Torture

There's a special place in hell for the person who invented wallpaper.

And the builder of our house - who conveniently decided not to prime the walls in our bathroom before applying hideous wallpaper. (Meaning it either does not come off the wall at all - or tears off the top layer of sheet rock.)

Wallpaper that we've ignored and shut our eyes to for five years.

That our realtor says must come down before listing.

So Mr. Builder - whoever you are - you are at the top of my least-favorite-people right now.

Harumph.

To Do, To Do, To Do

I keep losing my "To Do" list - which is NEVER a good sign. I'm a list maker - I like to make lists - cross items off one-by-one - and feel a sense of accomplishment.

Losing the "Master To Do List" is not a good thing for someone like me - so in an effort to record it where I know I can always find it - here goes. (And yes, this is probably the most boring post on the planet - so feel free to skip over...)

Before Saturday:

1. Sew buttons on kids' outfits.
2. Grocery store - purchase items for sugar cookies, Italian sesame cookies, ham, and lemon meringue pie
3. Bake/decorate/bag and tie bows on Easter sugar cookies (one set for Comer Eggstravaganza Hunt - one set "unbagged" for Long family Easter dinner.)
4. Find ham recipe - bake ham (Saturday early afternoon) for Comer Eggstravaganza Hunt and dinner
5. Bake Nonna's Italian Sesame Cookies (Saturday morning) - for Long family Easter Sunday dinner
6. Bake Lemon Meringue Pie (Saturday morning) - for Long family Easter Sunday dinner
7. Dig through assorted Easter goodies that have been strategically stashed throughout the house - determine what goes in whose Easter basket
8. Stuff 2 dozen eggs per child (24x3 = 72 eggs) with candy and deliver to Nici's house before Saturday morning.
9. Purchase knee high socks for Jack and James
10. Purchase dressy white socks for Anna
11. Purchase dressy saddle "Angel" shoes for Jack
12. Purchase white blouse for Anna - to go under bunny dress
13. Purchase small basket for Jack - for egg gathering at the egg hunt
14. Scrub/polish Anna's white patent leather shoes
15. Help Deonne finish removing wallpaper from master bath - get ready to paint*
16. Scrub kitchen cabinets/touch up paint in kitchen and wainscoting in hallway/foyer*
17. Top to bottom house cleaning*
18. Organize toys and clothes in Anna's pit of despair (i.e. walk in closet)*
19. Boil 18 eggs and prepare for dyeing/decorating
20. Dig through craft drawers and locate egg decorating kit

Next Week:

1. Cut and assemble invitations for Jack's birthday party - to be mailed no later than April 5
2. Begin assembling party hats, banners, and red/brown pom-pom hanging decorations for Jack's birthday party
3. Review digital pictures from the past year - create, cut, assemble "One Year Banner" for Jack's party
4. Order monkey cookie cutter for Jack's party

Additional birthday planning lists to follow in the weeks prior to April 24.

*These need to be TOP PRIORITY so we can finish up and get the house ready to list!!!!

Road Trip

We had our first real Road Trip as a Party of Five this past weekend. Some very dear friends invited us up to spend the weekend with them in Greensboro, and for some reason, the planets aligned, the atmospheric pressure was right, and our calendar was clear – so we were actually able to go!

We left Friday – I had a meeting Friday morning with one of our clients in North Carolina – so we packed up the car and while I facilitated our task force meeting – Deonne explored one of the local parks (and let the kids expel some of their cooped up energy.) Following my meeting, we had lunch, then hit the road for Greensboro – arriving around 3:00 in the afternoon – plenty of time for the kids to run around, play, and squeal with delight.

One of the best things about getting together with them (aside from the friendship and fellowship and laughs that always ensue when the four of us adults gather) is the fact that all five of our kids play so well together. Of course there were the few time outs and reminders to share – but overall, the kids got along well, and were sad to see the weekend end when we piled up in our van to go home. It's so nice to be able to talk and visit as adults, while knowing the kids are having a great time as well.

A highlight of the trip was the "Curious George Live" show we saw at the Greensboro Coliseum. Logan had snagged seats in one of the corporate boxes – a set of four seats for each of the two showings (morning and afternoon) so we split up the kids – Daddies and younger kids in the morning – Mommies and older kids in the afternoon – and had the pleasure of seeing Curious George come to life right before our very eyes! I didn't get to see the show with James – but I hear from a reliable source that he was thrilled to see his favorite character on stage. Anna loved it as well – although she was so tired from playing so hard all weekend that by the time Saturday afternoon rolled around, she was pretty pooped.

