ten things I learned at the pumpkin patch

1. In order to cram the maximum number of people on the tractor-pulled wagon ride, there's no place to sit. Well, there is a place to sit. It's called your bum. On the hay (or straw, I can never get those two straight). Not bales of hay. Just scattered hay. Hay bums. Straw bums. Those preschoolers, they just plop right down. Those old mamas, they have a harder time. Then they have to cross their legs so that all those kids and moms can get crammed on the wagon. Ug.



2. If there's an opportunity for my kids to fight about who gets to stand where for a picture, they'll take it. Every time. Especially if there's a line of people waiting to take their kids' pictures in front of the ginormous pumpkin photo op.



3. Little boys like to jump. Doesn't matter how high. Doesn't matter if their mom is getting tired of standing there watching them jump. They just like to jump. Over and over and over again.



4. The sandbox filled with corn is a lot more fun to play in without all those big kids jumping around and throwing corn. Also, expect to find stray kernels in random places when you get home.



5. Remember how they like to fight about where to stand for the pictures? Same thing goes for where to stick their heads for pictures.



6. Cate will totally be the one to ride all the fast roller coasters with me at Six Flags some day. Totally.



7. I'd enjoy the slide a lot more if I could ride the escalator to the top of the hill. After the third time I was done. Cate, on the other hand, was not. She's a real thrill seeker.



8. Now I know why moms try to send the dads on preschool field trips.



9. Remember how they like to fight about where to stand and where to stick their heads for pictures? Same thing goes for the horsey swings. Please tell me I'm not the only one.



10. If you wait until the end of your stay (that means when the kiddos are grumpy and you don't want the other moms staring at your grumpy kids anymore) to pick your pumpkins, they're going to be too tired to walk all the way over to the actual pumpkin patch to pick them out. They'll be happy to pick one from the pumpkin stand next to the exit instead. Don't be surprised when you get home and one of them asks when you're going to go to the real pumpkin patch though. Don't bother trying to explain to them that you just spent the past 3 hours at the real pumpkin patch. It won't work.

ten things that will hopefully make summer bearable

1. Sprinkler fun and cute little polka dot swimsuits.

2. Having my school teacher husband home so I can go to the grocery store ALONE (and not at 10:00 at night alone...any time I want ALONE) and so I can stop waking up at the crack of dawn to make his lunches and see him off to work with a kiss and a smile.

3. Grama Bama coming to visit in a few weeks (this one needs to hurry up and happen).

4. Going to visit Grama Bama and Grandpa for my high school reunion. Flying to Alabama and then driving back to Utah with them. Should be quite an adventure.

5. Sending my kids to art class once a week for an hour starting tomorrow (it's only for 5 weeks but I'll take what I can get).

6. Eating this salad as much as possible. It looks so summery doesn't it? Spinach, blueberries, feta cheese and toasted almonds. Everything from Costco except the almonds. I think I'll try it with strawberries when my big ol' tub of blueberries runs out.




7. Winning this family pass to Thanksgiving Point (air conditioning inside the dinosaur museum any time we please). You don't need to enter that because it'll just decrease my chances of winning and you wouldn't want to do that to me now would you?

8. Turning 38 in less than 2 weeks and spending the rest of the summer out of the odd numbered age. I hate being odd. Is that odd?

9. Getting a new camera for my birthday so I don't have to use cruddy cell phone pictures in my amazing blog posts. The old one is dead now for sure. I dropped it on the tile last week. It's done.

10. Popsicles and flip flops (sometimes it's the little things).

ten things I must keep telling myself

...especially on days like yesterday


1. One day they'll get on and off the toilet without your help, wipe their own bums and thoroughly wash their hands without a reminder. And they won't announce to you when they need to use the toilet. They'll just do it. And you won't have to say stuff like good job, way to go, you're so awesome and I'm so proud of you as they're flushing the toilet.

2. Pretty soon rainy cool spring will turn into summer and they'll play outside a lot. And you'll be complaining about how hot it is so just enjoy the rainy cool spring while it lasts. They'll be outside making messes with mud pies and spraying each other in the face with the hose soon enough.

