RANDOMNESS #1 - Don't Touch my Face... EVER - As some of you may already know, I love little kids. I really do.
I love their bed hair.
I love their sense of humor.
I love the way they love with kisses and nuzzles and hugs.
I love the way they see the world... simple, simple, simple.
I love them so, so much, I almost hate to mention the one thing they do that really, really bugs me.
Infuriates me, actually.
I cannot stand when they touch my face.
And not just little kids.
Anyone and everyone.
I have a problem, I know.
When Judith comes over to spend the night, she and I sleep upstairs in Aunt Roxie's bed with the twinkle lights and I rub/pat her back until she closes her eyes for the night.
It's our thing.
We like it and it works for us.
However, every now and again, she wants to talk before I begin the back rub/pat, and she wants me to face her.
We start out close, but on separate pillows. Within a few seconds, we're on the same pillow. Once our heads are on the same pillow, we are moments away from Miss Judith's favorite position... nose-to-nose.
"I can do this," I tell myself. "It's really very sweet, and one day I'll miss this."
However, I do close my eyes, because I think if I close my eyes, she will close her eyes, but...
Not so much.
As soon as my eyelids shut, this is her cue to take a finger and rub my eyelashes... back and forth, back and forth.
"Oh... my... goodness! I think I'm going to scream in her face!"
But I have remarkable restraint and I continue to answer her many questions with my eyes closed, nose-to-nose and with her tiny fingers playing with my eyelashes.
When I think I cannot stand it any longer, she pulls her nose off of my nose and removes her fingers from my eyes.
"YES! It's over! She's asleep!" I open one eye just the tiniest bit to see if she is, in fact, sleeping peacefully.
Nope. She's quiet, but she's looking at something else on my face. Something down toward the chin area.
"Oh, dear. If she starts touching my chin and my neck, things are going to get bad around here." I lie very still and try to breathe evenly.
And that's when Miss Priss shoves three fingers into my mouth and starts rubbing/scratching my teeth.
I tell her it's time to go to sleep, and not to put her fingers in Nana's mouth.
I do NOT tell her I'm trying very hard not to bite her.
She giggles and plays with my face some more, and just when I think I'm going to snap, she puts both of her tiny hands on either side of my face and kisses me on my nose and my cheek, and get this...
She says, "I love you, Nana, so, so much."
I take that moment to get over myself, hold her tiny face in my hands, kiss her tiny nose and tiny cheek and say, "I love you so, so much, too, Judith."
And then we both go to sleep.
But not before I turn on my side and face the wall. I cannot risk waking up with tiny hands all over my face. Let me tell you, it would NOT be a good start to my day!
RANDOMNESS #2 - A Day at the Park with RT - Any park will do, but I am especially fond of a nearby park that also has a Dog Park AND giant plastic zoo animals in various and sundry places around the playground area. Love, love, love any and all kinds of zoo animals. (Even the plastic variety.)
Fun fact for you...
This isn't a giant plastic crane. It's a real one. You cannot tell by the picture, but the top of it's head is a bright yellow.
Not only is it a real crane, but it is obviously a very rare, exotic crane, and RT and I discovered it in a local park. We are lucky that way.
Plastic giraffe, just in case you weren't sure.
There are two things RT and I enjoy doing while visiting this particular park at this particular time in his little life.
We like to walk around the trail drinking our juice...
And we like to swing.
A lot.
And when we do those two very specific things, we tend to go home looking like this!
RANDOMNESS #3 - A Day at the Botanical Gardens with Judith - One of my favorite places to take kids is the Birmingham Botanical Gardens. Beautiful to look out, fun to run/walk through, photo ops everywhere, FREE, etc., etc.
Mike met me and Judith at the Gardens this past week, and we had a lovely time.
Judith's Daddy climbed upon this very rock many, many times during his own childhood.
Feeding the koi is a right of passage in the Faulkner household.
NOTE FROM THE ENCHANTING BELINDA - These fish actually give me nightmares. Except when the kids are throwing them big chunks of bread, I am pretty much anit-koi.
Mutual head-patting going on here.
The only thing better than a Spring day at the Gardens...
A Fall day.
Cannot wait!
Blog Linkage - Below you will see a Pinterest Stuff Section about Creating Memories. The website, www.sharingmyfavorites.com, had all of these suggestions and many, many more. Check it out if you get a chance.
Pinterest Stuff
18 Fun Things to do on Mother’s Day
1. Run a 5k. - Get moving and be happy. Participating in a 5k (whether you walk or run) is a great and healthy tradition to start.
2. Plan a themed picnic. - Preparation can be half the fun. Pick a theme (Parisian, dessert-only, etc.), a location and enjoy.
3. Plan a scavenger hunt. - This one could be really elaborate. Create a whole day affair and make a scavenger hunt focused on all Mom’s favorites... favorite spot to get coffee, a shop where she can indulge, etc.
4. Plant something green. - Mark the occasion by planting something... a tree, flowers or herbs.
5. Turn the kitchen into a restaurant. - Let your kids make their own restaurant in the kitchen (set the table, prepare menus, act like chefs, serve the parents like waiters. etc.).
6. Schedule a family photo shoot. - Moms LOVE photos and this would be such an amazing gift to schedule a fun family shoot. You can opt for a professional or simply create a DIY family photo session filled with all the reasons Mom is loved!
7. Put together a sundae bar. - After photos, ice cream for everyone! Create an elaborate over-the-top sundae bar or head to the local ice cream shop and order up the biggest sundae to share.
8. At-home spa with a twist. - This isn’t your normal spa. Put a twist on it! Dye everyone’s hair (temporarily, of course), add in some temporary tattoos and funky nail designs. Everyone participates!
