Butterfly Kisses!

Sammy is a hugger and she will give you the best biggest bear hugs she can possibly give! On occasion, she might blow you a kiss, but never the real deal.

"Kiss, Sammy?"

"No." It's not a defiant no, it's "just no", "thanks, not interested", "thanks for asking, but no," and finally, "it's OK if you kiss me, but I'm not gonna kiss you back."

So tonight when she was being especially cuddly I took the opportunity to really try to teach her. I explained this to her and then showed her how to pucker up and to my surprise, she mimicked me. She did it so well that it immediately caused me to burst out laughing! It was so cute! She thought that was funny so she did it again! Then I showed her how to peck and that's basically what she did, just like a little hen! More laughter! Kids are put on this Earth so adults everywhere can experience happiness and laughter in real, genuine belly laughs! We practiced for awhile before we showed Daddy and she showered him with kisses too! Even Zoe got goodnight kisses!

True butterfly kisses....so sweet, so precious, I know I'll always remember tonight!

Bye Bye Highchair!

It's official! The highchair will no longer occupy the space of two place settings any longer! It's gone from the dining room to the garage where it will wait until Ron & Holly pick it up for their new little one. Or maybe we'll take it to the in-laws and free up some more space!

We didn't kick Sammy out of the chair...she has made it clear that she no longer prefers to sit there any more. She wants a big chair. We believe in letting our kids make their own decisions...up to a point! Besides, as long as she eats her broccoli who cares where she sits?


This only backfired on us once. Zoe decided at 9 months that she no longer wanted to use her pacifier. Um, OK. I had been envisioning this long drawn-out battle that you read about in all the baby magazines since we first inserted between her lips! So, she just hands it over and I'm thinking, "Wow! That was easy!" Fast forward to three days later when we're at church, then a restaurant, and then...OK, you get the point! All those places when it isn't just handy, but ESSENTIAL to have a pacifier and she refuses to even look at as an option!!! Believe me, I still had it! I still offered it. But N-O! Ah well, we survived! Sammy also gave up the pacifier on her own. She never really liked it and she used it a lot less frequently than Zoe.

We also saw this coming. She had started to climb up and in her chair before supper time (the equivalent to banging silverware on the table while waiting for the grub). She also started to stand in her chair and look around so we started to lock in the tray after use to prevent her from being able to climb up there and stand. So it is time.

Now she's out of the highchair, potty training is in full force...and in just a few months our baby will be turning 2. This is just another stepping stone for us. I mean, her!

Disney on Ice: Princess Classics

Grammy's friend's daughter-in-law's friend (I think that's right!?!?!) got free tickets from work to see Disney on Ice: Princess Classics and gave them to us! Our seats were AWESOME; we were practically on the ice!

So you would have thought I'd get some FANTASTIC pictures! Hmmmmm, trying to balance a 4-year-old and taking pics with a camera with practically dead batteries at the same time proved to be quite difficult! However, I did get a few! (Of course! I wouldn't let you down! Click on any picture to enlarge it.)

We had a BALL (pun intended!)!

The princesses were just as beautiful as they are in the full-length feature films and were fabulous ice skaters! Mulan's beau wasn't as handsome as he could've been, but the rest looked true to their characters. The music, costumes, choreography, and storyline were all well done. Loved the set!

Zoe slept on the way there and on the way home! Thank goodness! Due to severe weather it took us 3 hours to get home from Columbus. (All area schools had two hour delays today.)

Grammy spent a small fortune on souvenirs! It's hard not to spoil a princess! Zoe caught a free T-shirt from the Columbus Zoo too! We stayed afterwards to see a "Behind the Scenes" demonstration." It was hard to convince Zoe it was time to go home!

Sidenote: Sammy was supposed to come with us, but she missed 4 days of school this week due to a temperature that we couldn't keep from coming back and wasn't feeling quite up to snuff. (She finally went to the dr. today and is on an antibiotic - to prevent her from getting an earache. Her ears are starting to fill with fluid. She's still on fever-reducing meds as well.) Poor little thing! We just hold her a lot! Big thanks to Grammy and Papa for watching her 3 days this week! Don & Max, come home soon! LOL!

Oh! By the way, if ANYONE has free tickets they want to send my way I guarantee we'll take you up on them! :)

One fish, two fish...

Me: One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish.

Zoe: No, Mom, it says yellow fish.

Me: (Pointing to the words.) It says, "One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish."

Zoe: No, it doesn't.

Me (raising my voice): I teach third grade; I KNOW how to read!

