Supermom Chronicles: St. Louis Fun!

While the blog has fallen quiet for a few days, it isn't because I haven't been working on my Supermom list. We have simply been busy have lots of summer fun, and that is what summer is all about, right?!

The Fourth of July came and went with an air of relaxation and refreshment. The weather was unseasonably cool and we spent the holiday laughing and relaxing with good friends. There was pool fun, firework fun, and even fun in the rain. A few raindrops were certainly not going to keep our bunch from laughing and carrying on together!





This weekend, I took the girls and scooted over to St. Louis to visit Sarah (my sister) and her family. Everyone had a great time -- Josie played momma hen to the little ones and NJ and Mitchell got along swimmingly! It was a whirlwind of a trip -- we got there Friday afternoon and left at naptime on Saturday -- but that was plenty of time to play piano, chase the dog, giggle, go to the zoo, giggle some more, jump on the air mattress, and giggle yet some more. It is so nice to have Sarah close for these little visits... I just wish we were able to make them happen more often!






Next weekend, Josie and I head off to Camp Jo-Ota for a weekend of parent-child camp. Her former kindergarten teacher is leading it, so Josie is very excited. I have heard rumors of a mud pit... I will keep you posted on what I find out/experience on that topic. :)

Summer is flying by us... lots of plans being made and the weekends are just ticking by. As I think about my Supermom list, I am still working on the house clean-out for a potential garage sale, but I have to confess that giving it all away seems a lot easier. We shall see how the mood moves me. The girls closets and drawers have been cleaned out and are now only stocked with the current size of clothing rather than the past three sizes. Josie is practicing to tie her shoes and getting a little more confident each time. Swim lessons are in full swing and Josie is swimming like a fish! We made the trip to St. Louis and as I said, camp is next weekend. After that, Josie heads to Nana's for a week and then shortly after that, me and the girls will head down to Tampa for two weeks to visit my folks (Eric will join us after a week). More and more, I am realizing that the Supermom list will not get done in its entirety (especially potty-training - 2 trips of 20 hours each in the car does not make for a good potty-training environment!), but it has still been a good thing to keep in front of me as each week passes by. Then again, if my Supermom powers are fully utilized, who knows what can happen!

SQUIRREL!

If you have seen the movie UP, you understand that squirrels are most loved and hated creatures by the dogs in the movie. I have determined that this is similar to how we experience the squirrels at our house. For the girls, they are a great distraction... one that brings forth peels of giggles as the squirrels throw walnuts, fall out of trees, and play along the top of the swing-set. Eric and I thoroughly enjoy how audacious the squirrels are when it comes to tormenting our cat, Lucy, who is trapped in the confines of the screened in porch. The squirrels seem to know just how close they can get to Lucy to get her to puff up and agitated without fear of her blasting through the screen towards them.

Lately, I have enjoyed the common-sense of the squirrels (especially since common-sense seems to be an on-going issue with our eldest daughter). You see, we have this swing-set that sits under a tree. The squirrels love to scamper across it as they bridge the gap from one tree limb to another. For thrills, we posted a squirrel feeder (aka, a screw holding an ear of corn) off the side of the swing-set to see if they would enjoy it. Sure enough, the corn has been a hit. With the first ear, it took a while for the corn to be eaten. Once we switched out the cob for a new ear, the corn was gone by the next day -- along with the top of the cob. This week, Josie and Eric set out a new ear. On Wednesday, while we were enjoying supper on the screened in porch, we got to watch in amazement as a squirrel hopped up to the feeder and systematically started cleaning the ear of all its corn. That was pretty cool to watch.... but what was more fun to watch was the two buddies of this hard working squirrel who seemed to figure out the easier way of getting their meal -- stand under the feeder and catch everything that falls! It was hilarious to watch and both of the girls seemed to get the humor of what was happening. Who knew that these animals, who seem to love running in front of cars, also had a little bit of common sense? Perhaps that is giving them too much credit...


