B.S.C.

lucky day

today was actually not lucky, but in light of recent events it was nothing.  just the testing of parenting skills in all directions. can i get a three cheers for eric being out of town, too?

***before i forget, gracie LOST her tooth at school today.  very exciting, of course.  that's never happened to her before.  "please Dear Lord let me remember to put money in her pillow"  i think the tooth fairy has forgotten for the last four teeth.  once time the tooth fairy forgot for something like 3 days in a row.  i don't know, i am sure i blogged about it.***

we kick off the day before st.pat's with some lucky petite vanilla bean scones.

later in the day, mama crafted from items for the girls and school. and by crafted i mean printed some pre made tags and stuck them on bags.  

a pot of gold for the staff room at the girls school:

a little treat for mrs. macdonald and mrs. russell because we're so lucky to have them.

and a treat for the girls.  it's supposed to have rainbow colored licorice in the bag with the coins at the end, but when you look for something like rainbow colored licorice the day before you need it, the odds are that you'll go to three stores and still not find it. oh well.

and finally, the leprechaun trap.  the paint was a little gloppy and it was still drying but again, when you wait until the day before to get the materials...

i actually had nice, die cut tiny shamrocks, but the girls wanted to draw their own.  i can't argue with that kind of craftiness. 

we found another use for the die cut shamrocks.

sprinkled in the "grass" to attract the leprechaun, along with a little pot of gold.

they set it up by the front door. 

when they come downstairs in the morning they are going to find a box of lucky charms (they rarely get sugar cereal, and they certainly only get lucky charms once a year)

and this note:

Oh I see you’ve crafted a leprechaun trap.

I figured it out when the lid went SNAP!

But you tricky girls can’t catch me.

I’m a very fast leprechaun, you see.

I’ve left you some of my lucky charms

since you did not bring me any harm.

And now I’m off with a big cheer:

“Wishing you better LUCK next year!”

 

You didn't know I was a poet, did you? er... i mean, the leprechaun.

stay tuned for more irish goodness tomorrow.

what a week

i am really glad tomorrow is friday.  

eric's been out of town all week. gracie's been sick.  we've had half days all week and annie has given me a run for my money.  like, half marathon run...

first i'll start with the positive comments about our week-kind of like a conference. then i'll state areas where there is room for improvement.

yesterday, since gracie started feeling better in the afternoon, i came through with my promise of FROST for good conferences.

annie's class earned a class party for getting 10 points so today was pajama day.

the beauty of pajama day is twofold:  1) your child is already dressed for school when she wakes up and 2) there is no arguing over clothes

which leads me to AREAS OF IMPROVEMENT

tuesday morning, i tell annie to get dressed

"is it pe today mama" she asks me

yes it is. 

those three words lead to approximately 40 minutes of a crying fit, that took place in various parts of the house and led to the following threat "IF YOU DON"T GET DRESSED I WILL TAKE YOU TO SCHOOL IN YOUR PAJAMAS."

i between sobs, i got from her that she doesn't like how the pe teacher is always telling her what to do and making her do things that are boring...like jogging in place...and sometimes her heart beats so fast it hurts and he won't let them stop.  SHE ABSOLUTELY HATES PE. she hates it so much that on the days she has pe she cries and says she doesn't want to go to school. she really does not care for the teacher's teaching style.  frankly, gracie didn't either, but gracie's not one to cry about it and throw a fit over it for 40 minutes.  

it's really awesome that kindergarteners have pe twice a week so i get to got through it two mornings in a row. thankfully, yesterday she only threw up a little fuss for about 5 minutes.  

so i am kind of at a loss for what to do.  other than hope it gets better cause if it doesn't this mama's gonna be the squeaky wheel at school.  yeah, i said it. 

the SECOND area for improvement

there was a little brou-ha at the bus stop this afternoon. annie and her friend were mad at each other. me, not always knowing how to deal with these situations, is the kind of mom who likes to get to the bottom of what's going on so i can best figure out how to handle the situation.  if my kid did something wrong, i want to know so they can apologize and i can lock her in her room for the night.  (just kidding-kind of)

annie was upset because her friend told gracie a secret about annie, in front of annie and annie actually heard her say it.  turns out though, the secret was true and annie was so embarrassed and thought she'd get in trouble if anyone found out. 

after much drama once we got in the house, i was able to wheedle the secret out of gracie.  

