Digital Detox

After a full week of a nasty little virus that left Baylor feeling well enough to get out of bed but not good enough to go to school, she is FINALLY feeling better. Fever gone and ear infection cleared up, she was back to school on Thursday. But after a week of constant cartoons, I was left with a little girl who felt better and yet was acting like a beast. She was constantly asking for cartoons and throwing tantrums when she wasn’t getting her way. Cut to me standing outside of church Saturday evening with a soon to be four year old screaming her head off because she didn’t want to sit quietly and I was threatening to leave her on the bench outside so I could go to mass inside. I decided that it was time for a digital detox.

I told PW my plan and he was on board;  no cartoons (except on runs…I get to be a little selfish). Sunday was rough. The harsh reality of “when you don’t listen and you act like a lunatic, you loose privileges and cartoons are privileges”  set in. We had friends over for brunch and Baylor was EVERYWHERE. It would have been so easy to turn on Sophia the First and get some less-interrupted time with our friends, but we stayed strong. By Sunday night, it was a game. She would ask half heartedly just to see what we would say. And this morning, it was a non event. She asked, I said no and we moved on. We did get a run in but even then, she easily handed over the Ipad and found something to entertain herself. I found her playing in her playhouse in the backyard and having a great time. I realized we were long over due for a cleanse. As the temperatures begin to really heat up, our outside time is going to be less and less. So giving her a reason to go outside, get bored and use her imagination is the best reason to turn off Disney Junior. Not to mention she’s a way nicer kid when she’s not hopped up on Doc McStuffins.

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Don’t Lose Your Head

Shirley is Baylor’s favorite doll. Shirley is generally never far away, always necessary for bed time and is responsible for teaching B how to pump her legs on the swing (according to Baylor). She is periodically the reason that Baylor can’t sleep as she likes to talk – a lot. And sometimes when Shirley has a bad dream, it wakes Baylor up. There was a time when Shirley did not like Noni and Noni spent much time and effort to win Shirley’s affection, which she eventually did.  Overall Shirley teaches B good things so she’s allowed to stay.

Yesterday Baylor was busying herself “cutting the strings off of Shirley”. I didn’t know what that meant, but it was quiet and I figured I could repair anything that was cut. About a half hour later, Baylor walked into the living room with a face that I can only describe as sheer panic. In her left hand she held Shirley. In her right hand she held Shirley’s head (I’m dying as I’m writing this). I immediately burst out laughing and could. not. stop. myself. Baylor yelled “IT’S NOT EVEN FUNNY!!!” which only made it worse.

I assured her that I could fix dear Shirley and put a safety pin in her neck as a temporary hold. I was able to sew her up this morning and Bay gave her a nice new  princess band aid to cover her stitches.

Last night as Peter was putting B to bed he mentioned that Shirley had an accident. Bay abruptly turned to him and said “now, who told you THAT??“. Clearly, we are not talking about the accident.

Shirley. Shirley, are you ok?? I don’t think the drugs have worn off yet…

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There’s Something On The Wing

You know when you are flipping through channels and come across one of those strong man competitions and you see the guy with some enormous harness strapped to him and that’s strapped to a 747 and he’s trying to pull it? That pretty much sums up how I feel about life right now. It’s all. just. taking. so. much. work. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve got a great gig and I happily take my problems over 99% of the world’s problems. But….it would just be nice if something, anything would go down without a struggle.

Until then, all I’ve got to do is iron my super woman cape and get to pulling. Fingers crossed for a strong tailwind.

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Pancake Update

The Dad’s Pancake Breakfast couldn’t have turned out better! All the hard work and stress paid off 10 fold; we raised nearly $1000 for the school and the dads, grandpas, uncles and kiddos had a really fun morning together. Here are the highlights:

Stephanie’s ADORABLE centerpieces

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Pin the Tie on the Daddy game

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Make Your Own Tie

 

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A happy recipient of Make Your Own Tie

 

 

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These two were like a well oiled machine. They found every flat surface that could go on the stove and were flipping cakes at a rate of 20 every 2 minutes!

