Spring Break

Thankfully, M and I are on Spring Break this week.

We needed it after all her little health issues this month!

I just can't believe that it is already Wednesday evening. I'm not ready for the break to be half over! I have so much left to do.

What have we been up to?

A trip to visit the grandparents.

A nap every day.

Doctor's appointments.

Friends over to play.

Lots of knitting.

A little sewing. (MUST do more sewing!)

Some cooking.

Naps every day.

That about sums our week up so far!

We have a special visitor coming tomorrow. My dad is going to spend a few days with us while my mom goes to help Gigi.

I forget how exhausted I can be during Spring Break. As the school year comes to a roaring end, I realize how I'm on autopilot. I just do what I can to get through each day with the kids. Then I give whatever is left over to sweet M. Everything else must just wait until about the middle of summer when I've begun to restock my reserves.

I'm off to bed. I've got to put a little rest in the reserves!

MBS

Springtime.
Egg hunts.
Sun shine.
Time with friends.
Backyard slides.

The times of childhood.

Phrase Friday, etc.

I'm posting on Thursday. A shocker, I know. Everyone will survive!

A few updates.

Gigi is going home tomorrow--Friday. YEAH!

My major project is COMPLETE . Pictures and information next week.

Phrase Friday:

A little background first. M is very, very lucky to be raised around people who nurse their infants. M wasn't nursed, but not for lack of trying. Well, maybe a little lack of trying. Another story for another time. Keep in mind that M has seen many, many mothers nurse their babies. We've had many, many, MANY conversations about how mothers make special milk for their babies and babies drink from their mothers.

Tonight we ate at a new restaurant. It was DELICIOUS, but it took a while. Probably not somewhere we'll take M again for a while. More of a date night restaurant. George (as in the Curious variety) was dining with us. He's M's new best friend and NEVER leaves her arms. In fact, when I drop her off at school in the mornings, she helps me buckle him in her seat.

Oh, back to the dinner story. She asked me to help George get a sip of her "di-coke" (sprite). I happily obliged. George took a LONG drink of that refreshing di-coke. I actually spoke to H for about two sentences. Then I looked back at sweet M. George was climbing up the inside of her dress. No lie. I busted out laughing and whispered, "George doesn't need any milk right now."

M said, "Mommy, he TILL hungry!" (He's still hungry!)

Mothers know best.

88 Years Update

The word from my aunt (to my mother, then to me) is that my sweet grandmother was fiesty today.

Fiesty is GOOD.

I'm all about fiesty.

I'm just too tired to post about it.

I'm finishing up a MAJOR project that I've been working on since January (NOT A BABY!). I can't tell you about it yet. I will next week.

88 years

Around 6:00 tonight I discovered that my 88 year old grandmother was taken to the hospital today.

I want to post something that will honor her. Something that will make others understand what a magnificent lady she is. Something that will truly illustrate her love for her grandchildren.

So I'm going to post my memories. They might not make any sense to you at all. But to me, they will connect a lifetime of snapshots to the woman I completely adore.

red carpet
fire place
rocking chair
soap carved by a grandson loved so much, gone too soon
stairs
swing set
snuggles
watermelon seeds
creaky floors
hissing window units
whispered prayers
thumping footsteps
scratchy furniture
yellow cadillac
big white truck
farmer's markets
stories
lots of stories
buddy
air planes
green lamp
zucchini bread
pumpkin bread
banana nut bread
powdered sugar
tennis balls against the garage
church
sugar
butter (unsalted, please)
cookies
craft fairs
bake sales
tiniest Christmas tree ever
piano
wrinkles
kindness
old furniture
clutter
chicken and dumplings
homemade birthday cake
tamale casserole (that was granddaddy's, wasn't it?)
sandwhich bag with candies
sneaking candy into our purses to take to the movies
many rides across town
visits to taco bell
learning to drive a stick-shift (that makes me laugh!)
love stories
recycled clothes
support hose
did donny do that?
that's so sweet of donny.
you all do too much for me.
i bring my own food in case they don't have what i like there.
flying to vegas
getting stuck in denver
christmas stockings
saving tissue paper
lists of gifts
pictures together
the love of a grandmother and her granddaughter's daughter

Gigi and M

My hero and my daughter

The one I pray we both grow up to be like

Simplify: HA!

