To-do dreams

Did you ever have one of those days where everything that was on your to-do list probably should have gotten done but didn't? I did do some important things today, but they were just not the things I had originally set out to do.

Additionally, I usually have the strangest dreams and if I remember them I am usually very thankful that those dreams did not come true. However, in departing from my normal bizarre dreams last night I had a dream where I did at least three of the things that I wanted to work on today. They were all interactions with other people and in the dream I was highly successful at getting it all done. So successful in fact that when I woke up I actually had to process the fact that those items were in fact not done and it had all been a dream. This is one of the very rare times that I wish what I had dreamed about was true.

Josie says...

So I think I need to find something else to put on my sidebar. I thought that I would chronicle Jo's vocabulary but it is growing too fast. She only has a few words that are actually very clear, but everyday there are new words that she gains. She is already saying verbs (I remember these as being much later with the boys), two word phrases, and she says some articles. I can't keep up.

She is so quiet initially around people I will be interested to see which of her brothers she takes after. Originally Doug was the talkative baby and Andy hardly said anything. Then, around the time they were two, they swapped. Now I can hardly get Andy to shut-up and I have to remind my self that Doug actually does know how to answer questions and he does use expressive language when he chooses.

I did it...

I did it...I got everything turned in for all that was going on over the past two weeks.

• My presentation for my conference...done (and with good reviews)
• My research proposal for my survey class...done (despite printing issues due to the school print server being down)
• My article critiques....done (hopefully the prof will confirm that she got the email attachment soon)
• My literature review paper...done-ish (it's now being edited...in France by the professor)
• Papers for the Intro class scored...done

I did get off a little easy in that the professor I was supposed to have class with on Saturday emailed us the information. However, in some ways that makes it more challenging because now I have to make sure that I don't get lazy about the stuff and put it off for too long.

I dressed myself

There are some days I wish I could hang a big sign on my children's backs that say "I picked out my own clothes."
I suppose this sign might be slightly redundant as most people who stop and think about it probably can tell by the outfit. For instance...Doug has this thing about plaid shorts. There is a pair that he REALLY likes. SO therefore the plaid shorts go with his Thomas shirt if he picks out his clothes.
Andy has a liking for red socks. In fact yesterday was the second day for the same pair of red socks. He had them on his feet before I could make any correction and I just said "ok, at least he probably only wore them for a few hours at preschool the previous day."
Both kids like socks with fun pictures. So therefore it doesn't matter what the rest of the attire is but we must wear socks with pictures. Due to gifts we have been given we also have quite the selection of socks with pictures. Our list includes socks with: trains, construction equipment, abc's, bears, airplanes, moose, ufos, and more. Today Doug picked out some "comfy" shorts that were light blue with a blue strip down the side. He had one a solid blue shirt so that wasn't too weird, but then he really wanted the airplane socks. I had put them in the laundry (along with the red socks in an effort not to let Andy wear them for yet a third day). So therefore Doug ended up with UFO socks.
However, probably the strangest outfit that we had today...which probably even topped the comments we got from wearing pjs around campus, was Andy. Andy very proudly told everyone that he picked out his own clothes. He had on red socks (with blue and yellow diamonds), slightly too short blue stripe engineer overalls (probably time to pull those out of the clothes rotation), a tie-dyed shirt, a round hat (worn side-ways for most of the day), and pink polka-dot sunglasses (also worn most of the day). We were quite the sight and got lots and lots of comments and smiles.

What if I live in one of the states listed for me...

Ok, so is it that characteristics of me fit the states it came up with or is it that I have lived in my current state (pun intended) for long enough that I now fit the state?

You Should Live in Tennessee

If you don't want to live in Tennessee, you might also consider: Alabama Arkansas Kentucky Louisiana Michigan

What State Should You Live In?

TGIF!

