100 Days of Happy: Second Ten

For those of you unfamiliar with the sunny little campaign that's making the rounds on social media click here.

Here's round two of my daily happy. In case you missed one through ten they're here. Please don't misunderstand, there has been plenty of sadness, disappointment, frustration and pain in the last almost three weeks these are the bight spots. In all honesty, most days I had trouble deciding which happy moment should represent the day. It has an amazing effect on your perspective. Also, once I got in the habit of sharing daily happy moments it was much harder to complain publicly.

Here's eleven through twenty:

The kids & I are off to see the Wizard! Next weekend (:

This was extra special because not only do I love the theater and the Wizard of Oz, but an old friend from college was one of the musicians for this run of the show!

Puppy Cuddles!

She's always there for me when I have a rough day. I just love her so much.

Booked a movie date.

Opportunity, kicked in the door and I knew it was time to use the gift card my lovely sister gave us for Christmas. We're going to see Transcendence with Johnny Depp and Morgan Freeman. Woohoo, date night!

Face painting!

When they offered face painting at school the parents all had to sign a permission slip. The teacher started to say "sign this if she wants her face..." then laughed and said "here." Obviously, Roo was over the moon. Isn't face painting great? I wish there were more opportunities for it.

Being Appreciated!

It was parent appreciation day at Roo's school. This little bag had a "seven minute breakfast" it was a juice box, small banana and a pastry. I loved it, especially the little owl note.

Donuts!

A great night at the theater!

The show was amazing! I'm so glad the kids and I got to see it. Breathtaking. I hope it becomes a cherished memory for the kids it certainly will be one of mine. I'm so glad I didn't give up on finding tickets we could afford, where's there'a will there's a way!

Flowers!

Volunteering at Riley's school makes me happy! I love these guys!

I'm tempted to write the word "massage" and leave it at that but it wouldn't be accurate. What makes me happy is knowing I'm taking care of myself and naturally managing my pain.

Easter

Our Easter party was a big success, as always. You can't go wrong with a house full of excited kids. The pancakes were yellow (bananas foster), blue (blueberry) and my favorite, pink (chocolate raspberry). This year we didn't have a single pancake left by the time we were ready to find those eggs. Lot's of happy full bellies after Mike's pancakes and all the yummy breakfast foods family brought. The Easter bunny had four dozen hard boiled and 173 plastic eggs to hide so it's a good thing Roo left him a snack. I let the kids out into the yard in 3 waves: babies/toddlers, preschoolers and then big kids. In years past I had big kids wait on the patio, but this time I kept them inside the house until Mike signaled me to send the next group. We get a little bit better at this party every year.

Happy Easter!!

Hippity Hoppity Easter on it's Way

Spring has sprung and Easter preparations are underway. I'm always excited for our annual gathering which has grown from four kiddos to somewhere in the neighborhood of fifteen. This party was one of the reasons we chose our house with its amazing backyard. I live for excuses to fill my house and yard with happy children. Every year we invite friends and family over for Easter egg pancakes and egg hunting.

Miss Roo filling eggs for her classmates.

The eggs we dyed and decorated

Treats and favors

Conversations With Cute Spring 2014

In the car over the weekend Riley asked if she could watch Antz later. I thought it was pretty random, but I said sure. It never happened that day, but the next morning after breakfast she asked again.
Her brother put on Antz.
About 2 minutes of movie play...
"This isn't the right Antz!"
Mike tries to figure out what she means, he describes the later part of Antz.
"No, the one with the people in it"
He describes A Bugs Life, James and the Giant Peach, Fly Me to the Moon (she insists none of these are the movie she wants)
Riley thinks VERY hard for a few seconds... "Yellow Submarine!"
She was thinking of the "Beatles".

On the way home from school:
Don't let me pass our turn, ok Riley?
Ok mom. Just...just go straight and then...turn in the shape of the letter "L"
Ok thanks. This one?
Yes the brown one.
The one with eggs on the door?
Mom, who put those eggs there?
I did.
No, say like a joke that the Easter Bunny did.
Ok. Riley who put those there?
Who?
The Easter Bunny!
(Laughs)
Ok, now I'll tell you one...why did the Easter Bunny...um...poop on the eggs?
Ew, Riley. That's gross.
Oh
You should tell that joke to Isaac instead.
Oh, why? Does he like gross things?
Yes
Does he like poop?
Probably, it's gross
(Walks inside)Hey Isaac what do you like?
What?
She wants you to say poop.
What?
Say poop.
Isaac! What do you like?
Poop!
(Hysterical laughter)
(In an incredibly serious tone) Not really though, Riley. It's gross.

