HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

We can hardly believe it's Halloween. It seems like we were just weeding the garden and sweating like crazy.

Carson doesn't speak much yet (other than "Carson", "ball", "come", "go", "mom", "Sarah", "dad", "CAR!!! (when he sees any motorized vehicle), "uh get down", "moh (more)" SOOOO he did not get to request a costume. He got to wear what fit him in our costume collection, which turned out to be Annie's spider costume from three years ago. Annie was a different story. I asked her what she wanted to be for Halloween back in September and she said, "a jellyfish." I thought, this will be a challenge. I had a few ideas, but I talked to my sister-in-law, Beth, and she suggested using a clear bubble umbrella. Great suggestion, Beth! (And if you are interested, Target.com has several options and trim colors to choose from). The rest of the costume we made up as we went. Here are my scary little spider and squishy jellyfish:




Carson was not a fan of the hat. He didn't really cooperate for pictures until I took it off:



Here is my little jellyfish again. This jellyfish enjoys chasing people and trying to "sting" them:

A Mother's Love

This is how much I love my daughter: She asked if she could do my hair. I saw an opportunity. . . as she combed it, I screamed and screamed and carried on like I was being tortured to death. Sound familiar? Though, in fairness to her, she DOES have very curly hair and I'm sure it does hurt her much of the time. I doubt, however, that it is akin to being skinned alive--which is what her yelps and howls would have you believe. I even let her take a picture (hers is on the right)

So, here I am in my early morning splendor (I know I need to pluck so whatever!). I thought that you would enjoy a sampling of my 4-year old's stylistic abilities. She's destined for greatness, no doubt! She was so funny. She kept saying things like, "you look so fabulous, so fantastic. . . " Where do they get this stuff?

Ryan's Tag From Greg

Me: Ryan, are you going to respond to Greg's tag?

Ryan: I don't blog.

Me: Then I'll do it for you. (audible evil chuckle)

Ryan: Not as if I'm writing it! (menacing grumpy "I have my man card to think about" tone)

Me: No, I'll write it about you.

Ryan: Silence that was interpreted as permission.

YEAH!

6 Unimpressive Quirks About Ryan

1. He can (with no help from his fingers) make both his second toes piggy back on top of his big toes simultaneously. I think it's really weird. The first time he did it I was like, STOP THAT! You're freakin' me out, man!

2. He has a "sock system": On any given day, he dons two pairs of socks. The first pair (referred to hereafter as "the inside sock") goes on the foot. The second pair (which we'll call "the outside sock") is placed over the inside sock. The day comes and goes. At night, the inside sock is placed aside to become the outside sock the next day. The outside sock from that day is tossed into the dirty clothes. The next day, a new fresh pair is secured from his sock drawer to become that day's inside sock. It is because of this ingenious "sock system" (and the fact that it is always a clean fresh sock that is next to his foot) that he claims his feet do not carry an odor. I beg to differ. All feet smell. All feet. It's a fact.

3. Moving on from the feet to the arms: Ryan tickles his arms in his sleep. He denies this, but hello! How would he know? He lays on his back and one arm (usually the right arm) is stretched out to the ceiling at a 90 degree angle from his body and his left arm is tickling it. It's hilarious.

4. He has an amazing memory. He can learn something once and forever it remains accessible in his brain. I'm not kidding. It's not a photographic memory by any means, but it is pretty cool. I'm the cram-for-the-test kinda learner and I do retain some things--like the stuff that makes sense to me, and then after the test, *poof* it's gone. But he remembers it all. It's crazy!

5. Ryan can do perfect impressions of people. Serious! He has a great ear for it. Some of my favorites are Sean Connery, any Scottish accent for that matter, James Earl Jones, Ted Kennedy, John McCain, James Carvill, George Stephanopolous, and Opa's whistle. Awesome! We all love that whistle. It exudes such happiness and enjoyment of life.