3. At some point their desire to go into the bathroom with you will end. Hopefully, your bodily functions will bore them to tears instead of acting like some kind of magnet that pulls them into the bathroom while you're in there. If you're lucky, they might even find your bodily functions quite disgusting and the kind of thing that does not require an audience.

4. There's a chance they might grow up and think it's lame to hang out with their mother so you might as well enjoy the 12 plus hours of awake time you get to spend with them almost every single day. 12 hours!

5. One day they will want to sleep in and a take naps. You won't even have to bribe them to take one. You might even be able to nap while they are napping and they won't come wake you up. That's supposing you turn into a nap person by then. It's not likely but it could happen.




6. They'll still love you if you lose it every once in a while but it's a lot nicer around here if you don't lose it in the first place. Keep your cool, even when you decide at 6:00 that you need a break (and your husband still isn't home from work and no naps were taken all day) and they say, "We'll take a break with you!" as if it is the best idea they've ever come up with. Just let them come lay in your bed with you again next time because you'll remember that they get bored of things really fast and they'll be out of that bed in less than 10 minutes and you can have your break after all.

7. A cutely decorated house is highly overrated. So what if you've lived in it for over 10 years and lots of the walls are bare. Your husband always tells you everything looks nice when you complain about it. Your kids couldn't care less. Neither should you. They'll go to school eventually and you'll have all day to sit and stare at the blank walls and wonder what on earth to do with them.

8. Some day they'll be friends. It might take 30 years but it can happen. And so what if Cate might never have a sister and Danny might never have a brother. That's what cousins and friends are for. You have three sisters and no brothers and look how perfectly you turned out. Everybody gets the family they need.

9. People who say enjoy this time, they're only young once, they grow so fast and other blah blah blah like that are the ones who had kids who never fought, ate their vegetables, had perfect sleep habits and didn't pick their boogers and then present them on the tip of their finger for proper disposal. And if those people say that stuff on just the right day (like yesterday) they're just asking to be punched in the face.

10. Remember all those nights you cried yourself to sleep because you wanted a baby and it seemed like everyone and their dog was having babies but you weren't? Remember that? Well, here they are. They grow so fast. They're only young once. Forget all that other stuff and just enjoy them.

ten things late at night

I'm not sure I have anything nice to say yet but I've got stuff on my mind that wants to get out. Here it comes. Brace yourself. It's going to be boring. You might want to just skim.

1. My kids are adorable. That's their "pose in front of the window before church because Grama Bama thinks Cate is so cute in green" picture. I bribed Danny with two pieces of gum to put his arm around his sister. Cate didn't need any bribing.

2. I've decided that it feels weird to blog when my parents are here. (My dad flew home today. He's been here since Wednesday. My mom's leaving on Tuesday. She's been here almost two weeks.) I don't really know why it feels that way. It just does. Not in a bad way. I don't want them to read this and stop visiting though. Don't get any ideas, parents. You still need to come back soon.

3. Cate has stopped napping. The last time I put her down for a nap she slept from 2:00 until 6:00 and then was up until 11:30. That is not ok. She has fallen asleep on the couch a few times. That's not good either because it happens in the late afternoon when I'm trying to prepare dinner stuff. I'm feeling sad just writing this. I miss my two hours (sometimes more) in the afternoon when children sleep and I sit on the couch watching my shows and dinking around on the computer.

4. I've been wondering a lot lately why some moms get sad when their kids go to school. What are they thinking? Really. What? My kids are going to be one grade apart in school and I could not be happier about it. There. I said it. Go ahead and judge me.

5. I'm wondering when this is going to get easier. Babies are hard work. One baby and one toddler is tough. Two little kids that don't nap is the hardest by far. I miss my ME time. It's gone. I have to stay up late just so I can hear the peace and quiet that's never here during the day.

6. It's been nice to have my mom here. She's taken the kids to my sister's house a few times in the mornings and I've heard that peace and quiet. It sounds like heaven.

