It ain't easy being green (but may be easier than I thought)

**Note to my super-green friends (you know who you are...Shay...): Please don't judge me by the fact that I didn't do this earlier. Just be proud of me that I'm coming along, no matter how late I am to the party.**

I don't know if Evan is actually learning to read or write in pre-k, but I do know he is learning the importance of being ecologically responsible. It is something I know in my head, but I haven't exerted much energy to prove I know it is important. Evan has been on me for quite some time to get a recycle box. He constantly asks if the piece of trash he is holding up is recyclable. I certainly don't discourage it. Each time, I say something like "I'm so glad you are learning about that." or "I don't think we can recycle that." or "Yes, you are right, it is important to recycle. But, I haven't been good about encouraging it either. So, today, when I sat down to make a whole bunch of phone calls, I finally remembered to call the City of Atlanta Public Works and request our recycling bin. I had tried to do this a couple of months ago (following Evan's urging), but after being on hold for twenty minutes, I gave up. Today, I was successful. We should receive our official recycling bin shortly.

I even took it one step further. After I had lunch with a friend, I ran by the Publix to do some power shopping. The woman in front of me in line had her cart all loaded up with her re-usable canvas bags. So, I took the plunge. I bought several. I have to confess that my motivation was not entirely pure. I have enviously eyed the flat bottoms and large capacity on those bags before thinking, "I bet when your groceries are in one of those, your milk doesn't fall over the first time you make a turn on the way home and dribble stubborn stickiness on the rest of the stuff in that bag..." I also find myself very annoyed when the grocery bagger puts one item in a bag. Admittedly, not entirely for "green" reasons, but because that is just one more bag I have to juggle on my way in the door with my car keys and two kids underfoot. Now the trick will just be for me to remember to take these bags back to the store (and inside) for future shopping excursions.

I hope that someday Evan will read this entry and be proud of himself for being the catalyst for my responsible behavior. BTW - I do know that Evan is learning to read and write and even do math in pre-k. But, come on. You know me. I can't resist a little hyperbole from time to time...

Watch out! I'm feelin' verbose

Usually, I try to use a little restraint when I write this blog and try not to get too chatty. But, today, I'm feeling like I'm going to embrace the chattiness. So, if you are checking in with me on your way out the door, you may want to wait or else you are gonna be late. If you stick with me, I promise to throw in some cute photos and amusing video footage to make it worth your while. (Please resist the urge to skip ahead. That will just hurt my feelings.)

Friday night was the much-anticipated skating party to celebrate Will and Abby's birthdays. I had told the kids about it over a week before it happened, which is against my self-imposed rule. Anyone who has little ones knows that it is not smart to give them too much lead time for an event because they will proceed to drive you absolutely nuts with the "When are we going to Will and Abby's party?" "Is the party today?" "Can we go to the party now?" "Can we? Can we? Can we?" So, I am usually pretty good about saving this information until the appropriate time. My parents have been guilty of leaking information early a number of times and have been thoroughly chastised for it in the past, so they've gotten better. But, this time was my fault. Even worse, I think I leaked the party news as a part of a bribe or a threat of some kind. Rookie mistake. Everyone with kids also knows that you don't threaten something you can't or won't really take away because then you lose your street cred. And, really, what kind of mother takes away the cousins' birthday party for not eating veggies or cutting in front of your sister to wash your hands or whatever the transgression of the moment may have been? Luckily, I think on this occasion, they did not call my bluff, because I have no recollection of beating myself up over this dumb mistake.

Anywho...as I was saying... Friday night was the birthday party. It brought flooding back vivid memories of my own skating days over at Playland or something or other. I loved the skating when I was in elementary school. I recall specifically that the Brownie troop would pile in the "back-back" of someone's station wagon (back before they would call DFACS on somebody's mom for letting you ride without a seat belt) and we would head over to Dresden to the skating rink. I remember that the last street we turned onto before we got to Dresden was called Brag(g) Street. We thought this was very funny with our elementary school sense of humor and, the rule was that the whole time you were on Brag(g) Street, you had to - what else? - brag. Our poor mothers... Luckily for them, it was a short street as I recall. So, back to the skating party... It brought back vivid memories of my skating days, but sadly, did not bring back any memory of the technique involved in staying on one's feet once wheels are affixed to the bottom. Let's just put it this way: I don't know if I was ever good at skating when I was 10, but I am definitely not good at it now. I had no intention of putting on skates until Corin put the idea in my head. But, armed with romantic notions of couple's skate, I warmed to the idea and gave in (without much coaxing). It was a bad idea.

