T is for Ten Tiny Toes and other Things

Encyclopedia of Me Meme

T is for Ten Tiny Toes

Piggy Wiggles
by J.H. Schmidt
(A Pleiadic Poem)

They peek above the bubbles, the ten pink
Piggy toes, and salute me with a wink.

They peek above to see me creeping near
And quickly duck below in yearning fear,

Enshrouded by the bubbles. The bright eyes
Full of giggles, beckon me to devise

A crafty plan to capture those ten pink
Piglets. Stealthy, I creep up to the brink

And wait. A spy rises from the foam, then
Piggy toes and foot, a setting hen.

My fingers fly and the toesies wiggle,
Sparkling eyes salute me with giggles.

Away from my tickles they do not shrink,
But relish imprisonment with a wink.

***

T is for Talent

Of course as a parent I say, “My kids are loaded with it,” and they really are. They have also sorts of talents. One talent that appears very prominently among all the children is music.  Maybe it’s that Paul and I are so wrapped up in music with our family jam sessions, etc. Or maybe they were just born with it.  All three girls are learning to play piano and doing wonderfully.  Each has chosen a second instrument that they want to play someday.  Each instrument matches their personalities too, which cracks me up.  Elizabeth has declared that she would like to learn to play Flute, Dorothy the Trumpet, and Emily the French Horn.  Jacob? Well, Jacob might end up being a percussionist.

The other day I walked  into the living room to find that he had taken all of our rhythm instruments – drums, chimes, the works, and had line them up in a row on the couch. With a mallet in each hand he was fiercely playing away across all the different instruments.  He looked like a miniature percussionist in a symphony. 🙂 

One other funny thing:  We were driving to a neighboring town and, as usual, I had the radio on.  It was just me, Emily and Jacob in the car.  Things were rather quiet (aside from the music) and Jacob fell asleep. At one point I turned in my seat sneak a quick look at him while I was driving. His eyes were closed, his head slumped in slumber, and yet his little foot was ticking away with the beat. 

Dorothy is our little singer – she takes singing very seriously and has developed a bit of vibrato even.  I wish I knew more about singing so I could help her better her voice.

Elizabeth is a little composer of songs.  At any given moment we can find her singing at the top of her lungs, some nutty song she has made up about whatever it is she is doing (hmmmm…I don’t know where she would have got that one from).

And Emily, liking anything and everything about music, just does it all. 🙂

Yes, I am proud of my kids and there many talents. 🙂

***

T is for Toddlers in Trouble

Which is what my son is right now, as I have just heard him playing in the bathroom – hopefully he is not drinking out of the toilet again…

 He jumped and ran as soon as I got back there – little squirt.

As Jacob’s middle name is Paul I also like to modify the “Music Man Song” (it can apply for my hubby Paul at times too) – “We’ve got trouble, right here in River City. Trouble with a capitol T that rhymes with P that stands for PAUL!”  Hee hee. 🙂

***

T is for Tender Hugs and Kisses

Everyone needs them and my kids give them freely – I love my kids sloppy kisses and tackling hugs.

***

T is for Time

Which there is never enough of and always passes too quickly.  How fast the little ones grow and how long it takes us to learn to stop what we are doing and enjoy them.

***

T is for Trip and Travel

Did you know that ever since I was a little tyke I have been a world traveler? Every time I would trip and fall my Dad would announce, “And there she goes for another trip around the world!”  heh – I loved it. 🙂

***

T is for Tempted

I am tempted to keep this post going as long as possible to avoid cleaning the house – wouldn’t you be? 😉

***

T is for Terminated

Which means that this post has come to an end – and it’s off to work I go. 🙂

S is for Shoes

Encyclopedia of Me Meme

Growing up things were always rather tight and shoes were merely a utilitarian item.  A standard pair of tennis, boots for winter, sandals for summer, and a shiny black pair for Sundays – I think as I got older I switched to white.  We wore them until they pinched our feet terribly or they were falling apart before we would obtain new shoes.  Actually whenever possible I would just run around barefoot.  And of course we had our typical pair of slippers as well.  I never really got much into shoes and all the way through college I had my usual four pairs of shoes – though by that point I had at least added a pair of white dress shoes and maybe even a pair of brown. I never quite understood what was so exciting about shoes for some people.  I had room mates who had probably 20 pairs of shoes and the reason why was beyond me.

Since that point, mainly due to discovering an extremely close friend who is very girly – a complete opposite to my tomboy ways, I have begun to discover the cuteness of shoes.  I definitely don’t have 20 pairs of shoes but I have dress shoes and casual shoes, tennis shoes, and a few different pairs of sandals.  I even have Navy colored dress shoes. (everyone say oooohhh now).   I actually have cute shoes too! 🙂

Now, where is all this leading you might ask? Well, it is leading to a very cute little story that happened yesterday.

