I think I have waited long enough...

 No excuses now, I have undeniably fallen off of the blogger train. I miss it. I miss writing incessantly about myself... I mean, uh, sharing my life in written form. I have to somehow put this element of my day back together, while my life is whizzing by at incredible speed.

 You miss me too, right?

 Do you miss my unapologetic political posts now that the election is over? (Whew.) Probably not.

 Regardless, I wanted to wait a few weeks before posting this adorable picture that Ayla drew. She had been learning the "facts" about our Presidential candidates in school and was very interested in the entire process. We didn't coach her in political theory or discuss who we were voting for until she asked. (Although I am sure she was curious why I was yelling at the tv for awhile there.)

 Now - there is nothing I find more distasteful than a kid spouting off political beliefs, only to parrot what they hear their parents talk about (informed or not). It's pretentious and silly. They don't have a real-world application for any of that information. I have even been asked, "Wouldn't you be horrified if your kid had different political beliefs when they grew up?". Maybe, but mostly no. If Jackson grew up to vote against women's equality, it would certainly hurt my feelings. But I would rather they think for themselves than just automatically accept the family way of thinking.

 I interpret this picture to be a little girl's awe and respect for what it means to be PRESIDENT. Such a huge job, bigger than her first grade teacher even! Ayla drew this before the election. Kids should get excited about that. They deserve to believe in America and our history - if only to grow up and realize that is it much more complicated than that.

 And if you are wondering where Ayla and President Obama are hanging out? It's at our favorite waterfall park ...which is maintained by state funds, uh oh!!!!

A Quotable Preschooler

 My oh my, it has been forever since I have sat down at the computer to write a post. It's not that I haven't sat down at the computer - but my "turn" doesn't usually last very long with Jackson wanting to watch Annoying Orange videos and Elliot yelled "MELMO!" (Elmo) and pulling me away.

 Anyone with children knows that they don't need you - until you try to accomplish something of your own. Or try to make a phone call. Therefore emails, blog posts, bill paying, reading articles, deciphering sewing instructions, even listening to Pandora isn't possible for more than a few uninterrupted minutes.

 So that's my excuse.

 But I thought I would come back for an important post.

  Politics, you ask? Nah. I think I have angered enough people on facebook for this year's election. (Although I would be curious to know who just couldn't handle it anymore and has my posts hidden.)

 Big news? Not really. We are doing just fine with the daily drama of school, work, meals and playground time. Gregory is a bonafide air traffic controller and my little sewing business is keeping steady.

 Funny quotes? Yes, indeed.

 We have a great relationship with Jackson's preschool teacher - she is simply an awesome person! Ayla was in her class two years ago, and I cannot believe we have already been in Buffalo long enough to be returning to familiar preschools. Anyways, she is always relaying the weird statements that Jackson feels necessary to share in school. Such as, "My other name is Obama." (Oh NO! I went political!!!)

 Last week, Jackson gave everyone a little lesson in biology... and maybe the facts of life along the way. He told his teachers that he lived in my tummy (true) and when he came out he was bloody (true) and then we put a big piece of bloody meat in a dish (ummmmm). What our little man is referring to is, in fact, a placenta. He has seen the slideshow from our hospital visits and believe it or not, the image of a placenta just stuck in his mind! Go figure!

 The thing is, when my kids ask me awkward questions about the body and birth and all of those sensitive subjects we're not supposed to talk about: I try to answer without stigmatizing the whole thing. I firmly believe that Jackson should grow up to be a man that isn't "peeved out" by real information about women. We are going to have enough trouble fighting sexism, airbrushed images of fake women in magazines, and much much worse.

 Therefore I fully admit that Jackson has seen a picture of a placenta. But I guess I should firstly admit that we HAVE a picture of a placenta. If you've ever seen one in real life, it's pretty amazing! It kept my kids happy and well-fed for nine months before they stopped breathing water and came out into the world.

  We are very lucky to have a preschool teacher that just goes with the flow and nods her head when Jackson starts talking about bloody pieces of meat. Because, honestly, I am sure it's just going to keep happening!

My Budding Artists

  Introducing art work by Jackson Abell!

 The drawing-painting-gluing-coloring obsession has taken another one of my children and he is now scribbling his way through stacks of paper the same way Ayla has been doing for years. Once he figured out how to draw his stick people, he has been creating his own "art" and posting it on the refrigerator himself. 

 Nearly half of our dining room walls are covered with Ayla's artwork from school and it looks like we will have to devote the other half to Jackson. (And Elliot isn't too shabby with the watercolors, either!) Plus - when I am in my sewing closet, trying to punch out another cloth diaper, they are nearly an assembly line of creators. They bring me drawing after drawing, often with glittery glue or most recently, with Ayla's real hair taped to the portrait. She is starting to become a genuine tortured artist - ripping out her own hair for the sake of artistic vision! 

