The Sound Of Silence

You are sitting in your living room (kitchen, bedroom, etc) and all of a sudden you realize that there is complete silence in your home, and you have a toddler or toddlers, what do you do??

What do you think??

Are they curled up reading a book or looking at pictures?

Are they sound asleep??

Are they watching a Barney DVD??

Or are they creating a ruckus, that you can't hear?

It happened to me twice today and I wish I would have gotten a picture.

The first time was this morning. I was sitting at my desk and all of a sudden I realized my little red headed angel was to quiet.

So, I go to investigate like anyone would do.

I call out to her, no answer.

I call out again as I'm getting closer to the room that I know she is in, and I hear a giggle.

I say to myself: "self, what is that smell?!? It smells like peanut butter. Lots and lots of peanut butter."

She comes running out of the bedroom, covered in Jif Peanut Butter. From head to toe. I investigate the room. Our bedroom. Yep, peanut butter on the pillows, bed, wall, if it was within slathering distance it got peanut butterized (my word for that mess).

Like I said, I should have got a picture. But couldn't think quick enough about that. I just wanted to get her cleaned up.

The second time today, was just a bit ago.

This time, my little red headed angel is sound asleep in the middle of the bed.

Sometimes you just have to let go . . .

Yes.

Let go.

Remember when they learned to walk?

You wanted to walk beside them in case they fell, to make sure you caught them.

Remember when they started doing somersaults off the bed and your heart went into your throat each time they landed on their butt?

You wanted to be there to catch them.

But dang, they are quick.

Being a parent you know when the time comes to let go. To let them explore.

To find new things.

To start shaping themselves into the person that they are going to be.

Yes, that time does come.

It comes frequently.

Different milestones.

What am I talking about?

Yes, the time comes that you must hold your breath and do this:



You must get them a twist ice-cream cone, instead of a dish and let them have at it.

Different Layouts/Templates

I want to apologize about the different templates/designs I have been using. It seems like after a couple of days of one design, it starts to fade out and is unreadable; at least to me.

Hopefully, fingers crossed, I will be able to pay someone to do a more professional design for me really soon.

Until then, have a wonderful day my friends.

A Feel Good Experiment

It has been one of those weeks.

Okay, it has been a few days. Not really a horrible week.

Maybe it is the heat and humidity that is making everyone cranky. Though I know that some people love this type of weather, there are some that don't.

So, I'm sitting here thinking outloud to myself (and if anyone asks, I swear I was talking to the little one :-) ) what I could do to maybe make other people feel good?

Obviously, I don't have ca$h to throw around or to buy people "things" but there are many other ways to make someone feel good.

To make someone smile.

To make them forget that they are bothered by something.

I have decided that I am going to go on a mission to do something nice for someone, whether it be a stranger, friend or family member for 30 days.

Something and someone different everyday.

Maybe it will be a kind word.

Maybe it will be a smile.

Maybe it will be holding the door open for someone.

Maybe it will be getting something off the top shelf.

Maybe it will be buying someone a cup of coffee.

Maybe it will be a shoulder to lean on.

Maybe it will be just sitting with them.

Not sure which day I will start this on, but it will be coming soon.

I won't blog about this because I don't want any recognition or pats on the back, I just want to make someone smile.

Now my friends, I hope that you are all having a wonderful day.

Feel Good Friday

Feel Good Friday is brought to you by The Girl Next Door Grows Up .

You know what time of the week it is ~ YES!!! It is Friday and that can only mean one thing. Okay, it means more then one thing, but for this post it means:

FEEL GOOD FRIDAY

We got through a hot week. Hot! Humid! Hazy! The type of air that you can chew when you are outside. The type of air that you don't even want to go outside in.

But, he it is. Another Friday. Another week. Another story.

What do I have to feel good about this week?

There are always a bunch of little things. New words. Small sentences. That little smile that you get from your little ones.

Then there is also:

~ Sprint Car Races. Went to my first. It was fun and a needed break out of the house so that counts as something that made me feel good this week.

~ Another first?!? Weird Al concert. Seriously, I thought that I would never ever attend a concert of his. He can put on a show. He does have a great voice, and a ton of energy (changes costumes frequently), not to mention he seems to be down to earth. He met with everyone after the show and signed autographs or took pictures, free of charge. Very fun night.

~ Which leads me to this feel good part of the week: Free tickets. Yep, I won both the race tickets, and the Weird Al tickets. Now that you can feel good about.

~ Catching up with old friends. Nothing like finding people who were in your life years ago and seeing how they are doing. Old friends rock.

~ Finally, a break from the weather. Hopefully. I don't normally feel good about a weather report that says we are going to be in the 80's, but after the week we have had, it is a good number to shoot for.

And, how was your week?

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Heat wave

Here we are in the midst of another heat wave. Actually, the entire east coast is being hit by a heat wave, with the heat index's into the 100's.

