'I Can Go Without'

Some days I think, I'm not doing this parenting thing right. Then there are other days, days like today.

It's been raining for a week. The skies are gray. We've been itching to get out. If there is somewhere I need to go, WE ALL GO.

It's as easy as that, but it's not easy at all.

We always seem to learn a life lesson.

It's not that I needed fabric, but I wanted to coordinate some colors with an amazing daisy print my mother in law got me in Pennsylvania. I have red plaid up right now, but just the thought of yellow daisies casting a happy yellow glow through the house was literally enough to drive me and all three of them to the fabric store.

Unfortunately, Edie lost five dollars in the store. She was holding on to it and I reminded her several times the best place for it was in her sparkly purse.
She noticed when we were getting into the truck that it was missing. We quickly checked the purse, and pockets, but no money. We were the only customers, It won't be hard to find it, let's go back in and look. And besides it's five dollars! That is a lot of money! But, we turned up nothing. Edie began to melt down. We asked the associates and of course no associate had found it.

This is when Edie lost it. Absolutely. Lost. It! She was running down each isle, looking, scanning, and screaming for her 'MeMe monies'.
My baby girl was heartbroken. I asked several more associates as well as the same group of employees from my first round of questioning. No one had found it.
Then I began thinking, (to myself of course), where are the good and honest people in the world. IT was lost here, All these people working and no one found it. Seriously? Really? We scoured the store. again, nothing. I looked each associate up and down, trying to detect some sort of discomfort in their face as they concealed this crying baby's money in their pocket.
Nothing.
I carried a sobbing Edie out to the car. I buckled a very sad little girl into her seat. She continued to spiral out of control, shedding buckets of tears from the disappointment. There was some kindness seated beside her. Aubrey was there rubbing her back trying to console her. She was telling to her take a deep breath, and think about happy thoughts.

Eventually she stopped wailing and just sat, looking out the window with silent tears falling down her cheeks. She'd wipe them away with an angry sweep of the back of her hand.
I was terribly upset with the situation too. I bit my lip trying not to cry myself. She is so genuinely upset and I can't believe she lost five bucks!

I gave her a little while

I broke the silence.
I knew it would open up a new flood gate of tears.

I cleared my throat and went into my motherly role of explaining responsibility, choice, and consequence. It was immediately followed by another round of Edie being upset.
She eventually settled down again, and we all gave her her space to work it out. She was upset with herself, and I was upset with myself for not just taking it away.

Then I got the chance to witness kindness, honesty, and love.

'Here Edie. Take mine. I can go without. I just want my baby sister to be happy.' Aubrey said, handing Edie her five dollars.
'Weally Awbwry?', Edie asked.
'Really.' Aubrey said
'I love you this much.' Edie said, opening her arms up as wide as she could.
They hugged, as best as they could both being buckled in.

I didn't tell her to give it back to Aubrey.

I just witnessed an amazing act of kindness. Maybe I am doing ok at this parenting thing.

Sugar Shack

Maple candy, syrup, cotton candy, coffee, butters, creams, sprinkles, hot dogs, chili, and tractor rides Oh MY!

1 gallon $49.00

pint $9.00

(we got a pint)

It was a two mile walk round trip.

Our little dirt road in the middle of no where was crazy. It was kind of like the fair, you could hear and smell it before you could see it. The whole town was out, we saw many familiar faces, and get this, we ran into 4 other sets of local twins! Wow!

Edie enjoyed the free hot dogs, and insisted on a piggy back ride home, good thing I've been working out!

Cut or Keep?

2005

2008

2010

Cut or Keep, that is the question. We would love to build a farmers porch on the front of the house (after we get through the priority 'to-do' list). The only problem is that we would have to cut the two anchor ornamental cedars from the corners of the house. They have a chronic problem, Deer. The deer have damaged them to the point of no return. We've tried everything from burlap with bells, to hair clipping and the last two years we've enclosed them in chicken wire. Cut or keep, that IS the question.

Never A Dull Moment....

when the Fischer Girls hit the town.

Seasonally Confused

Spirit Week

Each Day this week Edie has had special things she needed to do for spirit week. Monday her grade had to wear blue. Tuesday was crazy hair day, she would only let me do 2 pony tails. Wednesday was St. Patrick's Day green and gold.

Today was Hero Day. Come to school as someone you admire. I tried to explain it to her.

'Edie who do you admire, who is your super hero?'

She shook her head, which meant she did not understand the question.

'Edie, who do look up to?' I asked.

'You mama, you tall.' She said

I smiled

'Edie, who is your favorite person, real or pretend that makes you feel good? Who do you want to be like?'

'You mama, I grow up and be like you. I just love you.'

I'll give you 3 hints on how Edie dressed for school today.

Crayons

Reagan had this dialogue in the car on the way home from dinner. She was speaking out loud.

