Busy, busy, busy

I wish there was some explanation other than “Life” for why I can’t get done all the things I want to.  Like staying up to date with my blogging.  My most recent excuse is that my computer is up in my bedroom, which I only go into at night.  Day time hours are spent running around elsewhere, and by the time I’ve made it back to my room I just collapse exhausted on my bed next to my husband who holds me for the 2 seconds it takes for me to fall asleep, then rolls me back to my side of the bed when he’s finally tired, 20 minutes later.  I’m never around my computer.  And I’m not going to type this all up on my phone.  Sorry friends. So I need a laptop right? Maybe someday.  Luckily (?) Brooks is feeling sick and won’t let me put him down.  So while Maggie is at school, I can’t do my dishes, sweep, mop, work out, vacuum, shower, dust, scrub, cook, or sew like I normally would.  I’m “stuck” holding a lightly sleeping baby.  It’s nice. 

I’ve had so many things on my mind lately, things that have happened, or that Maggie has done.  Now that I’ve sat down to write about them….they’re gone from my brain. hmm…  So, I guess an update.  My daughter talks a lot. Almost constantly, if I’m honest.  Lately it has been ALL about the alphabet.  She loves spelling and telling you what sounds which letters make and what colors or foods or musical instruments start with said letters.  Maggie has figured out phonetics.  If she’s in the mood she can spell almost anything.  Which has me wondering: HOW can Hooked On Phonics actually work? We pronounce almost nothing phonetically.  Here are some sample words that she’s insisted she is spelling correctly: caoo (cow) scroo(screw) jackit(jacket) thu(the) nee(knee) shoo(shoe) Really, why are there so many silent letters in our words? A friend says she just “blames the British.” That’s fair.  Maggie’s also suction cupped herself to braille. It’s so wonderful! She can tell you the dots of all the letters and most of the numbers.  We just have to work on her understanding the feel of the letters and words.  She loves it though.  Loves her braille class every Friday and loves to “scribble” on the Perkins Brailler we have at home. 

So we spend all day talking about letters.  It’s kind of fun, and also gets old fast.  And so I’ve lucked out that it was recently Easter.  Maggie LOVES Easter eggs.  (As she says, “I don’t WANT real eggs or scrambled eggs. Mommy can have real eggs.  Maggie wants TOY eggs.” She knows what she likes.)  I started with a few eggs in her basket that had some jelly beans and chocolate eggs. After the mess that followed that mistake we’ve now switched to dry pinto and lima beans.  Man, it was a sticky mess. She didn’t eat the candy, it just got sticky and nasty from so much handling.  This girl can spend literal hours emptying and refilling Easter eggs.  So when I’m done talking about letters and being told by a 3 year old that I can’t spell correctly, I plop her on the floor with a bag of beans and some eggs. They must be the kind with the two halves attached with the miniscule strip of plastic though.  There is no enjoyment in an egg that is in two separate pieces.  What strange eccentricities evolve for comfort and continuity of routines.

Oh! Videos! I believe I’ve talked about this before, but here it is again because it’s been such a great success.  I love looking through old photos and seeing past activities and friends and such.  I wanted to provide that experience for Maggie.  We’ve started taking videos of life for Maggie.  Especially of things that we’d take pictures of, that were a special occasion and should be remembered.  Now we’ve got a bunch of memories for Maggie to reexperience.  When she hears the sounds the computer makes when starting up she immediately asks to watch videos.  I love it.  She has her favorites of course.  Walking in sand, crashing a cart, talking about her first day of school, jumping in a bouncy castle, riding a pony. I’m so glad to have found a way to help her remember our fun times together.

One last quick note, since I’ve been working on this post for over a week now, coming back to the keyboard for a few more sentences every time I walk by the computer.  I just read THIS post by my friend Kelly. I’d like to piggy back onto her ah-ha moment.  I love my life.  I am very proud of what I do.  I LOVE my children.  I wouldn’t trade it for the world.  I wouldn’t trade my insanely messy kitchen, the pinto beans scattered allllllll over my living room floor, the baby sweetly snoring in the bed on my right, or the singing I hear from the next room as Maggie’s waking up. (I have to hurry if I’m going to finish before she demands some attention)  I love my career choice. And I love that my husband is willing and able to work so hard so that I can be at home with our kids.

PS. If someone did want to come clean my kitchen, that’d be great.  I love Maggie helping me cook, but making 3 types of cheesecake yesterday for our scout fundraiser tonight has made a HUGE mess.