Zoe : I CAN READ TOO!

Hubby/Daddy: What's going on in there?

Hmmmmmm....it must have been a long week!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Our friends, Jason & Josie invited us on a Valentine's Day double-date to Texas Roadhouse...Mr.Heather's favorite restaurant (how could we say no?) plus, as always, we had a great time. The conservation is always, shall I say, enlightening? We walk out knowing AND revealing way too much than we should (on both sides) but there are always lots of laughs and good times.

The funny thing is that Mr. H was teaching a class at Rhodes so J & J offered to pick me up and meet him at TRH. So, they pull up at the same exact time the babysitter arrives. At first, they thought it was my MIL, but then realized it wasn't. So I climb into the family wagon and they ask me about her. Specifically, Jason says, "Who was that?" and my truthful reply is "I have NO idea! I've never met that woman before in my life!"

Now, if you know me at all, you would know that generally, that would completely freak me out! I don't know if my "Mom-O-Meter" has completely broken down or what, but I left my kids with a complete stranger. OK, maybe I'm exaggerating just a little bit. Someone I work with has a granddaughter who was looking to earn some extra cash. So I hired her. She was here Sat. night which kicked off our Valentines' festivities at Cousin Chad and Angie's Valentine's Party. I can honestly say that I've never been to a party like that before! It was fun, but can't go into details here!

Anyhow, I thought we were all set for Wednesday, but I'd call and double check. I didn't hear from her. It's 10 till 5 so I call again. She lives with her grandparents and so her grandmother answers the phone, says granddaughter must be at the Y, and asks me if I want her to come over until Babysitter shows up. I say uncertainly, "I don't know." She points out that I must have plans to be somewhere. I have to agree with her, that is true. So I took her up on her offer. My parents and in-laws are going to be SHOCKED when they read this because they are pretty much the OFFICIAL babysitters and they have received so many directions and rules and routines that it is ridiculous! You'd think they'd never had kids before! LOL!

And that hour I spent cleaning before I went to work, straightening up the house and putting back to rights again-that was an hour well-invested! I'm patting myself on the back for that one! It is so good to know that your house is clean for company-even if it's just for the babysitter, or her grandmother!

When we got back home, we weren't sure who was going to be at our house, but it all worked out! Sammy was jumping on the couch, Zoe was watching "Babes in Toyland" while reading a book and playing with her dolls (I wonder where she learned how to multi-task?) since usually I'm blogging when my kids are in the tub! (I sit in the hallway outside the door so I don't get wet! Then, when it's over, I take all the rugs and throw them in the dryer when Hubby's not looking, b/c in his Mr. Clean World, that's not OK. I have to do a lot of my cleaning on the sly!)

Babysitter apologized profusely and life was back to status quo in the Mr. & Mrs. Heather Household. We celebrated with an ice cream cake from DQ. There was a $3 off coupon in the Sunday paper and Hubby surprised us by picking one up! It was too die for! It is also most like the reason why I'm still awake at 1:30 in the morning. I'm waiting for my sugar-high to wear off and I only had one piece! *Note to self, eat the rest of the cake in the morning so it can last me all day! I'm supposed to run tomorrow am too! I've successfully made it through WEEK 2 of the C25K Plan!


BTW, right before I left to go out, Zoe said (and I quote) "Mommy, you look gorgeous!" (Did I mention she's my favorite? Tee hee!)

PS Did you notice I updated my playlist for the Valentine's Day? Personal favorite: Bring it on Home.

OK, now I can go to bed! At this point, I'll probably just pass out. This is WAY past my bedtime! Couldn't sleep!

Isn't it ironic?

OK, so we DON'T have a delay yet....not that I'm crossing my fingers, saying a prayer, doing a snow dance, etc. LOL

But....I did notice on the school postings from the local TV news station that the County Christian Home Schoolers Classes & Activities are officially CANCELLED for tomorrow.

SAY WHAT????

I swear I'm not making this stuff up!

SAMMY'S BIG NEWS!

I know Sammy has been neglected on this blog - not intentionally, of course! Truth is, I have a 21 month too. She is the baby. Yes, she walks and talks, but most likely, this is it for us. I always had my heart set on two, and Hubby is mortified at the thought of being outnumbered by our children, so (most likely, but not officially) she'll always be the baby. In fact, at our house, we still call her "Baby" at times (OK, A LOT!) This gets really confusing at times when my brother's 9 month baby is around. Regardless, it is what it is!

So, in case the suspense is killing you, I'll just get to the BIG NEWS!

