lean verrry close. No, closer. Can you understand me if I don't move my lips a lot?
Rosey blew the barbie bribe yesterday. Today, I picked her up at pre-school to have her teachers tell me (all four of them) that she stayed dry all day and 'was all excited about her new barbie.'
She has an hour and a half left until bath-time.
Pray for us. Or something.
And ssshhhhh.
Thursday, 8 November 2007
nice out, but a little nippy
Cass didn't have school today (teacher in-service day) and Rosey did, so he went with me to get her into town. Cass had brandished a flyer last night at me - activities put on by the region during the school break - so he went to dance-dance revolution for a few hours, while I frantically ran errands.
Afterwards (damn can that kid move!) I brought him home and am now preparing to paint the rest of the windowsills on the front of the house. I did the first coat as high as I could reach a few days ago, but I need to drag out the ladder and finish the tops. My house looks like a woman with half her makeup on.
Wish me luck. This could be trouble.
Afterwards (damn can that kid move!) I brought him home and am now preparing to paint the rest of the windowsills on the front of the house. I did the first coat as high as I could reach a few days ago, but I need to drag out the ladder and finish the tops. My house looks like a woman with half her makeup on.
Wish me luck. This could be trouble.
Wednesday, 7 November 2007
bribing with Barbies
Okay, I've never done this before.
With Cass, we just kept taking him to the potty (and taking him and taking him and taking him) and finally one day I told him that we were out of diapers....forever.
But Rosey? Chickadee is wearing me down.
So after exhausting everything we did with Cass, (and I'm just not comfortable rewarding with M&M's, thanks*) we've decided to go for the Big Enchilada.
Barbie.
There's a big chunk of Mama-guilt up in my throat about this. Is it ever right to bribe your children?
The rules are simple. Stay dry until bathtime tonight.
I'll let you know how it goes.
*For all kinds of reasons, which I can explain if anyone wants - the most pressing being that her favorite reward? A mini-box of raisins. Ever been around a preschooler who's had too many raisins? Yeah. I'm thinking toilet-training and imminent diarrhea don't really go together.
With Cass, we just kept taking him to the potty (and taking him and taking him and taking him) and finally one day I told him that we were out of diapers....forever.
But Rosey? Chickadee is wearing me down.
So after exhausting everything we did with Cass, (and I'm just not comfortable rewarding with M&M's, thanks*) we've decided to go for the Big Enchilada.
Barbie.
There's a big chunk of Mama-guilt up in my throat about this. Is it ever right to bribe your children?
The rules are simple. Stay dry until bathtime tonight.
I'll let you know how it goes.
*For all kinds of reasons, which I can explain if anyone wants - the most pressing being that her favorite reward? A mini-box of raisins. Ever been around a preschooler who's had too many raisins? Yeah. I'm thinking toilet-training and imminent diarrhea don't really go together.
Tuesday, 6 November 2007
at least it's not the damned frog any more
Rosey's favorite song, which we hear over and over in the car.....
(Mama! Want monsters!)
Litle secret: mama likes it too.
(Mama! Want monsters!)
Litle secret: mama likes it too.
Monday, 5 November 2007
calling all super-letters
(Yes. Rosey's been watching PBS again.)**
We have an overstuffed, grubby recliner that was given to us right before Cass was born. It has rocked both my babies well.
This morning my daughter is stretched out across the seat, head on one armrest, feet propped on the other. Her feet are teasing Jasper's ear. He's in the chair too.
They started curling up like this a few weeks ago, the monster dog carefully climbing over and tucking himself in with her smaller body, and her little feet pat-pat-patting whatever she can reach of his brown fur. And no, he's never been allowed on the furniture before. We like to think it was a mutual decision, since he doesn't try it with any of the rest of us.
Sooner or later, one of them will climb down and stretch out somewhere else. He is a big dog, y'know, and needs much more room - and she's given to elbowing her way into having more room than her share.
She's like her Mum that way.
**Ooh, S, have you seen this??
We have an overstuffed, grubby recliner that was given to us right before Cass was born. It has rocked both my babies well.
This morning my daughter is stretched out across the seat, head on one armrest, feet propped on the other. Her feet are teasing Jasper's ear. He's in the chair too.
