Mama Mama Quite Contrary

Several posts ago, I mentioned that I was working on a felt play mat for Vivi's nursery school's silent auction.  This is an annual fundraiser for her small co-operative school and each family is responsible for submitting two donations.  They can be handmade items or things you solicit from local businesses.  Because I am a glutton for punishment  crafty gal, I decided I was going to go handmade. Big Mistake. You may recall that I said I liked doing something like this in the evening after the kiddos are in bed.  Yeah, that feeling lasted about three days. After that, this project (combined with my perfectionism) became the bane of my existence.  Nonetheless, I got the sucker finished after about 25+ hours of work.  Now let's hope it brings in more than $10 otherwise I am setting my felt collection on fire. Hell, I just might do that anyway. The finished product Have I mentioned my girls are obsessed with car washes?  That's how this one made the cut. F

Around the holidays, I discovered a wonderful organization called Donor's Choose .  Through the website, public school teachers from around the country post project ideas and anyone can donate to them.  Once a project reaches its funding goal, Donor's Choose delivers the  materials to the school and you get e-mails and photos showing you how the money was spent. What makes this organization so wonderful is that you can give as little or as much as you want and really make a difference.  Last year I gave about $80 (most of which was sitting in a paypal account from random stuff I sold on Ebay) and I was able to complete the funding of four different projects. One of these projects provided garden tools for a garden club at an elementary school in a high poverty area of California.   From Donor's Choose Besides all the good feelings you get by giving, I got an added bonus.  While we were away in California, I received a package of handwritten notes from the children in

Today is my day to wax poetic about the time I spent doing something for myself this week. Well, I've got nothing.   With all the travel and stomach viruses, I didn't have much time to think about myself.  I spent some time getting caught up on my internet pursuits which sounds far dirtier than it actually is. Somehow wasting time on the internet doesn't make me feel all sparkly and hot mama-ish.  It just makes me a hot, boring mess. Can you even be a hot mess without eye liner?

We are back from California and settling into our permanent home again.  As our first vacation as a family of five, it was fairly successful.  There were some bumps and bugs and very little sleep but overall, I am not so completely traumatized by it that we will likely consider doing it again next year.  That's the best possible outcome, I think. Nonetheless, a few things became glaringly clear to me while we were on vacation in California. Want to hear my revelations?  Sure, you do. The first is that no matter how much space you have on a plane, there is never enough room. We were very lucky to have had three rows to ourselves in the back of the plane on our trip to San Francisco but the girls somehow managed to sprawl out all over the place.  My husband and I made it through with lots of legs in the lap and elbows in the face. The second is that if one plane trip is relatively painless, the other will not be.  Our return home on Tuesday was marked by one snafu after another.  

On Sunday, the terrific Turtle twosome turned two and we celebrated by taking a family trip to California! Good Morning Birthday Girls! I'll just borrow my big sister's shoes to get gussied up for my party.  I am two after all. Ellie's pretty impressed with this "birthday" pretzel. Being two means that you get bigger bibs and glass plates (because that's all Aunt Annie had!) Smile everyone and try not to look massively jet-lagged and sleep-deprived! I love that chubby little two-year-old hand that snuck into the picture. That was delicious! Time to open some birthday books that mommy smuggled in her suitcase. Thank goodness Mama forgot to clip my nails. Breakfast for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Off to have more California adventures!

As noted in a recent post, I've been bogged down by sickness.  Not my own, of course, but by that of my family.  I am sure that I will get sick as soon as we hop on the plane for San Francisco tomorrow.  Our first family vacation since the Turtles were born is no doubt a good time for the dreaded stomach bug to come and bite me in the ass. Normally, I am not such a pessimist but given all the illness that surrounds me and our lack of decent options for school (we won no charter school lottery), I am feeling like I am living a little less on the bright side these days. Since it is Friday, it is also time to report what I have done for my me time .  Well, there isn't much to report.  I realized this morning that I have not been to the Y all week, haven't prepared one decent meal, and the last time I showered was Monday.  (The dry brushing felt great, however!)  I gross myself out sometimes. The upshot of my week was that once all the sickies were in bed, I sat down at my d

About once a year, someone in this house gets really sick. Within a day, someone else will get it. Then another person goes out of commission. Before we know it, Mama is the only one left standing.   Welcome to my week. I've been wiping goopy, pink eyes since last Friday.  I've been a walking handkerchief  for my children's boogers and sneezes.  I've force fed applesauce and pedialyte only to have it vomited up all over my floors.   I've settled babies who call out for our cleaning lady in the middle of the night because they are stuck in some sort of feverish, dream-like state.  I've made my husband tea to help soothe his laryngitis.  I've snuggled and watched more television than I ever thought possible.  And because I am participating in the Glimpse Into Motherhood Project , I documented the whole nasty week.  Ellie snuggling with Daddy on Saturday afternoon.  Never a good sign. Vivi was the first to get sick.  Here she has passed out on the couch.