Where's the Music?!

Evan loves his music, as I've noted here several times. But he's started taking matters into his own hands, when Mommy and Daddy don't provide quite enough for him. This morning before leaving for school he wandered over to the computer, moved the mouse around a bit, clicked, and there he had brought up the cd library and was playing his favorite They Might Be Giants album, Here Come the ABC's. He may just be a little to smart for our own good. ;-)

evan

This is how it appeared on the computer screen. Evan has been amazing us with the extent of his computer knowledge. He opens music applications and chooses Victor Vito by Laurie Berkner. He can find blankets on Amazon.com. And more practical, he can go between Sprout.com and NickJr. and PBS kids like nothing you've ever seen.

But today was a surprise we were not expecting. He has known how to spell his name for a while now. He was playing with the art/drawing application on NickJr.com, and I look up and there it is: "evan", in pink ("my sister's favorite color"). I told Kevin "Evan typed his name of the computer screen". He replied, "By himself???? He came running to the laptop to see it.

And now our little scholar is taking a nap. ;-)

The "perfect" mommy

Lately I've been feeling very motivated...even possibly capable, of being a really great mom. I've found some websites that have given me ideas for great crafts to do with the kids. I've gotten a crock pot to make it easier and less time consuming to make healthy yummy meals for them. And I'm *trying* to pick up my house.

But more often than not, at the end of the day I usually feel like I didn't play with my kids enough, didn't play them enough music, didn't read to them enough, didn't clean the house enough, didn't feed my family meals that were either nutritious enough OR yummy enough...and let them watch too much tv. And I yell too much...and scream sometimes too. And I feel frustrated that I don't have a car so I don't take them places during the days during the week. And that we don't have a fence yet, and so I can't take them outside either. Argh.

I need to remember, I take them to a great church, talk to them about God and His love for *all* of us, play them some music, read to them each night, try to make nutritious meals and do fun crafts with then. I hug them a lot and tell them I love them a LOT. And I guess since no mom can be the "perfect" mommy, that's enough for right now.

Some more favorite quotes from my babies

"Nana makes spaghetti and meatballs - I LIKE spaghetti and meatballs" - Evan, while talking about leaving for Nana's for the weekend for cousin Nora's birthday.

"Me do it MYself!" - Amelie, pretty much all the time now. I can't convey the exact way she says this in writing...I hope when I'm old and gray I'll still remember it. (Oh yeah, I'm already gray. And almost 41...not old!)

"Hold me like little baby" - Amelie, when she wants me to pick her up and cradle her like I could when she was an itty bitty thing. It isn't as easy with most of her hanging off each side of my arms, but its still warms my heart that she's even interested in my holding her close to me like that.

"No, I want a hundred-million-billion" - Evan, when I give him a plate of, well, anything these days.

"Its summer in winter time! Summer in the winter time, summer in the winter time!" - both Evan and Amelie. This is cute, especially when they strip down to their diapers. When they drag all of their bedding out into the living room to make a fort with the dining room chairs? Not quite so cute...but I do have to laugh!

"Roar! Me hungry dinosaur!" - Amelie...also "Me mad dinosaur". Evan has decided she has to have a dinosaur on her birthday cake this year. I think he may have even found one at Costco (we *love* Costco cakes...in the two baptism years, we had one for the baptism and one for the birthdays ;-)

Pass It On

When Evan was little, every time he got a new stuffed toy, he went straight for the tag. It didn't matter what it was, if it had a tag, that was its most endearing quality. So I was thrilled to discover that two moms had figured out that many infants love tags, and made a whole line of toys with tons of tags all over them! :-)

We should have seriously bought stock in the Taggies company. We have two blankets (one with letters and numbers, one with a little angel sleeping on a moon that says "Our Little Angel), a mirror rattle, a ball, a triangle-shaped triangle on a ring, just to start.

I strongly associate Taggies with Evan as a baby. So didn't he just have to show me that he *isn't* a baby anymore, when this morning after I retold the story of how he loved his little blanket as a baby, he said, "We should pass this on to another baby, Mama". I was so proud of my little man.