But, the kids had a blast. Pressley tried the skating for about 30 seconds and decided quickly that she was D-O-N-E. Evan was a little more of a go-getter. He kept his skates on most of the time and ventured out onto the rink repeatedly (even though he clearly felt much more secure on the carpet). He is so funny. He had asked me the day before the party if we could buy him some skates that day. He didn't say it, but I know him well enough to follow his reasoning. I know that this is a child that doesn't really want to try anything new in front of other people until he has confirmed in the privacy of his own home/yard that he won't suck at it. He gets that from one of his aunts, I think, but don't worry Beth, I won't name any names....

Evans tears it up...

Pressley and my sweet Granny

Abby and cousin Jonathan

Evan and Daddy play video games

Pressley with her Krispy Kreme Donut (Will doesn't like cake, so for the second year in a row, he has had a donut pyramid with a candle on top in lieu of a cake.)

On Saturday, we got up and drove to Knoxville to visit with Gran and Grandaddy. I may have mentioned that they came down a few weeks back for Corin's birthday, but between prior dinner plans on Saturday night and church commitments on Sunday morning, we didn't even get to talk to them until brunch on Sunday. So, we took the kids up there to visit. Gran and Grandaddy had bought two new treats for the kids: A very cool 3-D book and a real ceramic tea-set. They enjoyed the book and really got a lot of mileage out of the tea set - at least until Pressley inevitably broke one of the plates on Sunday afternoon. It didn't keep her down long, though. That tea set was way too much fun to be put off by a little broken ceramic...


Gran and Grandaddy had a prior engagement on Saturday evening, so we went out to eat at a seafood restaurant near our hotel that Corin remembered fondly from the days when he used to work for his mom. And then we went back to the hotel and let the kids swim in the swimming pool - despite the fact that this activity kept them up way past their bedtime. We were amazed by the fact that Evan can still swim as well as he could the last day of last summer. There was absolutely no hesitation and no re-learning involved. He literally dove in and swam around like he'd just done it yesterday.


Then, on Sunday, we went back over to Gran and Grandaddy's apartment. The temperature had dropped at least 20 degrees overnight, so after brunch we had to really struggle to think what we could do with the kids indoors. We hatched this plan: we would drive around UT campus to show the kids the sights from their book "Hello Smokey!", then we'd let them play on their favorite playground (Briefly. Did I mention how cold it was?), then we'd take them to the Knoxville Museum of Art which, according to the web, has a children's exploratory gallery. On the tour of UT, Evan says, "Um, Daddy... Can we stop driving around and looking at things and just go straight to the park?" I thought it was a lot funnier than Corin did. But, he's a good daddy, so he headed on over to the park. The kids enjoyed the park despite the cold and we found the exploratory gallery, while small, was very cool.

The kids at Fort Kid in Knoxville

Exploratory Gallery at Knoxville Museum

Is that enough detail on our weekend? I did leave out a few things, like what we wore, etc. You can maybe pick up on that from the attached photos. Even more photos available at the Jan-Mar link under albums. And, as promised, the video of Corin skating just before he fell out of the frame. There is no video of me because I'm smart enough to keep the camera close when I am doing something that I haven't done in 25 years. It is a little dark, but you will be able to get the idea.

Another busy weekend

Saturday was Evan's first soccer game of the spring season, so we started our day at the soccer field. Then, we went to Touch-a-Truck at Decatur High School. We went to Touch-a-Truck last year and the kids had a blast. I didn't find out until Saturday morning that the event was happening this weekend. When I looked up the information, the web said that the event was from 10-1. Since the soccer game was at 12:30, we hurried to get ready so we could make it to see the trucks before soccer. Imagine our surprise when we pulled up in the parking lot to find one lonely cement mixer. I think I was a lot more disappointed than the kids. We got out and stood in line to "drive" the cement truck and overheard someone saying that there was some kind of mix-up and the rest of the trucks would be arriving at noon. So, after we thoroughly examined the cement mixer, we went back home, ate lunch, went to soccer, and then returned to high school parking lot. This time was much more like I remembered from last year: 2 police cars, one police motorcycle, 3 fire trucks, said cement mixer, a back hoe, an electric car, a street sweeper, and the list goes on. The kids had a a great time again. As far as I know, no one actually busted an ear drum despite the fact that universally, kids seem to enjoy blaring sirens more than anything else, so it is quite the noisy place to be.

