Feeling Old

I had the opportunity to volunteer at the elementary school this week. I was helping register the new kindergarten students. Last year, I did the same thing, but did not have a partner to help pass the time. This year, a nice young lady was paired with me. I appreciated the adult conversation and was glad to have met her.

This "young lady" looked to be about 26. She has a 6 year old, so having a baby at 20 seemed young, but who am I to judge?

I found out today that she was born in 1988! Do you know what I was doing in 1988? I was a freshman in high school for the first part of that year, and then that fall, I entered my sophomore year. I was into newspaper and writing, Steve Yzerman, and heavy metal bands. I knew she was young, but clearly, I had no idea just how young!

Good for her that she and her husband are making it work. I didn't get the details, but her two children (one is 2) are both from her husband. That means she might have left school, or gotten married in school -- high school! If I had shown any interest in boys at that point in my life, I could conceivably be this woman's mother! A grandma at the ripe old age of going-on-37!

I see this situation quite a bit with my college students. Many of them are grandparents by the time they are about 37. I know they are proud to be grandparents, but I do wonder about the alternative. What if their children had decided to postpone parenthood just a wee bit longer? What sort of education will all these kids-having-kids get? I know that question is too tough to answer, so I won't bother to try here.

I have to tell you, though, since finding out her age this morning, I swear I have found a couple more crow's feet on my face, and a sprinkling of some fine, gray, hairs. Yikes!

Bedtime Conversation

At bedtime Sunday night, Aaron asked why Michigan has such a good hockey team. I answered that they get good players who work hard in practice, and try their best during their games. So next he asked, "Why isn't the football team very good?"

There it is. I nominate Red Berenson to be Michigan's head coach for all men's sports.

Eight!

Today the girls turned 8, and somehow, I can't believe it. How the time has flown. We of course have to download the pictures and then upload them here, so don't expect any nifty images here yet. But to recap the weekend:

1. Grandma and Grandpa M. drove all the way from PA just to come for the girls' birthday.
2. Tara and Ava and Grandma and Grandpa C. were also able to come down to celebrate.
3. The kids all had fun at the Magic Castle.
4. Melina fell down a few stairs at our house but is okay.

Yes, number 4 really happened to number 4. She is fine, and has a little bruise on the lip. Thank goodness she wasn't that far up the stairs. I really am happy we didn't have to head to the ER as that would have crashed the party for sure. I told her last night at bedtime not to scare me like that again; she just looked at me and smiled. Mommyhood is sometimes just a bit too scary for me.

I forgot to mention the cakes. I made butterflies for the girls that ended up looking nice. I had taken some tips from images on the internet. Since the in-laws were here on Friday, I was able to make the cakes and frosting from scratch. They were marvelous! I can follow a recipe just fine, thank you! When we post pictures, I will be sure to post the recipes so that all can delight in their goodness. Talia said, "Mommy, that is the best chocolate cake and frosting I have ever eaten!" I said "Thank you."

Recap of Our Week (In Pictures)

It has been a fun week. I am sure Tim is sad he missed some of this.

Clearly, the first picture was taken before he left. That is the picture Melina asked to see each day so she could smooch Daddy.


Melina likes to put everything on her head. She especially likes Aaron's underwear.



Aaron and Melina like the Rubik's cube. I don't know why they decided to have the dinosaur attack it, but I figured it was worth a photo.


This one isn't obvious to you folks, but it will make Tim proud. The kids are posing by the indoor volleyball net that they erected on the rug court. They proceeded to play volleyball until I put the lid on it. While they looked like they were having fun, I did NOT want to have to pick up shards of the mirror that lives above the mantle. (Awwww, Mom!) I believe Melina was dancing in the background.

In the above photo, the girls are wearing jeans and a green butterfly shirt. It just so happens I have the exact shirt (thanks, Joan!) and jeans that are similar. They not only wanted me to wear them today, but when we went to the store, they wanted me to take my sweater off so that everyone could see that we looked alike. I was cold, so I didn't do it, but the thought was precious.

Tim is expected back tomorrow by 8 pm. Let's hope the plane arrives on time.

Nothing Unusual Here...

Aaron is feeling better, and the fever has not hit anyone else, yet. I do anticipate its return at some point. However, there is no reason to dwell on it.

