So good I took the time to write about it

If you really appreciate good coffee like I do, then I know you aren't drinkin' Maxwell House. I'm always looking for a good deal on grounds and I saw this Ugly Mug on special at the local Shaw's and was suckered in by the good packaging and fair trade angle.

Can I just say- it's very, very good. I am enjoying some right now. No one paid me to say this. But anyone can feel free to do so. I gladly accept small and large bills. Or you can just send me some more of this coffee.

Girls' night out

Sofia and I enjoyed a little time out Friday night, just the two of us. We got some tickets for Smucker's "Stars on Ice" in Manchester and originally I was going to bring David as well but he bowed out at the last minute. Actually, he didn't want to take a nap in the afternoon which I required that he do if he was going to stay up past his bedtime for the show. So I gave him the choice of watching men and women skating around to 80's music or skipping his nap, and of course, he chose the latter.

"I wasn't really that up for going, anyway," he confided. Like father, like son.

So it was just me and Sof. I was kind of excited because we don't do much alone together and being that she's the middle child, I think she really does need a little extra attention once in a while. She's not the oldest so she's not ever the first to do anything and she doesn't get fussed over the way the baby does. I was looking forward to spending some time just with her.

We both got all dressed up and drove over to the arena and we chatted happily the whole way (Sofia is a talker) and she was so excited and beside herself to be going out at night together. We crossed the street to the arena with all the other throngs of people and she exclaimed, "It's like all these people are our friends! Come on, gang!"and she waves the crowd onward.

We don't have to go too far to get to our seats once we're inside. I note that we are seated very close to both a bathroom and a concession stand. Excellent. No one is seated right near us and we have easy access to the aisles, just in case. We get there shortly before the show is about to begin and Sofia is pointing out all the interesting details of the arena as we wait, such as the ice, the lights, security guards and so on. She wriggles around in her seat excitedly and keeps clasping her hands together with anticipation and leans over to give me a hug. After the show begins and some of the stars come out for the opening number (skating fans- please do not be appalled that I don't know the names of these people. I recognized Sasha Cohen who seemed to be the lead "star" of the show since she was in a red sparkly dress unlike the other women who were all in white) Sofia is even more thrilled. With every leap and jump the skaters complete, she points and squeals with a "Did you see that?!" or a "Wow!! This is the best show ever!!" We get some snacks at the snack bar but we hurry back to our seats for she's afraid she'll miss something terrific. At one point she even leans over, sipping her lemonade and squeezes my arm whispering, "I'm so glad we came!" and of course I am swelling with joy and pride and thinking that this will be one of the memories she'll carry into adulthood- the time she and her mom went to the spectacular ice skating show together.

And then minutes later, as a skater is gliding across the ice to a sentimental number, Sofia turns to me and declares, "I'm bored of this."

I think I misheard her. "What did you say?"
Sofia, louder: "I'M BORED!"
"Well the next one might be more exciting. This song is kind of slow. Wait for one of the fast ones and I'll bet they'll do some great tricks."
"I want to see inside my Skittles. It's too dark in here to see inside my Skittles!" She's bitten into one of the candies and wants to see what color it is inside.
"It's just white, hon. That's all. Whoa! Did you see that move?"
"I'm tired. I want to go home now."

Oh man. And I was just getting into it.

It was well past her bed time and she picked a good time to want to leave, right at intermission. And of course there was the added benefit of not dealing with all the traffic leaving the parking garage at once. We held hands and walked back to the car together and I felt a little sad that we didn't make it the whole way but I asked her if she had a good time and she smiled up at me the way she does with her eyes squinted tight and said "Yes! Just us girls!".

I'm sure it won't be our last adventure out as just the girls. We'll have to see how it goes at the ballet. You know, like in another four years or so.

A very good year

So I'm a week late in posting this (big surprise) and I don't even have any pictures to share because we *gasp* lost our camera a couple weeks back. How can that be, you ask? Because I must be the most organized person in the world, how could I have possibly misplaced an important item like that? Yes, well I've also been known to misplace a birth certificate or two so you can really only expect so much from me. I'm busy and very distracted most of the time. Speaking of being distracted...

...so what I wanted to mention is that my littlest screamer is now a one year old girl, as of the first of April. Like her older siblings, she wanted nothing to do with her birthday cake and acted as if we'd fed her dirt. Not clean sand or anything, because babies love to eat sand. No, just regular dirt. Dirt cake, if you will. Anyway, it was a happy celebration and I could not be more proud of my little girl. I give myself a little pat on the back, too, for helping her to get to this point. It's been a busy, but extremely good year.

And speaking of being busy, I haven't made much in the way of time for blogging. I have a new passion; running. I'm getting out whenever I can and logging more miles every week. I am easily in the best shape of my adult life and my stress levels are way down. I have stinky running shoes, but I think the benefits outweigh the negatives in this case.

So I've written several posts in my head, they just haven't made it all the way to the keyboard. Funny thing about running- it actually makes you go to bed at a reasonable hour. I seem to be following in my father's footsteps who also had difficulty making it through an evening tv show or movie without falling asleep. I actually spilled a glass of wine on myself in mid-doze a few weeks back. I guess Ernesto would have taken it out of my hand if he'd seen me nodding off...or would he? Hmm. I should go have a talk with him...

