Distractions

Not too long ago, I wrote a post about my decision to adjust my priorities and put my family first when stress and pressure from my business had become overwhelming. I'm happy to say I did that. Since that decision, I've adjusted my editing scheduled, reminded myself not to take on more than I can handle, and it's worked. Work stress has all but been completely eliminated. Being the human that I am, though, I instead began devoting my "spare" time to distractions, rather than where they should be. They really are everywhere, distractions. TV, computer, internet, telephone. And what do they really matter? They aren't distractions of important nature like laundry, dishes, and cleaning. Even though they're much less enjoyable than browsing through website and the TV Guide, they're at least necessary. Every time I have a chance to sit down and just enjoy some free time, I steer myself (many times unintentionally) back to my computer to check my routine list of websites, oftentimes for the third or fourth time that day. What could possibly be that important? Nothing. Definitely nothing more important than spending quality time with my children.

And what better to reinforce this realization than a swift quick from Mother Sinus. The day after our tea party, Maddie was struggling with some form of cold/allergies. The next day, Cadie and I were suffering much the same. Fast forward to a week later, and even though the girls seemed to be feeling much better, I was down for the count. I had woken up that morning with a debilitating headache; one so bad that my teeth hurt. I hurt everywhere. In my temples, my ears, behind my eyes, in my jaw, in my glands. Everywhere. Like any stubborn stay-at-home mom, I tried to fight through the pain and carry on with my daily duties, but by 1 o'clock it was painfully clear (literally), that I couldn't handle anymore. I called the doctor, praying for an opening that afternoon, but nothing was available until the next morning. Remembering a nearby Urgent Care center that my mom had told me about, I drove myself over and left Jeff home with the girls. After a short wait, the doctor took one look in my left ear (the better one at this point) and said, "Oh my, you have a SEVERE sinus infection!" Apparently, whatever junk I had been battling played dead, fooling me into thinking I was getting better, while secretly setting up camp in every sinus cavity in my body. My poor sinuses were so badly impacted, the pressure was growing and growing, causing my headache pain. As a white flag, I accepted the prescription for a decongestant and antibiotic, then trotted myself home for some much needed rest. I spent the next two days in bed doing nothing but sleep, while the girls spent some quality time with Grandma (Thank you, Grandma!) Talk about an eye-opener. I can't remember the last time I was so sick I couldn't do anything but sleep the day away. Usually, I read a book, watch a movie, or play Nintendo. Not this time. This monster of a sinus infection eliminated any and all distractions, making it very clear to me that even though I'd essentially eliminated the work stress from my life, I'd allowed something else to fill that space. Something that shouldn't. I've been blessed with two miracles; two warm-blooded, full blown miracles, and I've allowed myself to be distracted.

Some antibiotic and A LOT of nose-blowing later, I once again feel like my priorities are in check. I'm forcing myself to slow down. I don't have to be moving and productive all the time. There's always something I COULD be doing, but not necessarily something I SHOULD be doing. There's so much more I could be missing, and it would be a shame to miss out because of a silly distraction.

A Spot of Tea

The girls have been having tea parties pretty much since they were old enough to hold a tea cup. These tea parties usually take place at Grana and Poppy's, among other places. This year, we decided to celebrate Valentine's Day with a Mother/Daughter Princess Tea Party at Grana's house. We honored the royal theme with elaborate decorations and dress, including a fancy new tea set, heart princess scepters, and glittery tiaras. The food would have impressed even the snootiest of English elite, including PB & J, turkey & cheese, and chicken salad sandwiches; chips and dip; a veggie tray; and cheeseball. For dessert -- the most important part of any tea party -- we feasted on chocolate chip scones, chocolate cake, cheesecake squares with flower candies, and other scrumptious goodies. We sipped our tea and punch, chatting about our social calendars (Lolo has been attending the shopoholic committee; the same one Mollie recently fell off the wagon from) and enjoying the company of our impressive guest list, including Grandma, Nana, Grana, Auntie Lolo, Mollie, Beth, Julie, Cadie, Maddie, and Grace. Who knew so much fun could be had over a simple spot of tea?

Maddie, Lolo, and Cadie

Maddie, Cadie, and Grace

Cadie, Grandma, and Maddie

Maddie, Nana, and Cadie

Maddie, Mollie, and Cadie

Maddie, Grana, and Cadie

Maddie, Mommy, and Cadie

Always taking pictures...

