Field Trip on the Farm

Julia has had a ton of field trips this year. In fact, I think that there were a tad too many for my taste, but she didn't complain, so it's been good I guess. The last field trip of the year was to this farm that is located in the middle of suburbia. It's kind of funny actually, there is this farm situated in the middle of all of these subdivisions and schoolkids all over the area come to "experience" farm life. Complete with the constant reminders to use the purell after touching the animals. I think it all is kind of comical, growing up on a farm myself and going to school in a more rural area. The experience is in no way the same as what I experienced as a kid. I am pretty sure that I washed my hands when they were covered in dirt, but not because I touched a cat, horse or chicken. We have been to this farm before and Julia doesn't really like it. She is a city girl. She doesn't like the "smell" or the animals. I actually had to make her ride the horse. Perhaps she was being a primadonna, seeing as she has her "own" horse and doesn't need to ride a community horse. Who knows?

All she wanted to do was play on the playground they have there. She loved the merry go round. I am sure if you ask her what her favorite part of the farm was, she'd tell you that she loved playing with her friends

Julia's Four and a Half Birthday!

Julia has been very aware of her age this past year. At preschool, when kids celebrate a birthday, she always asks who is 5, who is 4 1/2 and who is still 4. Well, Julia is one of the youngest in the class, so she has been constantly asking when she'd be 4 1/2. She even asked if she could celebrate her 4 1/2 birthday. I told her that we'd make some cookies and she could share them with her neighborhood friends on her 4 1/2 birthday. Anyway, it was meant to appease her and show her that she was finally 4 1/2. Kurt was not too happy about us celebrating a half birthday. I don't intend on doing it every year, just this one....since it was such a big deal at school.

Now that she's 4 1/2, she wants to know when and what we're going to do for her 5th birthday. It kills me.

Crazy Week.

So if you're living under a rock, you haven't heard of the swine flu yet. For the past few weeks, it has been all over the news with maps of which states have been hit and how many confirmed cases there have been. There have been several deaths, but for the most part I think that it was a slow news week. Well, when the media hypes something, people get nervous. They thought that a high school student had contracted the virus and they in turn closed the schools for 2 days this week. They cleaned and disinfected things, but still - it was a little nuts. I had to call my mom (who is a nurse) to make sure that I wasn't under-reacting. I just made sure that the kids washed their hands a little more vigilantly. Anyway...the closure of the schools made the dress rehearsal of Julia's dance recital a little crazy, but things worked out and we're hoping that all goes well for the big event this Friday. I am pretty excited to see my little girl dancing. I just hope she dances and doesn't cry like she did at rehearsal. It was a little overwhelming for her. She did look cute though.

Due to the relocation of Sunday's dress rehearsal, there is a run thru tonight of the recital. I want Julia to go to get a feel for the place, so she doesn't lose it on Friday night. But tonight is also the first night of soccer for Julia. She can't miss the first day of soccer and Kurt is a coach, so it will be interesting. Did I mention that neither I or Kurt have ever played soccer in our lives? Again, should be interesting. So, our plan today is to go to the run through, hope she goes before we have to leave for soccer and then go to soccer and then come back for the rest of the run through. Ahh, is this what happens when the kids get older? She's 4. God help us. Somewhere in there, we have to eat dinner.

Anyway...looking forward to the evening when it is all over and we've checked that box.

Spring has Sprung!

We have been getting tons of rain and a few nice warm days over here. As a result, the flowers and trees are in bloom finally and it is so great. It really puts a smile on my face to see all the bulbs I planted in the fall come up and see it all filled in nicely. I can't wait to see what else comes up in the next few weeks. I have a few things I'd like to do to our landscaping this spring, we shall see if I get around to it now or it happens in the fall. Regardless...I am just so happy spring is finally here and the relaxing days of summer are just around the corner.

Here are my little green thumbs in training...they are good about helping me pick leaves out of the beds and spotting weeds. Jimmy is good about picking up (and throwing) rocks.

If he wasn't so cute....

Jimmy has been a handful lately. He's been a little you know what. Kurt got a taste of how things have been this past week this weekend, so it's not just me. Anyway, he basically doesn't listen and whines a ton if something isn't the exact way he wants it to be. Anyway, the only thing that is keeping him alive is that he is so adorable. Really. I don't think I could possibly produce a more beautiful child...which is why I am done. He has the greatest smile and cutest voice. He just has the funniest stuff to say.