Some tips:

Keep yourself hydrated and in a cool area if possible.
Keep your kids hydrated and definitely don't let them go outside running all over the place getting overheated.
Check on your neighbors. Do you have elderly neighbors or neighbors that are home bound? Just a quick visit would brighten their day and you can check to make sure they have enough fluids to drink and have a fan or a/c unit going.
Have pets that are outside? Not just dogs or cats, but what about horses, cows, sheep, etc. Make sure they have plenty of fresh water and food and have shade that they can hang out in.

If you are going shopping. Please leave your pets at home. Just came over the radio a bit ago that someone was shopping at one of the local stores and had a dog in the vehicle with the windows up. Use common sense.

Under no circumstances leave your kids in the car. Windows cracked open or not.

Please don't mess with the heat.

You absolutely don't have to go out and mow the lawn during the hottest part of the day.

Be safe.

Stay cool.

Drink plenty of fluids.

If you start to feel lightheaded get to a cool area, get help, and get some fluids into you.

Going to the races and a little lack of respect

With the grace of a ballerina I dialed the phone and managed to win tickets to a local race track for Saturday night.

I have never been to a track to watch the races. I've watched Nascar on tv. I root for Dale Jr., and loved Dale Sr., but have never attended a race in person.

But, these weren't Nascar cars. These were Sprint cars, Modifieds, Lite-Modifieds, etc. Nevertheless, they go fast and they are LOUD, especially the Sprint cars. If you have never been to a race before, turning up your car stereo full blast doesn't come close. Maybe standing under the fireworks display at the Washington Monument would be similar.

We were approximately 15 feet away from the track. Separated by a short wall and a chain link fence that was about 10-12 feet high.

We sat on a straight-away between turn 4 and turn 1.

Me: Think a car can jump that fence?

Hubby: We're safe.

Me: Okay. (Though I'm not reassured as these cars are flying around turn 4 balanced on 3 tires).

Hubby: But there was a woman killed down there (points to the direction of turn 4) when a tire flew off a car and over the fence.

So, I am now thinking about an escape route and how fast you would have to duck and cover if you saw something happening. Two accidents happened in turn 4 and I didn't see them, so I know that you could not plan for an escape route. One I did see, and it wasn't pretty.

Also, and I just want to throw this in. The barricade and the fence are next to each other. There were many small children there and they were standing with their faces right up to the fence. What were the parents thinking? There were also a couple of newborns there as well. Not the place for newborns to be.

Any who, someone from the track finally noticed the kids and shooed them away from the fence.

So, where does the respect or lack of come in?

After the heat races for qualifying and a dash for cash race they run the main event race. The announcer asks everyone to stand and to "please remove your hats" for the National Anthems of Canada and the USA. We stand, remove hats, listen to the Canadian National Anthem and then there is a short pause before our National Anthem plays. From behind us we hear: "Remove your hat asshole." Apparently some gent decided that, yes, he would stand, but no he wasn't going to remove his hat, and another gent was calling him out on it.

There was no fight, and I didn't really want to glance over my shoulder to see if he removed his hat or not.

This is just one incident that makes me wonder what this world is coming to? Growing up I was always taught to respect the flag and the country? Is it so hard to reach up and remove a hat for 2 minutes?

They also did a moment of silence and there were people laughing and talking during that.

I really believe that respect for our country and the people that inhabit it has gone out the window.

But I know where I stand and know that my daughter will be brought up respecting the flag and our country.

Let me leave you with one word:

EARPLUGS!!

Feel Good Friday

Feel Good Friday is brought to you by The Girl Next Door Grows Up .

You know what time of the week it is ~ YES!!! It is Friday and that can only mean one thing. Okay, it means more then one thing, but for this post it means:

FEEL GOOD FRIDAY

Well it has been a crazy week.

Though nothing out of the ordinary has really happened.

My Feel Good Friday story is about the new sentence that the little one has picked up. It is cute and annoying at the same time. Well, right now it is cute, but if she does it when she is a teen-ager I will know that she is trying to get under my skin.

Em likes to get into things. The water dish, the cat food, the dog food, or the garbage can. Normally, she goes from one thing to another. She also likes to sit on the kitchen table and I'm always telling her to get down off the table, the chairs, the arm of the recliner, and so on.

Her new response whenever I say these things to her (as in the past couple of days):

"Yes Mommy!"

I'm not sure where she picked it up. Or, if the hubby has taught it to her. But that is her response to whatever I say to her.

As I said, right now it is cute.

When she is a teen-ager and I have to say something similar to her and she replies with a sigh and a "Yes Mooooooooooooooooom" I'll know she is doing it to be a smartmouth, lol.

I hope that everyone has had a wonderful week, and has plenty to feel good about.

Children left in vehicles

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2010-06-30-hotcars30_st_N.htm

Nineteen children this year have died after overheating in hot cars, the most deaths in the first half of a year since researchers began tracking such deaths in 1998.

Seven children died during the week of June 13, says Jan Null, an adjunct professor at San Francisco State University, who has recorded 464 heat-related deaths in children in the past 12 years.

How is this even possible? How can you forget that your baby or your toddler is in the backseat? Do parents or caregivers get so busy that they actually forget that they put them in the backseat to start with?

Please, please, please, check your backseats when you get out of the vehicle.

These deaths are preventable.