Blah-gger

Not feeling the blogging this week - had several good ideas for posts, but all have fallen flat when it came time to put "pen to paper." I am trying to start both a workout routine & a diet this week, so both have sort of rocked my world for the time being. Until my next post, here are some recent favorite pictures:

Wyatt loves when I wrap George up like a baby in this blanket

My budding artist

Trying out the wireless headphones in the back of our new Honda Pilot

I just love this smile - he was so proud to go down this HUGE slide all by himself!

A fishing lesson from Dad

Targa

Tonight was a night for the record books - when I become a famour guitarist, I suppose I will look back on February 17, 2009 as the day when I learned guitar from my first lesson. Okay, so maybe not. After all, it was only the first lesson & it has taken me 5 months to schedule!!

The nicest thing about tonight though, was that I took 30 minutes for myself. Not for Wyatt, not for Seth, not to do housework or catch up on email...just 30 minutes to do something for ME. I am looking forward to the next few lessons - I went ahead & scheduled out for a month to force myself to do it. Hopefully I will be playing children's tunes before long, and maybe in the not too distance future I can strum a few Grateful Dead tunes for Wyatt as well.

The best part of my evening though was coming home to a happy toddler shouting "Targa, targa" (his word for guitar) quickly followed by "pick, pick." I promise to have some tunes for you soon buddy!

Here Comes Trouble

Wyatt enjoyed a Monday morning of having his cousin Lily come over to play with her Mama ran some errands. These two always manage to wear each other out in a matter of 3 hours - play hard = nap hard = happy mamas!

She's Crafty

I have been busy today, finally putting my sewing tools to good use! I got this pattern for these pants this morning for $1, and the fabric for about $3!

The pants were the sensible item I made...
...and then I had to have a little fun!

Like Mother, Like Son

For those that know me well, you know there are numerous pictures

over the years of this face. Today, I taught it to Wyatt!

I Don't Wanna Grow Up

I had a moment today - I am a Mom, I am someones mother, I am responsible for someone else's life. Not that I didn't know this already, but it was as I was peeling my 'Steal Your Face' sticker off of my license plate that I had this pause of thinking that I am a "grown up" now. Remember how uncool grown ups seemed when you were young? I often think when I am around other children, am I that uncool grown up? Will I embarrass my child one day soon? I'm sure the answer is yes...

I also like to think about the kind of grown up I thought I would be, versus the grown up that I am turning out to be. Some things seem on par, but there are other things that I like to laugh about. I mean sure, my kid will probably still be the one at the playground with a tye-dyed t-shirt, a macaroni necklace & a homemade cape on when it is 40 degrees out, but who knew I would be researching preschools & reading ingredient labels on sunscreens.

So, as I stated earlier, this "Mom" moment happened when I went to peel the sticker off of my license plate. We are getting rid of my car, and upgrading to a "safer" & roomier one (see what I mean!). I have had this sticker on my car since I was in high school - sort of a trademark, if you will. I had a moment where I thought back to when I first got my car - two days before I headed to Bonnaroo with my brother & his friends - for the second year in a row too! There were some good times had in this car at Bonnaroo, and certainly a "grown up" wouldn't be selling Jello-O shots out of their tailgate at a 5-day hippie music festival, right? No matter what car I end up with next (it won't be a mini van - I'm not that grown up yet) I will make sure the sticker gets back on the license plate. It's the little reminder that it's okay to still be a "kid" sometimes.

What was your "grown up" moment? Had one recently?

BINGO!

You know, there is this secret society among Mom's - A kind of network of information that you don't think about or know about until you become a Mom, and then you are frantic to gather the right information & make the right decisions. In this instance, I'm talking about preschool. Who knew that Wyatt getting into college one day could be easier than getting into preschool - preschool, people!! This is not required "learning"!!

Over the summer I thought to myself that it might be nice for Wyatt to have a 1/2 day without me (I mean, I know I am fascinating ;), but I thought he might like a little exposure to other adults & kids) I didn't even know where to begin, but through the Durham Mother's Club I found out about Parent's Morning Out, or PMO as the "Mommy Network" would call it. When I started calling around I was floored to find out that people signed up for that sort of thing 8 months prior - some people seemed downright appalled that I would even call in August to try to get my kid signed up for something that started one month later. Who knew!! I even found out about a preschool where kids were on the wait list from birth. I can just see it now:

Doctor: "It's a boy!"
Mother: "Could you keep it down, I'm on hold at XYZ Preschool...Yes, that's right - wait list for 2012 - the two-day Two class"

I mean, most people that know me know that I am anything but organized. I have always been a sort of "fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants" kind of gal, which has been great, but can also bite you in the ass every now & then. So, after my calls in August, I found out that it was January when I would need to sign Wyatt up for the 2009-2010 school year. Easy enough, right? Not so fast...you have to be a member of said church to get in, or an existing student. Oh, and don't forget about the siblings, then it is open to the public...It was just all to much to take in. That & I was told I better have about 5 choices because I may miss out on quite a few in this lottery situation. Sigh. So, I narrowed my choices down to 2 schools & just hoped for the best - I still couldn't believe all the work going into this!

So, fast forward to today. I am sitting in a fellowship hall with about 75 other parents, drawing a "Powerball" ball from a box - lucky number 78 (I hoped). I kid you not, they rolled the numbers out of a Bingo wheel, and mothers & fathers all around were watching their ping pong ball - hoping their number came up. The last time I remember this much tension was watching my parents with Connecticut lottery tickets on a Friday night as a kid - craziness!! We reached the 2 year old's class & there were 18 spots, but LOTS more parents than that..."78" I heard, as they neared the end of the "lottery." I couldn't believe it - I NEVER "win" anything! I didn't know what the appropriate reaction was either - a cheer? a subtle "yes"! I went with a smile.

All in all, it turned out to be a lot of fun - almost everyone at my table had a two year old, and got into the school - I got to meet a lot of great Mom's & Dad's that I hope will become friends in the future. My advice to those looking is to just take a deep breath & go with what you think is right. My thoughts are that at the age of two, I think it is more about the experience of being with other children & adults than it is getting into the "best" school in the area. I suppose this is only the first of many experiences like this, but it was certainly a lesson. Good luck to you all who go through it in the near future!