Drew Interview

I thought it would be fun to give Drew the same interview as I did Lily when she was 4. It was fun to remember her answers and then hear his. They are so different! :) I love it.

Lily's Interview

1. What is something your mom always says to you? Doodle? (I do not.)

2. What makes mom happy? Hugs!

3. What makes mom sad? When I sometimes hit people. Mom, I want to put myself in time out like you do.

4. How does your mom make you laugh? Tickle

5. What was your mom like as a child? I don't really know. Play outside?

6. How old is your mom? 6

7. How tall is your mom? this tall. (points from my toes to the top of my head)

8. What is her favorite thing to do? I don't really know...because you don't really like to clean up, do you? Eat food.

9. What does your mom do when you're not around? I don't know because I don't see you. Do you sometimes clean while I'm at school?

10. If your mom became famous, what would it be for? Uh, kiss??

11. What is your mom really good at? cleaning

12. What is your mom not very good at? Climbing trees. Some grown ups climb trees. I remember, you're not very good at climbing trees.

13. What does your mom do for her job? Sometimes you help Dad -so that could be your job.

14. What is your mom's favorite food? Uh, potatoes. (he's right!)

15. What makes you proud of your mom? hugs

16. If your mom was a cartoon character, who would she be? Uh, well, the girl that was trying to make'em in trouble. (Candice from Phennis and Ferb)

17. What do you and your mom do together? play blocks

18. How are you and your mom the same? cause we have eyes. we have blue eyes.

19. How are you and your mom different? cause we don't wear the same clothes

20. How do you know your mom loves you? cause....are those jelly beans??...cause I like red peppers....cause I give you kisses and hugs!!

my best effort

This moving thing is consuming all of my brain cells. We are still on the search for a house and still trying to complete the final projects for putting our house on the market. Things may be changing soon....but until then, my brain doesn't have cells that can be dedicated to blogging. Here is my best effort:

Julianna and I were playing babies and she handed me a baby so I could help put a hat on the it and then she said: Oh so pretty, baby!
Me: You're so pretty, Julianna!
Julianna: No! I not!
Me: What are you then?
Julianna: I awesome.

*******

Romeo moved out last weekend. I may have pulled a move that might make my psychologist friends gasp. I didn't actually announce that he was leaving. We had previously discussed the fact that he was visiting new families and that he would eventually move. But, I had not told them there was a new family for Romeo. The Saturday that he was supposed to leave came on the same day that the kids and I were leaving to visit my grandparents. I made sure to tell the kids to tell Romeo a nice goodbye, but I didn't mention that it would be their final goodbye.

Fast-forward to Sunday evening. We arrive home and have a pizza and movie night. No one notices that Romeo is missing. Monday at lunch Drew finally realized that he hadn't seen Romeo in awhile. I told him the news. He asked if we could get a smaller dog now.

Now fast-forward to Wednesday at 4 o'clock pm. Lily is watching television. It occurs to her that she'd like to tell Romeo something. "Romeo!! Romeo!? Where's Romeo?!" Ummmm....Drew (yes, I'm a terrible mother) explains to her that he's moved. I piped up and told her that he had found a nice family to live with. She cried for 45 seconds and then went back to watching television.

*******
While we were visiting my grandparents my Mamaw told the kids that she would pay them a penny a piece for every black walnut that they gathered from her yard. Drew took it very seriously and ended up gathering FIVE HUNDRED black walnuts. He indeed made $5.00 out of the deal. He used the money he earned, plus some savings of birthday money, to buy himself an acoustic guitar. He has been playing it and practicing non-stop since he got it.

******
A couple of days ago in the evening Lily was wanting me to read her a story. She said, "Can you hold me while you read this? You should hold me as much as you can while I'm still small enough to be held. Someday I will be too big and you won't be able to hold me anymore." The news of this fact nearly made me cry. I don't think she realizes how big of a deal it will be when I can no longer hold my babies.

FYI, darling Stivers children

***Notice***

Your parents will no longer be on duty between the hours of 10pm to 7am.We will be on-call for emergency situations only.

Emergencies include (but are not limited to):

• medical trauma (ie. a broken bone, a collapsed lung, vomiting that doesn't reach the trash can or toilet)
• a nightmare that could cause future psychological damage
• something is on fire
• there is an intruder in our home (intruder means bad guy)
• blood coming from your body that cannot be stopped by pressing firmly with a tissue (this does not include situations that you have squeezed your tiny cut to the point of blood. this refers only to blood that starts on it own and will not stop on its own, with a reasonable amount of pressure.)

