Birthday treats for classmates

Happy Birthday to Theodor Seuss Geisel, the beloved Dr. Seuss! Today he would have been 108. Imagine how many books he could have written! As it was he wrote over 60 books, 46 were published as Dr. Seuss and the remainder under pen names. He’s been published in 15 different languages and sold over 222 million copies! (I ? Wikipedia)

Did you know…

Geisel attended Dartmouth College as a member of the Class of 1925. At Dartmouth, he joined the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity and the humor magazine Dartmouth Jack-O-Lantern, eventually rising to the rank of editor-in-chief.

While at Dartmouth, Geisel was caught drinking gin with nine friends in his room. As a result, Dean Craven Laycock insisted that he resign from all extracurricular activities, including the college humor magazine. To continue work on the Jack-O-Lantern without the administration’s knowledge, Geisel began signing his work with the pen name “Seuss”.

Or that…

Geisel’s pen name is regularly pronounced /?sju?s/ SEWSS, an anglicized pronunciation inconsistent with his German surname. He himself noted that it rhymed with “voice” (his own pronunciation being /?s??s/ SOYSS) and Alexander Liang (his collaborator on the Dartmouth Jack-O-Lantern) wrote of him:

You’re wrong as the deuce
And you shouldn’t rejoice
If you’re calling him Seuss.
He pronounces it Soice[37] (or Zoice[38])

Geisel switched to the anglicized pronunciation because it “evoked a figure advantageous for an author of children’s books to be associated with—Mother Goose” and because most people used this pronunciation.

To celebrate this day we decided to make treats to bring to school. We thought long and hard about treats that could be made quickly (I just realized it was his birthday about two days ago!) and treats that were portable and could be brought to school unannounced :) I didn’t want to show up with a giant Cat in the Hat cake and have their teachers hate me forever! We decided on Goldfish in baggies. I wanted to mix in some chocolate graham goldfish, or maybe swedish fish or something, but our local Co-op had limited options so we stuck to plain, rainbow, and pretzel fish. Then we made tags and stapled them on top.

These are going to school this morning. Do you think they will be well received?

The paper tags are two-sided. We made enough for both classes, plus some extras for teachers and others.

Happy children. (whatever happened to my adorable babies? my kids look like wild hooligans these days!)

Eve insisted on taking a picture of me as well.

(I threaten to sell my kids to the circus. Frequently. It’s serious enough that they understand my frustration, but silly enough that they know I’m just joking. Mostly.)

Yesterday afternoon was awful. To tell you just how awful, here is an email I sent my friend last night (mostly I’m just too lazy to retype the whole ordeal!).

So the kids and I decided to fill baggies with goldfish and make a little tag to attach to the top for Dr. Seuss’s birthday treats. We stopped at the Co-op (closest store) for an expensive and limited selection of goldfish. The kids both wanted snack bars there and in a weak moment I bought yogurt covered pretzels. Our stop for one item turned into about nine. Eve even threw in boxed mac&cheese and I didn’t object?! It was snowing and traffic was a mess so I was cranky and feeling mildly nauseas again. We got home and basically had a group meltdown. Some yelling, some huffing and foot stomping, etc. Good times. Then we pulled it together, cleaned up the fort, and filled 40 baggies with goldfish. Then we, all together, made a Word document to print. Well, we started together and I ended up on my own because it wasn’t doing what I wanted it to and a 10 minute thing ended up taking me about 45 minutes. I was cranky!! I was also eating yogurt pretzels by the handful all afternoon. We finally got it done, the kids ate oatmeal for dinner while I cut up all the papers to fit the bags. My stomach very much in pain at this point and the “going to vomit feeling” slowly surfacing. I managed to settle things down and as we were finishing up dinner and as I was debating about letting the kids stay up late to help with the stapling-tags-to-bags process, I realized that Dr. Seuss’s birthday is FRIDAY!!! Not tomorrow! Ugh. It would have made so much more sense to go to Price Chopper tomorrow (or BJs!), spend more time on it, breath… breath… I’m an idiot! I pointed out my mistake to the kids, trying to control my frustration with myself, and they were so sweet. “That’s ok Mom, everyone makes mistakes sometimes,” Lex told me. “I have something for you mommy,” said Eve, giving me a big hug and kiss. They are good to me.

