Oh, the Things You Find When You Clean Off Your Kid's Desk

So I took today off (along with Friday and Monday) so that I could:

1.) Prepare for my favorite holiday ever...Halloween;

2.) Spend some time with my hubby (he took time off, too);

and my least favorite reason...

3) To clean. Really clean. Like gut-the-closets-drawers-and-rooms kind of clean.

So I started with my least favorite first...#3.

90% of this kind of cleaning involves sorting through stacks of paper. We should be ashamed of the amount of paper we use. Although we do recycle anything we get rid of!

Most of our paper use is allocated to the kids and their creativity: art, drawing, and writing - and I just can't part with a ton of that. So in going through the paper on Maddie's desk, I came across a gem that I just have to share.

This is...

Maddie's Share Time List, verbatim. She didn't write this for school. She wrote it just because.

I'll retain the spelling errors because it adds to the cute factor! The parentheticals are mine.

1. My name is Maddie Ranz.

2. My favorite color is pink.

3. My favorite place is paris. (She's never been!)

4. My favorite rock star is Nicole Anerson. (Who is that? Never heard of her)

5. My favorite thing to do is draw and scodder. (She means "scooter.")

6. The thing that I am best at is making friends. :)

7. My favorite dessert is ice cream!!!

8. My family is going on vacation soon!!!

9. My favorite sacrifist (she means "sacrament") is First Communion.

10. My favorite TV show is VICTORIOUS!!!

11. My favorite jewlry is silly bands.

12. My favorite kind of shoes are high tops.

13. My favorite store is Justice!

14. My favorite school subject is gym class.

15. My birthday is in March!

16. My favorite restdaront ("restaurant") is Chipotile ("Chipotle" - close!).

17. My favorite car is a convertable V. Bug.

18. My favorite fruit is cherries.

19. My favorite artis is Mutius. (Who the heck is that?)

20. My favorite song is "Make It Shine"!

21. My favorite movie is Camp Rock 2 The Final Jam!

22. My favorite number si 8,888. (LOL!!)

23. The place I go in the most is my room. (Um, that would be because she gets sent there when she's in trouble, which lately is a lot!!!)

24. My favorite sport is swimming.

25. I am GREAT at soccer!

26. I love dancing!

27. I have two trophies for it!!!!!!

28. I love buttons.

29. I love butterflys.

30. I love Joe Jonas!

31. Some people think Justin Bieber sings like a girl. I don't!!

I'm dying. I love this kid.
My favorite thing about this list, besides just the fact that she did it, is that I already knew 26 out of 31 of these, which makes me feel close to my girl.

But I guess we should start saving for Paris and put 8,888 buttons on her Christmas list. And let me know if you've ever heard of Nicole Anerson or this Mutius character...

I Blame Facebook

I know. It's been awhile, Blog. Almost two years. I should be ashamed. I am.

I have a confession to make. I've been seeing another social network. That seductress you all know as Facebook hooked her tantalizing claws into me and pulled me away from you. I wish I could say it took a lot of cunning and manipulation for me to give into the temptation. But She made things so easy. I'm a working mom. You know my crazy schedule. And Facebook just fit into my lifestyle so effortlessly: An update here. A comment there. An uploaded photo. These all only take a few minutes, even seconds at a time, and all via the convenience of my Blackberry. The thought of writing meaningful, interesting blog entries just exhausted me - I'll get to it later, I'd say. But the truth is, I just got lazy. I took the easy way out. I'm sorry.

So what brought me back to you? The other day a coworker mentioned that she once made Play-doh but couldn't remember an odd ingredient. And I chimed in, "Hey I did that! I've made BLUE Play-doh! And I burnt it!" And I knew I had written a blog post about it. So I pulled up this here Ol' Faithful and found it. Cream of Tartar. That was the the magic part of the receipe! I saved the day! YOU saved the day. More than you know.

When I got on here, I couldn't just leave. That would be rude. And honestly, I wanted to stick around. I couldn't help but poke around and read old postings and pictures of my girls from since they were way littler.

Suddenly I found myself so engaged in the past:

"Oh, yeah, I forgot that!"

