Pizza Party

Today has been one of those days. One that really hasn't been that extraordinarily different from any other day, except for the fact that I am cranky. Really really cranky..... Don't know why....Just am. Thus, I am DONE. Like stick-a-fork-in-me done. So when Will called and said that he was going to have to stay late at work tonight and was going to miss dinner, I did what every self-respecting DONE mother would do.....declared it a pizza party night. We went to the library and got a new train movie. We got a take and bake pizza from the grocery store. And what kind of party wouldn't have a special dessert right? Marshall chose cherry pie. And they were on sale. So who am I to say no?

No, we do not normally eat dinner like this, but I am DONE remember? Plus, it's a party.

And once again, even though she looks like us and acts like us, Josie proved that she was clearly switched at birth. Because the girl doesn't like PIE.....I'm mean really, who doesn't like pie? But the apple pie from this weekend and the cherry pie from tonight both were spit right back out and only the ice cream consumed.

In other news, a mom of one of M's preschool buddies is going to the doctor to confirm that she has the swine flu. So the inevitable is coming.....and maybe that's why I am so unexplainably cranky. Or maybe it's because I never did get that Mommy quiet time I so desperately needed today. Or maybe I just need a glass of wine and last night's episode of Top Chef...ah, yes....I think that's it.

Well, when you put it that way....

This afternoon, within a span of 45 minutes, Marshall broke Josie's lamp, peed on the floor (mind you, he had time to pull down his pants, just not make it to the bathroom), and threw a ball at our heads while Josie and I were reading a book before her nap. I decided that Marshall was going to have some quiet time in his room....mostly because by this point, Mommy needed some quiet time.

After about 5 minutes he started wailing. I went in because I didn't want him to wake up the Jo. He was wailing, "I NEEEEEDDDDD YOU MOM- MMMMYYYY. I NEEEEEEDDDDD YOU MOM-MYYYYYYYYYYY". Exasperated I said," You need me! You need me! Why do you need me so much?!"

And he said,"Because I love you Mommy."

Okay....let's snuggle.

What the dining room table is really good for....

Camping anyone?

Catharsis

My mom has lots of advice for me. But I think one of the biggest ideas that has stuck with me is that when you give someone something, you can't have any expectations on how it is used. You give because you want to give, not because you want to control the gift.

I've been thinking about giving a lot lately. Will and I try to give a lot of ourselves. We don't always have lots of money leftover to give to charities, so we try our best to give of the things we do have, like our time and our resources. We give for lots of reasons. We give to model to our children the value of helping others. We give because we value the people around us and we care about them. We give because we know in our hearts it is the right thing to do.

But I have to admit, sometimes it's really hard not to expect something back. Not something huge, of course, but a thank you card might be nice. An invite over to dinner. A phone call. Anything to acknowledge that we sacrificed a piece of our lives to help another out. But that's exactly the problem. When we help someone, even with something very very big, we do so because we want to, not because we expect something in return. And I can't stew and fuss over gratitude that was or wasn't shown, because that's not why we gave in the first place. I need to take a deep breath and remember that giving is unconditional and that I want my children to learn to give of themselves because they have the abilities and resources to do so, not because they want something in return.

Giving is something we do because, in our hearts, we believe that we are making our community and our world better with every little action we take.

And that's all I have to say about that.

Boy Wonder

He'll be four in November.

We miss Daddy

Will's been gone for a week now. He's in Sweden....eating red candy fish, meatballs, and everything boiled, no doubt. And while we are happy he has a job he loves that lets him explore the world, we miss him. We've come very far from those eight month deployments, eh?

Josie REALLY misses her Daddy.....so much so that she has picked out every book in her book case that references Daddy and reads them daily. There is one in particular that is the favorite, "I Love My Daddy Because....". Every time I grab a different book she says, "No, no....Daddy", shaking her head and pointing at the Daddy book. Isn't that sweet? (On a side note: I Love My Daddy Because is driving me insane..... But alas, I read 10-15 times a day because who could deny this sweet girl?)

Fall begins

The seasons are changing here in Edmonds. The signs that fall has arrived are a bit different than the ones I grew up with in Massachusetts. The days still become a little cooler and the leaves begin to change color, but then we also have this:

And I love it. Sweaters and apples AND rubber boots are what fall now means to me. Josie went for her first official Fall rain walk the other day, with her first pair of rubber boots. She's been longingly trying on Marshall's new red boots ever since he got them, so it was time for her to get her own. She had a blast....until she tried to walk up the wooden walkway stairs in them and clunked her noggin. But she recovered quickly and everyday when we put on shoes to go out, she goes for the boots saying "Booo! Booo!"

Fall has always been my favorite season of the year. Perhaps it's the homebody in me, but I feel like there's nothing better than listening to the rain outside, comfy in your sweats, cup of tea (or wine :)) in hand.....And, I have to say, our Treehouse here in the woods is the perfect place to spend the fall.