Saying Goodbye to Friends

Well, today was a really hard day. Dancer Girl had to say goodbye to this little girl who is her first best friend. She and her family are leaving for New York state at 7 am and we stopped by their house as they were packing the truck today for one last goodbye. We ended up staying four and a half hours.

Her mother and I were sent each other's e-mail addresses by the La Leche League. We both wrote desperate e-mails to La Leche when our babies were months old, asking where the closest group was to our city. Well, it turns out that my friend started her own group for nursing moms. She called it Mother to Mother. We e-mailed and met each other for the first time when Dancer Girl was 8 weeks old, and her daughter was about 6 or 7 months old.

So the girls have practically known each other their whole little lives. The Mother to Mother group still meets once a week, though my friend and I don't really go much any more. There is at least one Mother to Mother Group in another nearby city now too.

Our group focused on Nursing Moms Supporting Each Other. My friend called lots of companies and got lots of free samples and coupons. We started making free informational packets to give to local OB offices and the Health Department. My friend got certified as a lactation consultant, and became a resource for the local hospital when new moms needed additional help with nursing their newborns. We organized casseroles for the moms in the group during their first weeks home with their newborns.

My friend and her family has had a great impact on mine. I will miss her a lot. I am sure, however, that my daughter will miss her daughter more. There was lots of crying as I buckled the girls up in the van to finally go. Dancer Girl had to go back for second and third hugs before I could even get her in the van.

Both girls will be starting kindergarten this fall. It has been a long time since that fall day in 2001 when we met. I am happy because they will be moving closer to family and grand-parents, and I can see the benefits of that. I am sad because my daughter has a broken heart because she is losing a best friend and playmate. They will write, of course.

My prayers are for safe travels and for God to look out for them and direct every step in their lives. To my friends...

An Old Irish Blessing
May the road rise up to meet you.

May the wind always be at your back.

May the sun shine warm upon your face,

and rains fall soft upon your fields.

And until we meet again,

May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

No Spilled Milk

Well, I never thought I would be one who liked babysitting. Maybe yesterday was a fluke. Everything went so well. No one cried. No one got hurt. By the middle of the afternoon, I had 5 children running around my house. And no walls were colored. No milk was spilled. There was no fighting. The 2 youngest ones were age 2. My Little One and my friend's very quiet, I love to play all by myself all the time little boy. The next ones up were my Dancer Girl (4.96, thank you very much), and her best friend, a little girl who turned 5 last March. The oldest girl is 10 and loves to play with children, hold children, etc. etc. And I guess that explains everything.

When the 10 yr. old's mom asked me to babysit I said no problem. I told her she would be as much help to me as it was to her (my friend got a new job and needed a babysitter on some days til school starts). Long Haired Proud Daddy said, "You seem a lot more relaxed," after the first day of babysitting this girl. It was true. That day, there was also no fighting or crying. I didn't get frustrated with the children one time. (please note that there were also no clothes folded, no dishes washed... I think you get the picture). Since it was her first day here I checked in often to see what everyone was doing, and usually ended up playing with them. You know me, I was the customer who ordered the peanut butter and cheeseburger pizza, and sweet tea with honey, banana split, strawberries, and bananas. :) These girls have great imaginations.

It really helps that this girl will really play What Not to Wear with Dancer Girl(dressing up is one of Dancer Girl's favorite activities). Yes, yes, I let her watch way too much TV, and this is one of her favorite shows, next to Cash in the Attic and Cash Cab and Berenstain Bears and Mr. Rogers. Hey, I just remembered something funny. When Dancer Girl was a toddler(about 2), and I was having my daily TLC fix, namely Trading Spaces or A Baby Story, if she would even see a commercial for Trading Spaces, she would say, "Spaces, spaces! ". She could even sing the theme song. It probably helped that Trading Spaces came on every day when I sat down to nurse her to sleep for her afternoon nap. (I guess you can see why I am having to wean ourselves off the TV....hey, maybe that was why my mom always called it the Boob Tube, never thought of that before---- we are doing really well, by the way---the children even fight to see who gets to turn off the TV).

Oh, wait, I am digressing. The point is that the girls play well together, and this sweet girl can also calm down Little One some of the time and distract her. So far, so good.

So, hey. That is not even what I meant to post about, though at 4 am is it possible to have a coherent thought? Wait, don't answer that.

I meant to ponder all those deep thoughts about why I am not crocheting much (read nothing) right now. Every once in a while, I think about some of my works in progress (WIP's) and think things like, Don't forget what happened the last time you got that out. I think I spent more time detangling the yarn after my girls helped me get it out of the skein than I did crocheting. Mind you, I wasn't mad at them. It was kind of silly, and they had loads of fun. I really do have lots of patience for untangling things (I get this from my dad, and from having really really long hair).

So I have been busy. Busy enjoying my children. When I do crochet, Dancer Girl sits on my lap to help me with a few stitches, which is not very easy because she is left-handed. I decided to tone down my projects and my expectations. When I sew on a button, I have 2 helpers. When I get out the sewing machine for some wild, finish it in a half an hour projects, or to mend Daddy's pants, I let the girls watch and help. It is the least I can do. There is no use trying to "accomplish" lots of things in a stressful way. I might as well let it go, and have fun and not get very much done, but help the girls want to get involved. Of course this means I haven't sewn any cute dresses for the girls like I thought I would (yes, I have bought a couple of patterns....now I say, maybe I will make that for a friend someday). Maybe this is where Motherkitty comes in . Maybe she will get her sewing machine out when she has to close up her pool (because there would be no use asking her now, ha ha).

