Toast 2 Mom

Welcome to The Land of Imagination

I have been having an identity crisis lately. I'm not sure if I'm supposed to be "Mommy," "a mermaid," "a princess," "a deer" or a "witch". We have entered the land of imagination big time in our household. It begins at sun-up and does not end until sun-down.

I love all of the extra time I have with my girls. It has provided me with so many opportunities to interact with them. I love to read to them. I love to color with them. I love to do puzzles with them. I love to swing, dance, chase, hide, twirl, wrestle, laugh and veg. However this new activity of constant role-playing is really, really annoying me. I don't have another word for it.

What is strange is I enjoy acting. I've taken some acting classes. I've done a bit (wee bit) of amateur acting. I have read scripts, received direction and redone scenes over and over again. But when it comes time for Mommy to turn into a deer, resting in the grass, waiting for the baby deer to bring her flowers and then wake up and say, "ohhh what pretty flowers".... I just can't get into character.

I'm not sure if it's the timing of day (or that it's all day!). I feel like I always have some other task I am trying to juggle at the moment when I am asked to put on my mermaid face by my three year old.

We have been off schedule a couple weeks with vacation and such. Syd just had her dance class yesterday, and it had been a couple weeks. It was a good thing for her. When I used to hear about moms putting their kids in this class and that class, I thought to myself, "sheesh, give the kids a break. Let them just play." Some kids, though, I think really need that class, structure, activity to look forward to in order to keep them moving.

In a little over a month my Syd is going to be starting pre-school. It's just twice a week, but I get misty at the thought of it already. However, I think she is ready! She really thrived when she was in school before. School time will allow her to use that little whipper-snapper brain of hers in a variety of ways, in a new setting.

I just hope when it's imagination time at school, that whoever is role-playing with Syd, they know she gets to hold flowers. The baby deer always gets to hold the flowers, the other deer just smells them.

Remember the Time

This is a picture of me when I was around 10. Yes, I am sporting a sequined glove, a la Michael Jackson. I made the glove from a kit. This was how I passed the time on my vacation with my family in Minnesota. I posted this picture on Facebook today, so figured I'd spread the fun on here too!

I was very happy when I stumbled upon this picture, actually. It took me awhile to locate it. This picture brings back a lot of memories for me. I, like many people from my generation, haven't really thought about Michael Jackson in years; but the event of his death has sure stirred up some fun memories that his music and entertaining style brought to my life.

This picture is also interesting because I mentioned above that I was on vacation with my family. This was not a common thing. Since my parents divorced when I was an early age, I didn't spend summer trips to the beach. And since I was an only child, I don't have those stories of fighting over the middle line in the car. I did visit northern Minnesota a couple times with my mom and grandparents or with my mom's immediate family. And I do remember the car ride up to this resort...and it was dreadful. However, I also remember how pretty the resort was and how much fun it was. The saddest news about this beautiful vacation spot is that it is now dead too.

A few years ago I was up in Minnesota and we drove by this place. It was no longer a resort but a overgrown grass and weed plot of land. The cabins were all dirty and sagging. The signs of life were all gone and the lake looked sad. This was a very strange moment in my life. It was so odd to have such vivid childhood memories of a place and see what it had become years later without any care. This was the first time I had ever experienced anything like this. It was the first time I realized really just how old I am...and truly how fast time goes by. It had only seemed like yesterday that I'd been there and the resort was full of laughs. Then in a blink, a place I knew no longer existed. I've driven by old places I had lived before and maybe the paint had changed, or the trees had gotten taller; but to see a place turn into a ghost town was very...haunting.

I find this picture also so apropos since my family and I just returned from our vacation. We spent the holiday weekend driving in our van many, many hours, through three states, over two thousand miles. We took a family vacation. My husband and I spent a great deal of time trying to point out the animals and water towers and mountains and trees and beauty of nature. The girls were kind and looked most of the time as to what we were trying to point out. They also gave us the in unison "wowww!" We were, however, dealing with the attention span of toddlers, though. Now that I think about it, I wonder if when they're teenagers it'll be better....probably not.

What I do hope though is that as our family continues to plan and go on family vacations and see new things and experience new places and take pictures of it all. I hope our girls are able to embrace it all and hopefully take with them found memories from them. Because in a flash, time zips by and you're looking back at that girl you once were, on vacation, by a beautiful lake, sporting a killer, sparkly hand accessory. Good times!

Splash!

Hey, guess what?! I have a way to add video to my blog now! See below link for the first video post!

So, sure it's almost the Fourth of July. That means it's pretty hot just about everywhere in the U.S....from each person's own perspective. Our first summer in Texas is proving to have its own definitionof hot. We've been sitting in the 100's every day for well over three weeks now. The other day we picked Daddio up from the airport and it was 106. I said, "pretty much after it hit 100, I haven't noticed a difference from 101 to 108.

The good news is we've been taking full advantage of the swimming pool. Our once timid little minnow is developing into quite the nautical princess. She went from not even wanting to get her face wet about six months ago to going underwater, kicking like crazy, jumping in the water and just start wanting to dive!

