girlymama

to my dear internets

Thank you for all of your encouraging words and wishes yesterday! Yes, I did cry and yes, I think it did help :-) 

Grace and I are feeling much better today - her fever is gone and she seems to be fine. Now its just a matter of getting rid of all the energy she stored up while she was sick, since she is now positively bouncing off the walls. And I finally had a decent nights sleep last night, so the world is looking rosy. Amazing how sleep can do that for a mom.

We also figured out why the stupid washing machine overflowed. It was a problem with the garbage disposal. I bet that was totally obvious to all of you, but it took us as semi-new homeowners by surprise. Because naturally when your washing machine has a problem, you should immediately check the garbage disposal. I don't know why we didn't see that problem right away. If it had been any more obvious, it would have hit us on the head. Gah! 
Sarcasm aside, problem solved. I meant to take some pictures of the chaos to entertain you all with but I forgot. What with the gallons of water gushing all over the place and you do not even want to know what gushed out during the fixing of the garbage disposal.  Lets just say I am doing a lot of cleaning today and Husband and I had to change our clothes.
There are definate benefits to being married to an engineer who is able to fix stuff.

one of "those days"

Gracie and I are both sick :-( Poor thing crawled into our bed at 2:30am and was positively on fire she was so warm... and of course when I went to get her some medicine I discovered that ALL of our kid Tylenol and Advil was waaayyy expired.  So - despite being sick - we are went to the store to restock our medicine container, which cost approximately $300, since just about everything else in there was expired too.

Then the washing machine overflowed. As in a waterfall flowing down the wall and all over the floor.   Did you ever wonder how much water is in a washing machine? Approximately as much water as your average dolphin tank. Holy moly. Water. Everywhere. And now we have the big mystery. How on earth did it happen?

I'm really hoping that today will take an upturn. Quite soon. Before I cry.

one of those dreaded questions and a nice rant

"Mommy, how does that baby get out of your belly?"

"Um... the doctor does it."

"But how?"

"Um.. I push the baby out and the doctor helps me."

"Oh! Okay. Neat."
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This morning we are off to the girls' school for parent-teacher conferences. I always get really nervous before stuff like this. Performance anxiety or something, I guess. I hope it goes well - its always fascinating to hear about what your kids are like when you are not around.
I'm a little concerned about Grace, who doesn't seem to know her letters very well and cannot write her name at all. (Ellie could at this age. And, yes, I know I'm not supposed to compare them.)  She's so stinking independent too - she won't let me help her and she won't trace her name because she wants to do it all by herself. So I'm not sure how I can teach her. Maybe her teacher has some ideas.
Speaking on schooling, we're sending Ellie to public school next year. And if one more person looks surprised and says something like, "Wow! Really? You're going to give that a try?" I may have to hit them. We are in one of the best school districts in the entire freaking country. (Seriously!) I hardly think we are risking her future by not homeschooling or sending her to the private school down the street that costs $15,000 a year.
Sheesh.

I heart the 90s....

Did you hear what boy band is staging a big comeback? Have you? HAVE YOU?

They even restarted their website. Did you know that they even had a website? I thought they were around before the Internet was even invented.  And, really, shouldn't they change their name now? They're not exactly "new kids" anymore.

Seriously, just try and look at that picture in the article and not snicker. And remember which of those hunky hunks was on the huge poster on your bedroom wall.

link love

WantNot.net - love this site!! - has this post about how much money to spend on groceries. And it has a great link to an article in the Wall Street Journal about buying organic - what's worth it and what's not. I know that's something I'm always internally debating. (Although, being pregnant, my internal debates are more like "organic cheetos or regular cheetos? Humm....")
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I really, really hope that Starbucks really does this! Wouldn't that be awesome!?!??! $1 coffee with free refills at Starbucks? I may never drink water (or sleep) again!!!
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And I think we can all relate to this post by Mir at Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda.

yeah. right.