They started curling up like this a few weeks ago, the monster dog carefully climbing over and tucking himself in with her smaller body, and her little feet pat-pat-patting whatever she can reach of his brown fur. And no, he's never been allowed on the furniture before. We like to think it was a mutual decision, since he doesn't try it with any of the rest of us.
Sooner or later, one of them will climb down and stretch out somewhere else. He is a big dog, y'know, and needs much more room - and she's given to elbowing her way into having more room than her share.
She's like her Mum that way.
**Ooh, S, have you seen this??
Sunday, 4 November 2007
i was blind but now I see
Tonight the power came back on. And I did a little dance and ran around hugging lampshades.
Last night, the remnants of Hurricane Noel rampaged through, snapping trees and downing power lines right and left. Our power held on, grimly, until just about two a.m. Then all was quiet.
The children were not thrilled with the prospect of a day with no tv, no computer, no running water, and no (flushing) toilet, but B and I tried to make an adventure of it and they played together outside and on the porch quite happily.
Bear is at work tonight, so after darkness fell the kids were shooed off to bed and I sat reading by candlelight, wondering how in hell everyone pre-electricity wasn't stone-blind. (And overcome by scented candle fumes. Oh, wait - they didn't have scented candles, did they? Shame. Might have lifted them out of their depressions when they realized they were going stone-blind.) And raiding the leftover H'ween candy for suckers, astonished how silent the house is without the dishwasher or the washer or a fan going.
I was nodding off (see: stone-blind, above) when there was a click, and a click, and a whump! and the power was - gloriously - back on!
Do a little dance! Make a little....you get the point.
We had settled in for the long haul, bracing ourselves for days of darkness (NS Power was estimating the power would go back on TUESDAY - and yes, it's happened before) but this time, they triumphed! Hurrah for the power company!
Last night, the remnants of Hurricane Noel rampaged through, snapping trees and downing power lines right and left. Our power held on, grimly, until just about two a.m. Then all was quiet.
The children were not thrilled with the prospect of a day with no tv, no computer, no running water, and no (flushing) toilet, but B and I tried to make an adventure of it and they played together outside and on the porch quite happily.
Bear is at work tonight, so after darkness fell the kids were shooed off to bed and I sat reading by candlelight, wondering how in hell everyone pre-electricity wasn't stone-blind. (And overcome by scented candle fumes. Oh, wait - they didn't have scented candles, did they? Shame. Might have lifted them out of their depressions when they realized they were going stone-blind.) And raiding the leftover H'ween candy for suckers, astonished how silent the house is without the dishwasher or the washer or a fan going.
I was nodding off (see: stone-blind, above) when there was a click, and a click, and a whump! and the power was - gloriously - back on!
Do a little dance! Make a little....you get the point.
We had settled in for the long haul, bracing ourselves for days of darkness (NS Power was estimating the power would go back on TUESDAY - and yes, it's happened before) but this time, they triumphed! Hurrah for the power company!
Saturday, 3 November 2007
slave labor
Arms full of books, reading a dust-jacket, I sat my pile down on the check-out desk and fumbled through my purse for my library card. I'm surprised I don't have it memorized.
I love the little library in town. When I first moved here, it was located in a tiny white house where the racks were so close together whirling around quickly was dangerous. A few years ago, the town refurbished one of the old school buildings, and made it into a few different things - a museum, an outreach-jobs office, and a library.
The library is lovely - airy, high-ceiling-ed, and bright. And what they don't have, they can find...
Which is what I was doing there today. Picking up my weekly dose of other voices. The librarian eyed the stack. 'Stocking up before the rain?'
I grinned. She's well used to this. 'Yup.'
'Okay, but I think you need to save some room. You had some holds come in over the inter-library loan.'
I looked at my pile. No way was I putting any of these babies back! I had to think fast.
'No problem. I've got extra hands out in the car.'
Two kids and a husband definitely come in handy on Library Day.
Friday, 2 November 2007
calm before the storm
Gorgeous fall day today. B doing something out in the yard (finishing the trailer?) kids running hither and yon. Even the monster dog was out.
Everyday an inquisitive squirrel sneaks down the oak tree and tries to touch noses with the big dumb dog, who (every morning) watches, wags, freezes still, then can't contain himself anymore and must! bark! and lunge! Harrison (the squirrel) just chitters at him for a minute then runs back up the bark. This usually makes Jas so excited that he...well, sprays the area with biodegradable bullets as he sprongs and leaps hopefully about.