In the back of my head that whole time was also the possibility of a snow day today. Which happened. So this morning I had to decide if it would be another awful day with two wild children, or if I would turn it around and make it a good day. Can you guess what I chose!?

We had an excellent day today. We played some board games and then the kids played really well together with an elaborate game of garbage processing, involving all the slippers in the house, mountains of tiny toys, and random other components, while I exercised and showered. They drew pictures together and had snack on the floor while I finished up the treat bags for tomorrow. They had nice quite time and I got to read a whole chapter of Harry Potter to Lex. Then we went outside and they went sledding across the street while I shoveled the driveway. Back inside they continued to play super well together. I think they always play super well together when I am not so sensitive to every noise and whine and giant mess.

HOWEVER, one big thing that changed today was my interactions with Eve. She has been making me crazy with her whining and rude attitude and constant meowing and whimpering. Seriously. Makes my head want to explode. This morning we had a long chat about respect, what it means and how we both need to respect each other a little more. I also offered her a treat (of her choice) at the end of the day if she could go an entire day without making animal sounds. And she did!! What a difference that made in my brain. No incessant meowing or whimpering. Just happy Eve voices. Love, love, love! She chose playing Starfall games with daddy as her treat. If she makes it through tomorrow with no animal noises I have agreed to buy her flowers this weekend. Also her choice. :)

Sigh. Just when you are ready to sell them to the circus they turn it around and offer up a wonderful, fun-filled snow day experience.

There are no circuses in town anyway, so I guess it’s just as well.

A few photos from today and the past few days…

She's ready for the circus!

Tuesday night Lex built a fort under the table, using mainly books and boxes for walls. They brought some art supplies in and had a grand time until I made them clean it up for dinner.

Fun with the new rainboots.

Wednesday morning the fort was resurrected, this time with blanket walls (my suggestion!) They enjoyed their breakfast and more art projects in there before school.

We went sledding across the street this afternoon. Due to lack of giant snowbanks and growing children, this hill did not provide the thrill it used to. I guess they were bound to outgrow it eventually.

Lex going for a very short ride.

My word for 2012: Happiness

Several of the blogs I read talk about choosing a word for the year. Along the lines of resolutions and goal setting, the idea of one word, one simple word to guide you through the year. Of course I’m lousy at finding links when I need them, but there are blogs out there that quite eloquently explain why you need a word. Other bloggers (generally mommy bloggers are the ones I follow) talk about the word story, or peace, or discipline. It’s an idea I like and one I have been thinking about for a few months. Towards the end of December I decided my word should be discipline. Mostly because I’m struggling with the eating thing and really wish I had more of it. Discipline, that is, not eating.

However, as the new year rolled over I decided I want to focus on happiness this year instead. I realized, what most of you already know and have been trying to tell me in your sweet ways, is that I am being way too hard on myself. I am healthy. I am strong. I am loved. I should be happy.

Happiness, mind you, does not mean acting on every whim. Instead it means making choices for myself and my family that will lead to happiness

Have you seen this video? Alan is a big fan of TED Talks and turned me on to this one. The Happiness Advantage: Research Linking Happiness and Success

Shawn Achor is a fast talker, but very funny. He says:

“The lens through which your brain views the world shapes your reality. If we can change the lens, not only can we change your happiness, we can change every single educational and business outcome at the same time.”

“90% of your happiness is predicted by the way your brain process the world.”

“The absence of disease is not health.”

“Your brain at positive performs significantly better than it does at negative, neutral or stressed. Your intelligence rises, your creativity rises, your energy levels rise.”

I like the ideas very much. So much of success is based on positive thinking and that good old fashioned “can do” attitude! When when you get bogged down with worry about “what if” or “if I had only” or “how will I ever” you are really just setting yourself up for failure. Bummer as that may be!

Recently I read a book called Mindset for Moms: From Mundane to Marvelous Thinking in Just 30 Days. It is a very easy read, essentially just a series of tips on how to look at your every day life in a different way. Not how to clean out your house and declutter your world. Not how to raise your kids better or earn more money. Just how to look at what you have in life with more respect and appreciation. I think we could all stand to do a bit more of that.

This year I will focus on happiness. I may not make much (or any!) money. I may gain a few (more) pounds. And I will certainly have good and bad days, but I will strive for the good ones. I will look for the positive every day. I will try to find the balance that allows me to respect and care for my body, my family, and my surroundings.

