Oh my. Look at the date. I truly did not mean to wait this long between blog posts.
I had great intentions of this sweet post about my Christmas ornaments back when we were putting the tree up. I have plenty of fun stories of Christmas and our car trips to share. So many day to day happenings for your amusement.
What on earth happened?
I suppose life. I swear that every time I would sit down to write, something or someone would interrupt me. Although I guess I cannot blame it simply on that because somehow I was still able to catch up on my tv shows.
Yes, I was lazy with writing. I admit it.
Anyway, I do plan on writing about all of the above things, although some will have to wait until I recover my pictures from my old laptop that decided to die last week. That was fun. Apparently, hard drives can decide to break whenever they want, which is why I should have backed up my pictures more often than I did. Should have.
The thing is, almost every day I have at least one moment where I think, "Oh, I will have to write about that later" and I literally go through what I will write in my head. Yes, I am a nerd. That truth was reinforced when my biggest excitements the past couple of weeks was getting my new dishwasher, my Erin Condren Planner and having one miraculous day where all of the laundry was done in the house.
I lead an intoxicating life, I tell you.
So stay tuned, for I have tales of engagements, sports and travels. The stories stretch from West Virginia to Texas and are filled with laughter and tears.
In the meantime, I will be dragging my old laptop around, in a desperate search of someone who can rescue my files and pictures for me. Let us hope it is a successful mission.
The Kids
Thursday, January 23, 2014
Monday, December 2, 2013
Molly Rosenfeldt
I am simply amazed at how much Molly is like my children.
(Yes, I realize that I have become one of those people who writes about her dog like the dog is a human. I dare you to adopt a dog and not do the exact same thing.)
1) Molly is like all of my children because she loves food. Like seriously loves food.
When she sees me reach for her dish, she licks her lips, wags her tail and practically knocks me over trying to get a taste.
Just like my kids do. Caleb literally licks his lips when he sees food that he likes. I have seen actual drool come out of his mouth upon hearing we are having chicken alfredo for dinner. I have witnessed Abby panting for her food and Noah almost tearing it out of my hands before it reaches the table.
No, I do not starve my children, no matter what they may lead you to believe. They are savages, I tell you.
2) Molly is like my children because she leaves messes behind, but is not concerned with who has to clean it up.
I love the dog-honestly. But, black dog hair on my floor...and furniture...and clothes? Not a fan. If she came with a built in vacuum that followed her around, that would be simply marvelous.
Kind of like my kids-puzzles, games, toys, doll clothes, stuffed animals...it never ends. Just put the stuff away when you are done with it...it is NOT an impossible idea.
3) Molly is not above eating off of the floor.
First of all-LOVE that she cleans up the floor after our dinner. I will say it again-LOVE IT. Gone are the days where I had to sweep under the table three times a day. Spaghetti for dinner? No worries-Miss Molly is on the job. And she knows exactly where to sit-at Noah's feet. She's a smart dog, that one.
You may wonder how this relates to my children. Let's go back a few years ago...we were eating at a Chick-Fil-A and Caleb went under the table for something. He came up and we caught him eating a piece of pizza.
In a CHICK-Fil-A. Pizza. Off the floor. With no explanation for its origin.
I have no more words on that subject.
4) Molly finds it her right to have what I have.
If I am anywhere near the kitchen, she is immediately right there with me, waiting for any kind of crumb to drop. Flour from baking? Sure. A stray veggie that falls? Delicious.
When my kids are around, it is impossible to eat without hearing "Can I have that?" from three different mouths. I have learned to eat my lunch during Noah's nap time. Problem is-Molly does not understand that it should be her nap time as well-she believes it is "sit by my beloved owner and help her eat her lunch" time.
5) Molly loves unconditionally.
I do not know what kind of home she came from, but she has found her place here. She loves and trusts us and fits right in. Not only with our immediate family, but also the extended family. She feels at home at Nick's parent's house and had a delightful time at my parent's house.
My kids may fight and argue, but underneath it all, they do love each other and trust each other. I pray that always remains true.
Two months with us and it is hard to remember life before our Molly.
(Yes, I realize that I have become one of those people who writes about her dog like the dog is a human. I dare you to adopt a dog and not do the exact same thing.)
1) Molly is like all of my children because she loves food. Like seriously loves food.
When she sees me reach for her dish, she licks her lips, wags her tail and practically knocks me over trying to get a taste.
Just like my kids do. Caleb literally licks his lips when he sees food that he likes. I have seen actual drool come out of his mouth upon hearing we are having chicken alfredo for dinner. I have witnessed Abby panting for her food and Noah almost tearing it out of my hands before it reaches the table.
