Lazy Saturday...

Everyone got up early...and then somehow everyone but me went right back to sleep (notice my bed is already made)!  Peyton was OUT!  But she was so cute I had to snap a picture.  (and so out that she didn't immediately wake up and as say "MOM!  WHAT did you take a picture of????  You're not going to post that on Facebook are you????") 

Sophie - always a fan of a good nap, managed to find a spot right next to her to grab an extra hour of snoozing.  She was so comfortable that she didn't even come downstairs for breakfast until it was all the way ready.  Sophie wouldn't miss my Mama Eggs for anything!

 Once everyone was up (I had gotten mom up, gotten us both coffee and breakfast, gotten her bathroom clean, started a load of laundry, clipped a few coupons, finalized a grocery list and done the week's food shopping...and yes, I am patting myself on the back!) by then.  Anyway, the kids couldn't agree on lunch, so I told them they were going to have to figure it out and make it themselves.  Which means pancakes!  And sausage!  That's what they know how to cook.  Murph can make a pretty mean omelet and they both make sandwiches, salads, etc.  But they wanted to cook.  So pancakes it would be!  And who am I kidding?  Everyone loves pancakes and we didn't have them earlier in the week when it was National Pancake Day and Mike Golic ate 20 of them (maybe more) while they were on the air! 

These were their very best pancakes ever!  They have mastered seasoning the pan, making the baby test pancake, knowing when to flip, how to flip and how to cool off the pan if they are getting too browned.  They know how to set up a sheet tray in the oven to keep the first ones warm while the last ones cook.  They are in constant competition with each other over who has the best pancake and then they try and make an "art pancake" with the last of the batter.  Murph tried a swirl, which ended up being a "C", lots of teeny-tiny dot pancakes and one that ended up looking like a little cartoon man driving a car and Peanut made a heart pancake for me...AWWWW!  It was the best pancake ever! 

After the dishes were done and the kitchen back to normal, Patrick had to head off to work...boo!  Then Peanut and I headed off in search of a new bathing suit for her - she is going away with friends for part of Spring Break and none of her old suits fit.  Found one at Penney's, along with a couple of new pairs of flip flops that were too on sale not to buy!  Then home to try our hands at knock-off Panera Bread Mac and Cheese - delightful!  And now everyone has settled into their own thing. 

Mom is starting her nighttime back and forth between the couch and her room.  Murph is on his phone and watching the many hours of the NFL Combine that he recorded and I am threatening to erase.  Peyton is "socializing" on the iPad and I came in here to pay bills.  Then I remembered the cute photos, the nice day and the 10-15 minutes I still have to myself before it's time to start getting mom ready for bed and thought I would record some Marvelous Murphy history before it's gone from my brain.

Catching Up

Heard about a new app last night while Peanut was at gymnastics and it got me looking at my photos and vids.  Also got me realizing I have missed recording some pretty important things in this little storybook blog.

My beautiful son turned 15 last Friday.  So hard for me to believe.  I am sure part of that disbelief comes from the fact that he is still a bit of a kid.  I like that.  Actually, I LOVE that!  Patrick had to work that night (of course they changed his schedule at the last minute) so we took him out to lunch to celebrate.  He didn't get one of the athlete schedules where he has athletics and then lunch - he has 2 AP classes on either side, so it had to be a quick pick up and drop off - Geometry test right after!  So we took him to Cheddar's and let him get a dessert as big as his head.  Nothing like a Monster Cookie to make you feel special on your birthday!

We also got him one of the Burton hoodies that mimic the Olympic snowboard uniforms.  He was obsessed with all the extreme sports in Sochi - especially the Slope Style.  Only kid at his school to have one... and he loves it.  Sadly, it took an act of congress to get it off him to wash it finally!  Boys!




Peyton finally got her back handspring on the ground.  Big accomplishment!  High adrenaline!  Not the best video - but at least I got it.  I am trying to insert it here, but failing...for the moment.  I don't give up that easily!




Then we had Saturday - 81 degrees outside - lots of yard work and sunshine.  Mom was happy as could be to sit outside.  Murph mowed, Patrick and I raked.  Peyton cleaned the windows the old fashioned way - I taught her the newspaper trick that Katherine taught me at the motel years and years ago!  Sophie just sat around enjoying the sunshine and barking at squirrels she couldn't catch!