So all in all, it's been a good year. The kids are thriving, we all survived another New England winter and there are crocuses, daffodils and tulips coming up all over the yard. What more could I ask for? Maybe I will even find my camera somewhere in one of these melting "yard" bergs. Do I dare to dream?

Yes, this is Spring in New England

I do not, nor have I ever understood the "one size fits all" mentality of chain stores when it comes to the timing of seasonal clothing displays. I get putting out the next season's items before the season actually arrives, but there is absolutely no good reason to stock a New Hampshire sales floor with sundresses in February. Exactly when is anyone around here supposed to wear these items? They are no good until June. And Easter dresses?? Well, they are absolutely adorable and I would love to put my 12 month old into a pink and purple sleeveless number with open-toed sandals to match but I would prefer she not get frostbite whilst we are searching for Easter eggs amongst the 5 foot high snowbanks. And sun hats. Yes, we will certainly be needing those and I'll make sure to get the ones with the grosgrain ribbons to tie them under the girls' chins so they don't blow away into the upper atmosphere when the 40 mph winds kick in.

I love the thought of a warm, dewy Easter morning, but when I have that vision it almost always takes place in the deep South where the mercury might be just a wee bit higher than here. You know, a scene like the one in "Steel Magnolias" with all the fair haired children running amok down a rolling TruChem green lawn in their summer whites and pale blues. Then there are my kids in their shabby, road-salt smeared winter coats and too tight snow boots. Just darling!

I am going to design a more suitable line of clothing for us Nor'eastern folks that seasonally appropriate, but still Spring-like. Perhaps for the girls a long sleeved fleece gown and for the boys a woolen suit coat. You know, kind of like what they wear at Christmas time but in Spring colors. Sounds terrific, doesn't it?

I don't really care about this at all, though, because come snow, rain, wind or sleet, (most likely all four) this Sunday I am going on an all out chocolate peanut butter delight fest and there is nothing to that can ruin it for me. I will just have to remember to remove my white lace gloves before I dip into the goods.

when muppets indulge in too much "craic"

Thanks to my friend Jemi for sending this to me this morning. It's just the kind of thing that makes complete sense before I've downed my first cup of joe. And really, this is the only way this song should ever be performed, anyway.

Happy St. Patty's Day!

Bella's Theme

Kids sure do grow quickly. They smile, they learn to sit up, crawl and then before you know it they're walking.

And then they learn to rock.

Please don't listen to me

Everyone knows you have to watch what you say around little kids. They can pick up words or phrases in an instant and then you spend the next few months locked inside your home, foregoing social visits, hoping they'll magically forget the new vocabulary.

We've been very fortunate in this regard. Not once have I ever heard one of my children use a curse word and about the meanest insult they can come up with is "stupid head", which of course is not very nice, but at least it's not profanity and I've only heard them call each other that once or twice at most.

Now of course I don't do much in the way of swearing. Anymore. I'm not proud to admit that I used to swear on a pretty much daily basis. Not like in a Jay and Silent Bob film, but still enough for it to be tricky to cut out using these words altogether. Well, mostly. On occasion if I am frightened (like someone is about to swerve into my lane while I'm driving) or I do something stupid (like drop several dishes on the floor at once) I will let one fly, then quickly cover my mouth as if that will help to keep young ears from hearing it. But generally I do pretty well, and I've got lots of new phrases that I use in place of the old ones that are nearly just as satisfying. Feel free to use any of these if you aren't already:

"Awww sugar snaps!!"
"Cheese and rice!"
"Son of a motherless goat!"
(and my personal favorite) "Mother pus-bucket!"

Now, that last one sounds bad, I know, but there really isn't anything profane in that expression. It's just kind of gross. But it's very satisfying to say.

A few days ago I was taking this kids out on some errand and I had forgotten I was listening to a mixed CD the last time I had been out by myself in the car. None of the music was racy, but I had completely forgotten that the singer lets rip one expletive, clear as day and just as I remembered the lyric that was about to come up, well, it was too late. I cringed, looked back at the kids who were looking out the windows and waited. I thought David might ask, "What did he say, mommy?" or something to that effect, but neither of them seemed to notice. Bullet dodged.

But even though that one got past them, most of what the kids hear does not go unnoticed. They are picking up other choice phrases, as was demonstrated the other day when Sofia was annoyed with her big brother and called out to the heavens an exasperated, "OH, for the love of GOD!"

I cannot imagine where she got that from.

And some things they seem to pick up by osmosis. Earlier in the week I was reading the kids some stories and they were making up funny names for characters in the book and after listing several cute ones, David blurts out, "Rudy Giuliani!"

I laugh and ask, "Do you know who that is?"
He shrugs and says, "Um...he wants to president?"
"Yes, but he won't."
"Oh, is he a candidate, then?" he inquires, all conversational like.
"Well, he was..."
and without missing a beat, Sofia chimes in with, "But Isobel voted for Mike Huckabee, ya know!"

We all pause and look down at Isobel who is drooling and chewing on Barbie's pointy foot. She smiles.

This is the sort of thing that results from living in NH. No child can escape from the political process.

Ya know.