Thursday, February 28, 2013

February Frolics

I don't know why I titled this post that because we didn't really frolic a whole lot.  I think the last time I frolicked was three years ago when Brig and I thought it would be a good idea to roll down a hill with Ava.  Sick.  As.  A.  Dog.  Why does no one warn you that once you're over twenty-five that spinning and rolling messes up your head in a major way.  Both Brig and I laid there for a good ten minutes.  We both felt awful.  Ava got up and ran back up the hill and did it over and over again.  Aw youth.
 



Brielle doing her best John Wayne impression, "Young fella, if you're lookin' for trouble I'll accommodate ya."  



I've been looking into Brig and I's genealogy.  I've been looking for a common thread.  I don't know why I thought there would be one.  It's not like I wanted us to be related a few generations back.  I was just, curious I guess.  The closest I've come is finding two ancestors who were both at Haun's Mill.  There was a massacre there for those who don't know.  His great-great-and so on grandfather Thomas McBride was murdered there as well as my great-great-and so on uncle Benjamin Lewis.  My direct ancestor was there as well, but was not killed.  Also we both had grandfathers who lived in Richmond at the same time.  It would be nice to think they might have known each other, but who knows.  The search continues.... 
The long trek up north.  We drove up to Brig's parents house.  It takes us a little over an hour, but you'd think the girls had been trapped in the backseat for weeks.  Thankfully this trip they both slept most of the way.  Usually we get complaints from Ava around Layton.  "Are we there yet?!"  And poor Bree will just burst into tears and bawl until she's out of her car seat. 

For Valentines Day Brig and I picked up waffles to go from our favorite waffle place, Bruges.  They have a shop downtown.  But we frequent the Sugarhouse location.  It's far too convenient.  Brig picked me up from work that morning.  We ate our waffles while we got caught up on the shows that both of us like.  Then Brig went to work.  And that was our romance filled morning.

Sundays.  They are long and slow around here.  With no close family to visit we are cooped up inside.  I walked into the kitchen to find that the girls had deposited every last one of their dolls and stuffed animals in the corner of the kitchen.  Silly girls.

Ava and I shopping the dollar section in Target.  It's not often we get to go out just the two of us.  Bree was home napping with Daddy.  Kiss me, I'm Irish!  And English.  And Scottish.  And Norwegian.  And Swedish.  And Danish.  And Dutch.  And French.  And German.  And Swiss.  But you know...there's a part of me that Irish.

For President's Day we went bowling.  Bree lasted about five frames and then I chased her around the arcade while she pretended to play all the games.  But Brig and Ava got to bowl.




We went shopping at Costco.  Brielle saw this outfit and latched onto it.  The second we got home she wanted to put it on. 



This is the next day.  When she woke up she wanted to put on the same outfit.  Oh no.  We might have a situation on our hands. 


We went to Cookie Cutters and got both girl's hair cut.  The stylist put Ava's hair in two messy buns and then asked if she wanted sparkles in it?  BOY DO I?!  That's what she said.  Not in that way, but that was the emotion behind it.  In true girl style she said, "I hope they notice my hair is shorter at school on Monday."  Ava looks so much like Brig here!  No sparkles in his hair though. 

Sunday, February 24, 2013

Sunday Morning Poem


Here and Gone

The snow falls
down
And I am here
Floats on currents
Of icy air
And I am here
The rain falls
down
And I am here
Buds yearning
for bloom
And I am here
The sun shines
down
And I am here
Dandelion pappus
on the breeze
And I am here
The leaves fall
down
And I am here
Crisp Autumn fog
gathers in the gloom
And I am here
A year falls
down
And he is gone
The children laugh
and grow
And he is gone
She falls
down
And he is gone
Cries his name
into my shoulder
And he is gone
My tears fall
down
And he is gone
The cold covers
in dawn’s first light
And he is gone
She comes
down
And he is gone
Wearing a dress
of white
And he is gone
Darkness falls
down
And I am here
And he is gone
And I am here
And he is gone
“And I am here,”
a warm whisper
near my ear
The veil falls
down
And he is here
“I miss you,
my love”
And he is here
“I’ve never been gone”
And I am here
And he is here
The years fall
down
And they are gone
For a moment
us two
And we are here
And we are here
And we are here

-Denise Cooper Smith

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Oddities and Ends

Let me preface this post by expressing my absolute boredom with winter.  So done.  The only good thing about winter is getting to wear my husband's old sweatshirts around the house.  His castoffs are like healing balm to my plus sized soul.  I push my face into their care-worn softness and whisper, he may have moved on to greener pastures, but I never will.  I'm sure they appreciate the reassurance. 

As we speak the whole basement apartment wreaks of Bengay.  Which surprisingly is an upgrade from the moth ball/sewer/old lady smell that is the usual atmospheric swamp.  Brig and I wondered if our landlords had overdone it on the ski slopes.  Or maybe they were purposefully pumping it through the vents in an effort to soothe our kids. 