I am very glad it is Friday and that I have gotten through so many things this past week or two. I would feel a little more comfortable if I had some confirmations that professors had gotten some emails...but oh well I will deal.
I survived my conference. It was interesting to go because really I knew a lot of people who were there...I just didn't know many who were coming from my area since I haven't been in a classroom here. So I only found a carpool one day, but I did get to see a lot of people I haven't seen in two years (because last year the conference was the same day we closed on our house that we were moving out of). It was interesting to pick out sessions to go to because I don't have the focus of teaching in a classroom with children and now my needs are much different (and I was really feeling how much I have changed...which is a good thing I guess).
I also survived the presentation I was scheduled to do. It was really the one that I was supposed to do last year so it was actually over a teaching unit that I hadn't looked at (let alone taught) for a very long time. However, it seemed to go well and I got some positive comments from people. I only took 45 minutes instead of the hour that I potentially had but I was in the last time slot for the day so people were probably glad to get out a little early anyway. I also ran out of my hand-outs. I wasn't really sure how many to prepare for and I had already decided that rather than killing a small forest with paper hand-outs that was going to go "high tech" so I had burned CD-Roms. Since I didn't want to end up with a bazillion of the CD-Roms left over I only did about 20. Well...I ended up with almost 35 people in my session. So I now have to email a bunch of people the unit and the PowerPoint.
I'm glad that the professor I have for the class that was supposed to meet this weekend is someone who also presented at the conference. That means that she was tired and just ended up giving us all a PowerPoint rather than actually having to physically meet. Also, my last big assignment for a little while is due Monday so after Monday I will be much better off (and hopefully less stressed).

Playing 20 (million) questions

Ok, you know that stereotypical thing about the little kid who always asks "why?"
.
.
Well...I have THAT child. I suppose at least I don't have two of those children because at least Doug is the strong silent type (except when he is wigging out because his anal retentive perfectionistic tendencies are coming through...but we're trying to deal with that and yes those things can already shine through in a three year old).
Anyway, I am beginning to think that "why" is the most powerful word in the English language. There is just no end to it. Any answer can always have another "why" asked about it. Jim got Andy to stop by saying "because daddy said so" but apparently me saying "because I said so" just didn't have the same effect.
I am headed to a conference today and tomorrow so I am sort of looking forward to the break-ish feel of being away from the kids a bit (it's not an overnight thing).
I think I might start tallying Andy's questions. I just have to decide if I should tally ALL of the questions (he usually starts out with multiple word sentences and then eventually gets to the single word "why" questions) or if I should just tally the "why"s for my own sanity.

The Surgeon

We have a picture book about a busy day in the city. One of the pages features a cross section of a hospital where you can see all sorts of different rooms and things going on at the hospital. Now admittedly the book is a bit dated because in the basement of the hospital there is a lab with guinea pigs and rabbits prominently featured, but there is also a picture of a surgery going on. We have talked about what is going on in the picture and how sometimes doctors have to cut you open and fix things inside of you. Well....
The other night Doug and Andy's babies (dolls they were given about the time Josie was born) joined us for dinner. As we were finishing up Andy got out the stethoscope toy and declared that his baby had heart problems. He then said that he was going to cut open the baby and fix the baby's heart. Andy went into the next room.
When Jim entered the room a little later and apparently there was the baby with a toy axe sitting next to it.

Update

Things have been incredibly busy (as usual).
Friday- I spent most of the day (and night) dealing with Jo. We went to the doctor in the morning only to discover that she did not have an ear infection (despite pointing at her ear and saying "ow" repeatedly). She also choose to run her higher fever AFTER we went to the doctor and Jim sat with her in her room and then I ended up sleeping in the recliner with her so I could monitor her fever during the night.

Saturday- Major (cheap) progress on the house...or at least it felt like major progress.

• We removed (well...mostly Jim removed while I carried out waste) the fake ceiling beams from the den. Now, you may say that those are back in style. However, the ones from 1968 are a bit different from the ones from 2008. The ones from 2008 are likely to be thin, like maybe 2 inches hanging down from the ceiling. The ones from 1968 were massively constructed...about 5 inches wide and hung down from the ceiling about 8-9 inches. The 1968 beams were dark in color, and hung in a room with only a 9 foot ceiling and dark paneling on all four walls. It was amazing how much brighter and how much better the air flow from the fan is in that room.
• I also finished scrubbing the floor in the kitchen. I realize that I started this project like 3 weeks ago, but there were lots of other things that interrupted me in between. The floor looks much better. I was actually able to mop some of the sections I had scrubbed before and only end up with grey water rather than black water. It also feels better under my bare feet.
• We took care of a friend's baby in the evening. Mr. Aidan was of great interest to Doug and Andy. They were a bit overwhelmingly friendly to him. He is about 7 months old and is an only child. Doug and Andy were very excited to play and share with him. Aidan was fine for about half an hour and then I think the boys just got to be too much. After that point every time Andy would get close to kiss him on the head, Aidan would cry. Aidan did take a nap and woke up after the other kids were in bed. Then he was happy, watching the cat, and got into exploring.