Things I want my kids to experience

I was thinking the other day about things I delighted in as a child (or later), and it got me making a list in my head of all the things I want to expose my kids to before they are teenagers and don't care what I think anymore. ;-) This list doesn't include the "big stuff" like self-love, love, confidence, etc. Some are more important to me than others, but they are in no particular order (that would take more brain power than I seem to have these days).

1. Pin wheels. Yeah..I just loved watching pinwheels spin on a breezy Spring day when I was a kid.

2. Sparklers. I generally want to keep my kids 100 feet or more away from anything that might be the least bit risky. And I know some parents who don't want their kids near these. But I used to love holding a sparkler in my hand when I was a kid. I loved anything that sparkled...still do.

3. Live music. This might seem like no-brainer to some. "Of course they're gonna hear live music". But it has been *ages* since I've heard live music. ;-) Hearing music live is a totally different animal from listening to the radio or cds. I get such a rush I hear music live, especially if everyone else around me is really into it too. It can be such a communal experience, too. Thank goodness for church, they do get to experience live music (and fabulous music at that) almost every Sunday.

4. Music lessons. These two music related things won't be difficult. Both of my children love music. THey're almost always singing something to themselves. And they both seem to have really good rhythm. Must get that from their dad. But music is in their genes. Kevin and I both love music and had lessons as young kids. Kevin kept at his music longer than I did. I never met his dad but he had quite an extensive and eclectic music collection. And my dad made sure I had piano lessons. He played tuba when he was younger, and when I was a kid he played the piano, harmonica and even sometimes the violin for us.

5. A folk festival. This will be hit or miss whether we'll get them to one of these before they're at an age to say, "No WAAAAY, Mom!". Again, I've only been to Falcon Ridge twice, and Newport once. But of all the live music experiences we could have together...this seems it would be the most potent...living in a community of music lovers for a whole weekend. My first time at Falcon Ridge was with my best girlfriend Karen. She set up the tent (with very little help from me. ;-). It was so neat to wake up to people jamming in the tent next to ours.

6. A faith community. Check. (Ok, so this counts as one of the "big things"...but we've actually got this one covered so I had to include it.)

7. Finger painting. Again, check. Mom got us a set for Christmas and promises to come over and help me with this undertaking.

8. Different cultures. Duh. Anyone who knows me knows this is big for me. I actually haven't had much experience with cultures very different from my own myself. But I think it enriches any person to know about and appreciate people in other parts of the world. It would be great if we could take vacations to other places. But in the meantime we try to get books, music and even toys that are from or at least influenced by people in other countries. (OK so this is another "big" one, but it manifests itself in 'small' ways...music, books, festivals, etc.).

I"m always looking for resources in the Boston area that will help me with this one. So if you're one of the 5 or so people who read this blog, please post them here. ;-)

8. Lots of time at the library. I haven't done very well with this so far. I'm without a car (and on crutches so walking isn't an option) during the week. And Saturdays just seem to fly by, and we haven't been to the library.

9. Cooking. This is a funny one for me, given how much I avoided the kitchen for the first 40 years of my life. But cooking is such fun, and you always read about how it helps kids develop healthy eating habits. So I need to work on finding ways to have them help me in the kitchen that don't overwhelm me. ;-)

10.Volunteering. I've never been very good about making time for this one either, but it is so important to our society, and world. And it just makes you feel so good...I think it will make them really happy.

11. Going to plays and musicals. I've always loved plays and (most) musicals. Kevin and I used to go to them more. I want my kids to have that experience..a lot.

12. The outdoors. We all know how good fresh air is for all of us. I guess I make note of this one because as of right now, I have to arrange to take my kids outside during the day. We don't have a fence yet, so if they go out, I need to invite another adult over to chase them, should they decide to run off. But beyond just getting them *out* whenever possible (even for snowman building, and snow angel making...I like these things, even if they happen during my most-hated season ;-)...I also want to get them out into expansive, unspoiled nature. That's one of the reasons I hope they'll love National Parks as much as we do...and the travel involved in getting to said parks. My dad loved nature. He was an avid bird-watcher, along with my mom. Growing up, I was nonplussed by nature. I'm glad I have matured. But I can't wait to see the kids get excited by seeing a deer in a place where we haven't encroached on her space.

