Passions pt 3

Ugly, unorganized bookshelf in my office. Believe it or not, I can find what I need on it. I really can.

I just hate being wrong when my husband and I have a 'discussion', but I've come to realize that maybe, just maybe.... he might be a teensy bit correct on this one issue.

This issue involving one of my passions.

You see, he has been hounding me about the sheer volume of books in our house.

"Books are not, could never be, clutter!" I tell him.

It's my mantra that I shout at him everytime he mentions clearing out the bookshelves or boxing up books.

"boxing up books! What are you crazy? Books never go in boxes in a garage!" I tell him.

Geesh, books are made for shelves. So that you can reach for them and read them whenever the mood strikes you. We can NOT get rid of any of our books. They are my friends.

This bookshelf is behind a fort 2b made- but you can still reach the books.

But, hmmmm..... maybe he is right. Darn it.

Passions pt 2

Paper airplanes zoom by my head when I am making my morning coffee.

Paper airplanes bump into my leg as I empty the dishwasher.
Paper airplanes are under the table, on the counter, on the washing machine, on the piano.

They multiply faster than fleas over here.

The joy my boys take in making airplanes, flying them, measuring the distance flown, comparing fastest planes..... it is immeasurable.

So is the use of paper.

Normally I am the kind of mom who lets my boys go crazy with art supplies. They have everything they need, all the time. They can use as much paper for cutting, drawing, painting, collaging, etc.

The paper airplane thing is testing my paper usage beliefs. Should I let them keep using paper to make more and better planes?

If they were drawing on the paper, I wouldn't mind.

But something about the endless flying crafts is getting to me.

I'm still confused what to do. The airplanes graze my head. They cover our backyard.

Am I letting them 'waste' paper, or am I letting them be creative little engineers?

Passions

Little Plum's passions:

Trucks and cars. Try taking a tiny potentially lead-painted mathbox car away from her... just try it. Here she takes the plastic tractor and pushes it back and forth, back and forth.

The piano. She screams until we sit with her and let her bang away at the keys. I've considered strapping her to a booster chair attached to a dining room table so she can sit there as long as she likes.

And... shoes.

Here she is with one of grandmama's glittery sandals.

Today

Happy birth(ing) day to my mum

Happy Birthday to me.

Today I got a very nice gift:

Look what husband got me.... the full size couch comes next month.

A real grown up couch. No scratches or stains.

yet.

It is so incredibly comfy. I can sit between my boys and read to them.

I can curl up and read to myself.

They can read and goof around.

I love it and he picked it out totally by himself.

To celebrate my birthday... I took a walk.... all by myself. Little Plum stayed home with her daddy. I love walking with her, but it is also very nice to walk by myself.

I also joined facebook. I have three "friends" and I'm still trying to figure out why people like facebook so much. I'm afraid I will figure that out soon and become highly addicted to it. Come join me over there and keep me company.

Feeding my 12 month old (and something for the grown ups too)

Little Plum has two little bottom teeth.
No more.
Just two wee little teeth.

She still nurses a lot. A lot.

I feed her the random o-shaped cereal, a bit of oatmeal, some steamed brocolli on occasion.

I'm definitely not as diligent as I was with the boys.

She gets some food, but I'm not really on top of the grinding and pureeing that I used to do.

I basically give her what is easy - avocado, for sure.
A taste of yogurt.
She's not bananas over bananas.

At her 1yr check up, we checked up on her iron levels.
She's a bit low.

It's time to ratchet up my feeding techniques.

I need to give her more quinoa, more lentils, more black beans, dark leafy greens, and... black strap molasses.

I've been doing pretty good since her birthday. It works best when I can make something for the whole family and give her bits of it.

Last night was burrito night. We had black beans, black refried beans, avocado, etc., etc. Boys made their own burritos, girl got bits of everything.
The boys loved it and little girl ate up too.

Too bad I can't do the same meal every single night.

I've got a goal. Better food for little Plum and food my boys will eat. Some meals are easy. Sometimes.... it is a major pain to think about what I am to make for lunch or dinner.
I wish I could say that I'm such an awesome mom that my boys will eat anything, but truthfully, they'd live on pasta if they could. 2B is pickier than I'd like to admit.

I've read every book about feeding kids and raising kids who will eat healthy foods. I feel like I know every trick in the book. But somehow, if grades were given out, I'd still only rate a C. These books make it sound so easy to keep your kids from being picky.

This feeding thing is one of the harder points of parenting.

I do have one spectacular salad dressing that is crowd pleasing. It is my very favorite now.

Try it, you might even become as addicted as hubby and I are...yum!

It's from Cynthia Lair's feeding the whole family.

1/4 c extra virgin olive oil
3T balsamic vinegar
2t dijon mustard
2t maple syrup
1 clove garlic
1/8 t paprika
1/4 t soy sauce or tamari

My left arm

Husband's arm is healing.

He still walks around like a bird with a broken wing,

his left arm dangling from him, slightly bent... unable to straighten it.

If you didn't know what was wrong with him, you'd think he's always had a crippled arm.

But a crippled arm is a hundred plus one times better than no arm at all.

That was the little secret he was carrying around in his head. He really thought he was going to lose his arm. It kept him up at night.

Then he told me that he just released the fear of losing is left arm. He said he had made it this far in life with two arms, and if he lost his arm....well, he'd manage.

Even though it is his dominant arm.

While he was sick, I realized how much I really count on him. He is my extra arm and there is no way I would be able to calmly rationalize his disappearance. I don't think I'd manage.

Sometimes I think he is my dominant arm.

As a mom of a baby, I do a lot with one arm. And it ain't easy.

Eating a salad with one arm? Not as easy as you'd think.

Pretty much everything is much harder when you try to do it with one arm.

Today I was holding babygirl and I was trying to turn the newspaper page with one hand. The page kept wrinkling and getting all buckled up. I just could not turn the page with one hand.

Fortunately I can set her down for the big two handed jobs. Or put her in my ergo. Those things make it easier when you just need two hands.

Sometimes two hands make life much much easier.

people who just drop by

My kids are in the backyard screaming,
"hello!"
"Hot Air balloon!!!!"
"Helloooooo!"

They are waving their arms and screaming and jumping for joy.

It's a crazy magical event.

Except for me.

I'm horrified that I haven't had time to tidy up before someone is flying over my house.

The backyard (and frontyard for that matter) is littered with:
paper airplanes,
empty boxes (from cleaning our garage),
various toy cars,
scooters,
shoes,
helmets,
empty bug catching containers,
an old newspaper that husband was reading and is now in various pieces all over the yard,
and the crowning glory... our new canopy that lasted all of two weeks before completely falling over into a giant green heap. That's what we get for buying the cheap one.

I can't start cleaning it now. They'll look down from their wine- sipping hot air journey and see the top of may head as I race around tidying things up.

"Look at that strange lady pulling weeds like crazy", they'll say to their companions.

Why didn't they call first?