 

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PW working hard manning the serving table. Please note that Auggie is eating a paper napkin.

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Happy customers

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For being at the school at 630 am and flipping pancakes, refilling toppings and doing whatever else needed to be done – we didn’t look too shabby!

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A HUGE thank you to Ms. Stephanie D. I would work with you on any project, any time lady 🙂

Chef Wand

What do you do when you don’t have enough time to get everything done in a day? That’s right! You agree to host the Dad’s Pancake Breakfast at Baylor’s preschool! I’m nuts, I know. But in my defense, I love being involved with her school and I was not sleeping a lot when I volunteered and therefore was a bit out of it.

Thankfully, I am on the co-chair for the event and the other co-chair is one Mrs. Stephanie D. Also known as Wonder Woman. She makes working and traveling for work and raising an awesome little girl look like child’s play. We are both crazy list makers, planners and multi-taskers. Yin to my yang. Ethel to her Lucy. Abbot to my Costello. Peanut butter to her jelly.  I’ve tackled the donations and food, she’s done the signage, marketing and invitations. We have viewed this event as a game, and we’re in it to win it. Bring it on 300+ parents and preschoolers. We’ve got enough pancakes, toppings, games, crafts and raffle to keep you all happy and full.

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If you see two women drunk at a bar on Saturday night mumbling about pancakes and laughing hysterically, it’s probably us.

Spring Breaking

This past week was spring break for Bay (why preschoolers need a break, I’ll never know) and it happen to coincide with one of the busiest weeks I’ve ever had with the water company. To say that I am exhausted is an understatment. The good news is that with a little sleep training, the big guy has been sleeping amazingly. So while mentally falling apart, at least I’m getting more consecutive hours of sleep than I’ve seen in almost six months.

I recap our week in pictures:

Train Park fun – could someone tell me where those legs came from??!

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Not totally sure about the sand

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90 degree heat never looked so cute

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Perfection.

 

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Fun with the sprinklers in the backyard. Please disregard the dead plants – I’ve decided if it’s going to be 94 degrees today, it’s probably not going to freeze again – so I’m trimming this weekend. Fingers crossed. Focus on how lovely the grass looks! Oh and the cute kids!

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This is what happens when you’re too small to fight off your sister…

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It’s really too bad that we don’t have enough Little People to make AN ENTIRE CITY WITH TWO SCHOOL BUSES AND SAFARI CARS

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Auggie patiently listening to his singer songwriter sister

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Meet Matthew

I got a text from PW last weekend that said Matthew is here and he looks AWESOME. Before I could text back Who the hell is Matthew??  I realized he was talking about the damn deer he hunted in November. And by here he meant on our living room wall. And in our freezer. Yea…..

Meet Matthew

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Matthew is named after our friend and the guide of the hunt. It’s an homage to the great tracker that he is. Baylor is in love. She greets him when we walk in, pets him randomly throughout the day, says goodbye when we leave and is chowing down on the venison pepperoni sticks. She is, in a word, a traitor.

The Truth About Girls – Number 1

The truth about living with little girls is that no matter what is in the dryer, it will come out with glitter on it. When you have a girl, glitter just seems to come out of their pores. It’s on their clothes, their dress up clothes, hair clips, shoes, stickers…you name it, it has glitter on it. And in turn, so does everything in your house.

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The Happiest of Hours

We live in a one of those weird neighborhoods where we know (and like) almost everyone on our street. Not only that, but there are a ton of kids and they have a blast playing together. Another benefit is when you get a text from a neighbor at 8am that says “Does 345 work for wine/bikes?”. The answer is yes. Yes it does.

And this is what 4 moms and 9 kids having happy hour looks like:

Riding down the street

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Controlled chaos

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Bay giving J a ride

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The girls and the babies

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Happy mommas

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Berkley keeping watch

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Auggie and H baby wrestling

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We stayed out until Peter pulled up – it was like your mom calling you home for dinner since he arrived with Julio G’s Mexican food!