Maia the Dictionary

Maia: If you wanna be a racist, you have to do weird things...like THIS! (She lifts up her shirt.)

Me and Sam look at each other and laugh.

Me: A what, Maia?

Maia: A racist!

Me: What's a racist?

Olivia: She means an oasis!!!

ROFLMBO!!

Apparently, an oasis is weird and likes to show its belly button.

If you give a Mom some spray paint

(I don't think my picture has been taken since the baby blessing)

If you give a Mom, with a creative itch, a can of spray paint, a bit of magical splendor will occur. It might have come from getting caught up on all those issues of Garden Gate while laying around recovering from a c-section but even if that had not occurred a desire for spray paint and gardening gloves would still abound.

If you give a Mom, a limited budget and a longing for a glazed pot for her front step. She might pick up a $6 terra cotta pot from IKEA and try to make what she wants for cheap. She might look up instructions on the internet which will make her go to Lowe's to get some Clear Gloss Sealer by Valspar and Brown Hammered Spray Paint by Rustoleum. If she goes to Lowe's to buy the paint, she might come home with an extra can of Rustoleum's Oil Rubbed Bronze and a cute new houseplant too.
Once she comes home, she might let her big girls ride bikes in the cul-de-sac and dig in the dirt while the baby sits upwind in her carseat enjoying a nice breezy day while the Mommy sprays her $6 pot to make beauty.

If she knows she is going to spray this pot into a lovely transformation, she might take before and after pictures.
If the pot comes out well, she might get ambitious and want to spray the mismatching silver doorbell, the brassy handle of the storm door which might make her take off the kickplate and spray it to match. She might be scared to mess up the door hardware so her hubby might hand her a girl drill and some hex keys and tell her to do it anyway and assure he'll be there if she messes up.

If she starts to take apart the door, her baby brother might show up and watch her work her splendor. He might even document the occasion by taking some pictures of the baby sunning herself in the Boppy outside and hold her when she cries.

When the brother leaves and the kids are still happy, the mom might want to get bold and spray her mailbox match.
If the mailbox cleans up well, she will continue with the mailbox plot makeover and plant some fantastic perennials like shasta daisies, mums, daylilies, crimson dianthus and sedum ground cover that will bloom at various seasons and mulch them all up for maximum beauty and water retention. She might even let the kids eat chocolate chip oatmeal cookies and fresh fruit for lunch.
After she is finished with that, she might think that the 2 dollar pack of sticker house numbers might not set off her mailbox the way she wants so she might enlist her friend to make her some vinyl numbers with a decorative filigree to make it pop. She might even promise to take pictures when the vinyl arrives and is applied.
And while that Mom waits for the vinyl to made and mailed to her, she might take pictures of her progress and decide she needs to go back to IKEA this weekend and get another $6 terra cotta pot to make a matching pair.
If the Mom decides to do this, she might go back to the local springtime only nursery to get more lovely flowers with which to fill the second pot and since she will be out already, she might be reminded that she might need more Brown Hammered spray paint. ;)


(And she will probably come home and tell her handy hubby to return to Lowe's so they can price some slate and other necessities to prepare to tile the front steps. One thing always leads to another, doesn't it?)

The Many Faces of the Paisley Pie

What is this thing you are sticking in my face?

Can't you just hear that talkative baby coo? *heartbeat* She is a great talker.

Turning on the charm, in hopes that Mom will stop taking pictures and pick her up.

Um, Mom? Haven't I been sitting here long enough?

Pick me up, NOW!

OR put me in stitches by saying OH! OH! and putting your fingers in my armpits

I'm still in this chair and she still ain't picking me up.

For the Record: Dates are a GOOD thing

I have been kind of strung out lately after having some good mommy parenting workouts with the girls. You know what those are, right? Just the normal, blessed, day in and day outness of stay at home mommyhood that you are grateful for but sometimes runs you into the ground? That was me. I was a walking piece of mommy pulp today and yesterday and the day before that...and the day before that...and the day before that..you get the picture, I am sure.

Nothing is wrong. This is blessed normalcy with a few extra pops of Murphy's Law only in heaping spoons that can be hard to swallow all at once. I'd like my mommy life with 4 teenies in bite sized bits next week please. Ok, I digress.

So, I was particularly sleepy today. I needed a nap and I just never got around to it. My mommy emotions were in lockdown. It's my new thing. Instead of blowing up, I tend to wind down like the character Tick Tock on Return to Oz. Sam had been asking me all these leading questions the last few days--feeling me out to see what kind of mood I was really in. Was I mad? Was he in the doghouse? Was I depressed? Was I tired, burned out or just plain quiet? He even sent me to bed and told me not to touch the dishes. He'd take care of it. (XOXO SammyPie.)

Anyway, my sister Traci had a couple's baby shower today and I just wanted to go to bed. I had been looking forward to it all week. My babysitter had been booked since last Saturday but come today at 4:30, I just wanted to crawl into bed for a much needed nap and revel in my blue funk--maybe eat a Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup and read a gardening magazine.

Well, I vented to the hubby for a few minutes and then we kicked it into gear. I threw on a casual summer dress, cute earrings and a bracelet, some heeled sandals, put on some great high gloss lip slick and out the door we went with our scrumptious Paisley in tow. First of all, we got to know some really great people. Truly great. The kind of people who inspire to you be better at who you are and what you do.

Second of all, the food was to.die.for. AND homemade AND I didn't have to tell anyone to eat their food AND someone lovingly cuddled Paisey Maisey for me and I got to eat with both hands. Can you feel my bliss? Third of all, the home where we gathered for said occasion was a splendid English style manor. Sam and I walked around--hand in hand. We played on the teeter totters (yes they had their own playground) and swung on the swings. It was freeing and rejuvenating. Fourth of all, it was uplifting to hear some fabulous parenting advice from the aforementioned truly great people as a part of the baby shower festivities. Fifth of all, our fabulous babysitter was home showing my girls a GREAT time, feeding them dinner, putting them to bed and tidying up after all that to boot.

Sixth of all, I am amazed how important that date was. It was just what I needed. It is like
receiving new power, like having your batteries recharged and ready for action. I am so glad that I didn't give into the temptation to cry wolf and jump under the sheets. The world was out there. Ready to take me in and give me a booster shot as it were. Thanks World. Thank you Heavenly Father for creating said world and putting those seen angels in my path. I'll try to remember that...Dates are a GOOD thing. I'll go even when I think I don't want to go from now on.