No, I do not starve my children, no matter what they may lead you to believe. They are savages, I tell you.
2) Molly is like my children because she leaves messes behind, but is not concerned with who has to clean it up.
I love the dog-honestly. But, black dog hair on my floor...and furniture...and clothes? Not a fan. If she came with a built in vacuum that followed her around, that would be simply marvelous.
Kind of like my kids-puzzles, games, toys, doll clothes, stuffed animals...it never ends. Just put the stuff away when you are done with it...it is NOT an impossible idea.
3) Molly is not above eating off of the floor.
First of all-LOVE that she cleans up the floor after our dinner. I will say it again-LOVE IT. Gone are the days where I had to sweep under the table three times a day. Spaghetti for dinner? No worries-Miss Molly is on the job. And she knows exactly where to sit-at Noah's feet. She's a smart dog, that one.
You may wonder how this relates to my children. Let's go back a few years ago...we were eating at a Chick-Fil-A and Caleb went under the table for something. He came up and we caught him eating a piece of pizza.
In a CHICK-Fil-A. Pizza. Off the floor. With no explanation for its origin.
I have no more words on that subject.
4) Molly finds it her right to have what I have.
If I am anywhere near the kitchen, she is immediately right there with me, waiting for any kind of crumb to drop. Flour from baking? Sure. A stray veggie that falls? Delicious.
When my kids are around, it is impossible to eat without hearing "Can I have that?" from three different mouths. I have learned to eat my lunch during Noah's nap time. Problem is-Molly does not understand that it should be her nap time as well-she believes it is "sit by my beloved owner and help her eat her lunch" time.
5) Molly loves unconditionally.
I do not know what kind of home she came from, but she has found her place here. She loves and trusts us and fits right in. Not only with our immediate family, but also the extended family. She feels at home at Nick's parent's house and had a delightful time at my parent's house.
 |
| Molly with cousin Rocky |
My kids may fight and argue, but underneath it all, they do love each other and trust each other. I pray that always remains true.
Two months with us and it is hard to remember life before our Molly.
Thursday, October 10, 2013
My Three-Year Old
My baby is now three years old.
I refuse to believe that. He is still my baby and that will never change.
Oh wait-is this how it starts? Is this how the youngest child develops "youngest child syndrome?" In that case, let me start rejoicing that Noah is growing up.
This baby-excuse me-child of mine is one crazy boy. He is full of energy (all. the. time.) and loves attention. I have heard that most comedians are the youngest sibling so it looks like he is well on his way to that career choice. He will do anything for a laugh.
Noah has a lot of toys (he should, he is the third kid), yet he never seems to play with them. He will do puzzles all day long and try and sneak the kindle when I am not looking, but other than that, he just likes to make messes.
How does a kid who does not play with toys make messes? Well, he leaves puzzles everywhere, builds blocks and makes them fall and leaves them everywhere and opens up markers, leaves the caps off and walks away. Oh, and he does get out the occasional toy, but only to stack it on top of something and then walk away.
When Abby was little, I made sure she always put her toys away when she was done playing. We cleaned up before nap time and before bed. When Caleb was little, we never made it to cleaning up before nap time, but we cleaned up before bed.
With Noah, I am lucky if the house is somewhat clean by the weekend.
My little tornado is quite something, though. He never ceases to surprise me with the things that he says or does. Here comes my bragging moment-the kid is smart. Really smart. He does not miss a beat, puts together huge puzzles, kicks my butt at Memory and has amazing language skills.
To keep it humble, he still has not figured out that he can unzip his coat instead of trying to take it off over his head and getting it stuck.
Noah loves his friends and I was so happy at his party this year that he had his own guests and not just his older sibling's friends. He talks about Lucian and Grant and Rosie and Austin all the time and I am so thankful that he gets to go to preschool with most of them next year.
Noah-you came into this world in a flash on 10/10/10 and you have not stopped surprising me. I love you so much and look forward to seeing who you grow up to be.
I refuse to believe that. He is still my baby and that will never change.
Oh wait-is this how it starts? Is this how the youngest child develops "youngest child syndrome?" In that case, let me start rejoicing that Noah is growing up.
This baby-excuse me-child of mine is one crazy boy. He is full of energy (all. the. time.) and loves attention. I have heard that most comedians are the youngest sibling so it looks like he is well on his way to that career choice. He will do anything for a laugh.
Noah has a lot of toys (he should, he is the third kid), yet he never seems to play with them. He will do puzzles all day long and try and sneak the kindle when I am not looking, but other than that, he just likes to make messes.