This morning I came downstairs after serving the kids breakfast. (I had run upstairs to take a shower.) 

I came downstairs - hearing lots and lots of giggles - and there was muffins/muffin crumbs from one end of the dining room to the other.
"WHAT HAPPENED?!?!?"
"We were just eating our muffins, Mama! At the table!"
"Why are there muffins all over the place?" (through clenched teeth)
"We don't know."

Clearly, they think I was born yesterday. And, may I remind you that I am pregnant with a boy?!? Oh, its only going to get better! For you all, I mean.

gourmet fridays: red ribs

Now I haven't actually tried this yet, but these Asian-inspired ribs sound really good. I've never made ribs before, but my MIL bought me some at Sam's because they were super cheap. Let's see how it goes!

Red Ribs
serves 2 (so I'm doubling this)

2 pounds pork lion ribs or country-style pork spareribs, cut into 3-4 rib pieces
1/4 cup ketchup
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tbsp freshly grated ginger

Arrange pork ribs in the slow cooker. Combine the ketchup, soy sauce, lemon juice, honey, brown sugar, garlic and ginger in a small bowl and mix until smooth; spoon over the ribs. If you have a round cooker, stack the ribs with the sauce in between.  Cover and cook on LOW for 7 to 9 hours, until the meat is tender and starts to separate from the bone. Serve immediately.

perspective

I'm continually shocked at how much my own attitude and outlook on life has an effect on my entire family. If Mama's in a bad mood, then everyone is. And I am also shocked at how often my mood depends on my perspective on life. Its kind-of like the age-old saying about the glass being half-empty or half-full... how I am seeing that glass can seep into every area of my life.

Am I being thankful that God provides for all of my needs or am I grumpily focusing on that which I don't have? (Most of which would definitely qualify as a "want" not a need!) Am I beating myself up over what I didn't get done or am I proud of what I was able to accomplish? Am I pleased with the progress my kids are making or am I frustrated that they are not perfect? (Like I am. Ahem.) Its all about my perspective.

I can  be resentful that Husband's job involves long hours and travel.
or
I can be thankful that he is finally in a job he enjoys and has a boss who encourages everyone to put family first.

I can complain about being uncomfortable, unable to sleep and fat. And uncomfortable.
or
I can remind myself that every little kick (and huge thump) is a sign that my baby is growing and healthy. I can enjoy this pregnancy, remembering when I thought I may not be able to have more kids. And eat ice cream when I want to, since when am I going to get to do that again without feeling guilty?

I can browse real estate listings that I can't afford and whine about every little thing that annoys me about our house.
or
I can remember why we bought it. How it was so much better than what we thought we would find. And drive by our old house and wonder how we all fit inside.

I can beat myself up about being unable to do everything I want to. About how I'm not sewing as much as I want for Eliza Grace or working on the house enough. Or thinking I'm a slacker because things are messy.
or
I can accept that I need to take it easy right now. And that I can't do everything. Why is that so hard to grasp?

what to do?

Tomorrow both girls are in school for three hours in the morning.

And I am determined to do something for myself. I need a kid-free break this week.

But I don't know what to do with myself! Clearly, an obvious answer would be "go to the spa and get a massage and a pedicure" - which would be awesome - except I do not have $200 to spare so I need something a tad cheaper. I suppose I could sleep. But that's kind-of boring.

Any ideas?

*****update
I ended up running to the grocery store (not relaxing) but then I came home, took a long hot bath, gave myself a mani and pedi, read my book and drank lots of coffee. Very nice. I did decide, though, that I am no longer able to give myself a nice pedicure. Seeing as it is rather uncomfortable to reach my feet now. Guess I'll have to go to the spa. Darn.

pardon me, little snob.

"Its not a craft, Mom. Its ART."

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And another quote:
"Mommy, only Mommies and Ellies have Gracies. I don't have a Gracie. Because I am Gracie."
"Wow - you must be lucky!"
"Yeah. I am."