finally aware

I have recently become aware of how dependent I am on the Internet. I'm going to try to cut back. I'd say on average, I spend an hour per night online: checking email, paying bills, playing Bubblespinner, playing on Facebook, Skype-ing, and reading my daily blogs. That is one good hour that could have to chat with my husband, read a book, bake some cookies...basically be more productive with my time. I don't yet have a plan, but I know I need to reclaim my life from the Internet monsters.

In funnier news, Addison has two classmates (Henry & Mattie) who have new-ish baby siblings at home - one is a boy and one is a girl. Sadly for Addy and her classmates is that both that baby boy and that baby girl are named Riley. It's a cute name, but for these poor 2 year olds who are attempting to generalize everything they learn, the name Riley is now the all-purpose name for any new baby. Ask Addison, she'll tell you. If anyone is having a baby, that baby's name will be Riley. End of story, no discussion.

21 days of school left. Believe it or not, today was a good day!! I am so glad to have had a positive day. I really needed it to get my spirits back up.

this week

So, Addison's been doing great with using the potty. She has done AWESOME at school and pretty good at home. I think at home she's tired at the end of the day and just forgets...we'll just keep trying. We're almost there!

Robert leaves on Thursday for Vegas. I think he's excited, but anxious about leaving us behind. He's never been away from Addison for four days, so I'm sure that's going to be hard on him. And her. That's what I'm most nervous about - her asking for Daddy and not being able to fulfill that need. I also don't sleep well when Robert's gone...I seem to notice every single little sound when I'm alone at night. It's always at 2 or 3 AM, too. Then I can't go back to sleep. Wish me luck...

22 days left of school. It's getting tougher. The kids are anxious about summer break, so they tend to act out more. I'm trying to adjust the assignments to things that are a little more predictable (they thrive on sameness)...but it doesn't seem to be helping so far. I have one other project to try next week. It's called Rock & Rap Middle School. Seems like it will be fun, but I'm worried it may be too abstract and different for my babies. We'll see how it goes. I may just do this project with one class.

Addison just turned 28 months old. She's become very rational and easy to reason with. She frequently responds with, "Oh, OK." or "Oh, wow!" when you answer her questions. You can tell she's really processing and understanding what you say. It's amazing to watch. She has also learned to match tones pretty well with music. She's hardly on pitch, but she knows that songs have melodies that go up & down, and she emulates that when she sings songs. I've been impressed so far. Also, I will play a chord on the piano and ask her if it's a happy (Major) or sad (minor) chord and she typically guesses correctly. That girl has an ear...I'm proud. :-)

Love to you all!

updates

YEA! Addison has now had three days of no accidents at school. We had one day where there was three accidents, but she's bounced back! Today they had to change her clothes only because another kid peed on the floor and Addison found it with her shorts. GROSS!

Work is painful lately for me. I am counting down the days until the year is over - 27 tomorrow. There are problems with co-workers and problems with students. I can't wait for summer break. I have never needed it more than I do now.

Robert leaves me on the 30th to go to Vegas with Marcus & Jason. I'm nervous about being alone with Addison for so many days - mainly because I suspect she will really, really miss her Daddy Bear. I'm excited that Robert will get some down town with his friends. He is an amazing husband and father and really deserves a fun vacation to just be himself!

Trevor posted this game on his blog, and I've become addicted...check it out only if you have endless amounts of free time: http://www.addictinggames.com/bubblespinner.html ENJOY!

We're Back!

We've been back from our cruise for a week now & we're all ready to return. In fact, we're going back in October. Disney gave us a "Paradise Twice at an Amazing Price" coupon that was too good to pass up. So Yea for cruising again this year. I've tried to get my pictures from the cruise up on the slideshow here, but I'm having some difficulty.

Happy Easter! We dyed eggs and it was a very scary experience since two-year olds don't understand that meaning of "be careful". We ruined a few shirts and spilled a bit on the table, but miraculously in the end came out with 11 eggs! (I broke one when I was boiling them earlier in the day.) We had them overnight and Addison searched for them this morning. It was too scary to think about the Easter Bunny being in our house so we told her Tinkerbell hid the eggs and left her treats in her Easter basket. That made the crying stop.