• I was drinking a Diet Coke and he asked me what I was drinking...I told him "Diet Coke." Jimmy then held up his sippy cup and proclaimed "Diet Juice!"
• The other day he was sitting quietly in his room. I thought for sure something awful was going on, but he was sitting there reading 2 religious books (the only 2 in there of about 100) and he told me he was reading about God and that Jesus loves him.
• After his nap lately he wants to sit on the couch and just sort of wake up, but he does it like a little man, he kicks back with his back on the pillows and crosses his leg over his knee and just looks like he's done it for years. I am waiting for him to yell..."Kate, bring me a beer!"
• He also has also been using the statement "I Hate...." lately. I don't like it, but if only you could hear his little voice saying "I hate lotion!" You would crack up.

I Went to the Prom!

My moms group sponsors an event called the Mom Prom. It's held at our church, we have a DJ and it's BYOB. The best part is that it's girls only, so tons of fun, mostly dancing to some great tunes from our youth. This is the 4th year that we've done it. The first year it was just a small group of us that dressed up for fun and went out to eat and then dancing. So many people stopped us and asked us what we were doing and said it looked like fun. One of our friends thought that this would be something that others would like to do, why not make it a full fledged prom and see if we could raise money for a local charity. Well, it has evolved into a pretty big deal and we raised alot of money in ticket sales for St. Vincent de Paul and a local women's shelter.

I did not keep any of my prom dresses from high school...although there were some real nice ones in there, not that I would be able to squeeze into them. I kept a handful of bridesmaid dresses for I don't know what. The first year we had Mom Prom, I wore a dress that i wore in my friend Nikki's wedding. It's actually a cute dress. Last year I really wanted a southern belle dress and found a pretty sweet looking one on eBay. This year I wanted a more glamorous, screaming late 80s, early 90s dress. I think I outdid myself with my eBay find. I was able to accessorize it with gloves I wore in my friend Jennie's wedding and jewelry I wore in my friend Erin's wedding, both from 1999. My hair was a creation all in it's own. I haven't seen that much height since the 90s.
Ellen also found a dress on eBay and accessorized it with a few pieces from my vast collection of jewels. These were featured on myself in 1994, also worn with a black and white dress, that at the time I thought was "elegant" - it involved a short sweeping train. Such class.

The fun part about Mom Prom is going with your girlfriends. I am also lucky to call my neighbors friends. Here we are posing for the husbands & kiddos before we go off to the prom. Debbie (3rd from left) is wearing the dress I wore in my friend Jennie's wedding. Such a beauty. Cheryl (4th from left) is wearing one of our other friend's dresses. She described it as the dress that "most looked like a tablecloth" due to it's jacquard fabric.

We all headed to eat at an Italian Restaurant before. We got a couple of stares and I think that our waiter was a little flustered by us. I am not sure if it was because we were all so beautiful or if he thought we looked ridiculous and he'd never do such a thing as this in all of his 23 years. Regardless, it was fun and we had a nice time. Much like the proms of our past, but with legal alcohol and minus the teen angst.

Once we got to the Prom, we got a table and about 10 of us gathered around and scoped out the situation. There were lots of dresses, some of which we had seen or had worn at one point in our youth. There were a few nice looking dresses that didn't qualify as hideous in my book. They actually looked nice. Anyway, I think part of the fun is making it a little silly...so I will continue to do so. Here I am showing off how glamorous I am with my Cosmo, gloves and bracelet in the church gym.

Amy, Cherie & Lisa

These lovely ladies met us at the prom. They are some of my friends from my PreMom, Single days. Amy is wearing my dress from last year...it's quite a look. Cherie is wearing Cheryl's dress from last year that she also found on eBay and Lisa is wearing her original prom dress from 1991. They are looking pretty darn fancy.

But as I was dancing and just having a blast, I looked around the room and saw so many of my friends. It really hit me as I looked around. I have some pretty great friends...

• My moms group friends - are so critical to my sanity as a mom and have helped me really have a connection to our church community and our little suburb. These are the women I can just sit and talk about nothing with and just crack up. Not only do we share our faith in God, but we share the fact that we are stay at home moms and it's a hard job. So many think that it is easier than it is...but it's not. I need these women in my life...if for nothing more than that they get my life.
• My neighborhood friends. We couldn't have picked a better depreciating neighborhood to throw money at. Regardless of plummeting home values, i look out my door (front and back) and know that I have some great people to count on (and their husbands are great too). They are all like family. We break bread, share bottles of wine, boxes of mac & cheese, jewelry, chairs, whatever. We yell at each other's kids. It's like a commune, but no hippy clothes and I shave daily.
• My OLD Friends. Cherie & Amy. When I say OLD, I mean it in the fact that we go back 9 years (but they are older than me, by less than a year, but still, older). I actually met Kurt on a night out with Amy. Had she not been chatting it up with some other guy when I walked into the bar, I probably wouldn't have gone up to get a drink on my own at the bar, thus running into a guy that thought I was just about it. Something I really needed at that point in my life...who would have thought that i'd marry him! Today, Amy & I have the pleasure of being married to hard core Tiger Fans and have attended our share of games. Amy introduced me to Cherie (her high school friend) and we became roommates. We had some good times at that apartment, a memorable home party, TV nights, a non-existent 3rd roommate, followed by an awful 3rd roommate who wasn't shy when it came to time with her boyfriend. She met her husband through Kurt & I. We still do tons of stuff together with our kids, but recognize that it's fun to do stuff without them too.

