Monday, Monday

Today I'm thankful for...

1. Diggers and Dump Trucks.  Our neighbors are having work done on their driveway.  A big backhoe is digging a deep hole and dumping the dirt in the back of a dump truck parked next to it.  When Lillian first heard the trucks working, she looked out the window and exclaimed, "LOOK!  Everyone come look!"  We all gathered round the window to see, and Liam pointed and shouted, "Guck, guck!" [translated: truck, truck!] over and over.  The window view soon lost its excitement, so we went outside to watch from the front porch.  The kids sat and watched like they were at the movie theater, and Sydney kept asking if she could get down and watch from the driveway.  Her cautious mother said no every time she asked.  I'm not that into trucks and tractors [definitely not as much as my two boys are-- Bobby and Liam], but I have to admit that it's always neat to watch them work.  The construction vehicles are still parked in the driveway, so we have tomorrow to look forward to more work and easy entertainment! :)

2. Bribery.  Liam has reached the age of comprehending a good bribe...an important developmental milestone in my opinion.  Meal time now often consists of a conversation as follows:

Me: Liam, eat your green beans. [raise the fork with two green beans stabbed on the end toward his mouth]

Liam: No. [clamps his mouth shut tight with his lips pouting out and turns his head away and to the side, making a repulsed face]

Me: Liam, do you want a COOKIE!? [trying to sound as excited as possible]

Liam:  [Big smile] Oooh, yah!  [Reaches for cookie]

Me: You have to eat your green beans first, ok?  [Raise fork with green beans again]

Liam: Ok.

Me: Eat some green beans.

Liam: No.

Me: Do you want THIS? [hold up cookie]

Liam: Yah.

Me: Eat some green beans first [hold up green beans] and then you can have the cookie, ok? [hold up cookie again for emphasis and temptation].

Laim: Ok.  [mouth opens, insert green beans, remind him to chew and swallow them, then proceed to give him his cookie reward. Repeat process until green beans are all gone. And just to clarify, I don't give him a WHOLE cookie for each green bean he eats...he gets a little piece of cookie, size depending on how big of a green bean bite he takes]. :)

3. Sydney's fancy hair.  Lillian coerced Sydney into letting her do her hair this morning.  She said she was doing it a "super fancy way."  After a few minutes she gave up and asked me to give her two pigtails.  To my surprise Sydney agreed, and she kept them in all morning, which is a long streak in her book.  She looked so cute, and it reminded me of when she was younger and her hair was in pigtails a lot more.

4. Liam's words.  Here are a few:
Ya-Ya: Lilly
Nee-Nee: Sydney
Guck: Truck
Bee-Bo: Bellybutton (thanks to Sandra Boynton and her "Belly Button Book")
No: No translation needed
Et GO!: Let's GO!
Wawa: Water
Deuce: Juice
Assdint: Accident
Wide: Ride

5. Water.  Tonight when I was making dinner I accidentally set a paper towel on fire.  I tried blowing it out a few times, but to no avail.  In fact, I think it only fed the flames more.  Before the heat could get to my fingertips, I dropped the flaming paper towel into the sink and ran water over it.  It all happened in a split second, but the girls were at the table watching.  When it was over, and impressed Sydney said, "Wow, Mom, you're a fire fighter!"  Lillian sort of scoffed and said something about me being a fire starter.  What a smart aleck she is....but I was thinking the same thing.  :)

6. Good advice and support.  I've been struggling lately with the possibility of getting a job to supplement our income.  Our budget is so tight and credit cards are making ends meet for us right now. Neither Bobby or I like the idea of accruing credit card debt, so the only way to make things work is to increase our income.  I don't see any way we can decrease our spending enough to make up the difference.  There's nothing more Bobby can do at the moment, so it would have to come from me.  Do I pursue something related to my degree (that I earned six years ago and don't have any 'professional' working experience with...and that would take me away from home and the kids a lot)?  Do I try to find some kids to babysit so I can at least be home with my own kids, too?  Do I maybe start up a little preschool gig at home- but who do I know who has enough money to spare to make it worth it (but maybe someone does, I don't know, I haven't explored the idea too much)?  Do we just keep using the credit cards so I can stay home and we'll worry about paying them off in a few years when income increases?  I posed this question to a group of ladies who are in similar financial and life-stage situation as I am.  All of their responses were different, but all were supportive and helpful.  I'm appreciative to these women who offered their insights and advice.  And I'll take any good advice you might have, too!  I still haven't decided what I'm going to do, but I have a lot of options to consider and I'm feeling better about it already.