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Showing posts from March, 2011

Her Time to Shine

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Finally, she was legally aloud to cross the white line and she loved every.single. moment! At the beginning of the half one of the coaches asked if she was ready to stand with her on the side.  Her response, “No.  I want to play!”  And play, she did… scoring 2 goals!  (plus one in the other teams goal) Her smile truly radiated the entire time she was out there. I L-O-V-E being a soccer mom… being HER soccer mom! Visit here or here for more pictureFULL posts!

Forget Something?

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Last week I mentioned on face book that I love how Scott makes me a pot of coffee every morning. And, I do. Makes me smile each morning when I come to the kitchen and pour myself a cup. And I smile again later that morning as I go back to top it off.   Again… and again. Thursday, however, I had to laugh when I went to pour my cup of coffee.  Seems he forgot something when making my morning “I love you.” While he did put the coffee beans in the grinder, change the filter, add the water, and turned it on, he forgot one very important step. Putting the coffee pot back into the machine. I wonder if perhaps he too could benefit from a morning cup of caffeine.

Another Circus First

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The time had finally come for the tooth to be pulled.   While our son was  more than ready for it to come out, Dad was secretly uneasy about the venture.  “He trusts me” Scott confided to me in the hallway, “What if I hurt him?”   Then Scott got another one of his moments of sheer fatherhood brilliance. “I’ll let him do it,” he declared. He tied one end of the dental floss to his light saber and the other to his tooth. The girls gathered around eager to see the tooth pop out.  I stood by with the video camera rolling and the epic light saber battle began. Father and son wielded their sabers. The floss flew out of his mouth and out popped his tooth. The look of pure glee on his face when he looked down and saw his tooth hanging there was priceless.

Phil, You Couldn’t Have Been MORE wrong

March in Maryland is always fickle.  Short sleeves one day and winter coats the next. You always know when the first “jacket less” day arrives, that it is just a tease.  And try as you may to simply embrace and enjoy it, the next day when you have to scramble for your winter coat and hat, it is always a bit disappointing. Having lived in Maryland for most of my life, I know this and expect it.  I don’t put away the winter clothes till the end of May.  And our drawers bulge for the month of April with both sweatshirts and shorts. But, this year, this year seems worse somehow.  This year I find myself yearning for spring more than ever.   I am so tired of having to worry about coats and hats on top of shin guards and cleats.   It is March…. the end of March…. I want flip flops people!!   And yet today I read this forecast .  “ Light snow is expected to arrive late Saturday night, with snow continuing through early Sunday ...

Time for a Little Mischief

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Quick! I gotta get to the bookshelf to have some fun before one of my siblings notices and tries to stop me. I know that book is around here somewhere… I just gotta throw some of these papers out of the way first. Don’t tell Mom it was me, kay?  I’m just gonna sit over here and pretend those books were like that when I got here.  She’ll never suspect a thing…

When Teachable Moments Backfire

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Those of you that have been visiting the circus for awhile now, know that I am a big wimp.  Particularly when it comes to driving.  I don’t like driving AT ALL.  In fact on all of our grand driving vacations as we go gallivanting around the country, I have driven a total of 0 miles.  Scott always drives, I am always the copilot… I know it’s very 1950s of us.  But it works.  I hate to drive and he finds life in the passenger seat incredibly boring.  One place around here that I particularly hate driving is over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.  By combining my great dislike for driving with a fear of heights, the Bay Bridge is 4.5 miles of pure torture .  Thankfully there aren’t many reasons for me drive over the bridge as Scott will gladly take the wheel.  I only drive over if I have to pick Scott up from a sailing race.  Last week, after my blog post ,  a friend told me about a Family Friendly St Patrick’s Day parade taking place on...

How We Roll

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Round here our fairies do more than just fly around sprinkling pixy dust. They dribble soccer balls and don football jerseys.

You think I’d know by now…

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When my son asked if he could bring his light sabers or guns to his sisters first soccer practice, I said no.   Because sometimes it is awkward to deal with the whole gun issue out in public. Obviously I forgot that little boys will turn absolutely anything into a gun. So today I said what the heck, bring the gun.   Which apparently translated to, go crazy, carry a gun in each hand and a concealed weapon… Heck, why not wear the entire uniform! So much for flying under the radar… that is something the circus fam just doesn’t know how to do.

How Chicken Pot Pie Sent Me Into a Sad Little State of Panic and Despair

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I asked Scott to explain Pi to the kids yesterday as we ate our Chicken Pot Pie in celebration of Pi day (3/14).  I knew he would do a better job than I, as I would have probably just showed them the symbol and told them it equaled 3.14 Because folks, that pretty much sums up what I know about Pi. He however drew them a picture of a circle, taught them about diameter and then went on to tell them that you need a little (.14 to be exact) over three strings the width of a circle to make it all the way around the circle.  And that special name for the exact number of strings you would need is called Pi. In actuality I am sure our eating pie for dinner while having this discussion only served to further confuse them, but it is my goal that years from now when they learn about Pi in middle school some sort of light bulb will click in their brains and they will say, “Oh, I get it, that’s why mom always served pie to us on the 14th of March!”  And I am pretty sure I will...

