What exactly are in those vitamins anyway?

Yesterday the girls had their annual check-ups with our favorite pediatrician. He really is great. I think the reason I like him so much is that he doesn't just tolerate my children, he genuinely likes them. And he ends every check up visit declaring that they are perfect! (Of course, I already knew this, but it's nice to get confirmation.) He doesn't even care if we get cheerios or crackers on the floor or tripping over the entire collection of books that the kids have removed from the basket or manuevering around Nathan's stroller or having John attack him with his stuffed dog or--I could go on, but you get the picture. He also treats me with respect which goes a long way as a mom.

Anyway, the girls were weighed and measured, poked and prodded. They both grew 3 inches in the last year and one gained 6 pounds and the other 9 pounds. Both of them are on track to be about 5'8" as adults. The vitamins must be doing their thing because I'm fairly certain that it is not their vegetable intake. Ashley got her last three shots for kindergarten (she has declared that they are the last three shots ever, for her entire life and if sincerity were a factor, they would be) and she did extremely well. I don't think the nurse even got kicked this time. (Last year with Sara was NOT pretty!)

Happy Birthday, Mommy!

As I mentioned earlier this week, I turned 34 yesterday. I, of course, never forget I'm a mom, but on days like yesterday I seem to receive even more reminders that the Lord called me to the best job in the world. Here are some reminders of motherhood on my birthday:

You no longer get to lick the cake bowl. Instead, you get to clean cake batter out of your daughter's hair because, in order to get maximum cake batter as a 5 year old, you must stick your entire head in the bowl.

When your husband asks which favorite meal he can fix for you, you respond "pizza" because you know everyone will eat it and there won't be any complaints about vegetables at the table. (As a side note, my wonderful husband did fix the children pizza, but blessed me with salad, green beans, bread, and chicken cordon bleu along with a great cake!)

When you open a package, you make the children who can speak repeat after you 3 times: "That is mommy's. I will not touch it."

Two of the best moments of your day is when one child gives you as a present one of her precious lip gloss sticks (her most treasured possessions) and another comes home from kindergarten and smiles at me with her wonderful toothless grin and a freckled face.

Grandpa Horn--this one's for you!

"The pink part on here is called the lungs, right Mommy?"

John: "Sara, I'm going to put these in my mouth, then I'm going to smile, then you're going to laugh, okay?"

Ashley: "I really like this one. It has lots of gold and silver. Isn't it pretty, Mommy?"

"I can't talk!"

"I can't breathe!"

"Can I play with my bubble teeth again, Mommy?"

"All I Ever Do is Laundry Around Here!"

I just started a new book for fun. Humor for a Mom's Heart a "compilation of stories, quips, and quotes to lift the heart" compiled by Shari McDonald. One of the first stories made me laugh so hard I had tears in my eyes. As a warning if you're not a mom I'm not sure if you will find this nearly as humorous as me. It's hard for me to remember what I found funny 6 years ago. Here it is: "I'd Tell You Why Motherhood Makes Women Absentminded, but I Forget" by Nancy Kennedy as cited in Humor for a Mom's Heart (New York, NY) (Okay, now that I've cited it several times--here it is for real now!)

After about seven years of hearing, "All I ever do is laundry around here!" Alison devised a way to ease my load: she'd throw her underwear away instead of putting it in the hamper. However, there was one flaw in her logic, which she discovered after about a week when she went to get dressed for a Brownie field trip.

Around seven one Saturday morning, she came into my room and told me she didn't have any underwear.

"That's ridiculous," I replied. "Everyone in this family has underwear."

She looked at me and said, "I don't."

"Well, what happened to it?"

"I don't know."

"Did you have any yesterday?"

"Yes."

"What happened to those?"

"I don't know."

This line of questioning went on until I decided to search the house myself. Sure enough, she was right: No underwear anywhere. And she had to get dressed and to her Brownie outing by 9:30.

After repeatedly urging her, "Come on, I won't get mad--just tell me where your underwear went," I finally got Alison to confess.

We got the story out in the open and I kept my promise not to get mad, but that didn't change the fact that she still didn't have any underwear to wear (except for the pair she'd thrown away the night before). We dug that pair out of the trash with the plan that I'd wash them in the sink and put them in the dryer so Alison could be ready in time.

