Yes, I'm a loser

So, I didn't quite make my goal of posting each day for the month of February, I tried, I failed and might give it a try one of these days, when:

It is not the sick winter season, when the hubby is not recovering from elbow surgery, when it is not such a struggle to keep my house from looking like a tornado has recently passed, when the economy and political atmosphere is more stable, when I am getting more than a few hours of consecutive sleep at night....or when you know where freezes over.

We shall seena

1.0 is 3.5

Baby Riggle 1.0 is officially halfway through his 3rd year of life.

A little about you at this point in time:

Peanut Butter is your favorite food, you would eat it every single meal if I let you.  You love your brother and when you are not mad at him for taking something you want you play really well together.  You talk to him and he totally listens, even when he shouldn't.  You are a mama's boy but totally love your papa too.  Your current cartoon obsession is Diego.  You love to color, play with play doh, help me make biscuits, woodwork with Papa, take baths, dance, ride your bike, dig in the dirt, build train tracks, visit Mr. Dan, play with your friends, climb trees/shrubs, swim  and be outside.  You are starting to develop a little attitude when things don't quite go your way.  You are very liberal in giving hugs and kisses to me and are starting to figure out that an unsolicited kiss, especially when you are being a mess, is an instant attitude adjustment for this mama.  You can count to 15 in English and to 10 in German and Spanish.  You know most of your colors and love to draw and paint.  You no longer nap and are finally in a decent sleep pattern at night, though occasionally you do enjoy a little snuggle time in our bed.  You are finally over your sunscreen phobia...thank goodness. 

You make us proud EVERY SINGLE DAY and we love that YOU are YOU little guy!!

DUMBEST HOLIDAY EVER

Have I mentioned I hate Valentine's Day?  People get irritated with the commercialization of Christmas, which I admit, is pretty awful but Valentine's Day is RIDICULOUS.

I am blessed with a hubby that brings me flowers for no reason and leaves a card out for me on a random Tuesday, maybe that is why I don't need a day where we are expected  express our undying love for each other.

While we don't celebrate the holiday, I do make Valentine's with the boys so they can share them with their friends but this year we are doing cards and fruit, we are not going to contribute to anyone else's candy stash!

A friend shared this quote with me and yes it's long but man, it is DEAD ON!
 
"Love is a temporary madness. It erupts like an earthquake and then subsides. And when it subsides you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have become so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the promulgation of promises of eternal passion. That is just being "in love" which any of us can convince ourselves we are. Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident. Your mother and I had it, we had roots that grew towards each other underground, and when all the pretty blossoms had fallen from our branches we found that we were one tree and not two."
-St. Augustine

NaBloPoMo ~ Feb 9th, 2011

I've often heard that choices can define your character. In some instances, I agree. In others, I believe it can be as simple as how you react that defines your character.

It all depends....really!

• Last week, we were a house full of sick people.  We chose to let some things go so mommy was well...a better mommy...even though there is still evidence of tornadic activity.

• Today, we chose to go to storytime at the library and exchange our books for new ones because the kids enjoy it and I want them to appreciate this resource called the library.

• Matthew refuses to eat potatoes IN ANY WAY SHAPE OR FORM but will happily chow down on raw spinach.  I choose to act as if this is completely normal while inside I am screaming WTF!!!

• Today, Matthew chose to come home and get nearly naked as soon as we walked in the door despite the fact that it is 30 degrees outside.  I chose to just go with the flow...after all it's still kinda cute when you're 3, at 35, NOT SO MUCH, well except for those girls nobody really likes. 

• Yesterday, we made a "Poop Chart" and while I had my doubts.....IT WORKED!  IT WORKED!  IT WORKED!  Matthew chose to poop on the potty, with little drama, and I got to enjoy a special accomplishment with him.

• Recently we found out that the hubs is likely getting laid off sooner rather than later.  Scary indeed but we are choosing to remain positive, make smart choices and pray for guidance.

• I often choose time out over spanking many times because I NEED the few minutes to chill out.

• I have started exploring returning to the workplace.  For every position I find I am a bundle of emotions when submitting a resume.  I love raising my children and being "in charge" of their development in these formative years but reality may not allow me to continue down this path.  On the other hand, I loved working and got a fair amount of my self worth from being an integral part of something.  While a choice has not been made yet, the crossroads are looming and will affect so very many things in our lives.