Teaching proper tea etiquette...

Grace and her Grandma

Lolo's scary face!

Jules & Me

Me & Mollie

Jules, Grace, and Beth

Book Review: Beautiful Creatures

You'll soon figure out from future book reviews that I have a thing for fantasy. Not the stuff that involves aliens and other such nonsense. I love just about anything that includes magic or a touch of non-reality. Nothing too dark, though. I like my fantasy just fantastical enough to help me escape from reality.

My most recent foray into the world of the supernatural is Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. I'm not sure how I feel about two authors. I've experienced both ends of the spectrum, good (The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society) and bad (Witch and Wizard). In this case, it wasn't noticeable and wasn't a problem. Here's a review/synopsis from Amazon.com, where I get most of my books.

"Ethan Wate is struggling to hide his apathy for his high school "in" crowd in small town Gatlin, South Carolina, until he meets the determinedly "out" Lena Duchannes, the girl of his dreams (literally--she has been in his nightmares for months). What follows is a smart, modern fantasy--a tale of star-crossed lovers and a dark, dangerous secret. Beautiful Creatures is a delicious southern Gothic that charms you from the first page, drawing you into a dark world of magic and mystery until you emerge gasping and blinking, wondering what happened to the last few hours (and how many more you're willing to give up). To tell too much of the plot would spoil the thrill of discovery, and believe me, you will want to uncover the secrets of this richly imagined dark fantasy on your own." --Daphne Durham

In all fairness, I don't have a lot of time to sit down and lose myself in a novel, so this one took me a little longer to get into. I never lost interest, though, and about halfway through I was hooked. What is Lena's secret and why is she so different? Who is Lena's uncle and why is he known as the town's very own Boo Radley? How does Ethan fit into the strange happenings that are going on around him? The ending made it very obvious that there will be a follow-up book, and I'm happy to say I'll be reading it.

Book Club Rating: N/A

Cheri's Rating: ****1/2 (4.5 out of 5)

Mr. Mom, He is Not

For the past couple of months now, since right before Christmas, Jeff has been working on and off (more off), due to the crazy amounts of snow we've gotten. Even though it has only actively snowed a couple of those days, it has taken weeks for said snow to melt away. Normally, this time of year is very slow for the landscape/irrigation industry, but for the first time in, I don't know, EVER, Jeff actually has a ton of work waiting to be done. While that work waits, it has become painfully clear that Jeff is not made to stay at home. At. All.

His daily routine has started to become very predictable: Wake up to the alarm, but completely ignore the two munchkins jumping on the bed. They'll go away eventually. Eat breakfast. Mope around. Eat lunch. Mope around and grumble about nothing to do. Make an excuse to go outside for ANY reason. Eat dinner. After the girls have gone to bed, sit at laptop and either A.) watch ridiculous and senseless (not to mention extremely boring) videos of people using heavy machinery on You Tube; or B.) look up land that is in all likelihood way out of our price range and dream, dream, dream. Fall in to bed sometime between 9 and midnight and immediately fall asleep.

Now, I love my husband dearly. We've been together for 12 ½ years; I would bet everything I own that I know him better than anyone else in this world and I can tell you right now that being stuck at home is killing him. He is not made to do nothing. That being said, he's driving me nuts. Oh weather gods, please cut me some slack and lay off the snow and rain so our house can once again be mope free! I'm afraid Jeff's sanity (and mine) depend on it.

The Little Gym

Back in June, we decided the girls need some recreational activity, so I signed them up at the Tulsa World of Gymnastics. They loved it. The teachers were great, the facility was great, but after watching a mother scold her three year old for not doing her forward roll correctly again, I started to think that maybe it was a little more hardcore than what we were looking for. Plus, the way the gym was set up, I couldn't see what the girls were doing for well over half of the class. I wasn't worried about them, but I'm selfish and I want to be able to see EVERYTHING. So, we decided to try something else.

I'd heard of The Little Gym several times and had even been there for a March of Dimes meeting, but I'd always thought of it as too expensive for us. Turns out, it's the same price as Tulsa World of Gymnastics, but a lot more our speed. I knew within 2 minutes of the girls' free trial class that it was the place for us. They do something different in their warm-up every week, from running around with scarves to doing tricks with swimming noodles. After warm-up, they move onto the equipment. The teacher shows them what to do, then the kids do it. Cadie and Maddie have learned so much since they started in July, but most importantly, they have so much fun.

