New Year...

i really can't believe it is almost 2012 already. this year has flown by. not much has changed really. just the normal chaos of the holidays. thankfully the last on is upon us and hopefully it goes by quickly. We already celebrated with the munchkin at noon thanks to the awesomeness that is Science Central. Now tonight we are heading over to a friends house to watch him get drunk and beligerant and be your basic jackass while his wife yells at him for being that way and let me tell you...it is about as much fun as taking a bath with a toaster. these two fight like they are about to start swinging,even if there are kids around. so as you can imagine it is going to be a great night.....

hopefully your night is not filled with screams,swears and shots. hopefully you won't read about me in the news for trying to smack the idiot out of someone...Happy New Year!

Fall is in the air

I can't tell you how excited I am that fall is here :-) Granted the rain that has been nonstop here and my urge to build an ark is growing but the leaves are starting to change and its beautiful. Note: this post was started a few weeks ago. Now the weather is a wonderful 80 degrees and the leaves are ablaze with color. It's going to be a great weekend (YAY!!) and since DB's sister is getting married tomorrow at a gorgeous state park nearby, I'm happy this weather is here. But I am ready for it to get cool in the evenings so I can curl up under a blanket, with a nice mug of tea/cocoa and a great book (several on the "to read" list this winter..quite excited!) Plus...it's the perfect weather right now to MOVE! That's right...we are moving! We are moving into his dad's house right here in town. It's bigger & better and has four bedrooms. Which means room for expansion. I'm very excited to be moving and hopefully all settled in by Christmas.

In other news, vacation was great until day 2. I got some very sad news that my

high school band director had passed. Pete touched more lives than he may ever
know. since we were 4 states away I was unable to help celebrate him and all he did. I have been thinking about all the lessons he taught me and all the great times I had inhih school thank to the ban program. I only hope the munchkin has someone as amazing as Pete in his life as he grows older. I know I wouldn`t be the person I am today without him.

since this post has been mostly chaos and scatterbrained thoughts I am going to try to be a little more organized next time!

Parenting according to Toodles....

So in the process of raising a munchkin, I have come to realize how much things have changed and continues to change from when I was a child and even when my parents were younger. I'm sure there will be even more change when the munchkin is an older munchkin and produces his own munchkin (many years into the future...) Here are a few "changes" I have noticed from my point of view:

Discipline:
My parents: spankings and chores
Me: spankings and chores and grounding
Munchkin: time outs and occasional spankings.
Now is it me or is society going soft? Not that I am condoning child abuse but sometimes a good swat on the bottom is just what Munchkin needs to get back in line. He does the time out ok sometimes but others he just gets down and goes back to misbehaving. I can recall parents telling me stories of their childhood and still know where the yardsticks are used to punish my parents. (it was the 60s...a lot worse things were going on than spanking kids with yardsticks...) Hopefully the Munchkin won't punish the kids with timeouts and candy but time will tell.

Playing outside
My parents: Stay in the county and out of the roads. Home by supper and if you have any hungry friends there is enough food to feed an army here.
Me: Stay withing yelling distance and out of the roads. Home before the street lights come on and if you have any hungry friends bring them over. Plenty of food.
Munchkin: Stay in the yard, don't talk to strangers. Period. If you have friends, ask their mom's permission and we will coordinate it on our Blackberry/iPhone/facebook.
Now not that we do all that but again, this is how much society has changed in just a few short years. We keep Munchkin contained to the yard (mostly due to crazy neighbors but we hope to be remedying this situation soon) and the mostly normal people who live near us have no kids his age. Kids are so busy nowadays with scheduled sports & activities that its hard to find time to just play and be a kid (one reason why Munchkin hasn't participated in organized sports yet). I can remember spending days on end in the summer just playing with my friends and not once did Sam have to say "oh i can only play an hour becuase I have tee ball then piano lessons then home for lunch then off to dance and finish the afternoon at soccer practice and then home for dinner and bedtime." NO THANKS! Not only is it a lot for a child but for the parents as well. We are of the "When he asks to play, he can play" mentality. Go ahead, frown upon us. We will be the happy people watching all you other whack jobs run around til you are dead tired and can't enjoy a quiet evening at home :-) One point for us!