To see a little clip of our most recent splash, check out the link below!

Click here for the big splash!

A Thoughtful Interview

OK I'm no Barbara Walters, but I have been wanting to interview my three year old recently and see what are her favorites and interests. This would be WAY more interesting to have this conversation video-taped. However, Mama needs a new camcorder to make that happen. Because the thoughts of a three year old go by very, very quickly, the following is not verbatim - not a chance I could capture it all. However, here's a glimpse at the interests of my Sweet Syd...today anyway.

What is your favorite thing to eat? Ice cream - strawberry, chocolate chip and chocolate with sprinkles and marshmallows.

What's your favorite color? Pink marshmallow.

What is your favorite show? Ariel.

Who is your favorite princess? Ariel the mermaid (Duh, I know, dumb question, Mommy).

What do you want to be when you grow up? A mermaid....no, a fairy.

What is your favorite animal? A cat.

What do you like to do for fun? Work on the computer and do lots of fun stuff with Mommy like sing and work on my letters and play ball and go to the park.

What is your favorite number? Counting to 10 with my Daddy.

What is the best thing about having a sister? Loving her and watching shows with her.

What is your favorite thing to do? Swim in the pool.

What is your favorite thing to drink? Juice.

Do you like dresses or skirts? Dresses.

Do you like headbands or clippies? Clippies with hearts on them.

Do you like pizza or hot dogs? Hot dogs.

Do you like swinging or sliding? Swinging.

And then the interview abruptly ended because she was done. :)

Attention...please!

We have an ongoing challenge in our household; there is not enough attention to go around. I become more and more convinced that my Sydney will grow up and become an actress. When she is not requesting, "watch me," "watch this," or "look at me," she is providing me with a script detailing how I am to interact with her current performance.

"OK, Mommy. I'm going to crawl out from under the table and meow. Then you're going to say, 'awwww, there's my little baby kitten. Where have you been?'"

And if Mommy doesn't get the script right, or tries to improvise, we do it over again (and again) until I get it just right.

Probably the biggest challenge with our little thespian is her need to steal the spotlight away from her sister, especially when Daddio comes home from work. Eyes light up when the Daddio walks through the door - not just one set of eyes, but two sets of eyes. Sydney is trying to work her self by showing Daddio all the art work and projects she did for the day. Cheekers is trying to play "row-row" and the "spin around the room" game. The battle for attention never ends up being as cute as the battle began.

We struggle to find the balance between appreciating enthusiam and taking turns. The good news about this whole attention thing is we get to see a LOT of creativity (and it entertains us so). The bad news is, we just aren't a big enough audience. Maybe someday the spotlight will grow?

Ladies Night

Mommy had a date last night...with three beautiful girls - no, none of them my girls, but some new friends!

One of the things I was excited and nervous about moving to a new city was to meet new people. In Omaha I worked full time outside of the home. It was very challenging for me to make connections with people that had a similar work/home life scenario that I had. I often wished that I had opportunities to make new friends but meeting new people and making new friends after college is probably harder than dating.

After we moved here to our new home, I took some time to research some options for involvement. I knew one of the things I wanted to enroll Sydney in was dance. She was eager to put on those dance shoes. She began classes in January.

The dance studio is very small. It has two couches in the lobby and a bench. This is where is all began. Six moms, in a dance studio, all with a child or two in the class, some with kids in the lobby. We have one hour together a week to discuss it ALL - sleeping, eating, nursing, organic, injuries, pregnancy, illness, education, travel, backgrounds, husbands, interests, you name it. After several weeks of cramming ourselves into the studio, we decided the Moms need to hit the town sans kids.

Four of us joined up last night at a fantastic sushi restaurant. We all got gussied up - lipstick, earrings, and no ponytails! It was a lot of fun to hang out, drink wine, enjoy some great food with some great, funny, interesting women. I have not had a girl's night in quite some time. I can't wait for the next outings!

(And thanks Daddio for the night off! :)

Mid-Year Review

Six months ago today I turned 34. So that makes today my half-birthday - hooray! :) I remarked back in November as I approached this year in my life that I had always looked forward to turning 34. I really don't know why. It was just an age that stuck out in my youth as one I was looking forward to. I have to say at this mid-year mark, things are going quite well.

I have a very fortunate and amazing opportunity to stay home with my girls. Six months ago, while I was eager for this opportunity, I didn't know what it would be like. Now into my fifth month, I'm still loving every minute of it.

Like every new chapter, one wonders what will be involved. Will it be exciting? Will it be scary? Will it be confusing? I would say I've had all of those feelings over these past few months. It's the adrenaline of the unknown that keeps me interested and eager to keep turning those pages...if I am so lucky!

So, on the agenda for today. The girls are napping at the same time - nice. I am doing typical nap-time chores - dishes, laundry, picking up toys, sweeping, going through the mail, checking email, and trying to write a bit.

Unfortunately I don't have any cake mix in the house. No cupcakes for this half. I do have some Ghiradelli brownie mix, though. I think that fudgey center will hold a candle just fine!