Mother's Day 2012

Dear Lexi and Zachary,

This morning, when I woke up and came downstairs, I was greeted with a huge smile, hug so strong it almost choked me, and a "Happy Mover's Day!!" (Zach), and also a quiet arm around my waist and head placed on my shoulder so that I could kiss it right on the very top (Lexi), and I felt loved.  You two are different in so many ways. 

Lexi, the eternal rule follower who never even mentioned that you were working on a Mother's Day project for me until you placed your surprise into my hands, and Zachary, the eternal story teller, who greeted me at daycare one afternoon by telling me that you were not going to tell me about the necklace that you had made me for Mother's Day.  (Temporary Note - I have not yet received the necklace from Zachary, as Fadia had an accident at the daycare and had to close for a couple of days.  I'll post that picture on Tuesday)

But you both make me feel so loved in so many little ways.  The little tiny things that you both do every day, probably without even noticing that you're doing them are the things that make my heart swell with joy and pride.  You are you.  There is no one else on the whole planet like you.  You are brother and sister, my son and my daughter, created from my DNA, and you are different.  And even though you're different, I love you both equally with an intensity that I had no idea existed before I knew you.  Today is a day to celebrate Mothers, but you are the ones who gave me that title.  You made me Mommy, Mama, Mum, and today I just want you to know that I am so honored to own that title.  I am blessed and honored to be your Mother.  You both make my heart sing and my world complete and I can't imagine what my life would be without you.  So thank you, Lexi and Zachary, for being just what I need every day, and for making me feel loved in your own special ways.  I hope I make you feel just as loved in my own special ways, because you are the two most important people in my world.  Today I celebrate you.

Happy Mother's Day.  I love you with all my heart.

Love,
Mama

Say It With Certainty, Please.

When Zachary wakes up in the morning he starts talking, and does not stop speaking again until he is snoring at night.  He must be a part of every conversation, and always has something to tell you, "Mama, guess what?..."  Because I am home with him four days a week, we have a LOT of conversations and he asks me a LOT of questions.  In general, I love this.  I love answering questions for three year olds because sometimes they ask really insightful questions that are full of innocence, and they are such an amazing way to discuss really important topics, and instill the important values of our family.  But sometimes I just don't know the answer to his questions, and unfortunately for me, that is completely unacceptable to Zachary.  Here is an example of what happens when I don't know the answer to a question.  The question always changes, but what comes next is the same every time...

Zachary - "Mama, is that man's name Harold?"
Me - "I don't know Zachy."
Zach - "Is it?"
Me - "I don't know."
Zach - "But is it?"
Me - "I don't know buddy, I don't know his name."
Zach - "But is it?"
Me - "I don't know."
Zach - "Is it?  Say 'yes.'"
Me - "Yes."

We easily have this conversation ten times every single day.  I have tried to explain to him that sometimes I just don't know if the answer is yes or no, so I have to say that I don't know, but that gets me no where.  I have, on occasion, continued to say "I don't know" to see how long he'll let it go on.  In all cases I get bored of the game before he does, and finally, defeated, give in with my "yes".

He won't even accept an "MmmHmm" as a response.  It must be a firm and sure "yes" or "no" in all cases.

Zachary - "Mom, did you see that bird?"
Me - "MmmHmm."
Zachary - "Say yes."
Me - "Yes."

This one kills me because my least favorite teacher in elementary school would not allow you to answer in the affirmative unless you said "Yes".  "Yup", "Yea", etc. were all unacceptable.  If I answered "yup" to her question, she would keep asking me, "What??" until I answered properly.  It drove me crazy.

So, now rather than instilling positive family values, I'm basically lying to my kid about ten times each day.  "Is Grammy eating lunch right now?"  "Yes."  "Is it going to rain three weeks from Tuesday?"  "Yes."  "Are there aliens living on Mars?"  "Yes."  "Is this phase going to end soon?"  "Yes."  And then I'll probably miss it... 

R.E.S.P.E.C.T.

Occasionally, in our house, bedtime just goes bad.  The kids delay, fuss, whine, and refuse to listen, and at the end of a long day it's enough for me to lose my cool.  Tonight was one of those nights. 

Every night each of the kids gets to pick one book to be read, and once they're in bed they each get a song.  They love this part of the routine, I love this part of the routine, but sadly it's also the only thing motivating enough to threaten (somehow "behave or you can't brush your teeth!" just never seems to work), and sometimes, like tonight, they lose some or all of it. 

