Lost

No, this isn't a post about the show.  I've never actually seen it anyway.  But it looks really weird from the commercials.  Wow.  I guess it is a post about the show after all.  I'll move on now.

Really, this is a post about getting directions.  And getting lost.  It's a post about getting directions that get you lost.  Google Maps has failed me.  Again.

On Saturday I loaded my two boys and my grandparents into the van for a trip to the art show to see Jake's paintings.  I had my directions, off of Google Maps, and though they looked a little complex, I trusted.  We were off.  We headed on down the road.  We drove for a long time. We followed those directions to the letter.  And we got there!  Only, "there" wasn't actually our intended destination.  "There" was a nice house in a friendly neighborhood in south Stafford. Thanks, Google Maps.

Luckily, the nice house was home to an even nicer lady who knew where Stafford High School was.  Let's just say that not only was it not at her house (or really anywhere near her house), we got to go half-way back home to get there.  Again, thanks Google Maps.  I appreciate it. 

At least this time you got me to someone who could help.  That's better than last time. Yeah, last time was really fun.

That was the time I planned a fun outing for our playgroup.  We were all supposed to meet at a pumpkin farm to pick - you guessed it - pumpkins!  The farm's website led me to Google Maps. Gotta trust directions you get straight from the farm, right? Let's just say not many playgroup buddies actually made it that day.  We all did a lot of driving. Driving that took us several counties away.  In the wrong direction.  And this time, Google Maps didn't send us to nice helpful people.  No, Google Maps left us in the middle of a highway in Caroline County.  Yeah, that was fun.

So I'm thinking maybe I shouldn't use Google Maps anymore.  Problem is, I'm running out of options.  I switched to Google after being stranded by Mapquest.  (That's a whole other story. Maybe I'll share it sometime.  It involves bad directions, little sisters, and my first successful glare.  I can tell you're excited.)  Oh, and I can't read a map to save my life.

Forgive Me

Forgive me, but I've just got to brag a little.  You don't have to read if you don't want to.  (But I hope you will, because I mean, come on, isn't that why we brag?)  So let's get started, shall we?

This is all about my boy Jake.

First of all, he's READING!  After making some serious progress at the beginning of the school year, he pretty much hit a plateau.  Knowing all the letter sounds is great, but if you can't put them together to make words they're really not going to do much for you.  But then this week he brought home a Star Wars: The Clone Wars book from the school library.  And he's been reading!  It takes a LONG time to get through a page, but HE DOES IT! Today he read to Bubby and Poppa.  They now know more than they ever wanted to know about Anakin, Ahsoka, and Ventress.

Now for more bragging.  The second half of our day was spent at the Stafford Fine Arts Festival. Jake had two paintings on display for all the county to see!  Since art is this kid's passion, this really was a pretty big deal!  His art was beautiful, as was his smile at seeing it hanging there. It was especially fun to share Jake's first art exhibit with Bubby and Poppa, who we dragged all over Stafford today.  (Literally.  Details coming soon.)

And now that you're as proud as I am, I must go.  My reading artist is singing nonsense words at the top of his lungs.  You'd think after six years he'd know that is the most sure-fire way to DRIVE MOMMY CRAZY!  Or maybe he does know that...

Q: What does Camden do all day?

A: He sets things up.  Sometimes it's Army men.  Sometimes it's rocks.  Today it was cars.

What Was I Thinking?

My boys have quite a few "favorite" songs, one of which asks the question, "What was I thinking?" Now, the singer asks this question about his decisions regarding a night on the town with a girl. I, on the other hand, find myself asking this question about a very different decision.

I volunteered to coach T-ball.

Okay, just let me know when you catch your breath, get up off the floor, wipe your eyes, etc... so I can continue...

The league was desperate for coaches (obviously) and my boys are both registered to play.  I'll be at the field all spring anyway.  And this time I won't even have a kid to chase around during the practices and games.  Plus, it's T-BALL for goodness sake.  (Can you tell I'm still convincing myself?)

I got my team roster today and practices begin in a week.  I already know half the kids on my team - two of them are mine, after all.  And I really think this is going to be a lot of fun!  I'm feeling both totally excited and totally overwhelmed.  At the same time.

There is one major problem, though.  Well, maybe two, but I'm going to overlook the fact that I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing.  So what is my problem?  If I'm on the field, whose gonna take the pictures?

Glittery Green Leprechaun Feet

One of my favorite memories of growing up has to do with the St. Patrick's Days I celebrated during elementary school. I can remember arriving at school to discover that leprechauns had been there. And they had left little green footprints all over the place – on the floors, the walls, the windows. This happened every year. It was magical.

Okay, so by the time I was in fourth or fifth grade I figured it out. No, real live leprechauns were not really visiting our little school in Falls Church. In fact, those footprints actually looked a lot like the side of someone's hand. And those little toes, well they looked like little fingerprints... It was still magical. And I have wanted to recreate that magic for my own family ever since.

I finally got my chance last night. Let me tell you, I now have a new respect for whichever teacher/secretary/janitor did all those little footprints around our school. And I only did the windows. Forgive me, but my walls aren't tiled and my floors are hardwood.

Still, it was worth it, and I'm already plotting for next year's leprechaun visit. You should have heard the squeals - and screams – of delight this morning. There was also a lot of hopping. In fact, we were all so excited that we almost didn't have time to eat our green pancakes. (That's right, green pancakes. You gotta love a day when you can eat green food!)

Our day didn't end with leprechaun footprints, either. Tonight we ate the little man's pot of gold! (Imagine more squealing, screaming, and hopping). Oh, and don't worry. I didn't let my children eat gold. We ate lemon Jello Jigglers. In a pot.

Happy St. Patty's Day!

I Did It!

I have to confess, I'm feeling very pleased with myself right now.  See this cool new layout - as in three columns...  Yeah, I did that.  And for a girl who still doesn't quite understand how to hook up the printer, this is a pretty big deal.

Recipe for a Great Friday Night

Ingredients:

1 very tired dog

1 pair sunglasses

lots of dog treats

Put glasses on dog, feed her treats while trying to get a picture.

Laugh hysterically once the perfect picture is procured.  (This is when the dog slinks off to bed in shame.  How could she let her people do this to her?)

Well, we thought it was fun.

Hoodlums

Less than a week ago we had the biggest snowstorm Virginia has seen in years.  Just days ago we were experiencing record-low temperatures.  Today, it was 80 degrees!  And when the weather gets warm, our neighborhood tends to be taken over by little hoodlums.  My goodness, it was good to get them out of the house!

Oh Goody!

Look what I found this morning!  My daffodils and tulips are poking up through the melting snow!  Now that's what I like to see!

Arctic Trek

Okay, so this is simply a picture of Camden after being hit in the face by a well-aimed (though Jake swears it was an accident...) snowball.  But I really like it.  I think it looks like he's on some Arctic trek.  And his eyelashes are frozen.  And you can see the little bit of drool on his chin.  Okay, that really has nothing to do with the Arctic Trek theme, but it's there, so forgive me.  Anyway, I wanted to share.  Thanks for looking.

Finally!

We really haven't had a good snow since we left Cape Cod back in 2006.  So can I just say how happy and excited we were to get some real, powdery, deep snow this morning!  Okay, so it's not a big snow by Massachusetts standards, but for Virginia... yippee!  I think Jake summed up all of our feelings when he looked out the window this morning and exclaimed, "This is the day I've waited for my whole life!"

We went sledding.  We drank hot cocoa.  We built a snowman.  We drank hot cocoa.  We had a snowball fight.  We drank hot cocoa.  Repeat.  Again.  It was a good day.

And now, I'm ready for Spring.