It was such a fun trip – tiring, yes, when chasing around five kids – but so good to see such dear friends. I hate that we don't live closer – so it wouldn't be so long between visits – the kids do as well – as I type this from the backseat of the van on our way home – James has repeatedly asked when we get to go back again. (And we're only about 30 minutes out from Greensboro.) J

Deonne and I needed this trip – a welcomed break from our day-to-day lives as a family of five – a chance to ground ourselves with some of the most down-to-earth people we know – a chance to be together and have adult conversation.

We are blessed.

Logan and Brian – you guys ROCK! Thank you for welcoming us into your home and hearts – for treating us like family – and loving us – through our ups and downs. We can't WAIT to see you soon!

(Pictures will be added soon – once I've had a chance to locate the camera from the pile of items that were deposited on the dining room table when we unloaded the van..)

Hand, Foot, and Mouth - Oh My

Yeah, so we're dealing with a new one for the Long family - Hand Foot and Mouth disease. Somehow in the last 5 1/2 years of childcare we've managed to escape this one. We've had everything else, from tummy bugs to croup and RSV, from strep throat to random fever viruses. But Hand, Foot, and Mouth?

This one is new.

Jack started with a high fever (103.5) Friday afternoon. A quick trip to the pediatrician revealed ulcers in his mouth, and the fact that this virus is going round his classroom led (in part) to the diagnosis.

The fever broke Saturday (thank goodness) but the tell-tale red dots and blisters on his little pudgy hands and feet erupted Sunday mid-day.

So, he's been kicked out of school (just until he's fever free for three days) and he starts acting more like the happy Jack we know and love.

Sigh.

Thoughts of Spring

Spring and the Easter season is upon us yet again. And with the signs of spring that are ever present as we emerge from the winter months - also comes memories. Memories that settle in - become a constant presence in my mind, and fill my heart with a heavy spirit.

I used to love spring. Seeing neighborhoods bursting with color, the longer, warmer days, the beautiful tulip display at a local Methodist church. Preparing for the Easter season in our hearts and home, following Lenten meditations, decorating with bunnies, baskets, and eggs ('cause you all know I love to decorate). Planning egg hunts for the kids, special outfits for Easter Sunday, special menus and decadent desserts for our Easter meal.

And I still love doing and participating in those activities.

But along with the Easter fun also comes memories. Memories of that fateful Easter weekend three years ago. When life turned upside-down. And never was the same again.

I hate that some holidays are linked to a 'series of unfortunate events.' I hate that the warm, bright, Holy season of Easter and Spring conjures up dark and forbidding thoughts.

I suppose a lot of that has to do with the fact that I've still not come to terms with my mom's - I don't even know what to call it - stroke? Aneurysm? Severe brain bleed? Call it what you want - the event that ripped her away from me - with no warning, no preparation, no signal - just came into our lives and pulled her and her light away - leaving behind a shadow of the woman I knew.

And the sad truth is, I don't know how to come to terms with it. I think back to the events leading up to that 14 hour surgery, the trauma that happened in the weeks following, and it all feels like a foggy horrible nightmare from a really bad B-grade film.

But it's not a film. Those memories are real. And while they are foggy and unclear at times, I know all of that horrible stuff really happened.

Because of the way things are now.

And, I suppose, it's because I've lived through it - that I've changed. Good or bad, I've come to realize when you live through something so absolutely vile, it changes you. Forever. And you can't change back.

I miss my mom so much - it hurts. I mean it really, physically hurts. She's my best friend. She knows every story, every joy, every sorrow, every scar, every wound. She's the one I've turned to - for everything.

And I can't believe it's been three years. Three years. Three years since I've seen her stand up. Walk. Heard her voice. Carried on a conversation - just the two of us. Felt her warm embrace.

It seems like it was just yesterday that she was here in our home - helping take care of Anna and I after James' birth. On so many levels it feels like time stopped.

But then I look at James. At his three year old wild and silly self. At Anna. At her five year old sassy and artistic self. And at sweet Jack - the baby she's never been able to hold or kiss or rock to sleep.

