Sleepy Head on the Steps

May I Have Your Autograph?

Swing Sets are So Worth It

For years now we’ve been wanting to get an outdoor play set for the kids. It was a decision that didn’t come lightly. Andrew really wanted to make sure he was getting one that would last. He did online searches, he ordered the catalogs, he researched the wood used to make different ones – this was not a spontaneous purchase.

Some of the sets we saw cost thousands of dollars (quite a few cost more than both of our cars!). Of course, we weren’t going to get one of those, but we wanted what those offered – installation and a good warranty. In the end, we found one we all liked -

It’s the baby of all the Rainbow play systems and it’s perfect for us! It has all the features the kids love and the peace of mind and quality that Andrew loves (it’s also made in the USA and plants 5 trees for every one they use). I’m just happy the kids finally have a fun outdoor place to escape to and enjoy. I love that Nia and Nate can just walk outside whenever they want now and swing their little hearts out! Mom and Dad can even get in on the fun – it’s built to hold the “big kids” too!

Kids Show Mixed Emotions about American Idol Winner

David Cook’s Littlest, Biggest Fans

Because Barbie Rocks

I totally was all like, “Mooommmmy, I have to have them! Puhleeze!” And this may be T.M.I. but I also wished I could “Weird Science” that Derek doll and make him come to life. He was my dream man. (Not the Michael Bolton looking one – the tall, dark and handsome drink of water.) Step off Barbs. Step. Off.

Another Barbie thing that cracked me up – this week’s “Infomania.”  This had me laughing so hard I was crying, squealing and gasping for air.  I love it!

Little David Cook Wannabe

Nate really loves to rock out to some David Cook.  He even recognizes him when he sees him on television.  Here’s a sample of how serious he gets when he’s belting it out -

Brunch with “Barbie”

Glitter, jewelry, pink and purple decor, cupcakes, little girls dressed in their Barbie best and a teenager in a prom dress posing as the plastic doll come-to-life.  Brunch with Barbie was a blast!

Our town’s little library was so nice to offer Barbie fans this free event and I think the ladies running the show were quite surprised by the turnout.  Several times, I heard them breathlessly say, “I hope we have enough for everyone.  We didn’t even have half this many people last year.”

It was so packed that they quickly ran out of foam crowns to decorate and the jewels to dress up those crowns were being rationed (three to a child although Nia had a few more because I struck gold when I glanced at the floor – it was covered in sparkles of dropped jewels), the chip bowls didn’t even have crumbs left and people crowded around to take a picture with “Barbie.” Nia got her turn and was a little shy – after all, she was sitting next to Barbie!

I also had her pose with another girl who I thought could have been Barbie.  She was someone just attending the event but when I saw her (mini-dress, high-heels, make up and all), I felt compelled (and entertained) to ask her for a picture.  (I was cracking myself up.)

Nia and I had great time and I’m so thankful that our library hosted such a nice event.  Sure, there were a few (ungrateful) moms I heard complaining (“My little girl didn’t get to decorate a crown!”  “They really didn’t plan well for this.”) but, for the most part, people were positive and patient.  Nia and I wore smiles on our faces the whole time and I would make it a point to let the frantic ladies wearing “Friends of the Library” buttons know that we thought it was all wonderful.  It seems we were actually kind of rewarded for our praise too – at the end of the event, Nia’s name was pulled from a big bowl of raffle tickets.  She won the Barbie Grand Prize!

The basket was filled with all sorts of goodies, including a Barbie. Tonight, that Barbie is being cuddled by Nia.  As I was tucking them both into bed Nia told me, “This Barbie had to spend a long time in that basket huh Momma?  But now, she gets to be with me.”  I told her that meant that Barbie was really lucky because being with her was the best place she could be.  In typical Barbie form, she closed her eyes, smiled, made a dramatic “that is so sweet” noise and said, “I love you Momma.”

