Thursday, January 13, 2011
Tonight as I was tucking L into bed, I was struck anew by what a daunting, precious responsibility it is to have a child love you. She trusts me implicitly, and unwaveringly places her heart and her faith in me. What a blessing to have been given - and also what a responsibility to make sure I do my utmost to guide her and provide for her and be worthy of that trust. Nothing is more precious than having her ask for one more cuddle before she goes to sleep and hearing her whisper, "I love you so, so much Mommy."
Monday, January 3, 2011
Great laugh quote
As I was just tucking Lauren into bed, we were laughing about something and she said, "My laugh is too big for my ribcage!" :)
I love that - these moments of laughing so hard our faces hurt, loving being together!
I love that - these moments of laughing so hard our faces hurt, loving being together!
2010 in Review
When I started this blog, I had wonderful intentions of posting every day, so my far-flung family could keep up with the minutiae of our days, if they wanted. However, that quickly landed by the wayside as the reality of our minutiae keeps my busy until midnight most days.
At any rate, I wanted to record some of what 2010 has held for us:
*I started running in June (or July, I can't remember), and have grown to love it. It is my "escape" time, when I get to blast my music on my iPod and no one talks to me. And I've lost 35 pounds, which is also pretty nice.
*Our dog, Muddy, had 11 puppies at the end of the summer, much to our surprise - and Lauren's delight. We didn't realize she was pregnant until she was quite a way along the process. She turned into a snarly protective mama for a while there, and we were very concerned about the possibility of not being able to keep her, in our child-busy neighborhood. But once the pups were gone, she reverted back to her normal self, thankfully!
*We went to South Dakota, Wyoming, Estes Park, etc during the summer - one of my favorite vacations. (Although, honestly, I think I say that about every vacation). I love exploring new places, and this was excellent. Mount Rushmore, caves, hiking in Estes Park, making it to the Continental Divide, etc. We are trying to decide what to do this next year - the Grand Canyon, Louisiana, or Oregon. I want to go everywhere, and I want to do it all now, while Lauren still loves traveling with us!
*I learned to make egg salad, which I had never eaten before, but now love. On english muffins, with canadian bacon and cheese. Yum.
*We got a new grill last year for a combo Christmas-birthday -anniversary gift, and I'm a huge fan of it. I am now the Grilling Queen for dinner. If it's above freezing, I grill at least a couple of nights a week.
*Lauren got a new gifted teacher, who she adores. I love that she is getting to explore and challenge herself outside of the classroom - while I work hard to challenge her in the room, I know that sometimes she's doing things that are below her ability level. And I hate to make her work all evening, too, just to challenge her brain. So I'm really digging her new teacher!
*Lauren is clay-obsessed. My dining room table is currently covered with packets of Sculpey clay, and little tiny sculptures, and that's the norm. Horses, unicorns, tiny cupcakes, custom-made-to-order themed cakes that are two inches tall, little people, dogs, the list goes on and on...
*Our vacuum bit the dust (it was already nearly dead) when I vacuumed up a CFL lightbulb that I'd broken. Note to anyone reading this: whatever you do, DON'T vacuum up CFL debris!
*Lauren is growing her hair out, to donate to Locks of Love. It had been chin-length to start with, and it now about 4 inches below her shoulders.
*My baby turned 10. That seems so surreal - 10...more than halfway to 18. Two digits. How is that possible?
*We hardly raced at all this past year - just a couple of times at the end of the season. However, Stuart bought an enclosed trailer during the fall, so he is very excited about racing next year - he's already planning which races he'll start with in the spring! And I love that - I love any excuse to travel. There are some good things about going to tracks that we are familiar with - places that feel like home to Lauren and me (Kansas City, Topeka, OKC) - and I adore going new places and getting to explore while we're not at the track - I'm hoping to race in Louisiana or in Arizona this year. Not that I relish the concept of 14 hours driving there - or the 14 hours driving home that feels like 20 hours, but the middle usually makes it worth it. We found out this summer on the SD trip that Lauren and I both get carsick, so now we know to address that issue, too!