"I remember her saying that now! How cute!

"OMG, look how little my babies are!"

"Dang, this blog ain't half bad."

I immediately had a mix of feelings. Sadness that my girls have grown up so much. Regret that I hadn't kept up with the blog and thus left many wonderful moments and comments undocumented. Appreciation that I at least had this bit immortalized for our enjoyment forever. And then resolve - to get back to it.

Yeah, I'm still busy. REALLY busy. Busier than ever, really. Full-time job, a good 30 minutes away. Two daughters who are both involved in soccer, a two-hour competitive dance team, Brownies/Daisies, cheer, guitar, swimming, and about to be gymnastics. Oh, and then there's that school thing they do that carries studying, and homework, and activities. I have new friendships I'm building, old friendships I'm nourishing, a newfound romance with my husband that I'm celebrating. And then there are those P90x DVDS that are glaring at me, laughing at my intentions to get back into working out. Not to mention a DVR that is literally bursting with series after series that I just haven't gotten to yet because I haven't had time.

But yeah, I can find time for this. I need to find time for this. Because I am lucky enough to have life, love, happiness, friendships, and even trials that are worth sharing. And remembering. And remembering again. So my story resumes...

My Gummy's Grill

Having kids is scary. Just physically preserving them is a daunting task. When they're newborns, you're worried, Am I holding their head up right? Are they still breathing? When they are toddlers and they become mobile, I swear your job is to save their life 24/7. Stairs are death traps, everything from hot dogs to pennies become choking hazards, and electrical outlets become a source of obsession.

I thought as my children got past that stage that maybe, just maybe, we'd be able to exhale. Relax. What I didn't realize that you have a lot of external resources in those early years to help safeguard your little one. Babies R' Us sells stair gates and outlet covers. You can baby proof your house. But as your kids get older and more creative, you really can't predict or prevent some of the random or crazy stuff they decide to do. And those are the times they really get hurt.

A couple of weeks ago, my dad was watching my girls at our house. I called home as I always do to check on them. Gabby got on the phone and said I have a blood toof. I asked my dad what she was talking about and he said she just fell and her mouth had bled a lil around her tooth. I thought nothing else of it.

I had a dentist appointment on my side of town yesterday, so I stopped home before my appointment to brush my teeth. As soon as I walked in, Gab walked up and said, Look at my blood toof. I pulled her top lip up and at first thought I saw a TON of dried blood and asked my dad why he hadn't wiped it off. So I went to go wipe it off, and realized it was hunks of gum tissue literally just hanging off the bone. I about died.

Apparently, she was playing hide and seek with a neighbor while I was at work/ dad was watching her. She ran into my bedroom, tripped and slammed her face into my metal bedframe. I found blood all over my bedspread. My dad didn't even look at her mouth after she fell. He says because Gabby only cried a little when it happened.

I called her dentist, who was out of town. I asked them what I should do. They said either Children's Hosp or since I was going to the dentist, have her look at her. I preferred the latter, only because she's specialist and I've had bad experience with ERs, even Children's. She took one look at her, said it was serious, and called a gum surgeon who agreed to see us right away.

They did xrays because they were afraid of bone damage. Luckily there was none. He said they could let the tissue die but that could cause bone loss/damage. That's not good. So he said they'd try to repair it, which I didn't understand how they could do since it was a jagged mess. But when he went in to stitch it up, they realized it was more severe - she had ripped through a muscle in her gums above her teeth. They ended up having to remove that muscle. He said it's a muscle you don't need - it's only used in embryonic stage of life to bring your palates together. They moved tissue around to piece Humpty Dumpty back together again.

Anyway, she's short a gum muscle and gained 8 stitches. Doc says her front two teeth will probably die (luckily they're baby teeth) but if they die they will try to treat them and not remove them because of her age - a loss of two front teeth leaves too much space and will wreak havoc on the rest of her mouth. So she very well might have two black hillbilly teeth until she's five. If that happens I'm gonna get her shirt that says, "I really do brush my teeth. I just like to bite chew on metal."

