TGIF..

For most of us anyway...

Have a great weekend - I'll be back to report on my Pioneer Woman encounter. Wish us luck tomorrow. Have red cowgirl boots, will travel.
xoxo,t

So here is something you don't hear me say very often...

I took the girls to church on Sunday.


..hello...hello...Bueller...anybody still out there...it's me Tracy, really...

Mass actually...

...hello...anybody?

This is coming from the disgruntled ex-Catholic, former Methodist, ex-boyfriend is now a Baptist minister, wannabe Jew, stalker of Mormon mommy blogs, eternally agnostic lady.

I had a good excuse - one of my besties up and got her baby boy baptised.

Fashion pause here.

Do you see my friend T looking fine in her DvF wrap dress? Let's just take a moment here to admire and sigh in all of it's glory.

ahhhhh...looking fine....

Anyway, He was there too. It was good to see Him, it had been awhile. The church was beautiful.

Have you ever noticed that His eyes follow you everywhere. When I was little, our Hispanic neighbors had a huge portrait of Jesus in their living room. His eyes followed me everywhere I went. I used to peek out from their kitchen to see if I could catch Him looking away...but nope, there He was staring me down again. I even used to hide behind their couch and pop up real quick like to throw Him off. It never worked. It used to FREAK ME OUT. I always behaved at their house.

xoxo,t

I have Butterflies in my Belly...

..and it is almost as exciting as going to my first high school dance.

Except I do not plan on wearing blue taffeta, blue eyeshadow, aqua net, or white tights.

Guess who is coming to Minnesota this Saturday?

My blog idol is coming(well actually my 2nd blog idol, after Michelle)...I would totally wear taffeta if Michelle was coming to Minnesota.

The Pioneer Woman is coming for a book signing. I am so there. This is seriously even better than trying to meet Gwen Stefani.

I have been fretting for 2 weeks about what I will wear, what I will say and will I sweat profusely enough to need a change of outfits before it is my turn to meet her.

Will she notice me, will she notice my baby, will she notice my red Lucchese boots? Will Astrid scream at her if she tries to hold her. If Astrid cries, will I?

Should I camp out, should I camp out with my baby, what time should I get in line? Should I bring coffee? Wine? Presents? Breath spray? How many books? Hair up or down? Skinny jeans or bootcut?

It's hard to be almost 41 and so insecure. But hot damn...2 1/2 days til PW is HERE. I even bought new mascara.

xoxo,t

Great Expectations...

I think I forgot to tell you all that Eloise moved schools for first grade? Did I mention it?

We were very scared to send our shy, quiet and easy to frighten 5 year old into the big-big world for kindergarten, so we chose a small parochial school for her. It was just what she needed to gain a year of confidence and love under her belt. Sister Sara was the perfect teacher and Eloise had the perfect year.

We left our small, safe, Catholic school this year and entered the big, scary, big city public school system. We made this change for several reasons - money, we aren't Catholic, and we felt that Eloise could benefit from a more challenging and diverse environment. (i.e. not hanging out with just a bunch of white kids, and to be at a school with some amazing educational resources).

Eloise tested into the city's Gifted and Talented Magnet school. Because she is perfect, brilliant and our daughter. amen.

After crying for the first two weeks of school - me, not her...we have now settled into an amazing rhythm and school is good. Eloise is happy, having fun, learning amazing things and is challenged daily. She is taking theatre classes, violin, art, social studies, and science...besides the 3 "R's". First grade is amazing and on steroids.

We had our first conference last week though, and I have to say I am amazed by what we expect of our first graders. I still have my 1st grade report card where I received all "E's". Eloise's report came home with many E's but many P's too.(excelling vs. proficient.) I was horrified by this less than perfect report about my baby.

Yes, I am turning into one of those parents.

Turns out at this school you can only earn an E if you are working at least 2 grade levels ahead on that subject. Really?

So here is my baby working on 2nd grade math and only earning a P.

But she is also my 6 year old baby reading at a 5-6th grade level and earning an E. I love her.

At the end of the conference, her teacher gave us the mandatory sentence on "what she needs to work on."

For Eloise - really, this is what her teacher said..."Eloise needs to work on her presentation skills." Yes, really. In first grade. I remember working on that in 7th grade. Now you have to give eloquent presentations in 1st grade.

At this rate, I am assuming she will be going to college when she is 12.
xoxo,t

Hand-me-downs...

Now that we have 3 girls, everyone always says "oh you are so lucky to have all girls so you can hand down their clothing."

This is usually followed by a loud snort by Jed and an obnoxious coughing fit.

Oh sure, I hand them down alright - just not to my own kids.

I prefer new.

I am a snob.

I am okay with that.

I have only kept each girls' coming home outfits, and 2 sets of the Oilily Matroushka Doll dress and tights set...and have bought 2 more USED sets of the same off eBay. That is all I have saved.

I put this used Oilily set Astrid yesterday and fell in love all over again. Somethings are worth saving...but not much.

Do you save your kids clothing. Do you hand-me-down to your own kids? Or are you a new clothing only snob like myself?

xoxo, t.

...and Friday Came...

I am assuming that Astrid read my blog when she woke up at 3am and felt bad.

So she took a 2 1/2 hour nap today. (Yes, all at one time.)

When she woke up.

We dressed her up like an old lady and made fun of her. It's fun to laugh at and make fun of babies because they have no clue and just smile back at you. (hint, don't make fun of your 6 year old - they cry and don't get my humor at all...)

The doorbell rang and one of my blog readers, who started off as a customer and has ended up as a dear friend stopped by with empathy, wine, chocolate and coffee, and a hug and NO advice. I love her.

We posed Astrid with the goodies and made fun of her some more.(She likes the wine...)

The best part of the day - reading all of your sweet and funny comments to let me know that motherhood ain't for cowards or wimps, that it DOES SUCK some days and that is totally okay to admit. I hate perfect moms and I think I will make a bumper sticker saying so. We have all been there and it's okay. There is always tomorrow.

Today I read to my kids, I played games, I finished my work, I did 4 loads of laundry, made dinner, and I laughed a lot and felt warm and fuzzy by your comments as they really were a sweet, warm embrace to me.

..and here I sit in my quiet house with my wine. Life IS good.

xoxo and an extra xo today. Have a great weekend. t.