7. I don't know how much longer I can do this no sugar thing. It's not feeling good. I miss baking chocolate goodies. I miss taking them to the neighbors with my kids. I miss having a taste and feeling like I accomplished something besides washing dishes, folding laundry and showering for the day. I miss having my house smell yummy.

8. I don't even know if I've lost any weight since starting the no sugar a few weeks ago. My initial plan was to give myself a week of no sugar before weighing myself. After that week off sugar I started not feeling very good. Then I stopped going to the gym because it's hard to get a good workout when your head feels like it's going to explode. No way I'm weighing myself now after almost two weeks of no exercise (except that one Thursday night when I was feeling better).

9. I took loads of pictures yesterday for my nine on the ninth post and then Dan and I went on a date to Walmart last night and it plum wore me out. I swear if Dan had just proposed by saying, "Marry me, Cathy, and I promise to show you a good time at Walmart when we're old and tired" I might have said yes sooner. Now I've stayed up too late writing a bunch of nothing (after watching some tv with my mother...well, she was in the room but I'm not sure how much of it she actually saw with her eyes closed) and still no nine on the ninth. I'll try to not let it bother me too much that I didn't post it on the ninth. As long as it's before the next ninth I think I'm ok.

10. My leg hurts when I sneeze.

ten things I'm looking forward to

1. My high school reunion this summer. 20 years. 20 years! Holy moly.

2. Planting a garden for the second time in my life. The first one was in the seventh grade for my agribusiness class. The only thing that survived in that garden was radishes. I hate radishes. Here's my garden spot in the back yard last week. The snow's gone now and it ain't pretty. I've got a lot of work to do.

3. My friend Arlene being my Garden Guru. She's pretty smart with the garden stuff. She doesn't just have one green thumb. She's got two. She up and moved to Texas though so she'll be helping me long distance. Not as good as having her here planting stuff for me but it'll have to do. If she lived here still I would totally let her just plant stuff for me. I don't like touching dirt. This should be fun. I'm doing it for Danny's sake. He's so excited to grow our own peppers and tomatoes.

4. My hair getting longer. I'm never cutting it again. I'm going to be like the old lady I see at the gym. She's got a braid down her back that goes past her bum. I worry about it whenever I see her on the elliptical. That thing getting caught could cause some serious damage.

5. Summer. Not the heat and sun part of it. Just the letting the kids play outside part. Ok, maybe not summer. Just spring. Spring will do just fine.

6. Getting a new camera for my anniversary or Mother's Day or my birthday (all of which are coming up in the next four months). I still can't use the zoom because of the sand that got in there during the Green River trip two summers ago. I dropped it on the tile floor a few weeks ago and the top is a little wonky now. The viewing screen is always on, even when the camera is turned off. That doesn't seem like a good thing to me. But look how cute my babies were on that trip.

7. The day when Danny is cooperative and sweet at the dentist's office. Because he wasn't this morning. I can't totally blame him though. I don't like going to the dentist either. The highlight of the dentist visit was looking at a new book in the waiting area. It contained pictures of rotten teeth and plaque and more disgusting stuff that happens when you don't take care of your teeth. Danny loved it. It was really gross.

8. Making these peanut butter muffins again. I was tending the nephews yesterday at Aunt Judy's house. Kris requested muffins. Aunt Judy doesn't exactly have a pantry stocked full of baking items. I saw a big tub of peanut butter in there though. I searched for a recipe for peanut butter muffins and she actually had all the ingredients. They were yummy. Next time I'll add mini chocolate chips. Everything's better with mini chocolate chips.

9. More days like Wednesday. Baby Ray slept! He napped! Twice! Without crying! For longer than 10 minutes! Actually, for about three hours total. And then he was happy when he woke up. That's the good part. The not so good part, Danny and Cate both fell asleep around five-ish. Bed time didn't happen until 10-ish. Oh, well. You win some, you lose some.

10. Celebrating National Tortilla Chip Day tonight. Sounds like a trip to Cocolito's for dinner is in order. That seems like an appropriate way to celebrate National Tortilla Chip Day. Yum.