January 15h was the end of the fall semester, so the kids put on a performance show for parents and relatives. We invited all of the girls' grandparents, aunts & uncles, and more. It was during the day, so not everyone got to come because of work, but the girls were thrilled with everyone who made it (Daddy, Nana, Poppy, Grandma, and Aunt Kimberly). They ran around giggling, I'm sure excited and hyper from their extra audience. They'd been practicing a routine for the performance class for a few weeks, so when class started they went in for one more review. Then, it was time for us to join them. They took turns doing their floor routines (forward rolls, "tabletops", "donkey kicks", "candle sticks", and "monkey jumps"), balance beam routines (including standing on their tippy toes and bending down to touch the beam), and bar routines (with pizza hangs, straight arms, and flips). Neither of them got performance shy until it came to the bar routine and Cadie refused to do anything but her pizza hang. She rocked that pizza hang, though!

After their routines, each of the kids got a medal for completing the semester. Both of the girls were so proud! They've already started the Winter/Spring semester, so I'm sure we have more "tricks" to look forward to.

Maddie doing her "candle stick"

Maddie doing her "donkey kick"

Cadie doing her "candle stick"

Cadie doing her "table top"

They always try to be at the front of the "train"

Cadie getting her medal

Maddie getting her medal.

Their class (yes boys are allowed at the Little Gym...)

We couldn't get them to take a nice picture,

but they were game for a funny face one.

Product Review: Crayola Hassle Free Water Colors

The girls LOVE to do crafts. I love them, too, but I don't love the clean-up so much. We've gone from crayons, to markers, to pens, and back again, but I've never found something that I really liked. For whatever reason, the girls peel the paper off the crayons, they get more marker on themselves than the paper, and don't even get me started on pen ink. So, when I walked past this new product from Crayola, I was skeptical, but willing to try anything with "Hassle Free" in the product name.

Here's a description from the Crayola site:

Crayola Hassle Free Watercolors are like regular watercolor paints – without the mess! There are no cups of water to tip over and no paints to spill. THe specially designed paint posts contain a bright, solid color that is only activated when you dip in the brush tip. You can even turn them upside-down – they won't spill or drip!

The girls were super excited to try them out, so we opened them up, and gave it a go. My first impression was the container was neat and easy to use. The lids of the paints aren't easy to snap off, so the girls can't get into them without help. They also have a little lip on the back to hold the lids open so they aren't constantly fighting with them. After the prep, the girls started using them without any trouble. The end result of the "paint" looks more like marker, but they don't care. They feel like they're painting, so they're happy. Even better, they really are HASSLE FREE. They've used them several times now and haven't even come close to being bored with them. If they do happen to get some color on themselves or somewhere else it shouldn't be, it comes off with just water; no soap necessary. I definitely recommend this product!

I give this product: ***** (5/5 Stars)

Holy Matrimony

For several weeks now, Maddie has been talking about her "wedding". Who knows how it began? It doesn't take much for Maddie to catch on. There are even details; and specific ones at that. They change, occasionally, but for the most part they're pretty consistent.

First and foremost, Maddie will be having a "Princess" themed wedding. She's going to wear a beautiful gown. Sometimes it's a pink one she has that Nana got last year for Easter that didn't fit until this past Fall (the same one that Cadie has, but hers has an enormous chocolate stain on the rear from sitting in chocolate milk). Sometimes it's a new one I'm sure she has envisioned in her mind (and if her taste is anything like her mommy's, it will cost a fortune).

What does change is the "whom"; this is where it gets dicey. Some days she announces she is going to marry her Uncle Julius. That was the answer for many weeks. Then, she switched it up and answered that she would be marrying her Aunt Kimberly (Julius' wife). Lately, the popular answer has been that she will be marrying me. She's even got a deadline. For the longest time, she claimed that she would be getting married on her birthday, April 4th. I think she might be getting cold feet, though, because the last time she talked about it, the date had been pushed back to Christmas.

These details are all fine and good, and they make me laugh, but what makes my heart melt every time is when she says this: "Mommy, I really want all, with all of my heart, for my whole family and all of my friends, with all of my very heart...I really want them to be at my wedding because I love them with my whole heart, so very much."

Now, to that I say, "I do, too."