RaMbLiNgS!!

Yesterday while getting my coffee I complimented this woman on her real cute outfit. She reminded me of the days I would get dressed for my office job which seems a lifetime ago. I told her between housework, shuttling kids to pre-school, going to the gym almost everyday, grocery shopping etc, that I feel like I am in gym clothes all week and never get the chance to wear real clothes anymore. Her reply was she would give anything to be able to be in gym clothes all week and be comfortable. Just goes to show you that the grass always looks greener on the other side of the fence, but maybe really isn't after all. It has been 3.5 years since I left the workforce to raise my kids. And though there were times I questioned whether that was the right move, staying home with them was the reason I sacrificed living near my own family, so I am determined to stick it out, try to enjoy more of it, and get through it. And when we get to have fun moments like this it makes it all worth it:


I am super sad the Olympics are over again for another two years. Partly because I LOVE the Olympics (dorky I know) but partly because Jimmy and I have been watching the Olympics in bed together every night for the past two weeks. For like 2 hours a night (cause we fast forward the 2 hours of commercials sprinkled in there- geesh!) I have really loved spending this time with him. Even though he works from home and we see each other all the time, by the time the kids go to bed, we usually head our separate ways. Me to my books and shows that relax me and allow me Jill time, and him to his video games or shows that allow him Jimmy time. Jill and Jimmy time together happens during Law and Order (we are fanatics for it) and Private Practice (which he decided he wanted to start watching with me- woo hoo). But the Olympics was like Jill and Jimmy time on steroids and I have to say I really cherished it. I think I will institute a new rule. 9:30pm "bedtime" for us. Whether we watch a show together, spoon and fall asleep early, talk about our day, play cards, or etc (keeping it PG) is up to us. But at least for an hour before lights out we can have this Jill and Jimmy time sans kiddos. I think it will be great. PS: 877 days till London 2012 SUMMER Olympics! Woo hoo!

Yesterday Ella and I decided to bake cookies from scratch. We decided on chocolate sugar cookies. She loves to help throughout the whole process. Measuring, dumping the ingredients in, stirring and of course eating the dough. That kid ate so much dough while I slaved at rolling out the dough and attempting to make 3-D zoo animal cookies with these cheap horrible cookie cutters that I got. The cookies are supposed to be able to stand up when you are done. But these were so hard to make. Anyhow we ended up scratching the idea as we approached 2.5 hours of cookie making and decided to make some stars instead. We did have fun decorating them though. Here is a montage of me and my baby baking cookies in our cook aprons (mine was for Ryen but she was napping so Ella made me wear it!)


Ryen is doing this super cute thing now where she brings me gifts or offerings. It is actually really cute, cause she will be playing with a favorite toy and having so much fun with it, and then she brings it over to me and holds it out for me to have it. Or she just lays it at my feet and beams up at me with her big brown eyes. When I act all excited and say Thank You she giggles, hugs me, and runs off to get more stuff. I swear this must be the equivalent of an older child bringing you a handful of picked flowers from a garden or from the side of the road. It is so cute. And sometimes she keeps going and going and bringing me more and more "presents" even as I change locations in the house until I have a pile on the floor and a pile at my feet. Like this morning while I was trying vacuum and she kept chasing me. Check it out below. So cute...



Ella has been so good lately. I read this great book that I will probably blog about in the future when more time has passed. But it completely changed the way I parent my child from this point on, and the results so far have been amazing. We have been having so much fun and getting along so well and she has been testing me and pushing me less and less. She apologizes without being prompted and comes up and hugs and kisses me all the time. I am actually really enjoying my children a lot these days which is in part thanks to this book and in part thanks to my receiving a perspective overhaul thanks to Kelle in Florida, my new psuedo-mentor who runs the enjoying the small things blog. I told my friends at dinner last Friday to remember this day as I declared that I would be a new and better Mother and my relationship with my Daughter would be forever changed for the better, and so far so good. But let's keep an eye on this evolving situation, less I get too ahead of myself...

One last thing and then I will end this long post. I got these 5 fortune cookies in a box of veggies and fruits that I ordered and picked up on Monday. These have been sitting on my counter beckoning me as I pass by them. They were actually sitting right next to the trash can begging to be tossed out. None of us eat fortune cookies and I wanted to throw them away so bad... but COULDN'T!! I seriously was feeling so funny about it. Not that there was some important life altering wisdom in these cookies that I just HAD to read. But just the idea of throwing something out that is supposed to contain a fortune for the future without even reading it, seemed like inviting bad luck or something. Jimmy asked me today, honey can I throw these out or what. I was like NO! So I finally broke down and cracked them open and took out the fortunes so they could be thrown away. And I am glad I did. Cause I got some great fortunes in there and some applicable to me right now...

1) Enhance your Karma by engaging in various charitable activities. (this has been totally big on my mind lately and look for an upcoming post about how I am getting my children involved in giving back to the World and Our Community already!

2) A beautiful person is with you, confide your problems. (how often do we not turn to our husband's when we are upset about something, and instead turn to our Mothers, Sisters, or Girlfriends? Is it because we dont think our Husbands will be open to hearing it, helpful, or understanding enough to be the support, encouragement, or ears/advice we need? Maybe this is trying to show me I have all the support I need right here at home...) PS It could also be prompting me to bitch about him to him instead of to others too... that's a harder one. Ha ha. Just Kidding honey!

3) Engage in group activities that further transformation. (meeting some of my favorite ladies for Happy Hour at Gordon Beirsch in 30 minutes. I would say we will be definitely engaging in eating and drinking that will cause some transformations... ha ha ha!)

4) Dessert CAN make you happy. (totally self explanatory, and may also combine well with #3 above)

5) Better to do something imperfectly than to do nothing perfectly. (I love this one! What better motivator to keep at something even if perfection is never achieved... doesn't it seem like I was meant to read that with all my stressing over being a good parent??)

So the next time you are thinking of tossing your fortune cookies out with the trash without opening them. Think twice! You may find some incredible wisdom in there afterall!