I shouldn't have made the proclamation that simplify was back in motion.

As a mother, I should always be able to fix what is wrong in M's life. That's part of my job description.

Not yesterday.

M was under the weather yesterday. We went to Sunday School, she just sat around. She was animated, but not very active. I took her into church with us. She just sat around then. I only had to tell her once to hush (VERY unusual). We went to lunch and she ate about 1.5 bites of her lunch and didn't really interact much with her friends at all.

She took a 3 hour nap. Actually, I woke her up after 3 hours. And new immediately that something was VERY wrong. She was hot. Not just I'm-warm-from-snuggled-sleeping. HOT. As in the-house-is-on-fire hot.

I got dressed and took her to the local pediatric after hour joint.

Where she had blood drawn (for the second time in 6 days).
Where she was cathed THREE times before it worked and they got any urine.
Where she had a little procedure done on her special area because it was growing closed.

Where we sat for 3 hours.

And I couldn't do anything to make it better. Her pitiful screams echo in my mind today. While they were trying to cath her, I was responsible for holding her head and arms. Her precious little eyes begged me to make it all better.

Physically, I feel better than she does, but emotionally, I'm all used up. It really stinks seeing your little baby endure so much, knowing you can't make it go away. That more pain must happen to make it all go away.

This morning we had to go see our regular pediatrician. When we pulled into the parking lot, M said, "Mommy, I wait RIGHT here."

Honey, I wanted to wait right there, too.

I'll post MBS later today. I didn't have time last night to download my pictures from my camera.

Alive and, well....

I'm alive.

Well? Maybe.

This was the last week of a whole bunch of overcommitment.

Now I'm back to simplify.

We have nothing going on this week that will cause me stress.

However, this IS what my week looks like:
Monday: gymnastics pictures for M (HOW FUN IS THAT????)
Tuesday: meeting Curious George at the new bookstore and then bunco
Wednesday: pack to go out of town
Thursday: pack the car to go out of town
Friday: Go out of town

None of that looks too bad EXCEPT I must still work! Yikes! I'd get SO much more done if I didn't work. On the other hand, I'm not letting my job interfer with fun things for M.

April calms down considerably.
Except for the weekends. But our social commitments are much less. We have a few fun birthday parties and a conference at my church.

Confession time:
I've been TOO busy to do 365 Project! Now that SIMPLIFY is being refocused, I'm on it this week. And my challenge to myself is to take pictures that speak SPRING to me. I'll be out of town next Saturday, so I'll either post pictures Friday afternoon or Sunday when we return.

I wish you could hear when I hear right now. M's slumber music is very soft in the background and there is boisterous male laughter coming from downstairs. I try not to be home during boy's game night (played with a certain type of chips and a couple of decks of cards), but I'm too tired to leave tonight. I'm amused by their laughter.

I hope you have an evening of laughter.

No love, but an angel

I'm still the recipient of the anti-love attack at the Benson household.

However, I MUST brag on little M.

I'm the Relay for Life Team Captain for my school. ENORMOUS job. NEVER volunteer yourself for such a task. I'm enjoying it and I'm noticing a huge increase in team spirit on the staff, so it has been worth it.

I've been able to handle everything during working hours so M doesn't suffer any more absent mommy than absolutely necessary. Today I asked the administration if I could run to the bank to cash in our coins. She agreed, of course. So I ran to the bank. WRONG BRANCH. No way could I run across town and get the task accomplished in the remaining 25 minutes until I needed to be back at school. So, I left school a few minutes early, picked M up, ran ACROSS town to the correct branch. Everything was going great until I took my ticket to the counter to get the cash for the coins.

No can do.

WHAT??? I was told to go to that branch.

Must have school account number.

WHAT??? Relay for Life money is NOT supposed to IN ANY WAY cross over into anything related to school. Completely separate.

Someone wasn't forthcoming with me about this whole handling the money aspect of Relay for Life. It's a major pain in the @$$! (Sorry, but I'm so incredibly frustrated right this second!)

