The Lily Pad

Last year I had my navigational skills questioned by my three year old.   Since that time I have not used my GPS during our trips from VA to NC because, you know, I got this. On our most recent trip home, I called my Dad to let him know we were on our way and we had the following conversation: Dad "What time does the GPS say you'll be here?" Me "I don't know, I'm not using it.  I know my way home." Dad "OK..." Two and a half hours later I had the following conversation with my Grandmother-in-law: Me: "We're making great time!  Madelyn's sleeping and we're near *some town that starts with W." Nanny: "Thats great!  Be safe." Forty five minutes later I call Nanny back... Me: "Um...we're in West Virginia." Nanny: "..." Me: "Yeah.  I didn't need the GPS." I call Chris Me: "Um...we're in West Virginia" Chris: "Where's the GPS?" Me...

I wrote this almost a year ago and forgot but I just now found it and since I'm lazy I'll post it instead of writing something new. Sometime earlier this year I developed a lovely clogged pore that didn't seem to want to go away, and then it got a friend right beside it and another and then together they dug a pool.  So after enough waiting for them to move out of the neighborhood on their own I went to the dermatologist for a zit removal but was surprised with a biopsy and got an undeniably clear result of inconclusive squamous cells.  So it was reccommended that I have it removed. In preparation for having my face cut off, I asked Chris to try to be there in case a crazy criminal breaks in and tries to switch their face with mine.  Granted I wasn't under anesthesia and the only thing numbed was about an inch of my lower jaw, but I prefer to be safe, plus since I knew the Dr. wasn't going to give me anything to relax while...

This past weekend Madelyn and I took an impromptu trip to surprise my parents for their 30th Anniversary.  I used the GPS to keep me updated on my time of arrival so that I knew where I needed to go for maximum surprising impact.  After exiting for the fourth potty break, and being yelled at by the woman in the box to make a U-turn.  Madelyn asked the following: "Momma, how come you can drive all the way from California without that thing but you can't find Nanna and Da-Daddy's?" Yep.  The GPS landed in the floor and I did NOT use it on the way home.

Today marks my Mom and Dads 30th wedding anniversary. Their story is our story, our family and our love. Mom caught dads eye with her beauty and grace. taken at Niagra Falls and the first picture Dad ever had of Mom Dad swept her off her feet by wearing tuxedos to drag races  you wish you could look this sexy  They dated and Dad set the standard for perms in the relationship.  It took Mom a few years to catch up, but when she did, she did it big. Mom instantly had a ready made family.  I personally think she got a pretty awesome deal.  I mean, look at that cuteness in her lap.  Not everybody gets so lucky as to marry a guy and get such an awesome daughter too!  This is the stuff of fairytales.  I was a perfect angel and never ever peed on her lap in the drivethrough. She also had the pleasure of spending time with my older sister, and although Brea's story is different from my own, the love and devotion from our Dad and Becky are not. ...

We may not have gotten out of bed as early as I wanted in order to start our day and then we may have taken an hour longer at the commissary than I wanted to but we did manage to make it through everything I had planned for the day. We worked this afternoon for a little longer than I think either one of our tolerance levels could handle.  In case I was unsure about that fact, when we started our handwriting exercise, Madelyn was thrilled that I was a "teacher mommy", by the end of it she informed me that maybe she just needed a different teacher.  I think I was fired by my 3 year old. Thats when we pulled out the crayons and stopped trying to make letters. While I finished up dinner she played a hopscotch game using the apple floor tiles from Confessions of a Homeschooler and then played in her kitchen after making it to 7 and losing interest.  Speaking of dinner, can I just say that I kind of want to make out with the inventor of the crock pot liners?...

So many of you have asked (OK, maybe none) what my plans are to teach Madelyn.  I'm going pretty basic and simple and we'll add more as is dictated by boredom and learning curve.  Every day will have a handwriting and phonics exercise as well as new material and new focus.  For example, we are still working on lower case letters so one day in the second week is intensive lower case work.  As in we're pulling out the house diagram and talking about who has what in the attic and in the basement.  Intense I tell ya.    Each week will have it's own theme.  We will use that theme for part of our handwriting and phonics skills, as well as a themed craft, books (fiction and non fiction), and as many related activities we can while maintaining my sanity.  Our first week is Ballet because she will be starting dance class the following week, so this will serve dual purpose of getting her excited and having a fun week 1 theme. My "gold*...

