Thursday, March 29, 2012

Husband and Wife Convo

Me: What was the deal? Why did it take so long for you to fall asleep last night?

Coach: I have so many little things to think about for the new place. I just couldn't shut my brain off.

Me: Sad. I know how you like to shut your brain off.

Coach: I do. It's my Favorite.

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

How can Someone so Tiny and Cute... Be so Old and Big??

We were delighted to be informed a few weeks ago, of an opening at the everyday preschool. We decided to start Tink, the first day after Spring Break. (and then we spontaneously dashed down to Georgia.. because we like to keep life utterly exhausting.)
Monday, Tink JUMPED out of bed. Thrilled to choose one of her many new school outfits. We passed the morning hour exchanging excited pleasantries. For example, Tink announcing she was a Big Kid now and her mother begging her to get tiny and squeeze back into my belly, forever. She declined.
We snapped the customary First Day pics..
(please ignore the forest growing behind Tink, the Gardener has been otherwise occupied.)


One backpack larger than actual student? Check.

Tink RACED her tiny legs into the (seriously too big for her) grade school. Dressed in rain boots... of course. There were a few clouds... somewhere.


Class was eager to start, I quickly snapped this picture (how cute are the new bangs??!) She had a moment where she looked a little nervous... my heart squeezed tight. She sat at her new seat.
I turned.


And just like that, Coach walked out of the building. Beside one crying mother... as he carried one crying Coco, reaching out for her sista.
Coco and her mommy, do not like Tinkerbells to grow.
Then yesterday, I registered Tink for Kindergarten.
May as well be Jr High.
If I were a girl to type dorky colon sad faces...
please insert that here:

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Galway Girl

Do I really HAVE to take you to Georgia AND write you a birthday post? It'll be short and sweet (like you..) because I am tired tired tired!
Becoming an Aunt, has been an endless joy. It is my honor, each time I am gifted quality time with my nieces and nephews. This week, we created memories, I will cherish for a lifetime.
You belong in Georgia.
The perfect Southern Belle.
Tiny and sprite.
Full of sass and a vibrant, independent energy.
You are lovely. A beautiful, Spring bloom.
Pretty in pink.
Prime and proper, pranced upon a trolley bench.



And still, like a perfect Southern girl,
you a brave, unique, charming and unabashed.
You are convincing, cute and in possession of the craziest little giggle.



It was a pleasure, to watch your tiny frame and confident smile, tan golden this week. You were born to bronze on a beach.
Happy Birthday, Galway Girl!

Friday, March 23, 2012

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

I Hope You Still Feel Small when you Stand Beside the Ocean...

Monday morning, Grammy and I decide to take my kids to Savannah, Georgia. Within the hour, Grammy suggested we take Quincy. I hesitated. I didn't want to upset Galway Girl and I thought it was too much to ask of his parents. But Grammy convinced me to try... because it's nice for The Kid to have a brotha.
His parents said yes.
By lunch time on Monday, I had two boys jumping up and down with excitement and the rumour of one girl crying to her mom.
By 4:00pm, Pop-pop called my mother (yes... Pop-Pop CALLED, actually used the phone) and told Grammy it just wasn't fair not to take Galway Girl. We just HAD to take her with us. It was too sad for him, she would not see an ocean. So I made another phone call....
And just like that, my van would hold 2 adults and FIVE children... on a 15 hour road trip to Georgia.
Truthfully, there were moments since Monday evening, where this felt like a completely ridiculous idea.
All until this... Watching them run towards the ocean, all but one child, for their very first time?? A totally irreplaceable moment.



+















Bondie Beach and Mona:
You betcha your aunt is feeling VERY guilty.
I've maybe already bought you a souvenir.
If only the van was bigger...

Monday, March 19, 2012

So, it Turns out... Remodeling a building is not so easy...



Coach and his awesome (not very well-paid) construction crew have really started logging some serious hard-core hours up at the new place. At this current stage of the process, I'm not a big help actually within the Work Zone.
Shockingly my health does not respond too kindly to scraping off dirty several decades worth of flaking paint or tearing down old walls.
Therefore, someone has to take care of our three children and provide them with some type of normal life, while Coach is clocking MANY long hours at the new studio. Our children, love them some Daddy and the good-nights are getting a little long and lonely.
Am I feeling guilty about all of the hard work Coach and his family are putting into MY studio...???
Duh, YES!! to say the very least.
Dang... I am even forcing kids to work!