How does a kid who does not play with toys make messes? Well, he leaves puzzles everywhere, builds blocks and makes them fall and leaves them everywhere and opens up markers, leaves the caps off and walks away. Oh, and he does get out the occasional toy, but only to stack it on top of something and then walk away.
When Abby was little, I made sure she always put her toys away when she was done playing. We cleaned up before nap time and before bed. When Caleb was little, we never made it to cleaning up before nap time, but we cleaned up before bed.
With Noah, I am lucky if the house is somewhat clean by the weekend.
My little tornado is quite something, though. He never ceases to surprise me with the things that he says or does. Here comes my bragging moment-the kid is smart. Really smart. He does not miss a beat, puts together huge puzzles, kicks my butt at Memory and has amazing language skills.
To keep it humble, he still has not figured out that he can unzip his coat instead of trying to take it off over his head and getting it stuck.
Noah loves his friends and I was so happy at his party this year that he had his own guests and not just his older sibling's friends. He talks about Lucian and Grant and Rosie and Austin all the time and I am so thankful that he gets to go to preschool with most of them next year.
Noah-you came into this world in a flash on 10/10/10 and you have not stopped surprising me. I love you so much and look forward to seeing who you grow up to be.
Wednesday, October 9, 2013
You Did WHAT In The Loft?
Well, life is a little interesting with a dog.
Molly is awesome-so sweet, great with the kids, house broken.
Um, mostly house broken.
The first night that we had her, she must have been nervous because her farts were out of control. I mean, yes, I live with three male species so I am used to a plethora of odors, but these were ridiculous. We gave her plenty of opportunity to use the facilities of our backyard, but she never went.
As I went to bed that night, exhausted from a day of throwing a birthday party and adopting a dog, I heard Nick say from the hallway, "Um, Tammy, I think we have a problem."
Miss Molly had pooped in the loft. And not just one poop-multiple poops in many places. And they we were NOT solid. Oh, and did I mention that the kids had not cleaned up their toys before bed that night? Yep, Molly was not choosy about where her poop landed.
As I scooped it all up and Nick followed behind with the carpet cleaner and paper towels, I questioned whether we were cut out for this whole pet thing. I heard Nick behind me, gagging and saying, "What on earth did we get ourselves into?"
Poor Molly saw us cleaning up her mess and she was so embarrassed. She kept hiding and putting her tail between her legs. At least the girl felt shame.
Thankfully, she has become more relaxed and that has not happened again.
(Actually, she has pooped in the loft a couple of times since, but she was kind enough to keep them solid and it always happened when we left her for too long. Lesson learned for this week-take the dog on a walk before leaving the house for hours.)
Life is messy, I suppose-I just hope it does not always stay quite THIS messy.
Molly is awesome-so sweet, great with the kids, house broken.
Um, mostly house broken.
The first night that we had her, she must have been nervous because her farts were out of control. I mean, yes, I live with three male species so I am used to a plethora of odors, but these were ridiculous. We gave her plenty of opportunity to use the facilities of our backyard, but she never went.
As I went to bed that night, exhausted from a day of throwing a birthday party and adopting a dog, I heard Nick say from the hallway, "Um, Tammy, I think we have a problem."
Miss Molly had pooped in the loft. And not just one poop-multiple poops in many places. And they we were NOT solid. Oh, and did I mention that the kids had not cleaned up their toys before bed that night? Yep, Molly was not choosy about where her poop landed.
As I scooped it all up and Nick followed behind with the carpet cleaner and paper towels, I questioned whether we were cut out for this whole pet thing. I heard Nick behind me, gagging and saying, "What on earth did we get ourselves into?"
Poor Molly saw us cleaning up her mess and she was so embarrassed. She kept hiding and putting her tail between her legs. At least the girl felt shame.
Thankfully, she has become more relaxed and that has not happened again.
(Actually, she has pooped in the loft a couple of times since, but she was kind enough to keep them solid and it always happened when we left her for too long. Lesson learned for this week-take the dog on a walk before leaving the house for hours.)
Life is messy, I suppose-I just hope it does not always stay quite THIS messy.
Monday, October 7, 2013
Our New Family Member
So, this happened to our family...
Yep. I figured it was too calm and clean in our house and we needed another creature to clean up after.
I am very wise.
It all started two days before the kid's birthday party when Nick said to me, "What about a dog for their birthday?" Um, okay. We have talked about it for years so why not look into it? Maybe not go buy a dog that second, but at least consider the idea.
So, I did what everyone else does in this day and age-I consulted facebook land.
