Cyclops Daisy

So this is the package:

And this was the end result:

Craft time with my kiddos is always an adventure. It’s a form of cheap therapy. It reminds me to loosen up. This unfortunately is a reminder I desperately need at times.

I’m not proud of it, but there is a piece of me that really wants the crafts to look “right”. My natural impulse is to fix the mutant bug’s wings, which is completely ridiculous. I want my children to grow into creative, joyful individuals, not drones skilled at copying other people. So the wings will stay upside down on my watch, even if I have to sit on my hands.

As a recovering perfectionist, I occasionally need the reminder that the cyclops daisy is beautiful just the way it is. Just like my children. And all the rest of us for that matter.

Operation Spring Break Fun Debrief

All and all, operation Spring Break Fun was a success. We had one afternoon where the wheels came off the fun bus and everybody was grumpy, but for the most part it was a good time.  I'm declaring it a victory.

One of the best things about living near DC is all the free things to do.  We spent money on ice cream and lunch out one day, but most of our outings only cost us gas to get there and a  picnic lunch.

The most ambitious adventure was a trip to Frying Pan Farm Park.  It's a county park that has a working model of a family farm.  It's about a 45 minutes drive for us.  There were lots of baby animals and tractor rides.  The kids loved it!

Luckily, the weather was nice every day but Friday. We were able to hit all the local parks and had a bunch of park play dates with our friends.   

We also played in our backyard and got the water table and sprinkler out for the first time this year.

We did lots of crafts last week.  Audrey had her first experience with paint.  She hated finger painting, but thoroughly enjoyed the paint brush.  She also learned a new word-yucky-when she decided to eat paint on two separate occasions. (At least it's non-toxic.)

Our week ended with a great Easter.  The kiddos got baskets first thing, followed by a nice breakfast at home.  Then we all dressed up and went to mass early.  We also had a egg hunt in the backyard.  It wasn't anything fancy, but it was a really nice day. 

I love that both kids are now old enough to really enjoy holidays.

Now I just have to start making some plans for summer!

Breaking It Down

This week is spring break here.

This means no preschool and no activities for the little man.  I have him all to myself, all week.

I'm pretty excited to mix it up.  I've been busy planning on some big adventures. 

Tomorrow we're heading about an hour away to a park with a farm that is rumored to have lots of baby animals.  I've also got big plans for a nature walk, story time, picnics in the park and a couple of play dates.  I'm all stocked up with craft supplies and ingredients for cookies in case of rain.
 
I keep hearing other moms complain about the week off, but I refuse to buy into the idea that it's bad a thing to have both kids home with me for a week. I'm going to do my best to make some memories and really enjoy this break from our normal life.

But while I'm off playing tour guide on this voyage, I probably won't have much time to visit the virtual world.

So have a great week and I promise to check in when I have the chance!

Shovel Hacking

Did anybody see this one? - A Shovel Cuts Off Armenia's Internet

Apparently, a 75 year old woman with a shovel accidentally caused Armenia and parts of Georgia and Azerbaijan to lose internet for almost 12 hours.

She accidentally took down internet access to an entire country! Imagine what could have happened if she was actually trying to cause trouble.

The woman, duped the spade hacker by local media, was out searching for scrap metal when she damaged a fiber optic cable that carriers 90% of the bandwidth supplied to Armenia. Turns out that copper cables and fiber optic cables are both usually buried inside PVC conduit so they can look similar. The fiber optic cable that was damaged was initially buried deeper (I’m guessing to protect it from old woman with shovels), but heavy rains and mudslides had exposed it.

This still leaves the question of why a 75 year old woman was digging for copper cable. According to the Google, there is a pretty lucrative scrap metal market in the region and plenty of abandoned copper cables left in the ground. It’s seems that it is relatively common for people to search for and sell scrap in this area.

Why does a 75 year old woman need to make a living digging up scrap metal? I have no answers to that one. I think it just shows that our world isn’t all that advanced, despite the wonders of the internet and all our technological gadgets.

Making the Rounds

Today, I was expecting disaster. My four year old had a dentist appointment at 1:30 and I had to bring the 16 month old along during prime nap time. I figured a tired baby girl, a somewhat scared preschooler and a possible long wait in a doctor’s office was a recipe for mayhem.

Somehow things went magically well.

We got seen quickly, even before our scheduled appointment. My son happily sat in the big chair and opened his mouth on command. My daughter, usually a little machine of perpetual motion, was strangely fascinated by the dentist and just sat quietly on my lap and calmly watched the whole thing.

Nobody was bitten. There was no screaming. It went more smoothly than I could ever have dreamed.

On the flip side, I totally missed the mark with my son’s 4 year checkup last week. I was expecting smooth sailing. Things started to go bad when we waited in the exam room for over a half hour before we saw anybody.

It went from bad to worse when the first thing my son announced to the nurse was that he “loves to go to Old McDonalds because he gets a toy with his food”. He proceeded to go into elaborate detail about how much he just LOVES McDonalds and he eats it all the time.

He totally threw me under the bus.

(Just to set the record straight, the kid gets a happy meal maybe two or three times a month. We rarely eat out, let alone eat fast food. He’s a picky eater, but I really do fight the good fight.)