There are so many other things I haven't thought of. Feel free to leave suggestions in the comments section. I'd really appreciate it, and I"ll probably add some to this list. :-)

Some favorite Christmas & post-Christmas moments...

Its almost more fun to celebrate the Christmas season *after* all the "stuff" is done...

1. turning on the Christmas lights when the sun starts to set, this and my children's reaction almost makes me enjoy the sun going down so freakin' early...
2. the kids reaction when I point out "Hey kids! The Christmas tree in the backyard just came on" and the way they still come running to look out the window.
3. the fact that Amelie started singing "We wish you a Merry Christmas, We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year", a day after Christmas. And they both are still doing it daily.
4. watching the kids play with their new things, and listening to them exclaim "I love this toy that so-and-so gave us!" (they remember these things better than I do ;-)
5. Our church Christmas pageant. I count this as Christmas, as opposed to pre-Christmas, because every "thing" is done...and all this is left is to experience it all. I love the informality of ours. I think it leaves room upon for magic we wouldn't necessarily experience if it were more rehearsed, planned for, etc. A few years ago, *both* of my children were baby Jesus. Actually, my daughter Amelie was, because she was the "baby" of the family. But we told Evan they both were.
6. Watching the kids play with their Grandma, and having her over our house for Christmas. This year was the first year I ever "hosted" Thanksgiving or Christmas, and I got to do both!
7. Watching my mom and mom-in-law open their photo books of their grandchildren.
8. Evan and Amelie playing with their cousin Nora. This year was more special than ever, because Amelie is finally old enough to participate fully in the "big kids" playing.


9. Reading our Christmas picture books. I enjoyed this before Christmas too, but I got such a kick out of them requesting "Bear Stays Up for Christmas" after Christmas. We finally have a nice collection of Christmas books. It started with just A House Mouse Christmas, but now we have two Christmas story books, Margaret Wise Brown's "Moon Shines Down", the bear book and a lovely book called "We Wish you a Merry CHristmas" with a lovely pop up scene of animals in the wood around a Christmas tree in it. (It used to play a midi file of the song, but I have to admit I don't mind the fact that they broke that.)

5 Years

Hmmm. I just looked, and I started this blog exactly 5 years ago today. I was over a year away from having my first child. I had been married for 7 years. I was even more web-obsessed than I am today. I was living in a dinky, albeit cozy little apartment in Arlington. I was working in Newton, my most inspiring teaching gig, especially considering the fact that I was kicking myself for having left a fabulous job in Needham to take a job that was an absolutely horrible match for me.

Its wild to think about the things that took up my time and attention. I knew I *should* be cooking healthy meals for myself and my hubby, but I used my teeny tiny kitchen as a good excuse not to. I was fantasizing about a career in multicultural education or teaching poetry. I was collecting poems on every possible topic, and making lists of songs that could be used in the curriculum of every possible discipline while posting messages to the school's email system about all of these things.

These days, with a 3 1/2 year old, and a 2 1/2 year old, I'm learning to use a crock pot in the hopes that it will help me serve healthy, somewhat interesting meals for my family. I am getting ready to blow the dust off my dulcimer to make music with my music-loving babies. And its scary the art supplies all over the place for the kids to get into.

I float in and out of two modes: "Isn't this the most amazing experience and time in life for anyone - raising little people?" and "Oh Good Lord. I am so not equipped for this." My resolve to be patient waxes and wanes in between these moments. I struggle with my jealousy of my husband's never-ending supply of patience with the children.