6. He can ride a horse like it's nobody's business. I know that this is supposed to be a list of "unimpressive quirks" but even though I often TRY to read his mind, I don't have access to the funny stuff only he knows about. So I'll add an impressive talent for the last one. Holy moly, he looks good on a horse. It's very impressive. Especially when the horse has other ideas and would buck or throw anyone else. Nope, not Ryan, and it is very entertaining to watch him stay on. I've only seen him get bucked off once. And it was when he was sitting on his donkey with no saddle and I came up behind and smacked the donkey on the bum just to get a laugh. And I did.

I, Ryan's not-spokesperson, elect to not tag anyone new.

Tagged!

Okay, so my friend Jen M tagged me and this is my first tag! I hope it dazzles and entertains you as the ones I have read have done to me. Well, we'll see.


Three joys of my life:

1. My family is definitely the biggest joy of my life. I just love everything (well, almost everything) about them. But there are certain things about them that bring me joy: I love Carson's little cowlick in the back of his head and the faces he makes when he chews his food, I love the smell of the kids' feet--NOT my husband's (by the way), I love listening to Annie talk to her toys, I love snuggling with all three of them in bed on Sunday mornings, I absolutely love hearing how tender Annie is when she talks to Carson (she gave him the nickname "Carsie"), I love just chilling on the couch with Ryan after the kids are in bed, I love how he makes me laugh when I'm sad or stressed, I love the big grins I get when they wake up, I love love love watching them on their monitor, and I love that they are mine forever.

2. My neighborhood. I know that's a little strange, but I love where I live. I love driving home down my street, with big maple trees (reminds me of CT) hanging over the road. I love laying in bed at night in the summertime with the window open listening to the crickets, the occasional sprinkler, dogs barking in the distance, and yes, even that dang rooster. I love laying out on the trampoline with Ryan after the kids are to bed laughing about the day and hearing nighttime noises. I love being able to feel safe where I live. I love that my neighbors keep up their yards and gardens (even though they put mine to shame--well, except for onions this year, GO SARAH!). But the best part of living where we live is our neighbors. We have the BEST neighbors. We are so lucky to live so close to good friends and hang out so much. It makes me feel happy to know that I can ask them for help or gardening and canning advice (or impromptu dental advice-sorry!), or just chat and they are so generous and kind.

3. Diet Dr. Pepper. It really and truly is nothing short of pure joy to me to take that first wet, cold, stinging, burning swig. I don't know why, but it just makes me feel better about everything in life. Maybe this will sound downright crazy to some of you (maybe it will make sense to others), but there are days when only the fountain "diet doctor" at the Vine St. Market will do; there are days when it MUST come from a cold, cold can. And there are some foods which cannot be paired with anything else: anything mexican, pizza, munchies of any kind. In fact, to my great pleasure, I recently became aware that Arby's has diet Dr. Pepper at the drive-thru. Life just keeps on getting better and better.


Three fears I have:

1. That something bad will happen to someone I love: my parents, my sibs, my husband, his family, my kids. I just am always nervous when one of them is traveling on an airplane, or driving a long distance--my sister Gretchen probably got so sick of calling me when she got home after leaving my house. I always have nightmares before going to Lake Powell with the kids. It's a little ridiculous. I think I need to spend a little more time being grateful for what I have rather than worrying that I'm going to lose it.

2. That my house will never be perfectly clean again. Uggghhhh. I wish I was one of those people who could keep a clean house with two kids and a husband and myself always messing it up, but I'm not. I'd love to blame it all on THEM, but I'm not innocent! I tell Ryan we have too much stuff (our house is small, so that may be part of it), but, you know . . .
I love how it feels when the house is clean--I feel like I'm more productive, happier, and a better mom. I guess the messiness just part of life for now.
For Christmas, this past year, I gave myself a clean house as my present to myself. I worked really hard for three weeks, doing big jobs here and there and trying really hard to keep up what I'd done. You know, the kids undo it all, then they take a nap and I straighten things out and then they mess it all up again when they awake. Anyway, on Christmas Eve, I put them down for their naps (everything was finally clean all at the same time, all the wrapping and other preparations complete), took a shower, got ready to go to Ryan's Opa and Oma's, and sat down on the couch. Ryan was playing a video game and the Christmas music was on, the lights were dim, the tree was lit, I had hot chocolate and it was beginning to snow and get dark outside. I curled up with the newspaper and read the "tell us your most memorable Christmas ever" stories. It was perfect.

