I have a fear of spiders. I'm not ashamed of it - everybody is afraid of something. I just happen to be afraid of tiny eight-legged creepy-crawlies that I'm sure could swallow me whole if allowed to get close enough.
After Gabriella was born, I made a vow to myself that I would do my darnedest to hide my fear of spiders from her. It only seemed fair. She should be free to develop her own irrational fears, rather than having them passed down to her. Of course I would slip from time to time, and she would see me flinch before I would exclaim "Ella, come look at this spider!", but I think I did alright. I was always free to let my fear get the better of me when she wasn't looking.
Five years later, that vow I made myself has paid off. Ella is not afraid of spiders, but also understands the need for them to NOT EVER be in the house. When she sees a spider, she just runs and gets a tissue, and disposes of the insect in the proper manner - that being flushed to a watery grave. (Although I think she believes the spider is "going to his family" - whatever.)
This is good for both of us. She is still free to have her own irrational fear of mermaids (as it turns out), and she can rid our home of all eight-legged intruders, leaving me free to feel safe from being eaten alive.
While I have not been very good about keeping my blog up-to-date this summer, I have to brag a little and say I have made huge improvements in my housekeeping skills, as well as taking better care of myself. I'm babystepping my way to a better me. I know many of you have heard about FlyLady, and perhaps have even tried it out. I'm here to tell you it works, but only if you put your faith in her system, and just do as she tells you. The shiny sink and shoes really are important, no matter how silly they may seem. I've done it several times over the years with varying success, but this time I just did it without question, and it has worked! YEAH ME!
The other thing that has really helped me with this is that new all-purpose spray - Clorox Anywhere Hard Surface spray. I can use it anywhere on practically anything. (And it doesn't smell perfume-y - it actually smells clean!)
My new thing: homemade bagels! Yum-O! Actually I'm much more into cooking and baking in general lately. And speaking of Yum-O, Rachael Ray's 30 minute meals haven't let me down yet!
T-minus 29 days until school starts here. (Not that I'm counting or anything.) Ella will be in all-day kindergarten (which I have minor issues with, but I'm sure she will do fine with it), and Little Man starts preschool 2 mornings a week. Which gives me a precious 6 hours a week on my own!
We are getting ready for a big camping trip in a few weeks. (This is one of my sister-in-law and my deals, so there is a lot of over planning and organizing involved!) We're finalizing the menu now. We are really hoping it will be cooler up on the mountain - it has been unbearably hot here!
Me: "Now that's enough, Alex! I'm putting you in time out for throwing toys."
Alex sits quietly in his time out spot for three minutes....
Me: "Now can you tell me why I put you in time out?"
Alex: "......uhhhhh.... I sassing..."
Me: "No..."
Alex: "......uhhhh..... I biting...."
Me: (now trying to stiffle my giggles) "No. Don't you remember?"
Alex: ".....uhhhh..... juss i-tauz..." (just because)
Me: "No. I put you in time out because you were throwing toys. Do we throw toys?"
Alex: "Nooooooooo...."
Me: "Do you know why we don't throw toys?"
Alex: Notices the furrows on my forehead and rubs his little fingers over them giggling... "I want to do that again!"
Me: "Alex?"
Alex: "You funny, Mommy!"
Two words: Super Target!
Gabriella was never great with picture taking. I'd take her in to various studios all dressed up, and she would cry and pout. Eventually we'd get some good pictures out of her, and looking at them now you'd never know how hard it was to get those adorable smiles out of her.
And then she turned two. On her second birthday I took her in to get her picture taken, and they set her all up, right in the window of the studio so all the passers-by could admire her, and then the girl turned on this machine to switch the backgrounds, which made a noise. This scared the %*@# out of her (and I suspect being on display in the window didn't help), and that was the end. I tried and tried to calm her down, but finally gave up. I never had her picture taken professionally again.
Last week I finally took her back, along with her brother who has NEVER been to a studio to have his picture taken. The results? You be the judge:
My opinion is they came out great! It was all so quick and easy. The woman taking the pictures knew exactly what she was doing, and had Little Man giggling and squealing. You can see Ella looks a little stiff and unsure, but there was not screaming and crying, and now I finally have some new, wonderful pictures of my babies to hang on my walls.
(Bonus picture for you - isn't he adorable?!)
So this weekend we, (of course,) have plans to leave home and travel to some not-too-far-off destination to visit family. (This time it's Bubblehead's clan.) Well, I bailed.
"See ya, Honey! Don't forget to put sunscreen on the kids when they go outside. Not too many sweets, now! Kiss, kiss!"
Woo-who!! I'm going to get some much needed "Christine time". Sleeping in is on the agenda, and I'm going off to the grocery store to buy myself some of my favorite foods. Perhaps I'll read a book, and watch a chick flick. Maybe I'll paint my nails and soak in the tub. Maybe I'll even do some blogging! (grin)
So if you don't see me over the weekend, have faith that I'm enjoying being completely self-absorbed, and will be shocked back into reality on Sunday.
Happy weekend everyone! *kiss kiss*
So once again you can see by my absence that I've been out of town. We held our Pirate Party this past Saturday, and it was a big success! We all dressed up, had a big BBQ, and played some games.
The treasure hunt my brother and I put together was also a big hit, with only a few minor glitches. We sent four teams of four people each (2 teams at a time) all over town with cryptic clues (written in pirate-speak, of course) to pick up clues hidden in bottles. We set it up so of course the 4 teams thought they were competing against each other, but in reality the 2 morning teams and the 2 afternoon teams had to come together in the end to finish. The team who got to the end in the least amount of time (without any traffic violations!) won. If you've never done something like this I highly recommend it - it is so much fun! I really enjoyed putting it together - the only down side was I didn't get to participate!
Also during our busy week away we held a pajama party for Ella (she got to stay up until 10:30, we ate popcorn and ice cream, had a fashion show, danced, and watched a movie while painting our nails - she had a blast!), I got the kids' picture taken (those will be posted soon), and I got a little "me" time, doing some shopping on my own. FUN!
Now we're settling back in at home. We have a trip planned to see Bubblehead's family next weekend, but I've decided to send he and the kids off on their own - I need a little quiet time to myself - the summer is going so fast, and we aren't done with our busy schedules!
I still plan to post about our Titanic party (two months ago!), I have lots of pictures to share, and I would like to get back into actually writing, (rather than all this fluff I've been filling my blog with lately). Thank you to all of you who stop in and check on me!! (And hello to Uncle John, if he's still lurking out there.)
"Just do what I say!" Labels: quips