***
The kids don't know this, but it is possible that two of our close friends will be moving away, and soon. I can't say too much about either situation, but I do have to say that I will miss both families, and I am pretty bummed to hear that they will be leaving. Now, these families will be headed to separate destinations, both of which are places I would visit. Therefore, count on us visiting!

***
We have not eaten out this week, and I am thinking that perhaps today is the day. As an aside, I haven't even used the paper plates and bowls I bought to help me save time in terms of dishes! Melina got up early and I am pretty pooped from all of this kids stuff, so I think that pizza might be in order. I don't have the energy to drag them to our favorite place, but I could possibly pick up the phone and place an order. Pizza, cut tomatoes and cucumbers doesn't sound half bad. Either that, or split pea soup for everyone!

***
The trip to the plumber to look at tub and tile has turned into something I never wanted to do. Too many choices! Keep the tub? Replace only with a shower? Tile? Acrylic? Grout color if you go with tile? Yikes! To be honest, our bathroom could us a bit of updating. There isn't room to make a huge change, but we need new towel bars anyway (ours are broken and not even there), and we could change up the mirror or something. We have already replaced the faucets, and I don't want to bother the vanity or countertops, but the rest of it, I just might find this a good time to add a little zing to the master bathroom. In the meantime, we cannot shower in there, so I am glad we have another bathroom available.

It's Gonna Be a Long Weekend!

Aaron came home from school yesterday looking wiped out. That means one thing for him -- he is probably sick. Sure enough, after lunch, he took a nap. That is a second sign that things are not going well. Part-way into his nap, I realized he had a fever. Fevers and vomiting go hand in hand for Aaron, so I gave him some ibuprofen and hoped for the best. I don't know if his vomiting episode from the other day is connected with this fever, but I am guessing even if no one else vomits, someone will get a fever. Needless to say, everyone except me is still in their pajamas at 1:33 pm on a Saturday. We really have nowhere to go, so being sick this weekend is probably the better pick than any other. And if we don't make it to mass, well, I hope God will understand.

So I started cranking the girls' expanders yesterday. I turned them 5 times within the span of an hour. They took the cranking really well, and seem to be doing okay. This morning, I turned the expander 3 more times; this evening I will do the same. Both Zoe and Talia said to me, after I had turned the respective expander, "I don't see my mouth getting any bigger!" I am guessing they thought it would be an instantaneous change inside their mouths.

Because Aaron hasn't been feeling well, I don't have anything witty from him over the last couple of days. Melina has been coming along well with her words. She yells at Shadow just the other kids do, clearly saying his name (well, it might not be that clear, but it sounds like Sha-ow, which is pretty obvious, I think). She just learned where her elbows are, and also shakes her finger (as if to say No-no) when the song "Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed" plays on the CD player.

Updates for Tim

Some random things Tim should know:

1. We watched The Tale of Despereaux last night. It was a definite change from the book. I liked the book better. I really enjoyed reading the book aloud to the kids, and I especially loved when they said, "Read more, read more!" That aspect was missing from the movie. The kids, however, enjoyed both.

2. So far, no one else has thrown up, but I am not going to rejoice until Tim gets back.

3. This morning, I showed Melina a picture of her with Daddy on the digital camera. She grabbed the camera, yelled 'Dada' and smooched the picture.

4. The dogs' ears are bothering him. He is shaking his head all the time and scratching at them. I know we took him in for this last year, but I am not dragging in to the vet an 80 pound dog when I have to take kids, too. Therefore, I got out the old ointment and I am using it. Vet, I am not. But desperate times call for desperate measures (I think I use that too often!).

5. I did not post about this, but the girls did get their palate expanders in the other day. They aren't that uncomfortable right now, because I have not cranked the expander to start the actual expansion. That starts this afternoon. Right after school. Five cranks for each kid, 10 minutes apart. Then, I crank 3 times in the morning and 3 times in the afternoon for the next week. OH JOY! The menu for this evening includes bean soup, bananas, well-cooked peas, and chocolate pudding. I can't imagine why I would serve that, can you?

6. Melina and I are headed out to look at tile and tub for the tile and tub that need to be replaced in the master bathroom. I'd like to say I am thrilled to be doing this, but to be honest, I don't think we can go wrong. The tub and tile both are hidden by the shower curtain. As long as I don't choose something really awful, I think we will be fine.