a little update

Weeeeelll ... I can tell already that this post would probably get a "D" from an English teacher. I'm sure it will be totally random, unorganized, and lacking any theme to bind it all together. I've had several instances recently where the blog light went on but I haven't found time to do any blogging ... so I'm going to try and do a little catching up. We'll see if I can actually remember anything though ...

Speaking of remembering, I seem to be more scatter-brained than in previous pregnancies. And is it really true that pregnancy affects your memory? I've heard it a few times ... of course I can't recall where I ever heard about it. It seems weird that pregnancy would affect your memory ... but on the other hand, pregnancy seems to alter most everything about your body, so maybe the brain is affected too. I just don't know. Anyway, when I shower, for example, I can never remember if I washed my face or not. Or ... I'll wash a foot and then I can't remember which foot I washed ... so I think I end up washing most of myself at least a couple times. Similarly, it seems to take total concentration for me to simply make my morning cappuccino float ~ ten ounces of 2% milk, stir in a packet of Vanilla Cappuccino Cooler, add two ice cubes, and top with one scoop of Haagan-Daz. Sometimes I put in two packets by accident ... or I start putting the cappuccino mix in someone's orange juice. What else? Oh, when I leave the house sometimes, I find myself wondering if I shut the garage door. Just goofy stuff like this ...

I went to the doctor today. She was measuring me and she said, "How far along are you again?" "Twenty-nine and a half," I answered. "You're looking big," she responded. "Well, last time you said I was measuring about two weeks big." I reminded her. "Well, now you're measuring almost three weeks big!" I guess that's good to know since I've been feeling rather large and in charge ... okay, maybe not in charge ... but definitely large!

Buddy lost his first tooth tonight ... and I want to record it somewhere, so why not here?

As the snow was gradually melting last week, Foofie declared on a couple of days, "It's grassy today, Mommy!" Although the skies were dreary and gray ... she brightened the moment by focusing on the grass peeking through.

Foofie started doing word finds this week. The big kids were each doing one and Foofie wanted to do one too. I first told her she wasn't old enough ... but then I got the idea to make a simple one for her. She loved it ~ and did about four in rapid succession. The word searches were eight letters by eight letters and I would hide about ten words in each, mostly three or four letters long. When she would locate a word, she would ask what it was. It was fun for her to be challenged a bit and get to try something new.

Halo and Buddy always think there is some mystery to unravel or some crime to discover. This is because they read lots of mysteries ... Boxcar Children, Bobbsey Twins, and Encyclopedia Brown. (Further evidence that what we put into our mind affects us.) So ... Halo recently misplaced her diary and they immediately started squawking about who could have done it. Buddy suggested that someone lives in our attic and came down through his closet and took it! I pointed out that I can't locate my GPS right now but that doesn't mean someone stole it ~ I just can't remember where I left it ...

My children like to collect aluminum cans to make money. I'm not super wild about it because discarded pop and beer cans are usually quite dirty ... and most of the time there is still some of the beverage remaining inside that drips onto their hands or pants or whatever. Furthermore, the bags of cans require precious garage space. Nonetheless, there are some positives to can collecting. As previously mentioned, my kids are able to earn change for their piggy banks. Can collecting also helps reduce litter ~ which seems, in my unscientific opinion, to be increasing. Third, it's fun to be on the hunt for something while we're taking walks or bike rides. Finally, it makes my children use math. As we are going along, they'll keep figuring out how much money they've got. "I found eight cans ... that's twenty-four cents!"

So ... yesterday I was walking and the big kids were biking and Foofie was in the stroller ... and we were on the lookout for cans. Well, Buddy spotted a bunny in some bushes and was heading towards it for a closer look. He was walking his bike and wading through a good-sized puddle in the ditch ~ and wearing his winter boots for this purpose. All of a sudden, he slipped and fell into the puddle. He was wet from his mid-thighs down to his boots. He looked closely at the bunny and discovered that it was only a white, plastic bag. He started crying. "Someone put a bag there to look like a bunny ... and formed it with ears ... so someone would slip and fall and get wet and cry," he said. "And cry?" I asked, to make sure I heard right. "Yes, and I wanna go home right now," he finished. I couldn't help but chuckle. (Yet another example of thinking that there is a mystery crouching around every corner.)

And last, but certainly not least, I am so thankful that spring is finally winning the battle against winter. What a long, tight grip it had this year!