Non-emergency situations, at this time, should be handled independently. If you are unclear how to deal with a certain situation, but it does not fall under the "emergency" category, than you should wait until morning to discuss it with a grown-up at that time. Your parents should not be bothered with non-emergency situations anytime between the hours of 10pm and 7am. Period.

Non-emergency situations include (but are not limited to):

• needing to use the bathroom for typical purposes (ie going potty or poop)(this rule does not apply to Julianna until she has reached 3 years old and is using a big girl bed)
• needing your blankets re-adjusted
• needing a drink of water or something to eat
• you've lost a stuffed animal or toy
• you need a band aid for your hangnail

There is one non-emergency that you may speak to us about during the night. If you are in need of a hug, kiss or short snuggle, than you may wake us. However, it cannot last more than 3-5 minutes and we will not be escorting you back to your bed. We will no longer be leaving our bed for non-emergency situations.

We appreciate your attention to this notice. You should know that we are taking this notice  extremely seriously. Violators of these rules may be subject to harsh punishments - including having to sleep outside.

Thank you for your time.

Sleep well, children,

Mom and Dad

has it really been that long?

Lily had her first music program last week. She did splendidly and was very excited about it all. She was way into it and there were a few times that I could hear her singing above all the other children. I think the experience gave her some confidence because this weekend when we attended a play at the Family Children's Theatre, she joined the show when they asked for audience members to come sing and dance on stage. Although we still have struggles, this girl is really on the right track. She is working hard with her reading, her art and has even started doing her chores most days without a screaming battle. I'm going to call that a win.

 

Drew loves language, words, books, rhyming and making up his own words. Just recently he has started "reading" to me. He can do the entire book of Knuffle Bunny, A Cautionary Tale word for word. And if I read a book to him more than two times he starts to finish the sentences for me. I love it! This obsession with words and rhyming has started to become a problem sometimes. He doesn't know it's a problem...but I don't exactly know how to handle it besides ignoring it. The other day Tom and Drew were calling each other silly names...like "Captain Noodle" or "Mr. Sillypants"...but then Drew called Tom "Captain Cock" and the game had to end. And then today when we were putting on his shoes for school he said to me, " I can't go to school! My tummy still freakin' hurts!" I blame this incident on TOM because I have been getting after him about saying "crap" and "freaking" in front of the children way too often. So TOM come up with a new word! Your boy is paying attention!

Julianna has a lot going on in her life right now. She just recently become potty trained. She has done pretty well and usually only has accidents when she's too embarrassed to ask to go potty. Really, her nervous personality is the biggest problem with the potty training gig. We were in a public restroom with automatic toilets the other day and she became so nervous she couldn't go to the bathroom. I had to have Drew cover the sensor with his hand so that I could promise her that the toilet wasn't going to flush when she was going potty. If she hears a noise, there is someone in the another stall or if she nervous, she can't go to the bathroom. She gets her shy bladder from her mother. The other update in Julianna life: she's allergic to the outdoors. Trees, grass and weeds, to be specific. Maple trees, Johnsongrass and careless weed to be more specific. The doctor said that her allergies will start around late February and end at the first freeze. So, on the bright side, she won't have her allergies flaring up on her birthday. I am really hoping that the allergy medications the doctor prescribed are helpful. I bet it changes her whole life.

I am sorry about the blog neglect. My mind and body have been so busy lately that when it's time to sit and rest all I can do is sit and rest.

unique and personal

I love cutely decorated little girls rooms. I just don't think that I will have one in my house anytime soon. I do, however, have a creatively decorated little girls room - with just a little flair.

nothing better than funny children to get you in the mood to blog

Right now Drew is obsessed with super heroes. Seriously obsessed. He slept in a Superman costume last night and he may have convinced himself that he can fly while wearing it. This morning it was really foggy when we took Lily to school. He was quizzing me about why bad guys like to come out when there is fog. I told him that that is what they did in movies to make it seem more scary. he said that, no, there really were bad guys out in that fog...and the super heroes are all around too. The funniest part about this new little phase is that he's given us all super hero names. He is Superman, of course; Lily is Word Girl; Julianna Supergirl and I am Catwoman. Tom....that coolest dad on the planet? He's Robin. Not Batman, Spiderman or even Mr. Incredible. Nope, Tom is Robin....living in a cave with his 'friend' Batman.