"annie kissed a boy. but it's not true."

sweet gracie's so naive she didn't think it was true.  i, on the other hand, thought differently. 

"did you kiss a boy, annie?"

and do you know what that little turd said to me?  

through tears and drama "not today mama"

but i am smarter than she thinks.  "did you kiss a boy yesterday?"

"uh-huh"

"where"

"on the hand"

this is all through sobbing tears, remember

"who was it annie?"

and just like that she cuts all tears, get this dreamy/smiling look on her face and says

"garret.  i am going to marry him when i grow up."

and in and instant she goes back to crying. 

and i leave her with the following "we only kiss people in our family, annie."

sigh.

can't wait for you to get home eric.

what was i thinking?!

today i submitted my application for a .2 SLP position in mukilteo. what's 8 hours right? 

actually, taking last year off was great with annie home most of the time.  this year, with both girls in school, not working at all is kind of a drag. yeah i have lots of time to get stuff done and cook and work out and volunteer, but once i got into my daily routine, i felt like something was missing.  i really miss my co-workers, the students and doing something i love and actually feel like am a good at. 

i don't really get that feeling with parenting...

had the girls conferences this afternoon.  it's nice to hear they're such good girls at school.

miss gracie has pulled some kind of muscle in her groin or upper thigh.   she's been in a lot of pain. after her conference this afternoon, we went to the book fair and she had zero interest in looking around--highly unusual for her. then i took them to teriyaki to celebrate with the promise of a FROST doughnut after.  She barely ate and didn't want FROST. 

took her temp when we got home and it's 101.4.  poor thing.  i was glad to know something was legitimately wrong, cause really...you have to be crazy to turn down a doughnut! selfishly i was a little disappointed we didn't go. i'd been saving my calories ALL DAY!!!  and since i made eric put the halloween candy in his trunk and his car is at the airport. WE HAVE NO TREATS IN THE HOUSE!!!!  

would someone please bring me a piece of cake?

another three thumbs up and random stuff

made a quiche last night and the three of us liked it.  annie doesn't count when rating recipes. i think she ended up eating pirate booty for dinner.

used this recipe for the crust. the filling-3 eggs, 1 yolk, 1/2 cup milk, three pieces of crumbled bacon, an ounce of jarlsberg, half a sauteed onion, salt and pepper. 

in order to beat the heat on tuesday, we went to the library. gracie got her own library card. she was so excited.  she picked out TWO books.  annie picked out SIX. when we got there i pulled one off the shelf, looked at the cover and gave it to annie.  it was titled "I remember Miss so and so"  can't remember teacher's name.  it was about a teacher and i figured it was about moving on to the next grade and remembering last year's teacher.  

fast forward a few hours later to nighttime.  annie picks that book for me to read to her.  i start reading and my eyes jump ahead to the next page where they zero in on "she was in a car accident and died." apparently the teacher didn't show up for school one day and the principal had to come in and tell the class their teacher died.  

so, i turned to annie and said "this book is kind of sad, can we pick another one" as i am trying not to cry. 

"mama, PLEEEEEEASE can we read this book?"

"ok" and i continue reading right to the part where she principal said the teacher died and annie looked up at me with her big blue eyes and said "can we please stop reading now, mama?"

classic.

monday we went to the beach. another effort to beat the heat.  it was a beautiful day though i dared not leave my purse unattended. 

i had my last swim lesson today.  i got a gold star. i've been dismissed. yippee! it's still hard for me, but i can tell that i'm getting stronger.

last week the girls got to take their first sea doo ride.  they loved it!

in an effort to use up those blueberries we picked last week, i attempted to make blueberry muffins on monday morning.  i don't know what my deal is but i think i am the WORST baker in the world.  i just can't bake, save the three things i know how to bake and can do fairly consistently, wine cake, carameletoes and raspberry cream pie.   

there was a ton of batter and it said it made 12 muffins so i filled the tins and popped them in the oven.  when i checked on them a little while later, they had turned into a big muffin loaf.  duh.  fortunately, it was gracie who said, "it doesn't matter how they look, only how they taste"  and they tasted good according to her. love that kid.  