Knight in Starched Khakis

She is just a little more than five miles away from her sister’s house when the beyond-bald tires on her beat up, old mini-van decide they couldn’t carry her family anymore.  The tires, like her, are worn out.  Sharing the load of moving from Michigan to Georgia – they both have been pushed to their limits.

“Now this?  Now this is going to happen?” she thinks as she looks for a safe place to pull over.  The tire blew out a few seconds ago but she tries to keep pressing on – like she’s been doing since they first started struggling.

Her four young children are both frightened and interested in what’s happening.  Two started to cry.  The other two ask non-stop questions.  She feels the same way – plus – helpless. She doesn’t know how to change a tire – she can’t afford a tow truck – isn’t a member of AAA.

Then, she hears a voice, offering to help.

Within minutes, he has her van up on the jack and the tire off but he can’t get the spare out of the trunk.  He thinks about giving her his but it doesn’t fit.  Instead, he calls AAA and explains the situation.

The children would have to wait almost an hour.  When he offers to drive her and the children to her sister’s house so they don’t have to be the situation any longer, she was a little nervous to accept but he didn’t give her any reason to doubt his kindness, plus, he had two child car seats in the back – he must be ok.

She’s so overcome with gratitude and emotion that she can’t believe that she told him, “Of course you’re married!  All the good ones are taken!”

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He thinks he’s just stuck behind yet another driver going way below the speed limit on the two lane road to his work.  He feels bad when he sees the old mini-van cautiously pull over to the side.

He knows he has to be at work, but something in him compels him to make sure people are ok.

Little does he know, this is going to be so much more than a tire change.  When he sees the four children, he immediately thinks of his own wife and kids and – what if.  What if they were stranded on the side of a busy road with no one to call for help?  He has to do what he can to get them out of this situation.

He doesn’t think it’s going to be hard to do.  He just has to change a tire -something he’s done more times than he can remember.  But this time is a little different.  The van’s emergency brake doesn’t work and (for mechanical reasons the writer doesn’t grasp) the mom has to stay in the van with her foot on the brake. He finally gets the van on the jack but then he can’t free the spare from its compartment.

Knowing he can’t leave them like that, he calls AAA for a tow truck.  They tell him he will have to be there when the driver arrives in order for her to get the tow without a charge.  He knows it will take about an hour for the tow truck driver to show up so he offers to drive the family where they are headed.  He worries about how the four children will safely fit in his small backseat but rationalizes it would be more dangerous for them to be where they are now.

In the end, the family safely reaches their destination and the Knight in Starched (and now slightly dirty) Khakis makes it to work.  He knows the family still has to figure out how they will pay for the van’s repairs, but he hopes that he helped take a little of the burden off their shoulders – at least for one morning.

Tooth Watch 2009

For the past few months, Nia has been experiencing loose-tooth envy.  The way she tells it, every one of her friends either has a loose tooth or proudly sports a holey smile.  She would ask us why she didn’t have one yet.  When will she?  Can I push on them and make them loose?  She would also routinely think she finally had one and ask us to check to see if she was right.  We would touch the suspected tooth and respond with disappointing news.  Nope.  Not yet.

That all changed last week.  She finally felt her first real wobble!  She was so excited as I picked her up from after-school.  She came running down the hall holding the prized pearly white between her two tiny fingers, “I have a loost toof mommy!”

Now, she’s constantly asking us about it and preparing for the big day -

“When it will be ready to fall out?”
“What she can do to help make it fall out?
“Can we pull it yet?”
“Why will that hurt?”
“It hurts now.”
“Will it bleed?”
“After it falls out I will have 19 teeth.”
“If I don’t brush my teeth will it fall out faster?”
“I can’t eat that because my tooth might get lost in it and then the tooth fairy won’t come.”

Which leads to the big payoff -

“The tooth fairy is going to bring me two dollars.”

We have no idea where she got that dollar amount.  To me, you can’t put a price on something so precious.  Our baby girl is growing up so quickly.

Now on to worrying about how the tooth fairy will make the “exchange” without waking up the princess.  Sometimes I’m in awe about how our parents pulled it all off.