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Today Lily was in an exceptional mood. She had me smiling from the moment I picked her up from school. She was going a mile a minute talking about everything that came into her mind. I suppose you would imagine that this is the way she is all the time, but that's not the case. I usually have to pry information from her daily. So today was fun.

After I picked her up from school we ran a quick errand to Lowes for Tom. There were three things on my list and it only took 45 minutes to get it all and back to the car. While we were in the store she was telling me tons of things about everything that she saw. She needed new tape. She needed new batteries. She needed to pick the paint color for her room. She might want a new lamp for her desk. At one point we were walking down the aisle of the giant area rugs and she says, "MOM! LOOK! It's a JAYHAWK rug! Next time someone pottys or poops on our rug at home we can buy THIS ONE!!" Which is made all the more funny if you know this story.

At Lowes, our check out person just happened to be the mother of Lily's friend Logan at school. In fact, Lily just attended his birthday last weekend. She was so sweet and was telling me that she just loves Lily so much and her favorite part about kindergarten is spying Lily's outfits at school everyday. Lily was not paying attention beyond muttering a 'thank you' to her. Lily was eyeing the magazines and saying that she NEEDED one of those magazines. Once again, Logan's mom was so sweet and suggested to Lily that she take one of the Lowes circulars. She told Lily that they were fun to look at and free, too. Lily was more than happy to take one. Once we made it to the car Lily was unfolding her lovely magazine and I heard her say, "This is SO BAD for the environment.....but SO FUN to look at!"

I believe the word you're searching for is: insane

I'll admit it. I've been going a little nuts lately. I actually can't help it...I know that it's not the logical part of my brain at work. (Is there a logical part of my brain?) But, despite understanding my insanity, I cannot seem to stop it. I think I've come up with a solution to the problem, though. Now, the solution may sound as crazy as the problem, but as I said before....there may not be a logical thought in my brain.

Today, five years ago, Tom and I signed the papers to buy the house we live in. We had stars in our eyes and thought this house was perfect. Oh my god if I could talk to that crazy couple! I would tell them to be patient. That their family was going to grow quickly beyond what this house could hold. Wait a second, breathe and don't buy this house. But, alas, I cannot speak to us then. I can only try really hard not to make the same mistakes again and rush into buying our next house.

Yup, that's right.

We're moving.

This year, in fact.

Exciting, right?
A happy time. Right?

Well, I'm sure it would be happy if you weren't insane like me....

For me the thought of buy our next home gets me very excited. I begin to hyper focus on all the possibilities. What needs to be done with this house. Where our next house will be. How much do we really want to spend? Do I mind that Lily might change schools? Or even school districts? Would it be okay if we bought a house with a pool? How will I manage the kids while the house is on the market? How quickly can we really get our house ready? Will it be weeks? A few more months? Should I peruse real estate sites now? Or wait until we're really, really ready to buy? Should we call the real estate agent now? Next week? The day after we finish the planned home improvement projects? If I find a house I like, will it still be there when we're ready to buy?

So, like I said...insane. My brain cannot handle all of the unknown facts that I am facing right now. My anxiety shoots through the roof. I can't sleep. I can think about nothing else. Almost everything I do in my daily life somehow can be connected to moving. I cannot make my mind shut up about it.

So....after all of this mind chatter, I am finally going to share my solution:

I am no longer moving. I am not planning, packing, looking at real estate, dreaming of decorating or furniture placement. I am not discussing future budgets, future down payments or any future scenario. I am going to give Tom my wish list. He will decide when our home improvement projects are done enough to call the agent. I don't want to talk about all the possible housing options. I don't want to even know what's on the market. Tom knows what I like and when it's time, he will narrow down the choices. I don't want to know that we're moving until it's time to sign the papers. Don't even tell me the night before. Just drive me to the office, tell me where to sign and leave me out of it.

I know that this sounds crazy. I know that the solution doesn't even seem realistic. How could I really surrender so much to my partner? Easy. I'm insane. The anxiety that this move is creating is really not healthy. My irrational thoughts are causing stress for everyone living in my house. I just don't want to know anything about it anymore. I am more than happy to clean, pack and organize. I am more than willing to paint, hammer, dig or build anything that needs to be painted, hammered, dug or built. However, I don't want a timeline. I don't want a million choices. I just want to wake up one morning and find out that today is the day I'm moving.