Where babies come from:
My parents: The stork.
Me: Mommy's belly. End of explination.
Munchkin: Mommy and Daddy make the baby and it grows in mommy's belly then after the baby is big enough it comes out of mommy to be born.
Now the munchkin has only asked one or two times about where babies come from and the "Mommy's belly" answer seems to do it justice. I'm sure since he is in the question everything phase that the more detailed explanation will be needed in no time at all. But I have no problem explaining it to him. Some parents may gasp (pause for gasping) at this but my child will not be all shock and awe when it comes time for that in school. I'm the type of parent where you ask me a question and I will do everything in my power to answer it truthfully. (hence the reason for owning this book and this book...oh and for google.) And since we are talking Munchkin #2, we have even asked him his opinion. His answer: I want a baby sister. Nice to know he thinks you can just call in that order...

The world around us:
My parents: the 60s and 70s...enough said!
Me: AIDS & the Ryan White story, The Challenger Explosion, weirdos coming out of the woodwork and taking kids.
Munchkin: a lot of the same but now violence is in everything & everywhere. There are a lot more "tree hugging hippies" again trying to save the world due to all the hairspray use in the 80s. (none from me!)
DB is an avid gamer so he does tend to play the violent shoot 'em up games but only when Munchkin is in bed sound asleep dreaming of cars and mud and whatever little boys dream of. But violence is all over. Especially with the 9/11 anniversary approaching it's in the news and all over talking about that day and events leading up to it and remembering the lives lost and on and on and on... I am considering taking Munchkin to the local library for their "rememberance" since it seems kind of lo-key and would be easy to kind of ease him into the day. I plan on telling him about it (not in gory detail) and explaining the people and if I can why they did it. He's only 4 but again, if he asks I'll talk about it. This will be a part of his life whether he realizes it or not. On a brighter note, he's a great little tree hugger in training and appreciates nature (minus the stomping of the ants...not really sure where this came from) and knows what it means to recycle and how it helps the planet. So there is hope for our future after all!

Family:
My parents: Family dinner every night. Get together for all holidays (even the small ones) and birthdays. Appreciate those in your life and love them unconditionally. No matter what (even through the stupidity and urge to smack them upside their head until the get it)
Me: Family dinner every night. Get together for all holidays (even the small ones) and birthdays. Appreciate those in your life and love them unconditionally. No matter what (even through the stupidity and urge to smack them upsdie their head until they get it)
Munchkin: Ditto...
Notice a pattern? In the Munchkin's time he's been here (the past two years especially) we've lost some people who were very close to us. This leads us to appreciate our time with loved ones even more. And to learn to love and understand (and try...really try....really..try...not to beat them senseless.) We have some interesting people in the family who have their issues but we still love them and always will. Why? Because they are family and we have to....and because of love.

So that's a few things that I have noticed in society that has changed through the years. I'm not sure if some of these are for better or worse but I guess we will have to take it a day ay a time and hope for the best.

Time keeps slipping...

I can't believe that it is August already! I have been so busy with different things (work, a four year old, Trent's crazy long hours and a crazy four year old....) We have been starting activly looking for houses. And by actively I mean I look through the little book, get online and get more information and then show Trent. Then the ball gets dropped. He has been working 12s for the past two weeks, and we are going into week 3 now so he hasn't had a chance to get to the bank to see what price range we can look at. It's really wearing on all of us but we will make it through, we always do! As part of the house hunting thing, I have been contemplating having another baby. I just turned 31 so I know I don't have too much more time before a) I'm at that age where I would be "high risk" and b) I'm the one at said child's graduation where I could be easily confused as Grandma....Granted I do have my Grandma's wonderful ageless skin (or at least I've been told) so it wouldn't be too obvious as long as I had my gray hair craftfully hidden and no old lady/mom jeans on. These are the things I think about when I think of having another baby. But then I also think about all the little cuddles, coos, giggles, kisses and that pinchable baby face. *sigh* Plus, several people I know are having babies right now so that doesn't help at all.

