Play With Me

I really, honestly, enthusiastically enjoy playing with my children. I like to play games, I love to read to them, I will roll around on the floor and wrestle forever. I will even do my best Valley Girl voice and play Barbies and Polly Pockets (although I can rarely resist the temptation for making my Barbie say borderline inappropriate things).

Crafts? Bring it! Baking? Hells yes! Play Doh? I don't even care if they mix the colors. But there is one activity that I despise with every fiber of my being, and I am ashamed to admit it: I hate the park. Katie spends her time at the park moping because she's bored, Julia spends hers yelling at me to push her on the swing or "WATCH THIS!" (which usually involves some twisty twirly move that she'll repeat 8,000 times, each time yelling "WATCH THIS!"). And Henry...Henry eats mulch and falls and climbs things he shouldn't and runs with sticks and generally drives me insane.

The kicker is, my kids love the park. Well, the little ones do. They love running and playing and going down the slide. They would happily swing for at least 5 minutes, which is a kind of record for a little kid. They don't seem to mind that it's 8,000 degrees outside and I have sweat running down the crack of my ass and despite my industrial strength deodorant, I smell like a bag of Fritos. They don't care if I am incapable of finishing a conversation with another mom because I'm running at breakneck speed across the playground to catch Henry, who's decided to hurl his small body off the highest point of the play structure.

The good thing about the park is that it is a fabulous photo opp. This morning, we met a friend of Julia's, her little brother, and her lovely mom. In between mulch eating and profuse sweating, I got a couple of great pictures.

He is so super cute, but the boy has an enormous melon. It's a planetoid!

And then I got this one:

I was backing up to get a picture of Henry going down the slide when I tripped over the end of the slide and went ass over teakettle and fell in the mud. Another reason to hate the park.

I suppose I should enjoy this time when they want to play outside. Even if it means I have to get down and dirty, too.

(I should mention that I am not ignoring my eldest child by not taking pictures of her! She is at camp this week.)

All the Single Ladies

In the aftermath of the Japan earthquakes and tsunamis, blogging about coffee at Panera and park playdates seems unbearably shallow and small.

But it's all I have. The beginning and end of my great wisdom on all matters tragic:
Love one another. Take care of your neighbor. Do what you can.

And let me tell you about my weekend.

Sean was off at his annual national sales hootenanny, sharing a room with his boss and eating hotel chicken every night for dinner. I was home getting the very faintest glimpse of life without a husband and, let me tell you, it sucked. To all you single parents, parents whose spouses travel extensively and those in the military - that shit is hard. I barely made it three days, and that was with considerable help from my mom and lots and lots and lots of coffee.

The highlight of the weekend was a fabulous birthday party for a preschool classmate of Julia's at the park on Sunday. Perfect weather, pony rides, pizza, cake, and a 4 year old little boy who dropped trou and peed next to one of the picnic tables. Things like that are always funnier when it's not your kid.

This is a face of pure joy-

Katie has had play rehearsals almost every day. It has been such an amazing experience, and opening night is just 3 days away. Lots of pictures of her in her costume coming soon. She is such a talented young lady, I am so very proud of her.


I missed my husband, the kids missed their daddy, and all is right with the world now that he's home.

Pictures, and A Penny Earned

The grandparents are visiting from Arizona and the kids are having a wonderful time with them. Today, Katie is skipping school and they are having a day of fun with both girls. Julia is calling it her "Lucky Day"! They're going to Chuck E. Cheese and maybe a movie and all sorts of other fun stuff. Tonight, G&G are taking Katie to rehearsal, so they'll get to see a good bit of her performance in Annie (which opens in two weeks, gulp!).

We went to the park on the windiest day ever. No wonder no one else was there. Henry is wouldn't stay away from the sticks, so in between freaking out and yelling "YOU'RE GOING TO POKE YOUR EYE OUT!" I took a couple of pictures.

The ladies went to the annual Mother Daughter Tea at church.

And I am loving the extra hands around the house and good company and conversation. Most of all, I am loving watching my kids spend time with their grandparents.

You may have also noticed that my blog now contains ads for (really fantastic, high quality) products and services. Actually, they change and I don't control them. I think I'm able to add ads for local companies, so if you or your company is interested in reaching my 23 (really fantastic, high quality) followers, I'll try to figure it out. I'm really counting on this blog to be my ticket to financial freedom. So far, I've earned 45 cents. I am well on my way.