Sunday- I'm not quite sure what to say about today. We went to church. We went to the covered dish luncheon after church (this is equivalent to a pot-luck for those of you who are in areas of the country who call it by a different name). Jim and I went to a baby-shower this afternoon. Josie is definitely better now. I'm probably jinxing myself, but hopefully the kids will continue to play happily and perhaps I can get some things done.

Aye Mate

I just have one thing to say. Captain Bess Bonnie says "Happy Talk Like a Pirate Day!"

Doug's "girlfriend"

I don't know that Doug is "serious" about this little girl, but apparently he told daddy about a girl in the three day a week class whose name is Olivia. Apparently she has "lots of hair" and that it is "pretty" and "neat" (which I'm sure means nice or cool and not as in tidy).

Priorities

I am realizing (or perhaps I already knew) how hard it is to prioritize my time when there is just so much to do. This week I need to finish a paper I have been working on (yes...THE paper and perhaps not "finish" but I am to give it my best shot knowing that there will be revisions), I have to get working on writing a research proposal and survey, I have to score about 60 papers, and that is on top of everything that I "normally" do and that I have to start preparing for next week (which also looks pretty busy). So if I miss a post here or there that is why. I will say it was fabulous to have Ben back in town today so that I did not spend my entire day running back and forth between campus and home.

Poor Katie

Every so often the Imaginary Friends make an appearance...and today was one of those days.
Andy put their shoes on this morning to go to church. He helped them all off the elevator and to get drinks of water. They also had lunch with us.
I did find out that they are still his construction crew of which he is the boss. They are smaller than he is...and that while there is still Zack, Pete, and Katie apparently "the other Katie" died. Yep died.
However....Andy is "building" another one and she is part of some family called the "Topper" family. Doug gives minor acknowledgement to Andy's "friends".

Yum

The other day we had quesadillas for dinner. I bought the tortillas with three kids in tow so I can't be entirely blamed that I picked up a huge stack of corn tortillas instead of flour. They make a very different texture then what we are used to for quesadillas.
However, Jim fried a bunch tonight to make tortilla chips and they were fabulous.

Is that a corvette in your pocket?

We were actively working on potty training this afternoon in that both boys were in underwear and nothing else. We were on about our 4th pair apiece and so all other clothes had gone by the wayside. The kids were cleaning up downstairs and Doug picked up a Hot Wheels car that he wanted to play with. I told him that if he was wearing pants I would have said to put it in his pocket to keep for playing with after cleaning.
So he promptly pulled out the front of his underwear and stuck the car down in.

Holy !!!!

I just got back from taking the boys to preschool. The gas station that is usually a cheaper one that I see along the way was $3.51 yesterday. This morning it is $3.99 per gallon.
!!!!

Gosh is it Friday yet????

All my children are picking on me.
Josie got silly today and I don't know if she was trying to tickle me or just play rough but she pinched me.
Andy, who was fine all day at preschool and for the whole afternoon, probably got talked into eating too much rice at dinner and threw up all over me.
So I showered off with Andy and then showered Jo and Doug. Doug was being silly and went to slap at the shower curtain and managed to slap me in the process.
So I have been pinched, puked-on, and slapped today.
I think it is time to go to bed.

Can you hear me now

One of the college students we sing with in the choir at church is a communication major. She had to do some sort of test/project where she recorded a child who was between 24 months and 42 months. It just so happens that I have two of those children.
She came with the recording device yesterday and was supposed to record 100 utterances or apparently about an hours worth of time. She chose to record Doug because she thought she could understand him better. However, Andy is my more talkative child. The kid is a running commentary with constant narration of what is going on and you can definitely hear him sorting out the world with his comments and questions.
She spent just under an hour down in the play room. Apparently she had to follow him around some. I suggested that she get him on the subject of trains or monster trucks. I'd love to know what exactly she was supposed to find out and where Doug is at. He is one of those kids that would rather act silly then admit that he doesn't know something.

Meet my children, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

I want that magic formula...not the one that will turn someone into a raving lunatic, but the one that will magically turn my three year olds from grumpy guses to the happy children I like best. Yesterday I had a full-on physical wrestling match trying to get Jo and Doug into their car seats to go buy milk at the store. Andy was semi-cooperative but distracted. So then we get to the store and Doug is singing and dancing down the aisles and people are smiling at how happy he is. I don't know if it was the car ride, a difference in scenery or what. We didn't even stop by the bakery for a cookie and there were no complaints about it either. If the child had been old enough to have the physical capabilities to skip he would have. And then to further emphasize his attitude change he and Andy helped put the groceries on the conveyor belt, they loaded them in the car without me even mentioning it, and then both boys climbed in their own car seats, put their own straps on, and did as many of the buckles as they could.