And through it all, there is Hope. Hope Church, and the Hope that IS God. Life truly is a blessing...in the good times and the struggles. Its just easier to remember this when things are going smoothly. And when your kids aren't tearing up paper bags because you chose a piss-poor time to try to sit and compose a blog entry. Ah, 2010 isn't any more sane than 2009. But that's o.k. :-)

A New Year, A New Start

"So I thank the Lord for giving me
a brand new start each day;
and I praise His Blessed name
for guiding me all along the way" - Amy Grant

This is something that I just LOVE about God. He gives us a new start, each day. Heck, sometimes its in each moment. I can stumble miserably, but God always lets me start again. And that's how I'm thinking about 2010 - a chance to start again. I have never liked the whole "resolution" thing....it just seemed to me to be a total set up for failure. So instead, this January 1st, I'm making myself some promises about things I am going to try to do more of this year.

1. to have more healthy, home-cooked meals - I fell in *love* with the idea of a slow-cooker this year, after reading an article about them in Oprah. It just seemed like a perfect thing for me - someone who isn't all that comfortable in the kitchen, is often crunched for time (usually just because of my poor timing and ability to coordinate cooking times for a whole bunch of meal components), and lets face it...can be a bit lazy, especially in the kitchen. ;-) I also discovered the blog A Year of Slow Cooking, by Stephanie O'Dea, and her book - Make it Fast, Cook it Slow. These are simple recipes, and she presents them in such a low-key, down-to-earth way...it has given me a sense of confidence about this.

2. Doing more crafts with the kids - I got a bunch of great craft materials to use with the kids for Christmas. I'm really thrilled they seem so into crafts. Somewhere along the line I developed a very strong inner-critic about my creations...I hope these early projects with the kids will help them build a strong foundation of confidence and pride in their creations. I never felt particularly creative growing up, and yet each of us is inherently creative...I want me children to know this.



3. Play my dulcimer for my children - my poor dulcimer has been in storage for longer than I'd like to admit. So I got a brand new refresher book for Christmas...that just happens to include some great songs from church!



4. Live a more earth conscious life. Reduce, reuse, recycle more (in that order...all are great things to do for our Mother Earth, but it is better to re-use than recycle, and it is better to reduce. (That last one's a tough one). Remember the compost, and find a source for composting our waste that we aren't set up to compost right now.

Make good buying choices - recycled things, things that don't get thrown away, etc. Buy food and other items that are sold in as little packaging as possible, especially plastic packaging. Looking at all the egg-shell containers and plastic stuff than held things together was discouraging. Buy and eat organic, locally grown food. Purchase objects that are handmade by local and/or struggling artisans.

5. Buy and gift things that are globally conscious. Try to give as many gifts as I can that are eco-friendly (made from recycled materials, or at least from sustainable ones and with processes that are kind to the earth - - no plastic), and at best also benefit someone in need (things where a decent portion of proceeds from the sale of the item go to helping someone else, and/or handmade items from folks around the world who make these things as a way to support themselves and their family).

This one will be easier for me because I just love love love things with an international flair...although that isn't true for all of my gift recipients. I've collected a fair number of web resources for fair trade gifts and gifts made by our brothers and sisters in struggling nations. And I also like the idea of having things in the house that represent many world cultures to help my children learn of the bigger world outside their home, their town, and this one country of the many many on Earth.

(Thanks Neeka, for the inspiration for both #4 and #5 :-).

6. Figure out whether it is possible right now, and if so, cross-stitch, scrapbook, and and organize our pictures. I love to stitch, and have some projects for the babies. And preserving memories in a pleasing way is something that brings me much joy.

Heh. I have been reading some other folks' resolution lists. And it made me realize that while these goals are great, and will enhance my life....they aren't the most important goals, *and* they are the "easy, keeping busy" kind that allow one to ignore the more important stuff. So here's some more:

5. Be easier on myself when I don't do everything exactly the way I think I should be doing it.

6. Pray more. Rely on God more. Think more in every thought and action, is this what would most please God? Trust more that all indeed will be well.

7. Take more time to just "be" with my kids...to delight in all they are learning, discovering and doing. Pay more 100% attention to them, instead of doing lots of other "stuff".