 Please enjoy these people created by Jackson. Especially the one of the baby being thrown into the pot. :) 

A "Bunch" of Weirdos

 This is the story of how my kids turned a boring dinner into a laugh-until-you-almost-pee-your-pants ordeal.

 I was feeling a little frustrated and annoyed with my day...we were in the middle of Gregory's work week of night shifts. My least favorite part of being alone with the kids at dinner is that after all the stressful prep, fielding their pleas for snacks and little hands stealing food from the cutting board; is that when we finally do sit down... they seem to lose interest in eating. We can sit there with Jackson for a half hour, begging him to just FINISH YOUR DINNER. Elliot also loves to stand in his little chair, making it bounce dangerously and giving me heartburn while I try to feed him macaroni and cheese.

 But, somehow, the mood was turned around with a bunch of broccoli. A camera, some vegetables and our weird personalities made finishing dinner that night a ridiculously funny experience. Apparently the weirdo gene is a dominant one, because we have certainly spawned a bunch of lunatics. Often, I find myself getting frustrated because I cannot keep these kids on a schedule or really get anything done in a timely manner. But such is the nature of childhood - who am I to complain when they would rather take absurd pictures of broccoli than just finish up and get onto the next task? Thanks, my children, for keepin' it real.

Total Eclipse of the Sun

Thanks to my Mom and my Aunt Mitzie sending me seeds for a tropical egg plant about six months ago, I now have my own strange looking fruit-bearing plant in the midst of oregano, tomatoes, peppers and kale.

This might qualify me as a crazy plant lady, willing to grow anything green without promise of real fruit or flowers. My neighbors have already caught me talking and apologizing to my porch garden for sometimes negligent care.

I promise you the seeds were sent from Florida and didn't just "appear" at a exotic plant stand during a "total eclipse of the sun". (If you aren't already following the Little Shop of Horrors reference, there's no need to explain it to you.)

But this little seedling turned into quite the interesting plant! It hasn't talked or ask for blood, it is just producing cute little egg shaped fruits that (according to more plant nerds on the internet) promise to taste like cantaloupe.

Seems innocent enough, right?

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Learn How to Snoop

  Do you look in the medicine cabinet when you are in the bathroom at a friend's house? Do you survey bookshelves and pictures on the wall? Do you make quick judgements about them? Does a clean house give you the impression that a person is neurotic or open to new ideas? If you were to survey a strangers bedroom - would you be able to tell if that person were male or female or extraverted, for that matter?

 Why do I ask, you ask?

 I recently finished the book Snoop: What Your Stuff Says About You. The author, Sam Gosling, has researched personality and how we interpret or display our attributes through our stuff. Where we put our stuff, in what rooms of our homes and where on our work desks we place family photos (if we do at all).

 While many people would say that "stuff" is not important, it is interesting to research why we hang on to things and how we decide what to do with them. If you think about it, decorating the spaces around us is very unnecessary. Paint color on the wall doesn't make it safer or more sturdy. Hanging pictures is then actually destructive to those same walls! Do we need fancy patterned sheets or to keep books after we have finished them? All of these aesthetic efforts are part of our overall effort for self-expression.

 Duh, I know. But not everyone realizes why exactly they conform their spaces to make it feel more like "home". It is either an important form of displaying your values or just a perfunctory duty to put stuff in a room. I have seen people in cheesy furniture showrooms who literally bought everything on display: down to the weird napkin rings and stock art.  Personally, that would be a nightmare. I couldn't think of anything less welcoming. Yes - I always oooh and aahhh at the Ikea displays and take note of how the colors are mixed together. But I realize that it's important to me to have a high percentage of personal items on display, things that the author would call mood regulators. Reflections of my family and my experiences make me happy. Prints of random flowers and beach scenes do not.

 The book reads much like a textbook because the author gives an overall recap of personality research. Studies of hoarders. personal websites, office spaces, front porches and bathroom cabinets. It's fascinating what you can tell about a person if you are looking for the right clues. Think about a world where you wouldn't interview for a job, but the potential company would come and inspect your bedroom. They would be able to tell if you were agreeable or honest based on your bedside table.

 One of the more interesting sections was about the types of quotes that people include at the bottom of emails. (I know this was a more popular thing to do five years ago, all of this research was done before Facebook exploded.) You can tell a lot about a person in that simple gesture.

 So, if you are like me and stay up way too late reading at night, this is an interesting read!

The Friendliest Birthday Boy in the World

I cannot explain how it happened... but Elliot is turning 2 years old tomorrow. He is running at almost Olympic-like speeds, playing jokes on us and expanding his vocabulary every day. His favorite phrase is an emphatic, "Hey... that's mine."

And this boy loves being outside and riding in the car. Today, he was happier just sitting in his carseat for twenty minutes before we were ready to leave.

Happy Birthday Elliot! I have never known a more social baby... his cute little face makes friends everywhere we go!

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