Which brings me to today. It is the last day of swimming lessons, & Grandma & Grandpa (aka Motherkitty & Tomas) are coming! Hurray! Oh, wait, Sorry, Motherkitty. Hooray!!!!!! See you when you get here!

Answers posted....

apparently i mis-typed number 6, it should read...

Dungeon, Jewelry Store, Sequence

instead of...

Dungeon, Jewelry Store, Scoreboard

that's what happens when you type sleepy.

to see the answers, check the comments on the 3 of a Kind post

Any One Else Want to Play?

I will probably post the answers to the 3 of a Kind quiz tomorrow in the comments for that post.....does any one need more time?

My Grandma

My Mom, Motherkitty, and my Aunt, Mrs. Green Thumb, have both written lovely tributes to my grandmother. Go and read about my Grandma. I miss her very much. I love you Grandma. I think Motherkitty's post is July 13 and Mrs. Green Thumb's is the day before. I don't know why, but I was just having trouble getting to mom's blog, though I got to it earlier today. If you have trouble, keep trying, I suppose. Both of them have posted some wonderful pictures of my grandma.

keep working on that 3 of a Kind word quiz, no one has sent me all the correct answers yet, though Motherkitty is very close, of course :)

3 of a Kind Game

I did this word game in my Reader's Digest (thank you, sweet hubby for the subscription) . All the credit goes to the July 2006 edition of the Reader's Digest (RD Challenge by Will Shortz, p. 200) . It would probably be a bad idea to copy and paste it all over the world if you haven't paid for a subscription. Even so, I had a lot of fun, and it was easier to put it here than copy it and send it to all my friends and family. You will have to forgive me for being crabby, but that is just the way I am today.

Instructions: Figure out what the trio in each set have in common, as long as the answer is a six-letter plural word, ending in -s.

Example: Railroad, wild animal, music CD: TRACKS

Please email me your answers and I will tell you if you are right. I probably will not post the answers here (unless someone bribes me with lasagna or chocolate) ha ha

Here goes....
1. trombone, children's playground, labratory microscope
2. parade, malt shop, tackle box
3. weight, British bank, ASPCA
4. dentist, dry run, Army camp
5. hunting dog, compass, scoreboard
6. dungeon, jewelry store, scoreboard
7. fish, sheet music, dieters
8. municipal parking lot, electric utility, rhythm in verse
9. golf course, salad, environmentalists
10. boxing match, doctor, children's song
11. beach, rifle, pasta
12. rupture, school year, good fortune

The first time I tried to do this, my brain was fuzzy and I couldn't get any of them. The second time a little light bulb went off in my brain and I got quite a few of them. Numbers 2, 10, 11, and 12 were ones that I couldn't get for a long time. Good luck.

Family Farm

We went to a local family farm today to pick up some fresh veggies. We got corn, yellow squash, peas, potatoes, salad tomatoes (that's what they called them), cucumbers, zucchini, fresh herbs...

The girls also fed clover to some fat fluffy bunnies(here is a picture of one of the bunnies we fed), fed some chickens, and went in the hen house to check for eggs. We brought home the eggs they found. Talk about farm fresh eggs.

This farm is family owned and practices organic farming. That's right, no pesticides or hormones or chemical fertilizers. All natural, free range, you name it. We eat lots of junk most of the time, just want to make sure this type of farm thrives in our area. Not to mention I really like fresh veggies, etc. Though I have to say early in the season I wasn't sure what to do with so many leeks and heads of cabbage.

Oh yeah, I also got some fresh blackberries and fresh cut flowers. Growing up, my mom and dad always had a garden. I have lots of fond memories of going to get corn, tomatoes, green beans for that night's dinner. Also have lots of memories of eating cherry tomatoes out of the garden til my mouth got raw. Over the years, I think my parents did their best to have a strong healthy garden (nevermind that last year it got replaced by the pretty blue pool, ha ha). Well they say you should rotate your garden spot anyway. When they dug up their garden, mom and dad just dumped everything in a new garden spot. You wouldn't believe some of the stuff coming up on its own. Talk about good compost!

Anyway, I am digressing. Today was a good day. Honesty with yourself is very important. I recognize that at this time in my life, my yard is too shady, and my children take up so much time that I do not take the time to cultivate a garden. So why not support the local farmers who devote so much of their time and energy to do what I cannot. Hopefully, I am planting some seeds of good family memories and healthy eating in my children.

Happy Independence Day

I am very appreciative of the country we live in. I am thankful for all the people who fought in all the wars so that we could be free and independent. Most of us, I am sure, take this for granted. I am soft and pudgy and lazy and haven't had to be hungry one day in my life. I have not been put in a position where I have had to really sacrifice for my fellow human beings rights. Would I sacrifice to the point of death for the rights and love of another human being? I would certainly hope so, but the habit of comfort would make it quite a challenge. I am thankful I have the freedoms I have. I need to remind myself to strive to work hard and sacrifice and be a good example to my children. I want them to remember this holiday not just for the pretty colors, parades, and fireworks.