I have to say, I'm so proud of my Gab - she is so tough. During all of that, not a single tear was shed by my little girl, not a single whine or complaint. She was giggling and playing with all of the nurses and doctors and was 100% compliant with everything they asked. In the words of her older sister, Gabzilla is so brave, Mommy.

(Side note: since we are on the subject of nicknames. One of my many, many nicknames for Gab is Gum Drop - which has morphed into Gummy. Ironic considering, huh?)

She was and still is her normal self, like nothing happened. The only complaining she did at all was because she was supposed to eat soft, cold foods -- and avoid any more trauma to her face of course, so we had to cancel the daily wrestling routine.

She has to been back to the gum surgeon once since the incident and returns in another month. Luckily, we have THE BEST dentist and THE BEST gum doctor. Check out her before and after shots to see the amazing things dentists on the West Siiiiiiiide can do.

Before:

After

Nice grill, huh? Yes, those are gold teeth. And of course a joke.

I'm just glad I can still laugh about this.

In Loving Memory of the Chickens

We never, ever use our front door to enter our house. With the convenience of an electric garage door with keypad entry, there really just isn't a reason. In fact, we very rarely even notice our front door much because the front of our house is rather oddly shaped, with the front porch turned at a 45 degree angle facing away from the garage.

This past Sunday afternoon while we were out during our neighborhood garage sale, Madelyn decided to sit on our front porch. As she did, she noticed something a little different about our front door, particularly about the wreath placed upon the door. The wreath is made of faux twigs and berries (not those kinds!), but suddenly it had a lot more twigs. It turned out that a bird had built a nest at the top of our wreath and there were three newly hatched baby birdies inside (two visible here):

My girls were very excited. I was amazed. While we don't enter our house via the front door, we certainly have plenty of visitors coming in that way. That day alone, I had easily opened and closed (perhaps even slammed) that door six times because of guests dropping in. No one ever noticed the nest right in front of their face. Mama Bird must have secured her nest pretty well, too. I'm really surprised it stayed put.

Well, it did until last night. Jack was up late watching baseball and suddenly heard quite a commotion on our front porch. He went to the front window just in time to discover that an orange cat had found that a bird family had moved onto our front door. The cat made a giant leap towards the front door and took the entire wreath, nest and all, down with him in one big swoop. Jack tried to scare the cat away, but it was too late. All of the baby birdies perished in the attack.

Mama Bird was not around when the hungry kitty made its attack, but today she has been lingering around the house, sitting atop our deck and roof. In mourning, I guess. I was heartbroken to hear what had happened.

This morning I very delicately told my girls what had happened to the baby birdies. Their reactions, like everything else, could not have been more different. Cat-phobic Madelyn expressed fear and anger at the cat and riddled me with questions about it: whose cat was it, what did it look like, was it still outside, did Daddy get scratched in the attack, will it come back? After those questions were answered to her satisfaction, she proclaimed with dismay, Well, I guess we won't be famous for having a bird's nest on our front door. Sensitive yet silly Gabrielle immediately started crying upon hearing of the news. She kept shaking her head in disbelief and repeating, Those poor little chickens.

Gabrielle's Wish

Last month, we celebrated the fourth birthday of my younger daughter, Gabrielle. As with my older daughter, whose birthday we celebrated just the month prior, the morning after the party I asked Gabrielle what she had wished for as she blew out the candles. Her response was just as touching as was her sister's described in the prior post.

Mommy: Gab, what did you wish for when you blew out your candles?

Gabrielle: (without thought or hesitation) I wished that Madelyn would never have allergies again.

You see, weeks prior to the birthday party, Madelyn had been experiencing horrific allergies, which had kept her confined to the house, crying relentlessly about how miserable she was, and it even caused her to miss a day of school. Her eyes were an oozing, itchy mess, made even worse by her refusal to leave them alone. Try to tell a 6-year-old not to rub her eyes when they feel like sandpaper (heck, I have a heck of a time following that advice myself).