3. That I'll never get over my fear of horses. Really, it's silly. Ryan loves horses. I had no fear of them when we were dating and first married. Then I had a bad experience where I got kicked in and had a horseshoe-shaped bruise on the back of both thighs. And then I realized: these things could really hurt me. And then I thought, "horses can sense fear." Which made me more afraid, which provided me with more pressure to not act afraid even though I was. And from there, it spiraled out of control. And for crying out loud, I'M A THERAPIST! You'd think I could talk myself out of the fear. But alas, I cannot. For now, it's not too much of an imposition. But what is going to happen when the kids are old enough to go with dad for horserides on Saturdays? Will I always stay home because I'm too scared? HELP!


Three goals I have:

1. To make a list of things I want to do or experience before I die. I went to a conference a couple of years ago with my friend Shannon. It was some play therapy thing and one of the therapeutic interventions the presenter was discussing involved making this Life List. She talked about hobbies and places to see, things to do, etc. And I began to get sooo distraught. I couldn't think of one dang stinkin' thing to put on my list. I thought and thought and thought about it. I remember thinking, "what do I like to do? what have I always wanted to do?" and I couldn't think of anything. I was so frustrated. I have since put a few on there (go on a Meditteranean cruise, read the Harry Potter series, go to Scotland with my husband, attend the Mo-Tab Christmas Concert --which I have since done--etc.), but one of my goals is to make this list and commit to doing as much of it as possible.

2. I want to try to make it back to Connecticut every summer that I can. We had such a fun time this summer. My parents live in the most amazing place. I do have a blog forthcoming about my recent trip there, I just need to get the rest of my pictures organized because there are so many great memories to share. We ate fresh lobster, captured jellyfish--Annie's latest obsession, went to Boston, my kids got to spend so much time with their grandparents, we took what I called "purple walks" which means walks as the sun was setting behind us, turning the sky above the ocean purple. It was truly breathtaking.

3. Be a kinder and better mom. Man, I just don't know how other moms do it. I love that I am a mom, and I wouldn't trade the time I have with my kids for anything. I just get so overwhelmed some days. I have always thought that people should be given three cosmic pause buttons a month where you just push pause and space/time hold still while you take a breather. Sounds like a GREAT idea to me! Sometimes it seems like I get the hot bath full and Annie wakes up early from her nap--can't ignore her, she's not in a crib! Some mornings I just want 15 more minutes to lay there in my cozy bed. How many ba-bas can one mommy fix for one small toddler? AND, Annie is into this new "stealing mom's stuff and re-arranging the home decor" thing. She will take things off my shelves and place them strategically amongst her play things. Can't find the remote? Go look in the playroom. Have you seen my grandparent's wedding photo? Oh, there it is, on her play kitchen counter arranged nicely beside my dried holiday garland! Where's that stack of holiday cards I've been working on? Well, they have all been stamped either with pink sunglasses or blue stars courtesy of the Happy Meal Crayola stamper, and a smiley-face job chart sticker is now holding them to various surfaces all around the playroom. SHEEEEEESH! I have to admit, though. I do get angry sometimes, but most of the time I have to cover my mouth or leave the room so she won't see me smiling or laughing. She is a funny little girl. I just wish I could take it all in stride more and realize that they won't be little forever and I'll spend the rest of my life wishing I have another day with them at this age.


