Leaps and Bounds

Pixie has grown up so much- any day now she is going to drive away, off to college.

She just got two teeth her bottom two incisors. She looks so freaking adorable with her two teeth.

Pixie can also crawl now. She loves it. She can get herself places. The new found independence sits well with her. Also she has discovered how to pull herself up to standing. There is a whole new world available to her now. As well as a chance to irritate her sisters and brother. Up until now she has been fun to play with; now she has an opinion and a way to get what she wants. Oh the places she'll go!

What happened to my little baby? My little brunette lady in a sea of blondes. Pixie is so grown up now. I am so proud of her. I am so proud of my kids for adapting so well. There is always more room in our hearts for more love; and as Pixie grows our hearts grow too.

Splish Splash

Someone- relatively recently- came up with a genius idea. The Splash Pad. Which is a glorified sprinkler/in ground fountain- water play with almost no drowning risk- hey when you are out numbered by kids the way I am....... it is a concern, especially when you have a dare devil like Peas to contend with.

It is genius. I would have lived at the splash pad if they were around when I was a kid. As it is now- my kids and I live there- a lot.

We are very fortunate that we have several around us to choose from. This allows us to keep thinks fresh and stay cool. My favorite splash pad is fully fenced so the kids cannot escape with out an adult.

I have little fishies. My kids are drawn to the water it is some kind of amazing magnetic thing.

Peas has no fear. When my friend and I were at the pool she was amazed that little Peas will jump in over her head and go under water on her own- and giggle hysterically. She gets upset when it is time to leave the pool.

Princess this year figured out how to swim underwater. Now getting her out of the pool is harder than ever. She also developed a love for water slides.

Stinky is still cautious. He goes in but does not want to go under.. totally typical for a three year old; but still getting him out of the pool is never easy. However- this week he has started putting his face in the water.

Even Pixie the little baby loves to splash. One of her favorite things to do is to go in the water pretty far in- like to her chest and have me hold her while she kicks her feet and giggles with joy.

carry me

as you know I had pole dancing on Tuesday- the BEST night of week. Except this week.

One of the girls in my class is out with an injury from vacation, I am facing more surgery- therefore will be off for a bit, and last night another girl was injured. So three of us will be out for a while.

When the girl was injured- class stopped- obviously. Except it did not start again. After she we to the hospital we could not get back into it. I was worried about her. I was sad. She is not just a girl I dance with once a week. She is a girl whom I care about. She is my friend.

That is the thing about Tease: I feel safe there. Even when I am vulnerable; when I am scared. I am safe. I feel supported.

When one of our group is absent, I miss her chemistry in the room; her energy.

Learning that I have to have surgery and will be off for a somewhat extended period of time I was crushed. No Tuesday playtime. My class would move on without me. My friends would not be in the same class as me. I would not get to go on my journey the rest of the way with them and that saddened me- much more than the kidney issue.

Enter Kristin. Patron Saint of Pole Dancers.

I went to another class tonight to try it out (Booty Boot Camp- I loved it-but that is another post), and briefly talked with her she sees the bond that my class has with each other. That we love each other. That we carry each other. We support each other, and does not want to break that up- so she is going to teach the three of us sidelined dancers and teach us what we missed after we can dance again.

Had it not been awkward- I would have kissed her. I got all teary and weepy- all of this has been so overwhelming- having this kindness was too much.

Thank you Tease. Thank you classmates. Thank you Kristin.

Making Mama Pretty

Sometimes even I get tired of going all the time. I really do try to keep things fun and interesting for my kids. Partly because I have the attention span of a fly, and also if I keep them busy- they pick on each other less- which makes my job much more enjoyable.

So anyway in desperation and pain I allowed Princess to give me a make over from her make up box. Stinky decided he wanted to join in the fun too and she let him- as did I *gasp*.

This make up is kids make up- princess themed- heavy on the pink and purple. I went into it expecting exaggerated colors- I was not disappointed. My face looked like a less defined and pink/purple version of KISS.

Things got concerning when I felt lipstick on my shoulders and arms. The lipstick on my forehead and cheeks I almost expected. But---- the shoulders-- that was a surprise.

After I began to wonder how I was going to get all of the make up off without a chisel we went up stairs to admire their work.

Wow. Creative. Colorful.