This morning it was Andy. He was running a fever last night, and while he is acting normally I couldn't really send him to preschool. So when he found out that he couldn't go today I endured 30 minutes of "but I WANT to go to school" whining (don't get me wrong...I'm very happy that the child likes school). Then I suggested that he could play school at home with Josie so that we didn't make the other kids sick, and it was like changing the channel because suddenly he was happy.

Tired, Tired, Tired

Today I am just plain tired.
I have not gotten enough sleep lately between Doug having trouble falling asleep (two out of the last 5 nights), me staying up too late (a different two nights out of the last 5 nights) and Doug throwing up last night (but he seemed fine this morning) so that I spent part of the night with him in the recliner.
Additionally, I FINALLY got to talk to a manager at Roto-Rooter about the mess the plumber left last week. I am the type of person who hates conflict, but it should be the manager trying to get a hold of me, not me having to chase him down after almost a week's worth of calls. I was beginning to think that "he's on a conference call" was code words for "he doesn't think you're worth the time of day to call back." So now I am sending a letter with what was damaged and values and let's hope that it elicits a speedier response then the phone calls did. At least the secretaries I talked to there were nice.
I'd like to think that I might go to bed earlier tonight, but I have a bunch of stuff I need to do and at some point I have to at least pretend that I am getting a ton of Grad Assistant work done.

Back and forth

I am so looking forward to our regular baby-sitter being back in town. The main day I need him is Monday and he won't be back until Thursday.
I got baby-sitting worked out today, but it was the type where it involved three different people (plus preschool), Jim, and me. So instead of having this nice chunk of time to work on campus I spent the day going back and forth between being on campus to teach and either shuttling kids or waiting for a baby-sitter.
I walked back and forth from my parking spot to the education building three times...and to counter-act any benefit I might have reaped from all that walking over the course of the day I ate a corn dog, a soda, two microwave egg rolls, and about 15 cookies.

Today- The Highly Reel

Here are the high-lights of today (because it is late and tomorrow will be run run run all day and I really should be in bed...which is why I am blogging)

1. Doug was particularly cheerful this morning on the way to church (he has taken whininess to new heights a few days this last week). Somehow we got into him singing "ma na ma na" and me doing the "do do" part.
2. Got to eat fried fish for lunch...which was something I had been craving. I probably ate it way faster than I should have but it tasted good. I also got to see a little girl from the next table loving all over my boys...I don't know if I am ready for that.
3. All three...yep three...children took naps today! At the same time! (The down note to this is that while Andy was waiting to fall asleep he pulled his bed apart including the mattress, and then tried to sneak out and lock himself downstairs with all of the toys. Fortunately three year olds are really not that sneaky and he got the punishment that was advertised...no extra pillows/toys/blankets/etc. and his bed currently has the mattress and main pillow and that is it.)
4. I somehow let myself get talked into baking cookies. While I did not manage to get the cookies started before a child woke up, I did get the kitchen picked up some (had to find counter space) and then only had one child (Doug) actually helping to make the cookies. We made "Cowboy Cookies" that were basically my grandmother's oatmeal chocolate chip cookies with chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, pecans, chunks of dark chocolate, and chunks of white chocolate.
5. I got some laundry sorted (my down-fall...I can run load after load through the washer and dryer and somehow I don't get it sorted...I think my record is somewhere around 5 loads of laundry waiting to be sorted and yes I have run out of undergarments when this happens). I got to sort it in the room where we moved the TV and enjoy the new ceiling fan that we probably can't afford this month but that makes a huge difference in the temperature of the room. It is making me feel a little more settled (despite the fact that we have been in the house somewhere close to 9 months...settled is a relative term).
6. I have started scrubbing the kitchen floor....Cinderella style with a stiff brush (and yes this is actually a highlight). I have realized that this 1970's floor is not getting replaced any time soon and that if I am going to have to live with it (which I am) I might as well do my darn hardest to actually get it clean. I realized that one of the reasons I kept putting off mopping it (see previous mopping reference) is because even when I do it is still dirty. However, after the third time in a row mopping last week (yes I actually mopped my floor three times in less than half a day...even without anyone spilling something on it) I realized that I might actually be able to get more of the dirt out that was down in the little dips in the floor. So I went and got a scrub brush and while it is going to take me awhile it is actually looking cleaner. The true tests will be if it feels better on my bare feet and if I can mop more than a small section before my water looks horrible.

