a new era

Well, this week is my first official week as a part-time employee. I may or may not explain how I got to this point in a later post. But, for now, I just have to say that I am in love with this. Being home with the kids in the middle of the week, staying on top of the laundry, being able to frequent places whose normal business hours happen to be the hours that I used to be at work for five full days of the week, being able to plan a dinner in more than 20 minutes (without having to do it the day before)...it's the little things, really. Today, on my first day off, the kids and I went to check out some daycares and preschools in the area then met up with Kris for lunch. As we were driving through the downtown on our way to get Kris, Sam saw a white guy in a suit walking down the street and said, "Look Mommy...Barack Obama!" See? If I hadn't gone part-time, I would have missed the President of the United States walking down the street by himself in the tiny college town we work in. Like I said...the little things.

classic

As we were driving to Sam's Club today, Sam had a pressing question from the back seat. "Daddy, where's Grace's Club?"

I laughed and was immediately reminded of the little boy I used to babysit when I was 15. Michael was the cutest little 3-year-old and my main man for that entire summer. He had an older half-brother named Chris and half-sister named Georgia. One day, after a long day of playing on the farm, Michael and I settled in to watch the Miss America Pageant (sorry, Michael). He excitedly turned to me when they announced Miss Georgia and said, "Miss Georgia! I wonder if there'll be a Miss Chris!"

I love this age. Even if they can destroy a room in 6.2 seconds flat, they have their adorable charm to fall back on.

pedicures, hibachi and old friends

Last weekend, I trekked up to Michigan to get together with my four former roommates from senior year at Alma. The drive was long and the time together was, as always, too short. After hearing horrific roommate stories from so many friends and acquaintances, I now realize how lucky we were to find each other. We were close in college and remain close eight years later.


It's funny how, even with infrequent visits, being with this group still feels so natural. I just wish we were able to swing a get together with all five of us present more often, but husbands, kids, crazy work schedules and miles seem to prevent it from happening more than once every year or so. So we cherish these short weekends together and I soak in Karyn's upturned nose at any new food that is put in front of her, and Ashlie's love of bargain shopping, and Nikki's addiction to her cell phone and hatred for bargain shopping, and Sarah's motherly instincts as she rounds us up and cleans up after us. Thanks for a fun weekend, girls!

a lesson on the use of adjectives

We're at the library a couple of evenings ago and I'm trying to round up the kids so we can go home and eat dinner. Sam had chosen his book and was thoroughly engulfed in it while I followed Grace around the children's section waiting for her to pick out a book so we could go. In an attempt to get her to move it along, I picked a book with a dinosaur on the front and asked her if she wanted to check that one out. She said, "No, that one is too scary."

I moved down the row a little further and picked one up with a penguin on the front. Before I even said anything, she said, "No, that one is too waddle-y."

I picked up the one next to it with a rabbit on the front and tried to talk that one up to her only to have her respond with, "No, that one is too hoppy."

And it was just cute enough, that I gave her five more minutes to carefully search for her book while I sat and waited with Sam (who was still engulfed in the same 5-page Spiderman book).

inquiring minds want to know...

Sam (while working on a dinosaur floor puzzle): Why do dinosaurs have butts, mommy? So they can go poop?

Me: I guess so!

Sam: Oh, okay. I need some private time with my puzzle now. I'll call you when it's finished.

just call me Rachael Ray...or not

I'm sad to report that I will not be honored with the title of Mother of the Year this year. I was decidedly out of the running once the committee caught wind of an incident that took place in my kitchen this evening. Sam was walking through as the microwave beeped and he happily said, "Yay, Mommy! That means dinner is ready!"

Could somebody please show me how to turn the oven on?

recent work

A few paintings from the past few months...

spring is in the air

This is why I love Kentucky in the spring...today's forecast:

and baby makes four...

I have a new nephew! Yes, that makes four nephews for me, now. And, his arrival means my sister's family is now a family of four. Congratulations, Claire, Gavin and Owen...we are thrilled with today's arrival of Maxwell Turner and we can't wait to meet him in person!

the quest continues

We decided to do a little antiquing this afternoon. In the car on the way, Sam found a little plastic baby book that happened to have a picture of a bulldog in it. He launched into a whole dissertation about how this poor dog was so cute but so lonely and had no family and needed us to take him home and love him. I told him not to tell me, but direct this lecture toward Daddy, a.k.a. the crusher of all dreams pertaining to dog ownership...Daddy, who was trying to logic with the 4-year-old, saying that of course this dog had a family...who else would have gotten him to the photo shoot so he could appear in a Baby Einstein's children's book? Sam continued on saying that once we got him home, this dog would be so excited to finally have a family and we would be so excited to have him at our home. Right about then, Grace joined in saying that maybe we could bring him home or maybe we could get a different puppy and then that different puppy would be so excited to finally have a family. And Daddy finally gave up on trying to talk them in another direction. Slowly, we're breaking him...our dog days are coming... :)