Firetruck? Hali fears you no longer.
November 11, 2008 at 6:01 am | In The Mundane, adventures with Hali | 3 CommentsTags: firefighters, firetruck, Hali, library, storytime
Every year the library does a “firefighter” theme one week for all the kids. This year they read books about firefighters and then did a related craft.
The past two years, we lived in a larger town and there was a whole shabanga-bang at the larger county library. The firefighters came in with their gear, they talked to the kids about their jobs, fire safety, etc.
The mom’s oogled the firefighters. Seriously. It was so ridiculously obvious it was hilarious.
But each year, no matter which library, we all went outside afterwards to check out the firetruck that the firefighters brought with them. And every year Hali is too afraid/shy to approach the firetruck. The other kids are holding the hose, climbing around in the cab, checking out all the gear, etc. Not Hali. She would scream and cry until I took her back inside.
This year? She’s all grown up! Yay! It took her several minutes to warm up, but when she saw her friend getting in the truck, she decided she’d do it too.
She still wouldn’t look the fireman in the face, but baby steps, people, baby steps! We lucked out- because we were the last to leave (Hali really did take a while to warm up to it all) we watched them pull out of the library parking lot. They turned on the sirens, honked and all that as we stood there. The kids (ok, and their moms) were very excited.
When Did I Walk Into a Real Life Soap Opera?
October 28, 2008 at 3:25 pm | In The Mundane | 2 CommentsTags: drama, real life, stress
Jeremy and I hate drama. We loath it. Real life is stressful enough without adding unnecessary drama to it. We enjoy our quiet, peaceful bubble-like lives. We go to great lengths to avoid drama. More and more lately, this means avoiding a certain family member.
In addition to our aviodance of that family member, Jeremy frequently has to just not answer his phone when it rings, because there is even a woman who constantly calls him so that she can complain to Jeremy about all the drama that is going on with her friend, who happens to be Jeremy’s boss. Yes. Can you say uncomfortable?
It seems to me that there are people who are in our lives (and that is not going to change, so we deal with it) that love this stuff. They thrive off of drama. They are never happy unless there is some major drama going on. No drama? Fine. They’ll make some drama. Better yet, they are going to call you and get you involved in it too! Because they would hate to be so selfish as to not share the wealth! Hey- I’ve just stewed up a big batch of drama! I should share!
It is honestly starting to seem like a soap opera here. I feel like Jeremy and I are the narrators of some cheap poorly done drama. All around us, the people in our lives are creating all this drama for themselves and we are the commentators who just sit back and scratch our heads. And the actors in this drama will not take any direction. They’re just wandering aimlessly about.
And of course, I can’t blog about all the stuff that goes on.
*** Edit*** The hubs says it’s not a good idea, and he’s right, so no “fiction” for me.
Advice From Charli #362
September 30, 2008 at 4:16 am | In The Mundane, self awareness | 3 CommentsTags: advice, hick-ups, personal grooming, shaving
If you get the hick-ups whilst shaving in the shower? Quit shaving. Just step away from the razor and wear pants that day. My *ehem* bikini area will never be the same.
The Time Old Navy Made Me Cry
September 5, 2008 at 3:35 pm | In The Mundane, adventures with Hali, family, self awareness | 2 CommentsTags: childhood, Hali, motherhood
Somehow I signed up to have Old Navy e-mail me their store adds. I clicked on the ad this morning. It was for a sale on baby clothes. Baby clothes. For newborns all the way up through size 5T. My four year old daughter? Is a size 6 now.
I don’t even get to shop for her in the same part of the store anymore. She is firmly insisting on continually growing. My tall lanky little girl is not so little anymore. She’s always been in the highest percentile for height.
So here I am. I have a preschooler. I have a big girl. She rarely lets me refer to her as even “my baby” anymore. We are going through this whole new, take-it-to-the-next-level independent stage. She doesn’t want to hold my hand. She doesn’t want to ride in the grocery cart anymore- she wants to walk beside it. Cuddles are few and far between.
All these dang milestones. Now I am just all the more determined to enjoy this last year at home we have together. I knew she wouldn’t be my baby girl forever, and it is exciting to see her growing up, I just wish it didn’t manage to jab me in the heart every single time there is irrefutable proof that my baby girl isn’t a baby anymore.