I went in to read to Riley's class yesterday. I got there early and watched their Greek lesson.
Greek Teacher: Who remembers what this song is about?
Riley: It's about bees that work very hard. They work hard to make their honey. Then a bear eats it! They get mad.
GT: Bravo, Riley
Another kid in Roo's class: Why does the bear eat the honey?
Roo's teacher: She made a mistake
Same kid: Oh, she made a mistake!
Different little boy: I LOVE steaks (he even licked his lips)
*I THINK he heard "she made him a steak", but who knows?

Riley are you excited to go see your friend's new house after school?
Yeah! I can't wait to use the bathroom!!
What?
Because it's Purple!
Oh, ok silly.

100 Happy Days: First 10

For those of you unfamiliar with the sunny little campaign that's making the rounds on social media click here.

My first thought when I read that was, "71%?!? Unacceptable." So far I'm up to day 11, but the highest I've seen on my daily perusal of the other posts was someone on day 90 and that was 5 days ago. I hope she finishes! I hope so many of us make it to end that the numbers change.

Here's what I posted so far:

27 Days, fast passes booked!

I freaking did it! French braid success!

Puppy Visits!

I did it! My Easter table!

Princess hugs puppy.

Fridge gallery clear. I love a finished project.

Kid art!

Prepping for a shopping trip makes me feel like an athlete before a big game. Go team!

A hot breakfast that I don't have share with children. Amen.

Hair cut!

Do my a favor, if you are participating in 100HappyDays leave a comment or message me on the FB page and keep being awesome!!

Drip, Drip, Drop Little April Showers

Let's talk in-climate weather logistics. Honestly, since I rarely used a mobility device unless I was post surgery growing up, I guess it wasn't an issue. The first time I remember rain being an issue was in college when I was suddenly had to traverse a vast, hilly campus on wheels. Obviously, holding an umbrella was not an option while pushing my wheelchair up hills slick with rain so mostly I'd bundle up in my winter coat with my hood up.

Later, I suffered the standard how-do-I-get-the-baby-and-groceries-inside-the-house conundrum. I wasn't still using mobility devices on a regular basis. I just wished I had more hands (don't we all). When I had to carry a baby and an umbrella I was ok, but getting her and I into the car dry was always tricky. I started arranging the umbrella between the door and car roof so I had both hands free to get her situated. It meant a dry baby and mostly dry mommy. Usually, I'd get rain trickling down my back a bit before I could get in.

I'm not complaining. I don't mind being a little damp. I just wanted to give you a frame of reference. Now several years after the baby and a few major surgeries later I'm on crutches outside the house. Aside from not easily being able to manage an umbrella there's the crutches on a wet surface issue. I can't count the number of times I've had my crutches go out from under me in opposite directions on wet ladies room floor, or on a puddle-ly sidewalk. A crutch on water is like stepping on a banana peel. I've never (knock on wood) been injured seriously, but it always scares me to pieces. One-a these days Alice, broken hip!

The other issue is that anyone with bad joints or any inclination towards inflammation isn't a fan of what rain does to their body. It never used to bother me much, but I grew up and got hit by a bus. Ever since the bus, rains hurts. It doesn't always take me out of circulation, but I always feel it to some degree.

These days, I ditch one of my crutches if I can because lopsided-ness is worth umbrella coverage. I really don't care about getting wet at all, except that it makes the joint pain worse. Wet equals cold, cold equals muscle tension. I try to keep my joints warm and keep my physical activity mid-level to minimum. I take fish oil twice a day to help my joints and minimize the need for anti-inflammatories. I try to get in for regular messages and stretch often, but it doesn't always work. Best case scenario is obviously to stay in, but let's get real kids have to get to school and errands must be run even on a rainy day. I keep an eye out for puddles so I don't slip, but things happen. Mostly, I try not to be too rough on myself if the rain throws a wrench in my to do list. Luckily, I know a little girl with pink kitty rain boots who's usually up for cuddle when the rain wins.

