Should've named her Dori

Swimming, swimming, swimming! Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming!

The Kelster, myself, a 3yr. old new friend we made on the beach, her 5 yr. old brother, and my 5 yr. old (The Dunnster) did this for the better part of one entire morning on the beach. Now for those of you unfamiliar with "a morning on the beach", this consists of getting down onto the sand by 9:30 and not leaving until about 1:00.

I can't tell you when I've enjoyed myself more! I loved acting like a kid, and didn't mind the sand in the bottom of my suit, up my nose, in my hair, in ALL the cracks and crevices that were laying there in the surf....nooooo, I relished every minute of it! Get over all that sand. You'll get clean back at the house, I told myself! You get your kids clean of every particle, right?! The same will happen with you! So go on, next time you don't want to get all sandy...let yourself really relax, and act like a kid again, be at one with the sand!

Coming soon...a fantastic recipe for authentic NC style BBQ! I got the recipe from a great guy while we were there!

Now, come on you didn't really think I was going to show a picture of me in a bathing suit did you?!?! You are so whacky!

xoxo ~L

Paci Update

I knew I had tempted fate, just by proclaiming our glorious success in losing the 'ol paci! What was I thinking? I've never really been one to be cocky! Never do I pat myself on the back. I mean really, parenting is just way too complicated to think you've actually done something...dare I say...right!?! Sooooo....

Kelly told me just this morning, as I was folding the laundry I had done on vacation, not to be confused with the laundry I'll still need to do when I get home, that she needed her paci. Now this was after the traumatic event of slipping up a stair as she was following me with my laundry basket.

I did of course remind her, gently, that we didn't have the paci anymore. BUT, she came back with "there's one in my room" answer. To which I wasn't sure how to respond. Was she actually thinking about a need that couldn't be contained? I quickly gave my stock answer...remember, it's in the trash...that seemed to do the trick. At least for now.

Obviously, I won't be gettin rid of my stash anytime soon.

xoxo ~L

Bye, Bye Baby!

Let me start by saying, that I was totally prepared to send Miss Kelly off to College with her “Paci”. You know…binky, paci, lovey, num num (don’t ask, but I think a name like that has to do with you not being able to understand a word they say with that darn thing in their mouths!), whatever you happen to call it.

I have fondly known it as the item that ruins all pictures. It’s the tiny little thing that gets my heart racing, if I don’t readily see one available. I had quietly accepted, that my daughter’s dependence was way beyond the rational needs of “Honey you’re 25, don’t you think it’s time to give up the paci”? I had already started researching for 12 step programs. Talking to other mommy’s of “addicts”.

All that said…drum roll please, the dreaded “paci” is gone. Yes, gone! Kaput, nil, lost to all eternity, never to be seen again. I don’t really know how we managed to get our whiny, tempermental, big attitude little miss to give it up and not even cry one night.

What had been happening, as of late, was that she had been chewing holes in the silicone part of the pacifier. Now that she has molars, this had become the chew toy. Not the sucking, comforting aid it was originally used as. So after the need for replacements coming faster and faster, I decided I would make her start throwing them out herself after she had chewed the holes in them.

So a few weeks ago, Little Miss had to throw away the paci she had been walking around with into the kitchen trash. No fit…things looked good. That night as I was putting her in her crib with her blanky, she asked for “paci”. I calmly and oh so innocently said “Oh honey, there is no more paci, it had to go in the trash. Remember ?!?”

I waited. I waited for what I knew was coming…an all out fit of rage and terror, shock and awe, she was gonna blow!

But, she just said “trash? I put it in trash?” “Yes” I said, “yes you did”. “Oh, o.k.” And on we went with the rest of our “night-night” routine.

It has since been a couple of weeks since we said goodbye to the paci. She has asked a few times, almost inquisitively, about her paci…but it just takes a gentle reminder of “there are no more paci’s” and she is content.

Now here's my little secret. I am like a smoker who just quit smoking, I still haven’t quite gotten rid of “my stash”. So for the love of all that is peaceful and holy in my house...don't tell her!

xoxo ~L

Summer, Sunburn, and Sunscreen

This wonderful sunscreen that is 7.5% titanium dioxide, and 7.5% zinc oxide (both physical sunscreens) is $18 for 4 ozs. Soooo...is this too much to pay for sunscreen?

Let me clarify, that's what it costs at the local dermatologists office. Sure, I can find it cheaper on the internet, but once you factor in shipping, it's probably less to get it locally.