'Every ones house smells different. Our house smells different from Meme's house. Meme's house smells different than our house. Our house smells like us. Her house smells like her. Do cars smell like peoples houses or like cars? If we smell like us, our car must smell like us. If MeMe's house smells like meme, and she smells like her house, than her car must smell like her and not like a car. Evey one must smell different. I must smell different.
[Reagan raises her hands to her nose and breathes in. ] I smell like crayons'

I laughed a good long time in the car.

Sugar Shock

~Happy St. Patrick's Day!!~

I would like to thank my Mother in law, Sue, for a wonderful cornedbeef and cabbage dinner last night, potatoes, carrots, Irish soda bread it had all the fixings and it was delicious.

As a kid, THAT meal is what I remembered most about St. Patrick's Day.

I'm curious. When did St. Patrick's Day become all about candy? Did I miss something? I guess I did not realize that leprechauns hid mounds of sugar and chocolate. I knew he lived at the end of the rainbow and protected the pot of gold and his horribly disgusting 'lucky charms', but I did not realize he caused mischief in class rooms and left behind zippy bags full of chocolate and candy.

It became aware to me after we picked Edie up from school. The truck was eerily quiet, Usually the twins play 20 questions with Edie grilling her about her 2 and half hours she was out of their sight. There were no questions, there was no noise. I turned down the radio and adjusted my mirror to see the three of them lined up like little ducklings across the second row, mouths moving with fury but no noise. I angled my mirror lower to look at hands. With my eyebrows shooting up and trying to find an even tone. Edie's 'pack-pack' (backpack) is usually tossed over the seat and ride home next to me. Today it was clutched with white knuckles and she insisted she hold it on the way home.

'Hey girls what do you have there?' I said.

'Mochlit', Edie replied.

'Edie, did you get treats at school today?'

'Mmm, mmmm, I have enough. I share with Aubrey and Reagan.' Edie said.

Very pleased with her sharing of sacred 'goodies' I let them have it. I took a moment and realized this battle I will choose.

'Finish it up' and save some room for lunch, OK girls?'

'mmm,mmmm' three chocolate dripping mouths mumbled in unison.

After lunch and a full explanation from Edie that a leprechaun came into her class and made a big huge mess, tipping over the TO chair, and rearranging every ones name on the chore board, and leaving a note behind that said:

'Sorry I made a mess in your class room. I left you some treats and coins of chocolate.'

Happy St. Patrick's Day,

Mr. Leprechaun

I guess I didn't realize leprechauns left candy, now I do, and will be better prepared for the next time St. Patrick's Day rolls around.

My issue is, we are not a candy house. It's not something I keep around. Now and then we have dessert, or a special treat, or cookies. You know 'some-times food' just like cookie monster says. It makes them bonkers! They lose all sense of self control when it comes to sweets. They will eat it until it is gone! Then they turn bonkers. manic talking, running in circles, then. Meltdown.

Here is 1 example of Reagan's sugar induced manic chatter:

[in the car on the way to dinner after Edie's chocolate and a play date with more leprechaun goodies]:

'car, car, car. car star. star, star, star. Twinkle twinkle little star how I wonder what you are. what you are. what you are. Mommy, what are we made of? bones, and skin and teeth. teeth. [loud chattering of her teeth] teeth, teeth, tooth. Tooth Fairy. Mommy how does the tooth fairy get in the house?..

I admit, I did turn up the radio and found a song for her to tune into and sing along to, her brain was smoking!

I felt ill prepared for the evenings sugar low that consumed our house. It happened right at bath time. Consumption of large amounts of sugar today turned a usually calm and relaxing bath time into a traumatic episode of tears, tantrums, and turmoil. The lavender scented baby bath was not soothing anyone.

I could only shake my head and comb crying girls hair, reassuring them they would feel better after some much needed rest. Soon they were all tucked in and sleeping in no time.

These Are From Today....

Hopefully the warm weather over the next couple of days will melt a little more....hopefully...

Got Snow?

I'm not doing this to scare you Mom, but, yes, we still have snow, a lot of it too.

'Crabbies'

Two out of Three still happy and healthy.
They are huge and starting to eat their own shells, this worries me a bit. The next time we we go to a pet store I'll have to find out if they sell shells. They are doing great and who would of thought they would be such noisy little buggers at night.

They are an active part of our family and the girls really do love them.

The Time Has Come

The girls helped me start the herb garden adventure I have planned for this summer.

I'm looking forward to having a good crop with plenty to share and some to dry as well.

MUD

I've been going through all my old photo's and taking new ones trying to find an appropriate representation/reflection of March. With no luck I skipped ahead to July and found a Day Lily from my front garden.
As I toiled over pictures dated 'March' from years past. I came to this conclusion. There isn't much that is pretty about March other than the earthy smell in the air. I have yet to capture that in a photograph.
In the 'vortex' March is simply so because the calendar hung in the kitchen is open to that page.

It's neither Winter nor Spring. It's sunny yet the ground is still covered with ankle deep snow, beneath it the sludge that is March. Therefore since we can not seasonally code what time of year it exactly is in the 'vortex' Todd and I are affectionately referring to it as: MUD.

