Leaving Town . . .

Not for good, just for a couple of days. Finally got my blog going, even posted two days in a row, and now I’m leaving town. Hoping I won’t get out of the habit. Hope the world doesn’t come to a screeching halt due to my absence from the blogosphere.

We’re going to drive 9 1/2 hours to visit Ryan’s dad and his wife. With three children 6 and under. A little daunting. But really, they do so very well in the car. Well, Ruthie did well in January when she was still just a baby. Now that she’s a full-blown toddler . . . I’m a little worried. But it will be fun.

So, we’re leaving tomorrow. Aiming for right after lunch, but in typical family fashion, we don’t have a single thing packed and ready to go and Isaac has T-Ball at 10AM, so we’ll be leaving after lunch all right. And possibly after dinner. We’re so bad at getting ourselves off on trips. I think it’s because we’re too laid back about the whole thing.

My sister would have had her list written out weeks ago, would have gone on a big shopping trip last weekend, had suitcases filling up with clothes and other stuff all week and would merely have to close them up tomorrow morning and be ready to go. Now, mind you, all of that would have been accompanied by much fretting and worrying and nail-biting, and what-if?’s by the dozen. But she’d be ready to go.

Us? No list, no shopping trip, no clothes accumulating, suitcases still packed away in the attic. Nothing. And it’s 4PM and we want to leave in 21 hours. Of course, there has also been no fretting, no worrying, not a single what-if? But there’s no way on earth we’re going to get out of here anywhere near lunch time tomorrow. Maybe lunchtime Sunday. Wish us luck.

Ruthie Learns “The Chicken Dance” and Other Tales

We’ve had a big couple of weeks here in our house. Major milestones all around, not the least of which is Ruthie is now equipped to attend any future family weddings. She can now do “The Chicken Dance.”

I wasn’t sure if “The Chicken Dance” is known universally, so I looked to see if I could include a link to provide information on it–keep everyone well-informed, you know–and I found an instruction video of sorts from “The Lawrence Welk Show.” What better source to keep you up on your cheesy dances “one of the most popular dances in America” (so says Myron Floren)?

Now back to our regularly scheduled post . . .

So Ruthie learned the Chicken Dance this week. At least well enough to take it to weddings. She may not quite be ready for Lawrence Welk though. It truly is too funny and, I imagine, a passage all toddlers must go through. In our house the tutelage usually comes under this remarkably obnoxious toy chicken who plays the tune with increasing tempo while it hops and flaps about the floor. Ryan’s dad and step-mother sent it to Isaac for his first Easter. He would run in fear of it (wise boy) until he was almost three. Then he found it in its hiding spot and brought it out. Hannah (at about 6 months) loved it and went on to dance with it for months.

The chicken had been in hiding again (does it run and hide all on its own?) up until last week, at which point Isaac and Hannah must have stumbled upon it and immediately introduced Ruthie to its charms. She, like her older sister, loves it. So she’s been playing with it all week. First she would just squat next to it (shaking her tail feathers), then she added the clapping, and finally, just yesterday, added the beak movement. So, she still lacks the wing flapping, but really, how often do chickens actually flap their wings to fly? If our neighbor’s chickens are any indication, rarely.

Now that the chicken dance story has been chronicled, let me share the Other Tales of our big weeks . . .

In addition to learning the dance, Ruthie has learned to walk during these last two weeks. There are few better sights than a newly-walking toddler. They remind you where we got the term “toddler.” She is cute as can be with her arms outstretched like a mummy, her feet as wide apart as they’ll go, stumbling and tripping all over the place, but proud as can be. It’s been fun.

Isaac recently turned 6 and finished Kindergarten. We celebrated his birthday with a science lab birthday party. That was a good time all around. Volcanoes and slime. We were generous enough to send each child home with a working (still soaking wet with the vinegar-baking soda-food coloring solution) volcano and a bag of slime. I’m not expecting to see these same children at next year’s birthday party.

Hannah, Hannah, Hannah . . . she has not had any major milestones lately. She simply continues to be the sweetest, most thoughtful small person I’ve ever encountered. I hurt my shoulder a couple of weeks ago and had to go to the doctor for it this morning. “Which shoulder is it Mommy?” “This one.” A kiss on my boo-boo shoulder from my 3 1/2 year-old. Sweet.

Life is good.

Can’t handle the pressure . . .

to write a title for my first blog post.

I’ve been thinking about blogging for a while and my imaginary friends (on my beloved message board) have recently encouraged me to do so, so here I am. The thing is I find myself overwhelmed by the choices of themes and trying to figure out what in the world a widget is and now, simply writing a title for my first post. First post, you know, should be a good one, should have a good title. Will set the tone, set the pattern, set the standard. Oh good grief! It’s 2 o’clock in the morning, I should be sleeping, a 14 month-old with bulging molars woke me an hour ago and spit my offering of ibuprofen all over my pretty jammies and I only came on line because as I lay back in bed I realized I hadn’t updated my netflix cue and my disk would likely arrive for exchange tomorrow and NOW I’m supposed to come up with a pithy title and opening post?! I don’t think so.

So why start now? In the middle of the night? Because I think sleep deprivation was the necessary final ingredient to get me started down this blogging road. So here I am.

I want to write more. (In general, that is, not in this post.) I think this blogging thing could be a good start. So, I waded through the theme choices . . . went with this one because they had me at “stacks of old books” (I think they’re selling it on the feature that I can put my own image up there on the top, but what could possibly be better than a stack of old books?) . . . came up with a name for this thing in my sleep-deprived state (I think. That’s what I do.) . . . still don’t know what in the world a widget is, but got myself started anyway.

How’s that for a first post? I’m sleepy. I hope I don’t have blogger’s remorse in the morning.