Apr
9
Back to life…back to reality.
by Leslie
Oh, the Monday after Spring break. I needed a cappuccino just to face it. But McDonald’s has stopped making cappuccino for me and instead, for twenty additional calories, gave me a less tasty and only moderately satisfying latte. But you get what you get and you don’t get upset when you limit your hot caffeinated beverage options to that which can be supplied via a drive-through within ten miles of home. So, a lackluster latte. Spring Break was spectacular, however, and I will give you some reasons why.
1. No alarm clock. We only slept about half an hour later than our normal wake up time, but wow, what a difference that half hour made. Also, the not having to immediately rush to be on time felt pretty good, too. Leisure! I’m in love with it. My countdown to summer officially begins now.
2. Lunch and an afternoon of play at Lake Park. We used to go to Lake Park all the time when Julia was in preschool. It was where Dave and I ran our first 5K. We love Lake Park! I had forgotten just how much.
3. A play date with new friends who are warm and friendly and fun and inspiring. Sidenote: It seems all it takes to make me cry is a two month old baby in my house. Because my girls were two month old babies once. And I may never have a two month old baby again. But I do have some chocolate cheese in my refrigerator.
4. An Easter egg hunt with old friends – the most gorgeous women I’ve ever seen close up and their children. I have no idea how they look so good all the time. I am definitely the “one of these things” in that Not Like The Others song with that group. But I enjoy being with them too much to let it keep me away.
5. Becoming the Just Dance house champion. I totally mean to brag when I tell you no one NO ONE under my roof can beat me.
6. A day at the Akron Zoo.
7. Getting to watch some random movie that just happened to be on, from start to finish, simply because I had the time and no will to move from the couch. It was called I’m With Lucy starring Elliott from E.T. and Monica Potter, who I am pretty sure is actually Julia Roberts either cloned or perhaps time traveling from the future.
8. Making dandelion crowns and jewelry.
9. Letting Julia stay up past her bedtime to eat ice cream sandwiches and watch Toddlers and Tiaras with me.
10. Coloring Easter eggs.
I cannot explain why, but this is my favorite picture of Dave, ever.
Apr
3
Flashdancer
by Leslie
I can’t keep that kid’s arm in her shirt. This is the way she likes to wear it. And Phoebe? Well, she does what she likes. Go ahead and try to make her stop. YOU CANNOT. She’s stubborn tenacious and persistent.
She doesn’t know she’s little.
I feel lucky that all three of my daughters are pretty self-assured. I hope they stay that way. But Phoebe seems to be pulling it from an almost supernatural source, like she’s on a mission from God to climb to the top of the playset, ride toys beyond her developmental stage and refuse to wear a diaper, and she will not be dissuaded. Where my older daughters would feign rigor mortis or go boneless when they didn’t want to get in their car seat, Phoebe will climb over the seat, hop in the back and buckle herself in to a regular seat with a seatbelt. Buckle herself in with a seatbelt. Sometimes I struggle to buckle myself in with a seatbelt.
We’ve been battling a lot lately. About getting cleaned up, getting dry, getting dressed, wearing shoes, wearing clothes, combing her hair, sitting in her highchair, coming inside after a day of play, not climbing up on the top bunk, not using mommy’s grown-up toothpaste or cold cream or make up or hair spray or body spray or deodorant or, well, you get the idea. But it’s easy to forgive her for her disobedience.
She’s just so damn cute.
Mar
21
It’s been warm-enough-to-wear-shorts weather for many days in a row which means I’ve had to shave my legs. That’s not really a complaint. I feel sexier when I shave my legs and the sexier I feel, the luckier Dave gets. The luckier Dave gets, the more generous Dave feels. And when Dave is feeling generous, he says things like, “Why don’t you go ahead and get that wallet you’ve been talking about to go with your new purse?”
Three of you just rolled your eyes and said, “Is she still talking about her purse?”
Yes. Yes, I am. (And also my wallet.) Because I’m not used to this extravagance! And I’m not sure I fully expressed how much I love my purse, so I will tell you this: I love my purse so much, I bought one for my mom, too.
We’re purse pals!
And I hadn’t told you how very sweet Joan Burke – the maker of my purse – is. You see, when my purse arrived, it had a little gift with it.
And a handwritten thank you.
I immediately sent Joan a message to thank her for my perfect purse and the gorgeous rose pin she sent along. I mentioned that Julia loved the pin, too, and had already snatched it from me. And her response? “But the other little girls got nothing!” She’d seen in my profile that I had three and insisted on sending Lucy and Phoebe something, too. And so, when my mom’s purse arrived, I found another pin for me, one for my mom and a little something for each of the girls in the package.
It made them feel so special. Me, too. And I think I love my purse even more.
Disclosure statement: No one is paid me to blog about these items. I just really love and appreciate them!
Mar
19
I enjoy being a girl?
by Leslie
Lucy: “Mom, you know that part of your face above your eye?”
Me: “Your forehead?”
Lucy: “No, lower.”
Me: “Your eyebrows?”
Lucy: “No…”
Me (finally turning around in my car seat to see what the heck she’s talking about): “Oh, your eyelid?”
Lucy: “This is the part where you have to put color to be a girl.”
Me: “What!?!”
Lucy: “Girls put color there. That makes them girls.”
Me: “Where did you learn this?”
Lucy: “Mom, I just know it.”
I found this confusing and disturbing considering I am the female she spends the most time with and I rarely wear make up on my eyelids. I’m on the outs with eye shadow right now and my affair with eye liner ended months ago. Right now, I’m pretty much a mascara and lipstick chick. And that’s not even true. I’m a mascara and lip pencil/lip gloss combo gal. I wear no foundation or concealer* on my face because my skin is pretty good on its own, if you ask me, and I don’t know how to choose the right color anyway. I’d rather look natural. No make up is better than misapplied make up.
The thing is, I am not a girly girl. I don’t doll my daughters up in frilly things. I don’t get squealy about hairdos. I own a modest amount of shoes. This is why I was caught off guard when a desire for a Coach purse crept up on me. What? Why? The last purse I bought was on clearance at my local pharmacy for $4.00.
And you know about the one I bought before that, which means you also know how uncomfortable I am with spending money on myself, which means I’ll never own a Coach purse, even if the one I want is one of the least expensive as far as Coach purses go.
So, I started looking around the internet. For purses. Me! And that’s where I found my new purse.
Isn’t it beautiful? I found it in Joan Burke’s shop on Etsy. It came all the way from Ireland, where I like to believe it was made in a stone cottage at the base of waterfall at the end of a rainbow to the sound of a tin whistle. It just may be the prettiest accessory I own. And because I don’t change my purse with my outfit, it will be with me every day of my life until it falls apart. Or someone buys me that Coach purse. And then, I WILL change my purse with my outfit. I may even put on a little make up.
* In the spirit of full disclosure, I must tell you that I not only use, but am completely in love with the Garnier Skin Renew Anti-Dark Circle Eye Roller
** No one is paying me to tell you I love my purse. Or Joan Burke’s designs. Or that Coach purse.
Mar
12
In the wake of catastrophe, Julia laughs, Lucy cries and Phoebe is proud of her accomplishment.
by Leslie
One moment, they’re all splashing in the tub. The next, they’re abandoning ship like it’s sinking and on fire. Why?
Thankfully, no one actually touched the poop. Except Daddy, who cleaned it up.
(I owe you one, Dave.)
Stuff I Do
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Stuff You Should Do
You know, Stuff.