Anyway, clearly Madelyn's extreme discomfort had really made an impact on her little sister, worried her even. But I have to say, this caring statement from Gabrielle was not in the least bit surprising to me. I know I'm biased and all, but I swear to you, this kid is the most sympathetic and empathetic human being I have ever met. When she was just two, she had cried during a Lifetime movie because a baby got hurt. When her sister is sent to time-out (even if it's for something she did to Gabrielle, like pinching her), it affects Gabrielle more than Madelyn. Gab cries for her, tries to sit in time-out with her, pats her on her back, and comforts her. She even tries to talk me into taking Madelyn out and putting her in instead. On the other hand, if Gabrielle is in trouble/ in time-out, Madelyn takes the opportunity to rub her nose in it, tongue stuck out at her, nah-nah-nah-nah-nah-nah.

Regardless, I feel I got the greatest wishes granted to me this year (exemplified through the types of wishes made by my girls at their birthday parties): my babies are growing to be incredibly happy, beautiful, and caring little girls (despite the tongue-sticking-out thing).

Madelyn's Wish

Last month was Madelyn's 6th birthday. After her party, I asked her what she had wished as she blew out her candles.

Madelyn: Mommy, I didn't want to make a wish.

Mommy: Why not?

Madelyn: Because I want everything to stay exactly like it is. If I wished for something, maybe that would mess things up and I want things to stay the same.

I cannot tell you how happy that made me -- to know my little girl is so happy. I felt like we must be doing something right. It also made me realize what a deep thinker she is, even at the tender age of 6. To understand the ripple effect of even the smallest of decisions and actions. The butterfly effect.

In that moment if I had been granted a wish, I would have wished for the very thing my Madelyn had inadvertently wished for: nothing. Or maybe more accurately - for time to stand still. To keep my little girls so happy and healthy, loving their life and their family, enjoying the carefree-ness of their youth. That makes me happy, and knowing, feeling, and hearing so openly how much they love me too. There's no greater wish I could make than that present reality and for that I feel so incredibly blessed.

My Big, Brave, Spontaneous Girl

For Christmas this year my husband bought me a beautiful jewelry armoire. It's already March and I had still not gone through my old jewelry box to transport the jewelry into the new armoire. I had promised Madelyn that I would give her my old jewelry box, so I decided today was a good day to tackle the project.

Madelyn helped me go through the jewelry box as I told her the stories and history behind each piece of jewelry. She was most interested in my earrings. She had never wanted to have her ears pierced, but she treasures some gawdy clip-ons I have given her for dress-up.

She suddenly seemed kind of quiet and then left the room for a few minutes. When she returned, she boldly announced, "Mommy, I want to get my ears pierced today." This announcement completely stunned me because she has always seemed very fearful of the entire concept in the past. I asked her if she was sure, and she asked how badly it hurt. I told her it felt like a very sharp pinch. She asked me to demo the pinch on her ear, which I did. She repeated that she really, really did want to get this done - and today - so I said ok. It was already 4pm on a Sunday, so we rushed to get ready and headed out for the mall.

Now my Madelyn can be quite the drama queen, especially when it comes to sickness or pain. At least she has been that way in the past. So I told my husband to prepare himself for a good hour of screaming and drama when the piercing occurred and probably for a few days afterwards. I told Maddie it was ok if she cried, that it probably would hurt a little.

When we got to the jewelry shop, I showed Madelyn the display of earring selections for new piercings. She pointed to the largest, most gawdy cubic zirconium earrings in the case. It was nearly the size of a dime, I kid you not. I explained to her that the earring was too large and that she would get it caught on something, so she settled for a cz earring 1/100th of the size.

The girls at the store prepped her (they did both ears at once), and it was over in a zip. Much to my surprise, my girl did not let out the slightest whimper - before, during, or since. After it was done, she admired herself in the mirror, hopped down from the chair, and started picking out more earrings for her collection. It took my husband and I both awhile to pick our jaws up off the ground. We were beaming with pride at our big girl. Our big, brave, spontaneous girl.

The minute we left the shop, Madelyn grabbed my hand, smiled from ear to ear, and said, "Now I'm EXACTLY like Mommy!" As she started to literally skip down the hall filled with pride, my eyes welled up with tears.