And my heart aches.

And my eyes well up with tears. It never ceases to amaze me the amount of tears one can cry. I mean, really, how one body can generate so many tears is beyond me.

So I look around at the flowers beginning to bloom, and the redbud tree starting to flower just outside my kitchen window - and my thoughts automatically drift back to that time three years ago, when the bottom fell out.

It's hard to face the Spring.

Boys

I fear my tender heart will not survive as I learn how to be a good mother to little boys.

Yesterday morning - 11:28 am - my phone rings. Caller ID declares "Childrens Center."

First thought - oh dear.

Me - Hello?

CDC - Ms. Long? Hi, this is Elizabeth from the Childrens Center. (pause - I hear faint whimpering/moaning in the background) Everything's fine - but Ms. Jennifer wants to talk to you.

Jenn - Kristen? James had an accident on the playground.

Me - An accident? Is he okay?

Jenn - Well, he's okay - but he hit his head on the corner of the picnic table, right near his eye. We've cleaned it and put ice on it, but it looks like it's swelling.

Me - Is he bleeding?

Jenn - No (long pause) just starting to swell, and you can see the red marks where he made impact.

Lovely.

Me - Okay, well does he need immediate medical attention? Do I need to take him to the ER or to his regular doctor or is he okay?

Jenn - I think he's okay (long pause) but I'm just not sure.

So I instructed them to give him some Tylenol, to keep ice on it, let him eat lunch, and call me if it looked any worse.

I got the second call about 20 minutes later - telling me it's really swelling and that I should probably come take a look at it.

So I drop everything - hustle over there - and yeah, it's pretty bad.

I took him home, then to his doctor, who (after laughing - because of the three - James is the one who is always banging himself up) says his cornea isn't scratched or damaged, and the blood shot eye on the side where the impact occurred isn't too concerning. Gave us a prescription for some antibiotic ointment to put around on the scratch - that is just beneath his lower eyelashes - and sent us on our way.

I'm actually proud of the way I handled the whole thing - with the first child, I was a complete nervous ninny - and had this happened five years ago, we'd probably have made a long and unnecessary trip to the ER.

Although, I'm sure it's just a matter of time before we end up there, given James' wide-open-nature to fully throw himself into whatever activity he happens to be engaged in.

Boys.

St. Patrick's Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

While the kids were away at school - our house was visited by a rascally leprechaun. That sneaky little guy made a big mess - he left trails of green sparkles throughout the house, leading to little pieces of gold.

He messed around with our family pictures - and turned them all different directions.

He took all of James' trains off his train table and arranged them in a circle - with gold coins in the center.

He took all of Anna's princesses from her castle and arranged them in a circle - with more gold.

(Our leprechaun must like circles...)

He turned the kids' bathroom cups and toothpaste upside down...

Oh, he sure was sneaky!

The kids first discovered our house had been visited as they came up the stairs from the garage - they followed the trails around the house - looking for more sparkles, shamrocks, and gold coins!

Even Jack had a wonderful time!

I should have known something was awry when I was finishing up dinner and having an actual, uninterruped conversation with Deonne in the kitchen. I turned the corner to the dining room and found Anna and James - hands in the pot of gold coins. I asked Anna to open her mouth (we'd told them they could have a piece of chocolate after dinner.)

She shook her head 'no' - but finally opened up to show me a mouth full of melted chocolate. James just giggled - then said 'we're putting the coins in the bank.'

I wasn't sure what that meant - until after dinner (our traditional corned beef and cabbage) and dessert (Italian creme cake - and green jelly beans) and the kids had been bathed and put to bed - did Deonne come in and say "I figured out what The Bank is."

Turns out our own sneaky little leprechauns were eating piles of gold coins, taking the empty wrappers, and sticking them in the metal slats of the HVAC vent. "The Bank."

No wonder neither had a real appetite for dinner!

All in all a fun day - I didn't enjoy it all too much - have been home with a nasty sore throat and cough - but the kids had fun, and that's what matters most!

James really got into the whole leprechaun hunt - but was a tad worried at bedtime that the leprechaun might come back while he was sleeping. We assured him that the sneaky little guy wouldn't be back until next year.

I have to give proper snaps to Kathy - I think the leprechaun visited our house this year after spending time at hers...