pictures in the garden to capture the splendid beauty (both Molly’s and the azalea's).

Here is the four year journey of Molly and the Azaleas, Through the Years.  Cue the music.

An wonderful one-year-old:

A terrific two-year-old:

A befuddled three-year-old:

“Hey mom, where are the azalea blooms? We always take a picture when the azaleas are blooming. These are just plain old bushes!” Yeah, about that. Ummm, guess I kind of forgot. How ‘bout standing in front of the hydrangea instead? 

Back on track with a fabulous four-year-old: See you again next year, azaleas. I’ll have my camera ready.