I've have been doing my best, to be a good ol' fashioned farm wife: washing Coach's very dirty clothes, baking cookies to drop off, checking to make sure he has eaten, picking up his chores around the house. Friday, we ordered our Lent Casey's Cheese Pizza and had a quick 15 minute picnic dinner on the new studio steps. (which was the only time, the kids saw Daddy that day).

(PS- The pictures are not out of focus, that is all the old plaster dust Doc is power blasting around.)

So I exclaimed to my mother "Ugh... this is getting hard on the kids. They really miss Coach and I am burning out as a single parent. If we had any extra money, I would take them on Spring Break, just to give them something happy to do and free up Coach."
And then... Grammy started thinking about it.
Cuz I guess, she DOES have extra money.



She called this morning: Game on.
We are packing up the kids, throwing them into the van and driving down to Savannah, Georgia. Now, I'm sure you may be thinking: 'Seriously, Coach married himself a selfish B, for realz!! He's working his tail off and she's going on vacation!!'
The answer would again be: Yes, I am feeling guilty about this, as well. But trust me... 6 days with 5 children, on the road, changing out of swim suits, checking into hotels, making sure Coco doesn't eat the sand or shells or marine life... I'm sorta working too. It's just in a much prettier location.



And I could probably mention, while Coach IS really tired. And Coach IS kinda stressed. And Coach DOES have a few sore muscles... he is also having a pretty alright time with his Construction Crew. They apparently seem to think they are EVEN MORE funny within a Work Zone. (If that was possible.)
When you are throwing around phrases like: Does this measure bigger than that? or Where is a stud?
Add in major power tools.
Plus chatting about what is sweating the most, recent episodes of the Walking Dead and new Doritos Tacos... it's not such a bad time up there.

Still-
I appreciate the Crew, more than I can describe.
There are NO words.

Now... I need to pack 4 people in 19 hours...

Friday, March 16, 2012

Officially 600 Posts later and Everything is still a Tru Story.

You'll remember the infamous Warhol birthday post, when I quickly replaced his post with a cute number on my children. Thankfully, I learned a lesson from the near constant sarcastic reminders because NEVER have I wanted to yank birthday glory more quickly... than from Grandpa, last night.

At approximately 9:00ishpm last night, I had settled my girls snuggled under blankets, sleepy.. in jammies... in front of a movie. Quietly, I sneaked to the other room to put the finishing touches on Grandpa's post.
Not much later, Tink sauntered into the room. Proudly smiling: Well mom, what do ya think??
Me: About what?
Tink: We jus gabe new haircuts.
Me (horror): WHAT?? Who gave haircuts??!!

Nearly dropping the laptop, I raced to find this:

And then this:

And after Coco turned, I found this:

My first reaction: Coco looks like Hill People.
Tink, had actually cut some pretty cute long bangs and curly layers. She still needs a trim to reorganize the frame of her face... but Coco?? We emergency called a stylist at 9:30pm.
Except here is the kicker...
The girls totally love what they done.
As I yelled, questioned, threatened, placed them in double time-outs... they both just sorta shoulder shrugged, extremely proud of their work.
Coco was actually finger to cheek confused by my yelling... almost eye rolling to Tink. Tink woke up today, all psyched for her new bangs.

Very first thing this morning, Jodi made a special trip, to a mother lookin for a miracle... though I was pretty realistic. Jodi may cut a cute head but she can't grow hair, in a glaring bald spot.

Honestly, I'm not too upset.
I don't mind short cuts on little girls.
I wanted it shorter for summer.
Maybe... not bald spot short... maybe not a couple weeks before Easter or Birthday pictures... but she is seriously rockin this look. The more sweaty she got this afternoon, the cuter it curled in back.
She thinks she is adorable.
Watch out Halle Berry.
This girl is stealing your pixie groove...