Here's my dilemma. I have 2 olive skinned babes, and 2 white, pasty, irish, light haired, freckly babes. Genetics, funny, huh?!

Well, after thinking for some reason that I needed to research what makes a good sunscreen good, here's what I decided.

The physical sunscreens protect the skin by deflecting the harmful rays of the sun! Hence, they protect right after they are put on, and tend to last a little longer.

The chemical sunscreens (check yours...most are all chemical) absorb the harmful rays. These sunscreens are also absorbed into the skin. Not that they aren't safe, I mean they are FDA approved, but still...there's something about the word "chemical". It's like pesticides vs. organic.

Now, I'm no tree hugger, but I figure what's wrong with zinc...we used it back in the day (that or baby oil) and I'm fine. Why did all the companies decide to stop using it as their main ingredient, and switch to the chemicals?

Oh, don't give me your whinny "it's so hard to spread...it's too thick". Buck up, put some muscle into it! Show 'em whose boss!

Seriously folks, more and more research shows these chemical sunscreens to be bad for the ocean life, our bodies, and whatever else they decide to come up with. Now I will say that right now, I'm using both types of sunscreen. The aforementioned and pictured above sunscreen is used on the "high risk areas". i.e. shoulders, neck, ears, face, butt crack, etc...

The chemical/physical combo sunscreen I use for all other areas.

Sooooo, I ask you is this too much to pay for a little non-chemical sunscreen, and my ability to sleep better at night? At least partially, since I haven't totally converted!

xoxo ~L

Summer Storms

Just when the family gets all psyched for summer and for school to be out...a whopper of a storm comes through, and the whole area loses power, shutting down school for a day.

Now my oldest who has been studying his butt off for final exams (OMG...he's only 11, what is the world coming too?). Now has had 2 exams put off until Monday. This means short term memory loss. Another cramming session on Sunday, which he already did on Wednesday. Now don't get me wrong here...he's super smart (if I do say so myself), but always wants to review the night before any test, much less a final cummulative test!

So, while we've all been getting restless for school to end and the fun of summer to begin, the strain of school, which should have ended today...will carry through our weekend. Luckily we have some really fun stuff that was already lined up for the whole family to do.

Namely, Parties!!! Graduation, moonbounces, cooking out, dripping ice cream cones, etc... And that's BEFORE the official summer kick off. Jealous yet?

xoxo ~L

I could Soooooo take him

Now don't get me wrong here. As much as I had an ache in my heart, way back in the day, for this young, hunky superman (a.k.a. Christopher Reeve). Yes, I said hunky, wanna make something of it? This is not what I'm referring to. What I am referring to is something all of us moms have felt at one time or another.

I have a toddler. This is my 4th toddler. I have changed 7,923 diapers, successfully. Meaning I get my toddler to lay down so easily it's like working with a baby...oh, it is a baby. Except that this baby is also a bucking bronco who doesn't want to have their bottom naked and laying down, unless they have done it themselves.

Do I dare tell you what that really means? Do I even have to tell you what that really means? No, I didn't think so.

Then I single handedly manage to lift their tiny little bottom up into the air ever so slightly to get just the right angle, no wait my arm is now being wrapped up by a python...no, no wait it's not a python, it's...it's...it's...my tiny little one's legs are curled around me.

She's choking the like blood out of that arm. My fingers are turning blue. My carpal tunnel is throbbing. Quick, I must be quick! What she doesn't realize (afterall she's 2) is that....ta da...I have another arm!! Ah, ha, now I've got her. So as I was saying, I carefully lift the tiny little bottom up to slide said diaper into position and whammo she lets her butt come crashing down on my hand and starts to slither backward. OK, back to my impossible task... Now, she's headed back off the diaper and the process starts all over again.

This only goes on for another 10 minutes. Really, only 10 minutes...that's not very long. Unless:

1. You need to get somone to school.

2. You need to pick someone up from school.

3. Someone, who is actually using the potty, needs help. (danger, danger, danger)

4. You just put toast in the toaster...now it's burnt.

5. The 5 year old decided to put more milk on his cereal.

6. You left the pantry door open.

7. Your other little darlings are unsupervised.

8. You realize you left your black sharpie (because I'm a labeling freak) out, unprotected.

9. Your Mother in Law is waiting downstairs, after you said you'd just be a sec.

10. The dog really, really, really needs to go out.

And the universe has decided that this will always, always, always happen when you're showing the new babysitter how easy your children are to take care of ;)

xoxo ~L