Sometimes I call him Machine-Gun Kelly. Fire in the hole! Rat-ta-tat-ta-tat-ta-tat!
(Which is always fun to try to explain to dog-sitters.)
Cass is running with his soccer ball, R chasing after him, and Jas is spotting blue jays. After dusk, (when all the dog walkers have gone home) he'll go off-leash and I'll throw sticks for him until he collapses in a big furry pant-y heap.
B stops drilling and leans on his contraption. Brushing his forehead off, he mutters something about hurrying to finish before the wind starts and....hmm?
I look at him like he's been sniffing too many power tool fumes. The breeze is barely stirring the trees. Huh?
Well, so much for the perfect autumn afternoon. It appears Nova Scotia is getting a visit from post-tropical storm Noel come Saturday.
Whee! Batten down the hatches. So much for color season!
Everyday an inquisitive squirrel sneaks down the oak tree and tries to touch noses with the big dumb dog, who (every morning) watches, wags, freezes still, then can't contain himself anymore and must! bark! and lunge! Harrison (the squirrel) just chitters at him for a minute then runs back up the bark. This usually makes Jas so excited that he...well, sprays the area with biodegradable bullets as he sprongs and leaps hopefully about.
Sometimes I call him Machine-Gun Kelly. Fire in the hole! Rat-ta-tat-ta-tat-ta-tat!
(Which is always fun to try to explain to dog-sitters.)
Cass is running with his soccer ball, R chasing after him, and Jas is spotting blue jays. After dusk, (when all the dog walkers have gone home) he'll go off-leash and I'll throw sticks for him until he collapses in a big furry pant-y heap.
B stops drilling and leans on his contraption. Brushing his forehead off, he mutters something about hurrying to finish before the wind starts and....hmm?
I look at him like he's been sniffing too many power tool fumes. The breeze is barely stirring the trees. Huh?
Well, so much for the perfect autumn afternoon. It appears Nova Scotia is getting a visit from post-tropical storm Noel come Saturday.
Whee! Batten down the hatches. So much for color season!
Thursday, 1 November 2007
barbie has the mumps
Hey, remember a few years back when Mattel changed Barbie? Made her more life-like and realistic? Great hurrahs went up to the toy company, who was making Barbie more realistic to younger generations, betting body image, etc. It was a very good idea. But.....
They changed her face.
I have no idea when the de-facing (ha! I made ze pun!) happened - I remember vaguely when the round of new jokes went around about Barbie not falling on her face anymore because she was better proportioned, but her face?
R has a ballerina Barbie. Barbie looks like she's suffering from water retention. And she doesn't look special anymore. She looks haggard and old and.... puffy.
Has Barbie been on a bender?
They changed her face.
I have no idea when the de-facing (ha! I made ze pun!) happened - I remember vaguely when the round of new jokes went around about Barbie not falling on her face anymore because she was better proportioned, but her face?
R has a ballerina Barbie. Barbie looks like she's suffering from water retention. And she doesn't look special anymore. She looks haggard and old and.... puffy.
Has Barbie been on a bender?
picked by poppet
Texas Poppet, that is...
The Bloggity Meme Of Four
Four First Names of Crushes I’ve Had:
Hugh: This is no surprise. Even my husband knows about this one. He figured it out from the way I hunker in front of the tv on Tuesday nights, glassy-eyed and shushing him whenever he speaks. But he gets the same way about that woman on CSI Miami, so...
Matt: He was the football player. I was the bookish girl who wrote poetry. It was so not going to ever happen. Didn't stop me from imagining it for...four years? Ah, high school.
Bobby: Third? grade - I was new to school and scared to death - he helped me find the bathroom, the kitchen and the gym...then showed me a really neat tree-fort and shared his Fig Newtons. What was not to like?
Bill, one and two: I had a summer of Bills. Both in my english as poetry course, writing from the opposite ends of the spectrum. Bill One - Lanky, dreamy, actor, musician, slow smile, fantastic plans. Bill Two: Shorter, squarish, fiery, doer, fast smile and faster wit. Couldn't have one and decided against the other.