There are a couple of photos below, but many more in the album "Soccer and Touch-a-Truck." A brief caveat: Evan was really not into having his picture made yesterday. Many, many times, he stuck his hand between himself and the camera and uttered a surly "NO mommy." So there may be fewer photos of him than of Pressley. Pressley still happily CHEEEEEEEESEs for me whenever I like. Lesson learned yesterday and note to self: Do NOT manipulate Evan into having his picture made when he is not in the mood. Further note to self: If you must manipulate Evan into having his picture made when he is not in the mood, DO NOT cry HA! HA! after you have snapped said photo. Makes him angry.... And he holds a grudge.

I know eventually I'll laugh about this (and some parts are funny even now)

I have been fighting off a cold for a few days. So last night, I took some Nighttime-sniffling-sneezing-coughing-aching-stuffy-head-fever-SO-YOU-CAN-REST-medicine before I went to bed. The night before, they worked like a charm. Last night, I laid in bed - WIDE AWAKE - until 1:30. At 1:30, I finally got up and got on the computer to research some of the questions that had been occupying my busy brain. How to make the cutest Little Mermaid birthday cake ever...Where to find cute Little Mermaid invitations...(Yes, her birthday is still six weeks away)...Rules of the pool for pool parties...(E has said he wants a pool party - 10 weeks away)...and other random musings. I stayed on-line until 3 a.m. at which point I finally decided to go back to bed. Not because I felt sleepy, but because I knew I'd be exhausted today.

About five minutes after I'd climbed into bed, the hallway light went on. I laid silent, wondering which kid was about to appear and climb into bed with us, making it even more difficult for me to fall asleep. No footsteps. No one appeared. I propped up on my elbows and peered down the hall. "Evan, is that you?" The light went out and nothing... Corin woke up about this time and asked what I had heard. "It is not what I heard, but what I saw. Someone flipped on the hallway light. Should I go check?" Corin said he'd go check. He went down the hall, first to Evan's room and then to Pressley's. He returned and reported that I must have been imagining things. They were both sound asleep under their covers.

I insisted that I had not imagined the light. I was tired, but not crazy (yet).

So, my sweet husband knew he'd have to go downstairs. He got about halfway down the hall and turned back. "Do you have anything heavy?" I answered no. He stooped to grab something and headed back out. I asked what he had found. "Pressley's guitar." OK. Let's stop a second. You have to get the mental picture. This is no ordinary guitar. It is the hot pink and purple Dream Dazzler's guitar that P got for Christmas. I doubt that he could have done much physical damage to an intruder with it, but he sure could have annoyed them right out of the house.

So I lay in the dark and listened. First note I heard out of the guitar and I was poised to call 911. I heard some doors squeaking and then, finally, Corin came back upstairs. He checked this kids rooms again (including bathrooms and closets this time) and came back to bed. He reported that nothing was disturbed downstairs but one of the french doors leading into our side yard was unlocked. Bad move, Corin. When I asked if he had checked the office (and closet), he had to admit he hadn't, so it was back down the hall for him. Obviously, he found nothing and he went right back to sleep.

I, on the other hand, laid awake for another hour straining to hear any little creaking floorboard. All the while obsessing about the fact that Elizabeth Smart and Jon Benet Ramsey had been taken from their beds while they slept under the same roof with their parents. I was inclined to go sleep with one of the kids, but I knew I couldn't pick one kid over the other, so I'd have to wake Corin up to send him to sleep with one of them too. I decided I'd be better off just listening for movement in the hallway. Who knew this would be the method that would finally allow me to drift off to sleep for the next 3-4 hours.

Oh, add the fact that the kids had school pictures today, so I had to get them up, have them coordinating with each other, tame two heads of crazy hair, AND pack them extra outfits for after the pictures because it is St. Patrick's Day (and they're Irish for goodness sakes) and their picture outfits were not green...I've had better days.

A birthday kind of day

One down; one to go.

We had two birthday parties to go to today. This morning, we thought we were going to have Evan's first soccer game of the season. Instead, we got to go to our friend Gavin's 3rd birthday party when Evan's soccer game was canceled. We started out at Leapin' Lizards and ended up at Deborah and Jeremy's house for pizza and cupcakes. Deborah let the kids decorate their own cupcakes and they took it very seriously. The party was lots of fun. The kids enjoyed jumping on this rainy Saturday morning and when do they not enjoy pizza and cupcakes??

Hopefully the kids (at least Pressley) are finally napping so they'll have some energy for Maya's birthday party this afternoon - also at Leapin' Lizards....

The birthday boy

Pressley with her cupcake

Evan and his cupcake

We tried to get a photo of the kids of all the law school friends, but Chris and Melody's baby was determined to crawl away, Evan and Pressley were determined to fight, and Gavin and Reesa - well - they were just so darn far away! (Plus, these photos were all taken with my camera phone, so I apologize - as usual - for the quality...or lack thereof. I used to be so good at remembering to take the real camera to these events. Sigh...)