M was a perfect angel. The sweet bank lady gave her a sucker, which she proceeded to get all over herself--in her hair, in between her little fingers, all over her pants. But she sat on the floor at my feet watching all the people and whispering to herself. I only had to correct her once in the ENTIRE HOUR we were in the bank. (I finally left with a cashier's check...THANK YOU nice bank people--after they realized I wasn't leaving until I had some answers, they were very nice)

M was great when we went to pick up dinner from Super Suppers because I'm having company for dinner and needed something I could just throw in the oven.

She was great when I got her fast food for dinner.

She was great when I bathed her and cleaned up the house.

She was great about going to bed 20 minutes early.

All in all, despite the anti-love, she's a pretty darn great little girl. And I love her to pieces. She must love me just a tiny bit too because she grabbed my face when I tossed her into her bed and smooched me pretty good.

No love

I'm EXHAUSTED.

Two nights of little to no sleep exhausts even the best of people, right? So it's okay for an average person to be exhausted, RIGHT?

M busted out with a fever yesterday. Straight to the pediatrician's office we went. Nothing terrible.

We've been together for two days. Normally I would say that with a large smile and I'd feel relatively good about myself as a mother. Wow, I can really parent a sick kid.

Not today. Today has been a day of sucker punches every time I turn around.

I was told at least a million times today that my precious angel does not love me.

"M, I love you. You're such a sweet girl."
"No, my daddy wuv me."

A few minutes later:
"Mommy, I wuv daddy. No you."

A few minutes later:
"My OB! My OB here? My OB wuv me. No you." (Just a side note: OB was not here. She's got this obsession with OB and Nona coming to visit her. I happened to mention that we'll see them in a few weeks.)

A few minutes later:
"Nona comin' tee me? I wuv Nona."
"Momma loves you, M."
"No wuv Mommy. Wuv Nona."

A few minutes later:
"I wuv George. No wuv you."

And so you might be wondering why I'm the recipient of so much anti-love? Am I responding to this in a way that makes it fun for her to say?

The teacher-mother in me doesn't respond at all. After every few proclamations of love for someone else, I'd remind her that I love her, but never in a confrontational way. Truthfully, it doesn't hurt my feelings because I know she's just TWO, but dang it...I'm taking care of the sick toddler. It sure would be NICE to hear "I wuv you, Momma."

But it does make me a little jealous of Christina. I think I'll have to find someone to love me pretty hard. Maybe H is up for the task. Here is the conversation I had with him today:
"Hello?"
"Hey, babe. Since you've been home with the little one all day, I thought I'd grab some pizza and a bottle of wine on the way home."
"What? Did you just say pizza and wine? What about our new budget?"
"Yeah, I know. I just thought..."
"It's a great idea!"

So, we had pizza and wine. And I'm going to have more wine. Perhaps that will make me forget the 749 times I heard "No wuv you, Momma."

MBS

The picture is sweet, but the reflection in the kick plate is what makes this MBS.

Check out other MBS. I think you'll find gentle tugs at your heartstrings.

Phrase Friday

Emerging from the burden of an overwhelming life right now. Might still be in and out for a while. I'm missing all of you so very much. I'm trying to keep up with your blogs, but not doing a very good job. I can't wait to read what's going on in your life.

A really good one for you...

Me: M, I want to sleep in your bed with you.
M: No, you sleep you bed.
Me: I want to sleep with you tonight.
M: No! You sleep you bed.
Me: I REALLY want to sleep with you.
M: NO! You sleep YOU bed.
Me: M, Mommy wants to sleep in your bed.
M: Mommy! You sleep YOU bed....hear me?

Oh, boy....did I ever hear you!

What sweet phrases have you heard lately?

MBS: Friendship

In the middle of a sewing project, my friend Susie needed some help. She packed her kids up and headed over. What to do with two toddlers while the moms sew? Feed them! Cheetos to be exact. M and her buddy were too cute laying on the sofa laughing at each other while they munched on cheetos. Technically, not a great picture, but a sweet memory of friendship.

For other MBS, check out Mother May I?