We Have Been Spared
September 2, 2008 at 4:07 pm | In The Mundane | 1 CommentTags: hurricane, Texas
Luckily, it looks as though we have been spared. No hurricane here this time. Some wind and some rain later today and tomorrow, but that is it. Three years ago or so when Rita came through Texas, we were living in Idaho. With the exception of those few months and the first three years of my life, I have always lived in Texas. As has my husband.
I was talking to a friend who is a Utah transplant here in Texas this weekend. Having never been through a hurricane herself she was asking me about them. I realized that I didn’t know much- there hasn’t actually been one here when I’ve been in Texas. I could remember some close calls, some tropical storms and depression but that is it.
So I asked hubby if he could remember going through a hurricane. He mentioned that there was one when he was four or five he thinks. I looked it up. It looks like back in 1983 Hurricane Alicia came through our little part of Texas, though it’s more than likely was already downgraded to a tropical storm by the time she hit us.
This seems to be the case often here. I did a little research and we just always seem to be blessed. Or perhaps we are just far enough inland that we don’t usually get hit with the full force of a hurricane. Thank goodness! I hope our good fortune continues- I’m a girly girl. I. Do. Not. Rough. It.
Our Daily Time Line
August 8, 2008 at 11:10 pm | In Craftin' With Hali, Crafty, For Hali, The Mundane, adventures with Hali, paper crafts | 1 CommentTags: Hali, clock, timeline, daily schedule, paper crafts
At the beginning of the year, I posted about this, our daily clock:
A huge clock that Hali and I made to help keep her on schedule and to help her know what comes next.
When we moved a few weeks later, I decided to throw it out. I was trying to implement a few changes in our schedule anyways, so I thought we can just try something new. So, I simplified things and made a new schedule- on more of a time line than a clock format (there were mix ups with a.m. and p.m. also).
I hung this one on the wall just outside Hali’s room, just as we did with the clock. For this one, we managed to find something in various magazines to illustrate each event in Hali’s day. Not only that, but Hali truly did most of this one herself.
I helped Hali cut a few pieces of paper in half (we used my paper cutter). She glued them together. Then I pointed out approximate areas where she should write each number, and helped her with a few of the tricky ones.
Then came the fun part! We pulled out all my home decor magazines (I love home decor) and started searching for pictures to cut. Any reason for Hali to use her scissors is enough to make her a happy girl! After we had enough pictures we glued them on to the “time line” and taped it up to the wall.
This really helped me to get her moving along in the mornings (poor girl takes after me- I am NOT a morning person) and to keep her on task during the day. If she didn’t want to do something or just wasn’t not cooperating, then I would just ask her to go look at her time line so we could see what’s next. And she would run right over to it and proudly yell what it is that we do next.
After a few weeks she really didn’t even need it anymore. But when we’re having a hard time getting into gear, it’s handy to have it there in writing, or um pictures, to help motivate Hali. And her mom. We made it out of things we had around the house, so when our schedule changes in a few weeks (when we officially start preschool home school) I won’t feel bad about throwing this one out or rearranging things on it.
Does This Bow Make Me Extra Pretty?
July 21, 2008 at 4:59 pm | In The Mundane, clothing | No CommentsTags: clothing, night clothes, target, complaint
Dear Gilligan & O’Malley clothing,
Your stretchy soft comfy night shirt that I recently purchased at a Target near me is the perfect thing. I do not enjoy wearing pajamas during the summer. It’s just too dang hot. But, my heart goes out to my daughter and neighbors, who should never have to see that which should at least be covered by a bathing suit. Your sleep shirt is a great compromise. It’s comfort is unparalleled.
However, I do have two issues with it:
Upon an early(ish) morning burst of energy last week, I decided it was time to do a quick clean up in the living room. Bad idea. When I commenced to bend over, your lovely night shirt refused to stay put. No longer was it covering up my girlie bits as I believed it would. I was thus bent over at a rather unfortunate angle, with my rear end facing the uncovered window when traffic started zooming past my house.
I can only apologize to any nosey neighbors who had the great misfortune of nosily looking into my house. And to my poor daughter, who is luckily too young to understand just how disgusting that all really was.