On a side note, I eased into my 30s on Sunday with nothing too eventful happening. I had to work and then spent the evening with the inlaws which is always fun. Monday was with my parents and my Grandma C. I don't know what it is about family gatherings but I love them. I love get togethers in general. 10 people, 50 people even if its just me and my two besties. If I had a house, I would be having them constantly for no reason at all! It makes me all warm & fuzzy inside to have a house full of friends & family. It's how I grew up and I hope to have that same environment for the munchkin as he grows up. Of course a house would make that much easier....

Some time away...

I didn't realize how long it had been since I last posted. It's been pretty busy for us, birthdays(Mom & sister), vacations and the loss of two loved ones. Trent's grandmother passed away while we were on vacation so that kind of put a sad note into what was supposed to be a great vacation. Don't get me wrong, we had a wonderful time visiting MiMi and Grandpa Parker (Trent's dad and stepmom) who live in beautiful North Carolina. It was nice being there in the 60s and even 70s while it was snowing...again...in Indiana. The trip was a blast but the drive home was no fun. We were all sick of being in the car and knowing what we had to come home to wasn't making it any easier to come home. Upon arrival home, we promptly unloaded and headed to the funeral home to celebrate Katy. She was one sassy lady who always had a smile on her face and will be greatly missed in the family. The other loss was our family dog, Prince. He was a beautiful red Siberian Husky who had been with us for 13 years. He lived a very long, happy, pampered! life. His hips had really started to bother him but after a diet change and some vitamins he seemed to be doing fine. But one night my little brother went out to check on him and things took a turn for the worse and he had to be put down. Two loved ones, two weeks....ughh....

We have been doing great other than that. The weather had finally started to warm up then it decided to SNOW this morning...really? snow...c'mon we've had enough, leave us and don't come back til December!!! Sorry, we've had more than our share this year and I'm DONE WITH IT!! I did get a chance to get outside and enjoy the sunshine and work in the gardens which was fun but not enough time for me, I would like the 60 weather back now please :-) Things are starting to pick up at work and the chaos of spring is upon us. And I couldn't be more excited!

As for the resolution thing, I completely forgot March due to all the crazy going on so on to April. I volunteer for Parkview Noble Hospital Needleworkers. We are a group of ladies who knit, crochet or sew needed items for all the Parkview Hospitals in Noble County. Anything from shawls to scarves to lap blankets to baby hats. My goal is to knit one baby hat a day until our next meeting in April. That's about 30 hats. Another way to fulfill resolution #1: give back more. So on chilly days like today (and apparently the next week..). I'll be stuck inside and be knitting away when the 3 year old monster isn't driving me up the wall.

Meanwhile I'm going to do as many anti-cold weather dances and bring on the sunshine dances as I can.....feel free to join me :-)

Resouloution #2

I've had some time to think about this one while knitting away during the "Snowpocalypse 2011" That was an adventure in itself. We got a lot of snow, don't get me wrong but everyone was acting like it was the end of the world, which it wasn't. We had a worse storm in 1999. I remember this because it was my senior year and we had an extra two weeks added to Christmas break :-) (that we didn't have to make up...shhh...don't tell!) My aunt and her kids were stuck at our house for 3 days and it took us that long to dig out enough of a path for them to get out of the driveway! We weren't stuck inside for 3 days but it sure felt like it with a stir crazy three year old. Anyways....resolution #2 is to become more centered. Doing this through yoga and meditation. I used to do it a lot through college but got away from it after I graduated. Thinking back I was a lot less stressed and relaxed. So I am going to try doing more of it again. Especially since the munchkin is about to drive me up the wall with this wanting to go swimming, play in the park, go camping, have a fire in the fire pit business. I am developing a case of cabin fever as well and hopefully this will cure it....for awhile. Here's hoping everyone else survived Snowpocalypse 2011 as well!