Andrew & Evelyn found a house they like & are going to make an offer soon! Yea! I'm very excited. The house is a really cute 1950s home. I can't wait to see it in person!

34 days of school left! Whoo hoo!

miss us!

We're off tomorrow morning for our Spring Break cruise! We will be cruising on Disney's boat, Magic. We'll be back on April 4th....so, Happy early Birthday to my brother Andrew!

Hope you all have a great week!

little known fact about toddlers & the doctor

If you have a sick child, all that's needed to rid them of their illness is to call & schedule an appointment with the doctor. You don't even have to go to the appointment. Before you get to the office, the illness will be gone. Absolutely miraculous. Just thought I'd share that helpful little tidbit with you all.

Dr. Elzie was wonderful as always, and gave us a "just in case" prescription to fill if Addy's fever wasn't gone in two more days. Luckily for us, she was better before we got to the appointment, so we didn't have to fill it.

Today was a wonderful way to end the work week & start the weekend. After we got home, Trevor, Jen & Yoshi came over. Then Fenella popped in for a bit to visit. I really needed some down time to relax & have real, meaningful conversations. Now I feel refreshed & ready to face the next week of work. Luckily for me, I have two more days in my weekend first. :-)

Funny story about our Realtor/friend, Kenley: He called me this week & left a message about helping to "bail" him out of "jail". (He was doing the MDA donation drive thingy where we was "locked up" until he met a certain goal). His message was so effective, I called him back as soon as my kids left class & gave him money. His secret? He pointed out that the only Realtor who was currently beating him in fundraising for MDA was my most favorite Realtor in the whole wide world, Joan (who made our lives miserable when she assisted out-of-town clients buy our Whetherbine Way townhouse). He is an effective salesman. If you need help buying or selling a house, he's surely your guy.

Happy weekend!

Oh What a Day!

Saturday was jam-packed for us Browns.

We woke up extra-early and went to the SouthWood Community yard sales. After an hour of driving around, we finally found what we'd been looking for - a new big-wheel bike for Addy. It's awfully beat up, but she loves it and it was only $5. We were thrilled. We spent $14 total for the morning and came away with some neat things. Very successful yard sale venture.

We then hurried over to the civic center to see Stacia's FPCHS cheerleaders compete in the FHSAA Cheer Competition. They ended up placing 4th! Addison loved dancing & watching the girls (and a few guys) jumping and flipping around on stage. It was great to visit with Stacia & see her girls be succsessful. We missed the final round and the awards ceremony, but what we did see was really, really good. Stacia has a great artistic vision for pairing cheer moves with music. Those girls certainly showed that they earned their 4th place finish! They were great!

We drove home and Addison drifted off to sleep. This is highly unusual as she hasn't taken an afternoon nap since December. She slept for about two hours & woke up with a fever. Not really high, but noticeable.

We went to the park with Adam & Seph (Matt's nephews) & Matt's parents. Addison seemed overwhelmed by the number of kids at the park, but miraculously decided to play on the slides and bridges rather than swinging for an hour like usual! Cousin David showed up with Grandma & Grandpa, and that really put Addison at ease. She & David & Adam & Seph played in the slides and ran around for almost two hours! Adam is exactly one week older than Addison, and Seph is 5. David is 9 already! It was hot, but lots of fun.

Then we went off to have dinner at Paulina's with David, Grandma & Grandpa. Yummy. Addison picked at her food. When we got home, her fever was 102. She stayed extremely hot all night (but I didn't measure her temp)...and woke up at 8 with 101.5. Tylenol did nothing for her. Her wonderful Daddy went out at 9AM to get her some Motrin, and since then she's been much cooler. Still grumpy and clearly not feeling her best, but cooler.

We planned to go to the Painted Pony today to paint a pony at their Family Fun Day, but Addy's sickness and the weather are going to prohibit any more fun this weekend.

One week until Fenella is here! And (maybe) Amaly, too! Yea!

Two weeks until our cruise! Whoo hoo!