Saturday night also meant Murph's "party" - not that 15 year olds have parties anymore.  We did take a group of boys to Altitude (the trampoline place) and then had a sleepover with pizza and birthday brownies.  Peyton went too...perfect place to practice her gymnastic stunts.  And for the first time in all the times we've been there - they were all ready to leave 20 minutes BEFORE their 3 hours was up!  I call that a successful trip.

Then they ate pizza (wolfed pizza, to be exact), drank too much soda and stayed up pretty much all night playing video games.  Yay!




Then on Sunday we got freezing rain and ice, 20 degrees tops and the Oscars.  Lazy fireplace day except for getting the boys home and quick run to the grocery.  School ended up being canceled on Monday - for no real reason.  But the kids loved it!

Peyton disappeared upstairs at one point and came down with some balloon animals and this flower.  You gotta love YouTube tutorials!

They also "watched tv" - which these days means - the tv is on a show they have already seen and Peanut is on the iPad and Murph is on his phone.  But hey!  They are getting along and his room is back to normal after the sleepover.  I'll take it.

Tuesday sent everybody back to reality - school, dance, conditioning, homework, work, trying to build a website...thank goodness for my sweet husband.  It is something I really want, but I am in completely over my head and he just plows right through the tech jargon and overlapping computer nonsense.  I'm making a nice binder of all the things we need to remember - include 340 passwords...perhaps I exaggerate...but not by much!

Last night I'd say we OD'd on reality...we had a mental and physical meltdown after gymnastics.  This back handspring (which seems to come quite naturally to some)  is pushing my daughter to the limit.  And although I am tempted to coddle her - that's not going to help her get it.  She needs to face the fear or decide it's not that important.  But it breaks my heart to see her so upset and frustrated.  She can still do it, but it's still hard, she's still scared and it hurts her body to go over and over and over again on her wrists...I just don't think there is anything else you do that can prepare you for that kind of impact on your wrists and elbows.  So she broke down a little.  And she cried.  And she melted into my arms.  And then she put on the fuzziest jammies she could find and she got out Spot and Bubbles and sat by the fire to finish her homework.  Obviously, there was a need for a dish of ice cream after all the trauma/drama.  And this morning she is ready to go again.  God Bless our children and their resilience and determination and strength.

Who Needs a Gym?

The red room - formal living room, the front room (that's a blast from my past!), the computer room - whatever you call it - it is Peanut's go to room for gymnastics and dance.  The hardwood floors make it perfect for dance - especially turns, and the big open space makes it work for gymnastics.  And yesterday afternoon - so did the couch cushions!

Her tumbling coach told her she needed to completely change up her hand placement to get her back handspring and it's really hard to unlearn something you've taught yourself and been doing for over a year...so here is his trick:

It will be easiest to make the change if you have a little extra time - so start on something a bit higher than where you will be landing.  My heart usually jumps in my chest a bit when I come into the red room and find a configuration like this - many times for good reason.

But not this time - just set your feet right and your hands will fall right in the hole (well, not MY hands...her hands...if I tried this, I'd be in traction).

And then you're all set to finish strong.  hands perfectly pointed in the right direction.  I feel the handspring is 10 days away.  I know she can do it - it's just landing it the first time without a hand at her back.  Then she'll be on to conquering something else.  I just hope there is enough red room for her next challenge!

Pioneering in the Suburbs

Part of the new normal - one of my least fave parts, I must admit, is this setting of the alarm on Saturday in order to get up and keep mom on her schedule.

I had a total throw-back Friday night last night (to 1996ish)- escaped upstairs by myself (Patrick was home, so I left the fam to fend for themselves after 9:00) and watched the Olympics without apology.  Big ole Diet Dr. Pepper over ice.  Food Network magazine for the commercials.  Phone charged with a few games going with my faceless Gems with Friends and Ruzzle pals.  And 2 Jimmy Fallons on DVR.  Pure heaven.  I didn't speak a dozen words between 9pm and midnight.  I actually sent my son a text to bring me up a cold bottle of water...pitiful, but somehow a satisfying guilty pleasure!  Anyway, I got to sleep after 1:00, so the alarm was not my friend this morning.