Three of my current obsessions/collections:

1. FANTASY FOOTBALL! Okay, okay, I get the football addiction! I was raised by a father who loved the Cowboys and I grew up watching them, so when someone asks who is my favorite, I say the Cowboys. I also grew up liking the Giants --from Ct and all. But I never really cared to watch it and watch it and watch it and watch it and, well, you get the picture. But I decided to have a fantasy football team this year (Team Sushi Sarah) and although we're not the strongest force in the league (currently 8 of 12, thank you very much), I am having so much fun! I totally recommend it for you readers who get tired of your spouse watching football, because I watch it with Ryan now and I totally am into it. I don't think to myself, WHY ARE WE WATCHING MORE FOOTBALL!?!?!?!? I sit down with him and look for my guys! (Romo, Forte, Johnson, Lewis, Royal, Fasano, Aikers, etc.) Like I said, not the strongest force in the league, but HEY it's fun! I have to confess too, I check the league smack talk almost as much as I check my own emails!

2. Canning. I've become a canner. We have had a great garden every year since we got married (10 years now!) But we've just eaten it out of the garden and frozen some things. When we moved into the house we live in now, we immediately planted a peach tree, raspberries, blackberries, and were thrilled about the apple trees, plum trees, rhubarb, grapes, etc. that were already there. Anyway. This year I decided I'd give canning a go. So far, I have canned grape juice, salsa, pizza sauce, spaghetti sauce, pickles, jalapeno jelly, chili sauce, peaches, raspberry jam, blackberry freezer jam, peach freezer jam, and peaches. I am very proud of my large but effective learning curve. I was terrified the first time I used the pressure cooker, but now I am more comfortable with it. I can't say that things TASTE the way they are supposed to. . . I guess we'll see!

3. Okay, this one is a little bit silly. I have these empty shelves in my very white kitchen and they have become a storage area for random things like loose change, pictures, star wars trading cards, greeting cards that I fill out and address but never send, random nuts and screws that Ryan empties out of his pocket, things I take away from the kids and don't know where to put. You get the picture. So I decided to clear them off and (no "old grandma" comments, please) start a salt and pepper shaker collection. I know. I know. My rule is that they have to be really cute and unique for me to choose them. I really don't know what else to say about this collection. ;)


Three facts about myself:

1. I love the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I guess that makes me a nerd. I really didn't think it was that nerdy until we were watching The Office one time when Dwight talks about how he will travel one day to New Zealand and tour the Lord of the Rings trail and climb Mt. Doom and everyone laughs at him because he's SUCH A NERD!!! Well, although Mt. Doom was never in the cards, my sister and I actually have conversed several times about how much fun it would be to visit where Lord of the Rings was filmed. hmmmmm. . . maybe it's time to face facts. I am a nerd. This one thing in and of itself would be harmless, but this same sister and I have been known to frequent Star Trek films. Okay, I think I've exposed myself too much here. Back to LOTR. I just think it is GREAT! As my friend Tricia once said, "it has everything: good vs. evil, the sacrificial son, the unlikely hero, never giving up, believing in those who won't believe in themselves. . ." I love the whole good vs. evil, just hang in there theme. In fact, when I was still seeing therapy clients I ordered a wall sign for my office which says, "All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us" by Gandalf the Grey. I ordered it because I love that saying and because that is the essense of the therapy that I do.

2. I can't go to sleep at night unless the closet door is shut and I'm facing the open bedroom door. I know there are no monsters in my closet, but I just can't concentrate on falling asleep unless that door is closed closed closed. My husband used to tease me and open it just slightly before I came to bed. I think that's mean! But he sure got a chuckle out of it. And the facing the open door thing: I guess I just want to be able to see whatever comes my way, ya know? I don't like having my back toward the unknown. Almost crazy, I know.

3. I am pregnant!


And I hereby tag: jessie, miriam, kelli, paula, and sarah k (or glenn--whoever will do it). When you post your answers on your blog, tag 5 new people and let them know they're tagged by leaving a comment on their blog. Get blogging!

YUCK!

CAUTION: If you don't like poo-poo talk, you should just skip this one!