Dis-Jointed

Friday night as I sat in my bed, probably typing my blog, my hip popped out. This had happened before. My left hip never rested in the socket from birth until my last hip surgery. That surgery was in my late 20's so we're talking several decades. When I was pregnant with Riley it popped out quite a bit. Since my last hip surgery, which placed the ball back in the socket, it hasn't happened. It should not happen. I was sitting in bed and I felt an extremely uncomfortable sensation in my left hip. I raised my body up off the bed with my arms to re-position myself and when my weight was back on my hip I knew it was out.

I explained the situation to Mike
"Honey my hip popped out. It's out."
"Oh."
"I'm not going to the emergency room"
"Ok"
"I mean it, all they ever do is dope me up on pain medicine that makes me puke."
After ice packs and Advil.
He gently moved my left leg while feeling the hip socket with his other hand. "Yup", he concurred, "that's out."
"I know", I snapped back.
"Do you want me to push in?"

He did, push it back in. It burned for about 45 minutes after that. I was extremely anxious now that the pain was dying down. How can this have happened? What does it mean? I don't want another hip surgery (or any surgery). I couldn't shake the fear. I laid there breathing through the pain and fear for a while. I sucked it up eventually. I think I watched some funny TV at that point and got myself out of the pain, fear spiral.

Fortunately, I had a dental issue flair up Friday night too so I was able to put the weirdness with my hip on the back burner. As of today I have been to the dentist and am hopeful that all is well on that front, but I have not spoken to the surgeon who fixed my hip. I think it's just extremely tight and that caused it to pop out. I hope, because anti-inflammatories and massage sound way more do-able than another hip surgery. I think for now I'll try to keep it stretched out and try to keep the inflammation low and see if it happens again.

Just keep swimming...

March-ing On Part 2

Jump in your time machines fellow travelers and let's go all the way back...to mid March! We'll all pretend I totally skipped almost two whole months of posts on purpose so I could do a few cute recap posts. Here we go...

We celebrated two years of marriage and almost seven years together (it'll be seven next month). We rang in this milestone in our usual super cool style...with board games! Cards against Humanity and such, chips and dips and some drinks. It was actually a lovely evening, not in the top ten most romantic nights of my life, but exactly what we were in the mood for. Here's to fifty or so more years!

Right on the heals of Isaac's character day Roo's school had fairy tale character day! It was conveniently the day after Epcot so she had just received her brand new Mulan dress (not that she has any shortage of options before that). I was thrilled that she wanted to be Mulan because I was sure the room would be full of Rapunzels and Belles, but she was bound to be the only Mulan. We found her a white flower from the garden for her hair, gave her some purple eye shadow and red lip gloss and even managed to find her "beads of jade". She looked perfect. Let's face it my kids kick butt at character days!

Scenes from Spring Break

I talked a lot about spring break an earlier post...But let's just sum up here as well. Children's Museum, library, movie nights, board games (Disney Sorry FTW), coloring, car sing-a-longs, play dates!, dress up, out to lunch, Easter decorating, playing "quietly", puzzles, books, running around in the backyard and making a pony at build-a-bear!

We snuck a date night into the mix right at the end our spring break. More board games and adult conversation for us. Good times.

The kids had their first and second night sleeping away from home about a week apart. Their grandparents took them out to dinner, to the Lego movie and then swimming the next morning. They gave them back happy and tired. The next weekend I asked Roo's Bestie's family to watch them so Mike and I could go out. She kindly volunteered to let them sleep over. It was very nice and super weird. It's odd, but when Mike and I are alone I always dream up all these fun things to do and then we end up happily doing nothing. I just always feel the full weight of being tired when I stop moving. It's why I don't stop moving too often if I can help it, so I can keep ignoring the tired. That being said I enjoyed my time off very much almost as much as I missed them.

Miss Roo and I took a stroll through one of the world's biggest Disney Stores and we found her the wig for her Halloween. It was late March and she just happened to demand her skeleton tights. My silly girl. She got compliments all day on them. Then we got home we tried on the whole ensemble. Amazing, right? Now we just have to wait seven months....

And now my friends you have been brought up to the present, hurray!