Okay, my sister and her munchkins are coming over today, so I'm going to go clean my table and start dinner. I'll add more to this later, when I'm not mentally making to-do lists in my head and distracting myself.
Carla
At any rate, I wanted to record some of what 2010 has held for us:
*I started running in June (or July, I can't remember), and have grown to love it. It is my "escape" time, when I get to blast my music on my iPod and no one talks to me. And I've lost 35 pounds, which is also pretty nice.
*Our dog, Muddy, had 11 puppies at the end of the summer, much to our surprise - and Lauren's delight. We didn't realize she was pregnant until she was quite a way along the process. She turned into a snarly protective mama for a while there, and we were very concerned about the possibility of not being able to keep her, in our child-busy neighborhood. But once the pups were gone, she reverted back to her normal self, thankfully!
*We went to South Dakota, Wyoming, Estes Park, etc during the summer - one of my favorite vacations. (Although, honestly, I think I say that about every vacation). I love exploring new places, and this was excellent. Mount Rushmore, caves, hiking in Estes Park, making it to the Continental Divide, etc. We are trying to decide what to do this next year - the Grand Canyon, Louisiana, or Oregon. I want to go everywhere, and I want to do it all now, while Lauren still loves traveling with us!
*I learned to make egg salad, which I had never eaten before, but now love. On english muffins, with canadian bacon and cheese. Yum.
*We got a new grill last year for a combo Christmas-birthday -anniversary gift, and I'm a huge fan of it. I am now the Grilling Queen for dinner. If it's above freezing, I grill at least a couple of nights a week.
*Lauren got a new gifted teacher, who she adores. I love that she is getting to explore and challenge herself outside of the classroom - while I work hard to challenge her in the room, I know that sometimes she's doing things that are below her ability level. And I hate to make her work all evening, too, just to challenge her brain. So I'm really digging her new teacher!
*Lauren is clay-obsessed. My dining room table is currently covered with packets of Sculpey clay, and little tiny sculptures, and that's the norm. Horses, unicorns, tiny cupcakes, custom-made-to-order themed cakes that are two inches tall, little people, dogs, the list goes on and on...
*Our vacuum bit the dust (it was already nearly dead) when I vacuumed up a CFL lightbulb that I'd broken. Note to anyone reading this: whatever you do, DON'T vacuum up CFL debris!
*Lauren is growing her hair out, to donate to Locks of Love. It had been chin-length to start with, and it now about 4 inches below her shoulders.
*My baby turned 10. That seems so surreal - 10...more than halfway to 18. Two digits. How is that possible?
*We hardly raced at all this past year - just a couple of times at the end of the season. However, Stuart bought an enclosed trailer during the fall, so he is very excited about racing next year - he's already planning which races he'll start with in the spring! And I love that - I love any excuse to travel. There are some good things about going to tracks that we are familiar with - places that feel like home to Lauren and me (Kansas City, Topeka, OKC) - and I adore going new places and getting to explore while we're not at the track - I'm hoping to race in Louisiana or in Arizona this year. Not that I relish the concept of 14 hours driving there - or the 14 hours driving home that feels like 20 hours, but the middle usually makes it worth it. We found out this summer on the SD trip that Lauren and I both get carsick, so now we know to address that issue, too!
Okay, my sister and her munchkins are coming over today, so I'm going to go clean my table and start dinner. I'll add more to this later, when I'm not mentally making to-do lists in my head and distracting myself.
Carla
Monday, November 8, 2010
Junk in the...
So the other day on the way to the racetrack, we were stopped at a gas station. I was looking for something in the back seat amongst the luggage, and I said to L, "We sure do have a lot of junk in the truck." She immediately replied, "Well, at least we don't have a lot of junk in our trunks!" I couldn't stop laughing, and then I made her tell her dad when he got back in the truck. I didn't realize that she knew that expression!
Yesterday she was mentioning it again, and I told her that I hadn't realized she knew what the expression meant. She said, "Well, I was pretty sure that it means that someone is fat."
I'm just going to go with it.