Samantha peed in the potty for the first time!

APPLAUSE!

Granted, it might be a one time occurrence so I'm trying not to get my hopes up too high. (We went through that with Zoe-she peed at 1.5 and then waited until she was 3-for heaven's sakes she was practically changing her own diapers, but wouldn't go in the potty!) Still, we told Sammy how proud we were of her and called both sets of grandparents!

It's a great start!

Here she's blowing kisses to everyone! She's such a little sweetheart! (The Before & After Shots: Her bangs were cut. She's styling now!)

Blast from the Past?

OK, so going through my playlist, I realize that many of my songs are from the 80's. No big surprise there really. (You know you're getting older when the "Oldies But Goodies" are songs from when you were in high school and have their own radio station!)

I'm also a sucker for a good old-fashioned country song. However, some of these songs just crack me up. I'll never forget when I heard the "Save the Horse" song on the radio. I just about had to pull over because I was laughing so hard I was crying! It still cracks me up! Mom and I saw Faith Hill and Tim McGraw in Columbus this summer in their Soul2Soul II Concert with Taylor Swift as their opening act. Here are some pictures I took then.





So here's the interactive feedback part: Vote for your favorite song from my playlist in the comments section. If you feel I'm missing an important tune , please let me know! Get jamming!

C25K

Somehow stumbled across Sasha's blog (Barely Keeping It Together) and have added her to my list of places to daily surf even though I don't even know her personally. Sasha is full of wit, humor, and is a working mother of two. I can relate, well, at least to the latter! I love reading her blog-my two favorites are the Nanny blog and Wild Child for Sale. If you have time, you'll have to check them out. She has also motivated me to run (again). Mr.Sasha has lost 60 pounds (not to mention like 20 years) - you'll have to go to her blog to see the before and after shots. It's amazing, really. It's the Couch to 5K Training. So I decided to start right at the beginning. Day 1, Week 1 has been successfully completed. Phase One: Mission Accomplished! Now I'm in Week 2. I've also posted for your viewing enjoyment my weight countdown. See top right. I don't need to lose much in the whole big scheme of things, but it's true that the last 10 pounds are the hardest. I've found a reasonable weight that I'd be happy with and I'm shooting for that. I've cut way back on carbs, but no longer follow any particular diet. Instead, I've opted to give up SUGAR. Of course, I have my set-backs and that's where the C25K plan picks up the slack for me. Wish me luck in this journey of being healthy and fit! (Plus I plan on rewarding myself with a new wardrobe and hair style with creative color! I miss having highlights!)

So watch out 7:11 Club!

Now it's Monday....

Our long weekend has come to a close, here's a recap:

1) No School Friday - graded mountains of papers for approximately 4 hours, played with kids

2) Saw movie "PS I Love You" (see previous post)

3) Made Chocolate Chip Cookies

4) Cleaned out, straightened up, organized laundry room (wish I would've taken before and after pictures!)

5) Zoe & I went to Josie's Talent Show, pleasantly surprised to see daughter Jillian dancing with her - it was a very touching performance between mother and child dedicated to the Lord - absolutely beautiful, pure and graceful.

6) Cleared off what I call the Island, but Hubby likes to call it the Peninsula. This required about 15 minutes, but had a huge impact on the kitchen space. Uncluttered once again! Yeah!

7) Completed Week 1 of the "Couch to 5K" Plan! Hoping to drop 9 pounds although now it might be 10 (see item #3).

8) Photography Class Field Trip to Greenhouse - don't think I mentioned this before, but my dear mother persuaded me to take this class with her. Basically, we are trying to learn how to take pictures in manual mode instead of automatic. It's been interesting.

9) Superbowl Sunday...GREAT TIME to visit my friend Nancy in the hospital with her newborn who arrived 2-2-08 so they affectionately refer to her as the "Groundhog Baby", her older brother calls her "Bubbles", but I think I'm going to stick with her Christian name "Madeline" or "Maddy"! She's beautiful! She is already tanning (due to low bilirubin levels) so I couldn't hold her this time-she needs to stay under those lights. Don't worry, I'll be back!

10) Which brings us to today....no delays or cancellations (already checked-some schools have delays, it's so not fair!) The Health Dept. is scheduled to inspect our school building today. I wonder what they'll say about the asbestos dust that falls to the floor every time I pull down my overhead screen. Hmmmmmmm....back to reality! Have a good one!

WHOSE BLOG IS THIS ANYWAY?