Itching for spring.....

Don't get me wrong. I love the wintertime. The peacefulness after a new fallen snow, the contrast between the dark, barren trees and the pristine white of the snow and of course what I like to call the "snowglobe effect". (This happens when you are staring out a window and the big, fluffy snowflakes start falling and suddenly you feel like you are in a giant snowglobe that someone just picked up and shook)
But I am ready for spring! I have been packaging seeds for work, getting ideas for ones I want to get started for the gardens, getting garden catalogs in the mail and seeing all the "springy" stuff in the stores. Mind you, I'm not going to rush out and buy a swimsuit as soon as I see them but still, all those bright colors are just an indication of what's around the corner. I'm really excited to watch the flowers begin to poke through the long frozen ground and show their colors to the world. It's one of the reasons I love spring.
I don't have a favorite season because I really love them all. I say I want to move to a beach somewhere when I get older but I don't think I could miss out on the beautiful changing of the seasons here in Indiana. Granted sometimes the seasons seem to change six times in a week but what would life be like without a little excitement?
As this is posting...we are under a winter weather advisory and the "snowglobe effect" is beautiful :-)

Random Ramblings of a Munchkin

My son is at the wonderful age of 3 and he seems to pick up random sentences, or put them together, I haven't decided which yet. But here are a few of the gems that he lets slip once in awhile. OR just odd things he says....
D: I'm gonna grow up to be Lightning McQueen
M: Can mommy & daddy come visit you?
D: Yeah, in the TV.

M:Can I have a hug?
D: No. The hugs are closed.

"Curse you tiny toilet!" Mind you, he was playing with his cars at this time. Not really sure how the toilet is really relevant at this point.

M: What do you want for breakfast?

D: Noodles and oatmeal!

M: Noodles and oatmeal? That's kind of a weird request don't you think?

D: Nope. It's my favorite!

D: YAY Daddys home!! Why do you have to go to work?

Daddy: To keep the house and you warm

D: That's what blankets are for Daddy! Silly daddy...(followed by infectious munchkin giggles)


D: Mommy I can eat this whole box of coconuts, I promise!
M: Those aren't coconuts, they are doughnuts.
D: NO! These are coconuts and I love them! (this explains a lot of confusion we were having at Grandma's house...)

These are just a few of the things I hear from the munchkin that make my days a little better after a bad day or when I'm just kind of blah....that and the screaming, giggling "MOMMY"S HOME!!" hug I get when I come home from anywhere. Mommyhood is good :-)

Welcome 2011/Resoultion #1

My son did a better job of welcoming the New Year than I did. I was asleep by 10pm. Granted we had been in the car all day and I had a headache but still. I celebrated all out on the 1st. We went to the WINTER CLASSIC!! It was a great experience and one I will never forget. It's something that was on my "bucket list" and I will never forget that day :-)

I didn't make a resolution this year. I sometimes do but not this year. Whether it was all the excitement of the Classic, all the things on my mind or just the fact that there were so many things I wanted to do this year that I couldn't pick just one. So here is what I was thinking: how about one resolution a month? Maybe by the end of the year I will accomplish one or two but I don't have to pick just one to focus on. I was on my facebook page and my aunt had posted something that kind of spoke to one of the things I had on my mind so why not start with that? I want to do more nice things for people, kind of "pay it forward" I always think of things that I should have done and then regret that I didn't so I'm going to change that. So here's what my aunt's status said:

Pay it forward 2011. I will send something handmade to the first 5 people to comment on this status. To be eligible, you must also post this to your status offering the same to 5 other people. Items will be delivered sometime in 2011. Ready, set, go!

How cool is that? Not only do I get to be creative but I get to share what I create! Whether it be a picture, a hat or scarf or something else, I get to "pay it forward" and give people an unexpected gift sometime during the year.. I'm kind of excited to get started on this! Plus, it will give me a chance to come up with Resolution #2.