|
August 1st, 2010
Personally I don’t remember this game at all from my childhood. Peng Win is one of those Milton Bradley gems that JQ played with back in the 80s. Somehow his parents hung on to it for all these years. Now it has come home to us. And although nobody in this household fits the scant 4 year age range of 4–8, we all had fun kicking penguin ass. Anybody else remember this game? July 12th, 2010
Remember those glow in the dark stars that you could hang on the ceiling in your bedroom? Not the sticker kind but the plastic ones that came with a tiny supply of white removable adhesive. The kind you could only use one time because you were never given enough adhesive to reuse them once you pried them off the ceiling. Or, if you had leftover adhesive it would be completely dried out or covered in dust by the time you actually needed it. Remember those? They were awesome. I always wanted a set of them growing up. Somehow that never happened when I was a kid. No, it wasn’t until I was an adult and living on my own before I actually had my own set of glow in the dark stars on my ceiling. What can I say? I was a late bloomer. Now, I don’t exactly remember which apartment I had them in, but they came with me when I moved. And for the last five years we have had that set of stars sitting in a small pink plastic bin in our basement waiting to see the light of day and glow again. But that weird white gummy adhesive has a tendency to dry out over the years. So I never really had a way—or a need—to put them back up. Until now.
A few weeks ago Glue Dots and TwitterMoms sent me a big envelope FULL of Glue Dots products. Included in that envelope were removable adhesive dots. Which instantly reminded me of those stars. G-tot could not have been more enthusiastic about using them when I told him what we were going to do with the Glue Dots and that little basket of stars.
We washed the years of dust and dirt off of them. Then we picked off all that old white dry adhesive that still stuck to the back of the stars—but would no longer stick to anything else. Next came the glue dots. We ended up using 3 different packs of Glue Dots for the job. It didn’t need that many but we were experimenting with the different options to see what worked best for us. The roller worked well for the quickly covering the larger stars and the individual dots were great for the smaller stars.
G-tot and I were both too short to reach the ceiling without a ladder. I was also too lazy to drag a ladder in from the garage. So we stuck them on the walls instead.
They are still super awesome. Disclaimer: This post was written as a part of the TwitterMoms and Glue Dots blogging contest. For more information on how you can participate, click here. June 20th, 2010
Every girl—young or old—deserves a positive father figure in her life. I have been lucky enough to have three.
And my son is lucky enough to have an amazing father of his own.
Happy Father’s Day to all the fathers in my life—near and far. You are loved very much. June 15th, 2010
Five months ago things were really, really bad. I was spent. Exhausted. Overwhelmed. For weeks after that horrifying weekend I wondered if I would ever be happy again. I wondered when it would stop hurting so much. I hoped it would be sooner than later. I was permanently altered in those moments in the bathroom. I had fear shoved down my throat for three days and saw things I can’t unsee. It made me scared to try again. I’m still scared. Reading the posts from those first few days and all of your comments has me in tears all over again. I’m not sure I can ever express just how grateful I am to have received that outpouring of love from everyone. I did not grieve alone in those first few days. I still hate that this happened to us. I never thought a miscarriage would be how my second pregnancy would end. Now I’m afraid it will always happen to us. I’m not sure I could handle that. But these past five months have taught me many things about myself. Especially about my unhappiness. I’m still figuring out how to overcome that. I’m hopeful. And I’m getting better. Little by little my deep-seated wounds are healing. Thankfully. May 9th, 2010
To my mom: HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY! To my step-mom: HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY! To my mother-in-law: HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY! To my son: To all the mothers out there: HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY! April 25th, 2010
This morning was the kind of morning that would normally keep me on the couch, bra-less, coffee in hand with the buzz of cartoons in the back of my head. It was foggy. It was cold. And the forecast called for heavy rain. Who puts a bra on for days like that? But today wasn’t just any day. Today was the March for Babies walk for the NW Ohio Division of March of Dimes. Today I was walking in honor of Maddie. Now, I don’t know Heather or Mike but that doesn’t matter. When I heard about them losing their sweet Maddie last year my heart broke for them. Their story touched me as it had so many others. So when Brittany asked me this year to be a part of the Marching for Madeline team she set up I knew right away it was something I wanted to do. I have not walked/biked/ran in an event for charity in a very long time. The last thing that really sticks out in my head was over 20 years ago. An event that took place at the same location as the kickoff for today’s walk, where I raised enough money riding my bike around a track for a few hours for some charitable cause to earn the top incentive prize. A boy’s 10-speed bike. Am I the only one who finds that prize to be a bit ironic? *crickets* Anyway… Participating in a walk for charity is actually the first item listed on my 101 in 1001 list of things to do. With today’s March for Maddie I can mark that one as complete. I can’t think of a better reason to get to cross it off my list. It was chilly but the 3 mile walk through Maumee was nice. JQ and G-tot joined me on the walk. And the rain stayed away just until we got back to the starting point. And then it started pouring. Still is. Many, many thanks go out to all of those friends and family online and offline that made a donation and supported my walk. Together you helped me raise $370 for the March of Dimes. That makes me smile.
