America, the Beautiful

O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America! God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

O beautiful for pilgrim feet,
Whose stern impassion'd stress
A thoroughfare for freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America! America! God mend thine ev'ry flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law!

O beautiful for heroes proved in liberating strife,
Who more than self their country loved,
And mercy more than life!
America! America! May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness,
And ev'ry gain divine!

O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam,
Undimmed by human tears!
America! America! God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

Lyrics by Katharine Lee Bates, 1913

Read more...

A rose by any other name

In recent months, Janie's use of language has exploded and in turn, she has renamed several of our local hot spots.

- Target is now known as The Circle Store because of the Target logos on every conceivable surface.

- We refer to Chuck E Cheese as Purple Mouse, because, well, he's a mouse and he's purple. (I think he may actually be a rat. Which is gross. So I'm not going to correct her on that one.)

- Michael's is referred to as The Flower Store because of all the colorful fake flowers right inside the front door.

- Party America and Party City are collectively known as The Sticker Store because that's the only reason we go there.

- And perhaps, most appropriately, Toys R Us has been renamed Toys For Us.

Read more...

Under the sea

Check out Rob's latest blog about the cute little mermaid living in our house.

Read more...

Jane's dad is a rock star!

Read more...

Do you believe in magic?

These things... totally work. I think they must actually have a little bit of magic in them.

Of course, to prove this to you, I would have to post before and after pictures of my shower. And, ummm, that's not really going to happen.

So, you'll just have to take my word for it.

Seriously. They rock.

Read more...

Fish tanks

Yesterday, we went to see Janie's doctor for a check-up. It's a good thing they have an awesome fish tank in that waiting room, because we were waiting for one or maybe five hours.

Oh, and did I mention that our appointment was at 11:45?

A toddler in a waiting room for an hour during lunch time. Heaven on earth.

She did remarkably well, considering. The previously mentioned fish tank proved to be this mama's best friend. Janie stood at the end of tank, keeping me appraised of everything she saw. "WOW! FISH! WOW! BUBBLES! WOW! FISH! WOW! WOW!"

Somewhere in the middle of our eternal wait, another little boy came over to the fish tank to see what all the fuss was about. He ended up at the other end of the tank. Janie kept peeking around from her side of the tank to see what he was up to, and they were soon involved in a very giggly game of peek-a-boo.

Words cannot express how adorable it was. And I admit, I was thinking very proud thoughts... "Oh, look at my girl! She's using actual words with someone that's not me or Rob. She's interacting with another child - a stranger. This is huge! I'm so proud of her!"

And then... the little boy decided (as little boys often do) to take it up a notch. Rather than peeking out with a smile and a laugh, he added in a loud lion's ROOOAARRR!

I'm sure his intentions were good. But oh the tears that little boy caused.

The game was over, effective immediately. We spend the rest of our seemingly never-ending waiting time snuggled up in a very uncomfortable plastic chair.

(To his credit, the little boy did come over to apologize for scaring Janie. I'm not sure that Janie appreciated it, but I did.)

Eventually, we saw the doctor, grabbed a quick lunch and had a nap. The trauma of the morning was forgotten and all was well in Janie's world.

That is, until Rob came home. He and I were chatting about our days, and I launched into a very enthusiastic re-telling of our waiting room highs and lows. Complete with a ROOAARRR!

Oh the tears this mama caused.

Thankfully, Rob was there to snuggle our tearful girl on the sofa, offering kind words and lots of marshmallows. And it wasn't long before all was well in Janie's world once again.

Read more...

Paparazzi

Children are paparazzi. They take your picture mentally when you don't want them to, when you don't look good, and show it back to you in their behavior.

- Jamie Lee Curtis, discussing motherhood and out-of-control celebs.

Read more...