Simple Woman's Daybook...September 21, 2010

FOR TODAY...September 21, 2010

Outside my window...it's dark and the wind has picked up considerably.  It's still very warm out even with the breeze and the fact that it's 11:49 PM.

I am thinking...about work tomorrow.  I hate to bring work home, but I have two grants due in the next week that kind of got "restarted" for me today.  Now I feel a little bit like I have to start over on both of them, but if I get to work tomorrow and hunker down, I think I can hammer them both out again before the week is out (if not tomorrow!)  

I am thankful for...a healthy new nephew!  My brother and sister-in-law had their baby this morning and he is BEAUTIFUL!  Welcome, Ian Joseph (6lbs, 4oz. 19 1/4 inches, born @ 6:02AM on 9/21/10)!!!  I'm so glad to have you in our family and super excited for my boys to grow up with their cousin so close by!

From the kitchen...I am trying desperately to stick to my Weight Watchers.  I seem to do smashingly all day long, keeping my points to a minimum, only to blow it when I'm home and faced with a kitchen full of food.  I've kept better options on hand this week though so that helps.  But I'm still weak.  

I am wearing...my "pjs", which consist of comfy capris and a t-shirt.  

I am remembering...my Grandpa Earl.  His birthday was today (so fitting for Ian to be born today, seeing as he is the next line of Yousey men!).  He would have been 103.  He was a great man, with great stories to tell, and wisdom to share.  I only wish I had sat more, listened more intently, and soaked him up more before he died.  I was (not quite) 16 when he died so I was right in the middle of that "me, me, me" stage and missed out on a great gift.  My father still quotes him to this day.  Some day I'll have to do a post of my grandfather's "Earl-isms" - he was a a great man!  

I am creating...a list of things to buy/do before Alex's birthday party this weekend.  We usually have just a few select people over for cake/ice cream due to space constraints, but with a large yard, bigger house, and a forecasted nice weekend, we've extended an invite to both sides of the family and stand to have a lot of people here.  I have A LOT to do before Saturday!  This house is so far from settled!

I am going...to my second Photoshop class with Heidi tomorrow.  I'm excited to get into the nitty gritty tomorrow.  We're bringing our cameras and will be setting some manual settings and taking some basic images to start working with in Photoshop.  I still haven't figured out what/how I'm going to use Photoshop at home.  I'll have to see what I learn and decide if I want to invest the big bucks or stick to a free-share version for now.  

I am hoping...to get the boys bedtime routine back on schedule.  We got rid of Alex's pacifier (cold turkey) three weeks ago and it went relatively smoothly...at first.  Now and for the past week or so, he's been unbearable at nap/bedtime.  He simply won't go to bed/stay in bed unless you lay with him or he wants to sit with me in the dark living room until he or I (or both) fall asleep.  It's been a ridiculous battle.  And the madder I get about the situation, the cuter he is and the more heartbroken he seems.  It's killing me!  It wipes me out and has eaten up many an otherwise useful evening.

I am hearing...the clock on my wall just struck midnight.  I really wanted to get this up before Tuesday was officially over, but the wee hours of Wednesday will have to do.

Around the house...ugh.  So much to do, so many things to clean and settle before Alex's birthday party on Saturday.  Yet here I am, at midnight, trying to get this post up.  Settling the boys down for bed each night has proven to kill my productivity.  I usually am so relaxed, comfy, etc, that I'm useless and fall asleep SO early lately!  It's awful!

On my mind...so much more than I can share here.  I hope to be able to spew some of my random thoughts into blog posts this week.  Specifically, I can't believe my oldest started pre-k (like he's been doing this his whole life!) and my "baby" turns two in a few days.  *sniff*  Where does the time go?!?!  He's such an adorable little man with a personality twice as big as his tiny frame.

Noticing that...my house is so quiet I can hear my cable box humming.  I love silence.  It's golden.  My brain functions better in silence.  I can think, I'm less distracted, life just feels less chaotic.  *sigh*

One of my favorite things...babies.  There's something so new and promising about babies.  They're fresh and untouched.  They come into this world knowing only what we teach them and there's so much possibility there.  Their innocence, unconditional view on the world, and endless capacity to love, learn, and grow is amazing.

