Happy Thoughts

It's raining here - again. After years of severe drought conditions in Atlanta, we just finished up the second rainiest October on record. It's tough for moms and kids when all activities have to take place indoors. On top of the rain, lots of illnesses are going around these days, and I've been coughing for weeks. But I'm going to look on the bright side of things.

I once read somewhere that a good way to stay happy with your life is to write down three things each evening that made you happy during the day. So here are some of my happy thoughts from the last couple of days: 1) Watching all 3 of my kids have fun doing yoga poses from a set of cards I got them a couple of years ago. 2) Amelia Bedila books (they're really funny). 3) Making a moth costume for Mason to wear in his 2nd grade musical tomorrow without making a single trip to Target for supplies, and then getting called McGyver mom by a Facebook friend. 4) A gingerbread white chocolate latte! 5) Charlotte doing her ballet twirls all over the living room to show off her adorable skirt.

Even if your latte isn't as fancy as mine, find some things to be happy about today! It might help you forget the rain for a little while.

Reality

When I was not that much older than Mason, I knew who shot J.R. Ewing. Along with half the country, I watched Dallas on Friday nights. It seems that I have always enjoyed a good drama with a twist or 2. I was a huge fan of Beverly Hills 90210, Melrose Place, ER, and, of course, Desperate Housewives.

Reality shows, on the other hand, have never held much appeal for me. I was intrigued, though, by the Real Housewives of various cities. I've watched a few, and I'm here to say that they don't seem to match any sort of reality. How do I know? I am a real housewife of Atlanta, and it is not as glamorous as it is on TV. Last week I went on a 2nd grade field trip to the History Center, I painted an old dresser with a great paint off of the oops rack at Lowes, I grocery shopped, I raked leaves, and tried (not successfully) to keep up with the laundry. I'm not complaining, I'm simply pointing out my reality.

Mason seems to have finally caught whatever is going around, and so we'll be housebound for at least a few days this week until he feels better. That is my reality, I'll clean, do more laundry, pay bills, and take care of my sick little boy. I don't have drivers, house keepers, or professional landscapers, and that's alright. Today's latte is to find your own reality and embrace it - perhaps with an Eggnog latte, they're here for the season!

9 Years Ago Today

9 years ago today, we lived in a bubble. Jobs were everywhere and houses sold as soon as you put a "for sale" sign in the yard. 9 years ago September 11th was just another day on the calendar, and we never dreamed of paying more than $1.50 for a gallon of gas. 9 years ago the country was 3 days away from learning about recounts and hanging chads. 9 years ago our only baby was a 70 pound mutt, and Rob had never changed a diaper. 9 years ago we talked about having 3 kids someday, and we used cameras with real film.

9 years ago today we said "I do" and then we danced, and we started our adventure as a family. Happy Anniversary, Rob!

The Day After...

We survived. You may remember from last year that Halloween is not my favorite holiday, but this year it seemed to take on a life of its own, as well as most of the month of October. After not buying new costumes last year, we more than made up for it this year with numerous new holiday ensembles. The good news is that the kids had many occasions on which to wear their costumes.

Mason was Harry Potter every chance he got, Charlotte went back and forth between Silver Mist (a fairy friend of Tinkerbells), and Sharpay from High School Musical. Mary Jane has 2 Dora costumes and one of Daphne from Scooby Doo. Of course, yesterday she ended up wearing a fancy dress and some wings. Mason was not happy with her for not wearing an actual costume. I have lots of pictures, and I promise to share them soon.

Mason decided about 6 weeks ago that he and his sisters should have a Halloween party. They made a list of friends they wanted to invite and they started making plans. Who am I to stand in the way of a good party? Especially on that involves about a dozen over-excited small children in costumes on a cold and rainy day? As I said, we survived. We had help, Mason's first grade teacher made an appearance and she told scary stories to the wild 7 year old boys. Mason planned an art project that involved toilet paper tubes and pipe cleaners, but he was having too much fun to even get to it.

Here's the good news, the house is very clean, Mason entertained himself all morning making a cardboard cage for Hedwig (his stuffed owl for those of you who don't speak Harry Potter), and I didn't have to spend too much time out trick-or-treating in the rain thanks to Aunt Allie and Alex. Here's the post-Halloween latte, remember that most things in parenthood are not about the parents, they are about the kids so put up some Halloween decorations and buy a little extra candy at Target, put on a costume, and enjoy!