Four Pieces of Clothing I wish I still owned:
My long pumpkin/dirty squash/baby vomit colored sweater. An unfortunate shade of rust-orange, it was nevertheless the most comfortable thing I have ever owned. It had a v-neck with two bone buttons and cuffs long enough to cover my hands. I still look for that sweater in my drawer come winter.
More of the baby clothes my mother made for me. Most of them were water and must damaged, and fell apart when I tried to save them.
My red wool baby trench coat. It made me feel exotic and noticed.
My multi-colored, last-ends-of-wool slippers that my aunt knitted for me, sadly eaten by the previous dog.
Names I’ve been called at one time or another:
Mainly just Jess. Or Jessie. Or Hey You. Occasionally I get called Bear's woman (as in 'oh yeah, you're Bear's woman!' to which I answer 'No, he belongs to me.'
B calls me honey.
Four Professions I Secretly Want to Try: (like, for a day)
Sitcom Writer
Doula
Philanthropist
President
Four Musicians I’d most want to go on a date with:
Simon Le Bon, Duran Duran. Probably should have brought him up in the 'crush' section. Well, my younger self would want to go out on a date with him. Nowadays he looks distressingly like my father. Who is a very handsome man. (Hi, Dad!) But it's disquieting.
Bono. I think the conversation would be excellent.
Andrea Bocelli. My God, that man can sing.
blanking on a fourth here......
Four Foods I’d Rather Throw than Eat:
cocktail weenies
okra
egg salad
venison
Four Things I Like to Sniff:
fresh-cut grass (in the yard, in the yard)
the can of coffee, fresh ground
outside (we get bracing sea air draughts 'round here)
cherry lifesavers
Four People I'd Like To Tag:
hum. Anyone? Everyone?
The Bloggity Meme Of Four
Four First Names of Crushes I’ve Had:
Hugh: This is no surprise. Even my husband knows about this one. He figured it out from the way I hunker in front of the tv on Tuesday nights, glassy-eyed and shushing him whenever he speaks. But he gets the same way about that woman on CSI Miami, so...
Matt: He was the football player. I was the bookish girl who wrote poetry. It was so not going to ever happen. Didn't stop me from imagining it for...four years? Ah, high school.
Bobby: Third? grade - I was new to school and scared to death - he helped me find the bathroom, the kitchen and the gym...then showed me a really neat tree-fort and shared his Fig Newtons. What was not to like?
Bill, one and two: I had a summer of Bills. Both in my english as poetry course, writing from the opposite ends of the spectrum. Bill One - Lanky, dreamy, actor, musician, slow smile, fantastic plans. Bill Two: Shorter, squarish, fiery, doer, fast smile and faster wit. Couldn't have one and decided against the other.
Four Pieces of Clothing I wish I still owned:
My long pumpkin/dirty squash/baby vomit colored sweater. An unfortunate shade of rust-orange, it was nevertheless the most comfortable thing I have ever owned. It had a v-neck with two bone buttons and cuffs long enough to cover my hands. I still look for that sweater in my drawer come winter.
More of the baby clothes my mother made for me. Most of them were water and must damaged, and fell apart when I tried to save them.
My red wool baby trench coat. It made me feel exotic and noticed.
My multi-colored, last-ends-of-wool slippers that my aunt knitted for me, sadly eaten by the previous dog.
Names I’ve been called at one time or another:
Mainly just Jess. Or Jessie. Or Hey You. Occasionally I get called Bear's woman (as in 'oh yeah, you're Bear's woman!' to which I answer 'No, he belongs to me.'
B calls me honey.
Four Professions I Secretly Want to Try: (like, for a day)
Sitcom Writer
Doula
Philanthropist
President
Four Musicians I’d most want to go on a date with:
Simon Le Bon, Duran Duran. Probably should have brought him up in the 'crush' section. Well, my younger self would want to go out on a date with him. Nowadays he looks distressingly like my father. Who is a very handsome man. (Hi, Dad!) But it's disquieting.
Bono. I think the conversation would be excellent.
Andrea Bocelli. My God, that man can sing.
blanking on a fourth here......
Four Foods I’d Rather Throw than Eat:
cocktail weenies
okra
egg salad
venison
Four Things I Like to Sniff:
fresh-cut grass (in the yard, in the yard)
the can of coffee, fresh ground
outside (we get bracing sea air draughts 'round here)
cherry lifesavers
Four People I'd Like To Tag:
hum. Anyone? Everyone?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)