What are you looking forward to?

ten things about which one should not blog

1. the way your 2-year-old rolls up her Big Baby's "dirty" diapers (and if you do blog about it, please don't take a picture of the diaper...people will click over to your post and see a picture of a rolled up diaper and think you're going to be blogging about dirty diapers and that's just not cool)

2. what's under the couch cushions (unless it's something pretty awesome, like gold coins or a new car)

3. what's inside your daughter's mouth (specifically what her swollen tonsils look like)

4. what you found under the chair while vacuuming and actually considered eating (but didn't...at the time)

5. what your retainer looks like after months of not wearing it (or keeping it clean in its little retainer container)

6. dryer lint (because dryer lint is just plain boring)

7. how you hate it when the dishtowel hanging on the oven door handle is crooked (because it's always crooked and you really should just shut up about it and stop hanging it on there if you don't like it being crooked so much)

8. the fact that you haven't been to the gym all week because of sick kids and you're starting to feel fat (because nobody wants to hear you complaining)

9. how your dad (a professor of entomology) was awarded emeritus status last week (because he's humble and doesn't like to brag about stuff and doesn't like it when people make a big fuss about how wonderful and smart he is)

10. puke, boogers and poop



Just kidding about that last one. Everybody knows that puke, boogers and poop make the best blog posts.

Remember this one?

Just click on it. It's one of my favorites.

ten things I've been thinking about since that last blog post

After working on Sunday's nine on the ninth (while the kids slept and Dan watched some silly movie and laughed out loud several times), I've come to a few conclusions.

1. I am boring. Who really cares what I did Sunday morning? I almost don't care what I did Sunday morning. And I took pictures of it? Good grief. I had almost lost my mind by 10:00 that day. Seriously. Is there any way I could have taken a picture of that? I'm just asking because that would not have been boring.

2. Starting church at 1:00 in the afternoon just might kill me. Not kidding.

3. I need to start eating oatmeal for breakfast again. I haven't weighed myself in over a month. I'm scared to. My pants are not tight (except for the ones that are supposed to be), so I think everything is ok. I'm not going to get on the scale again until I've eaten my oatmeal every day for a week. I'm crazy. I know. But you've got crazy things going on in your head too. Admit it. If I go back to oatmeal then I won't have to worry about people stealing all the strawberries out of my special cereal. One less thing to worry about.

4. I have way too many wrinkles. It's disturbing. The way I see it, I have three options. Gain weight. My plumpish face made the wrinkles much less noticeable. Or I could stop smiling and laughing. Seems like that's where all the wrinkles are anyway...laugh lines and crow's feet. It's not like I go around laughing and smiling all day anyway so I'm pretty close to this option already. My last choice is to get started with the Botox. Or a little face lift maybe. And while I'm at it, I've got a few areas I'd like to have augmented, lipoed, and/or tucked.

5. My kids are cute and I love them, even if they're going to be driving me crazy every Sunday morning for the rest of the year. Or at least for the rest of the winter. As much as I hate summer, I might just hate winter more.

6. Sometimes it feels good to just write stuff, even though it seems pretty boring. I should do this more often. I just worry that my mom and dad (and maybe Dan) are going to read this and think, "Man, that's boring. Now where's the pictures of those cute kids?" I like posting recipes. I know that's boring to some people (Uncle Tim). If I post my favorites here, then I know where to look when I need them. I don't have to go searching through my recipe collection. Plus, it's my blog. I can do what I want. So what if it doesn't know what kind of blog it wants to be. Cute kids? Recipes? Crazy mommy? Complaining? Inspirational? (That last one's a joke, obviously. Unless you count inspiring people to not be like me.)