I think you'll all thank me for not including a picture with this post. We've had the stomach flu this past week. I am so sick of poo! I just put Carson to bed and it was definitely in the top ten of all-time worst Carson diapers. And why he feels the need to assist me while wriggling out of his diaper I'll never understand.

It all started last weekend. On my birthday, in fact! The nursery leaders came and got us TWICE during Sunday School to change Carson's messy diapers. Imagine my joy when I realized we had no wipes in the diaper bag. Then dear little Annie filled her pants and shirt as she lay in bed that night attempting to achieve relief through the simple act of tooting. Not so simple. We had just sat down to watch Season 4 of The Office (my standing birthday present for the last three years) and I was talking to my dad in Mexico online when we heard her crying. So I spent the next half hour cleaning that up. We didn't fully realize what she had done until she stripped to go potty. So that was fun. I gave her a bath and tried not to throw up while I cleaned her clothes, the bathtub, the floor, the potty, etcetera. Ryan got her ready for bed Part II. Well, I guess I used too many Clorox wipes without flushing so the toilet clogged. I just didn't feel like dealing with it right then, so I closed the lid and went back to watch more Office.

As I sat there, I began to feel not so well. As I rushed to the bathroom to throw up, stressed because I really don't like being sick, it escaped my memory that the toilet was clogged. Not good.

I continued to be sick for the next five days. It was a record-breaker week of digestive upset, interrupted sleep, intestinal turmoil, and other such unpleasantries. I finally went to the doctor on Friday (funny how I felt better within a half hour of setting the appointment--no joke! My doctor is amazing! When I told him that I felt better right after calling he agreed: "We ARE GOOD at this office!" he mused). Seriously, though, it's better to go than stay home and risk being miserable over the weekend.

Then, last night Ryan and Annie took turns throwing up and receiving fever-lowering meds. I felt so badly for both of them (and selfishly for myself as well, because I got NO sleep whatsoever--although I got to entertain myself listening to Ryan's sleep-talk). Annie was sweating soooo badly and she was so positive about it. Other than the first time (which happened in the middle of the living room at 1 AM when Ryan and I were slowly waking up from falling asleep on the couch and couldn't move fast enough to prevent it), she went strait to the bathroom and willingly went back to bed each time. Poor thing.

Then today, Carson has made an art out of filling his diaper with the strangest assortment of colors and textures. I don't mean to be so gross, I just shake my head at the week I've had and think that maybe if I laugh about it, it won't seem so bad. One thing is for sure, I have plenty of laundry to do tomorrow!

I just wanted to gripe about this for a minute. I know it won't last forever, and it will happen again and again and again. That's okay. Poo and throw up are part of life. I accept it.

But I figured a way to find humor in all of this. If you want, please share a classic birthday story as a comment on this blog. You know, one of those stories that you just can't believe it is really happening, but then you laugh about it later. If you don't have one, that's fine. I just really enjoy reading funny comments when I've had a rough day!

First Day of School

Last Wednesday was Annie's first day of school. She absolutely loves her teachers, Ms. Crystal, Ms. Shauna, Ms. Heather, and Ms. Brooke. She was pretty excited as well to see that some of her friends from last year were still in her class. It was also fun when she got in the car after school and showed me her work for the day. She has really improved from last year. Her picture was very colorful--almost tye-dyed in appearance. She described its creation to me as follows:

"MOM!!!! I did such a great job coloring this year! I stayed in the lines and it was VERY impressive!"

That cracked me up. Apparently her teachers also noticed that we've made improvement from filling the entire page (with no apparent concern for the lines) with a color of choice. Funny girl!

I'm glad we've found a school we love and I'm excited for her to have new experiences this year. I don't even want to think about the fact that next year I'll have a kindergartner. yikes.

The things these kids do!

