Heaven Sent

"Yes, they're the 3 best friends that any one's ever had..." Well not really, but the eye gauging and hair pulling is really quite minimal. Today we had a play date at the park with Lilly and Charlie, and let me tell you, it could not have come at a better time. It's gotten to the point at our house where I can't tell if the scratch marks on the doors have come from Mayhem, Nora, or me, desperately trying to get out! Once we did get out (in public) the Beast turned into the quiet little thing that everyone thinks she is. Thank the Lord for good friends with kids! I couldn't take anymore whining and screaming. I've really been working hard to build up my tolerance, but there is just only so much crying one person can take.

Thankfully, JJ brought Lilly's new 4 wheeler so the girls were able to expel a ton of energy riding and chasing each other down. Nora has one that her dad got her for Christmas, so she was familiar with the mechanics.

It was a comfortable day at the park. A sunny 58 degrees. Perfect for running around and playing. Not so perfect for long, strait, stringy hair. I don't have time or energy to fight Nora during breakfast, the diaper change, getting dressed, getting into the car seat, AND styling her hair. So the latter suffers. Today she was sporting the Shrek 'do. Quite fitting for the little ogre she has been. It also makes me laugh every time I look at her. She pulls clips and bows out, so pigtails/horns are what we're going with.

On the way home, I received a picture text from JJ. On their 3 minute drive home, Lilly had surrendered. Upon inspection, I had been blessed as well. Mary chimed in with the same results. Further evidence that there is a God!

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." -Matthew 11:28

Hidden Treasure

My dad has a contract on his house, finally! After over a year, and 50 plus showings they are packing it up and heading to a condo. Downsizing for them equals upsizing for us. They have been incredibly generous in offering us some of the things that they won't be taking with them. These gifts include a piece of furniture, some art, my grandmother's tea set, and a few other things that have been hanging out in their attic for the last 15 years or so...like this enormous picture on canvas of me and my parents. My dad's wife, Susan, commented on how much Nora and I resemble each other in this picture, so I thought I would have her pose in front it. Of course, I had to catch her between tantrums.

What was even trickier was getting her to sit still, look at me, AND stick her finger in her mouth. I'm a demanding mother, what can I say? The child needs to listen, do as I say, and perform various tricks on cue. Isn't that what children are supposed to do? Well she did pretty good. In all fairness, I neglected to express the importance of keeping her eyes wide open during the flash.

My sister took a long lunch break today and helped me load up the Tahoe with all of the goodies. She has already selected some items that she would like, but her collection requires a moving truck. And rightly so, as she is looking to purchase her first home and will need some things to sit on. As I was driving her back to the office, she glanced back at this enormous picture and said, "So, where you planning on hanging this?" I think I started to say something about the man cave when everything shifted and poor Nora almost took a picture frame to the forehead.

Once I got home, it didn't take me long to find the perfect place for it. This timeless portrait now hangs in our closet. I should mention that it is on Chris' side of the closet...tucked away...waiting for him to part the Polos. It definitely took him by surprise tonight when he went fishing for a hanger. After all, it's practically life size.

How did I come up with this incredible location? It was easy. Chris hung this church portrait of his parents behind MY shirts while I was on a girl's trip a couple of years ago. I always manage to forget it's there and then whenever I seem to be in a frantic search for something to wear, something that fits...BOOM... Frost and Rosie jump out at me and I almost have to change my pants too.

Nora was watching me play in the closet and wanted to get in on the fun. A rowdy game of peek a boo in the cabinet ensued. The remainder of the afternoon was tantrum free.

Also noteworthy...one of the few precious treasures that my dad had been saving for me in his hot, Florida attic was my rubber band ball. I started this impressive sphere several decades ago with just a single knotted rubber band. It took time, patience, and a passion for office supplies. It's one of my finest accomplishments. I photographed it next to this small spool of thread so that you could get an idea of how truly spectacular it is.

Sugar

Sometimes it's nice to just get away for a few days with your family and unwind. So that's what we did. We loaded up the car, strapped the snowboards to the roof rack, secured our 14 month old spitfire in the backseat, and headed out for nice 8 hr drive to Sugar Mountain, NC. Well, we had almost made it to San Marco before I couldn't take the screaming anymore. I climbed into the backseat and started whipping out the brand new "in case of emergency" toys. I talked her down, gave the Beast some milk and snacks, and was back up front in no time. We made it to Sugar Mountain in just under 10 hours, after stopping for a leisurely lunch and jaunt around the Chic-fil-A play place, a 30 minute oops we took the wrong exit episode, and dinner at an Italian restaurant called "Italian Restaurant". Books, toys, and snacks got Nora halfway there. Sesame Street podcasts on the iPad, bungee corded to the back headrest, got her the rest of the way.

We stayed in a friend's condo at the base of the mountain. The condo had a killer set of stairs, perfect for wearing out a little girl. Nora hasn't had a lot of practice on stairs, and she became obsessed with climbing them over and over again. Right before getting to the top, she would poke her head through and say "Hello" to whoever she could find. We were all about helping her up and down, over and over again, because that meant an early bedtime.

Vacations are a little different with a little one. We dined on Chinese takeout and snow caps and one of the highlights of the trip was visiting some ducks. I have never seen so many ducks and geese in one area. We pulled up to the water and they all started running toward us. It was so unnatural. The geese would hiss at us if we didn't throw the bread to them fast enough.

We were able to get a couple hikes in. Nora was packed into several layers and then squeezed into a backpack. She was in heaven. She giggled with delight every time the wind blew through her little mullet.

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We didn't have the best weather. Some rain and fog rolled in on Saturday and lingered until we left on Monday. We were hoping to get some snowboarding in, but the man made snow was sloshy and icy, and frankly it just wasn't worth sticking Nora in the flu ridden daycare to get in a few sloppy runs. No pun intended. So we let her play in the fake snow, threw it on her, took her home and hog tied her.

After a long weekend away, it's always nice to be home. After being free to explore so many new things in such a short time, Nora seems to have grown up a little and become even more independent. This morning when I told her it was time for her snack, she insisted on going to the pantry and getting it herself. Then, instead of sitting in her high chair, she went and waited for me to help her sit at the play table that I thought was still too big for her. Guess not.