Drinkwater

this saturday i'll be driving to murrieta calif. for a "memorial" for my great grandma.
she died early this month. it was expected but i was only aware that this was expected like a week before.

This is Great Grandma with her youngest great great grandchild, addison, at 8 weeks old.

as a kid she was just the best. shes this icon for my family. in her nineties still sending birthday cards. in my birthday cards she'd always write a little blurb about what she was doing the day i was born. she always wrote on sticky notes inside as opposed to writing on the actual card... i think it was so we could reuse the card lol. love her.

when i stayed at her house as a young kid she'd steam me vegetables in these miniature pots and pans... they taste better when theyre cooked kid-sized, you know.

whenever we'd have a family event at her house (which always smelled STRONGLY of moth balls... and never bothered me... i didnt know that it was moth balls i smelled until i was older), great grandma drinkwater (her last name! seriously. it was so appropriate too) would promote eating healthy by ALWAYS having a spread of fresh strawberries, olives, grapes, apples, cottage cheese, hard-boiled eggs, and raw veggies. and if there was a birthday... an angelfood cake (fat free) with fresh strawberries on top.

my cousins and i always looked forward to the olives (you put one on each finger duh).

i'd also like to pass on some of great grandma's famous advice and wisdom.

1. read read read. books are the best gifts (i hope to continue her book giving in our family)

2. keep educating yourself. go to college. seriously... she'll come after you

3. don't dress "like a... a... a... whore!" (after seeing my 17 yr old cousin in her jeans ripped right below each back pocket)

4. only put clarins and este lauder on your skin

5. carter's is best for baby. softest she says. (she's been telling me that since before i had kids.. now i know she's SO RIGHT)

6. there is nothing wrong with giving good, over-sized underwear that you will grow into as a gift.
"good underwear is important."

7. exercise (she jazzercised in her 70's)

8. wear good, comfortable shoes.

9. write letters.

i'll miss her. and her angelfood cake with strawberries.

Mary Zenobia Shea Drinkwater
March 1, 1914-February 7, 2009

is survived by:
4 children,
8 grand children,
13 great-grand children, and
4 great-great-grand children

p.s. the reason we are having a "memorial" for her at my aunts house is because she donated her body to science so we don't really have her to do a funeral for. she so into education lol. she is so cool.

patience

today was so much better than yesterday.

as i typed that flashbacks of addison screaming us out of the store today ran through my head. i dont know what little bug has bitten my kids lately but seriously who on earth was like "all day with a 1.5 yr old and 3 yr old? SOUNDS LIKE A GOOD IDEA."

yesterday i woke up and my patience vanished into thin air. poor children... POOR MOMMY.

anyway... although more obstacles to overcome today... much more patience to work with.
i really did continue shopping with addison screaming away for "baby baby baby" and standing up in the cart. like its that easy to tear me away from shopping. shes going to have to learn the hard way like her dad.

we did eventually leave when the little old ladies who work at homegoods were giving us dirty looks. in my defense... we were literally the only customers in the store. LITERALLY.

sidenote: my abundance of pateince today was a direct effect of my abundance of prayer!

tate and i had a sweet moment tonight. i feel like ive waited my whole life for times like these. i re-bought him Cars the movie (who knows where that other one went.. the dvd player probably ate it b/c it was in there so long) and he got all bathed, and lotioned, and pjed, and we put baby lungs to sleep and just the two of us cuddled up on the couch and i even let him watch the WHOLE movie at bedtime.

i got to look over at him biting his nails (i guess you inherit those habits eh?) there next to me with his batman jammies complete with velcro cape totally into "lit-een keen" (lightning mcqueen) and i think i forgot every "yes..." "no" "YES" "NO NO" "YESSSS!" "NOOO!" conversation we had today.

by the way... what kind of three year old bites his nails? seriously.

in other excitement...
hubs has one more night of work before days off. yay!


oh yeah and addison pooped and painted her crib with it. she could sell her artwork if it didnt smell so much like a diaper. shame..

my very own blog

i'm finally relaxing by myself. tate has gotten up out of bed a record number of times tonight- ridiculous. i called josh to have him set the boy straight on speakerphone. i think the silence means it worked. or he's writing his name in poop on the wall. however, in the words of bill cosby, himself, "parents are only interested in quiet."

addison's newest developments are saying words like... apple, banana, kasper. those are the new ones. now if i could only get her to pee in the toilet. all in good time, unless she's like her brother, then it will be in bad time. peeing in your pants pretty much makes for a bad time period, though.

before this goes too far i must first say that only the most devoted and obsessed-with-their-kids moms are allowed to complain as i do.

in this section I'd like to applaud my dear husband for finally accepting that i love to decorate and redecorate my house. the kids help.
also, he is handsome. although, the most handsome when taking out the trash or changing a diaper. nevertheless... handsome.

so soon I'll be buying a real grown-up camera. i can't wait to take beautiful pictures of my little munchkins... and everyone else's munchkins too. i keep trying to pretend that taking pictures is not something I'd love to spend the rest of my life doing and making 'lots of money doing it. but that's a big fat lie and I'm jumping up and down for my camera.

speaking of taking pictures... today at work the most annoying man came in to order his daughter's pictures and made it impossible for a 15 minute task to take a minute less than an hour. and i couldn't stop staring at his very thin mustache... which was thicker on the left side than the right.

the end

p.s. Josh's birthday- a success. i think.