She Had a Rough Day

In addition to having a cold and smashing her face, Malia also cut her first tooth last night. Poor thing wouldn’t even nurse until I slapped some Anbesol on her gums. Today she doesn't have much of an appetite and she just wants to be held. Being sick and cutting teeth are awful enough on their own. Having to deal with both at the same time is just miserable.

These are the Moments When I Feel Like a Terrible Mother

See the lovely bruise on Malia’s face? She fell over and not only did I not catch her, but I didn’t realize she had fallen until I heard the big “thunk” of her face hitting the edge of the computer hutch. She hasn’t fallen over while sitting for a long while now so I really wasn’t watching for it. But she has tipped over a couple more times since the big crash and I think that her ears may be a bit plugged up due to the not so lovely cold that she has. It took her a long time to calm down after she fell and tipping over face first into the water freaked her out and cut bath time short, so I think we are just going to stay nearby while she is sitting up until she gets her balance back.

But she is obviously not permanently damaged since she is back to whistling and grinning about it.

The Whistler

Lately Malia has been pursing her lips into a little round ‘o.’ She does it all the time. We don’t know why. But this morning as she was sitting in my lap I realized that she was whistling. Nathan whistles all the time. I whistle pretty frequently. And Kev whistles to. So maybe she has been imitating our lips in an attempt to whistle. Or maybe it’s just a random skill she has picked up without intending to. Either way, she has been doing it all day and looking mighty pleased about it!

“Celebration!”

Believe it or not, Matthew has reached the end of preschool. His last day of school is Friday and in two months he will be off to kindergarten. Tonight was Matthew’s special preschool program. They sang a few songs and recited some nursery rhymes. The amazing thing is that Matthew actually stood with the other kids and sang. As much as he likes to sing, he doesn’t care for an audience. So he usually just stands to the side looking grumpy or tries to hide behind the other kids and doesn’t sing at all. But tonight he did a great job! After the program Matthew shared his preschool book with us. They have spent the entire month of May creating their books and the fun part is that it includes pictures of all Matthew’s school friends. He is equal parts excited and anxious for kindergarten so I expect there will be some emotional ups and downs as we get closer to August. But ready or not, here it comes!

 Matthew sandwiched between Jack and Nathan, two of his school friends.

Muppet Mania!

For his birthday party this year, Nathan decided he wanted a Muppets theme. How fun is that?!  For dinner we had a variety of Muppet themed cuisine:

(I forgot to take a picture of Dr. Bunsen Honeydew’s Punch Potion.)

After dinner we ate Kermit cupcakes.

And then we watched “The Muppets” and nibbled on a snack.

I found a printable for some Muppets pencil toppers and modified them to make magnetic bookmarks for party favors.

I had so much fun planning this party that I’m hoping I have a chance to do another Muppet themed event!

My Garden Just Doesn’t Measure Up

Earlier this week, Matthew was terribly concerned that he had missed Mother’s Day. Apparently he made his present at preschool about two weeks early so it would be ready in time and on Monday he was afraid that he had missed the day and hadn’t given me my present. I assured him that he had not missed Mother’s Day and told him I was pretty sure Miss Lisa would send his gift home in time. So he was pleased as punch to present me with a beautiful stepping stone for my garden after preschool on Friday.

(As usual, Matthew declined the opportunity to be in a photo. But he took the pictures of his gifts all by himself, so I guess that will have to do.)

Nathan also gave me the gifts he had made on Friday because he was just too excited to wait. He planted a marigold in a decorated pot at scouts and made me a bouquet of coupons and wrote me a lovely letter at school. I don’t know how all the other moms in the world feel, but I love to know what I do that is important to my kids. Sometimes the things that seem the most mundane to me are the things that mean the most to them.

 On Sunday, Nathan came home from church with a stepping stone that he made in primary and Matthew brought home a lovely paper plate flower. I love macaroni art!

Daniel made me a poster at school.  We forgot to take a picture, but he was pleased to present it to me.  And Kev is going to help me make a quilting frame.

Now we just need to finish our work on the basement so we have someplace to put a quilting frame and I need to do some serious garden work so my beautiful stepping stones don’t get lost in a sea of weeds.

Why Have I Never Done This Before?!

Last night was opera night. But one of my nieces went to prom instead. And the rest of us were not terribly excited to go see a guy kill his best friend.  (The opera this time was “Of Mice and Men.” I really, really hated that book.) So we opted to eat dinner and get pedicures instead. The little girls were invited to come and we had a great time. It’s probably a good thing I didn’t discover how awesome pedicures are until now. I would have wanted to go get one on a regular basis. As it is, now that I have discovered the wonder that is the pedicure, I’ll have to occasionally work one into my budget.

I wore sandals today even though it was a bit chilly. :-)

No, I'm Not Kidding

This morning Matthew had a field trip to the dump. Yup. The local landfill. I was pretty apprehensive about the whole thing. I mean, I remember going to the dump with my dad when I was a kid and it smelled like the diaper pail times about a million. And smells bother me. A lot. So I really didn't want to go. But Matthew was so excited about it that we couldn't skip it. And guess what? It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be.

We met in the office and learned about how they prepare the ground for the trash so the groundwater doesn't get contaminated. We learned about how they move and compact the trash. We learned about what can and cannot be recycled. And we learned that our landfill was supposed to last for thirty more years but at the rate we're going it is only going to last another sixteen. It seems that in Utah we only recycle about 15% of our trash while nationwide the rate is about 45%. We also learned that the reason we cannot put glass in our recycling bins is that the closest location for recycling glass is in Colorado. Because Utahns don't consume many alcoholic beverages, we don't actually use anywhere near as much glass as the rest of the country. And because we don't have glass in our recycling, Salt Lake is the only place in the country that can recycle plastic soda bottles into new plastic soda bottles because there is no chance of broken glass getting into the plastic.

After the educational part, we got on a shuttle bus and rode out to the actual landfill part so the kids could see all the big trucks at work. The bus was completely enclosed so we didn't even smell anything icky. We also got to see a brand new giant hole that is nearly ready for trash. The current hole is almost full. Our guide told us it is rare to get to see a new hole that doesn't actually have trash in it yet.

So, much to my surprise, it was actually a really interesting field trip. Our guide told us the kids usually talk about garbage for weeks after visiting. Matthew is already much more willing to run things out to the recycling bin for me, so we'll see how long his fascination with garbage lasts...