Friends come and go in our lives, but really it's these relationships that sustain us. Even if you're not particularly close at that moment, what you had at one point helped you be who you are today. You never know when you meet someone what kind of impact they will have on your life. I looked at all of these girls and thought about how choices you make in life lead you down a certain path. I am so glad I chose a path with so many friends. I can't imagine my life without these fantastic ladies!

I am Such a Morning Person!

Anyone that just read that title, knows either someone has hacked onto my blog or I have totally changed personalities. I am SOOOOOOOOOO Not a morning person. I loathe getting out of bed every morning. I hate moving out of the soft, warm sheets. I hate interrupting my dreams. I have very vivid dreams most nights. It's like my own movies....every night. I actually look forward to it. Having to get out of bed puts an end to the show and forces me to attack the day. Now, when I say attack the day, i mean get out bed and make coffee. Seeing as how it is 2009, one would think that I would just set the timer on the coffee pot to have the coffee ready for when i meander downstairs...but I rarely do it. Why? Because if I set the coffee pot, then i won't get out of bed to get Kurt's coffee ready and I will sleep away the morning (or until the kids wake up). If I am forced to make coffee and put Kurt's lunch together, I will be awake enough in 10 minutes to function. I know, it's sort of crazy logic.

Lately, Julia has been waking up with Kurt. Kurt has known me a little longer than Julia and knows how to talk to me in the morning....in short bursts of repetitive sentences spread over about 20 minutes. Things like "Kate, get up!" "Kate, I need your help!" "Kate, I have to leave soon!" Nothing that requires any volley of conversation beyond a grunt to let him know that I have heard him. He knows that similar to how his body reacts at 8pm, mine is the same at 6am. We are polar opposites when it comes to our sleep patterns (among other things), he's a morning person and I am a night owl. Now, Julia doesn't get that you don't really "talk" to mommy in the morning. She wakes up ready to attack the day, cheerful, talking about whatever is important to a 4 year old (Going to Disney World, How she'll wear her hair, what she's eating for breakfast). Unfortunately, all of her talking requires responses and I can't deal with it until I have had my coffee. This morning was no exception. Kurt was running late and he put her in charge of waking me up. Bad move. She deviated from the short statements. She followed me downstairs with her incessant chatter. It took all i had to not tell her to SHUT UP (we don't use that word in our house). Here is a snippet of our conversation, rather her conversation with a zombie of a mom...

Julia Grace: Mom - Dad says to get up. Dad - she's not getting up. Mom get up.
a few minutes later, as I am stumbling down the hallway down the stairs to the kitchen
JG: Mom, Do we have anything going on today? Mom, when are we going to Disney? I think that Jimmy would love to ride Splash Mountain. You can scream. He likes to scream. Don't you think that would be coool? Mom?
Zombie Mom: Trying to keep it cool and not yell...Julia, can you talk quietly inside your head for a few minutes?
JG: Mom, I'd like to eat the Hannah Montana Cereal for breakfast. i am hungry. Mom, do you think Kylie would like to come over today? I hope she's not sick. Mom, can we watch Bearnstain this morning? Mom, what day is today? Is it the weekend?
ZM: Fumbling with the coffee, eyes half closed...Julia can you please go upstairs and talk to Daddy?
JG: Cheerfully runs upstairs to bug him about when we're going to Disney so he can silently scream in his head.

Ahh, silence...that's what i need...about 8 minutes of silence, making lunch, waiting for the coffee to brew...by the time I am ready for my cup I can function, Julia can ask all the questions she wants.

In addition to Julia's interrogations, Jimmy also got up. He's not a morning person. He wakes up like me, disoriented and you don't really talk to him much. We had a breakdown in communication regarding cereal this morning.

Cheerful Stay at Home Mom: Jimmy, what kind of cereal do you want?
Caveman Jimmy: Scowl My own.
CSAHM: What flavor, Cheerios, Cocoa Puffs, Mini Wheats or Hannah Montana?
CJ: I want my own!
CSAHM: I know, but what kind?
CJ: MY OWN!
Yelling SAHM: What. Kind. of. Cereal. do. you. want?
CJ: MY OWN!

I gave up. After 15 minutes of the same conversation, he eventually picked. But not after sounding pathetic with big tears on his face. Gosh, to be 2. Life is pretty tough.

So, top of the morning to all of you! May your mornings be filled with silence and a big ole cup of coffee (better yet with fat free french vanilla cream).