7. A picture I wish I had included on Sunday was of Danny watching his Aunt Judy nursing baby Raymond. Oh my. I watched him go downstairs where Judy was sitting on the couch with the baby. I wondered why he was going down there, since the big boys were upstairs watching a show. Danny sat down on the other couch and looked over at Judy. He kept giving her sideways glances. Then he just settled down and flat out stared at her. No looking away. He folded his arms like he was cradling a baby. (He couldn't see me watching him. Otherwise, he probably would not have been staring at her. At least that's what I'm hoping.) It was hilarious and adorable all at the same time. Danny was only 19 months old when Cate was born. I'm not interested in giving details, but I'm pretty sure he never saw me nursing her. And even if he had, I think he was too little to remember it. Needless to say, I think he's intrigued.

8. I bet the snow plow driver likes having church at 1:00.

9. Not having anything to do with the boring state of the nine on the ninth post (but somewhat related since it happened at church...and that was on the ninth), Cate told the kids and teachers in nursery that her mommy has a baby in her tummy. {Her mommy actually DOES NOT have a baby in her tummy.} She also told them that it's a baby sister and that it came from her daddy. Nice. I can assure you that if there was a baby girl in her mommy's tummy {and there most certainly IS NOT}, Cate would be one of the last ones to know.

10. I'm back to complaining. The strike has been long over. I'm trying to keep it to every other day though. Today's one of the on days.


And just in case my parents (or anyone else still reading this) think this is boring, there's a cute kid up there at the top of this boring post. He wanted to put on my headband. I let him. Then he wanted me to take his picture. So I did. That's how he posed.


In other not boring news, Cate has got herself a case of The Croup again. I am giving it capital letters because it deserves it. She kept us both up until the wee wee wee hours of the morning today. The doctor gave her a shot of steroids this afternoon. She fell asleep before 7:30. She's sleeping still. Oh, how I'm hoping she'll stay that way until the sun comes up tomorrow. No matter how cute they are, sick, tired kids are not fun to be around.


And in case you're wondering, she weighed in at 35 pounds at the doctor's office. I think she's the one that's been stealing my strawberries.

ten things for which I am exceedingly grateful

1. A little boy who requests my favorite restaurant for his birthday lunch (because my favorite has now become his favorite...and because we rarely ever go to any other restaurants)

2. A little girl who thinks the blue cheese crumbles in my salad are my own puke ("Uh-oh, Mama. You puke in you food!)

3. A good husband who puts up with all my crazies (and believe you me, there's a lot of 'em)

4. A baby nephew who reminds me that babies are a lot of work (and helps me be very much ok with not having one of my own)

5. Hulu and the DVR (without them, I might be expected to do something useful during nap time)

6. Diet Dr. Pepper

7. Mini chocolate chips

8. Thoughtful children who help me practice daily the art of cleaning up after people

9. Ear plugs and nasal strips (and when those don't do the trick, a comfy couch)

10. Turkey

Happy Thanksgiving!

ten things I did this morning (in no particular order)

1. Woke up at 8:45 (that's after I woke up at 6:15 to make Dan's lunch and then went back to sleep). This is what I get for having kids who do not go to bed at 7:00 the night before (not even close). And because the sun is kind enough to stay behind the mountains until sometime around 8:00 every morning. Bless you, Fall and Winter. Bless you.

2. Thought about vacuuming Cate's mess of rice under the kitchen table. Leftovers from last night's dinner that didn't get cleaned up when it should have. Why I continue to let her eat rice is a mystery to me. Maybe because I love sweeping and vacuuming so much.

3. Ate two packets of Berry Blast flavored oatmeal. I bought it at the grocery store a few nights ago. Each box was 85¢ for 5 packets. I figured that was a good deal. I pay $10.00 at Costco for the ginormous box of 52 packets. Five of those are plain so I figure that's a total waste of money. Who eats plain oatmeal? Blech. So 85¢ for 5 packets sounded good to me. I bought 6 boxes. Listen to the flavors. Maple Streusel. Strawberries and Cream. Peaches and Cream. Apples and Cinnamon (my personal favorite so I bought 2 boxes). Berry Blast. And look at the little critters on the box of Berry Blast.


I'm a sucker for cute little space critters and smiling spoons.