Can it really be called "back" when she's never really been?  How about if she isn't even technically "going" this year?  I don't know the deep philosophical answers to those questions, what I do know is that I have 3 weeks worth of lessen plans and materials for our very own Lily Pad Preschool!  Oh wow!  I really like the sound of that.  Maybe I'll have a sign made, or add it to our arts and crafts, or sew something, or talk about it a lot and never actually get it done. Madelyn is almost 4 and is in constant need of intellectual stimulation, so I devised a battle plan to help us through the long cold (to us who haven't lived winter in 11 years) VA winter.  My battle plan is preschool.   My sword is a pencil, my shield a piece of paper, this sentence a huge hunk of cheese. For those of you in know about me, you know that schedules aren't really my thing, but I'm doing it.  I'm setting an alarm clock without having a s...

Conversation between Madelyn and Strawberry Shortcake after I told her she (Strawberry Shortcake) could ride in the car but not go in to story time. "Momma says you can't go in, so you'll sit in the car and not go to story time.  Ok?" ---- "But you want to go to story time?  No, you will stay in the car because you will have friends in there." ---- "It will be OK, you won't cry.  You don't need to go in because you're not real." ---- "No, you're not." I almost spit out my water hearing this very real one sided argument with a strawberry scented doll, who currently has no less than 5 bandaids on her arms.  I'm a little scared to ask what kind of argument caused those.

Madelyn's birthday falls at a very unfortunate time for starting school, at least here in VA it does.  She misses being able to start kindergarten by 24 days.  I am hoping to be able to have her test and start school at 4 because she (like everybody else's child) is advanced.  No really.  She learns so quickly and picks up things that I am afraid that if she doesn't start school until she is almost 6 that she will be bored in class and have behavior issues. I really have three choices in this matter.  1.  Sit back and let what happens happen.  2.  Work with her on preschool curriculum and pray that there is a program to test her into kindergarten (should probably research this).  3.  Just straight up homeschool her.  The problem with full time homeschooling is that I never planned to do that, I always thought I'd be back at work when she started school or in school myself.  I don't know how qualified I am to teach her an...

I recently read an excellent article about the differences between civilian and military life  and it got my poor little rusty gears turning about my own experiences with ignorant people. I think ignorance a rampant handicap that is preventable and treatable.  We all too often forget to put ourselves in that other person's shoes before asking a rude question.  There are no dumb questions if you truly want to understand my life, it is rude to ask questions that are nosy or judgmental.  I am also guilty of forgetting that our life style is appealing and interesting to civilians who don't have the "luxuries" we do.  I was complaining to my hairdresser before this most recent move about how tired of it I was and how I just didn't want to move.  Her reply "I've lived here my whole life, I'd love the adventure."  In that moment I was just as insensitive as the civilians mentioned in the article.  The truth is that we will not and cannot hope...

1.  We moved.  This is a whole post on it's own, but I'm not in a good enough place yet to blog it.  We are settling in and will be happy here, it's just gonna take a minute.  Or three. 2.  Marshmallow is a boy.  I discovered his "accessories" about a week ago and promptly started calling vets to have them removed.  I'm not interested in dealing with little boy bunnies marking my couch as their territory.  How immasculating is it that I refer to my rabbit's testicles as accessories?  Anyway, we started calling him a him and were being corrected by Madelyn.  Chris asked if we were going to tell her and I asked if he wanted to be the one to show her why he isn't a girl.  Therefore, despite having accessories, Marshmallow is a girl. 3.  I called the vet to confirm Marshmallow's pre-surgery appointment and had the following conversation while distracted trying to put away laundry: Vet Tech: Unintelligible, May I help you? Me:...