One of the ways I treat myself on Saturdays is to make cereal instead of a hot meal.  No pans to wash!  YAY! and I put the Pioneer Woman on TV.  Mom doesn't understand Food Network - she likes news shows and talk shows and not surprisingly - kid shows.  The simple physical humor makes her laugh.  But HEY!  I had to set my alarm on a Saturday, so I get my Ree and Lad and wide open Oklahoma vistas.

The outcome of having two 30-minutes blocks of Pioneer Woman on in the mornings means nearly every Saturday evening or Sunday lunch we end up with a Pioneer meal on the table.  Tonight it's the Cowboy Tex Mex Fajitas that were on the first episode this morning.

I shopped, I marinated, I chopped and chopped and chopped, I QC'd more of the pico than was necessary (Melissa D'Arabian's easy pico, by the way - it's my new love! http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/melissa-darabian/easy-pico-de-gallo-recipe.html) and the house smells divine.

The problem with all-day prep is it puts mom in flux.  That kind of activity usually means we will be eating within the hour.  And bless her heart - she can't remember what I have told her. She can sit with a digital clock right in front of her and can no longer tell you what time it is.  So she is antsy!  And she is trying to be "sly".  I want to be respectful and let her get her questions out before I answer them, but she is trying to hint and manipulate - 2 things that just aren't possible with ALZ - to see if it's nearly time for supper.  She still enjoys meals - the social part, the routine, feeling like she is participating just like everyone else.  So we've been dancing this weird when-is-dinner dance for the better part of 2 hours.

I guess that's why I decided to sit down at the computer.  Gathered all the pieces and parts, bowls and platters, ziploc bags and jars onto the back of the stove, cleaned the counters, turned off the lights in the kitchen (darned open-concept!), grabbed mom a bowl of grapes - her favorite snack that's not ice cream or a cookie and tried to bring some peace to the household.

Peyton is doing her part, by watching Dog with a Blog (NOT a fave - but the dog makes mom smile every time!) and I sense calm replacing anxiety.  I'm going to do most of the cooking outside on the grill, so I think we are safe for the rest of the evening.  Let's hope she likes the fajitas...heck, let's hope we all like them!  I always make a recipe exactly like it says the first time and then make notes on what needs tweaked if it's worth tweaking.   After all this - please let it not be an "I'm so sorry, it looked so good on the show" recipe!

I have faith in my Pioneer Woman - she rarely let's me down (I've chosen to forget about that unfortunate baked chicken spaghetti!)  Fingers crossed.

Five Minute Friday: Small

Normally on Fridays I write on my caregiver blog http://lisa-alittlebitofthisandthat.blogspot.com/ - stories about my mom and our dance with Alzheimer's, but today's prompt took me immediately to my daughter's eyes and I had to switch gears and write here - the place I try to capture stories about my family that will remind them always how much they were loved....I wonder if I can do any justice in just 5 minutes....?

Small

Last night was my daughter's first drama performance - try outs, rehearsals, costumes, expectations - the whole package.  And she has been loving it.

She is a mermaid.  She is part of a trio.  She had to have curly mermaid hair and a big seafoam green costume with a mermaid tail.

She was fearless at tryouts.  Quick in learning her lines.  Dedicated in rehearsing & refining.  Excited as the night approached.  She made me forget that she might be nervous.  That this was a BIG DEAL.  That she was performing in front of a LOT of people.

I'm a performer - and I adored it.  Why wouldn't she...my beautiful girl.  My mermaid.

And then we got there and she came on stage and I could see her look for me.  She is me.  It was a big night, but for a few very important seconds it was just the two of us, eyes locked, on the edge of the first line.

In the middle of all the lights and make-up and glitter and excitement - it was just my girl and me.  Small.  Intimate.  Courageous.  Together.  In being small together in the seconds before her first line, she knew she wasn't alone.  She knows we know she can do anything.

And so she was a mermaid.  A glittery, singing, funny, laugh-getting, line emoting mermaid.

Being a mom is so many wonderful things. But the connection we have with our children that allows us to be small in the midst of anything the world throws at us is really big!  And I wouldn't trade it for anything else in the world.



This post is part of Lisa Jo Baker’s Five Minute Friday, in response to the prompt “small” I wrote for 5 minutes and published without editing, in 5 minute Friday tradition.

