Gigi, or really GG (short for Great-Grandma)

For her bedtime story last night, my 2 1/2 year-old daughter chose a photo album with some older pictures of her cousins as babies, me pregnant with my son (now 7), and family at an annual barbeque. She came to a picture of my grandmother, who died long before Serena was born and she caught her breath and said, "Who's that? I know her!"

"That's your Grandma Gigi," I said (we've seen pictures and talked about her before but not all that recently).

"Oh, Grandma Gigi!! I love her! And she's mine...."

and then, "I wish I could jump into this photo album and be with her right there and see her."

"Oh, me too, Serena, wouldn't that be so neat to be able to do?", I said.

And my grandma would have loved this child. My grandma with her pocketbooks, and fingernails, and heels, and dressy outfits even on the 4th of July. She would have loved this spunky, chatty, full of joy and life, GIRLY girl. I know she heard Serena at bedtime the other night.

Miss you Gram.

Raindrops on Roses...

So, I'm home with a slightly sick child and have been neglecting him and his sister all morning by letting them watch a lot of tv, so I thought, "What better time to post on my blog?"....

I'm turning over a new leaf with this blog. I'd say I think about posting just about every day. I just don't. But now I will. It's as simple as that.

Today, because I've already lost a few points with myself for the tv-watching thing, plus that I'm feeling a bit under the weather myself, I've decided to just talk about myself and toot my own horn a bit.I'm going to play like Oprah and Julie Andrews and do the "My Favorite Things" theme or my "Top 5"

Top 5 Possessions

1. My LLBean travel/toiletries bag. Anything that organizes, I love.

2. The rope swing in my family room (Is this a possession or a fixture? whatever). Instant gross motor and PT work for my kids, starting before age two. They all have crazy upper body strength because of it. ALSO, I can tell the kids to "go swing on the rope" and shut all the doors to the room (french doors with windows) and have some semi-peace and quiet.

3. My key holder and change purse/pouch. Weird, I know. And yet so convenient and simple when lugging 3 kids into the grocery store. No purse and hands-free.

4. My computer. Spend way too much time on it. But love it dearly.

5. Our karaoke system. Ummm yeah, I know. But seriously, nothing wrong with some good, clean karaoke fun. We've had some gooood times because of that thing.


Top Green Actions

1. 7 x 7 inch cutey napkins in a square bowl on my counter. I buy paper napkins probably twice a year now, for parties.

2. Glass juice cups in a drawer that my kids can reach and get their own drinks. Used to do this with small paper cups, but again... never buy them now.

3. Those blue and green washable cloths in a plastic bag dispenser next to my plastic bag dispenser. I pull them out and use them to wipe the counters with spray, wipe spills off of the floor (a different one than the counters, duh) , etc. Went from using a roll of paper towels at least once a week to about once every 3. Woo hoo!

4. Laptop Lunches!!! Love them. Plastic, yes. But reusable and lead-free. Love, love, love. So do the kids.

5. Kleen Kanteen water bottles. I was never a disposable plastic water bottle person anyway, because frankly, I just don't get it. At all. But switched from reusable nalgene to the Kleen Kanteens and love them. I'm just a tad fanatical about not losing them. Kind of an investment.

Alright, so only 2 lists today. Please, I have kids to sit and watch TV with.

Those last five pounds....

I see you. You don't think I can see you, but I can. You small, square sandwich quarter sitting on a spiderman plate, filled with peanut butter and fluffy goodness. But I will not eat you. I will not. Today is not the day.

Because if I do, then I'll just take 2 bites of your twin next to you, just as I'm bringing the plate to the counter. And because I have to clear off the rest of the kid table, I'll finish your little pretzel friends in the snack bowl... there's only 3 or 4 of them. And then the last graham cracker left by the two year-old diner now playing that flute oh-so-loudly and persistently in the living room.

And then, because I haven't had my lunch yet, I will eat a salad.

And since I already blew the day with the craziness of somebody else's peanut butter and fluff, I might as well have just a small cup of M&Ms. Maybe two.

And then I will already start thinking that I will do better tomorrow. Forget it, I'll just have the ice cream for dessert after dinner tonight like everybody else and THEN I'll start fresh tomorrow.

Nope, no fluffernutter for me, thank you. I have more willpower than that.

And I was doing so well up until lunch....