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Sex Offender Be Gone!
About two years ago, shortly after Bug was born, we received a letter from the local police. It informed us that a convicted sex offender had moved into our neighborhood. Indeed, he had moved in a block away. To be clear, I can see his house from my yard. I freaked out a little bit at the time and decided to see if there were other offenders living in the neighborhood. There are no other offenders living in our neighborhood, but our illustrious neighbor is a Level 3 sex offender, which is classified with a high likelihood of a repeat offense. He was convicted of a number of accounts of…
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A Peaceful Walk
I took Bug for a walk to the playground at the elementary school. We were gone maybe an hour to an hour and a half. He talked the ENTIRE time. I don’t know if I have mentioned it before, but Bug has a tendency to narrate his life. I swear he says everything that pops into his head. Today it included worrying about stepping in a puddle,ensuring that I planned to “take care of him,” discoursing on what types of things my cause a car crash, wondering (out loud) what our neighbors were doing and on and on. The more infuriating part for me is that he asks a question…
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I Pretty
LadyBug has wild hair. It’s not wild like my hair is wild, fortunately, but it still makes her look a bit like Gene Wilder in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (yeah, the original with the cute Oompa Loompas and the fun songs). She managed to get Big Guy’s fine locks along with just enough of my curls to get her into trouble. What’s a mama to do with crazy hair? Ignore it, of course. I’m sure that people have looked at my child and wondered why I haven’t cut her hair already, but those are clearly people who don’t have curly, frizzy, wild hair. Those of us who do…
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The Day All Parents Dread
It finally happened. I’ve been sort of dreading it, and it might actually have been worse than I imagined. That’s right, the dreaded TEMPER TANTRUM. Here’s the thing – I am generally pretty careful about maintaining a schedule for my kids. We’re home for nap pretty much every day (unless they’re at school), they go to bed at the same time, and so on. I always carry snacks and I don’t tackle known tantrum spots when I have both kids in tow. The one massive tantrum Bug had in the past (yes, just one) was pretty traumatic (for me), but it was just the two of us. I dragged, threatened…
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Three Wishes
This year, I have three wishes above and beyond generic things such as health and happiness. They’re small, but I want to put them out there because they’re also goals. 1. I want us to figure out how to pay for the kids’ daycare two days a week. They’re doing so well and I’ve already seen a positive impact for them and our entire family. I’d hate to have to pull them out. 2. A selfish wish.. I’d like to go to BlogHer. (As it turns out, I’ve been selected as a panelist so I’m going. Check!) 3. I want to take a family vacation to DisneyWorld this fall for…
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Mother Love
We took the kids to a birthday party at Jump on In! today. LadyBug LOVED it. She went on the slide over and over with whoever would take her. Bug… not so much. It breaks my heart to watch him struggle with things that his peers find easy. It’s all that much harder now that LadyBug is showing us what “normal” means. I don’t care if Bug is “normal” or not, but I want him to be happy and he has such a hard time that he can’t enjoy many activities in his life. Tonight I read some very sad news. The McClenahan family lost their daughter Cora. She was…
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Precious Girls Club Giveaway
Last summer, Precious Moments launched a book series called the Precious Girls Club. The series is designed to provide tween girls with positive and wholesome stories espousing Christian values. In conjunction with the books, they have also launched a virtual world of the same name. I had the opportunity to chat with the development team for the website. I was impressed by the thought they had put into the various elements of the world, and by their willingness to listen to my feedback (which was not always positive). If you are raising a daughter in a Christian home, you may want to check out the Precious Girls Club virtual world.…
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Peanut Allergies Can Pay Off – Salmonella Outbreak
With the current salmonella scare, we can actually be thankful for Bug’s peanut allergies. Our kids have eaten absolutely nothing with peanut butter or peanut paste and they won’t. If your family is fortunate enough to not have food allergies, please read this article about the salmonella outbreak and peanut product recalls. It impacts Keebler and some other brands.
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Four Christmases and a Funeral
We’re still in the thick of Christmas season. No, it hasn’t ended yet. We’ve done four family Christmases (and a couple of friend versions), and have two more to go. As much as I love Christmas, I’m ready to move on. I’m ready to reclaim my living room from our 8 or 9 foot tree, and clear festive knickknacks from my countertops. All of the running around has thrown my family out of whack and we’re all tired and snippy and in need of some relaxing time at home. The kids’ toy piles have multiplied beyond reason and my list of returns and exchanges has become overwhelming. In the midst…
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Merry Christmas!
Presents wrapped, stockings hung. Nothing left but get enough sleep to be bright-eyed whenever the kids wake up. Have a wonderful day everyone!