Spring Break Recap

Spring Break.  The weather hasn't really felt too much like spring but we are getting there.  The girl's school had break scheduled so that a week overlapped this year and we took advantage of the time by heading to Washington D.C. for a couple of nights, some fun around the house and catching up on some doctor appointments.

Here is a bit of our break captured in photos:

While in D.C. the girls rated the hotel pool and family movie presentation in the lobby as highlights.  Yes, my girls love vacation for the hotel!  We visited a couple of museum's and walked along the National Mall where we visited the White House visitor center (our tour of the White House was cancelled along with many other's tours due to the sequestration!), the Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam Memorial and World War II memorials.

The memorials are always so moving, but the Vietnam Memorial had my eyes watering.  It's so moving, so solemn and we knew at least one name on the wall.  We saw the many flowers visitors left, a Father/Son that were looking at a name and making impressions of it on a piece of paper by rubbing a pencil over it, and a group of Veteran's visiting the Memorial.  Julia asked a lot of questions about the memorial and I answered appropriately for her age.  Emma didn't ask questions but she did seem to be effected by the experience - she wasn't squealing with delight at the obvious sadness some people were demonstrating which is unusual since she usually loves to laugh at other's misery...I can't explain it so don't ask!

Of the museums we toured, Julia said the President's exhibit at the American History museum and the video at the White House visitor center were her favorites.  We've been teaching her a bit about our government and our elected officials and I think she is absorbing enough of the information to ask good questions.  I told her perhaps she could be President some day and she said to me, "Mommy, do they even let girls be President?"  I replied that maybe by the time she grows up there will already have been a woman President and pointed out that President Obama is the first black President so she should believe that everything is possible.

We also celebrated a few birthday's over the break, hosted our annual Easter Egg hunt with good friends, dyed eggs, played house and entered into the busy world of Softball.  Julia joined a team this year and is having a lot of fun with it even though she is "a little scared of the ball."  She is making a lot of progress in her skills and is gaining in confidence.  We think that by next season she won't be so afraid of the ball but are glad that her fear is not stopping her from having a lot of fun!  She seems to really enjoy softball and the team aspect of a sport which is quite different from her dancing where she competes as an individual.  I think dance and softball complement each other nicely.

Julia returned to school last week and Emma returns tomorrow.  It was about 3.5 weeks that I had one of my little girls home with me everyday and I think the girls like returning back to their routine.  I can just imagine the happy dance Emma will do when her bus comes in the morning - I think she missed school a lot!  As for me, I'll keep busy this week by touring a couple of programs suggested for Emma's kindergarten placement, following up on insurance appeals (where the denials were upheld and we have to appeal again!) and various other things.

Spring Break is over and I guess next up will be the countdown to summer but that can wait a while.  I'd like to enjoy a bit of Spring first!

Happy Easter

Happy Easter!  

Today we celebrated with a visit to church, some time together at home and dinner with our families.

It was a day that we celebrated our blessings.

We wish everyone a blessed Easter season!

After mass we posted for a family photo

Emma was tired most of today.  She cried when we put her in her crawler for the egg hung and, instead, opted to watch Julia hunt for the eggs from her comfy position on the couch.  All the while laughing - stinker!  Julia shared the eggs with Emma without being asked.  I love the bond between these two sisters!

She informed me that I can only take 1 photo of her then finally gave in to a few more. 

This child loves to have her photo taken!  She let me take as many as I wanted without a limit.  

A special shout out to Aunt Jane - it was wonderful visiting with you!!!!!

SuperMom

We sent a balloon up to Finnegan for St Patrick's Day

There are days - so many days - that being a stay at home Mom (SAHM) is like be stuck in a continuous do loop. Wake up, get children up and ready, feed children, clean up messes, tend to dishes, feed children, clean up messes, play with children, feed children, clean up messes, feed children, etc.  There is a LOT of feeding of children going on in the day.  And in our case there is also a lot of in and out of various equipment for Emma.  There is very little sitting around and truth be told I love when both girls are home with me - it just makes me happy even if I am so very busy!  I keep wondering whatever I will do once they are both in school all day.  I guess I'll go out and get an easier job that will pay me ;-)

Anyway, being a SAHM can be a thankless job.  No pay, long hours.  It's harder than any job I've ever had that I received a paycheck for and that makes me wonder why there isn't a tax break to stay at home and tend to our little ones.  Is there one I don't know about?  If no, why not?  And some Mom out there make it look so darn easy but the simple truth is I'm not one of them.  Goodness me this is a hard job.

But it's also AMAZING.  

Little giggles makes my heart sing.  

Watching my child sit independently for the first time - even if it was only for a second - feels like I've won the lottery.  

Eavesdropping when they "play school or house" tells me what they are experiencing and just how happy their lives are.   

Hanging the multitudes of artwork the girls produce on the fridge, their bedroom doors and their cork boards brings smiles to my face.  