Nights have been hellish around here lately.  If it's not Ava waking me up with a tummy ache, it's Brielle.  So much Brielle.  And the way Ava makes her presence known is just creepy.  I'll be deep in a dream about high school, or escaping from a murderer, or sundays at mom's house...you know, the usual dream stuff and suddenly I have this nagging tug, like a fish on a line.  Up, up I spiral out of my slumber.  I open my eyes and Ava's face is within five inches of my own.  That's a heart attack starter if I ever knew one.  I yelp and pull the covers up to my chin defensively.  Ava whispers through her sleep breath, "Mom I don't feel good.  I think I need to poop."  Something like that.  What is it with kids wanting you to witness their pain and agony?  The other night Ava had a stomach bug, the second one in the same week.  She was throwing up.  It didn't matter that I had to get up at six for work or that the sight and smell of barf can oftentimes send me on my own joyful journey to puke town, no, she just had to have me sitting on the edge of the tub rubbing her back as she threw up for the fifth time.  Moms.  It's a thankless job. 

Lately Bree's been...how can I put this gently - a life sucking vampire.  I love her, I do, but what is it with me that from the moment my kids are born I somehow instill a desperate clingy-ness in them.  Brielle hasn't been sleeping good.  I've become her new security blanket.  I wake up to shrieks from down the hall, "Mommy!  Need you!  Need you!  Need you, Mommy!"  I stumble down the hall as quickly as I possibly can in my sleep dowsed state so she doesn't wake up the landlords above her.  And all day long she wants to "buggle, mommy, yeah, buggle."  The snuggling is taking a toll.  If Ava or Brig lay a hand on me I go from me to monster mom in 2.5 seconds.  JUST STOP TOUCHING ME!  Am I the only one who gets tired of their kids pawing them all day?

And this city.  Odin preserve me, get me out of this city!  People living on top of each other.  Clawing for a piece of the action.  I'm just not a city gal.  I just ain't.  There I proved my country preference with the use of ain't.  But I am still scared of chickens and goats.  I think the country will still have me in spite of my fear and loathing of your beaked and horned residents.  Right?

The other night I made fake grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner.  That's right.  Fake grilled cheese.  Ava doesn't care for "real" cheese.  She only likes the Kraft singles.  Brig once told her the cheese wasn't even real in hopes of shaming her into eating the real cheese.  She just shrugged and has asked for fake grilled cheese sandwiches ever since.  I prefer a nice baby swiss myself.  And don't try to fool her.  She knows her fake cheese. 

I'll leave you with this little gem.  It's the stuff my nightmares are made of. 




Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Pictures Unearthed from my Husband's Phone

Every once and a while I have to steal Brig's phone and download all his pictures onto the computer.  He gets cute pictures and then never shares.  It's like when you sneak off to your favorite breakfast place and order a waffle without your spouse.  Then you're not smart enough to keep from sharing the photo of said beautiful waffle on your Instagram, forgetting that hulkster8124 is a friend of yours.  Lucy, you got a lot of 'splaining to do!  I can't help it.  I love waffles.  But that's neither here, nor there.  Let's begin with Ava's 7th birthday party on Thanksgiving at Uncle Dan's house.  Ava had wanted a Barbie cake for a couple of years and I finally gave in. 




 Call the fire department!  Barbie's dress has caught fire!
I ordered some sky lanterns off the internet.  We lit them and sent them on their way.  I kept waiting for the police to show up.  I don't know why.  Maybe because my brother-in-law informed me they were likely illegal.  But we threw caution to the wind, and up, up they went.  Cue a romantic song and a ride in a gondola with a suitor gone afoul of the royal law. 
 I hope my sky lanterns don't catch some person's roof on fire. 



Our one blurry picture of our tree lit up. 


Mornings with Daddy.  While I'm at work Mr. Mom is getting Ava up and ready for school.  I'm told a lot of tickling and wrestling goes on.  Aren't Dads the best? 

You wouldn't like Bree when she's angry.  No really, you wouldn't.  That temper!


 New Year's Eve.  Brielle went to bed at 8.  I went to bed at 8:30.  Ava made it to 11:30.  So close!
 Christmas morning just out of the tub and getting ready to leave for Nana's. 

 Grammy's house.  Pardon Jack's partial nudity. 






Brig got the best picture of the day.  One of Ava's last runs.  She was headed right for a bump and I couldn't watch, yet I couldn't look away.  And UP she went!  She was giggling on the way down after that. 



Me and Hulkster8124.  Sorry about the waffles.  


Portrait Studios and Beef Burritos

Ava came home from school a few months ago with her school pictures in hand.  It wasn't her best smile to be sure.  In fact it looks like the photographer just told her they were having beef burritos for lunch that day.  The worst!  She despises burritos, but as you can see she tried to stay positive.  

And so the need arose for some new pictures to commemorate her seventh year of existence.  Ones where she didn't have to put on a brave face to stare down those nasty burritos.  Also, and I'm loathe to admit this...I've never had Brielle's pictures taken.  Poor second child.  Comes along and it's all been done before. 

Oh man, the poor lady taking the pictures at Target worked hard for her money with this one.  Every smile you see was the result of extremely high pitched baby talk mixed with promises of stickers and stuffed animals.  Most of the time Brielle just looked bored.  Please.  Amateurs. 



Our Blondie really liked it though.  She could have kept posing with props all day long.  Just don't say burrito. 






Bree's should have read I AM OVER THIS.