Some Nights

I feel like I could post something ranty about how difficult it is to be a parent tonight. About how kids kind of suck, and working full time while parenting kind of sucks. About how each night feels like a sprint, and I'm not sure where the finish line is. About how my jaw has started hurting, because I've taken up clenching my teeth, I guess out of stress.

But I think it would lead to a lot of unwarranted navel-gazing. About my struggle with whether our family is truly fulfilled in this life that we have established - the go-go-go of EVERYTHING, the inability to take a deep breath, and throw schedules to the wind. I worry that I am letting the most precious years with my kids slip by in a haze of "No" and "We don't have time" and "But tomorrow is a SCHOOL DAY."

So let's not do that. Instead, let's talk about some things I'm enjoying, that I think you should enjoy too.

1) Perhaps you have hear the song "We Are Young" by fun.? Those of you that watch Glee will recognize it, at least. A great song that is currently getting plenty of radio play. But I urge you to check out fun.'s EVEN AWESOMER song "Some Nights" (ignore the somewhat cheesy video). You will not regret it, I promise. I guarantee you (and your kids) will not be able to sit still during it:

2) I just tried this recipe that I found on Pinterest, from the Kitchn, called "Roasted Eggplant Salad with Smoked Almonds and Goat Cheese." I didn't bother trying to serve it to the kids, but M. and I loved it. Not a low-cal recipe (calls for 1/3 cup of olive oil, for example - which, BTW, I reduced to less than 1/4 cup with no ill effects), but SO GOOD. Try it.

3) Yellow and Gray. My new favorite color combination. We renovated (a little) our half bathroom, painting it gray, with yellow accents (I hope to properly detail the process and outcome in its own blog post, one of these days). And I just bought this bedroom set during a Kohl's Flash Sale:

And now I'm on a "redecorating the master bedroom" kick, internet window-shopping for lamps and accent chairs and ways to refinish our crappy bedroom furniture. I'm thinking of bringing some teal in as a third color, and maybe some coral, too. Call me crazy.

4) Wine. Always helps after a long day. Too bad I don't have any in the house tonight :-(. Must fix that tomorrow.

Ghosts and Cows, But Not Ghost Cows

A few photos that I meant to post over the weekend, but didn't get around to because M. and I had a Sunday afternoon date (yay!) that involved looking at hardwood flooring samples (also yay!), during which I came down with a raging case of what turned out to be strep throat (not so yay). So I am home from work today, three doses of antibiotics into my course, and steadfastly ignoring my work computer so I can "convalesce" (aka fool around on the internet) some more. Also, I would like to publically thank M. for being such a rock star during this - he put the kids to bed last night and Sunday night, got them both up and out the door this morning, cooked dinner for everyone last night (including some "easy on the throat" invalid-type food for me), made ice cream from scratch with Finn, and picked up the entire house to get ready for the cleaning lady who came this morning - all without complaint, and all without me asking. He just KNEW all the things that needed to get done (and then some), and did them. The hottie I married in grad school is also a GREAT guy - lucky me!

Alright, on to the photos. First up, a special edition of "Breakfast for Dinner," jazzed up a bit from an idea I found on Pinterest (from here: http://www.gourmetmomonthego.com/2008/10/ghostly-pancakes.html). I pinned it to use around Halloween, but couldn't resist trying it out a little early - Ghost Pancakes!

Isn't it cute?

Lucy's Plate

Finn's Plate - can you tell he's an egg lover?

Finn doing some homework from his Jumpstart program last week:

Erasing so earnestly.

Learning to use tally marks to count.

Not to be outdone, Lucy got her own time in front of the camera:

Hiding behind her hair.

Spacey eyes.

A smile, for once.

Followed soon after by the more common camera pout.

We took the kids to a former dairy farm that was converted to a "Mooseum" that is near our house. We all enjoyed the little (free!) interactive museum, and left feeling a bit hungry for some dairy-rich food:

Milking a fake cow

Arts and crafts

Misuse of the bean bag toss game board

But so cute!

An action shot of the bean bag game being properly used.

Finally, some photos of the kids from around the grounds and the nearby playground:

  

A Dress Rehearsal for Fall

Fresh new notebooks full of blank pages.

Textbooks covered in perfectly folded paper bags.

A brand new Trapper Keeper properly adorned with a girl-appropriate photo. Like this one:

(I'm pretty sure I actually owned this exact one)

The excitement of wondering which friends would be in my classes for the year.

Picking out a new outfit to wear.