  

today i won

the ultimate mother of the year award when i kind of forgot to pick annie up from her t-ball game. thankfully i have two wonderful friend/neighbors who keep tabs on me...or just feel sorry for the girls because they have a mother like me.

eric's out of town and the girls had games at the same time this evening.  we went to gracie's game early to help set up the field. i took annie to her game and dropped her off with jen and sarah while gracie was warming up.  i had to make a quick pit stop for some thank you cards for the coaches and a trip home to pee.  i headed to gracie's game with my chair and snack for the team.  had a great time watching the girls play and forgot about my other responsibilities...namely picking annie up from her game.  gracie's game was close to over when my phone rang and it was jen on the line. 

 "were you coming to pick up annie?" 

 "hmm, i hadn't really thought about that."  sarah took her home and fed her dinner.  bless you.

in my defense i was hyper focused on watching gracie.  her last game was a nightmare.  she played fine and hit the ball well, but she got out several times (the other team was really good at fielding). she cried twice and the third time was a total meltdown.  

tonight she was redeemed. she hit the ball her best ever and she only got out once. couldn't be helped. it rolled right to that little 3rd base girl.  was was po'd but she didn't cry this time. 

even though i didn't get to see it, jen so kindly reported to me that annie hit the ball on the first attempt on each of her three at bats. whoot whoot! daddy our girls may be ball players after all.

so when gracie and i got home, i went over to sarah's where they were feeding her dinner.  the moment i saw cauliflower and blueberries on her plate, i know they had her at hello.  then i found out they were eating salmon.  oh boy...they graciously invited gracie and i to dinner, but gracie wanted spring rolls and i told them annie could have my portion.  then i told them how much salmon she could put away.  i said goodbye and told sarah to just send her home after dinner.  

a bit later sarah walks up, laughing.  she confessed she thought i might be exaggerating that annie could eat that much salmon.  apparently annie proved her wrong.  steve and sarah were amazed at how much she put away.  three helpings.  she ate more than steve and polished off the rest of the fish. 

yesterday we went to maya's first birthday party.  it's been awhile since we've been to a first birthday party. it was a little cold but the rain held off for this sweet girl and the sun even came out here and there. 

 

she was really not sure about everyone singing to her and she did not like her cake!  she was darling and so fun to watch--she's so petite and cute! 

good night! 

 

mother's day weekend was fabulous

and i have a 5 pound food baby to prove it.  sigh.

i had planned on posting a photo of the little darlings that make my world go round but wouldn't you know i just deleted it off my i phone.  the only photo that was taken all day.  fantastic.  sometimes, i wish eric would say...here, let me take a photo of you and the girls.  

so now i have no picture of mother's day and no picture for my project 365.  one word comes to mind and it starts with an F. and now i am cranky so this will be quick.

had really bad stomach cramps all day after my long run.  i think i was dehydrated. had date night friday night with e.  went to bellevue. had drinks with his boss and some co workers. looked at pianos. shopped a little at the mall. had dinner at earl's. came home and sat in the living room staring at the 6 ft piano cut out taking up half the living room.  

saturday morning. worked out. intense discussion about which piano would work best in our house. watched gracie play softball. her best game ever AND no tears.  watched annie play t-ball.  she's slowly improving.  need to work on her running. picked up the house took a short rest since my tummy still hurt.  went back to bellevue, bought piano.  took grandmas to wild ginger for dinner and stopped by trophy for some cupcake love (hence the 5 lb food baby).  got the girls to bed and started season 2 of weeds.

sunday morning, showered with homemade cards and gifts from girls, and some things from daddy which included a super cute pair of sporty shoes (why is he so good at buying women's shoes?)  greasy spoon breakfast at country cafe (on  the way there gracie asked why we don't go to church on sunday anymore) ahem, whoops. after breakfast we cleaned the garage-eric took a huge load of stuff to the goodwill. he washed my car and i weeded the back yard.  ran out of room in the yard waste bin and ran out of yard waste bags.  still lots more to do, but i decided i was done for the day.  played a game of monopoly with the girls....glad i was drinking wine.  eric cooked dinner. kids to bed. more season 2 weeds and that was that.