A loved bear...

If you know my family or if you've been reading this blog for the last year, you're sure to know all about Bunny, Mary Jane's very expensive lovey that I had to replace last fall. She still carries it with her most places that she goes. Before there was Bunny, or even Mary Jane or Charlotte, there was simply Mason and Rooty Bear. Rooty Bear was a gift from a friend in Vancouver. He arrived soon after we brought Mason home. A little red bear that has bearly been able to withstand all of the love that he has received through the years.

I once spent 40 minutes back-tracking through the streets of San Francisco when we realized that Rooty Bear had fallen out of the stroller. I actually cried when we found him. On Monday, I spent an hour doing some repair work on the poor bear. He was about to loose an arm and a leg, Mason was not happy about it. For better or worse, Rooty Bear is made of fabric, not fur. When Charlotte was about 6 months old, I realized that she had a little pair of pants that matched the fabric. I'm still cutting those pants up for patches. Mason now makes a point of leaving his bear in his bed each morning. I don't miss the bed time Rooty Bear hunts. He seems so tiny and fragile now, Mason told me that I now need to patch his face and maybe make him some new ears.

I don't know why our kids get so attached to certain objects, but if a little red bear or a $77 bunny from ebay brings some comfort to my child, than I will patch or pay to keep everyone happy. So today's latte, from a house that needs to be disinfected because we've had too much coughing and sickness here this week, is to realize that sometimes there is no substitute for a bear or a bunny or a real latte with lots of caffeine!

What do you see?

Let me start this post with a story about me and my husband. We first met as co-workers 12 years ago. Not long after we met, we went to a team building meeting and one of the activities was to look at a painting and list what we saw. I saw a clock, Rob saw anguish. It's often good that we have more than one perspective on things. We now have an abstract painting that hangs on our dining room wall. We got it at an arts festival in Denver, and the other night our kids started telling us what they saw in the painting.

Mary Jane saw a rocket, Charlotte saw a lady with "broom brush" feet, and Mason saw a gun. I don't mean that in a violent or disturbed way, he literally sees a gun in the painting. I never noticed that there is a silver outline that looks alot like a gun. Now I see it every time I look at the picture. As Rob says, he is my son. He and I have the same literal perspective on many things. We crave the same sense of order (despite my chaotic house), we both fear change, and we both remember all of the details.

My son and I are so much alike that, at times, it is hard for us to communicate effectively with one another. He is spending the night with a friend tonight, and I miss having the chance to tuck him in - stalling tactics and all. Tonight's latte (or blueberry martini as the case may be) is to pay attention to what your children see. Even if they share your perspective on most things, they might help you see something new.

This old house, again

There is a mountain of mulch in my front yard. Our neighbors had a tree taken down, and we asked for the woodchips. Be careful what you ask for! Don't get me wrong, we'll use every bit of it, but we need it in the backyard which is proving to be alot of work. Rob (with the help of my dad's old station wagon) is doing an amazing job of getting it all into the back yard. In the process of all of our new landscaping, we're adding the sandbox that we've talked about under the tree fort. Who knew that we had such a great backyard? Instead of composing an entire new latte about the joys of my house, I decided to reprint one from last November. Here it is...

Our house was built in 1954. We bought it in 2005 from the original owner. By mid-2008 we started to like it. Yes, it is a typical ranch, fixer-upper, money-pit; but it's home. When we bought the house, Charlotte & Mason were 1 and 3 and Mary Jane was on the way. I was frustrated that it wasn't our "dream house." My mother told me that most people don't buy their dream houses, they buy a house and live into it. There is some wisdom in that, maybe even a latte.

Dream houses belong to adults, not their small children. This has become Mason's dream house because he has a huge tree-fort in the backyard thanks to Uncle Lou. The girls love the fact that my bathroom has a pink toilet, tub, and sink to match the tile on the walls. For better or worse, I've actually come to like the fact that I don't need a baby monitor to hear my kids in the middle of the night. There will always be plenty of projects around here, some big and some small.

My latte is this, when you're thinking about your dream home, think about your dreams. My dream is to have a beautiful space for a Christmas tree and plenty of room for all of my family to enjoy each other and their toys, a kitchen that can be a gathering place, and a cozy room to sit and watch TV. When I look past the clutter and dust, it looks like I just might be living my dream.

