The Redecorator and an Early "I Spy" Holiday Treat

Four year olds. Are they all like this? Is it just the girls? Is it just MY four year old girl? She loves to redecorate. I've touched on this before, but I thought I'd highlight it in its very own post. This is a sampling from today:


Do you see how she has incorporated Halloween (ghostie candelabra) and Thanksgiving (hand-made turkey hat from school, lovely fall-themed floral arrangement)? Too bad I didn't wait a few minutes, because after I took the picture and left the room, she kept a-going. I returned to find a naked barbie pole-dancing on the candelabra. Good Grief! If she only knew. . .

Well, on second thought, perhaps the redecorating itch is just one of her talents from birth, because I remember another incident from over a year ago. The following picture is from when Carson was not very old. My breath literally caught in my throat when I returned from the other room. I actually had to check him to see that he was breathing, AND I also had to uncover his face before I snapped the shot. Kids.


And in the spirit of the rapidly advancing holiday, here is a special early holiday game. Don't worry, I'll find time next week to be thankful in my upcoming First Annual Sarah Droubay Thanksgiving Post, but 'til then, I'll just join the myriad of radio stations, department stores, Wal.Marts, and others intent on celebratin' early! Here are two photos of last years' Christmas tree after my dear sweet redecorating Annie got to it. If you feel like playing, leave a comment detailing what YOU spy: Perhaps I've missed something!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RYAN!!!

Ryan's not really big on birthdays, but I'm going to make it public anyway! I just wanted to spotlight him a little and tell you a few of my favorite things about my husband:


1. Hands down, he's a GREAT dad. Since our first baby was born, he's been very hands on--diaper changes, baths, putting them to bed, getting them dressed. And he loves to play with the kids and teach them things. He likes to sing to them at bed-time too and I think that's VERY cool.

(this picture of him with baby Carson is one of my favorites. What a hot dad!)

2. He's funny as heck. Ever since I met Ryan, I've just loved his sense of humor. He can make me laugh harder than anyone else (well, the Office Staff at Dunder Mifflin come close!) He has a great internal Sarah mood-o-meter and when I begin to stress or freak out, he's always quick to lighten the mood and make me laugh. I really love that.

(here he is goofing off with Annie and Dillon)

3. He's a hard worker. He works lots of long hours in the summer time and doesn't always have a lot of time for the things he enjoys to do, but he always finds the time to do the things that need doing around the house. I'm glad the kids have a dad who works hard for them and for our family.

(here he is mowing the lawn with his buddy Annie Goose! Tell me she's not learning how to work from Dad)

4. He is very forgiving, easygoing, and calm about my short-comings. I can't think of a dumb thing I've done where he hasn't said, "it's okay," or "don't worry about it," or something like that. And what's remarkable is that he still does this even though I usually do not respond to his whoopsies in a similar fashion.

(see, here he is kindly demonstrating patience as I take yet another photo of him)

5. I just think he's cute! Check out some of these cute pics:

(here he is with Oma, Opa, and his Dad. I think he looks alot like Carson)

(Lake Powell with his Dad. He's soooo cute! Even with face paint. Even in High School!)


HAPPY BIRTHDAY RYAN! I LOVE YOU!!

Classic Sarah Pregnancy Story

I don't know how the rest of you are, but when I'm pregnant, strange things start to happen. It was not bad with Carson, but when I was pregnant with Annie, I had all sorts of weird dreams, food aversions, and the like. Probably the most odd thing was that once I'd cooked a certain meal for dinner, I could not eat (or even think) about that food or meal again for weeks. There is one thing--a pork medallion with sour cream and chive sauce with sesame seeds on top--that I still cannot think about. I thought it was all pretty strange, but I'm assured that this is normal for pregnant women. And there are probably weirder things out there than I have to deal with.

But here's my gripe: Isn't it bad enough we have to grow to triple our size (I know that's not really how big we are, it just seems that way), be moody, and not to mention go through the delivery process? Why must we also be subject to the strangeness that only adds to why others in our lives find themselves wanting to avoid us? Beats me.