Mancala

Last night, when Doug was having trouble falling asleep after a late in the afternoon nap, I taught him to play Mancala. He MOSTLY has the idea of how to play using the very simplest version of the rules that I know, and of course at this point no idea of strategy and just barely a concept of trying to win. The funny part is that he calls it "my cala" but he likes the game and it is really my first success with either boy at introducing the concept of playing a board game and of one of them having the actual attention span to play one to the end.

Pudding is not an exfoliant

Andy and I made pudding parfaits (chocolate pudding, Graham crackers crumbs he squished, butterscotch pudding, and whip cream). They were intended for after dinner. Josie thought hers was so great. She ate it ALL over the place. She even rubbed it into her belly as well as digesting some from the inside. Somehow she managed to miss her hair amazingly enough. She also looked at me (with her pudding goatee) and said "good".

Hmmm..

Hmmm...what to post about today?
The fact that I found six phone numbers on my cell phone that apparently my children programed in?

The fact that Doug insists that when he put DVDs in the DVD player that they are not only right-side-up but that he very carefully lines up the picture so that it is exactly "straight" in the spot?

The fact that Andy said he wanted pancakes and bacon so we ended up doing breakfast for dinner rather than eat the simple leftovers we had planned?

The fact that Josie actually got to help stir the pancakes this time instead of just watch (she so thinks she is one of the "big" kids)?

The fact that my children ate goldfish crackers for lunch because Doug just didn't quite get the idea of leaving a bag of them at school so that the teacher could use them for snack time? (Imagine driving all the way home with a child wailing in the back seat "Back, Back, I want to go backwards, I didn't get my goldfish.")

The fact that Andy did eat a little soup for lunch but that what he ate mainly consisted of him digging around with his hand in the soggy goldfish cracker filled soup to find the "noodle" that were the shapes from the Disney Princess soup? (Yep...my boys like the princesses...perhaps I should get Aladdin, or Tarzan, or Peter Pan, or Jungle Book to watch next.)


Hmmm...what to post about?

Move'n and Groove'n Day

It's been an interesting day...

• Spent almost 90 minutes trying to talk Doug into actually eating something for breakfast and ended up having to walk him in and admit to his teacher that he'd only had some orange juice to drink (she said she'd had days like that too)
• Forked over a bunch of cash to the plumber who pulled another batch of "new" wipes out of the drain. Jim has been so busy and with the rain we had it just wasn't getting done. Unfortunately the guy left a mess so we'll see where my complaint goes
• Andy woke Jo up from her nap after only about one hour so he has been threatened to within an inch of his life if he should EVER do it again
• Waited (and waited and waited) for the DirectTV guy to come and then spent three hours with him while he upgraded us to HD (I got a deal too...they upgraded me for free plus the relatively minor handling charge) so now we can actually use the HD portion of our TV set. He also moved the connection into the living room so I can do some flip-flopping of rooms that makes more sense to me
• Doug was having trouble falling asleep, and so was Jo. The solution...I put them both in Jo's crib with the instructions that Doug was to "help" Jo fall asleep. I think it worked because it has been quiet in there for a couple hours. I guess I should get motivated and move him back to his bed, unless Jim has beaten me to it

Not a bad day...just busy. I also worked some and got some laundry done so I should probably go to bed.

Monkey Do

Josie is REALLY good at communicating. She has a bunch of words that she says that at least I understand, but she also is good with nonverbal communication. The other day she tripped and fell down and then wanted me to kiss her hands. So she came up looked at me expectantly, and when I didn't do what she wanted she kissed her hands and looked at me again.
This morning, while the boys are at preschool, she was cooking me something in the play kitchen. She brought me a spoonful of pretend food and apparently was not satisfied with my slurping noises. She made an "mm-ahhh" sound and when I copied the sound she went off happy that she must have cooked something good.
She also will walk up with her fingers closed and arms out like she is holding an imaginary steering wheel. She'll look at you expectantly until you say "Ready, set, go!" Gee...I wonder where she learned that behavior from (Don't forget the sarcastic tone when you read that).
You may not have noticed that I updated some of the side-bar information to include what her current vocabulary is. However, I know that there are a bunch of words that I am still missing.

What does this say?

What does it say about the amount of cleaning that I normally do when my child asks who is coming to visit because I am mopping the floor?