Mermaid hair

Today's the day - Peyton's drama performance at school.  She is a mermaid - one of the three "Singing Sea's".  I mended the costumes - her's got extra attention!  I helped her rehearse her lines.  I taught her the tune to "Good Night Ladies" and now, I'm helping her get mermaid hair.

Her teacher/director wants the girls to have curls.  Peyton is lucky to get waves.  And it's a gloomy, boarderline rainy, windy day.  For me - that would be perfect.  I would have the biggest, curliest, mermaidiest hair in town.  But for my straight-haired girl - not a recipe for success.

I tried to get her to settle for the french braid waves...nope!  She wants curls.

So last night AFTER cheer, we started.  She showered, cutting way down on the conditioner.  We towel dried.  And we put in curl sticks.

Perfectly combed, sectioned off, lots of attention to detail - in the hopes of achieving curls and not frizz or George Washington hair!  Our first attempt at curlers actually made her look like on of those old powdered wig men in Bicentennial paintings!  Definitely NOT mermaid hair.

She had to sleep on them - and she was a trooper.  Drum roll please.....

Before comb out - not bad...I did have to recurl one of the side pieces with a curling iron - the side she slept on must have come out at some point in the night.

We spritzed them with hairspray.  We pulled the two top front sections up into a bump, we spritzed them again and now we pray.  The weather, her fidgeting, the activity in today's PE class, the wind at pick up time - all of these will determine if we still have curls at curtain time. 

I have faith and a curling iron - just in case.  Either way - she will be the cutest mermaid ever seen on the PHIS stage tonight.  My girl!

Good Bye Charlie

The weirdest thing happened yesterday - Peyton was on a mission to reorganize her backpack...a 10.3 pound nightmare.  We started on Friday night - went through old papers and got rid of nearly 2 pounds!  And out of all the graded papers - only 5 of them were "memory box" worthy.  Intermediate school papers just aren't quite the warm-and-fuzzy's of elementary school.

Anyway, after a breakfast of this fabulous overnight french toast casserole, she sat down on the family room floor - the ENTIRE FLOOR, mind you - to tackle the rest of the task.  I was busy baking breakfast muffins and cutting up veggies and making snacks, etc for lunches this week and the guys were at the batting cages, so I told her she could pick whatever she wanted to watch on tv.  I figured she needed/deserved a little break from the Olympics!

Half way through the Great Back Pack Clean Up

What she found was a Good Luck Charlie marathon.  I love Good Luck Charlie.  I know it's a kid's show.  I know it's predictable.  I know the characters are caricatures of real people.  I know.  I know.  I know.  But in the grand scheme of kids shows I watch with my kids - I love this one.  The mom cracks me up, PJ is darling, Teddi is such a beautiful soul - not a bad thing for my daughter to see weekly.  Anyway - last night was the final show, so they did what any station worth their marketing salt would do and they played a full day marathon of shows leading up to the finale.

I stayed so busy - still had to finish sewing/mending the mermaid costumes for Peyton's drama performance.  Had to prepare the Sunday leftover extravaganza lunch.  Had to have a mini-emotional breakdown about my beautiful boy's insubordinate (aka teenage) behavior.  And all the other things I do on Sundays to make good use of my time to make the week run smoother. 

One of 3 Mermaid costumes that needed some TLC with needle and thread before the big performance!

Anyway, we watched the entire marathon.  We even recorded the finale since it took place during dinner and we all sat on the couch and watched together.  It tied up in lots of neat little packages - mom got a tv gig, PJ and Emmit started a successful food truck, dad still looks all buff, Ivy was no where to be seen - which made me sad, Gabe and the neighbor made nice and Teddi and Spencer found their way back together...ahhhhhhhh!  But the nicest thing about the entire day was when Peyton reached over to me, put her hand on mine and said "Thank you mommy for letting me watch the marathon - now I can cross this off my bucket list - "watching a marathon with my BFF"  (that's ME!)

Who knew your heart could be so full of love? 

And then, because he actually sat down without complaining and watched the show with her - Peyton helped Murph cut out words for one of his poem projects for English.  And because they love their momma and know what a giant nerd I am - they came into the living room to watch Meryl and Charlie skate in the short program and pretended to be interested before we tidied up and headed to bed.

I'd call that a perfect evening!  Thanks Charlie!