Before I Became Your Mother
I never knew...
how happy I would feel when you smile,
I never knew...
how sad I would feel when you cry,
I never knew...
how heartwarming it would be to watch you grow,
I never knew...
how much love my heart could hold,
And now...
I will always know.
(poem borrowed from incredibly talented photographer Jessica :))
do you ever feel like you have about a million little thoughts floating around in your brain...but you just can't make any of them connect to form a thoughtful post? that's me lately... :)
i don't know if i was like this pre-child, but i am now, more often than not...
maybe it's because my life is rich with various experiences...maybe it's because i don't have the "same old things" happening each day with kids running around...maybe it's because i just have too much stuff going on... :)
so, this will be a flurry post... randoms... :)
~i think K ate a rock yesterday... she's definitely my child... she loves dirt and rocks...and the dirtier she can get, the better... her favorite place right now is to sit at the end of the driveway in the rocky sand-ish pile from the street... she sits in the pile of dirt and rocks...she digs in there with her hands...she gets her little pink butted pants all dirty...and her hands touch her face that becomes stroked with grey dirt... :) she gets up, walks with a rock or two, comes back to her pile, and digs her hands in for more dirt... :) so last night, my glance wandered for a second...i looked back at her, and i saw a black something in her mouth (or i think i did)... i did the sweep i learned in CPR, but there was nothing there... :) so, i think she ate one of the rocks... we'll probably know today, if she did... :)
~i'm learning a lot about being a consistent disciplinarian with K... she is trying out her power and control... i admit that there are days when i really like when nap time comes, but that isn't often... after she naps, she's a new little woman, though... :) and if you were here during those mornings where she's trying me every 30 seconds, you'd know that that's a good thing...
~we dropped from 2 to 1 nap...and this may be on of the reasons for the above "flurry." i think we've been doing this one nap transition for about a month now... she is doing much better with the extended time that she's up... i'm hoping that the afternoon nap grows in length a bit... :)
~my sweet father-in-law & Ry built me a clothes line... :) i LOVE it... i don't know if i can emphasize that enough... seriously, i love it... i wake up and am excited to do laundry and to put it outside to dry... :) i am a bit of a slow clothes line hanger, though...i feel like it takes me forever... :) hopefully i will get a bit faster... :) i have a load of sheets and a blanket in the washer now crying to be put out on the line for fresh air and sunshine... :) it's really the simple things, isn't it? :)
i haven't had the courage to hang out underwear yet... i guess i'm afraid that the birds or cows will make fun of us...(we have no neighbors behind us, and those to the sides have views that are mostly blocked by some trees)...
~there are only 24 days left of school with the kids for Ry...so that means 26 days of work for him before summer... :) that's exciting... i can't believe it's already time for summer... :) i can't believe i haven't taught in a classroom for a year... :) it feels ironically liberating... :)
~i have been watching with sadness about poor Yeardley Love, the UVA lacrosse player who was apparently murdered by another UVA lacrosse player (Georgy Hugheley)... we live about 10 minutes away from UVa, so it's splashed all over the news here...
as the days pass since her death, new details trickle out... they dated and had a violent and aggressive relationship, physical abuse...and people knew but just didn't say anything... and George...he is a very mean and belligerent drunk and had been arrested for being drunk in public in 2008, when he also apparently assaulted a female officer... and word is that he had been drinking all day on Sunday before went and kicked down Yeardley's bedroom door and proceeded to "slam her head" against the wall... i can't even imagine the pain that Yeardley's parents, family, and friends must be feeling... it rips this mom's heart out...
~our house is turning into the Holiday Inn... :) Ry's family was here last week...my parents are arriving today... i'm not that great at making beds, but i'm glad to be surrounded by family... :)
~i'm itching to do some gardening... i want the freedom to go and buy some flowers for mother's day... :) and i want to plant a vegetable garden, too... :)
that's all for now... :) hope i haven't bored you too much... :)
i feel like it's going to be another one of those weeks where meal planning is kind of an organized disorganization...
the weather is sooo hot... humidity, heat...is it July???
i don't feel like going to the grocery store... (see above statement)...but maybe the husband will go instead... :)
and i kind of feel like i'm playing catch-up in a number of areas here around the house... laundry, putting stuff away, bills, Mother's Day stuff, the deck needs to be sealed...and i want to get my garden tilled and planted...
am i whining?
ok...ok...ok...
sooo, here are the meal ideas for the week... we'll be having these items in this order, sorta, maybe...or maybe not... :)
Sunday: ate out w/ the in-laws :)
Monday: grilled out - hot dogs, mac n cheese, and corn
Tuesday: spaghetti w/ salad and bread
Wednesday: blueberry pancakes or sour cream pancakes
Thursday: homemade pizza
Friday: cold cut sandwiches
Saturday: grill out?
hope you have a great week of good food and family time :)
we're not shopping this week - except for things like milk and some fresh fruit... :) we have a nice menu, though...nothing to scoff at... :) and if tonight's dinner is any indication of what our week holds, we'll be enjoying full bellies... :)
and yes, if you want to call this "Pioneer Woman" week, feel free... :) it wasn't intentional... :)
Sunday: homemade sloppy joes (Pioneer Woman), leftover cheesy noodles & green beans
oh my goodness, these sloppy joes were so soooo soooo good... W.O.W. :) make them...seriously...they're good...