So, Zach had just lost his story, and rather than quickly shape up so as to not lose the song, like his sister did, he chose to hit me instead.  Bad move.  He was lucky, I was patient tonight and actually paused to warn him that hitting would land him in his bed without the song.  He didn't seem to care, and hit me again.  So into his bed he went.  Light off.  Door closed.  Commence screaming.  I let it go for two minutes and then went in to calm him down.  Once the crying stopped I sat him on the bed and reviewed the situation, explaining again why he would not be getting songs.  I told him that even though I love singing to him, he needed to learn that not listening, and hitting result in losing the things that he loves.  He sat there for a minute and considered what I said.  Then he looked right in my eyes and said, "Well, I can't respect that." 

Sadly for Zach, not respecting my decision did not earn him the song back.  But we're both looking forward to a lovely ballad tomorrow night.

Easter 2012

Three days before Easter, my dining room looked something like this (worse actually, because this was taken at the start of the project!):

And you saw how the kitchen looked in previous posts.  But, somehow we managed to get it all back together just in time to have 16 guests for a lovely dinner, and a fun day!  Lexi and Zach were up early searching for the eggs that the Easter Bunny left hidden around our house.  While Lexi really enjoys the scavenger hunt, Zachary would really prefer tearing the house apart to find the eggs.  I really had to hold him back.  But they still had fun, and really enjoyed going through their baskets. 

Lexi and Zach found some eggs in the new closet.  Check out those awesome shelves!

Eggs under here??

Yup!

Enjoying their baskets

However, the best part of the day for them is when their cousins arrive.  Once the Lillis kids arrive, we barely see the kids again.  That is, of course, until Auntie and I tell them it's time to find the eggs in the yard!  They were running so fast that I had to force them to stop just to get a couple of pictures!!

Lexi and Stephanie in their matching dresses

The cousins!  (minus Zach who was sleeping)

Egg hunting.

Found one!

Cassie has an arm load!

Lexi got one!

The girls show off the loot!

Auntie Amy helped remember Nana by making the kids cookie Easter baskets, as Nana used to make for us each year.

After the egg hunt we had a wonderful, and at times hilarious, dinner with Gigi, Poppy, Great Gram, Amy and Scott, Uncle Jay, and Erin and Kat.  Megan had to leave early to work, and she was missed.

The crew with Poppy.

The crew with Gigi.

It was another wonderful Easter, and a great way for us to show off the new kitchen.

Finally "done"!!

The thing about owning a home in general, but especially an old home, is that you're never really "done" any project.  There is always more to be done, and sometimes fixing one thing makes other problems more noticeable.  But, for the sake of argument, we are finally done with our kitchen remodel!  Done, as in I don't have to rush to get dressed every morning so that I will be fully clothed when the contractors arrive at 7am, and when I come home for lunch I don't have a symphony of nail guns going off behind me, and there is not a three inch layer of dust over everything every, single day.  Ahren and I are thrilled with the result.  We both have little, tiny details that we absolutely LOVE.  He is thrilled that we don't have a pipe running through our cabinets and counter anymore, I am thrilled that for about an hour a day, we get a little square of light on the floor from the upstairs windows (thanks to the new bedroom door).  But the best part is that the hideous floor, miserable walls, and awful drop ceiling are finally G.O.N.E.!!!

Here are some before and after pictures for your viewing pleasure.  (Some have already been posted, but I love seeing them next to each other).

Old kitchen

New Kitchen

Old eat-in area

New eat in area

Old view from the door

New view from the door

It's still the same kitchen, just improved.  I am really glad to finally be able to enjoy it!

Floored!

Today we got a floor!  It's really starting to look like a real room again, and I'm thrilled!  I'm really happy with how the floor turned out, and I'm getting more and more excited about the finished product!

Here are the floor pictures.  As you can see, Lexi has deemed it a perfect dancing floor.  :)

Progress...

When it comes to construction in my house, the crew can never move fast enough.  I can't stand it, and the kitchen is definitely the worst!!  The walls and plaster went in this week, which is great because it's starting to look better, but horrible because now every inch of our home is covered in plaster dust.  Ahren and I have basically cleaned non-stop since returning home on Friday and as soon as we put the dust cloth down, we see a new layer of dust already forming.  I see it in the air, feel it everywhere, and I can even taste it.  It's awful.  But I know it will be coming to an end soon.  We are told that we should be finishing up with the trim this week, our new refrigerator will be installed on Friday, and then the following week the painters arrive.  I'm trying to keep my "eyes on the prize" but really, right now I feel like I'm living in a hell hole.

Monday is the beginning of some drastic improvements.  But here's where we are today...

More to come on Monday!