4. Made a ham and mustard sandwich for Danny to eat for breakfast. His request. I figure it's pretty much the same thing as eating toast and bacon, just in different forms. Plus a little mustard never hurt anybody first thing in the morning.

5. Bagged up some pumpkin chocolate chip cookies to deliver to a few people this afternoon. I may not be able to teach my kids to knit or sew or can tomatoes, but by golly they're going to know how to bake a batch of cookies, stick them in a bag, tie a ribbon on top and give them away. And if either of them is ever interested in learning how to play the piccolo in the marching band, I can teach them that too.

6. Started a load of laundry. Getting caught up after Tuesday's detour of washing all of Danny's blankets, pillow cases and a few pillows. How that child can puke on himself in the middle of the night and then just go right on sleeping I'll never know. He's feeling better now, thanks for asking.

7. Looked at my calendar and saw nothing written in the little box for today. Hooray! I get to do nothing today!

8. Had a little discussion with Danny about who loves whom more. Came to the conclusion that "to infinity and beyond" is the most you can love someone.

9. Examined the skin tag under my right eye. I think it's growing and it's grossing me out. Kind of looks like a booger on my face. Maybe a call to the dermatologist is in order. If you know me and I notice you staring at my skin tag, I'm not going to like it. A quick glance is understandable. Just don't stare. And don't tell me I have a booger on my face.

10. Preheated the oven so I can bake some banana yogurt muffins. I've got some semi-rotten bananas on the kitchen counter that will be put to good use this morning. I told Danny what I was going to bake and he said banana yogurt muffins are "deeeee-wish-us." Let's hope so.


And now I'm going to go brush my teeth because it's almost 10:00 and it seems like the right thing to do.

ten things that rhyme with thirty

birdie

dirty

flirty

nerdy

purty

wordy

sturdy

cherty

qwerty

shirty


Happy birthday to my little sister!

Today she's thirty.

{And maybe a little bit shirty. I'm not sure how she feels about being so old.}

ten things I won't be saying any time soon

1. I love it when Danny wakes up before the sun comes up.

2. I'm so sad that summer is almost over. So, so sad.

3. I can't wait to read Mockingjay!

4. I wish we would have camped out in the parking lot for the Chick-fil-A grand opening like all those other people we saw on Wednesday morning. I hate missing out on momentous occasions in the fast food world.

5. Potty training is a blast!

6. I'd be happier if I had more shirts to iron.

7. I have way too much free time.

8. I'm so glad I get to wash all the dirty dishes by hand several times a day.

9. I love listening to the sound of my husband's sweet snoring every night as I'm trying to fall asleep.

10. I like my gray hair. It brings out the green in my eyes.


Is there anything you won't be saying any time soon?

ten things that made me laugh out loud last week

1. watching my son try to jump in the first picture
2. watching my son try to jump in the next picture
3. watching my son try to jump in the third picture
4. watching my son try to jump in the fourth picture
5. watching my son try to jump in the last picture
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

I got nothin' for those last 5.

It was a slow week for laughing out loud.

I fail to find the humor in sleepless nights, sick and/or cranky kids, puke and other bodily functions that accompany sickness.

Grama Bama and Grandpa will be here tomorrow. I'm hoping they'll bring a few laughs with them.

ten things I really really want

1. to know why Danny does things like this to his sister's toys. What is going on in his little head?

2. a couple of bake even strips so the next time I make a flag cake, the layers don't look like I asked my two-year-old to cut them for me.

3. for my sister to go ahead and birth that baby! Sheesh. Danny was talking to me about it yesterday. He thinks they're going to name him either Knuckles or Nick. Then he asked me how Judy's going to get that baby out. I told him the doctors were going to help her. Usually that's enough and he moves on. Not this time. Double sheesh.

4. a few of these felt rock candies. I think they are just adorable. I have no need for them. I just want them. I don't even like real rock candy but these are too cute. I could just prop them up on my dresser and look at them every day.