Yesterday she was mentioning it again, and I told her that I hadn't realized she knew what the expression meant. She said, "Well, I was pretty sure that it means that someone is fat."
I'm just going to go with it.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Noxema
I just had a realization - in the shower, of all places - about one of the obscure tidbits that proves to me that I'm getting older.
I have a horrible cold, and I have Vicks Vapo-rub on my nose. I was thinking about what a distinctive scent it is, and about how the special kids' version we have for L smells so much better. That got me thinking about my grandma N and how she always smelled like Noxema. In the face soap aisle in Target, that scent immediately makes me think of Grandma. And my mom always used to smell like Oil of Olay face lotion. It's funny how those scents are so evocative of those specific people to me.
However, my kiddo will never say, "My mom always smelled like _____". I was thinking about how I have a bunch of "favorite" body washes and lotions, and I just choose what I feel like for the day - Reliv brand, pumpkin scent from Bath & Body, Amber lotion, etc - it varies from day to day. And I was thinking about how many more choices we have than WHEN I WAS A KID - argh, I'm making myself sound old!
I have a horrible cold, and I have Vicks Vapo-rub on my nose. I was thinking about what a distinctive scent it is, and about how the special kids' version we have for L smells so much better. That got me thinking about my grandma N and how she always smelled like Noxema. In the face soap aisle in Target, that scent immediately makes me think of Grandma. And my mom always used to smell like Oil of Olay face lotion. It's funny how those scents are so evocative of those specific people to me.
However, my kiddo will never say, "My mom always smelled like _____". I was thinking about how I have a bunch of "favorite" body washes and lotions, and I just choose what I feel like for the day - Reliv brand, pumpkin scent from Bath & Body, Amber lotion, etc - it varies from day to day. And I was thinking about how many more choices we have than WHEN I WAS A KID - argh, I'm making myself sound old!
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Sunday, October 3, 2010
All sorts of eventful-ness have been happening around here lately: Yesterday was Buhler Frolic, with all of the accompanying chaos, to compound the typical chaos that already reigns supreme here. For the first time in many years, we did not ride in a fire truck in the parade - Lauren and her cousin made a float (with lots of help from Stuart) and drove it BY THEMSELVES in the parade. They turned Grandpa and Grandma's golf cart into an enormous hay bale to advertise Grandpa's hay mowing service. (I'm not sure that Grandpa actually WANTS any more customers, but the kids were so gung-ho about the whole thing that we couldn't bear to rein them in). They were so responsible about getting it done, spray painting it, making signs, etc. Lauren and Stuart did all kinds of research to find out how to say "Paint the Town Pink" in Low German. "Paint the Town Pink" was the theme of the parade, and it had to be featured on your float if you wanted a chance to win the prize for best float. Lauren decided a couple of days before the parade that she wanted to write it in Low German as a surprise for Grandpa and Grandma.
They were so careful while driving in the parade - I'd been a little concerned that the sheer euphoria of driving without an adult in a PARADE might lead to silliness, but they are both such little type-A kiddos - they did an amazing job. By the end, Justin was waving with his left hand out the window and driving with his right hand. Lauren said that he told her he would wave out the window, but wouldn't look out because he didn't want to get distracted from his driving. :)
So then after the parade, Lauren and I went back to the Frolic to play on all of the inflatable toys in the afternoon. Katelyn and Blake went to his rugby game in Wichita in the afternoon, so I got to watch their 4-week old baby for a few hours. I took her back to the Frolic with us - it's amazing how tiny she seems - 8 pounds seems like nothing. So I sat on the ground by the fire station with a bunch of other moms and passed around the baby and watched Lauren on the bouncy toys. All of a sudden she same running to me, screaming hysterically that she had been stung. We've thought for years that she is probably allergic to bee stings, because her grandpa is, and she is terribly sensitive to mosquito bites. So I asked one of the other moms to watch baby Ella, grabbed L and started running for home, since I hadn't brought her sting kit along with us. Then I realized that we were beside the fire station and that if she was going to have an allergic reaction, it would probably be safest to have it there, rather than somewhere between there and our house, with no cell phone. So we stopped for a few minutes to see if she began to have a hard time breathing or anything. She was doing okay, so we ran for home and wiped her finger down, and she was fine. THANK GOODNESS. So, now we
know that she probably isn't allergic, which is a huge weight lifted off of my shoulders.