Fashion Fun for Girls

It's now fall. The leaves are changing color and just waiting to be raked from our yard. They'll probably be there for a while. Here in Atlanta, the weather is finally starting to cool off a little bit. The big fashion excitement for my girls, ages 3 and 5, is that tights season has begun. They get so excited to pick out just the right combination of striped tights, a flower covered skirt, and a polka dot shirt to start the day. As the person who purchased most of these items, I can only sit back and tell them how colorful they look.

After Charlotte was born, it didn't take long for me to realize how much fun little girl clothes could be. They're much more interesting than the clothes for boys. I loved finding cute and cuddly little outfits and dresses for her to wear. Right around her 2nd birthday, something strange happened - she developed a very strong opinion about what she wore. Gone were the days when I could dress her (as I could Mason) in whatever I wanted. We started having daily battles over getting dressed each morning. I began buying more dresses to eliminate the need to mix and match. As she walked into preschool one day at a age 2 1/2, one mother commented that little girls should have buttons they could wear stating "I dressed myself today."

I've relaxed alot in the 2 years since. While I do like it if my girls manage to keep outfits to one or 2 patterns per day, it's alright if they don't. As long as they put on a jacket when it's cold, everything else is alright. My latte today is something I've said before, enjoy your child's creativity and pick your fashion battles carefully. They're just having fun with the tools that you've provided, which, in the case of my girls, is a closet full of mix and match pieces from the consignment sale at the preschool.

Playing Catch-up

First, let me apologize to my mother, sisters, and 3 other readers for the infrequency of lattes. Last spring when I talked about how great it is to volunteer and stay involved in your child's school, I forgot how crazy my life gets during the week of my 2 big volunteer commitments - wrapping paper sales at the elementary school and the consignment sale at the preschool. Both are now over with some degree of success, and, despite the fact that the girls are both sick, I'm going to try to catch my breath this week. A new latte seems like a good place to start.

Today's latte is going to be more of a few random observations which may make a full post at a later date (I welcome requests). Here goes, in no order, a few lattes to start the week:

1. Carpool line is no fun, avoid it if possible, but, as you may have heard, we had some rain in Atlanta so I put the stroller away and drove. If you must wait in line, bring some reading material because you may be waiting a while. Weather permitting, turn your car off while you sit in line. As someone who has pushed a stroller by many a line, the fumes seem unnecessary.

2. Fall cleaning and purging is just as important as it is in the spring. I have assured my husband that more stuff went out than came into the house for the consignment sale last week. That doesn't include money, my personal sales offset some of my purchases but did not cover them. But really, you should see the Talbots embroidered jeans that I got Charlotte for $7, as well as the 20 other cute things.

3. Redbook Magazine has a feature called "You know you're an adult when..." I realized today that "You know you're an adult when ...you and your spouse go on a double date with your Dad and his wife and have a great time without feeling like you're 16 again!"

4. While your adorable and sweet children inherit some great traits from you, they might get some not so great ones as well, that's ok. I am not a happy person in the morning before I get a latte. My son is miserable when he first gets up, we are a lethal combination from 6:30 till 7:45 but we're managing (I think).

5. Don't forget to live in the moment. We spend so much time planning for and worrying about the future these days, but the moments with our kids won't last. I keep telling mine to stop growing, but they don't seem to be listening.

More lattes to follow soon!

Why bother?

Tonight I fixed a new recipe for dinner. The fact that I was cooking at all is an event all its own these days. I thought it would be a kid-friendly meal, chicken triangles. Mason had fun helping me mix chicken with cream cheese and ranch dressing mix, and then we spooned the mixture onto crescent rolls to bake in triangles. None of my kids liked it, Charlotte actually gagged a little. Rob & I thought it was pretty good, but I found myself thinking "why bother?" Why did I go to the trouble of cooking a nice dinner for everyone when I ended up making toast, once again?

I guess that's not a very innovative attitude. I am constantly telling my kids to try new things (usually some sort of vegetable), and I should lead by example. Tomorrow night I'll feed the kids fish sticks while Rob & I eat leftover chicken triangles. Thursday we'll probably have spaghetti. Perhaps this weekend I'll feel motivated once again to look through cookbooks to see if I can find the next great crowd pleaser for my family, which, other than Rob, is not an easy crowd.

Today's latte is keep trying. The evening wasn't a total loss, Mason & I had 15 minutes of quality time preparing the meal, and Rob & I did like it enough to eat the leftovers.