The first thing the doctor did was give my son a long and rather pointed lecture about eating healthy food. By the time she started the actual exam, he was cranky and uncooperative. I’m pretty sure the baby was going feral at this point because she was running around the tiny exam room and growling like a wild beast.

But the worst part was the shots. The 4 year checkup is a bit of a killer. Consider yourself warned if you have a little one coming up on the milestone. It was ugly.

I really do hate taking the kids to the doctor. It’s one of my least favorite parts of the mother gig. I’m just grateful that we don’t have any more appointments scheduled for a while and that my little man is healthy and cavity free.

What’s in a Name?

What do you do?

It seems like such an innocent question, but it’s full of booby traps.

Sometimes I ramble about my part time work, but it doesn’t feel particularly authentic. Five hours a week doesn’t seem to “count” and my main priority and focus is definitely my kids.

Full Time Mom? This seems to imply that working moms aren’t moms when working and I don’t want to go there. (I swear this paranoia isn’t all in my head, I’ve heard a few working moms bitterly complaining about this term.)

Stay at Home Mom? This seems inaccurate because most moms I know don’t actually stay home that much. We’re at the park, library, play dates, Target, etc. (While I’m pretty sure this one is all in my head, it always conjures up images of women in stained sweats held prison in their house by their children.)

Family CEO or House Executive is too cutesy. I’m also not a fan of Domestic Engineer.  I think because my background is engineering (of the mechanical variety), the last one makes me cringe on just about every level.

If I am being truly honest with myself, the title that probably fits best is Homemaker.

But that one is full of all manner of land mines. It makes me think of angry, repressed housewives sullenly cooking a roast. But the undeniable reality is that I spend a lot of time on home stuff. I cook, clean, do laundry and all that housewifey stuff, but I don’t feel in anyway trapped in my life or subservient to anybody.

The bottom line is something about homemaker or housewife just doesn’t feel quite right. I just can’t see myself ever telling somebody that’s what I “do” (even if it kind of is what I do).

After serious thought, I think I'm going with Trophy Wife.

I need a bit more polish before I can truly pull it off, but it seems better than the alternatives.

Shutdown Show Down

Did you see this? As shutdown looms, agencies brace for impact

I know to most people this is just a headline, but my husband and many of our friends are federal employees. A government shutdown would directly affect many families in the DC area.

My husband is considered “an essential” employee which means he would still be required to work even if the government is shutdown. But the fun part is that it isn’t clear when he would be paid.  Nonessential employees (whatever that even means) are furloughed and may not be paid for the time off.

Public attractions in the DC area would be shut down, including the zoo and the all Smithsonian museums. This might not sound like a big of a deal, but it’s spring break season. According to he article over 23,000 advanced tickets have already been sold for meals and Imax movies for April. That’s a lot of disappointed tourists, not to mention lost revenue

And the effects would be felt far beyond the limits of DC. The IRS won’t issues refund checks, passports and visas won’t be processed and a whole bunch of useful paperwork won’t be pushed.

What I don’t understand is how the politicians can’t find a way to pass a budget!  Frankly, I'm a bit pissed at both sides on this one.

I know that there are big issues and vicious fights going on at the hill right now, but there are huge consequences if they can’t keep the government functioning. The disruption caused by a government shutdown is very real and really ugly.

I vote it’s time for more action and a little less talk.

A Not So Manic Monday

Our crazy weekend went surprisingly well.

My in laws left this morning. My daughter is taking a much needed nap and my son is watching a little TV. As an added bonus, the weather is gorgeous and all the windows are open for the first time this spring.

Life is good.

Both kids enjoyed being spoiled by their grandparents and are currently undergoing severe grandparent decompression. It’s always a hard transition to go from constant attention from extra adults to just boring old mom.

I think a good time was had by all at J’s 4th birthday party. Sometimes it’s hard to tell with large groups of preschoolers. But there was pizza, balloons, games and cake. I know the birthday boy was beyond excited.

We went to a preschool fund raiser on Saturday night and it was more fun than I expected. There was Mexican food, a band and margaritas. I had just enough to drink that I had to remember not to giggle too much in front of my in laws when we came home. I spend so much time in responsible mom mode that it was kind of nice to feel slightly naughty.

The baby shower went well. Lots of presents were opened. Games were played. Way too many cupcakes were eaten (at least by me). The guests were a bunch of people I knew B.C. (Before Child). I’m pretty much the only one who left work to chase babies so it’s always interesting to see the road not taken. (I’m still really happy with my choice.)

Everything really did go well. I’m glad we’re not that busy every weekend, but it was fun for two days.

Hope you all have a great day!

Bring It

My in laws arrived last night.

This morning I grocery shopped alone with my mother in law.

My baby can't decide if she wants one nap a day or two.  Mostly she just seems to want to cry.

Tomorrow is my son's 4th birthday party.  It's a Super Hero theme so I'll have 10 mini justice leaguers patrolling my house looking for trouble.

The good news is that tomorrow night my husband and I are escaping children free.  The bad news it's to a preschool fund raiser.

Sunday, there is a baby shower at my house. 

Deep breathe...

The pizza is ordered for the birthday party.  The party favors are done.  The house is clean for the moment. 

Bring it on.

(Wish me luck.)