We have 2 of the pups left at our house - a black and a brown. They are going to their new house this week, I think, or maybe next week. In an unusual twist, all of them have gone in pairs, except for 1. We are super attached to these two, since we have had them by themselves for a couple of weeks and gotten to spend more time playing with them. It's going to be hard to see them go. We call them Brown and Black, since we told Lauren that she can't name them. :)
We are making the semi-annual "closet switch-over" this weekend, which throws us into all kinds of craziness. We only have 2 closets in our house and Lauren & I share one of them. That doesn't give us much room for clothing storage, so spring and fall are always a challenge, to decide which clothing to pack up and which we'll use. I've been running, and a bunch of my clothes don't fit anymore, which is good news, but it adds an additional section of Rubbermaid tubs as I try to figure out what to keep and what still fits.
I'm really excited that Stuart thinks he might get his car running pretty soon, so we might get to do a little racing yet this season. This is my favorite time of the year to go to the track - no worries about bad weather like in the spring, and no scorching heat like in the summer. I'm hoping that we might go to Kansas City and maybe to Oklahoma or Texas yet this fall. Having that travel time with my family is one of my favorite things in life - no other distractions, lots of conversation time, new experiences together. And we're pretty familiar with the track in KC, so it's nice to go there and know where everything is.
Well, I have my menu for the week planned out and my accompanying grocery list made -time to head for town and gather food for the week. I'm trying to motivate myself with the idea that if I get it done early, maybe we can head to Grandpa & Grandma's for s'mores by a bonfire this evening. :)
So then after the parade, Lauren and I went back to the Frolic to play on all of the inflatable toys in the afternoon. Katelyn and Blake went to his rugby game in Wichita in the afternoon, so I got to watch their 4-week old baby for a few hours. I took her back to the Frolic with us - it's amazing how tiny she seems - 8 pounds seems like nothing. So I sat on the ground by the fire station with a bunch of other moms and passed around the baby and watched Lauren on the bouncy toys. All of a sudden she same running to me, screaming hysterically that she had been stung. We've thought for years that she is probably allergic to bee stings, because her grandpa is, and she is terribly sensitive to mosquito bites. So I asked one of the other moms to watch baby Ella, grabbed L and started running for home, since I hadn't brought her sting kit along with us. Then I realized that we were beside the fire station and that if she was going to have an allergic reaction, it would probably be safest to have it there, rather than somewhere between there and our house, with no cell phone. So we stopped for a few minutes to see if she began to have a hard time breathing or anything. She was doing okay, so we ran for home and wiped her finger down, and she was fine. THANK GOODNESS. So, now we
know that she probably isn't allergic, which is a huge weight lifted off of my shoulders.
We have 2 of the pups left at our house - a black and a brown. They are going to their new house this week, I think, or maybe next week. In an unusual twist, all of them have gone in pairs, except for 1. We are super attached to these two, since we have had them by themselves for a couple of weeks and gotten to spend more time playing with them. It's going to be hard to see them go. We call them Brown and Black, since we told Lauren that she can't name them. :)
I'm really excited that Stuart thinks he might get his car running pretty soon, so we might get to do a little racing yet this season. This is my favorite time of the year to go to the track - no worries about bad weather like in the spring, and no scorching heat like in the summer. I'm hoping that we might go to Kansas City and maybe to Oklahoma or Texas yet this fall. Having that travel time with my family is one of my favorite things in life - no other distractions, lots of conversation time, new experiences together. And we're pretty familiar with the track in KC, so it's nice to go there and know where everything is.
Well, I have my menu for the week planned out and my accompanying grocery list made -time to head for town and gather food for the week. I'm trying to motivate myself with the idea that if I get it done early, maybe we can head to Grandpa & Grandma's for s'mores by a bonfire this evening. :)
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