Adjusting to Kindergarten

The most depressing thing came in the mail today! Not a bill -- a BUS pass with my little baby's name on it! How is it possible that a big, yellow school bus thinks it's going to come to my house next week and whisk my precious, little baby off to school? (Isn't she the sweetest? That's her at this year's Laura Ingalls Wilder Day at the Genesee Country Village.) It's going to be an adjustment -- I hope I'm mature enough to handle it! ;) I'm taking the day off of work so that I can get her on the bus (with her older sister!) in the morning, cry my eyes out, and then get her off the bus at lunch time -- it's going to be a busy day! Wish us luck! (I'm sure she'll do great!)

Chalkboard Art

I have had this blank space in my living room that I just could not fill. At one point, our treadmill was there – not pretty. That moved downstairs. I have large portraits of my girls that are on one of the walls in there, I have a beautiful stained glass mirror that my aunt made us for a wedding gift, and a wrought iron wall hanging. A couple of weeks ago, right around the time that I spruced up my daughters’ old dresser, I thought of finding a chalkboard to hang above the dresser in the living room. I found a great one at (my favorite!) Hobby Lobby for only $12! I refrained from spending $9 on the pretty chalkboard markers (maybe Santa will bring those to me for Christmas!). I have been collecting some quotes and have been writing a quote or a message on the chalkboard to fit whatever is going on in our home. We just went to the Genesee Country Village for Laura Ingalls Wilder Day last weekend, so we still have “Home is the nicest word there is” – Laura Ingalls Wilder up there. When we got home from Niagara Falls, I quickly jotted, “Home again, home again, jiggity-jig” which is from a nursery rhyme. The week that the final Harry Potter movie came out in theaters, I wrote, “It is our choices…that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.” – J.K. Rowling (spoken by Albus Dumbledore). This is an inexpensive piece of “art” for the home – I plan on sprucing my chalkboard up with some thicker molding and some decorative paper (I’ll be sure to take pictures!). But regardless of how fancy it is, I plan to have it always changing to reflect what is going on in our lives, and to hopefully entertain and inspire my girls. So far they are getting as much of a kick out of it as Mommy is! ;)

A Few of My Favorite Things...

I have a bunch of little things that I have been meaning to jot down so that I don’t forget them later in life – I thought I would just list some from time to time! These are cute things that my kids do or say or other things that touch my heart in general.

- Going to Wendy’s with my 5-year-old and hearing her genuine surprise and delight when she finds a pickle in her burger and she says, “Oh! I got a prize!” So sweet, and so easy to please!

- My 10-year-old who still does “jazz hands” when her sleep is disturbed (usually by a mother’s kiss on the forehead), just like she did as a baby. I hope that someday when she is married, her spouse finds that as endearing as her mother does!

- My husband always saying, “I love you” before hanging up the phone with me, whether it’s a long conversation or he’s calling from the grocery store to ask about the shopping list! I'm always thankful for that!

- Sitting curled up on the couch after a long day, with everything picked up and my family sleeping peacefully upstairs. I always have a night watchman / “Mother Protector” feeling.

- Getting ready for a vacation and watching my girls decide what they can and can’t live without for a few days – seeing them try to make such difficult decisions as, “Should I bring the stuffed cow or the stuffed dog?” (And usually deciding – both!) is really sweet!

- Driving home from work in the summer and seeing the older men out by the town hall, playing horseshoes -- I love to hear the sound and see them in the shade of the trees, playing and having fun. It gives me a warm, small town feeling.

- The fact that my youngest thinks "Little House on the Prairie" is called "Little House on the Pringles" - I'm sure it has more to do with the prairie and their last name being Ingalls, and not much to do with the potato chips in a can... It always makes me smile!

- Getting to watch my girls and see the relationship they have as sisters -- they can bicker over Polly Pockets and Barbies, and then be snuggling together telling each other how much they love them. I frequently remind them that they will always have each other and they need to always try to be kind to each other and love each other.

Reflecting at 40 / Capturing Family History

I celebrated my 40th birthday recently, with nearly a week’s vacation from work, a wonderful visit with my mom and some of our out-of-town family, an overnight trip to Niagara Falls with my husband and the kids, and a party (that I threw for myself, natch! ;) with family and a few friends. I’m feeling pretty blessed to have been able to ring in my 40th with so many of my loved ones around me, from my little 5-year-old to my nearly 90-year-old grandmother. It was wonderful to be able to spend time with aunts, uncles, cousins, and of course my mom, who now lives out of state. When everyone gathered for cake, I grabbed my camera and went around and had my picture taken with nearly everyone there! I was raised in a Kodak family – nearly my whole family (as well as myself for a time!) was employed by Kodak – so we take our picture-taking seriously! In preparation for the party, my girls and I had a great time going through old pictures and putting together two picture boards for the party.