5. raisins. I ran out a few days ago. I've been to Costco twice since then. Why are there no raisins for sale at Costco? Am I crazy? Am I missing something? I tried to improvise and make my oatmeal semi-edible by using mini chocolate chips. It sounded good in my head. It didn't taste good in the bowl. I want raisins.

6. to move to Santa Cruz. Here's the weather this week where I live:

and here's the weather in Santa Cruz. During the second to last week of July. JULY!

7. one more of the Nutella Gooey Butter Cookies I made on Sunday afternoon. I only ate one. I want to eat one more. I can't though because I gave most of them away. That's how I exercise self control. I made Dan's extra yummy by spreading a glob of Nutella on top. Then I contemplated eating the rest of the Nutella in the jar. I didn't though. I spread it on some graham crackers and fed it to the nephews yesterday.

8. to put my kids to bed at 7:30 every night. I did it last night. Danny went right to sleep. Cate stayed awake talking to her stuffed animals for two hours (that's after Dan rocked her for about a half hour and then put her in her crib, much to her dismay). I almost didn't know what to do with myself with so much free time before bed. It was beautiful...up until the part where Danny woke up at 4:49 this morning, bright-eyed and ready for the day.

9. to have the time and patience to make these Minnie Mouse silhouette cakepops for my mother-in-law. It's her birthday on Friday. She likes Minnie Mouse. I think she'd love these. I have no idea where to find heart shaped sprinkles in July anyway. Oh, well. It's the thought that counts.

10. to buy some school supplies. I saw them on display at Walmart last week. I love school supplies. Glue for 25¢? I love it. I just wish I had a kid going to school to make it worth the effort. Maybe I'll go to Walmart tomorrow and just browse the school supplies...right after I find me some raisins.

ten things that make me nervous

(or at least just make me feel like laying on my bed and covering my face for the day like Baby Cat does)

1. Wearing skinny jeans (and I don't just mean the jeans that you used to fit into but got too fat for them and now you fit them again so you call them your skinny jeans...actual skinny jeans) to an event tonight

2. People seeing me in those jeans and thinking I'm an old lady trying her darndest to look young (but failing miserably)

3. The fact that darndest has a little squiggly line under it when I type it

4. Color enhancing my grayish roots by myself instead of having a professional do it for me

5. People coming into my backyard to pick up their kids who were over to play and having them (the grown ups, not the kids) see the disaster area of weeds and crud

6. Leaving my little darlings for the day on Saturday to go to my meeting (although they'll be in the very capable and very loving hands of their father)

7. Dirty bathrooms and the fact that we might have company on Saturday while I'm gone and they might see the dirty bathrooms (because I'm too nervous about other stuff to clean them)

8. My little darlings having bedtime on Saturday night without me (although I know their loving, capable father will do a stellar job...I'm still nervous)

9. Danny not telling my friend (who is kind enough to tend my little darlings) that he needs to use the bathroom tomorrow and having an accident in his pants

10. Being in a social situation (the event tonight and the meeting the next two days) and knowing almost nobody and looking like a big goober


And one bonus thing (that makes me happy, not nervous):

Cate pooped on the potty! She's pooped on the potty once at church but this is the first time at home. Is my daughter going to be potty trained a full year before her brother was? I certainly hope so.

ten things that make me happy

1. This kid

2. Waking up to snow on May 24th (am I the only person who doesn't love summer?)

3. Danny's reaction yesterday morning when I went into his room to tell him it was snowing "Snow! That's my favorite!"

4. Being a slow poke at planting my flowers this year and not having them be frozen to death yesterday morning

5. Finding yogurt on sale for only 25 cents each at the store on Saturday

6. Having a little girl who sat still long enough yesterday for me to paint her fingernails (makes me feel like my purpose as a mother of a daughter is really starting to be fulfilled)


7. Only one week until Danny starts summer preschool (hoping he's going to be happy about it too)

8. A new season of The Bachelorette (crossing my fingers for Chris H. and Tyler M.)

9. Buying new jeans in a single digit size (that actually made me really really really happy)

10. Having a child who actually enjoys eating dinner (although I question my judgment about feeding her saucy noodles)