Star Wars

Hysterical series of videos for any Star Wars fan. The True Hollywood Story of R2-D2. 

Ah, Wednesday...

You're going to get a bit of rambling today. Sorry. 

My son is currently sitting on his little riding car wearing 2 baseball caps and Elmo slippers. Quite funny. 

I have some errands to run today, mainly buying more diapers and milk and bananas. The lifeblood of my house, we can't seem to operate without those items. I also need to bake more bread. 

I bit the bullet and ordered some cloth diapers today. I've been wanting to use them for some time, but I keep hoping that he'll be potty-trained soon.  He's not showing much interest yet. Then I remembered that even if he does, he's not likely to stay dry through the night for several months/years after that, so I could need diapers for quite a while still. Boo. We'll see how cloth goes though. 

I've been reading The No-Cry Sleep Solution for Toddlers and Preschoolers by Elizabeth Pantley to see if it had some ideas for us. (Thanks Mommy Geekology for the recommendation!) My biggest take-away so far: we are completely normal. All of the things that I was seeing as problems, are just normal for his age. Which makes me feel a lot better. We will be reinstating a set bedtime and expanding on his bedtime routine a little. We had done those before, but basically got lazy and stopped. It's created problems like never knowing when he's going to fall asleep and unpredictable naps. So, we're getting back on the program. 

Oh, part 2 will come later today or tomorrow, including some excerpts from my diary. Fascinating stuff, I know! 

Our love story, part 1

This Friday is DH and my 4th wedding anniversary. In honor of that, I'm going to fill you in on our classic love story. 

It all started in the 3rd grade. We were in the same class. I was new to the school due to zoning changes (there were 3 elementary schools in our district), he was new because his family had just moved to town. I honestly don't remember him at all. But he noticed me, and in his words became "intrigued" by me. I think that's a big word for a third grader, so I say that he fell in love with me then. I have pictures with him in them, but my main concerns back then were learning multiplication and trying to keep up with the other girls. 

Cut to 5 years late. We're now in 8th grade. My older sister is in high school and is friends with his older brother. I walked to his house with my sister; they lived about a mile down the street from us. While there, we saw their emus and wallaby, and I thought about how cool it is that they own those animals. (My in-laws used to raise emus in their backyard, and had a pet wallaby. There are many uses for emus that I never knew about before then.) Then we hung out in their house for a while. I remember this very shy boy that seemed my age. He spent most of the time not speaking and hanging out either on the stairs or on the other end of the couch as me. 

The following Monday, I got on the bus and noticed for the first time, that the brother is on the bus with me. We began talking and our friendship grew from there. 

We didn't have any classes together so our conversations were limited to the bus. I remember he used to tease me a lot. He had a peach fuzz mustache. He had very kind eyes. At the spring formal, where I went with another boy, I remember he seemed a little sad or annoyed. Over the summer I didn't see much of him, but our story was just beginning. 

And now, for some randomness

I've been having a hard time sleeping lately. I think my brain just won't shut off. The other night, I couldn't fall asleep until 3 am. Boo. I'm working on it. 

And now for some 2-year-old antics:

He thinks he's a battering ram and we are jungle gyms. He decided it would be fun to sit and bounce on hubby's head. And he jumps on our couch. Can't get him to stop. 

Last night, he was full of energy and running around as usual. Then he came and sat down next to me and the next thing I knew he had passed out sitting up. No warning. 

We had a VCR that we were using to convert some old tapes to DVD and while we weren't looking, he shoved an apple core and 2 markers into it. 

As I was cooking last night, I put some flower in a bowl and let him "cook" as well. He then took out every single one of my cooking spoons to use and ate the flour. The flour got all over everything, but at least he had fun. 

He looks so sweet & innocent doesn't he. 

More time and summing it up.

It's that time of the week again! Time for Mama Kat's Writing Workshop.

This week there are some great prompts, including one inspired by a post yours truly. 

So, I think I might do more than one.

First is "If you could cut back on something in your life that takes up your time, what would it be? And what would you prefer to spend that time doing?"

I would cut back on housework, specifically dishes. They are never-ending and the biggest mess-makers in my kitchen. Unfortunately, the other option is to use paper plates all the time and that's not very earth or budget-friendly. I would rather spend that time playing outside at the beach, or reading, or maybe reading blogs. Really anything but dishes. 

My other prompt is based on this article in the St. Louis News-Dispatch. I'm summing up my past, present and future life in 45 words. 

Kat was a well-loved mother, wife, sister and daughter. She spent her life caring about those around her and entertaining the world with her witty writing. Please join her family for a memorial service commemorating her incredible life. Details to be announced. 

So there you have it. The bane of my existence (dishes) and how I'd like to be remembered.

Head on over to Mama Kat's for more of the fun. 

New books

We got a package in the mail the other day from Connor's godmother. In it was this beautifully wrapped present. 

I opened them up and found these:

They're books from The Metropolitan Museum of Art where she works. I've known this woman since the 6th grade and she is the only friend from high school that I still talk to regularly. She has impeccable taste and spends her days cataloguing things in the museum basement. Look at the insides of these books. 

Each page has a letter and word and then examples of that word represented by different works of art found in the museum. The other books have the same concept. 

Aren't these beautiful. I love looking at them and can't wait to share them all with Connor. There's nothing like learning letters and numbers while taking in great works of art. 

I kept the wrapping paper too. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it, but it was too pretty to throw out. 

A frocking good time

Today was the frocking ceremony for hubby. It took all of 10 minutes but was a nice way for everyone to get recognized. There were 8 sailors promoted to 1st class and 2 promoted to senior chief. The entire command was there and the family members of the promoted sailors. The CO said a few words about the sailors and then handed each one their promotion certificate, shook their hand and posed for a picture. 

Below is the only decent picture I was able to get due to the horrible lighting in the hangar bay and the cranky boy. You can see on Matthew's left arm the new patch. The 3 chevrons indicate that he's a 1st class. I'm so proud of my boys. :)