I'm too flustered to take a picture from this morning, so a photo of another time when I just could NOT believe my kids will have to suffice. And this picture is hilarious, so there ya go! I'll describe the above photo first and then tell what happened this morning. I guess you could say I'm telling a story to tell a story! I was doing something in the kitchen and Annie and Carson were playing in the playroom. I rounded the corner and smelled baby powder. OH NO!! I thought to myself. (Annie had dumped baby powder on my bed a week or so earlier and although it was dumped on the bed, I had to clean it out of every nook and cranny in our room as well as the stereo, TV, alarm clock, etc.) So I had purchased a new container of baby powder. And, trying to be thrifty, it was the nice 15 oz. size. Wellllllll, imagine my shock when I saw the above ghostie child crawling toward me from the playroom with a baby powder wake behind him in the dark brown living room carpet. I took a deep breath, thought about all the reasons why I shouldn't scream every naughty word I know at the top of my lungs, and went into the playroom:


(Oh, and in case you were wondering, the 15 oz. baby powder canister was completely empty!)

note the white trail coming toward me? note Annie's head facing down? kinda like "I didn't do anything?" note the cool handprints one can make in the powder? note the nice film in the air? it's a RED BURN DAY within the Droubay home, folks!!!!!!!! With all the self-control I could muster, I thought, this will be hilarious someday, but NOT today! I called my mother-in-law who has enough self-control for the both of us and then some, and asked for her help (I'm sure she loved getting the 8:30 AM wake up call!) She had Annie bathe all her toys (every last one) and I vacuumed and revacuumed and wiped clean every surface in there. We got through it, but holy cow! I knew kids could be trouble, but I learned an important lesson that day: If you can imagine it (any sort of mischief), so can they. And if you can't imagine it, don't worry, THEY WILL!

So on to today. . . I was in the other room (notice a pattern here?) and I heard the rapid-fire beep beeping of the computer whose keys are being depressed continually. I raced into the dining room and Carson is sitting on the table with his little hands on the laptop keyboard. I gently and kindly (ha ha) escort him to the floor to direct his creative and playful tendencies elsewhere and then proceed to exit out of all the error messages and the like when I notice it: my computer screen, the entire thing (desktop icons and all) have been rotated counter-clockwise!!!!

I didn't even know that was possible.

Ha ha, funny, I know. But it gets better. I can't call anyone for help because my cell phone isn't charged (nothing new here) and our land line has been weird for two days due to the huge rainstorm we had on Sunday evening. Loved the rain, don't get me wrong. We really needed it and I'm grateful for it. But it saturated the phone lines (according to Qwest who said they'd fix it Thursday). So, when your phone rings and you answer it to hear not only crackling, a person talking . . . AND . . . the dialtone (all at the same time), that's kinda kooky! (not to mention we don't have caller ID, but we've had it yesterday and today--problem is, people we don't know are calling--perhaps the lines are crossed?) . . . Whatever. . .

Anyway, I finally call Kelli (my sis-in-law) at work and she starts laughing hysterically. Apparently Monique (who she works with) had a similar experience last week and she knew how to help me! So, the lengthy story finally has a conclusion here: I'm going to tell you what I did to fix the problem and then if some random soul finds themselves in a similar bind and chooses to "google" it, they'll find a solution! Brilliant, eh?

(Googling worked for me last summer when "someone" child-locked our dishwasher and I couldn't figure out how to undo it -- dishwasher was even locked shut! I couldn't get in! Previous homeowner didn't leave the owner manual, so we were up a creek. I had the thought to google it and sure enough, it brought up someone's blog and apparently for my make and model of dishwasher, you press the energy saver dry button for 17 seconds and you're good to go!)

Okay, back to the "HELP--my screen display is rotated counter-clockwise!" problem: Go to the start menu, click on help and support. Under pick a task, select "undo changes to your computer with System Restore." Follow the prompts and select a date from the calendar and voila! you're back in business. Hope this can help someone, and entertain in the process!

Here's an update: you can also press ctrl, alt, and the up arrow key you need at the same time and that works too! (my brother Abe just told me this). Also, he said to be careful with the system restore because it can lose unsaved changes and/or software you've installed since the date you choose.