***

Lately, being pregnant and all, my black shoes have become my staple and I  have been keeping them on the shoe rack in the front room.  I was teaching a piano lesson to one of my high schoolers and we were joking and laughing around as usual.  I had one foot on the ground with my other leg crossed – the ankle of my right foot resting just above my knee on my left.  Often when I teach I choose this position as it makes a broader area to write assignments in their notebook. 

Jacob wandered in and grabbed my casual, though still dressy, black shoes and stuck them on his feet.  I love watching my kids clomp around in my shoes – it has to be one of the most adorable things ever.  After he had my shoes secured on his feet he grabbed my black dress shoes and brought them over to me. He set them down and went to grab one of my feet to stick in the shoe. He stopped and stared at me with the strangest expression on his face – one of complete and utter confusement.  He looked at my face, puzzled, and then back down.  It took me a moment to realize what he was so confused about, but when I did I smothered giggles and said pointedly, to let my student in on the joke, “Where did it go Jacob? Where did my leg go?” 

A search then ensued. Jacob began looking all around for my missing leg. He peered under the piano bench and saw that my student only had two legs, so they must be hers, he peered under the rocking chair. He turned, looking all the room, while raising his hands int the “Where did it go?” gesture.  I believe he even asked a few times, “where go?”  He was completely confused as to how I had managed to loose one of my legs.  My student and I by this time were in fits of  laughter.

Finally I moved my students notebook off my lap to reveal my missing leg.  “Look, Jacob,” I said while wiggling my foot, still resting on the opposite knee.  A look of pure joy lit up Jacob’s little face, “There is!” he hollered.  He then grabbed my foot and shoved it into my shoe, clomped to the door and said, “ok, lets go.”

R is for Random

Encyclopedia of Me Meme

Ok, I know that it is not a very original idea for the letter “R” but as I haven’t had a chance to blog for some time I have a number of little random things to mention – most all to small for regular sized posts.

We have given up on dial-up which is the main reason behind my absence – internet troubles with dial-up connection troubles with DSL – I think we finally have it all figured out.

***

One morning Emily and Dorothy were fighting and screaming at each other as they got ready to ride their bikes to school.  I sent them into their room, telling them they would stay there until they decided they could get along no matter how long they took and how much school they missed.  Of course they were ticked at me, but they resolved their problems rather quickly, and were ready to go a little while later – and thankfully would only be a few minutes late.  As they got on their bikes I told them to stick together like glue and to be nice.

Apparently Dorothy took me quite seriously.  A friend happened upon them near the school where Emily stood in tears as Dorothy tried desperately to unlock her bike chain. She had taken the chain and locked the two bikes together in an attempt to remain close to her sister.  My friend reported that “you could see the gears turning in Dorothy’s head, something just isn’t working right here.”

I’ve really got to watch what I say to that girl. 🙂

***

I took Jacob and another little boy to the park the other day.  As we walked along the sidewalk  the little boy looked up at me and asked, “why is side’s last name walk?”

***

After reading an article in this month’s “Ensign” about humor in the home Paul decided to follow the author’s lead and has adopted his grand announcement as he walks in the front door. “Hello all you lucky people, I’m home!”  He bellows it at the top of his lungs while 8 little pairs of stampeding feet tackle him in the front room.  It is really a pleasure to see and has made a huge difference in our home.  It seems that everyone is just a little bit happier and the evenings flow just a bit more smoothly. Not perfectly mind you, a better. 🙂

***

In the space of about 5 minutes Jacob managed to knock down the gate to the kitchen, dump out almost all of the garlic, in one of those big plastic bulk containers, emptied and most likely ate an entire shaker’s worth of salt.  Then at lunch he unbuckled himself, got a hold of the Parmesan cheese, re-buckled himself and proceeded to dump all of the Parmesan cheese (the container was almost completely full) all over the place. He looked like a little ghost sitting oh so innocently in his chair at the table (I was gone for a minute to use the bathroom). It took me a while to figure out how on earth he had managed to get the Parmesan.

Aside from his little 2-year fingers getting into anything and everything know matter how impossible it seems to you, he manages to worm his way into everybody’s heart with his sweet little smiles, hugs, and kisses. 🙂 He is a little parrot and mimics everything we and his sisters say.

His favorite is a little game the girls like to play. They circle their fingers in front of your face and say “lolli lolli lolli – POP!” and then clap the hands.  Usually the person blinks and so they follow it up with, “You blinked!”  So, Jacob’s version of this is to wave his hands saying “Ollie ollie ollie – pop pop pop pop pop” while hopping up and down clapping his hands. Then he points, grins his dimply cheesy grin and says, “You bink!” 

What can I say, I have the most adorable kids in the universe. 🙂

***

I had a prental today and everything is going well with little Junior and it was fun to listen to his (or her) little heart beating away. Plus, it was especially nice to have some mommy alone time.