If you know me in real life, or on facebook, then you know that the Marine Corps has decided to rip me away from my beautiful, wonderful, even tempered climate of Southern California.  I knew it was coming, but and we had a little advance warning, but when budget stuff started getting crazy and Chris was nominated for a new job here in CA, I allowed myself to believe that it wasn't going to happen.  I made plans, I had high hopes for this summer - a summer not filled with work-ups or deployment - I just knew we were gonna be here one more summer.  My bubble was burst less than 30 days ago and today, there are movers at my house packing my stuff.  Yeah.  So not only did I lose my summer of plans, I lost any amount of time to do anything other than hide under the covers. This is weird for me, I am usually ready for a move, ready for an adventure, ready for whatever the Marine Corps throws at us.  This time, I want to throw it back and pick again.  It's...

Linking up to Lady for this weeks dress-up installation. On Friday, Denise and I got together for a super fun girls night with some new to me friends.  Of course since we were in something other than comfy pants and flip flops we had to do an impromptu photo shoot which may or may not have been interrupted twice by a hubby trying to sneak out for cigars. Ahem. Silk shirt and gray shirt - New York and Co Clearance Jeans - levis Necklace - ? Earrings - gift from my man shoes (not shown but I promise they were cute) - Payless     Boobs - God, Madelyn, and Victoria's Secret

Why do we always feel a need to make excuses for why our children don't act like stuffy adults? I admit that sometimes I get embarrassed by Madelyn's behavior in public and I start telling perfect strangers "It's naptime." or "She's hungry." or "It's been a long day." and a few months ago it was "She misses Daddy."  First of all, its none of their business.  Second, there is no excuse for bad behavior, but most importantly, we all have bad days and my 3 year old is not going to be on perfect behavior all of the time.  Wow.  What an epiphany right? Parents aren't the only ones who do it.  Teachers do it trying to ease our poor exhausted parenting hearts.  Reassuring us that it's nothing we're doing wrong, it's just that Dad is deployed, or that all the kids were acting up, or she seemed really tired.  How about she's 3 and cannot be expected to behave like an adult.  Yes, there is room to teach and corre...

On April 2nd, I will be running a 5K in support of ACT Today for Military Families .  OK, OK, I use the term "running" loosely, it's more of a jog, but those of you who know me in real life know that I'm not so much for the running.  As in, not at all.  I feel that if the families I am running for can live this marathon life of dealing with Autism, I can run a measely 3.1 miles.  My 3.1 miles are nothing compared to what these children are living on a daily basis.  1 in 88 military children has a diagnosis in the autism spectrum.*  This amazes me.  Fortunately autism is treatable, but those treatments can be expensive, extensive, and beyond the realm of our standard Tricare coverage.  That is where ACT Today for Military Families comes into play.  This organization helps military families defray the out of pocket costs for specialized treatments, allowing families to obtain the best care for their children. If you haven't guessed by now,...

Image courtesy Google Images OhMyGosh guys.  When I told you that I really honestly truly love to read, it is because of books like this.  I started this book Monday morning, and finished it Tuesday morning. I couldn't put it down, it was so intriguing and well written.  I cannot wait to read her other books.  Like I am having to keep myself away from the library because I have a house to clean, groceries to purchase, and a family to care for.  So if anyone is keeping track - that's two books in less than a week.

I'm linking up to No Model Lady for:  This week I'm feeling a little luck of the Irish. I LOVE dressing for a theme.  Unfortunately my day to day to life doesn't really call for much of this. Dress: JCrew clearance Shoes: Dillards clearance Sweater: gifted Earrings: Kohls

As I posted on Saturday, I've decided to share some lines from my handwritten journal here on the blog. I realize that I am opening myself up to a lot by doing this, but please bear in mind that all of the lines shared here are random and you don't know the before, the after, or the context.  So they are random lines from a random place that I like the phrasing of or that just touches me. I think they maybe took a wrong turn or two while I was in a completely different state. This is as much a part of my journal as she is of me.  A little splash of mayhem. (written just below one of Madelyn's doodles) Full belly + stinky breath + wine drowsiness = Fabulous Night! Are you inclined to share bits from your journal?  Do so in the comments, or link to your own blog in the comments.

Image courtesy of google images This was a pretty quick read and fairly engaging.   The story is about a couple who are toxic to one another but addicted to each other as well.  It's not your typical love story and just when you think you're figuring out the end, you realize you really had no clue.  It didn't have a profound impact on my life, but I enjoyed the book and was easily lost in it. Book 1 of 24 towards being able to rationalize getting an electronic book reader. Next up: The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender