my momma's journey

i don't have many words these days, but they say a picture is worth 1000. i think that might be true.

d.c. 24

ok, so by now, you all know about my super cool teacher friends. after i started pumping out babies, they went on to open another school. they are amazing!

last june, camia, who has always been on fire for obama, came up with a plan to take a bunch of their students to d.c. for the inauguration. lakita, my super talented principal friend, jumped in and took it to the school board. somehow, she got permission to take 24 of their little darlin's to d.c. between the two of them and a whole bunch of other talented teachers, parents and support staff they raised all kinds of money and put together this amazing trip.

this experience will change their lives. check it out:

www.sharemyinauguration.com

d

i've talked about my d before and her love of doing silly things (remember the cookie sheet). she makes me laugh about 100 times a day. today was no different. while cooking dinner tonight i caught her "trying on" big sisters coveted gymnastics suit and then wearing a dish towel. i had to share (please excuse the mess:).

winners never quit

last december, e began to go to soccer classes with her dad. we thought it would make for some good daddy-daughter bonding as we transitioned the new baby into e's world. we also thought it would make for a good built-in nap time for the new momma. ellie went, week after week, enjoying the class. it was a parent participation class, so each week, scott and ellie would spend the 50 minutes together learning soccer skills. afterwards, scott would take ellie to her favorite restaurant, calbay. she is a huge fan of this little diner because they have a santa boot hanging from the ceiling, making it look like santa has fallen through the roof above and gotten his leg stuck. she is also a big fan of the chocolate chip pancakes served to look like mickey mouse... but i'm getting off topic.

at the end of the session, scott asked e if she wanted to sign up for the next set of classes. e gave an adamant "no". she did not want to do soccer again. we were surprised because she had enjoyed it so much, but decided to let her make the choice. several months passed and e started talking about soccer again. she wanted to go back. it so happened that she wanted to do this in the middle of the summer and we were going to be out of town for quite a few saturdays, so we made her wait a bit. the same thing happened with the first fall session. and so we waited again. december rolled around again and scott had a chat with e.

s: are you sure you want to start soccer again?


e: YES!


s: once we sign up, we are sticking with it. do you understand?


e: yes, dad! i want to do it.


s: parents don't participate in this age group. you're getting older, so daddy will just watch from the sidelines.


e: yes, dad! i want to do it.


and so he signed her up. he took her, calbay and all, and she HATES it. for the past month, she has cried about soccer a lot. usually, it happens on friday night at bedtime... you know, the night when you are really tired, looking forward to some quality couple time and just want the kiddos tucked snug as a bug in a rug...?

as the mom that has not stepped foot into the soccer center, i've been asking scott a lot of protective mommy questions.

are the kids in her class nice to her? is the coach encouraging? is it fun? does she get enough attention? do they give positive reinforcement?...

this saturday, scott was spending some time doing a bathroom remodel, so it was my turn to take e to soccer. and with my very own eyes, i was able to see the dreaded soccer class.

the coaches were positive, friendly and encouraging. they were skilled and put together some well thought out drills. the kids didn't drool or have snaggle teeth. they were in fact a quite normal run of the mill bunch of kiddos. the parents were even nice.

and given the smile that was plastered across my little soccer gal's face, i think she likes it. i am starting to think, however, that she does not like bedtime on friday nights.

some snaps

a glimpse at my d's personality... she goes into the cabinet daily and pulls out the cookie sheet. she carries it around the house and does various things with it. today, she squatted on it to drink her bottle.

and sweet little e... she is really into jokes right now. she takes out this book titled kids are punny by rosie o'donnel from back in the day. she "reads" us jokes from the book. most of them don't make sense but when she tells them she is laughing so hard that you join in with her in uncontrollable laughter.

and here are some pics of our snowy weekend:

Take Our Snow Please

As out the window, I look, more snow today,

have only one thing to say, take our snow please.

Six week-ends straight, snow, snow every where,

have only one thing to say, take our snow please, today.

So much snow, so much cold,

snow in the streets, snow in the yard,

snow on the car, snow on my shoe,

have only one thing to say, take our snow please,

we don't know what to do.

Winter, oh winter please end,

all of this snow, we don't really want it,

snow falling, flakes dropping

have only one thing to say, take our snow please,

don't delay.

by jim foulk