Exhaustion...has...set...in

I tell you, I used to be one of those people who would tell you that I require about 9 hours of sleep to get by. I LOVE to sleep. But, then I had kids. I began to get by on 6 hours consistently. I guess now I'm back up to around 7 hours because most nights, both of the kids sleep through the night. But I am usually so thoroughly exhausted by the time they go to bed that all I can do is sit and watch T.V. The really sad thing is that I realize that I would be better off going to bed early, but once I sit, I can't get myself roused to make it upstairs. Plus, I feel that I need some adult time and some "unwind" time. All this adds up to my being really tired all the time. And being tired makes me cranky. I'm not scared to admit that. I'm sure that Corin would heartily agree. I don't like to be cranky. It makes me feel like a bad mother and a bad wife. And I overreact a lot.

I know you are worn out from hearing me go on about potty training. Believe me - I'm worn out from living it. That little daughter of mine is just the most stubborn child I've ever known. We have issues with her trying to retain control, so she refuses to go No.2 in the potty. We have issues with her milking the system, so she says she has to pee about 2 minutes after she got done peeing (usually this coincides with the disappearance of the skittle that she got as a reward for peeing the first time). But, you can't refuse to take her - even if you know she's just in it for the skittle - because you are so afraid that she'll have an accident and upset the whole course of your day. It is enough to make me insane. And I have to admit it might be doing just that.

So, if the next time you see me, I have giant bags under my eyes, I seem a little loopy, and I also appear to be a bit cranky, please cut me some slack. It is not personal. I promise I am trying to get back to my old delightful self. :-) It just may take me a while. This motherhood thing -- as rewarding as it is -- sure does take a toll.

Reminder: It wasn't that long ago that all my posts were about the Great Furniture Reorganization of 2008. I finally stopped talking about that, so you can rest assured that there is also some end to the potty training obsession (please, please, please) just around the corner. Then, I'll no doubt move on to something else I'll beat like a dead horse...

I'm not ready for this

I went to the elementary school today for a kindergarten open house. I cannot believe my first-born child will be going to kindergarten this fall. Can someone please slow down the clock??

Our neighborhood elementary school is excellent. In fact, you may have seen it featured on the news last spring when it came into the spotlight because of the 40 families camped out for days on end to get their children into the school's pre-k program. We toured the school with the PTA president, met one of the kindergarten teachers, the principal, the art teacher, the music teacher, and the P.E. teacher. It was great to see the school and get a mental picture of what Evan's life will look like next year. But. I'm am so not ready to have a child in kindergarten. Just for the record.

On the walls outside the kindergarten classes were bar graphs - created by the children - depicting the favorite foods of their classmates. Outside of the second grade classes, tables held home made mud huts and bead necklaces made (apparently) during a unit studying native Americans. Have I mentioned I'm not ready for this?

Southern Snow

We have had a fun weekend. Yesterday we had a couple of the kids' friends over for a play date. It was a whirlwind of a play date having two 4 year old boys and two 2 year old girls. When Everett and Cary got here, Pressley came running from the back of the house as Cary ran toward her from the front door and they met in a huge embrace. It was the cutest thing ever. And just when you thought it couldn't get any cuter, Pressley took her hand and they started up the stairs together. P: "Do you want to see my bed? It is pretty. It is riiiiight here!" Before long, Evan and Everett were dressed like superheros, doing what boys do (jumping off of everything) as the girls were both dressed like ballerinas with their clicky-clacky dress-up shoes and tiaras on. They had a ball.

Everett and Evan as superheroes.


Cary and Pressley as ballerinas. (Though P had already taken off her ballerina skirt.)

Today, of course, was the snow. No one really believed there would be snow today since it was near 70 yesterday. And those who did believe there would be snow scoffed at the idea that it would stick. We could not have been more wrong. This is the most snow we've seen in a while. Corin and Evan had a ball in it. They made a snowman and went sledding. Pressley got all bundled up and went out onto the porch. She even ventured approximately 2 steps down the front steps. Then she was done. I got all bundled up and went out to take photos of the merry-making. Then I came in to get carrots and raisins for the snowman. Then I was done. P and I watched cartoons and made hot chocolate for the cold, wet boys.

The boys stayed out long enough that when Evan came in to put on dry clothes, we had to do a bit of Internet research on frostbite. His feet and ankles (and bottom, for that matter) were BRIGHT red and he was crying hysterically saying that his feet itched. Corin took one foot and I took the other and we rubbed them with aloe until he calmed down; then put two pairs of socks on him. Minutes later, he was ready to go back out. Boys!