A few plans for the rest of the week:  Photoshop class with Heidi, dinner with her amazing family, birthday for my youngest stepson who's turning 20 on Friday (!), birthday shindig for Alex (who turns 2!  next week!), sleepover with my sister (so excited!!!), snuggling my newborn nephew some more!

Here is picture for thought I am sharing...

My big brother's a daddy!  And the role seems to fit him like a glove!  

Welcome, Ian Joseph!  We love you so much already!!  

(Sorry for the quality of these photos, I didn't have my camera with me when I got "the call" so I had to resort to my cell phone!)

I ♥ Faces...Hands on Fun

There's another fantastic challenge going on over at I ♥ Faces.

The theme this week is "Hands on Fun".

For this week only, a face is not required!

Lately I've taken an interest in capturing the fingers and toes of my boys a lot as they grow so quickly and tell a great story!  I had many I wanted to use but ultimately went with this one of my brother, Noah.

I love how deeply he's concentrating to restring this guitar for my son.  It was just a toy to my three-year-old but his Uncle put a lot of thought and care into making sure it sounded right.  That's the musician in him!  Someday I hope he takes the same patience and shares his knowledge and talent of playing with my son!

Be sure to stop over to I ♥ Faces for some fabulous photos of "Hands on Fun"!

Wordless Wednesday

Playing in the sandbox

As most of you know, my brother, Noah, is a Tech Sergeant in the Airforce National Guard. A couple weeks ago he deployed to Qatar (North of Saudi Arabia in the Middle East) for a 6-9 month tour of duty. There is a chance he may come home as early as September 22 (thus the countdown to the left) but with the military being the military, we aren't counting too heavily on that.

In the weeks leading up to it, we had been trying to prepare Nathaniel for his beloved Uncle Noah's disappearance. Uncle Noah is one of Nate's best buds and for him to be away for so long, would no doubt be unusual. Throw in several dozen family get togethers with no Uncle Noah sightings and you have the makings for real confusion on the part of a three-year-old. So we did our best to talk to him about it, educate him, and warn him of what to expect. 

On the day he left I told Nathaniel the story of Uncle Noah's plane ride to the desert to fight the bad guys (apparently there are no actual bad guys in Qatar to fight directly, thank God, but the reason he's there is to help in this mission so it works to explain why he's gone). Immediately following, every plane Nate saw he was convinced held Uncle Noah and when he'd go to bed at night, sad yet again that he wasn't going to see Uncle Noah the next day, he'd say "I ride airplane to see Uncle Noah?". Breaks your heart, doesn't it?

Since my brother's departure, we have been fielding constant questions of "Where Uncle Noah?" and "Uncle Noah come over visit all day?" (FYI - "all day" = "today"). But when you ask Nate where Uncle Noah is he'll quickly answer "in the desert" so I know he gets at least some of it.

Well, this morning the day started as any other. I woke to the sound of Alex fussing in his crib. I got up to feed him and then started my morning routine. Shower, dress, hair, make-up. Somewhere in that routine Nathaniel usually wakes up yelling "Where Boo Bankie? Oh, NO! Boo Bankie GONE!"

Today though, he woke up and said "Where's Uncle Noah?". Having answered this question a time or two before, I asked "Where do YOU think Uncle Noah is?". Nathaniel looked up at me with his weery, sleepy dusted, morning squint and said "He far far away in the desert, playing in the sandbox" :) Then he said "crab gonna PINCH him" and started pinching his cheeks with his fingers like claws. It was SO cute. And so genuine.

So when we talk about Uncle Noah, being in the hot desert, fighting bad guys so that the rest of us can sit at home and have our freedoms and our rights, I'm not sure my three-year-old quite gets it. All he really understands is that his favorite Uncle Noah is missing.  There are parts of war, I guess I'd rather he NOT understand right now, though. So for now, I'm ok with him picturing his beloved Uncle Noah playing in the sandbox, getting pinched by the crabs until we see him again.