Might I suggest adding just a few inches to the bottom, so that it maybe reaches my knees?
My other beef is, well, this:
Why the tiny bow? Does the bow make this night shirt so wildly sexy that I should not be showing it on the internet without special licensing? I do not understand the bow. I consider myself to be something of a girlie-girl. But this has me stumped. I asked my husband if he found me more appealing with the tiny bow on my nightgown. Considering he didn’t even look away from the tv to answer me, I am guessing NO. It doesn’t make me feel prettier, either.
Rest assured, my handy tiny sewing scissors did a wonderful job of rendering me bow-free. Sorry if you feel I have desecrated your garment. I promise, worse has happened to your night shirts.
Our Daily Clock
January 9, 2008 at 7:51 am | In Craftin' With Hali, Crafty, For Hali, The Mundane, paper crafts | 2 CommentsA few months ago we were really struggling to get back into the routine of things. Our days just didn’t go as smoothly as they normally should. This seems to happen to us after the holidays and also the end of August/beginning of September.
It is so important for toddlers (and their moms) to know what is next. Most of our toddlers, smart as they may be, can’t read or tell time yet. So, I found this general idea somewhere (???) and with a few changes, made it into our very own giant daily clock.
This is on the wall just outside my daughter’s room, and it is about a two and a half feet diameter circle. Using a couple pencils and some string (a homemade large protractor), I drew a big circle on some brown shipping/craft paper that I picked up for a dollar at the local dollar store.
We cut it out, then drew in the numbers around the circumference of it, just like a real clock. I picked out a few images from Microsoft Word’s clip-art (you can find tons of cute things all over the internet, though) and printed those up. My daughter colored them, then cut them out with some craft scissors. We used some zig-zag ones that were handy, put you can use any kind of scissors.
We talked about each picture and what it represented as we colored and cut. Then, we layed the pieces out where they belonged on the “clock” and what time each activity would approximately occur. Hali glued each piece down to the paper. At this point you could even add some “hands” to your clock for extra fun- maybe even some that move so that your child can move them to each activity as the day progresses.
Just to give you an idea of what we have put on our clock:
tv time, breakfast, get dressed, brush teeth and hair, play time, snack, reading time, lunch, chore time, dinner, bath time, etc.
Hali loves to go and point out what time is next in our day when I ask her what we should do next. It helps her get moving during times when she is dragging a little bit, too.
Wonderfully Weird
March 12, 2007 at 2:18 pm | In The Mundane, self awareness | No CommentsTags: burp, cross eyed, splits, webbed toes, weird
We all have these wonderfully weird things that we are good at. Something that we excel in. It sets us apart from the rest and makes us truly weird. I suppose I have a few, nothing that is really brag worthy in comparison to many of you out there, but still! I am going to share in hopes that you too will admit your weirdness to me!
I can do the splits! Yes, that is right. This may not seem odd to you, but have you seen how big I am? Yes, I am right there borderline overweight/obese. Yet upon a challenge from my sister a year or so ago, I rediscovered that I can indeed still to the splits. My poor little sister was aghast that her fat old sister could do them better than she and quickly improved her own. Now that’s motivation! Oh, and yes, Jeremy is a lucky, lucky man- as you will continue to see.
I can burp on demand. It’s not a truly fabulous burp like I am capable of after a soda, but I can burp whenever I desire. Now if only I could fart on demand, we could be worried about what sex I was…
I can cross one eye and look straight foward at you with the other. One eye is crossed, the other is not. It is freaky.
This isn’t a talent, but it is truly odd: I have webbed toes. My mom says to thank her brother because he also has them. Now, before you look for the nearest toilet/barf bag/garbage please be aware that not all of them are webbed- just two on each foot. And only partially. It’s not the entire thing. They aren’t all scaly, Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire looking (you know, when he eats gillyweed in the second task?)! The skin is just not fully separated between a portion of two of them.
My husband never even noticed when we were dating until I pointed them out- and we dated during the summer. The one time I got a pedicure, the guy sooo teased me about not being able to get the little cute toe things between them. Ya. That was the only time I ever went to get a pedicure. I do it myself sans the comments from the peanut gallery, thanks.
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