So as not to get too serious, and to leave this happy post with some happy pictures… What could be more fun than…

Decorating the trees in the middle of winter...

Winning at pin the eye on the fish...

A party for twins means twice the cake!

What makes you happy today?

Linked up to the Happiness Is… blog hop.

It’s always a good day when you spend it with these smiling faces!

We had yet another fun-filled vacation to Franklin this week. I’m tired and not going to go into detail, but here are some pictures for those who are interested. :) Let’s see if these pictures say a thousand words.

Pictures from the first day in town are on my previous post.

Sunday morning Lex built a basketball hoop, complete with backboard and ball, out of Laser Pegs. These things are pretty cool!

He took the picture above, then turned on the laser pegs and turned off the light and tried to get a picture of his basketball hoop all lit up. This is the best he got. It's hard to take pictures without a flash.

Sunday afternoon Alan and I went out to a matinee and early dinner, when we returned we found Mema and crew painting. She must have been feeling brave. Eve loves painting!

Eve painted a rainbow, complete with sun and rain.

Alan and the kids got a lot of playtime on this trip. I think it was good for all of them.

Rainbows were all the rage in the art world this trip. Lex added some birds (and sound effects!) to his picture.

Mema bought Eve a new puppy at the grocery store and Eve loves it! She's a sucker for pink puppies :) She drew a portrait of the puppy, complete with flowers, grass, sun, sky, and "I love you" dialog.

Eve and I were being crabs. How this makes us crabs, I'm not sure, but Eve was insistent that we were and Lex was happy to photograph the silliness.

Whaaaht?!

Guess who took this picture?

Another drawing of pink puppy. The stuffed animal has a little bump on top of its head, which Eve says is a boo-boo. We put a marker cap "ice pack" on it. That's what Eve drew in the picture.

Time for some outside fun. Driving the broken down lawn mower! :)

Heading up to the old milk house.

This used to be our playhouse. Looks like B-Dogg was there too! :)

Can't visit home without a walk up the tractor road. With all the development going on these days it's no longer a tractor road, per se, but it always will be in my mind.

Poor Alan was sick the whole time but he managed to drag himself up the hill for some fresh country air and sunshine.

After watching the girls basketball game on Friday we got on the subject of donkey basketball. How we made it there, I'm not sure, but we did. Mom got out an old yearbook (my senior year, OLD!) to see if she could find some pictures. Instead we found B's comments on almost every page. We had a good laugh, all weekend! Sorry B. You were funny in 2nd grade. Not very nice, but funny.

Today we are enjoying a quiet day before we face two busy ones tomorrow and Friday. Lex kicked my butt at Life this morning. We had snacks and lunch, then went out to the toy store to buy a present for a birthday party on Friday. Back home we rode bikes and cleaned the mudroom. Inside for snack and more artwork. Lex wrote up a chore chart with assigned dates/times/payments for each. It’s on the fridge. I’ll take a picture of it later. Eve made a beautiful drawing for Molly, who will be visiting us tomorrow. They were working so nicely I busted out the computer to do a not-so-quick blog post. Now they are playing nicely in the living room and I’m ignoring them completely. Life is good. :)

Spending a few days at the old home front.

We got in late last night and for some reason Eve was awake and raring to go at 3am today! We stayed in bed until 4am, but it’s been a long day!

A pre-dawn chat with Joyce

Giggling girls

We spent the morning at home, had lunch and rest (Eve took a nap, thankfully!) then headed to church.

Mom doing a reading at church.

Then, in a complete 180 from church, we went to see the FCS Lady Devils take the Tri-Valley Championship!! It was an idea on the table and Lex said he really wanted to go, so we did. It was a lot of fun. I think the whole town was there! It was a great game, we all had fun, the energy was super high, and they won!! Can’t beat that!

There was great team spirit! The place was well decorated by FCS and people where handing out pom-poms and beads. It was great! (especially for those of us who came unprepared!)

The winning team!

After the game they inducted three people into the Tri-Valley Coaches Hall of Fame. It just so happens I knew two of them! What a great game to be at.

My high school classmate, some guy I don't know, and my elementary school gym teacher! Hall of Famers!

Kids were in bed shortly after 9pm. Another long day. Hopefully we’ll make it to AT LEAST 6am tomorrow morning! I’m going to bed now.