8. Be more intentional in how I spend those few precious moments of 'me' time that I do get...is vegging in front of the tv or zoning out on Facebook really always the best choice? ;-)

9. Truly relax. Just be quiet and still, and listen for the voice of God.

10. Love. Let go of petty resentments, jealousies and old hurts. Love as Jesus would want me to Love. (Geesh, these each got progressively more challenging but also more important, I think).

Enjoy 2010. With all that I am blessed with in my life, I know I will...if I can just get out of my own way. I'm going to try to embrace and enjoy these promises to myself, rather than let them just become more responsibilities I feel I"m not living up to. After all, each one of these things will make me feel better about myself and my world. So wish me luck with my promises to myself. I hope you've made some promises to yourself, too. You deserve it. Happy New Year!

My Favorite Christmas Season Memories (so far)

Some friends at church were discussing (on Facebook) how the best part(s) of Christmas is the anticipation, more than the actual day. All the fun, wonderful things we do...and the anticipation of Jesus. And then I read this article all about how not to spoil your child at Christmas, and it mentioned a lot of tradition/memory making things you can do. I know I found some things I'd like to add to our Christmas experience.

But it also got my thinking about what a wonderful Christmas season this has been so far. I know this will be part one of at least two parts, because the fun keeps coming. But here's a list of my best Christmas moments so far:

1. Evan telling me he wanted to give Jesus a Christmas card, and that he didn't want Santa to come, just Jesus...and then asking me what we should get Jesus for Christmas.

2. Making ever-so-imperfect Christmas decorations, and then watching the kids admire them with joy and pride, every day since. Our favorite is our prayer chain, which bares the names of lots of the people we love. Most in fact. ;-)



3. picking out a wreath for our door together. Amelie found a little sprig of leaves, pink little balls, and a pink present and exclaimed, "Pink! My favorite color!" That just had to go on the wreath.

4. my children "laying a path for Jesus" each week in church

5. making my Christmas card...I like it so much better than last year's. ;-)

6. the first eggnog, at Flatbread...like back in November! LOL.

7. Exchanging fair-trade gifts with a dear family friend (whose commitment to and work for social justice just inspires me to no end), ours wrapped w/ construction paper decorated by Evan and hers in newspaper - and both of us just loving our gifts' wrapping, and knowing the other would too! And the smile on Evan's face as his dad told me, "Evan wants to give her the present".

8. Listening to Evan and Amelie's "Ooh"s and "Ahh"s as we watched all the lights on peoples' lawns while driving places.



9. Finding a Christmas ornament I think my hubby will really love...some years I just didn't find anything that inspired me.

10. Telling Kevin about hearing the first Bob Dylan Christmas song I ever had. And then ordering his Christmas album and thinking about whether we'll love it or just laugh at it once we listen. (Kevin never reads this blog, so if you see him - mums the word!)

11. Creating some custom-made, personalized gifts for the favorite people in my family.

12. My feeling of utter gratitude (and an itsy bit of pride, thanks to Reverend Wendy), that even though I grew up not going to church or learning much about Jesus, and even though I don't think I've quite figured out all that I do and don't believe...my kids (esp. Evan) are really into Jesus's birthday this year, and I think they kind of understand what was/is so special about Him.

13. Spending this Christmas thinking more about God and my blessings, enjoying all the moments of this season, and worried and fretting less about what has to get done....than I ever have in my life. And realizing how much Kevin and my children have had to do with making this happen.

Christmas is Coming & For Heaven's Sake (Part 2)

Recently I blogged about how pleased I am that we are bringing up our children up with as strong a faith foundation as we can, with the help of a wonderful faith community. And about our efforts to make Christmas about Jesus at least as much as it is about presents and all the wonderfully fun stuff that well, isn't.

And I am just thrilled with how it is going. Their aunt gave me a link to a website with wonderful crafts...both secular and Jesus oriented. I think these have been a big part of their growing excitement. THey love the crafts, the act of making things...and they are tied to Christmas and so I think the excitement transfers to Christmas.



But they are also excited at the Advent time about JESUS. Evan keeps talking about Jesus "coming". I hope he isn't expecting him to walk through the door Christmas morning. ;-) But I love that he is excited about celebrating Jesus's birthday at this period of time. As I mentioned in Christmas is Coming, I grew up not even really knowing what Advent was.

