Is it Just Me?

I am tired of convincing people that I used to be smart. I am well educated and have a high IQ. However, it seems that with the birth of my first child over five years ago, I have been reduced to a nimwit. Two examples come to mind just from this past week:

I was trying to convince Mike of something but he wasn't buying it. When he finally could prove it, I said, "See! I'm not a moron!" I then went to the restroom and found that my pants were on backwards.

While at work with some young co-workers, I was talked into joining Facebook. I began typing in my information and stopped at the high school graduation year. I looked at the youngsters and said, "I can't remember what year I graduated." They helped me use subtraction to figure it out. Satisfied, I went back to my profile. I paused. "I can't remember how long I've been married." They gave me a puzzled look. "Oh, wait! I remember now." I resumed my typing and finished without further incident. The next step was to type in the names of my friends to see if they were on Facebook, too. Very purposeful now, I typed in one name. Long pause. I looked at the youngsters again and muttered, "I can't remember my friends' names."

They replied, "How old ARE you!?" I couldn't really remember.

Hannah Rae

While the girls were in the tub, I heard Abby start crying. "Hannah hit me three times!" she sobbed.

"Hannah, did you hit Abby?"

"Yeah," she said matter-of-factly.

"Don't do it again."

"Okay."

"Say you're sorry."

"Sorry, Abby."

"Would you like it if I hit you?"

"No."
"Don't hit!"

She paused then whispered, "Roar."

Abby's wails changed into a belly laugh instantly. I wanted to join in, but I was trying to make a point! "Hannah," I repeated, "don't hit."

Another sweet whisper, "Roar."

It was all over. I'm not sure who won but I'm pretty sure it wasn't me.

Girls

Abby had a pen in hand and was sitting thoughtfully over a piece of paper on which she had written "HANNAH".

"Mom? How do you spell 'Not Allowed'?"

Hannah is very creative with her singing. The other day, while she was a pirate, she started singing. It went, "Twinkle, twinkle, little stARRRRRRR, how I wonder what you ARRRRRRR."

Nap Time

Hannah's new nap pastime is rearranging her room. She takes every toy in her room and puts it on her bed. She drags baskets and strollers up there. Occasionally the shopping cart even makes it up. She spends so much time redecorating that she forgets to sleep. When it's time for me to wake her up, she's exhausted and cranky. Below are the before and after photos of her bed.

Future Telemarketer

Abby came home with yet another fund raiser. She was desperate to win the remote control jammer so she could mess with Mike while he tried to change the channel. She only had to sell one magazine subscription. Instead of ordering one myself, I had her call Gamma.














As you can see in the photo, she was very professional. My dad answered. "This is Abby. Speak to Gamma?" Once Gamma got on the line, I heard one side of the conversation:

"We need money for a fundraiser."
Pause.
"We need MONEY for a FUNDRAISER."
Pause.
"WE NEED MONEY!"
Pause. With a look that clearly said, "I am dealing with an idiot," she sighed and passed the phone off to me.

The next day, we took the order form over to Gamma's house and tried again. I prepped Abby by saying, "Now Gamma only has to buy ONE for you to get the prize. Just one." Excitedly, she watched Gamma leaf through the book while I went to another room. A few minutes later, Abby ran to me in tears.
She wailed, "Gamma's buying MORE than ONE!"

The remote control jammer doesn't work. She forgot about it one hour after she brought it home. Enjoy your subscription, Gamma.

Someday My Prince Will Come

Abby and her cousin, Jocie, are peas in a pod. When we get together, Abby and Jocie play together while Hannah is a third wheel. Hannah really doesn't care much if she even notices at all. Last night, we were at Scott and Kelli's house for dinner. Abby and Jocie had to be firmly prompted to even ask Hannah to play upstairs with them and once they were upstairs, Hannah played alone. At one point, Abby and Jocie pranced into the living room dressed as beautiful princesses. They took a moment to be admired. Kelli asked, "Where's Hannah?" Abby smugly replied, "She's not going to the ball." Pause. "She's Cinderella."

Fire Safety

Abby was sitting near the fireplace, enjoying the fire. "Mom! I learned in school what to do when your clothes catch on fire!" What? "You just stop, rock and roll!"

Mike and I were hugging and Hannah decided that she didn't approve of Mike snuggling with her woman. She tried to separate us with her hands. When that failed, she wiggled her body in between us and slowly bent at a 90 degree angle, effectively separating us. She smiled and looked up at me. "Hold you me!"

Donations Accepted

If anyone is interested in donating items to our refugee family, you are more than welcome to! (Of course.) They can use:
2-year old girl, Mawi: clothes, shoes, coat, toys
5-year old girl, Ashley: clothes, shoes, coat, toys
7-year old boy, Benjamin: clothes, shoes, coat, bike and helmet
14-year old boy, Van: clothes, shoes, coat, skateboard, school supplies
Mom: clothes, shoes
Dad: clothes and shoes
Another need would be for beds and dressers. They are in a two bedroom apartment. The parents and the girls sleep in one mattress on the floor. The boys sleep in the other room on one foam pad. There is no other furniture in the bedrooms.
I just thought I'd mention it in case anyone has things they'd like to donate. I'll post more specific sizes later, when I have the information with me.

Happy New Year!

We started off the new year by having Christmas all over again. My siblings were out of town on Christmas, so the Walters family got together for brunch and gifts. While we were eating, Hannah snuck in and opened a present. It was a lovely Old Spice gift set for Uncle Toby. No, we did not give it to him. We gave it to my dad on Christmas Day. He said, "I've got to go change the sheets!" Dad must have re-gifted it. How tacky. (If this doesn't make any sense to you, then I know that you are not reading all the blogs. Scroll down to "Mike, You Animal" and read it. Pay attention this time!)

While playing together, Hannah was jabbering non-stop, like she always does. Abby turned to me and said, "Mommy, I'm bored of Hannah's jibber-jabber."

Animal Park

Mike's mom is in town and the girls are having the time of their lives with her constant attention. On Tuesday, Mike and Pam took the girls to Fossil Rim Animal Preserve and they were gone for seven blissful hours. Abby was confused as to why I wasn't coming with them. Mike explained that sometimes Mommy likes to be alone. "Why?" she asked me, stunned. I told her that I was going to do fun Mommy stuff. She thought and said, "Like play at the park?"

Fossil Rim is a drive-thru animal park where the animals come up to your car and stick their heads in so that you can feed them. Abby took some good pictures that she'd like to share with you. The pictures of the trash can, the table, strangers eating lunch, Daddy's shoe, Abby's shoe, more strangers eating lunch, Daddy getting soda, etc., accidentally got deleted.