9. Movie night featuring old home videos. - Gather home videos from a couple years ago or from when Mom was a kid and plan a movie night with her favorite snacks. (Don’t forget to record the event so you can watch it in years to come!)
10. Have a cook-off. - Pick a food and host a cook-off. For example, you could create a seasoning/marinade station for chicken wings and everyone makes their own. The best creation wins! You can also do this with sugar cookie decorating, pizza, milkshakes and more.
11. Spend the night at a hotel. - Even if it is close by, take a night and spoil the family by staying a hotel. Go swimming in the hotel pool, order room service and bring lots of board games.
12. Find fun local events. - Visit your friend Google and search for Mother’s Day activities in your state. There are usually loads of places that offer free admission. Plus, you’ll be able to see if there are any special events planned, such as a tea party at your local library.
13. Host a Gilmore Girls Marathon. - Everyone in the family can suck it up for one day and make like a true Gilmore girl. Sit your butt in front of the TV with loads of sweets and buckets of coffee.
14. Explore a new part of town. - Even though most of us may live in one place for awhile, there’s always a place we haven’t explored. Set out to do that this Mother’s Day.
15. Play a "Mom" trivia game. - This one could be especially fun if you’re hosting more than one Mom. Make note cards with questions and Mom’s answers on the back, and see which teams or family members guess correctly.
16. Rent a luxury car for the day. - I know a lot of Dads may be all about this one, but it can also be a great idea for Mother’s Day. Treat your Mom like a celebrity, and go all out on the date details. Specify the type of attire, put together a music playlist and just cruise with the windows down ready to take the day as it comes.
17. Do something new. - Is there a challenge that could be conquered as a family? Rock-climbing? A cooking class? An art class? A ropes course?
18. Watch the sunrise. - How often do you intentionally wake up to watch the sunrise as a family? Probably never, right? Because that’s crazy! But how special would it be to do this... on purpose? Make it a big deal. Pajamas required, lots of coffee and a breakfast prepared by everyone EXCEPT Mom.
Creating Memories: 5 Simple Things My Children Absolutely Loved
1. Candlelight Dinners - In the winter (when it was already dark at dinnertime), I often had candlelight dinners. It didn’t matter if it was just a normal weeknight. It didn’t matter if we were eating hamburgers or steak. When everyone got to the table, we turned out all the lights and lit the candles. My boys LOVED IT.
I noticed a couple of things about our candlelight dinners...
Mealtime lasted longer. No one wanted it to end, so we ate slower. And we talked more!
They ate foods they normally wouldn’t even try. One of my sons always refused to eat anything green. Because the lights were out, he couldn’t see the colors, and he ate something green and absolutely loved it.
2. Warm Blankets at Bedtime - If you’ve ever stayed in a hospital, you know they give you warm blankets if you are chilly.
Whenever my boys were sick or if it was a cold night, I put a blanket in the dryer for three to four minutes. When they got into their bed, I spread that warm, straight-from-the-dryer blanket over them. Their little faces just lit up. I knew they were feeling happy, warm and safe. What could be better?
3. The Adventures of the Snake - During the summer before my son, Alex, started kindergarten, we visited a local reptile zoo. His souvenir was a toy stuffed animal from the gift shop: a furry, turquoise blue, four-foot long snake. He carried that thing around for weeks. When school started in August, I knew it might be scary for him to be away from his parents for the first time. I wanted him to know that even though his days were different now, his family would always be there for him.
When I straightened his room that first day, I put the stuffed snake on his bed and placed some headphones on the snake’s head. When Alex came home, he was delighted to see his snake was “listening” to music. From then on, he came home in the afternoon and went straight to his bedroom to see what his snake had done while he was away. One day, Mr. Snake was watching YouTube videos about snakes. Another day, he had tied the stuffed dog to the bed. One day, he was hanging from the ceiling fan.
That year, Mr. Snake played with Legos, rode a scooter, took a nap under the covers, read Alex’s favorite book, played with action figures, wrote letters to Alex and so much more. It kept me on my toes thinking of ideas, but it was always worth it to see the excitement on Alex’s face. Such a simple thing brought joy to Alex, and he will never forget.
4. Family Read-Alouds - Reading a good book can transport you to places you’ve never been. Before a child learns to read, parents spend hours reading to them, but studies have shown the benefits of reading to your child even after they’ve learned to read.
When I homeschooled my boys, they spent hours curled up on the couch while I read to them. Those were wonderful times that we spent together being carried away to other lands, laughing at Hank the Cowdog, trying to help The Hardy Boys solve a mystery or marveling at how Brian Robeson survived in the Canadian wilderness with just a hatchet. Just recently, my teenager was reading a book he thought his little brother would enjoy. I was surprised when he asked me if I’d read some of it aloud to the two of them because he loved being read to as a child.
5. Food - Food can be a wonderful way to build memories with your kids. We all have memories of dishes our Mom or Grandma cooked. We also remember specific foods we always ate at Thanksgiving or Christmas.
My oldest son loves sports. Any Saturday in the Fall, you’ll find him watching college football games on TV. I know these Saturdays are special to him, so I try to make some snacks for him to eat during the game. We have sausage balls, buffalo chicken dip, nachos, monkey bread or other simple finger foods. I know he’ll always remember watching College Gameday with his Dad and eating the snacks his Mom lovingly prepared.
Another one of our food traditions happened when my son played high school football. On Saturday mornings, he and his Dad would always talk in-depth about the previous night’s game. They’d discuss plays, what worked, what didn’t work and what changes the team needed to make. As they talked, I would pull out my Belgian waffle maker and make us all a big breakfast. Those Saturday breakfasts/strategy meetings were special to us.
Have a wonderful rainy Saturday evening and Sunday. I'll be back soon with more, more, more!
Sincerely,
The Enchanting Belinda
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