hoops

I’m not sure if it is a result of Phil watching Marche Madness on TV this month or if it is just a genetic tendency, but lately Liam has been all about basketball.  If it were up to him he would be out in the driveway all day asking us to lift him up to the hoop over and over so he can dunk.  If the neighbor kids are outside playing he just stands at the window longingly.  We have even heard him laying in his bed and night mumbling “ba’a ball, ba’a ball.”  Last week I had a mommy stroke of genius when I took an aluminum pie crust ring and twist-tied it to the back of a chair for a tot-sized hoop.  That bought me enough time to actually do my hair without interruption one day!  In fact, it has been entertaining him (and Phil) all weekend.  I am crossing my fingers that the thrill lasts a few days because it sure is nice to have something that will keep him entertained for a while. 

I am already anticipating spending the next 17 years driving him to various athletic practices and games.  He can already name the different types of sports balls.  He can head a soccer ball, hike a football, and in Phil’s words “he has an arm like a cannon.”  So, I apologize in advance if my child ever throws a ball at you or your child.  In his defense he was probably expecting you to catch it, so you better start practicing.

mr. clean

Our little Liam has become a cleaning machine.  The toddler helpfulness stage is in full swing these days and he insists on making sure that there is ‘a place for everything and everything in its place.’  With our busy work schedules lately my mom has been coming over a lot to help us out and Liam is very quick to let Grandma know when she has not put something away correctly or washed his hands according to his liking.  Most of the time this is great, like when he puts his own dirty clothes in the hamper.  I’m keeping my fingers crossed that he won’t soon outgrow this new affinity for household chores, although I can see it getting out of control.

The other day I was cleaning windows and he ran up, grabbed my hand and instructed me to bring the windex.  He then lead me to his room where he pointed out the smudges on his mirror.  “Good idea” I said as I began to clean it.  But no, he wanted to do it himself.  He spent a good 20 minutes scrubbing and re-scrubbing the mirror.

Then today, we were in a rush to get out the door so I neglected to do all of our lunch dishes immediately after eating (gasp!).  As I forced him to put his shoes and jacket on he threw a stomping fit about the fact that his high chair tray was still dirty and there were peas on the floor.  He kept running back to try and clean up but I was already running late so I told him we would have to do it when we came back. 

I guess I am getting what I deserve.  I’m sure this is what I look like to Phil half the time and he calmly indulges my obsessive cleaning tendencies.  

snow excuses

We survived February!  I had a big event last Friday that went amazingly well in spite of the weather.  I sure was worried on Thursday as I was loading about 90 dozen desserts into a van in the Costco parking lot in the middle of a blizzard.  I was thinking, if no one shows up how am I going to return all of these!?!  Well, everyone made it and the snowflake decor theme I had planned sure turned out to be appropriate!  I can’t wait to post pics as soon as I get them back from the photographer! 

After four hours of sleep we got up early on Saturday and headed down to Shelton because a while back I had agreed to be a judge for the Mason County Forest Festival Coronation.  I guess I wasn’t really thinking how tired I would be the day after my event.  However, it was fun to relive memories of my year as “Queen of the Forest.”  All of the contestants did a great job and it made me proud of the little town I grew up in.  Afterward, the outgoing queen came up and told me how she had seen me in the parade when she was a kindergartener and was so thrilled that I had waved at her that she decided she wanted to be queen herself someday.  Awww, soooo sweet!  But hearing that also made me feel soooo old!  She was in kindergarten then and now she’s in college!

It’s always nice to go back to Shelton.  A weekend in the woods with no cell reception sure does force you to relax and slow down a bit.  They had about six inches of snow and it was still falling all day Saturday so Liam had a great time sledding for the first time.  Somehow no one managed to take pictures of this milestone so instead here is a look at me back in the day…

This is what you'll find if you google my maiden name.  
It was a full page spread in the Shelton newspaper, ha ha!