Hubby just informed me that he doesn't like the term "hubby". To me, "husband" is too formal. "Robert" seems too impersonal even though we are on a first-name basis! :) I call him "Honey" at home, but that seems too personal for a blog, but maybe it isn't. It's not like "Poopsie" or anything really cutsie like that. He suggested "Keeper of the House." Other women's blogs do something like this "Mr.Heather" which is liberating, but he's also not keen on that idea either! The question is what title to bestow on Mr.Heather? Hmmmmm....Mr.Heather is starting to grow on me!
Any comments/suggestions welcome!

My Daughter on the SKI LIFT!

This was Zoe's third trip to the mountain. Thanks to her Papa, she has completed (successfully) six hours of ski lessons! This was also the day that Papa and Daddy decided she was ready to tackle the chair lift. I reluctantly agreed. It wasn't that I didn't think she was ready, but I wasn't ready to personally take her on the lift myself! So she went up with Daddy and Papa and Uncle Jack a total of three times. It was neat to see her ski on the real slopes versus the Bunny Hill. She does pretty well. The last three runs we made you could tell she was getting tired. (You can see it in her face in this last pic of her in a ski chair.) They taught her to go backwards at her first class and every now and then that's the way she wants to go (she'll out-ski me by next season! Ha ha!) Thanks to Grammy for watching Sammy! We could've gone back yesterday since we had a snow day, but it was nice to just stay home and have a family PJ Day together! We'll hit the slopes again another time!

P.S. I Love You

At six o'clock my co-worker and friend Amy called me and asked me if I wanted to go to the movies to see P.S. I Love You. Going to the movie theater is one of my favorite past-times and also one I don't indulge myself in very often. Since we didn't have school today due to the weather, I jumped at the chance to get out of the house. Checked in with Robert who graciously agreed and off we went. When we got to the theater, we realized the movie didn't start until 9:30 instead of 7 so we walked down to the coffee shop where I had a Raspberry Truffle steamer and Amy ordered the Banana Split. We talked and talked. We shared life stories and actually impressed ourselves by not talking shop! It was great to learn more about her as a person outside of school. No subject was left untouched. I love my children dearly and I love my students dearly, but I love to talk to people who are over 4 feet tall too!

After killing time for two and half hours (which went by so quickly!) we headed back to the theater, saddled up with a large tub of buttered popcorn and cups of Pepsi, and settled back in our seats for the show. OK, we knew it was going to be a tear jerker and we were armed with Kleenexes which came in handy, but thankfully, the movie also provided us with comic relief throughout to lighten things up and make us smile.

And the entire time, I couldn't help compare the movie to my own life. Granted, there are not many similarities. I did not fall in love with an Irish man. I do not live in a busy city like NYC. I am not an art major. I've never sang karaoke in public. But I am in love with my husband and my life would not be complete without him. No one can put up with my mood swings, my "life-plan" lists, my idiosyncrasies, my neurotic moments, my compulsive behavior, my need to always be in control, and still love me for it. He grounds me. You can't always choose your family, but I chose him. He is my family now. An integral part of my life. (The photograph above is our most recent picture together.)

I remember asking his friend Jason about him. "Is he single?" Yes. "Is he gay?" No. "Set us up!" Our first date was November 8, 1996. Ten years later, I was bound and determined to celebrate this special anniversary. It didn't happen for two reasons: 1) The restaurant burnt down and hadn't reopened as planned. 2) Parent-Teacher Conferences were scheduled for that day. This spring, we will celebrate 10 years of marriage. I can't wait! We are going to Europe this summer to visit the three most romantic spots in the world: Paris, London, and Venice. He once told me that he'd never have an affair with anyone, but me and I believe him. He is a keeper! He is wonderful father and a devoted husband. He still makes me laugh. Watching the person you love most loving the children you created together brings tears to my eyes. The girls adore him.

I read once that "Life is not a dress rehearsal." I try to be conscious in my daily life to appreciate the magical moments with my children and with my husband. It is so easy to get caught up in life instead of just enjoying it. Thank goodness God provides eye-opening opportunities that we can see if we open our hearts. They make us take the time to stop and notice, like a movie or a book or a song. Things that touch us and remind us that we are compassionate, loving human beings instead of mechanical machines.


They say that the people you take for granted as the ones that you care about the most. I don't know about you, but in my case, this is certainly true. I never tell him enough how much I appreciate him in my life. I do notice the little things, but don't always say thank you. I hope this humble attempt shows through in this journal of mine.

PS Robert, I love you!

Disney Princesses....

Thanks to Bonnie for emailing this to me!