I asked my local friends where the best place to get a dog would be and was blessed with many answers. I learned more than I ever thought I needed to know by posting that question. Then, the answer that brought about the face you see above. A mom friend from school saw that a friend of a friend had found a lost dog and she needed a home. No tags, took her to the vet and no ID-just a loving dog who needed a family. And they found her about 12 minutes from our house.
We always planned on getting a puppy that would grow up with the kids, but seeing this dog (and hearing that she was already house trained-hello!) changed our hearts. I went to meet her the night before their party and knew pretty quickly that she belonged with our family.
So, after the kid's birthday party, we piled into the car and told them that we were going to get one last present that was for all three of them. We pulled up to the house and imagine their confusion when we were standing in a stranger's front yard, looking at a strange dog. It took Abby about a second to exclaim, "We're getting a dog?!"
The family who had found her and had kept her for a week were so kind. They gave us a card that their daughter had written in, that told us all about what the dog liked. I could tell that they would have loved to keep her, if not for allergies.
Once we got home, the discussion began on what to name our new family member. The family who had taken care of her had called her "Princess" and "Shadow," but we decided on "Molly."
Gotta say, "Shadow," is a more appropriate name as she loves to follow us all around the house. But, she is definitely a "Molly" and is just a barrel of fun.
There will be more stories to come of our Molly girl, but I must go now-she is chewing on a squeaky toy and begging for me to play with her.
And it begins...
Yep. I figured it was too calm and clean in our house and we needed another creature to clean up after.
I am very wise.
It all started two days before the kid's birthday party when Nick said to me, "What about a dog for their birthday?" Um, okay. We have talked about it for years so why not look into it? Maybe not go buy a dog that second, but at least consider the idea.
So, I did what everyone else does in this day and age-I consulted facebook land.
I asked my local friends where the best place to get a dog would be and was blessed with many answers. I learned more than I ever thought I needed to know by posting that question. Then, the answer that brought about the face you see above. A mom friend from school saw that a friend of a friend had found a lost dog and she needed a home. No tags, took her to the vet and no ID-just a loving dog who needed a family. And they found her about 12 minutes from our house.
We always planned on getting a puppy that would grow up with the kids, but seeing this dog (and hearing that she was already house trained-hello!) changed our hearts. I went to meet her the night before their party and knew pretty quickly that she belonged with our family.
So, after the kid's birthday party, we piled into the car and told them that we were going to get one last present that was for all three of them. We pulled up to the house and imagine their confusion when we were standing in a stranger's front yard, looking at a strange dog. It took Abby about a second to exclaim, "We're getting a dog?!"
The family who had found her and had kept her for a week were so kind. They gave us a card that their daughter had written in, that told us all about what the dog liked. I could tell that they would have loved to keep her, if not for allergies.
Once we got home, the discussion began on what to name our new family member. The family who had taken care of her had called her "Princess" and "Shadow," but we decided on "Molly."
Gotta say, "Shadow," is a more appropriate name as she loves to follow us all around the house. But, she is definitely a "Molly" and is just a barrel of fun.
There will be more stories to come of our Molly girl, but I must go now-she is chewing on a squeaky toy and begging for me to play with her.
And it begins...
Sunday, October 6, 2013
9 Years Old
My little Abby turned 9 years old today. What? Yep, I know.
I swear I was just driving home from work in 2004, suddenly feeling contractions three minutes apart as I dealt with ridiculous traffic on 275. Yet, here we are and she is nine. The last age of single digits.
Crap, I need a tissue.
My not-so-little Abby is just an amazing girl. She is so smart-usually smarter than me, sadly. I try to help her with her math homework and have to pull out my calculator. I never dreamed a child of mine would be in accelerated math. I was the girl in the high reading class and low math class (man, the things they do to us in school) so the fact that Abby does both so well is just plain awesome.
Speaking of reading-she still loves it. I feel like I am cheating when I write down the minutes that she reads every night, but it is all true. Yes, we have to ban the Harry Potter books from time to time because she loves to reread them, but hey-she has good taste in literature.
I may complain about being a soccer mom, but I truly love watching her play. I love cheering her on and watching her get excited over a great play. She works hard at everything and is very determined.
Abby's heart is so sweet. She loves her friends and treats them well. Even better, she is kind to those who are not always the easiest to be kind to. Okay, so maybe she could be kinder to Caleb, but let's focus on the positive things in this post.
It is starting to make me nervous to see how quickly she is growing up. Our parents always said how quickly it goes by, but that is so easy to shrug off during the baby years, when life is just trying to survive from day to day. But, I swear it is true-I blinked and she is suddenly nine.
I love you so much, Abigail Grace, and love seeing who you are growing up to be.