Now... that is the side of the squirrels that we enjoy... as much as one can enjoy a rodent. But then there is this other side... this side that fills me with frustration as I find my green tomatoes being plucked off the plant and left scattered across my yard. The good news is my tomato plants are growing GREAT! The bad news is the squirrels are going to prevent me from enjoying the harvest! Apparently, love and logic parenting isn't going to work on squirrels, so I can't withhold the corn until they "behave" and stay out of my garden... so I am left to wonder just what I should do about these careless critters?

Confessions of a Frustrated Mom

I love my children. There is no doubt about it. I love their laughter, their creativity, their sense of humor, their thoughtfulness, and their love for each other and their family. All that said, there are days when I allow myself to get so frustrated that I can't see straight by the end of the night. Yesterday was one of those days.

All in all it was a good day... the weather was sunny and mild, I had both girls home for the day and we took some time to walk to the town square, back to the college campus, and even got to visit with Dad for a while before heading back for lunch and rest time. A good day, indeed! But there were the little frustrations that just needled away at me through out the day.

First, Josie insisted on wearing her flip-flops on this walk we took. I asked her to reconsider, but she insisted. I decided not to fight it and make it a love and logic moment (a great book, if you haven't read it). The walk went fine, but around supper time, she started crying and limping around because her foot hurt. Low and behold, a blister had formed under her toe and had popped. It was raw, red, and I am sure hurt like heck. She was miserable... and I was frustrated.

Norah has taken to not eating her meals while sitting. She wants her meal time to be a bit more European, I guess, taking hours to complete a meal. I can appreciate a slow eater, but when it is because we are disregarding any rules we have about sitting while eating, I have little tolerance. So by supper time, after two other meals, I had had it. I was beyond frustrated.

Last night, after the house was quiet with the girls in bed, I went to throw something in the bathroom garbage can. Upon doing so, I noticed something odd and reached down to pick it up. It my hand, was a 5-inch lock of Josie's gorgeous red hair. ARGH!! You know, I expect children to cut their hair when they are experimenting with scissors when they are 4 yrs old... maybe even 5... but not seven!! My frustration levels went through the roof and I was ever grateful that she was in bed and asleep so I would have to cool down before talking to her.

Now in the morning light, I realize that none of these frustrations are big... but that is the essence of being frustrated. You don't necessarily get frustrated with the big things... there are other emotions for that. But the daily little things... those are the things that can sometimes drive me to the point of distraction. Yesterday was one of those days where the little things just piled up. None of them big... none of them out of the ordinary or unique to our situation. None of them were even because the girls were acting anything but their age (well, except for the hair issue, perhaps). Just little frustrations. I don't love the girls any less because of my frustrations, if anything, it helps me to love them more.

So at the end of yesterday, after I put the long lock of red hair back in the garbage, I sat down and downloaded some random pics we took over the last couple days. Among them were these two of Josie and Norah hangin' out as sisters and enjoying their time together. Moments like this melt all the other frustrations away....



But one additional confession as a new day begins...
I am frustrated with my flaky momma-brain.
I walked Eric and Josie out to the car this morning to help get them off for the day. Eric called just a few minutes ago after Norah handed him something interesting... my van key. ACK!! I had carried it out with me to get Norah's sunglasses from the van. Apparently, I put it in the car door when I was putting Norah in the car and forgot it. UGH! Josie and I need to be to town by 11:30...
Not to mention, today was pay-day for daycare. We forgot. Will take it in later today and that won't be a big deal... but it is just one more thing.

Are you laughing yet?
I am. Somedays it is all you can do... LAUGH.

Beating the Heat

Today was another stinkin' hot day!! So while Josie finished up summer school with a day of water games and swimming at the city pool, we took Norah into town to play in the dancing fountain -- you know, one of those fountains where the water randomly sprays from various locations. NJ loved it! She was a little wary of getting into the middle of the fountain, but she loved to play around the perimeter as she awaited the spouts of water to spray out around her. Definitely a great way to beat the heat (if only we had remembered the towel for afterwards! HA!)!!