Who Knew?

You know me, I love a holiday.  A reason to make a fun meal or dessert, perhaps a craft or two. This year I started getting excited about St Patty’s Day months in advance.  I found an Auntie Anne Home Pretzel Kit at BJs and bought it for March 17th… Shamrock Pretzels and Mint Choc Chip Milkshakes sounds like the PERFECT St Patty’s Day lunch to me!  In all of my excitement, I even asked my Father in Law 2 months ahead of time if he’d babysit for us on the evening of March 17th.  I thought it would be fun for Scott and I to wear green and hit an Irish Pub in Annapolis for some live Celtic music, and some authentic cuisine.  As March 17th approached, I eagerly pulled out the circular in the paper listing all the pubs and all of their festivities. And that’s when it hit me.  We can’t go to a pub on St. Patties Day!   The real St Patty’s Day isn’t just about wearing green, making Soda Bread and drinking a beer or two. Every single event in the ...

My Newest Kitchen Helper

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Thoughts on Mothering

Lately I have found myself biting back tears and praying for wisdom as I work with my daughter on obedience and respect.  These battles leave me tired and stretched and yearning for some chocolate chip cookie dough and a bottle of coca cola classic. One battle area for us has been over her having to wear her eye patch .  Seems the novelty has faded and she really doesn’t like wearing it.  I have told her that while I understand that and I know it stinks, no amount of kicking and screaming is going to make it untrue.   And yet she tests me.  Finally, about a week ago, I sent another of my SOS e-mails to my wonderful husband telling him, I was quite tired of this daily battle and I needed help.  He offered to take over the battle for me.  So each day before he leaves for work he has her get her patch and he puts in on her. There hasn’t been a single fight over the patch since he took it over. Until yesterday when somehow in the crazy morning r...

Banner Week

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Exciting things are happening round the circus parts this week and it’s only Tuesday!! Sunday, I ran a half marathon with my FIL.  My friend , who had to run a h alf marathon in order to see me in real life, also ran but she was so stinking fast that I am glad I caught her in line for the potty before the race, b/c there was no seeing her after that.   Dad and I ran at our own pace and I felt much, much better about this race than my last race .  This time, I felt prepared and when I finished I didn’t feel like I was going to die.  Last time I knew I wasn’t prepared and it felt AWFUL!   As an added treat a friend of mine surprised me and ran the last 3 miles of the race with me.  She was a true cheerleader and burst of enthusiasm and I was touched that she went to so much effort to surprise and encourage me.   Joc, you rock! Monday, I could barely walk…see above…but I did get a night out with my friend Megh.  We grabbed dinner a...

The Sparkle of a True Princess

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“Momma, don’t we look beautiful?” As I praised them for their lovely fashion choices and snapped picture upon picture of their dress up fun, it dawned on me that this was an opportunity to reinforce what true beauty is.  Ya know, I said.  To be truly beautiful, you have to be kind and loving to others.  In fact, you can be wearing the prettiest dress ever, but if you act mean and unkind to others, you aren’t beautiful.  “Really, Mom?” AND… you can be wearing plain, normal clothes, but if your loving and kind in your heart, then you sparkle like a princess.  I am not sure if the message sunk in or not, but I realized today, that it is a message I need to speak to them often. “Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.” 1 Peter 3:3...

Priceless

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Container of dish soap:  $2.00 Chip in my favorite coffee mug: $10.00 Keeping 2 sisters happy and entertained for an hour:  Priceless

9 Months Old Today

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Look at those chubby hands stuffing his face I seriously couldn’t stop clicking the camera Oh, little man, you have captured your Momma’s heart

For Such a Time As This?

There are all kinds of people in the world.  Some morning people, some night owls.  I truly think your propensity towards one or the other is an inborn part of your personality.  True, you can work on becoming more of a morning person (and society pretty much dictates this to some degree), ones natural inclination, I think,  is innate. For a glimpse of this, one must simply observe my two daughters. Both raised in the same household, by the same parents.  Both even sleep in the same room and go to bed at the same time. Both, however, do note wake up the same way.  Take this morning as a very typical example. My three year old woke first and appeared in the dining room with a smile on her face.  She instantly asked for Cheerios and chocolate milk (as she does every morning) and as I got them for her she began chattering to me about the birds she heard singing out of her window.  While I set about cleaning the kitchen and packing Scott’s...