(and I must admit I liked the lip gloss color- I might have stayed in the lines better....)

'I hungry'

I hear that many times a day. My typical reply is 'I'm not'. Even while I say that though in my head I am running through the food options for snacks- do I have anything?? What should they have?? What am I not going to have to debate about that is still reasonably healthy.

Snikiddy snacks just started offering a baked snack and asked me to try it out (I was thrilled!)They mailed me a free sample of the Baked Fries and one day when the kids were 'I hungry' I had something to go to. Ok so *I* really did not try it. My kids did- and the neighbor kids.

However- the verdict was unanimous. They loved them. When the sample was gone they were asking for more. I loved what was in them... or not in them... No HFCS, no gluten, and peanut safe. Fantastic. Something that is quick that I feel good about feeding them. I will buy them again.

Change of luck.

I started this post at 7 am. It was a whining, "whoa is is me" post. I am glad I did not finish it or post it.

I have had a chance to review it in my head and think it through. Ok so I have had a run of some less than great things happen- but I have had some absolutley wonderful things happen too.

The less than fortunate things that have happened were not so bad either. They were bothersome to be sure- but not that bad. Everything that I have been handed I can deal with- there is amazing support in my life and wonderful people to help me carry the load.

So thank you to everyone who helps carry my load. I will be there for you whenever you need.

I just wanted to swim!

It is hot here. Not as hot as the northeast but still hot. My friend and I decided to meet with our children at the pool for a picnic. From the way the day started I should have just stayed in bed.

My kids were being kids and making me nuts (in other news today ends in 'y'). I threatened to cancel a Grammy visit in desperation. Off we went. Except I knocked over the garbage cans all over the street. After picking that up we went. Finally.

Arriving at the pool a mere half hour after anticipated our friends were thrilled to see us. We got in claimed our chairs and got settled for an afternoon at the pool. It was fantastic because we also ran into our neighbor/friend and her children.

What seemed like minutes later I felt a cramp in my foot- fantastic. Holding Pixie, Peas and I waded to shallower water where I could set Pixie and stretch my toe. Except it was not in the right place. It was off to the side. It started to throb and I walked over to my friend we conferred and determined my toe was dislocated. I got some ice and tape and relocated my toe- oww. lots of oww.

We swam and paddled some more then my kids started to whine and complain for starvation (they had not eaten in an hour). Being the mama I am, I packed food! After feeding the lunch they were still famished and clearly in danger of withering away. So I took pity on them and offered to buy them and their friends some snacks.

Then it all went to hell.

While we were eating popcorn, watermelon, cantaloupe, strawberries, and popcorn while sipping on pink lemonade the pool manager came on the loud speaker and told everyone to get out of the pool and go towards the front gate... ummmm ok. I went up and asked if we needed to leave- as usually there is a 2pm safety check- and I was told to get my kids leave our things and go to the community center. Baffled I looked at the sky thinking- well it was supposed to storm but not until later... thinking that maybe there was a weather issue.

My friends and I followed instructions. We gathered our children and went out- into a freezing cold gym. Surrounded by guards and police officers everyone at the pool was shepherded into the community center for safety. Without towels or more importantly diapers- we were cold and concerned about getting peed on.

News leaked slowly that a man with a gun in a bathing suit who wanted to end his life was in the area. Seriously- I JUST WANTED TO GO SWIMMING!

So we were in the artic gym for an hour. Thankfully, the kids were able to entertain themselves. Thank heavens that we had their friends with us and I had other adults to talk to around. The kids were able to play and the moms were able to chat. Someone brought out balls an hula hoops- it was like watching animals swarm a dead animal. Whatever- they were happy. No meltdowns.

At last a door opened. People began to head towards freedom and warm air. It was a tease. Only if you had your keys and could go to your car immediately were you allowed to leave. Well no- we did not- we did not even have towels.

Back we went.

Finally we were allowed to leave. After getting out belongings and a refund for the lunch that we left. We went home. As we were leaving we heard the police helicopter circling above and saw numerous armed officers.

We found out later that the man in question did kill himself.

Thankfully- we had our kids with us and they were not at a camp or dropped off. I can only imagine how scary that would be. We were with our children. We knew where they were. Not knowing, not being able to be with them, would have been a million times worse.

So it was frightening for all.