Another list

The last random list I made was so enjoyable that I thought I'd make another one, just for fun:

1. The house across the street is for sale - who wants to come live next to me?
2. Sugary treats are yummy - I'm so happy Lent is over.
3. An enchilada-thon is also delicious (and not the same thing as an enchilada thong)
4. Thanks to Amber for having a birthday to give Diana an excuse to throw an enchilada-thon.
5. Spring makes me feel alive again (except when my allergies put me back into a fog. Do I sound like a Claritin commercial or what?)
6. 'Date Night' was an awesome date night!
7. I need to send Michelle pictures of my yard so she can tell me if I've got annuals or perenials in my flower beds and what I need to do to make it look like I actually care about my yard.
8. I've loved spring break, but I'm ready to get back to teaching tomorrow (although I do not yet have their papers graded - sigh).
9. They're having an open house at that house across the street right now. I can't decide if should go over to take a look or if that would just be voyeuristic.
10. I'm still not sure how I feel about Pluto's demotion from planet to planetoid.

Easter Pics

Yes, I'm a big cheeseball and gave in to the crazy cuteness of matching Easter outfits for my kids (don't worry, I draw the line at anything matchy for me).



But the cheese gets even moldier (and more delicious!). Not only do my kids match each other, they also match Ruth's daughter, and Go-go's best friend, Becca. How could we possibly resist setting up the perfect picture for their wedding video (circa 2029).



And here's one of the trio. Mui-mui is in the wheelbarrow because she's terrified of Bunnies (I feel a song from 'Once More with Feeling' coming on (the Buffy the Vampire musical episode) - when in doubt, always go with the 'bunnies are evil' theory).

Me: "Shall we have rice and chicken nuggets for lunch?"
Mui-mui: "No, juice........and chocolate!"

Post for the sake of posting

Here is a post just to prove to myself that I can actually publish a blog post. I've started a couple of posts lately, but they're just not working out (one is just boring and the other one is too intimidating), but it's been almost two months (criminal!), so here's what's up in my life:

1. Pi day (3.14 - March 14) was awesome - pizza pi, berry pi, taco pi, coconut cream pi, chocolate pi, pink freezer pi - yum! Plus good friends, good conversation, and all-around general nerdiness.

2. I gave up sugary sweets for Lent.

3. No, despite teaching at a Catholic college, I didn't convert. It's a purely secular celebration (celebration? maybe observance or suffrance would be more accurate?) of Lent.

4. How do I reconcile 1 and 2? I just ate the Pizza, the taco pi, and the (sugar-free) chocolate pi. I enjoyed the rest in my mind (and in the knowledge that we'll just have to celebrate Pi approximation day in July (22/7) and it won't be Lent then).

5. Go-go sings an awesome version of "I'm looking over a four leaf clover that I overlooked before"

6. I thought Relief Society culture was a unique Mormon phenomenon, but the Sweet Adeline chorus I recently joined is eerily similar - women who will kill themselves trying to serve, slightly over-earnest and cheesily sweet, people who can't help but proselyte to you about how wonderful it is to be a member, lots of meal delivery when someone has knee surgery or a baby, and being assigned a pair of 'sisters' who are responsible to answer any questions and make sure I'm progressing with the music and choreography. I guess most relief societies don't go out for a beer after rehearsal or have a lesbian R.S. president, but those are pretty superficial differences.

7. I hate grading poorly written papers.

8. Mui-mui is amazingly cute.

9. My Grandma recently turned 95 and is amazing. I keep meaning to make Swiss bread in her honor, but haven't gotten up the gumption to do it yet.

10. In honor of the Ides of March, we're eating Caesar salad.

I love school

When I first got married and started to think about having kids, I thought that being a stay at home mom (SAHM) would be the right choice for me. I have a rather inflated opinion of myself and I think I'm incredibly competent, but I'm always losing my battles with laziness and inertia. Adding more things to my to-do list did not seem like a good idea. My mom always worked, but she somehow managed to be home when I needed her and have dinner on the table and keep track of everything we were up to. If there's one thing I'm confident of in this life, it's that I am not as together as my mother. I used to worry that she would think I was making a judgement about her working by making a different choice myself, but the truth is that it was a simple judgement of my own abilities.