• I choose to teach my kids Spanish and German so they realize this world is so much bigger than their little world...and it's pretty cool to hear the 3 year old counting in another language.

• I choose to wake up every morning and thank the lord for our health, the fact we live in a free country, we live in a safe place, we are blessed in so many ways that I know we take for granted.  

• I choose to get up and dance EVERY TIME these boys ask!  Ten years from now they will not get within 30 feet of me when I am "dancing".  Today, I rock!

NaBloPoMo ~ Feb 8th, 2011

I'm all out of words....maybe tomorrow?

NaBloPoMo ~ Feb 7th, 2011

Another quote that is a testament to the fact that people with CHARACTER make an impression, whether they know it or not.

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel”. -Maya Angelou

Sleeping double in a single bed.....

So, we started an experiment a few weeks ago and let the boys sleep together in Matthew's twin bed for the night...guess what...it worked out AMAZINGLY well.  For the last 6 days they have slept together at night and periodically even napping together.  They are both sleeping longer thank the lord and seem to enjoy it.  In fact tonight when getting ready for bed Matthew told me that baby needs to sleep with me.  It warms my heart to see my little boys loving each other and seeing them snuggled up to each other in bed...well.....priceless.

Kimber gets up around 2 or 3 most mornings but does not cry, he just pads into our room and climbs in bed with us.  Gotta start working on curbing this but for now, I am enjoying a tiny little bit more sleep!

NaBloPoMo ~ Feb 6th, 2011

From my initial post on the definition of character:

                                       5. reputation: a stain on one's character.

So, I thought I would share a time when....well....I was lacking character.

Once upon a time, in 10th grade English class there was a boy who sat behind me named M.  Annoying is a mild term, this guy drive me completely nuts.  He was always touching, asking to borrow stuff, wanting to copy, etc, etc, etc.  I tolerated him for quite some time but one day I had just had enough.  He pulled my hair, not hard mind you, but just enough to send me careening over the edge.  I promptly turned around and punched him square in the nose, thinking this will put a stop to him bugging me.  Well, it did stop...as he bled all over the place and Mrs. S marched me down to the office.  At the time, I had NO REMORSE, the guy had it coming.  Even after sitting in Saturday detention for several Saturdays (swooning over Coach Brown) I still did not regret what I did.

For the remaining 3 years of high school he would look down when I passed him in the hall, I was given the nickname "Scrappy", people blew the whole thing out of proportion and for a little while...I was kinda cool.  

Looking back, being a mother of little boys, who constantly do things that drive me batty, I wish I had handled it differently.  I wish I had understood that the guy just wanted someone to talk to, hang out with, whatever.  But in high school, in my opinion, we are all trying so hard to BE SOMEBODY that a reputation, good or bad, is better than no reputation at all.

 

NaBloPoMo ~ Feb 5th, 2011

Who's your favorite character from a book, play, film, or other work of art?

 My favorite book character has got to be Lady Bird Johnson.  While she is a real person rather than a fictional character I love everything about her.  She was an amazingly intelligent and driven woman who was strong enough to stand up to (and behind) and strong willed man.  She worked hard, besides being a shrewd businesswoman she succeeded in beautifying so much of this country

One of my favorite movies is The Count of Monte Cristo, the newer one and my favorite character is Mercedes, the love interest in the movie.

I love that she is strong and brave yet so very fragile.  I love that she is vulnerable in the very same moments that she is bold.  I love witnessing her devotion for her child above all else, except for her one true love.

Too Old For Loud Smoky Bars

NaBloPoMo ~ Feb 4th, 2011

"Character is like a tree and reputation like its shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing."

ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

As a sucker for quotes, this is officially my cop-out for today.

NaBloPoMo ~ Feb 3rd, 2011

I have been blessed enough to be surrounded by many characters in my life.

Over the next few weeks, I'll introduce you to some of them.

In no particular order...