March 22nd, 2010
Dear Gideon, In just a couple of days you will be three years old. THREE. Holy crap. For whatever reason I feel compelled to catch up on your monthly letters before that happens. I know, I know, it is just one more item to add to the list of neurotic things your mother does. Trust me, one day that will be a very long list. I’m okay with that and although it will thoroughly embarrass you as an adolescent, many years from now you may actually find it charming. Anyway…months 34 and 35.
I imagine one day you will read these letters and notice that I tend to fail when it comes to writing them in a timely fashion. My goal is always to get them written within a couple of days of the 24th of each month. That rarely happens and this is by far the longest I have gone without writing you a letter. It has been a rough couple of months for me and I just haven’t been in the right frame of mind to compose a heartfelt letter to you. But that hasn’t stopped YOU from being truly amazing and plowing full-speed ahead in terms of growth. And thankfully, you are ALWAYS the highlight of my day (the good and the bad days).
On January 15th, you came up to me, lifted my shirt, kissed my belly and said, “I love you baby.” Sweetly, compassionately, and without any prompting. My heart melted in that moment. The next day I lost the baby and my heart broke. I was confused, angry with the world, and devastated. I had no idea how I was going to tell you what had happened. How do you explain that to a two and a half year old? I wasn’t sure if you could understand but I couldn’t have you say “I love you baby” to my now empty uterus. So, as I held you in my arms that afternoon before your nap, I told you that the baby was very sick and wasn’t gong to grow in my belly anymore. And you cried. Which made me weep. There we stood in the darkness of your room that Saturday afternoon sobbing over our loss. I immediately questioned whether or not I had made the right decision by telling you at that moment. Looking back, I’m not sure there is any easy way. I’m still not sure how much you understood in that moment either. But your reaction was completely appropriate and somehow cathartic. Oddly, that wasn’t the only loss you suffered that day. While you were taking your bath that evening I picked up your much loved binky. Holding it in my hand I noticed four small holes in the nipple from your tiny sharp teeth. Those holes compromised the integrity of the binky and made it a health hazard. You couldn’t have it back after that. That was the last binky we had in the house and your Dad and I had no intention of buying you a new one. And just like that you were done with the binky. You never really complained or asked for it again. You were ready to let it go, you just needed the push. I had this grand idea of tying it to a balloon and having you let it float away as a final goodbye. We never did that and it is still sitting in the medicine cabinet collecting dust. One of these days it will end up in the trash. Thanks for making it so easy.
Rest assured that the last couple of months have been more than just heartache and loss. Even on the darkest of days you have been a shining example of all that is right in the world. One day while I did a bit of work in the office you came in “driving” your car with your “lunch” in hand. You came in to give me a hug and kiss along with a wave goodbye because you were “going to work”. So adorable. On more than one occasion you have looked at me and said, “You’re beautiful.” Wow. What was I saying earlier about your ability to melt my heart? It goes triple for statements like that.
Talking to you continues to be one of my favorite things to do and I am absolutely smitten with some of the phrases that come out of your mouth. One phrase in particular that always makes me giggle and that I would never correct is “piggy-ride back”. What you really want is a piggy-back ride but EVERY time you say “piggy-ride back”. And EVERY time I give you one without hesitation and with a smile on my face. Because to me, that is just perfect.
Love, February 28th, 2010
February 23rd, 2010
Sometimes it is the subtle little things that make me smile even bigger in an already joyous moment. Have you any woof? from Artist Mother Teacher on Vimeo. And sometimes it is the not so subtle and somewhat inappropriate things that make me laugh so hard I sound like a 90 year old woman that has been smoking too long. That is some fancy necklace you have there from Artist Mother Teacher on Vimeo. Take a couple minutes and watch these. If you don’t at least smile you are dead inside. |
     
  |
|
|
Copyright © 2010 artistmotherteacher.com - All Rights Reserved |
||
Not exactly sure why JQ chose to behead the children.
34 months—February 4, 2010
35 months—March 2, 2010
Perfect Snow for Making a Snowman
Umm…
Don’t Forget About the Little Guy
Crisp Cheesy Goodness
Enough with the Pictures Lady
I Said ENOUGH!