My husband and girls bought me a new digital video camera for my birthday, which I just love! My mother bought us a Sony video camera when I was pregnant with my eldest daughter, and it’s served us well these past 10 years, but technology has changed so much – this new Sony is so small that I can fit it in my purse so that I always have it on hand to capture anything at any time! And, with the digital camera, I can e-mail little clips to out-of-town family so they can share in the kids’ special moments.

Another very special gift that I received was from my Uncle Dave and Aunt Charlene – my dad’s younger brother and his wife. Uncle Dave is our family historian, and he has album upon album of family pictures, along with videos, family trees – you name it! He has been having some health problems lately, and they made the drive out for the party but couldn’t stay long. We had chatted during the party and then on his way out he took me aside to give me my gift. He handed me a gift bag and said, “You need to know where you come from to know where you are going” and in the bag was a family tree dating back to the 1600’s (!) along with something I’ll cherish for a lifetime. He had made copies of cd’s with my grandfather (who is no longer with us) talking about his life, and another cd of my grandmother telling her own stories. This touched me so much that I started crying – what a truly special gift to have for myself and for my girls and their children.

Several years ago my mother had old 8MM home movies from her childhood put onto a dvd and she gave me a copy. Having those videos of my grandparents, who have been gone since the 1980’s, is a treasure that I can’t even put into words. To be able to add to that the cd’s of my other grandparents talking about their lives – truly priceless.

Often in families, stories get passed down verbally from one generation to another. Sometimes these stories are forgotten, or details are lost in translation. I have not been one to sit down and put together a family tree – I am lucky to have family members who have done that – but I am trying make a concerted effort to write info on the backs of photos so that I am not the only one who knows who is in the picture or where and when it was taken. My uncle also emphasizes the importance of tape recording or video-taping family members telling their own stories – it is invaluable for future generations and for people interested in tracing their family history.

So, at 40, I’m reflecting where I’ve been, appreciating where I am now and the people I’m with, and looking forward to what lies ahead.

Mom's "Spa Night" - L'Bri Skin Care Party!

I have been absolutely on overload for the past week or so, between a million projects at work and a million projects at home! We have family coming to visit this week, my 5-year-old's "friend" birthday party tomorrow, a trip to Niagara Falls with family next week, and my 40th birthday party also next week. I've used this as a personal deadline to get a bunch of household projects done, which is my own choice, but has naturally added to my current stress level. One of my dear friends has recently started her own business as a L'Bri Pure n' Natural consultant, and I've been promising her since she started that I would host a party. Why not throw that into the mix right now, I thought! Well, all of the racing around to get ready was WELL worth it!

It turned out to be just 3 friends from work who joined me for what I advertised as a "Pamper Yourself" party. Myself and 2 of my friends are moms, and my other friend is a mom-to-be, expecting her first child in November. We had a GREAT time! It was just what we all needed to relax toward the end of a stressful week! I tried to help set the tone for a spa-like atmosphere by having soothing music playing. We set up in the dining room and for a centerpiece, again, I thought spa, so I placed a framed mirror on the center of the table (one that used to hang on the wall), and I went around the house and gathered up all of the ivory candles (but any color would work!) I could find. I placed those on the mirror and then lit them -- what an elegant, quick display! My friend Kristin, the L'Bri consultant, came over a little early and set up a table with all of her products. She had asked me if she could use my crockpot for the presentation, and she took a bunch of white washcloths, wet them, and put them in the crockpot to warm them up (again, going with the spa theme). The girls showed up and Kristin began her presentation, giving us mirrors to use to look at our skin, and bowls of water to help with wetting our hands and faces. She let each of us try an appropriate cleanser to clean the make-up off of our faces, and handed each of us a warm, wet washcloth to pat our faces with. SO soothing! Let me tell you, I think a few of us are planning to relocate the crockpot to the bathroom!!

Kristin let us test different products -- we tried a facial peel which exfoliated our skin, and some of us tried the Facial Masque which was fun because we sat around feeling like our faces might crack -- there were some laughs... But the results were amazing! We were all thrilled with the products and even more thrilled with how wonderful our skin felt (mine still feels great today!). But most of all, it was great fun to have a night just for the moms to relax and pamper ourselves. If you are near enough to contact Kristin to host your own show, I highly recommend it! And if not, I would definitely encourage you to put together your own spa night for yourself and your girlfriends! As moms, we are always taking care of the kids and the family -- it's a well-deserved (and sometimes overdue) treat to take care of ourselves!