my new favorite thing....Chocolate Plum sweets, which is a piece of prune covered with chocolate. sounds crazy and gross, but quite tasty. note- do not let your dog get ahold of these.

i really don't know how this stuff happens

So my little nephew came to visit me at Easter.
I my mind he's little, around 5 years old with a clean face and a monogrammed sweater.
As you can see from the picture, he's not so little anymore.
He tells me he's 27 years old. Which is totally weird, because that's what I am.
I wait for my boys to get bigger, for a time when they will toilet and clean themselves. I think I will then have the time to spend on the things I love. And then I realize, they are the things I love.
I have a lump in my chest everyday with my little 2 year-old, I can't reign him in. He is a wild man. I fear going anywhere with him, because of the destruction he leaves in his path.
Today I had a glimmer of what life may be for him. He seemed to understand me. We went to some physical therapy, lunch at Chick-fil-A and then Costco. A sweet little boy that held my hand in the parking lot, only dropping his body limp twice to see if I would catch him so he could dangle by one arm. I caught him every time.

you will enjoy this or else

because i was having an "aren't I a great mama" day, i took the idea from IHOP and made a Dr. Suess dinner: green eggs, ham and who cakes. as you can see, the joy on the children's faces just makes me wheeze with glee. i'm reminded of the three monkeys see no evil, hear no evil, and speak no evil.

what happens when dad is in charge....

couch to 5k

So I'm trying to run. Actually, I think the right word is "jog" since it is a pace just above a walk.
A small group of us decided to do the "Race for the Cure" in May, and my friend emailed me the plan that was going to get us there...."From Couch to 5K."
Ironically that night a friend of mine from Japan called and by coincidence started telling me about a crazy thing she did called the "couch to 5K" running plan.
It is in the cards. When we worked together about 15 years ago, she was not someone who enjoyed being warm, let alone would put herself through the treachery of exercise. She encouraged me saying if she could do it so could I.
So I am about half way through it, though I am not looking forward to my new week.

alpha diva psycho nazi mom

Believe it or not I had to edit myself in my own blog for being too hard on the alpha-moms that surround me.

God Bless em; they are a kind and thoughtful crew. But I am reminded why it is best they stay on their side of the carpool lane.

I helped out at a teachers' appreciation luncheon, where I was told what to wear, when to refill drinks and reminded why I haven't chosen a career in the food service industry.

I thought dishwasher suited me best so I tried to say in the background as much as possible. But when I had to walk into the hall to fetch something. The Alpha-mom walked past me and stage-whispered, "You have a towel on your shoulder!"

Oh the horror.

I am the baby apraxia whisperer. Kenji is saying more and more things. The problem, no one knows what the hell he's saying. Except me. And granted I only get him about 5% of the time.

deh-deh-deh OHN -- "telephone"

neh-neh neh neh -wiggles -- "playplace of anysort, dancing, colors....or the wiggles"

One of the weekly places I shuttle the little guy around to, in hopes it will trigger him to speak is the YMCA. We've been going in the pool.

His first time in the pool was a huge success. He "talked" more in his first 1/2 hour in the pool than he does all day.

He will do anything that involves water. In fact in the picture above he had just finished a bath, was freshly dried, diapered and clothed, when he decided to get back in.

(I must mention that because of the drought. We save water as much as we can from the tub and shower to do things like flush toilets, water plants or dump into the washing machine.)

I no longer save tub water.