Once upon a time, I was a poor Pre-Vet student taking agronomy from Dr. Gilman.  He had a reputation as a tough professor but over the course of the next 2 years I fell in awe of/with this man.  He was funny, smart, witty, ornery, kind, brutal, hard, soft and so very fair.  That man made you work hard for your grade but you certainly walked away from every class feeling as though you got your money's worth...every..single...time.

I eventually took every class he taught, genetics and advanced genetics being my absolute favorite undergraduate classes.  He was always imparting his wisdom on us underlings and there are a few quotes from him that stick with me to this day.

In telling me about his adopted child one day he told me, "Being a parent has so very little to do with genetics".  My twenty-something self didn't really get what he meant, I just smiled.  Years later..I finally realized what he meant...and it makes me cherish the knowledge he imparted on me.

He also said, half jokingly, at the beginning of one of his classes, "You gals will have to work twice as hard to keep up with these guys".  WHAT???  I was a little flabbergasted at first but one of his teaching methods was instilling a sense of competition in us.  We girls were ALWAYS trying (and usually succeeding) in kicking our male counterparts butts!! 

He passed away a few years after I graduated.  It saddened me to know that this world is a little less bright because he is not here but I have no doubt, that man is having fun upstairs!!

NaBloPoMo ~ Feb 2nd, 2011

Character....when I see this word for me the image of furniture that has been used, loved, worn and maybe even abused a little comes to mind.  I am an absolute sucker for previously loved things, especially of the wood variety.  Anyone that has ever been to my home can attest to the fact that there is VERY LITTLE in my home that lacks "character".  I will admit that the character is less Pottery Barnish than I would like and much more thrift~store~Craigslistesqe but hey some character is better than none right?

A few examples of the character around my house:

My dining room table belonged to a grandparent of a dear friend~college roomie.  It is a perfect table in my opinion.  It seats two couples and some kidlets quite comfortably.  It is nice but no too nice.   It so boldly provided a workspace for several bug collections, chemistry study sessions and still proudly shows the telltale marks of a few intense games of quarters.  It is WOOD.  It has little indention where our firstborn smashed the wring end of the fork into the table for fun.  

Our headboard, which is actually an old door that we stripped (at least 75 coats) of paint off of.  It took forever to get it just right.  Believe me when I tell you my "just right" may not be up to par with yours but I love it all the same.

Our kitchen cabinets are painted this odd turquoise-ish color.  It is not a color I would have ever chosen (or been bold enough to try) it is certainly not mainstream but it makes me smile. It seems playful...which is needed in a room that I spend way too much time in.

Nothing...and I mean NOTHING matches in our house but every piece has a story and it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

Are you surrounded by character.....or not so much??

These are a few of my favorite things.....

Spray Paint

Twinings English Breakfast Tea

Craigslist

Target

Coupons

Nutella

Thrift Stores

New Running Shoes

Fabric Remnants

BOGO Deals

NaBloPoMo ~ Feb 1st, 2011

So, I have wanted to do this for quite some time and have decided to make the jump.

This month's theme is CHARACTER....let's just hope I can fill 28 27 more posts and not kill any of you with boredom!!

Defining CHARACTER:
 –noun

1. the aggregate of features and traits that form the individual nature of some person or thing.

2. one such feature or trait; characteristic.

3. moral or ethical quality: a man of fine, honorable character.

4. qualities of honesty, courage, or the like; integrity: It takes character to face up to a bully.

5. reputation: a stain on one's character.

6. good repute.

7. an account of the qualities or peculiarities of a person or thing.

8. a person, esp. with reference to behavior or personality: a suspicious character.

9. Informal . an odd, eccentric, or unusual person.

10. a person represented in a drama, story, etc.

11. a part or role, as in a play or film.

12. a symbol as used in a writing system, as a letter of the alphabet.

13. the symbols of a writing system collectively.

14. a significant visual mark or symbol.

15. status or capacity: the character of a justice of the peace.

16. a written statement from an employer concerning the qualities of a former employee.

17. Literature . (esp. in 17th- and 18th-century England) a formal character sketch or descriptive analysis of a particular human virtue or vice as represented in a person or type. Compare character sketch.

18. Genetics . any trait, function, structure, or substance of an organism resulting from the effect of one or more genes as modified by the environment.

So maybe, just maybe I can actually do it, heres to trying!!