if i had that photo, i'd insert it here. i'll just have to keep a picture of it in my memory.  we all know how good that is.

more from the files of B.S.C.

so...had a great morning even with a last minute decision to have annie stay home from preschool.  she watched cartoons while i ran on the treadmill and showered.  sweet.

things started to go awry when annie didn't get her morning socialization and by noon was crying that no one liked her because no one was home to play.  this lasted for 20 minutes.  let's say it didn't do wonders for the runny nose situation.

fast forward to gracie getting home from her half day.  

i had planned that we'd run over to sports authority to get softball shoes, make a quick stop at target and then head to gracie's school for the book fair and then her conference and then head to softball.

sometimes things don't go as planned.

first stop a little midday treat at starbucks for the girls-should not have wasted that time

second stop sports authority where we spent entirely too much time looking for the correct shoes sizes for both girls and then over to get some pants. at this point i'm like "why not throw in a softball bag, and two new bats for good measure."  except the t-ball bat annie wanted as FORTY, yes, FORTY DOLLARS.  

BUT IT WAS SPARKLY!!!!  cry, cry, cry

ok annie we'll make a quick dash to target to get you a bat.  i know they have cheap bats there. 

have i ever mentioned that quick isn't really in my girls' vocabulary?  they are slow and thoughtful-which at times i really appreciate. But, when we need to be in a hurry...let's just say it's not good and dragon lady makes her appearance. 

we grab a bat and i can't help myself but i have to grab a copy of the blind side which just added more time to our trip.

finally we're in the car and heading home.  i realize at this point that i should have grabbed gracie's mitt when we originally left the house so we could have just gone on to her school.  

we're doing so-so until we get on seattle hill road...and get behind. a. school. bus. that makes FOUR , yes FOUR stops. someone just hit me over the head right now. please?

we get home i run around getting snack together, water bottles, shirts and socks for the girls.  gracie's putting her pants on crying that they are huge...which they were.  annie's sitting on the stairs picking her nose when she should have been getting dressed. and i'm like "annie take your clothes off, gracie try on annie's pants (they were the next size down)  annie's stop picking your nose, gracie those pants really don't fit, annie can you just PUT ON YOUR SOCKS?????" 

more crying about the pants.  ok you can wear shorts or big pants. she puts on shorts.  then decides to wear the big pants, but she already has her shoes on and can't get her shorts off with them on. so she's yelling at the shoes.  (i don't know where she gets that from)

i fashion a belt out of ribbon from my scrap booking pile and tie it around her waist with the hope of keeping her pants up.  we finally get in to the car and gracie's forgotten to grab her water.  i dutifully run back into the house.

at this point i know we're not going to make it to the book fair which induces tears. shocking, i know.

i make it to the light starbuck's and 132nd when eric calls and says "where are you?"  me "on my way, you know how things go."  after i hang up i realize that it was 3:20--the time for gracie's conference.  great. late.  

we pull into the parking lot and what do my girls do?  sit there.  it was my understanding that when you pull into a parking lot and the car stops and one's in a hurry, you unbuckle your seat belt and get out in a timely manner.  

we rush in to school and have a great conference.  

we're all feeling pretty good as we head out to our cars.  eric hops in his and proceeds to drive over to my car so he can follow me to practice.  BUT on the way, as he's looking over at us, he hits a curb and totally blows his tire and messes up his rim. you have to see the irony in this as he is always on me because i've been known to run my rims into curbs...ALOT. knocking on wood as i haven't done it in the new car yet.

so we kind of stand there looking at it for a minute or two and finally he's like,  you gotta get gracie to practice and them come back and get me once the tow truck gets here.  

the girls and i head to practice- late, gracie crying that daddy isn't taking her. as i am driving i realize that i have about 15 gallons of gas left.  i've only had my car for a few weeks and so not knowing how accurate the gauge, i get a little bubble of panic in my chest.

get to the school and start walking to the field when i realize that the field COULD NOT be farther from the parking lot which did not bode well for our arrival time or my cute wedges. and the fact that i knew i'd have to make the trek back to the car so i could get eric.

we get to the field where gracie proceeds to have her melt down.  you already heard that story.

eric calls me and lets me know that i can pick him up at 5. 

i start heading to get annie off the playground to get eric and she tells me that she has to go to the potty.  poop.

