Intermezzo**

Maybe it was just me, but I thought today was an exceptionally good day. The kind of day that I hope my kids will look back on and think: Yep. Overall, things were good. Don't get me wrong, it was a very normal day. The most exciting part of the day was when I finished folding laundry and realized that all the socks had found a match. Seriously, does that ever happen?

No. But it did today.

Tonight, as Adam put the kids to bed, I sat at the piano playing Brahms. His music is beautiful. It speaks to me more than the other composers, and I was reflecting on the day. After a while, Adam came in and asked if I thought the music might be keeping the kids awake. I said "Yes," then I lied, "No. Why?" He said, "Katelyn is laying in bed with her arms in the air waving with the music." That made me smile and I kept playing for her, and thinking. .  .   .    .

There's one day I look back on as a perfect day from my childhood. I was probably four. We lived in a beautiful house in the woods in a town called "Paradise". My dad was still at work, and my mom was at the stove boiling spaghetti for dinner. I was marching all around her blowing the rhythm to "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star"-- no, I think it was "Jingle Bells"-- loudly on my recorder. I was blowing the one same note over and over, but in my head it sounded like I was doing it right. For me, that moment was perfect. My parents held my universe in order.

I felt like I gave that moment to my kids today.

I just hope they noticed.

**Intermezzo means "in the middle", or something like that. Kind of like an intermission. It's also the name of one of the songs I played tonight. My time to reflect felt like an intermission to the day. Also, I like how the picture is random and Kate is taking a bow, like in the theater, which ties into the intermission. (I saw a lot of plays growing up, fyi.) But I felt like that all needed to be explained. Haha!

Five-Year-Old Fashionista

Today I planned on running Kate to school, but I was self-conscious about the other moms and dads seeing me in running clothes.

I asked Adam, "Should I wear my tight shorts that go long, or my short shorts that are loose?"
He said, "Either one; you look hot."
I said, "Thanks, but still don't know what to wear."

The tight shorts are very tight. They show everything (including my J-Lo booty).
The loose shorts are very short, and my legs are pale and scrawny. People don't need to see that, right?
But I was determined to run. I chose the loose shorts and walked out into the kitchen.

*****

Kate was in her jammies eating breakfast at the table. Her reaction wasn't exactly the same as Adam's. She took one look at me and said, "You look Ugly! If you think you're dropping me off in those clothes, then I'm not getting ready for school today!"

(What-the-WHAT?! She's only been 5 for a day!)

After lots of back and forth, she apologized, (although I can't say I totally disagree with her...I think running clothes are kind of ugly, too. For example: my mom used to wear her running shoes everywhere and I remember being more than a little embarrassed.)

We made a compromise:

I would wear street clothes and WALK them to school; she would get ready to go. 

The funny thing is, we ended up running anyway.

I was wearing bermuda shorts and a white cottony shirt.

We were four minutes early.

Kate's Day

5...
years

Today was Kate's 5th birthday. Here is how the day went:

Me: Kate, what do you want for dinner tonight?
Kate: Macaroni and cheese--and Oreos.

Kate: Broccoli makes good Shrek ears.

Zach: I an ogre!

She got birthday hugs from her friends at school. So cute! Back at home I showed her her new flower garden. (Did you know the Target garden centers are closing down? Great deals right now!) Planty and Queenie didn't make it through the summer. Feels like a death in the family. But she named all the new plants: Cutie, Pretty, Smelly, Shady and Strawberry. Planty and Queenie have officially been replaced. Haha!

Bertha brought her a balloon bouquet and one of those HUGE cookies. And Kate got her bday wish of playing Wii with daddy while I taught lessons for a couple hours. Our neighbor was so sweet and brought her a few little gifts with a card and a dollar. Kate was super excited about the dollar. :)

After Bday dinner she blew out her candles and opened up her brand new Pillow Pet, which she's been obsessing over all year. I swore I'd never buy one...the commercial is so obnoxious...but lucky for her Adam picked some up in Fry's one day. One for Zach, one for Kate. I won't be surprised if he gets one for himself next! Anyway, she LOVED it! Adam did good!

Now the kids are on a sugar low. They are camped out in the living room with their new PillowPets, watching Dora in the dark. It was a good day!

So It Begins...

"Momma, Momma, Momma! I'm so proud of myself; I'm so proud of myself!! I'm so excited, I'm so excited!! You can see it on my face! (Huge smile :)"

-Katelyn, on the first day of school

Robot Arms: Day 1

Can you guess why there are homemade splints attached to Littleman's arms? Hint: Think of his two bad habits.

Did you guess?

Okay, his palate is pushing forward from all the thumb-sucking and I don't know what else to try. And his other hand is always wandering into his diaper. He has no shame. It's gotta stop!

So...

I got this idea from a magazine. As you can see, he is not at all happy about it. Tonight was his first night in "robot arms". Anytime his hands began to wander where they shouldn't, we strapped them on. Luckily, he HATED it!

I saw definite progress tonight as he was falling asleep (his favorite time for his two bad habits). I noticed he would start bringing his thumb to his mouth, hesitate a second, then tuck his hand away. And he didn't even TRY the Al Bundy hand resting in the pants move! It's a start...

P.S. When he's older, I'm sure he'll either love us or hate us for this. I'm hoping love (fingers crossed).

P.P.S. He probably won't love that I blogged this, though. Remind me to erase it before he develops his social conscience.