ART

Last Friday the girls and I had a wonderful day at the Currier Museum of Art in Manchester.

I've been waiting for the right 'time/age' to take them. We checked out the website before we left and downloaded the Family Fun Guide to the Museum. It had a an 'eye-spy(type)/map' adventure. It gave clues to 5 works of arts. We found the piece and took a few minutes to discuss it, who created it, and what medium was used to made it.

The experience was also a great exercise in practicing self control. 'Look but do not touch.' We talked a lot about how it's important not to touch anything because you could damage it.

I gasped once, as Edie went for a carved bench. "True Loves Blue", 2000 by Jon Brooks. But we regrouped (OK, I regrouped, and checked my heart rate) and again we paused and talked about enjoying everything with our eyes and keeping our bodies calm. 'Look, but do NOT touch....or (eyebrows raised at Edie) try to sit on'.

Aubrey found all 5 works of art based on the clues. She liked looking at everything, She like the European collection, and asked a lot of questions. Her favorite was"The Triumph of Hercules" 1761, Giovanni Battista Tiepolo.

Reagan liked the fountain and some of the sculptures.

I loved seeing them absorb and ask questions, it was one of our best field trips!

The 'Vortex'

Todd and I have affectionately renamed our home 'the Vortex'.

We seem to experience irresistibly engulfing weather situations in our neighborhood. WE STILL have knee deep snow!

For all you snowbirds and warmer climate 'fans' here is a recap of our storm experience.

THURSDAY:

We saw the weather before we went to bed around 11:00pm. While most of the state experienced epic winds last week, we slept peacefully and were not disturbed by gusting winds.
We woke when the hum of power went out around 2:30am. We stirred ourselves into sleepy action. We stoked the fires, they were both still hot and lasted until the morning with no restarting. We found some flashlights and strategically placed them within reach of sleeping children.

FRIDAY:

In the morning we woke. The grill cover stayed on and NO trees fell in our yard, so it could not of been that bad..right? We lose power all the time, rain, snow, wind, and especially this time of year. It shouldn't take long for us to be back up and running....right?

I was wrong. We listen to WZID,95.7 and we were amazed while listening that they were going 'off air'. They were being evacuated from their building, and were going to relocate in the conference room at the WMUR office. We channel surfed and heard all kinds of horrible news. We were lucky in 'the vortex'.

We hooked up the generator in the morning, and plugged in the coffee pot, fridge, and the under the counter radio. We continued to listen to local power outage reports. Sometimes hearing of the destruction by means of the radio (when you have an over active imagination) is more terrifying than seeing the reality of it on TV.

We hopped into action, texting and calling loved ones on our cell phones. We set our selves up for the long haul. I schlepped in wood for the wood boxes made sure they were filled to the brim. Totes of snow were dumped into the tub to melt for toilet flushing. My biggest stock pots were on the stove melting snow.

See, we were smart and got a gas stove after discovering the electric stove, (the one that came with house did not work.... since day one).

With our smart purchase we can light the burners with a match so we cook, heat water for cleaning, and taking pot showers during times of power outages...which tend to happen a lot around here. Not that we are experts, just well prepared and experienced.

But by day two, Todd fixed the water pump problem so we had running water. Everything seemed exceptionally melty, and drippy and the sump pump hole began to have water. We hooked the sump pump up and chipped away at the perpetual winter ice dam around the bulk head.

SATURDAY:

We ventured out since we were in need of batteries and a few non perishables. I was amazed at the damage I saw. I am thankful my friends and family were OK, (without power), but OK.

At night we would unplug the unnecessary things and plug in a different set of unnecessary things like: the TV and DVD player. Movie Gallery is closing so we took advantage of the 3 for $15 deal and stocked up on some kid friendly movies. At least a few new movies we have not seen a hundred times....yet. The girls liked watching something new too. Everyone went to bed with their flashlights and a few books. Pretty smooth night, night-times around here are pretty easy to begin with, once they are out...they are out.

SUNDAY:

I'd like to thank my in laws for allowing us to bathe at their house, and my sister for the best Sunday breakfast, and hot shower I think I've ever had!

Our power came back on Sunday night around 8:30pm. The girls came running down stairs. In the course of three days they turned on every light, and radio on the second floor. When it surged back on, the house lit up and blared music. I think they were more scared than excited about the power being back on.
I was reading my book by the generator powered lamp, Todd was playing a few games on his lap top. I looked at him, he at me, with a sigh of relief, we again hopped into action and began to wind up cords, and listen to the sounds of the neighborhood shutting down the sea of generators. Sometimes I still hear the droning of them echoing in my head.

I know there will be a next time, we are never ready for it, but at least we'll be even more prepared...

The weather has been so strange that even snow creatures seem to grow out of the ground.

Enjoy The Soothing Sounds Of A Power Outage

Light a few candles, get a good book, and put a few pots of snow on the gas stove to melt.

Now, sit back.

Relax and enjoy the soothing sounds of a power outage.