Random kisses and hugs make my day.

Coming up with new activities that get them excited gets me excited to come up with more!

I feel so fortunate that I have this opportunity to stay at home and tend to their little spirits and I know with every fiber of my being that they are having a very happy childhood and that realization always makes me feel so good.

But certain parts of the day are just HARD.  Take bedtime.  There were lots of tears and pounding of the feet and the "I hate you" screams that sometimes made me laugh but mostly left me feeling exhausted.  So this year we started a new rule - No TV shows or movies on school nights.  And it was pretty much the single best rule we've put in place.  There are rarely any outbursts or temper tantrums.  There is a lot of extra quality time spent together reading, playing games, doing puzzles or arts & crafts, writing in journals, playing with friends, and moving about for Emma.  This helps Emma get to sleep better because she is more tired and it helps Julia go to bed easier since there is a more natural transition to bed that doesn't coincide with when a tv program is over.  

As for me, well, the result is that I've had a few days where I've felt a bit like SuperMom and I've found that while it's a new feeling for me it's a welcome one!  It always happens the same way and it happened today.  After we picked Julia up at her bus stop we came home and the girls settled into an activity in the kitchen.  Julia was writing out thank you notes at the table, eating a snack and telling me and Emma about her day.  Emma was in her KidWalk.  I had plastic eggs out in a basket for her to play in and she played for a bit before tossing the basket on the floor and heading to her favorite spot - the computer desk.  She loves to bang about on the keyboard and play switch games online and is always much happier with everyone in the same room.  I had some good music playing in the background and was cooking a bit of dinner at the stove without feeling frazzled.  Life seemed just about perfect.

And in that time when all the little moments came together I felt like SuperMom.  And it felt darn good!

Bits and pieces

It's almost Spring.  With the clocks turned ahead one hour it feels nice to have a bit of evening family time together when it's not dark even if it means the girls are going to bed a bit later than the ideal time.  Spring break is just around the corner and we are already coming up with a list of fun things to do together since the girls' breaks overlap a week.  Last year there was only a day overlap which meant I had one of them home with me every day for 4 weeks, and this year it will be for 3 weeks.

The weather this weekend is a bit unseasonal.  Yesterday we had sleet and snow making it a great day to duck into a coffee shop during a stroll in the city.  It was the perfect little coffee shop and I instantly fell in love and thought the girls would so like a trip to it.  Then I remembered the 8 steps up a steep flight of stairs to enter the cozy (i.e., tiny) space and decided it's not a great spot after all.  Sigh....there are so many great places in the city that are just not set up for wheelchairs.

Next week is Palm Sunday already.  It is strange having Easter so early in the year.  It feels like lent just started and already we are making our Easter plans.  Chris asked me today if I was going to plan another Easter egg hunt.  The kids are at the perfect age for them and we had a hunt with friends the last couple of years that were so much fun.  I think I better start looking for all our plastic eggs and filling them up.

I've been working on my photography lately and am branching out to taking more photos outside of my children ;-)  It's been a lot of fun and I'm happy I have a creative outlet to balance out my mostly scheduled days.

Right Now

A family photo at the Harlem Globetrotters show.  I'm making an effort to have myself in more photos.

• I'm thankful for allergy medicine that helped kick my migraine to the curb!
• I'm excited about a text message sent from Emma's aide that said she used her talker a few times at circle time today to talk with her friends.  That's BIG stuff!
• I love Julia's giggle.  It's so cute!  And I love the way she is so excited about things and giggles even harder when I start to laugh.  She is so adorable!  I feel like a bit of magic enters my day when I get a chance to play with her and see her imagination in action.  
• I feel blessed to have such a great husband and partner.  He is seriously the best!  I don't tell him enough.  Hey, babe - You are the Cheese to my Macaroni.  Love ya!
• I miss my Finnegan.  Lots.  And it seems like every place I go I seem to wind up in the pet area, which is not a place I want to be.  My heart still hurts.  And I'm mad when I think about how we lost her so young.  The chances of losing her to the lyme necrosis is so rare.  So is the chance of having a baby with complication of cCMV.  If we keep winning the "rare" card, I sure wish God would make it us winning the lottery and stop messing with my family!  
• I'm glad I've been working out at the gym consistently each week.  I'm feeling stronger and am looking forward to the nicer weather so I can take Emma out for bike rides - something we both enjoy.
• I'm thinking about Emma's kindergarten placement.  We are in the early discussions of places.  
• I feel behind in that I haven't made an appointment to have our taxes done yet.  I've been dragging my feet because I think we'll owe money this year.  I plan to call tomorrow for an appointment to get that monkey off my back.
• I'm looking forward to a Composition in the Field class with a professional photographer this weekend.  It was a Christmas present from Chris and I think it's going to be lots of fun!  Fingers crossed for good weather.