if any of you read my blog last t-ball season, you'd know that EVERY time gracie had a game or practice, annie had to use the potty. 

ok, annie we're heading home first to use the potty.  when i get to the car and turn it on, i remember that i now have 13 gallons of gas left. on the way home annie tells me she sweating.  yes annie that can happen when you have to poop and your mom is making you hold on til you get home. 

we make it and then head out to get eric. by this time i have 7-9 gallons left.  thank goodness we live so close to school and that there's a gas station right next to it.  i picked up eric and  filled the tank.  

that my friends, is the bsc story of the day.

here's the irony for you... one of the reasons for taking the year off of work was to reduce the stress levels on the days i worked and had to get gracie to practice. well, i did nothing of importance today, i had all day to prepare and i STILL couldn't escape the bat shit crazy.

i'm gonna give him a BIG shot in the BUM

any excuse to say bum. she thought she was rather funny. it's a good thing she is rather funny.

 i tell you what, i'm about ready to give her a big shot in the bum, but it won't be a needle, it will be my foot.

do i need to say again how much this kid makes me laugh and makes me crazy all at the same time?

she was REALLY PISSED at me a couple of times yesterday.  i mean REALLY  pissed off.  i heard her yesterday morning slamming drawers and saying "I DON"T LIKE MOMMY."  i don't think she realized that i could hear her through our poorly insulated walls. when i brought it to her attention, she was mortified.

in one of those fits of rage she scribbled in green marker on her floor, under her bed. which means i didn't notice it until bedtime when i was picking up some of the random crap she had drug out through the course of the day.

if i hadn't been so enraged, i would have taken a picture of it. you would have been proud about how calm i was in dealing with it.

little annie went to bed without books or snuggles. she cried for FORTY minutes.  FORTY.  

i did not feel bad.  is that wrong?  ok, there was a twinge, but i am so tired of her not following directions and me not following through with threats because i don't want her to melt down.  this time it was GAME. ON.

after they were asleep, while gracie was reading her nightly book, i poured myself a glass of wine with the hope that i'd pass out an hour or so later.  the wine was total crap and i dumped it out, so then i stayed up too late surfing craft and cooking blogs. by the time i went to bed, the wind was pounding the house. i was just dozing off and eric called.  he thought i'd be up. i wasn't.

fell back asleep and not much later awoke to the sound of the blinds making a funny noise every time the wind blew.  annie had played with them earlier in the day.  

i get up and fix them and finally fall back asleep.

and then i hear annie at 1:30.  "i'm scared mama."  "just get in bed annie, but you're not sleeping in here tomorrow night cause daddy will be home."  

and the rest of the night is filled with tossing and turning and grunts and snorts.  

mama woke up decidedly NOT cheerful and promptly texted daddy

I CAN'T (insert choice swear word here) DO THIS ANYMORE

and his reply (which i was hoping to see) go find bunk beds.  our morning errands included a trip to ethan allen, underhill's and a quick perusal of the pottery barn kids website.  we'll make our decision this weekend.  

fortunately gracie does not have school tomorrow so annie is sleeping with her.  thanks for taking one for the team gracie-girl.

i self medicated my crankiness by making some simple cards this afternoon.

 7.50 for a clover craft punch i may never use again+a little creative outlet=priceless

in one of annie's funny moments yesterday, we were getting in the car and she randomly says to me 

"i LIKE boys, mama"

oh really?

"yes, i'm going to marry one some day.  how do you marry a boy mama?"

you go to college and meet a boy that has interests similar to yours and you spend time together and then he asks you to marry him and you get married after you graduate from college.

how's that for an answer?

sigh.

gracie

everett schools had a teacher work day so gracie got to stay home with me while annie went to preschool. we were both very excited to have some time together just the two of us.  we stopped at starbuck's and headed to the mall to get a valentine present for daddy and some panera for the girls for lunch.  we made a little stop at the hello kitty store just to look around and godiva of course.  i had a little gift card so we each picked two chocolates for everyone in the family.  so far, so good.  

since it just turned feb, i had one free chocolate coming to me through the godiva chocolate club thingy. 