But her Dad sorta mentioned, he'd like her dressed in girlie colors for the next couple months. Don't think that will be a problem...

Thursday, March 15, 2012

The Highest Possible Compliment.

One evening, I was with Warhol, when a man came up and started blabbing on and on about what an amazing man Warhol's father was. The group unanimously agreed that Grandpa was easily the 'best man alive'... 'no one else like him'...'he is as good as it gets'
The men continued to chat back and forth. Shooting the shiz and all that jazz. Sharing various stories of Grandpa's kindness, his giant infectious laugh, his willingness to do ANYTHING for ANYBODY. For a moment, I was bored with the course of this conversation, as I have easily heard the same, a thousand times before. Without question, these are completely Factual Statements. Nothing new.
Then... ALSO per usual, the conversation turned onto a familiar path: 'actually, your whole family is amazing. Your brothers, your sisters... you are all great people. The best people'
Again.. yada yada, heard this before...
Except I will never forget overhearing Warhol respond: Yeah... thanks... we try to be... but Coach, is really the best of Dad. If any of us, are the most like Dad, it's probably Coach.
And I thought: Wow.
And when I told Coach, he thought: Wow.
Of all the amazing things Coach has done: he honestly could not be paid a greater compliment, from his eldest sibling. To even be a portion, of the Best of Grandpa... is a pretty awesome accomplishment.



Grandpa-
I am proud to be married to your son.
I am honored, to be the wife of a man, almost as good as you. It is a genuine pleasure being a part of your family and to have my children share your name.
You are a good man. A great man.
Honestly, one of a kind.
Happy Birthday, I wish you MANY MANY more.
Life is a better place, with you around. We are all better people, for the opportunity to bask in the glow of your brilliant light. The people of this town, of this family, gravitate towards the direction of your shine.

PS- Grandpa's not always sugar and honey.
One evening while he was babysitting, I got a text from him which read only this:
How bout. Next time we buy 2 tinkerbell bowls

Good stuff.

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Enchanted Girlie Adventure Walk

In an effort to keep the children occupied and oblivious to their father being gone EVERY night while remodeling my dream yoga studio... I recruited a few extra cute girls and planned an Adventure Walk.
We had an enchanted check list and sidewalk chalk.

And they were off...!

First stop, the Troll Bridge. At each enchanted location, the girls had to write their first initial, to let the fairies know we were there. We searched under the bridge for the Troll.... we only found litter, which we are sure he left. Trolls are dirty.



Next we found a patch of Spring flowers... obviously, the fairies like to visit this spot in the mornings.

Then.. we found an actual fairy house!! Excitement and giggles!! We left the flowers at the door and quietly backed away. Fairies are nervous of too much human noise.

We adventure walked over to the magical windmill... and the diamond sparkle pond.

Last on our list... locate all of the fun painted dogs...

and one Peter Pan clock.






How much am I loving this weather??!!
Winter depression... oVeR.

Mrs- move to Our Town.
Then I could have grabbed your cute 5 year old.
Because, as you can see, Our Town is full of magic.

Cupcake Panties

As I had admitted, my past birthday nagged at me a bit. And possibly, one person in particular has fueled my insecurity, with a nasty tongue. (no... not Warhol) A much smaller, meaner little brat.

For example, let's just say This Person may have recently mentioned my hands were old because
'my bainds were bumping out of my skin'.

Or... This Person casually dropped a drive by bullet by asking if when she's old like me 'will she habe lots and lots of freckles all ober her skin?'.

Maybe I jokingly mentioned after spying This Person in cupcake panties, that I was going to pinch her tiny bottom... to which she may have replied 'Den I will pinch your big bottom because butts get really bigger when girls get old.'.

And the real kicker, maybe while standing in line for a water slide at the Wisconsin Dells, I held hands with This Person, smiling inside at this precious moment with my family. Happy, my Five Family was spending one more morning running up and down the slides together. Barely noticing, This Person was shaking my hand back and forth. Finally... I asked This Person why she kept moving my hand. She answered and POINTED 'I'm making your arm up dere shake'.



