the magical vortex playlist

i can have a fairly poor memory but there does exist a magical vortex that awakens my past; however, this miraculous moment happens quite rarely.  entering this vortex involves sneaking into stover girl's room at night to steal her princess-decorated cd player and finding enough personal space to blare my old musical cds.  here's a few memories awakened from my playlist tonight (not really a 'playlist'- if they literally were, i wouldn't have to excavate them and perhaps i'd have a fairly good memory) :


1. i found a mixed cd labeled 'justin's mix' with classics such as happy trails by van halen and here comes your man by the pixies that reminds me of my music mentoring brother.
2. sitting at a sundance concert with a fairly random mix of people during my college years listening to 'call my name' from peter brienholt while staring at the stars and the mountains.
3. when i was in middle school, i was caught buying the REM out of time album at the local drug store by a boy i liked who was more of a guns n roses type.
4.  any counting crows song was the music i often played to prepare for 2 AM psych evals in the emergency room.

for the love of the game

today was stover girl's first football (soccer for all of us silly americans) game.   stover mom has always hoped her little girl would love soccer and excel at it; however, mom didn't want to be disappointed if she didn't embrace her mother's favorite sport.  as a defense mechanism, stover mom was prepared for the worst- surely she'd be the kid complaining of heat and fatigue or her clumsy streak will set her up for endless falls and resultant crying or she'd be the girl watching butterflies rather than the ball.  mom kept these worries in her heart and carefully encouraged her (with the exact same amount of excitement as i've done for dance and swimming participation).  at the game.... she made her mother proud.  she had decent control of the ball, she was fairly aggressive, and she even watched intently while on the sidelines. 

 

now mom has dreams of pele posters plastering her bedroom walls, a family vacation to the world cup, and years and years of soccer saturdays ahead she must keep to herself.



no jumping... blah blah blah

whoever made up the rule 'no jumping on the couch' has certainly NEVER experienced 5 consecutive months of 100 degree plus temperatures with young children.  i can also guess this rule-maker has not spent nearly every day for too many months out in the kiddie pool/ sprinkler system/ throwing water balloons/ at local pools/ on the slip n slide.  this rule-maker has not taken many useless trips to any local air conditioned store (dollar store, petco, and grociery stores included) just for a change of indoor scenery and a long hall to run.  and this rule-maker has not spent hours in the back of the library so the kids could be entertained by (quietly) climbing on the letters 'R' 'E' 'A' and 'D'.   

(apologies to all those who've slept on this futon unaware of its trampoline functionality)

messy was no exaggeration

stover missy and stover man just began a 'messy art for minis' class and their art teacher really does mean messy business.  the kids were happy to paint with glue and make footsteps with tempura paints; however, i have to admit that stover mom felt a bit challenged by it all.  helping two children complete 4 messy projects each in the space of 45 minutes was challenging.  keeping my children from getting others messy (ie. fancy clad moms) was challenging.  having only my own personal stash of baby wipes and access to water as clean-up measures was challenging.  (and don't get me started on the challenge of letting go of clinical judgement while observing some children unwilling to participate.)

if 4 yr olds ran the catwalk...

we'd all be wearing denim bottoms because our clothes automatically match without mommy's intervention.
we'd never cut our hair because it's not about how cute it is but rather how long it is.
we'd buy useless pink-shaded sunglasses because they showcase our favorite heroine.
we'd wear shoes that are too small just because they were a present from grandma.
we'd wear our socks up to our knees in 95 degree heat for no good reason.

AND....we'd still be strutting down that catwalk!

let the games begin

one of dad stover's many important work responsibilities is 'team coach for the local accounting softball league'.  (sounds official doesn't it?)  mom and kids always enjoy watching him play but this year* boy and girl stover are official mascots for the team.  they enjoy parading around in their pwc attire (which is fabulous uncle stover!), cheering 'go blue', distracting and getting in the way of the players, and falling off the bleachers a few times per game.   

                                                                                           

*i must also mention this year's other treat is that dad stover snuck in a few fam members on the team and mom and kids enjoy extra popularity at the games!

a new tradition

at 6:00 every evening, when the sun has descended low enough so that our backyard is protected from sunlight, it has become tradition (well only for the last 2 weeks but still) to hop out to the backyard for a bit of wiffeball.  dad makes an excellent pitcher ensuring it is neither 'too high' nor 'too hard' for stover girl and mom is quite content taking the role of cheerleader.  stover girl is surprisingly good at connecting with the ball and feels confidence in her new-found talent (i mean tradition).  and stover boy loves his tradition time as an excuse to swing that bat around!

ps. a 4:00 pm dip in the 5 foot radius kiddie pool is an even longer-standing tradition at our house... i'd love it if one of those google satelite pics of our house shows a cute little fam playing wiffleball; however, it's much more likely to show a scantily-clad mommy squeezing into a pool full of kids and water toys. 

a new hobby

we've discovered a new hobby that keeps us all happy during our indoor quarantine...

typically two  

is that always on dad's mind?

hopelessly girly from stover girl

a 'bad guy' or woody from toy story