This might seem out of left field, but I assure you that it is not. I hate change and I am close to glacial in making it happen, so be assured that our decision was not made lightly, but Tim and I have decided to sell out townhouse. We love our house and our community, but we have come to this decision because it is what is best for our little family. We are making wonderful plans for our future, and even though this isn’t really the forum for me to discuss them (yet), I am more than happy to talk in person or PM.

I realize that we haven’t been available over the past 4-8 weeks. We’ve had to cancel things, un-commit to a few things, and have not been great at communicating. We have spent a good deal of time prepping our house for showing, and for the time being we are living with Tim’s parents (in an attempt to keep the house ‘show ready’ at all times.) Don’t worry, we do drop in and feed Molly (whom we’d love to find a temporary home for!)

So, if you know anyone looking for a cute townhouse at a great price, with free access to the beach, and some of the best neighbors around, let them know you’ve heard of the perfect place!!

“Mommy, that was the best birthday party I’ve ever had!” C said as we settled into the car for our drive home. Sure, her birthday was over a month ago, but with the end of summer, and starting up school we hadn’t had a chance to celebrate. We decided to have the party at the local park. We invited family and a few classmates and friends. Big E even invited a couple of his classmates as well. It was a costume party, which worked out well because it was easier to spot the kids that were in our group. C dressed up as Elena of Avalor, Big E was Batman, and Baby E was Spiderman.

I love having birthday parties at the local park. There’s very little set up, very little clean up, and the kids entertain themselves for hours! I had planned a game we never even got to. They ate pizza, had cake, and watched C open her presents, but besides that they were on the playground the entire time. I’m so happy that C had a special day and I wanted to say thank you to everyone that was able to attend. She was a very, very happy girl! 🙂

To make her day even more special, she lost her other top tooth. She has the most adorable gapped tooth smile right now! Happy late birthday to my sweet girl!

One of the things that I love about having a kid in kindergarten is the amazing amount of artwork that comes home each week. I know that might sound like a sarcastic sentence, but it really isn’t. Big E comes home with a lot of papers, and every once in awhile I get a gem like this one. I love it when their artwork is personal- using fingerprints or hand prints. These are the kind I file away to pull out in years to come, when there are no more tiny hands reaching up to grab mine.

I don’t know if I have ever told this story, so forgive me if it is a repeat…

We as women are very critical of our bodies. Never mind that they have done some pretty incredible things… ahem… growing children, and in my case, having three c-sections. Sometimes it is hard to see past the train wreck that is my stomach now, and see that our bodies are really quite amazing. For instance, the other day I looked in the mirror and noticed something incredible. Except for a very small line on the bottom of my belly button, the scars from my ectopic surgery are pretty much gone. I don’t even see them. It took less than a year for them to disappear! I find that amazing, considering I carry many other scars and imperfections elsewhere that have never disappeared.

This evening I was looking down at my leg and noticed my dent. No one else would ever see it, but I know it’s there. In the summer of 2001 I was taking a film class that required us to shoot on color film with sync sound. It was aptly named ‘Color Sync.’ This was back in the days when film students still shot on film, and some even edited on Steinbecks. The group I was in consisted of four people- me, my roommate, an eccentric guy from England, and rich kid from the Upper West Side. The rich kid decided to do his project in the Hamptons. His parents had a house out there and they rubbed shoulders with some of the elites. He gathered a good sized crew and secured permission to shoot at the house of a famous fashion photographer (whom I had never heard of). The house was as strange as the man who owned it. None of the bathrooms or bedrooms had doors, and I couldn’t quite see past that. We spent several days on location and in the evenings we would got back to his parents’ more humble house. (I say humble, because it was much smaller, but still pretty expensive.) One evening we decided to go out for ice cream so we headed to the local ice cream shop. We were tired from a long day of shooting and we were excited for the chance to unwind. I was in the middle of backseat with my roommate on one side and the crazy Brit on the other. When we got there they both exited their doors and since the crazy Brit’s side was closer to the ice cream store, I scooted that way to get out.