i picked a chocolate heart that gracie wanted originally but i wasn't certain she'd like it so i steered her to another heart.  anyway, i reached in the bag to get the free heart and as i was taking a bite, realized i was eating gracie's heart not the free heart. shee-it.  i felt terrible so i went back and bought another heart. guess what...she didn't like it.  she was bummed, but i was like "how bout you eat daddy's chocolate covered oreo and i'll give him one of mine?"  

she was fine and got over it quite quickly.  i just felt bad as i was trying to make it a special morning and here i go eating her chocolate.  i'm such a cow. 

of course, on the way to the parking lot i told her that we had to pick up skylar from preschool and take her to daycare...which immediately sent her into a tailspin about sitting in the middle and how she hates it and "why didn't you bring the truck."

i was so pissed at her attitude, i was like "gracie we just had a nice morning together...is this how you want it to end?" that shut her up. 

we picked annie up and the rest of the day was fine. 

personal goals

i had my farthest run ever today. NINE MILES on the treadmill. besides my feet hurting now, it felt GREAT!

which brings us to annie

and how could there not be a story about annie.  there's always a story about annie. i can't remember if i blogged about her cutting the gum out of her hair.  i know i facebooked a post about it.  one night whie she's getting ready for bed she says to me 

"mama, i got a little bit of gum in my hair so i had to cut it out."

huh, ok.  she has so much freaking hair, i couldn't tell where she cut it.  i moved on.

fast forward to sunday. 

i went in to the toy room to help them pick up their craft area.  it's a constant trouble spot. 

i head over to annie's desk and spot something weird on the floor.  it was this.

yes folks, that's the hair she cut out AND that wasn't ALL of it. on no, there were a couple other clumps in the general vicinity. i about died laughing and i had to call eric up to see it.  annie came running and proceeded to have a huge crying fit.  she was so embarrassed, she did not want me to take a picture of it.  hence the blurry picture. i didn't have time to be the tripod when i was laughing and in a hurry. 

i think i traumatized her.  

both girls

gave me a run for my money this evening.

i opened my corona light BEFORE dinner was made. 

 it's funny how eric called on his way home and asked how the day was going.  "great!" i said. as i was on the phone, annie displayed some less then desirable behvior by throwing an apple on the counter when she discovered i had cut a piece off. 'I WANTED IT WHOLE" she screeched.  picture eric laughing on the other end of the phone.  

not funny.

i grab her arm tightly and lead her bottom to the entry and up the stairs to her room.  she's still screeching when she leans over and PUTS HER OPEN MOUTH ON MY ARM.

i seriously about shit myself.  

how old are you?

she didn't bite but the mere fact she did that enraged me to a level that you can't understand...well, if you are a parent you can...

she proceeded to have a fir in her room for the next 20 minutes.  

after i de-escalated the situation, gracie had a poo leak in her pants that was a total mess. sigh. 

i sent gracie up to wash her own bottom in the tub.

i go back to chopping up dinner. out of the corner of my eye i see annie bobbing up and down but for some reason it doesn't register.  a mere seconds later, i hear a crash.

that little turd was jumping on the couch and fell off the end and landed in a little space between the side of the couch and the entertainment hutch thingy and the little round side table. if you have been to my house you know that space is really small and she managed to land right in it. 

now if you are a nice parent your initial reaction might be to go over there and comfort her. i'm not a nice parent.  

i was torn between laughing my arse off and being totally pissed that she was jumping on the couch yet again... something i don't allow (but clearly my punishment has not been harsh enough).

first i lit into her about NOT jumping on the couch and then i comforted her and then  i laughed silently when she was pressed up against me. 

leave it to annie to do something like that. 

another good round of dinners this week. last night's rocked the house.

 spaghetti with caramelized onions and radicchio only i left out the radicchio. and i used less black pepper and less red pepper.  it was soooo yummy.  it made a lot and i thought "great, i'll have some left over for my lunch tomorrow." apparently eric really liked it because i didn't have any for lunch today.

tonight's dinner was great too.  carne asada tacos with avocado pico de gallo. 

 

and the pulled chicken sandwiches were a hit too.

annie just put herself on the couch and covered herself up with a blanket.  she's intently watching a killers concert. i hope that brandon flowers' hot voice can lull her to sleep.  a girl can dream, can't she?