I swear I was just driving home from work in 2004, suddenly feeling contractions three minutes apart as I dealt with ridiculous traffic on 275. Yet, here we are and she is nine. The last age of single digits.
Crap, I need a tissue.
My not-so-little Abby is just an amazing girl. She is so smart-usually smarter than me, sadly. I try to help her with her math homework and have to pull out my calculator. I never dreamed a child of mine would be in accelerated math. I was the girl in the high reading class and low math class (man, the things they do to us in school) so the fact that Abby does both so well is just plain awesome.
Speaking of reading-she still loves it. I feel like I am cheating when I write down the minutes that she reads every night, but it is all true. Yes, we have to ban the Harry Potter books from time to time because she loves to reread them, but hey-she has good taste in literature.
I may complain about being a soccer mom, but I truly love watching her play. I love cheering her on and watching her get excited over a great play. She works hard at everything and is very determined.
Abby's heart is so sweet. She loves her friends and treats them well. Even better, she is kind to those who are not always the easiest to be kind to. Okay, so maybe she could be kinder to Caleb, but let's focus on the positive things in this post.
It is starting to make me nervous to see how quickly she is growing up. Our parents always said how quickly it goes by, but that is so easy to shrug off during the baby years, when life is just trying to survive from day to day. But, I swear it is true-I blinked and she is suddenly nine.
I love you so much, Abigail Grace, and love seeing who you are growing up to be.
Saturday, October 5, 2013
Happy Birthday 7 Year Old
So, this happened.
Caleb turned 7 today. 7! Yes, I know-shocking.
I just love this kid so much. He is never boring and I am so proud of who he is growing up to be.
Caleb loves sports. All sports. He runs around at soccer practice for 90 minutes, then the moment his coach says they are done, he grabs a football and starts throwing with his teammates. He goes to Reds and Bengals games with his dad and is much better company than I could ever be. You know-because he actually gets the games and knows every detail where as I enjoy people watching and cheering at big moments of the games.
He is also a pretty smart kid. He loves reading, which I am so thankful for. Every night, when I check on my boys before going to sleep, he is sprawled out in bed, surrounded by books. (And surrounded by stuffed animals...and football/baseball/soccer guys...) I actually had another mom from school tell me that her son keeps working hard at reading because he wants to catch up to Caleb. What an amazing thing to be told.
Something that I love about Caleb is how kind he is to his friends. Sure, he can totally be a typical boy and wrestle them to the ground (even if it's at church and the friend has no idea it is coming), but he loves his friends and talks about them a lot.
He is also super patient with Noah. Probably more patient than I am, honestly. I know that patience comes from this little trick-the moment Caleb gets home from school, he goes directly to his room to change his clothes and he locks himself in his room for awhile. He takes some time to just play by himself, uninterrupted by his little brother. As long as he has that time, he is great for the rest of the evening. If he does not get that time, Lord help us all.
It is actually a good lesson-we all need some quiet time to make it through the day.
Happy Birthday to my amazing and "growing up too quickly" Caleb Paul. I love you more than you can ever imagine.
Caleb turned 7 today. 7! Yes, I know-shocking.
I just love this kid so much. He is never boring and I am so proud of who he is growing up to be.
Caleb loves sports. All sports. He runs around at soccer practice for 90 minutes, then the moment his coach says they are done, he grabs a football and starts throwing with his teammates. He goes to Reds and Bengals games with his dad and is much better company than I could ever be. You know-because he actually gets the games and knows every detail where as I enjoy people watching and cheering at big moments of the games.
He is also a pretty smart kid. He loves reading, which I am so thankful for. Every night, when I check on my boys before going to sleep, he is sprawled out in bed, surrounded by books. (And surrounded by stuffed animals...and football/baseball/soccer guys...) I actually had another mom from school tell me that her son keeps working hard at reading because he wants to catch up to Caleb. What an amazing thing to be told.
Something that I love about Caleb is how kind he is to his friends. Sure, he can totally be a typical boy and wrestle them to the ground (even if it's at church and the friend has no idea it is coming), but he loves his friends and talks about them a lot.
He is also super patient with Noah. Probably more patient than I am, honestly. I know that patience comes from this little trick-the moment Caleb gets home from school, he goes directly to his room to change his clothes and he locks himself in his room for awhile. He takes some time to just play by himself, uninterrupted by his little brother. As long as he has that time, he is great for the rest of the evening. If he does not get that time, Lord help us all.
It is actually a good lesson-we all need some quiet time to make it through the day.
Happy Birthday to my amazing and "growing up too quickly" Caleb Paul. I love you more than you can ever imagine.
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