Monday: chicken rice soup (Pioneer Woman) & maybe some homemade french bread
Tuesday: breakfast for dinner (pancakes? french toast? omlettes? not sure yet...)
Wednesday: leftovers
ry's parents and sister will be arriving on Thursday afternoon, so i am not 100% sure what the rest of the week will hold as far as our menu. ry's mom is an awesome cook...so i'm sure she'll be in the kitchen for some of meals for the rest of the week...or we'll be eating out... either way, i'll leave the rest of the week blank...
(and, honestly, while i'm LOVING cooking, i'm kind of looking forward to a little kitchen/dinner vacation... :))
BUT... i'm thinking of making a pork tenderloin in the crockpot for Thursday... they're on sale this week... too good of a deal to pass up... :)
Thursday: pork tenderloin?
Friday: ? :)
Saturday: ? :)
enjoy your week... :) hope you spend some good time around the table with your friends and your family! :)
my mom has a little red wagon that she sits various little stuffed animal friends in during the year... during the holidays, little reindeer and bears sit in it...in the Spring, she decorates it with little bunnies and lambs...we played with the wagon a bit when we visited in early March... when we walked in for our Easter visit, the very first think K went to play with (after giving Grandma kisses :)) was the wagon...we also enjoyed playing with Grandma's cabinets, Daisy's dog toys (my parents' dog), and opening and closing the door... :)
just tall enough to reach the door knob :)
"bahll"
ridin' in the wagon :)
drinking and riding :)
hmm, what's this?
serious egg hunter
ohhh! a Peep! :)
hmmm, what's in this one?
attention diverted - a pine cone! :) (it's kind of shaped
ohhh, yah, these eggs have treats inside :) 
i have the treat, let me put the egg back in the grass :)
it's gonna be slim pickins around this house for the next two weeks... we're pretty much going to eat what we have... not a lot of $$ for grocery shopping...unless Uncle Sam sends our refund checks soon... :)
i don't think we'll suffer... :)
Sunday: leftovers - macaroni soup & grilled cheese
Monday: hamburgers, macaroni and cheese, veggies
Tuesday: lasagna & french bread
Wednesday: french toast
Thursday: leftovers (lasagna)
Friday: hot dogs, cheese noodles (paula dean), & veggies
Saturday: free for all - eat whatever
:) happy eating this week... :)
it's so much fun to have a little one walking around this Spring.... :) it's nice to put her down in the green grass and watch her explore everything around her... :)
we don't have a lot of "fun" kiddy things to do in our yard {like a sandbox (which would become a wild kitty litter box, no doubt) or a swing set}...so mostly, we just chase her or chase the balls that she kicks or throws... she doesn't seem to care, though...and neither do we :)
here are some photos from the last few weeks :)
kickin' the ball with Daddy :)
her "wow!" face (love it :))
ohh, a lightsaber?
ohhh, grass :)
let's play! :)
runnin' away :)
learning that your hands get dirty when you touch the ground :)i have been such a spending grocery shopper in the last few weeks that i'm going to not shop this week and we're going to eat what we have... and we have plenty... :)
this is what our week looks like for meals...i think... :) i always find that it's hard to "get back into the swing of things" after a week off... :)
Sunday: strombolis or homemade pizza
Monday: out to dinner to celebrate Ry's birthday - his pick: Chinese
Tuesday: chicken hot dish
Wednesday: macaroni soup
Thursday: leftovers - chicken hot dish
Friday: leftovers - soup and any chicken hot dish
Saturday: grill out - burgers or hot dogs
:) enjoy your week! :)
it's been awhile... :)
i feel like there's a lot to write about but nothing that is remotely interesting... :)
we've been busy in the last week or so...mostly going here and there...
Ry's very short spring break (thank you, February snowcation) bought us a little time to head north to visit my parents for a few days... we were going to head to DE to visit Ry's family, too, but our schedules, combined, just didn't allow for a lot of time to see them... so, we all decided to just wait and enjoy a visit in a few weeks...
anyway, we had a nice time in PA...didn't do a whole lot, but that's part of the fun. i really just enjoy spending time with my mom and dad...we don't have to be on the go all the time or anything... :)
we drove back to VA on Wednesday and K and I had a quiet but busy day on Thursday when Ry went back to school for a very short week... :) on Friday morning, we headed up to Washington, DC with intentions of seeing some pretty Cherry Blossoms... however, we were too late... we mostly just got to see some brown petals on the ground... we'll have to head to DC a little earlier next year, i think, in order to take in the pretty flowers! :)
we did get to do some touristy things in DC, though...so that was nice. :) it was a long day with A LOT of walking, though...wow! my feet were killing me when we finally got back to the van to head to dinner... :) i don't know how far we walked, but we were on our feet for a good 6 or more hours...
i just got the pictures from the last few weeks loaded on the computer, and as long as the computer doesn't crash between now and later (been having some issues with good old Dell), i will get them posted and write some more details on the last few weeks... :)
in the meantime, i need to do the piles of laundry that have accumulated and plan our meals for this upcoming week... yep, i think it's back to the "grindstone" with our regular schedules... :) bittersweet, if you ask me...it's kinda sad to go back to a predictable schedule but at least it means that in about 8 more weeks, we'll be saying hello to summer vacation. :) the last week was just a taste of what's to come soon... :)
more later...just wanted to let anyone who reads know that we haven't disappeared... :)
have a wonderful Sunday! :)