We made some cards with candles cut out of pieces of construction paper..this actually came from a book published by the Le Leche League that their Godmother Jane sent me. Evan doesn't want to send it as a Xmas card, he wants to send it as a birthday card to Jesus. We've made Christmas trees out of green paper and glued ornaments on. Amelie insisted on gluing the ornaments on herself. This just pleases me to no end. She is so sure of herself. I hope she never loses that. I hope I only enhance the feeling and never do anything to undermine it. After putting them on the refrigerator, she pointed to it every day. We made snowman puppets. I had to cut out the shapes...and these snowmen looked pretty sad. They ADORED them.

Hope Church is celebrating Advent in part by starting worship with the children laying a path to Christmas and lighting an Advent candle. As Pastor Wendy noted, they approached this activity with such Awe and Wonder. (Capitals, yeah!). The first week they laid down paper "leaves" to lay a paht for Jesus. The second week they laid a path of "water" for Him. They both came back to our pew smiling ear to ear. And they are also attending the Sunday School each Sunday now...for the whole time before they come back for Communion! (I just love that children are part of communion).

And their godmother Jane sent us two lovely Christmas books,The Christmas Baby by Sally An Wright, and The Moon Shines Down by Margaret Wise Brown. Evan just adores the pop up manger scene in THe Christmas Baby. He keeps asking why it folds up in the book. ;-) After I read it each night, he wants to hold it and look at it, and has fallen asleep with it in his arm. And he asks so many *questions* about the places talked about in The Moon Shines Down. We all love the artwork, and MWB's language is as beautiful as it is in Big Red Barn. It only mentions Christmas at the end...but it is after showing the experiences of young people all over the world...and so the child knows a little about each of those places before being told (or reminded) that Christmas is celebrated in lots of places.

I'm especially thrilled to have these because we only had A House Mouse Christmas. It is a lovely sweet book with beautiful illustrations (I really love House Mouse designs), but it has nothing to do with Jesus. We'll also be getting Bear Stays Up for Christmas (by the author of Bear Snores On...a Kelly Household favorite) from Nana. But we're looking right now for more childrens' books about Christmas, both secular but also especially ones about Jesus. I am eager to have a bigger collection next year.

And Evan told me tonight, "I don't want Santa to come, just Jesus". My eyes really started to tear up. It was the sweetness of what he said, but it was more just incredible gratitude that for all my poking around in the dark about what and how to teach my babies about Christmas, and not a lot of teaching on my part...my son is really into Jesus and his birthday!We will be doing Santa, on the modest side. But I'm thrilled my kids knew much more about Jesus before ever even HEARING the name Santa. I think they will get a big kick out of Santa...and I am really excited to leave out cookies with them (and carrots for the Reindeer). And the giggling and not wanting to go to sleep, but wanting Christmas morning to come. THe plan right now is to not be home on Christmas morning this year or next, but I'm already looking forward to Christmas morning 2011

So the Kelly home doesn't have its Christmas tree yet, and the only decorations we have up are the ones the children have made. But it sooo doesn't matter to the kids. They are already beginning to understand what Christmas is really about...and they're plenty excited about that.

The Little Things...

There are so many "big" things I love about Evan and Amelie. How loving they are, how thoughtful and sweet they can be, their incredible appreciation for anything and everything, even the smallest little thing you do for them. They are so friendly to everyone. And I am so happy for the way Evan is really appreciating the *true* meaning of Christmas.

But there are so many little things too, that bring me such joy and so many smiles throughout our crazy days.

1. The way Amelie gets up and does her best impersonation of Dora when they sing "We did it!" at the end...twisting her little self and moving her arms back and forth in a twisty motion.

2. The way Evan remembers the littlest of details about places and events we were at months ago!

3. Evan loves to hear stories about when he was little. He got a kick out of my telling him that when he was less than a year old, he loved any book with pictures of the moon...and at bedtime when we would read them, he would go to the window (or just look out if we were on the bed by the window) and point and say, "Moon!".