So, here's my latest classic example of weird. (and funny, I guess, now that it's two days later and I've gained a smidgeon of perspective since then)

It was Saturday and we were headed to our little buddy Dillon's b-day party. I decided to BMOB--it was one of those "gotta have the diet Dr. Pepper from the market" days (see "tagged" blog). So off we went to the Market. I went inside to procure the drinks. There were three pre-teen/teenage boys ahead of me at the drink-filling station. So I waited (patiently at first, not so much as the minutes lagged on). I began to notice things about these boys: they were dirty--which I at first attributed to their age, but later, when I was thinking about it, I thought of our cousins Zach and Dallin who are this age and I've NEVER seen them look or smell anything remotely like this. Maybe their parents have, but I can't imagine them being this poorly groomed. But alas, I digress. . .

Anyway, I started to notice their dirty fingernails. And untrimmed fingernails, I might add. Their clothes were dirty, hair probably unwashed.

And then it happened. . .

Right there in the middle of the Vine Street Market, I began to gag.

Yes, you heard me right. I began to gag. I tried to keep it to myself, but I kept thinking about how they were touching the buttons I was going to touch, occupying space I would occupy. These are not normal thoughts (but as I said, strange things start to happen when Sarah is pregnant). One gag lead to another. I did not know how I would control it. I began to think, I should probably go to the car and ask Ryan to get the drinks, but it seemed at this point I'd been in the market already 20 minutes (probably only 5 at max). I didn't want to lose my place in line. So anyway, there I stood, with my hand over my mouth, gagging away at these disgusting pre-teen boys.

And then the next emotion hit. I started to look at their clothes and think about how their mommies or daddies probably bought them and how much their parents love them, and how awful for those parents that I was standing there thinking their precious children were soooo gross. Who did I think I was? I've been known to skip a shower here and there, and sometimes my fingernails are long and dirty. Of course I DO try to wear clean clothes. But nevertheless, I started to feel sooo guilty.

And then I began to cry. I thought to myself, "you've GOT to be kidding me! Get ahold of yourself! What is wrong with you?" Again, I tried to hide it and for a good minute or two, I stood there waffling between utter gagging disgust (and trying to hold in where THAT would lead us. . .) and crying silently out of self-hate and despair for the horrible judgments I was extending to someone else's precious children.

It was awful. I really don't know why I stayed in the Market.

But finally, they left and I stepped forward to take my turn. Remember, they'd been there awhile and it seemed to me that it took them forever to leave. Well, the same could be said for the stench that accompanied them. Now I'm pregnant, remember, so some of this odor's apparent potency could be blamed on that, but holy cow! Whatever or whomever was to blame, it was awful! I really don't know how else to describe it. I thought I would die. So once again, I'm gagging one second, and then thinking about how hurt their parents would be if they knew some snotty pregnant lady was gagging at the smell of their children and my eyes teared up again. I was barely hanging on at this point.

It was at this very moment that my friend Frank (who I didn't know was there) stealthily stole up behind me to scare me. His sudden greeting was to be the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back.

I started bawling. It couldn't be stopped. So there he stood looking quite startled (and perhaps frightened himself) as I blubbered my nonsensical story to him. I think it went something like this: "I'm pregnant Frank, and these kids took forever. They were smelly *sniff sniff *and dirty *sniff sniff*, but they have parents who love them, *sniff sniff* and they bought them their clothes, *sniff sniff* and I felt bad and . . ."

I'm shaking my head now just thinking about it.

I'm sure he thought I was crazy, and then went home and told his wife she was never to be pregnant ever again! Or maybe he just shook his head and laughed to himself, "hah! pregnancy!" Who knows! His wife did tell me on Sunday (with a smile and a giggle) that he told her about it. So apparently, he wasn't too traumatized. That's good!

So I got the drinks and returned to the car. Ryan just gave me that "NOW what?" look. I started to tell him the story and started bawling again! In fact, I couldn't think or talk about this event for several hours without breaking into tears. Good grief!

I wonder what the next few weeks and months will bring. . . . . . .

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!