Denim. Waning sunlight. Leaves tinged with red and yellow.

A crisp edge to the air.

Oh, I love the beginning of the school year! Is that crazy? I mean, don't get me wrong, I really, REALLY like the start of summer, too. But there's just something so exciting and full of potential about the start of a school year.

So why do I have school on the brain down here, in the middle of summer, in muggy and humid Maryland, where the air is decidedly NOT crisp yet?

Because of this little big guy:

Finn's school offers a "Jumpstart" program for the Kindergarteners, and we more than happily enrolled him. For the next two weeks, he will be at the school from 8:30 until 11:30 everyday, doing some light schoolwork/activities, and meeting some of the teachers and other students. I LOVE that they offer this - not so much for the academic preparation, but for the social aspect. Finn's daycare is a good 10-15 minute drive from our neighborhood, well outside our school district. I know of only one other child in his daycare class that will be attending our elementary school - and with 5 kindergarten classes, the odds of them being in the same class are pretty low. So this will give Finn plenty of friendly faces to see on his first REAL day of school when it arrives in 5 weeks.

One day down, and he seems to be having fun. He was certainly excited about it - this shining face appeared in our bedroom at 5:58 this morning, convinced it was 7 am and time to get up:

I didn't exactly CRY when I dropped him off, though it was close. I had to walk by a few parents with my head down so they wouldn't see my watery eyes. But I figure by the end of the week (M. is on Jumpstart duty next week), I'll be a pro at the school drop off thing, and the first day of his actual Kindergarten class will be a piece of cake. Right?

The only challenging part is entertaining Finn each day once he's back home, as I balance keeping him occupied with my need to work. It was a little rough today, and I'm not terribly proud of the amount of TV I let him watch so that I could be on my computer. He's never been exactly KNOWN for his ability to entertain himself - quite the opposite, in fact. But we'll manage, I'm sure. Though I am thinking that perhaps taking the week at home with Finn that also coincides with an upswing in the, ahem, lady hormones, was not such a good idea. Live and learn.

Happy Blogday To Me!

This blog was started, as many great things are, as a result of healthy sibling rivalry. My sister, MommyEsq, was pregnant with twins, and regaling our family and friends almost daily with postings on her now pretty-much-defunct blog (which I WOULD link to, but she pretty much never posts anymore, so...). Anyway, to keep up with her and give MY family some just and deserved attention from the distant masses, I started this blog. My first post was on July 10, 2008, four years ago exactly. I typically don't remember the anniversary date until after it has passed, but tonight a fleeting thought crossed my mind as I took a post-run shower, and I thought to check. It must have been some kind of divine intervention (or a closeted savant-like skill I am just now about to discover), because today is the exact day!

When I started blogging, I didn't really know what to post about. Do I write about my kid? Do I show pictures of him? How much of our lives should I put out there on The Internet? Should I write about myself? Will people think that's narcissistic? Should I try to make it funny, or come up with something deep and meaningful?

Well, that last one was definitely out. I am not deep and meaningful.

Instead, I wrote about my hair. And 271 other things, apparently.

This blog has been invaluable to me. I am so glad I started it, and I'm even happier that I've stuck with it. I don't know or care if anyone else is reading it (OK, I care a little), because *I* read it. Every so often I go back through old posts, and I smile at the photos, I get misty eyed at my growing babies, I even laugh a bit at my own jokes. I hope, 50 years from now, I still have these posts to look back on and help me remember these fleeting moments.

Here are a few of my favorite posts, the ones I like to go back and read the most:

I love Bye-low My Baby for the way it brings back both bedtime with a young Finn, AND memories of my great-grandmother.

The Sequel, where I come clean on our secret that we were having another baby.

For Love of Fruit Flies and Olives, where I expound on the craziness of Sarah Palin, the pickiness of toddler diets, and my deep appreciation of scientific research.

We Have, which describes a moment for the baby books. If baby books included "First Poop in the Potty" as a milestone.

Both kids' birth stories: Finn's, and Lucy's.

Addiction, where I revel in little hugging bodies.

Lucy, For Now, a snapshot of Lucy at a year and a half.

Honestly, I could link to almost every post, especially any post with photos and videos. I love them ALL! Ooh, my babies are so smooshy and CUTE! And while I may not post as regularly as I once did, and I may not share all my complaints and frustrations as the kids get older, I plan to continue capturing our days - the normal ones, the special ones, even those inevitable terrible ones. For my family, for my friends, for Finn and Lucy, but mostly for me.