4. The way Amelie thinks about people and what they need just about *all* the time. I can be having a conversation with Kevin (Daddy if you're reading this someday kids ;-) and mention I have to go get something or I need something and she runs and gets it before I even get up!

5. One of their favorite shows right now is Wubzy (esp. Amelie). There is one character who puts up his hands and wiggles his fingers and says, "That's Kooky" to things he finds strange. Both of them, but esp. Amelie, love to put their hands up and do the same motion and say "That's Kooooky!" too! They have big grins on their faces and it is so cute. I'd love to get a picture to go with this, but it happens so fast, I probably won't be able to.

6 The joy they are taking from our CHristmas crafts. They made snowmen out of paper last week, and for *days*, Amelie would point to it on the refrigerator and say, "Mommy help me make that!" And they both just go to town with anything I give them to color. I was so surprised to see Amelie pasting Christmas ornaments on to her paper tree by herself! And neither of them care what they end up looking like...that's my hang up. So I'm trying to ignore that and just reinforce their pride in their creations. I know that is the best thing I can do to help foster their creativity.

More and more to come...

Toys & taking it easy on myself

There was a battle going on at my house a while back. It was me versus all of the toys we have in this house. And I won...and then I lost. Welcome to motherhood. ;-)

We have *never* done a toy donation or give away...we still have every toy the kids have gotten since they were born, basically. That's a big part of the problem. So I finally hit rock bottom one day, as my crutches were landing on every little part of every toy (figure tons of toys x tons of parts to many of them = a sea of tiny parts!)...and Evan would often start just tossing them all around frantically when he would get in "a mood" (born of tiredness, boredom or just being 3...or some combination of the three). There were too many things for him to throw.]

I have unique and odd needs when it comes to organizing toys, because of my disability. I can't lean over and pick up toys after toy to put them away. Down, up, down up, down up is just too tiring for me because I have a weak back. And lots of tiny parts on the floor are just a minefield for crutches. So after getting some much needed help from folks, I came up with a plan.

So my family and friends came to my rescue at various points over the next couple of days. And then I got smart. All of the toys with lots of pieces went downstairs to our family room with a RUG. And ones with little pieces that would get lost under the couches down there went to their room (rug again). So I wouldn't slip on the little buggers. And I put a rule in place: the toys stay in their respective rooms as much as possible, but if you bring one to another room, you put it back when you're done. We moved their toy shelf with bucket (w/ LOTS of piece) into our room, so Evan would stop toppling the whole thing over, buckets and their contents and all. THe rule for that was you take one bucket and a time, and only can take another bucket after you put the first one back.

I felt really brilliant. And now I feel SO freakin' naive and stupid. Of course neither of us keep on them all the time to keep things where they go. And so now my house is a not-so-Holy mess AGAIN. And the fact that they have a bizillion toys, books, etc. makes piles and mountains of things to wade through when they all get tossed about.

THis is one of very few "negative" posts, because I try to keep to recording the lovely memories...but I know some other moms read this...and I gotta be real. Sometimes I feel like the most unorganized mom (and wife - homemaker I guess is the word ;-), horrible disciplinarian, and just overall incompetent mother/wife. And since that's 99.9% of my identity these days...it means I'm an unorganized, incompetent PERSON.

My niece Shelley Abreu just blogged about these feelings, and I think she is the most creative, thoughtful on-top-of-everything person. And I hear other moms (mostly on Facebook)voice the same feelings. Shelley questioned why all these great moms all seem to have these same insecurities. And if you're in this boat, you should hop on over and read it. It made me feel so much better...just like talking to my other mom friends always does.

This was just going to be a rant on how toys are running my life. But it would be such an incomplete picture. Because I am saved by the support of these other moms on a daily basis. And I think that is a much more valuable message.

Handmade for the Holidays

I admire this so much. This woman's children are SMALL! I can picture *maybe* doing some of this when my kids are both in grade school. But I post this as a reminder of a wonderful goal for the holidays. If you're reading this, maybe you will take the "challenge".