So that's just fine. This person can help plummet my self esteem... she's super cute and I will try to pray for her that life doesn't knocked her precious tiny bottom off the Perfectly Pretty Pedestal her Daddy perched her on top of. Hopefully This Person's mother doesn't age to be a bitter old woman, who may trip upon a grumpy day and just maybe mention when her teeny little bottom aint so teeny, anymore. They don't make pink Cupcake Panties in adult size, for a reason.
She's fun.
I guess, it wasn't enough anymore,
for my brown eyes to repulse her.

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Taking a quick Poll...?

This afternoon, Coco was playing with my camera and took about two million pics of her face, accidentally...
The pictures have not been edited in any way, with the exception of the shading from her giant forehead pressed into the flash.







Question:
If you were, by chance filling out Coco's baby book..
What word would you write in this blank?

Eye Color:________________

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Roaring in Like a ....

A cell phone convo between a husband and wife, wife sitting in the Wal-Mart parking lot. Wife is breathless from hysterical laughter and loading the van...

Me: It is SO windy out here!

Coach: I know.

Me (still laughing and speaking quickly with an excited voice): No, you don't know! It's like the windiest I have ever seen it. We were walking out of Wal-Mart and Coco's coat was unzipped and it caught the wind like a sail and literally started picking her up and FLYING her across the parking lot. Her face was blowing and her toes were trying to stay on the ground... and then two bags with chips blew off the cart... and the Wal-Mart deli pizza I got us for lunch... and then I had to...

Coach: Wait...

Me: had too... move my body to the side of the cart because it started to tip, while I was trying to reach for Coco as she was actually REALLY blowing away from me like in a movie ...

Coach (interrupting): Wait.. Wait a minute...

Me: .... and some lady was watching the whole thing and stopped her van to catch the bags of chips and we were laughing and yelling because Coco was seriously literally blowing UP off her feet and she was....

Coach: Wait a minute! Wait... wait... slow down.. What happened to the pizza??

Me: It's fine, I picked it up after I ...

Coach: So the pizza is fine?? Ok...ok.. sooo we can still eat the pizza for lunch??

Me (my laughter is subsiding): Yes. The pizza is fine.

Coach (deep sigh of relief): Ok... alright... good. So.. I mean, of course.. I care about our daughter blowing away... AND the chips... but I just had to check on the pizza, I was worried for a second.

Me (eye roll obvious in tone of voice): The pizza is fine. We will be home in a bit.

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Five Family Monday

As we kick off the massive remodeling of our new space... we (me) decided we needed one afternoon of Family Time. We began with a screening of The Lorax movie. Coco was so excited to be in the 'big mobie theader' she kept turning with a huge excited smile, to spastically kiss my arm, as a thank-you. The movie was actually pretty good... I could have skipped the 20 minutes of previews...

Next we stopped at the shoe store to pick up new summer kicks for the two big kids. We had planned on new Addidas for the baby, til we measured the baby's feet and discovered she is less than one size smaller than her big sista. So Coco will be snagging Tink's oldies, which didn't get too worn this winter (hard to scuff a shoe, snuggled under a blankie.)

Last: I plan on offering a weekly Children's Yoga Class, at the new Studio. Full of great ideas to offer relaxation to the young masses of our town... and encourage their path towards a 'Greener' life style. I've given my daughters a little Earthie project to create.
The First step? Hobby Lobby.



As we gathered in the check-out line, I noticed Coco had acquired a price tag.



I'm not sure if this was accidental. I hope she didn't assign herself a worth of $3.99 ... Given the day, she can certainly lower her stock with a grumpy little attitude or a dirty counter lick.
But I still hope she realizes her value is much, much more. At least maybe $14.98 give or take.

We returned home and Coach headed to the studio to work (I assume this will be nightly for weeks) while the kids and I started painting our project.
Look CT!! Two months later I'm doing another craft with my children!! Except unable to find an appropriate smock, I opted for the Lazy Route and we did some topless painting (we... meaning just the girls). If I were a Pinterest follower, I would guess they probably don't recommend Topless Painting Projects. But this house likes to keep it realz.



Final Project Reveal still days away.
It will be an enchanted treat for my little yogis.
Five Family Monday... successful.