The reality of SAHM-ness is miles and miles (and miles) away from my imaginary world. My kids drive me crazy most days, but not even the kind of crazy I used to imagine. It's not so much the things they do (OK, sometimes it's the things they do) as the relentlessness of being with them and being solely responsible for them. Go-go is charming and clever and full of fun. Mui-mui is cute as a button and it's amazing to watch her figure out new things. After a few hours of cute and clever and fun, I just need them to leave me alone. Stop climbing on my head, stop asking if we can play one more game of Connect Four, stop climbing on the counter to get the cookies, stop demanding my undivided attention (pretty please)!

Which is why I love school. Three mornings a week I get to get dressed (in professional clothes even), go talk to grown-ups (well, close enough to grown-ups), use big words (and explain the big words to my students), remember that I have a brain, and not be around my children. When my mom time is smaller and balanced with some grownup time, I am a much better mom. I have the sanity to paint with them, and do play-doh, and go play in the snow. And I've found that as I give them real attention, they stop being so demanding and momhood doesn't feel quite so relentless. For me, adding things to my to-do list actually makes the whole thing more manageable.

I've taught on and off since Go-go was born, so this obviously isn't a new revelation. But it's been a solid year since I've had a teaching gig and I'd forgotten how much better I am as a working mom (even if it's very part-time right now). So, three cheers for the start of a new semester!

Conflicted Emotions

Embarrassment that my car is so dirty?

Pride in Go-go's fierce name-writing skills?

Worry for his future as a tagger?

Merry Christmas!

Buffalo in the Snow

We had a wonderfully warm October and November here, but we finally got a little snow earlier this month (and the forecast is for a lot more this week). The kids couldn't wait to put on their snow pants and frolic in their own winter wonderland.

Merry Christmas!!

Fall

It doesn't seem fair to punish all of you for my blogging slacker-ness, but life is pain (anyone who says differently is selling something). So prepare yourself to absorb all of Autumn in one fell swoop (or, should I say, one fell blog post). We'll be covering Mui-mui's birthday, a visit from Grandma and Grandpa P., Halloween, a trip to the pumpkin farm, etc. Because I really do like you guys, I'll spare you the sagas of the craft fair from hell, the person at church who CTW (Chose the Wrong and stole my coat), and Erik's exciting business trips. Don't you feel better now.

We'll start with Halloween.

My brother-in law, Justin, made the coolest Optimus Prime costume in the world (here he is with my cute sister, Rainbow Brite - AKA Ellen):

So, I don't think it's possible to beat Justin, but I did make the 2nd best Optimus Prime costume in the world for Go-go (plus, it actually transforms - check out the video taken at his Preschool halloween party). Thanks to Libby for the awesome "Go-go Prime" shirt - he LOVES it:

Mui-mui was a fabulous pumpkin at some parties and an adorable monkey at others. Sadly, these are the only picture I have (the back of the pumpkin head is her at her preschool party). I promise that I took others, but they're on my stolen phone (or on Grandpa's camera):

Go-go's preschool had two parties, so he went as a pirate/cowboy on the day he wasn't Optimus (reversible vest)

His preschool also had a halloween field trip to a great pumpkin farm. Grandma P., Mui-mui and I came along too and the kids got to pet a chicken, milk a goat, brush a horse, ride a pony, take a hayride, and choose pumpkins. It was perfect weather on a perfect farm - all in all, a perfect day.



We did lots of other fun things while Grandma and Grandpa P. were here. We took a cruise on the Erie canal and got to go up and down through the locks, went to the Anchor Bar and Grill - home of the original Buffalo wings, and took a trip to Goat Island at Niagara Falls. It was so fun to see them and show them around our new house and neighborhood.






October was also Mui-mui's birthday. I can't believe my little baby girl is two years old. She's talking up a storm and is just cute, giggly, and playful. Her Grandpa P. made her the most fabulous ducky booster seat ("duckie seat!") and Grandma and Grandpa got her lots of cute ducks to go with it (toys, purse, towel, and bath confetti). She gets a lot of practice saying "Quack!"



Grandma and Grandpa B. sent a great tea set which goes perfectly in the play kitchen we got her. She loves to pack the set in the cupboard then pull it out and "dink tea". When Go-go saw the kitchen, he declared that he had to give her a present that was as big as Mommy and Daddy's present. So he had a great idea to make a playhouse for the backyard - he wins - it's bigger!



So, there's our fall in a nutshell. Grandma and Grandpa B. are coming for Thanksgiving, so I'm sure we'll have lots more adventures in the coming weeks. And maybe I'll actually blog about them sooner than two months from now. Tune in to see.