***

Cooler weather has set in and as I went through Jacob’s dresser I realized that I had no pants that would stay on his body – plenty his size but the waist is always to large and the poor kid has to run around holding up his pants.  So, I went on a jeans (thank goodness for adjustable waistbands) or overalls hunt.  I went to Fred Meyer because it was in town and sometimes they have good sales. They had no overalls above 2T and the only adjustable waist jeans were $26!  I but myself a pair of maternity jeans not on sale at Motherhood of all places (and plus size at that) for $22 – I refuse to pay more for my toddler who takes maybe a quarter of the material – that is just wrong.  So I went on to Target and found a pair of overalls and a pair of adjustable waist jeans at reasonable prices – which is great so now he at least has something besides shorts to wear (brrrr). 🙂

I think that is it for all the random things I can remember. I know there were other things I had originally wanted to write about, but I forgot to jot them down and consequently have no idea what they are.  Blame it on pregnancy brain :).

Q is for Quiet

Encyclopedia of Me Meme 

 Which seldom happens around this house.  Not silence mind you – silence is heavy and can be lonely, but quiet is blissful.  In the quiet you can hear so much more and better.  I can hear the click of the keys as I type on my computer. The distant sound of a neighbor’s lawnmower.  The giggles and squeals of the kids as they play in the yard.  My daughter reading to herself in the distant bedroom.  These sounds are quiet.

My quiet is interrupted when the sounds turn harsh and mean – but for now all is calm and all is quiet and I just lean my head back and enjoy listening to the wind as it rustles the trees outside the window and Elizabeth’s pencil as she scratches away at the poster she is working on.

My quiet never lasts very long, so it must be enjoyed in the few precious moments that are granted.

A respite for the frazled soul to calm the nerves and to remember that while life has its chaotic and crazy moments, its temper tantrums and stress, it also has many wonderful happy moments – sometimes we just need to look for them harder than others.

P is for Pregnant Moment

Encyclopedia of Me Meme

I’ve had a lot of them.  And apparently they only get worse and more frequent with each pregnancy.  One such moment happened last Wednesday.

A good friend of ours had been going through a lot. Having their suburban stolen while on vacation was one of these – not to mention the fact that she is expecting too, in fact we have the same due date. 🙂 In a small effort I offered to take them dinner, or at the very least have them come play and eat dinner at our house.  It was decided that the latter would be best as it would alleviate some of the stress in general to have some fun conversation and let the kids hang out with friends, etc.

I had decided on ground beef stroganoff for dinner as it is easy, inexpensive, feeds a lot of people, and best of all, yummy.  The kids were terrors that day – fighting, squabbling, complaining at every moment when I asked for some help.  I was in the middle of cooking dinner when I realized that Jacob wasn’t around.

“I’d better see what he is up to,” I muttered as I flipped the burner down to medium and set off in search of the rascally two year old.  The aroma of dirty, stinky diaper punched me in the nose as I walked into his bedroom.  I first saw his little bare bottom facing me as he crawled along his bed before the horror hit me.  He hadn’t bothered to let me know he was stinky but decided to take care of it himself.  I dodged little diaper presents on the floor as I made my way to the corner where the discarded object lay.  That in itself was a feat as the diaper presents tended to blend in with the carpet.  I swatted that little bare bottom and had him clean up all the blankets and things that could be possibly dirty, tossing them all into the hamper. Then I scrubbed the floor.

I ran out to the kitchen, stirred the food. “I’ll do a quick bath for him, the food will be fine.”

Had I been lucid I would have remembered that toddlers and quick baths don’t exist. Had I been lucid I would have realized that I had already been cooking the food for quite some time BEFORE the whole diaper incident. Had I been lucid I would have realized that it had already stuck just a bit when I had stopped to stir it just then.

BUT, when you are pregnant, you are NOT lucid. *SIGH*

I gave Jacob a bath, got him all clean, reinspected the bedroom and went back out to the kitchen, fully expecting to find everything in fine order.

It wasn’t.  The stroganoff was scorched to the bottom of the pan and I had a family of 7 descending upon us in 30 minutes – and my oven was STILL NOT FIXED.  I tested the the food – just in case it wasn’t too noticeable.  It was terrible.

So, I did the only the a respectable pregnant lady would do. I called my husband and burst into tears.

His first comment was to get pizza (we all know how the last pizza saga worked out) and then he remembered that he hadn’t had a chance to fix the oven yet. (The new element was purchase, but the wire it connected to was black, signifying a loose connection and he needed to fix that in order to hook up the new element).  He, being the brilliant husband that he is, suggested getting the pizzas (it was way to expensive to order enough pizzas to feed 13 people from a place like Domino’s or something) and cooking them at our friend’s house who lives right behind us.

So, I called my friends, still partly panicked and dashing tears away. She readily agreed to lend me her oven. She lent her 12 year old son to sit in the car with the kids while I ran into the store to get the pizzas. Then she was kind enough to cook the pizzas and bring them too us.

Thank goodness for good friends and husbands who help us out of these pregnant moments. 🙂

P.S. My wonderful HHH was able to fix my oven on Saturday and after a week and a half of no oven I am very excited to say that it works beautifully and I can’t wait to bake brownies. 🙂