Little girls clothes

While at dance practice for Jodi, I overheard a dad comment that the tights his daughter wears are so difficult to put on her. He further said that he ruins tights and stockings every time he gets his little girl dressed. I totally can relate. Those things are quite tricky as if you are not careful they get torn and ruined. Not only that, but half the time I can't figure out how to get Jodi's clothes on her. I mean, most times it is not a simple T shirt or dress. The outfits have straps and ribbons and such that makes getting her dressed comparable to a puzzle.

I remember taking the kids to swimming one day so I picked them up after work (running late) and planned to get them dressed in the swim clothes in the parking lot and then cart them inside the facility for the lessons. Nicholas got dressed with minimal help but here I am with Jodi, trying to get her in her swim suit. She steps into it and I fix it on her and got the straps over her shoulder and couldn't figure out to save my life why the straps are in the front and not the back! So then I thought maybe they should be in the front. But it looks weird.

So I try it again. Same result. I am looking at this thing and thinking to myself "how difficult could it be? next time your mother is drawing me a map!" After the fourth maybe fifth try I got it to work (dumb luck if I am being honest) and there I am running through the building with a child under each arm, barely making it there on time.

Of course half way through the swim lesson I remembered that I forgot to put on Jodi's swim cap.

Her momma is going to kill me!

Fishy High Fives

Life with three kids is undoubtedly chaotic what with camps, dance classes, basketball practices and games, art classes, birthday parties, play dates and so on and so on. It sometimes feel like being the only driver in a multi-national transportation company. But every once in a while it is nice to take your foot off the gas for a while and do something really low key. Like going fishing.

So, with another family we drove to a local park and grabbed some pizzas along the way. After both families ate pizzas and drank juice and sodas and chatted for a while we set about trying to catch some fish. Nicholas and Jodi have never gone fishing before while Angeline has so it was a good experience. It is truly heartwarming watching Jodi sitting there with a pink rod and reel (reminds me of one of my favorite songs) and Nicholas insisting he will catch some fish today. Since we are not real experts on fishing, the other parents took the lead, baited the hooks and made all the preparations necessary. Watching the joy on my kids faces as they each caught a fish (some with a little "help") was priceless. Jodi actually caught the first one!!! Angeline even caught a starfish (seriously she will catch anything and Nicholas hooked something that looked like a catfish (with the "help" I referred to earlier :) The other kids were old pros so they let us enjoy the moment (Thanks guys!) Fishy High Fives all around.

The entire experience has now added one more item on the list of activities for the kids. Can't wait to take them again.

Family Restrooms

One of my biggest pet peeves is going to some public establishment and finding there is not a family restroom there. In fact one of my favorite stores is Wal-Mart. They have a huge family restroom (at least my store does and it is actually clean – very important!)  When I have Nicholas it isn’t a big deal. But when I have Jodi (or both toddlers) it is an issue. At least Angeline can go to the female restrooms by herself. But when I do have to take Jodi to the restroom I have to go to the men’s room, cover her eyes and make a mad dash across the room to a stall. I remember doing that with Anga as well.

Funny enough, before kids it was not something I paid much attention to but now I tend to favor any place that has family restroom (and a clean one at that! Ahh, the little things that makes life so much easier.

Father's Day

Nicholas and Jodi, while watching television one day saw an ad for Father’s day which was fast approaching. Having just gone through the barrage of ads for Mother’s day they turned to me and said Happy Mother’s Day Daddy! I thought that was hilarious. I chose not to correct them for a while as I thought that it was so cute hearing them say that. But, finally Nicole and I taught them that Mothers day is for mommies and Father’s day is for daddies!!

Okay, let's try this again

So I decided to start blogging again. Yes I know I have started and stopped numerous times but I am giving it one more shot. It is quite ironic; the reason that I want to blog is the reason that is preventing me from blogging consistently. But I am finding out over the last few years that time is something that is in short supply and even more so when you are a parent. Most days it seems like I am trying to fit 25 hours in a 24 hour day.

My regret about taking a break from blogging is that I missed out on sharing so many stories. So much has happened since I last blogged and I missed the chance to chronicle them. Now I only have my memories. The thing about memories though is, while they fade they get replaced with new ones. And that is fine. It is just that each stage has its own unique memories that you want to reminisce about at some point in the future. And a blog is the perfect avenue for that so here we go again.