When I Was a Little Pig...

P is really into story telling lately. He loves to hear them and he loves to tell them. So on the way home from a fun night of trick or treating with good friends he asked if I'd tell him a story. One of his recent favorites is of the 3 Little Pigs so I told him the watered down version. Then he proceeded with, "I want to tell you a story." So this is his story (or as much as I can remember of it because he kind of goes off on tangents in his stories).....
      "Once when I was a little pig I made a house of hay. A very bad wolf came along and said, 'I puff and I puff and I blow your house down!' so he puffed and puffed like this (he actually blew air to show me) but he couldn't blow my house down. Then I laughed and laughed and the very bad wolf laughed and laughed. I was tired so I went to my brother's house to take a nap. The very bad wolf was tired too so I went downstairs and covered him up so he'd be nice and warm. Then I took a nap."

Not too shabby for a 3 year old, huh? Maybe he'll be the author in the family after all. I don't take for granted the hours we spend telling each other stories (although it does test my patience at times) because I know someday this will be a thing of the past, just another great memory from P's childhood.

**On a side note, he went house to house trick or treating tonight for the first time. He went with a couple of his big kid friends and I can report that he just wasn't into it. He liked the first couple houses but then he got tired of it so we waited on the sidewalk for his big kid friends, which suited him just fine because it gave him a chance to play football. All in all it was a fun Halloween week!**

Being a Mom

Growing up, one of the things that stands out the most about my childhood is how involved my mom was in my education. In fact, when I was presented by the Superintendent at my former district as a new teacher, he was quick to say he remembered not only me but my mom from when he was my principal in elementary school. I've longed to be that mom as well and today I had that chance. Today I was just a mom...and I have loved every minute of it! I dropped P off at school for his last day at that school. Then I went to the hospital to pre-register for E's big debut (I'm hoping that he doesn't take this to mean he can come way early!). I grabbed a few short minutes to myself at Starbucks then happily went back to P's school to be a "room mom" (Is that what they're still called?) for his Halloween party. I loved being "Preston's Mommy" and having the kids fight over who got to sit next to me. I loved watching P interact with his little friends. I loved the excitement on their faces when they trick or treated around the school, getting fun little treats. I loved every minute there, except when we said goodbye for the last time. (Since I'm not working anymore we can't justify the preschool expense.) Once we got home P and I cuddled, read stories, watched cartoon songs, took a nap together and just enjoyed each other's company minus the rat race of errands, chores, etc. Tonight we're going to some friends' house to go trick or treating with P's big kid friends and eat pizza. I have no doubt it'll be another thing I enjoy doing as a mom. I love just being a mom!

 

Crazy First Day

With P cuddling next to me and E having a dance party in the womb, I woke up this morning thinking, "This is a great way to start the day!". Little did I know that it was going to be a chaotic, hectic day from beginning to end. Our landlord called around 9am to tell me that he was having an appraisal done on the house tomorrow, which I took to mean "Please have the house looking spic n span" so, in between running errands, getting P's Halloween pics taken, doing laundry and getting ready for P's last day at school tomorrow (staff gifts, Halloween cookies, etc) I scrubbed the house. It's still not perfect and now I'm kicking myself for laying down for an hour this afternoon but there's only so much I can do. If Rob was here he'd be on me for doing so much as it was. Actually he would've been helping me. Now that P's in bed I'm going to put a few clothes away and wipe down the bathroom counters before calling it a night myself. Tonight I plan on eating a banana before bed so hopefully I won't get the incredibly painful Charley horse calf cramps that woke me up-in tears-last night. Then I'll be rested for tomorrow, another busy day. I'm crossing my fingers that Thursday and Friday will be my mellow, rest-at-home-all-day days.

Early Retirement

Today at 3:30 my early retirement officially started. Over the weekend my guilty conscience started eating at me and I was wondering if I could just tough it out, asking my doctor to rescind her recommendation for early leave. Rob talked me back off the ledge, reminding me of how much better it will be for me and Easton to take it easy. I prayed a lot about it as well, not feeling 100% one way or the other. When this morning started out of whack and my problem child threw 5 temper tantrums and 3 staff members mentioned how exhausted I looked (That could be from my eldest son waking me up a few times each night!) I finally felt at peace about starting my maternity leave early. Even my good kids were "off" today. It could very well be that it's Halloween week or that the poor kiddos have dealt with so many subs the past few weeks. But it did make it easier to say goodbye at the end of the day. By the time 3:30 came around my back hurt, I had a headache and I was exhausted. That's not to say that I didn't appreciate the kind words that different staff members said or the hugs I received or the beautiful flowers that the staff gave me. I just felt that, when I left, I was doing the right thing. Now I can focus on me, E and P. So, I've "retired" from teaching-at least for a couple years- and am officially a stay-at-home-mom, a job I cherish already!

Today's Festivities

 

I think I'm making up for lost time on blogging because I've become a blogging fool this weekend. :) Anyway, this will mostly be pictures of our day. This afternoon P and I carved/decorated our pumpkins for the year. After that we went to a local Trunk-or-Treat (Where cars are decorated and people hand out candy from their trunks...usually set up at churches). Then we topped it off with a family walk at the lake.

P took this one

Trunk or treat

Being Wrong

In my opinion there are very few things in life that are worse than admitting you're wrong. My dad and Rob occasionally point out that I don't like to be wrong....and they're right. If someone says I'm wrong I'm quick to defend my way of thinking or turn the conversation around to point fingers at the other person. It's not something I'm proud of but it's something I'm working on.
That being said, Rob is always quick to lift me up, to tell me how beautiful he thinks I am or how smart he thinks I am or how lucky he is to have me as his wife. So when he brings something to my attention that bothers him about me I listen and try to work on it. Last night he brought it to my attention that I've been focused a lot on being "fat" and tired instead of truly enjoying growing a life inside of me. And, as much as I'd hate to admit it, he's right (That may mean I'm wrong but the jury is still out on that one...ha!). I pride myself in not having the philosophy of "eating for two" but when people make comments about me eating a lot or I get weighed at the dr's office and realize I've gained more than a few pounds I beat myself up over it. But, as Rob pointed out, I'm growing a child in me and if I'm hungry it's my body telling me to eat. I probably need to eat healthier than I have been but I don't need to beat myself up over it. I lost my baby weight after P was born so I'm sure I'll do it again (even if it takes me a little longer). So, after my husband graciously brought this to my attention, it's something I plan to work on for the rest of my pregnancy. I need to enjoy every minute of this precious life growing inside me because, within a couple months, it'll all be over and I'll never experience it again. As for the tired part, I've got to learn how to relax more and not fill my "To-Do" list so full each day...a thing I REALLY struggle with. God blessed us with this pregnancy and I intend to appreciate it for its duration. So, bring wrong isn't always bad. Sometimes there are lessons to be learned! Maybe once in awhile (like once a year) it's ok for me to be wrong. :)

Halloween Party

When I was younger and always going out, I hated Halloween. I refused to dress up, turned the lights out so trick or treaters wouldn't come around and hated teaching on Halloween. Now that I have kid(s) I love Halloween! I enjoy watching P get dressed up to go to trunk or treating. I enjoy carving the pumpkins. And I enjoy the Halloween parties. This year is no exception. My friend, Natalie, made me the cutest pregnancy Halloween shirt and I've been wearing it with pride. We went to a Halloween party with our "Archery Family" tonight and, as always, had a lot of fun. Here is a snip-it of our fun evening with good friends.....