Well, he thought I was going out the other door and slammed his car door VERY hard just as I had put my leg on the ground. The shooting pain ran up my leg and I could barely walk it hurt so bad! A few of the guys on the crew helped me into the ice cream shop and I noticed that there was a dent on my leg where the door had hit. By the next day the bruise was amazing and the spot hurt for weeks. Being 21 and invincible, I figured not to much damage was done, and never had it checked out, but much to my surprise, the dent never went away. It’s still there.

Whenever I see it I’m reminded of that crazy summer of New York adventures- illegally shooting in an empty apartment, dumpster diving for film props, building a faux elevator for a naked man in a Mickey costume head (thankfully I missed the actually shooting for that one!), road tripping, late nights in editing rooms, synching our dailies (lining the film up with the corresponding audio), and navigating dolly track through the subway so we wouldn’t have to walk it 20 blocks. It was the last carefree summer before adulthood set in, so when I look at my dent I can’t help but smile. We had our adventures and they were fun!

I’ve been feeling pretty low and anxious the past few days. Tim has been out of town for work, and I’ve had some things going on in my life that have just kept me on edge. This evening I was feeling pretty upset, but I was so happy to walk in the house and see him there. He couldn’t stay long because he had to go back for work, but I loved every moment I had with him. He has the ability to talk me off my ledges, ground me in my faith, and remind me of what’s important. No matter how awful I might be feeling, he can always make me feel better. I have a pretty special man in my life and I am grateful for the nearly decade (!) we have walked side by side. 

I’ve had a cold for nearly a week and none of the usual suspects have been all that helpful in getting me a full night’s sleep. But I’m hoping tonight that sheer exhaustion will finally kick in as I’ll just sleep through all the snarffling! 

Meanwhile, my loves down the hall are fast asleep! 😍😍😍

Baby E woke up from his nap this afternoon screaming about his ear hurting. Knowing his penchant for ear infections, I figured it would be a good idea to take him to get checked out. I ran him to the local Minute Clinic when I saw online that there wasn’t a wait time. By the time we got there, there were two people ahead of us, but I figured it was worth it, so while we waited, we walked around the CVS. Of course we are coming up on Halloween, so Baby E enjoyed looking at the bright decorations as we walked around. We came across a statue mummy that he took quite an interest in.

I noticed that there was a ‘push me’ button on the statue and in a momentarily lapse of mommy judgment I asked him if he wanted to see what it did and he said yes. Now mind you, this statue is the exact same height as Baby E and I’m pretty sure he wasn’t expecting what came next. I pushed the button and the eyes of this mummy started flashing bright red, the arms started flailing, and it started screeching some unholy sound. Baby E got a look of sheer terror on his face as he jumped back and exceeded the wailing that came from the statue. His whole body shook as the mummy danced. I snatched him up and we hurried away from it, but the damage was already done. He was traumatized, and it was my fault! I apologized profusely, because I seriously didn’t think the mummy was going to be that dramatic, and he kept telling that I scared him. I assured him that the ‘mummy monster’ was a toy and that it wasn’t going to get him. But it will serve me right if he has nightmares tonight!

Meanwhile, he got diagnosed with a double ear infection, so he’ll be on antibiotics for the next week or so. And despite the unnecessary scare, I’m glad I got him checked out!

This sweet girl lost her third tooth on Wednesday, and even though she doesn’t believe in the tooth fairy, she wants to wait until she has a chance to write the fairy a note before tucking her tooth beneath her pillow. At least it stayed in for her school pictures!! Also, the one next to it is probably days away from falling out as well. Looking forward to her gapped toothed grin! 🙂

There’s a pile of laundry the size of a mid-sized bear staring me down in my bedroom, so I think tonight will be pretty brief. Thanks for the words of encouragement that were sent to me last night and today. This evening was significantly better, but still had its bumps. Tim and I decided that the kids are going to have a few strict evenings until we see some changes. No tv, just dinner, homework and early bed time. I know some of their issues stem from how tired they are after school. Hopefully in a few days they will start to think twice about some of their behavior, (at least for a little while!)

Also, I think I got their cold, which is further confirmation that kissing and cuddling with runny nosed children comes with its own risks. But I have to say, it’s a consequence worth bearing. 🙂