I thought it was a foolproof idea; I didn't count on the dryer conking out.

I went to plan B.

I remembered my mom used to take our wet shoes and put them in the oven to dry off. I figured: Shoes--underwear, what's the difference?

I preheated the oven to 350 degrees, spread out her panties on a cookie sheet, set the timer for twenty minutes, then went to get myself dressed.

Twenty minutes passed. Ding! The timer went off, Alison and I raced into the kitchen, and she asked, "Are they dry, Mom?" I lifted up the charred remains (the rest having crumbled on the floor).

Our eyes grew wide and our mouths dropped open as we stared at Fruit of the Loom dust all over the kitchen.

"Yep," I told her. "They're dry."

I ended up driving all over the county for the next hour, trying to find a store that sold little girls' underwear that was open on a Saturday morning. We found one at nine, Alison made it to her Brownie outing in time, and from then on, I've used cookie sheets only for baking cookies.

Have a great day!

Hair Day at the Horns--part 2

I was going to include this on the same post as the last one, but I didn't like the way it was turning out and it is after 8pm. (Anyone who knows me knows that my brain officially turns off at 8pm) The other hair thing that happened at our house this afternoon is that I discovered my first gray hair. Now, I'm turning 34 on Thursday, so aging has been on my mind off and on the last couple of weeks. I was looking in the mirror this afternoon and determined that my skin was looking more and more like my own mother's, when I noticed an odd hair sticking straight up on top of my head. It looked white so I pulled it. Honestly, I was very skeptical that it actually was a gray hair. My hair is streaked with some white blond and always before when I thought I found a gray hair, it turned out to just be a white blond hair. So I went to seek a second opinion. My husband, who is always singing the praises of my beauty, informed me that no it was not white blond--it was indeed, definitely, very definitely a gray hair. So much for the beautiful red hair lasting 'til my death. Ah, well, at least I can hope it sticks around until I'm 50.

Hair Day at the Horns--part 1

It was also splinter day at the Horns--at least for me. Somehow I managed to get two splinters in two different places on my body from two different pieces of wood. The one in my finger is still there, but that is for an entirely different post. Back to the hair, the girls' hair needed cut and I had a coupon that expired tomorrow, so this afternoon we made our trip to the beauty shop. This picture doesn't really show off the hair cuts real well, but I figured if I was talking about hair I should probably include a picture of the end result. As you can see, one likes her hair short (she probably would have preferred it be shorter) and the other likes her hair long (she definitely wants it to grow out again). Ashley (the one who likes it long) was convinced that they were going to cut her bangs too short. She scowled at the lady the whole time she was dealing with her bangs.

Daddy, please play with me!

Saturday morning was the first sunny morning we'd had in awhile. Last week was filled with rain. The children, especially John, were desperate to get outside. So right after breakfast he begged to go out and play. He got dressed and promptly stood at the door at 7:30am begging Daddy to go out and play with him. Joe, who was still trying to wake up, explained that it was still too chilly outside for his enjoyment, but that John was more than welcome to go on out. So John headed to the backyard. Five minutes later he was back in the kitchen looking for Daddy. Once he was found, his persistent three year old nature showed as he once again begged Daddy to play with him. Joe, again, explained that it was too chilly. John was ready this time proudly declaring "It has warmed up a little Daddy".

I think it's genetic.

This afternoon was date time for Daddy and his two little girls. Since the weather has been absolutely gorgeous, he decided to try to taking them to a nearby park and go for a hike. Both of our girls love to be outside and nature, so we thought this would go well. Evidently it did go very well until they were about halfway out on the hike, at which point Ashley declares "Daddy, can we go to the mall now?" proving you can take the girl to the country, but the shopper is still in the girl. I think somehow, even though I don't shop much, it is genetic.

Introduction

Well, this is my first blog post and I am already drawing a complete blank as to what to say. I've been wanting to start a blog for a long while, but just haven't taken the time to do it. My biggest purpose for this is to track the memories of my "herd". As a side benefit, I can share them with you as I journal them. Also from time to time I will probably share my various thoughts and views on random topics. Enjoy--and please post your comments. I would love to hear what you think as well.