Friday was an unusually warm day here in the South - and so pretty outside that I hated the thought of picking up the kids and being cooped up at home. Both of our children attend daycare/preschool at the Children's Center at USC. We're very happy there - for the most part - and the teachers there are absolutely wonderful. They love our kids like their own - and that is the only way I can leave them every day. I admit - there are days (despite the enormous amount of love I have for them) that I'm ready to pull my hair out - but it doesn't lessen the fact that I always leave the Center in tears to head to work - and count down the minutes until 4:00 when I can pick them up.
After a long dark winter, when it was too cold and dark and nasty outside to spend any time outdoors in the evenings - it was a welcome treat to have a day where we could actually spend time together as a family after work. Of course we were pushing it with J - who is very scheduled and ready to eat AT 6:00 pm and ready to head to bed by 7:30 - but we pushed it anyway....and hoped the ticking time-bomb that is little J didn't go off.
D called in pizza and met us at the local park for a picnic - the kids had a ball. Both enjoyed their pizza immensely, and sliding the slides and swinging the swings was a treat! They did better than expected (usually A pitches an ever-loving fit when it's time to go home) but this day, she got into the car - no questions aske
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Unfortunately - around 12:30 am, J wakes us up with crying - not atypical as he's teething - but to our dismay - a fever of 103.2. Fevers always scare me - when they're limp and red faced and fussy - and the only thing we can do is administer fever-reducing medicines. A trip to the emergency hours at the pediatrician the following morning did nothing to enlighten the situation - "just a virus - it'll have to work itself out" says the doc. Great. He did okay though - he responded well to the meds - and is back to himself today. Just scary - and then the guilt sets in - he gets all these viruses from being in daycare - someday he'll have a super-star immune system... I hope!
But the other big event of the weekend was the Disney Princess on Ice show - that A and I, along with two of her buddies from school, EG and M and their mommies attended. Oh yes, we were 'those moms' - we let our girls dress up in full princess regalia
- and we spoiled them rotten when we arrived - with huge boxes of popcorn, super-sized princess cups of horrid tasting lemonade - princess coloring books, programs, and an Ariel doll for an added treat. (Come on - we only go to things like this once in a blue moon...) We managed to get rink-side seats (for a ridiculous price) but allowed the girls to see the action up close and personal. A did her usual shrinking violet routine - where she sort of melted into my lap when the lights dimmed - and didn't perk up until it was over. She just sat there and took it all in - wide eyed and amazed - and take it in she surely did - she's been 'ice skating' around the house since we got home (read - doing some funky side-step maneuver and twirling around...and sometimes running into the walls...) * sigh * I fear she'll never be a graceful child...
But the other big event of the weekend was the Disney Princess on Ice show - that A and I, along with two of her buddies from school, EG and M and their mommies attended. Oh yes, we were 'those moms' - we let our girls dress up in full princess regalia
- and we spoiled them rotten when we arrived - with huge boxes of popcorn, super-sized princess cups of horrid tasting lemonade - princess coloring books, programs, and an Ariel doll for an added treat. (Come on - we only go to things like this once in a blue moon...) We managed to get rink-side seats (for a ridiculous price) but allowed the girls to see the action up close and personal. A did her usual shrinking violet routine - where she sort of melted into my lap when the lights dimmed - and didn't perk up until it was over. She just sat there and took it all in - wide eyed and amazed - and take it in she surely did - she's been 'ice skating' around the house since we got home (read - doing some funky side-step maneuver and twirling around...and sometimes running into the walls...) * sigh * I fear she'll never be a graceful child... We followed up the weekends activities with a trip to the annual flower show held at the local farmers market. We got a great deal (not really - but we have to tell ourselves that) on some potted geraniums and ferns to hang on our screened porch - and finally 
purchased flowers to fill our deck rail boxes. There ends my green thumb - as D will attest - I'm good at planting - not so good at watering and keeping up - many a plant has fallen to the wayside due to my lack of gardening abilities....
And thus ends another good weekend.... the only thing that would have perfected it would have been to share it with my mom - mom always took me to all sorts of artsy things - the ballet, plays, musicals, the symphony. I still get goosebumps every time an auditorium (or coliseum in Saturday's case) falls dark in anticipation of the show. I still want to reach for my mom's hand - we always held hands when the curtain rose - every show I remember going to - we always held hands.
purchased flowers to fill our deck rail boxes. There ends my green thumb - as D will attest - I'm good at planting - not so good at watering and keeping up - many a plant has fallen to the wayside due to my lack of gardening abilities....And thus ends another good weekend.... the only thing that would have perfected it would have been to share it with my mom - mom always took me to all sorts of artsy things - the ballet, plays, musicals, the symphony. I still get goosebumps every time an auditorium (or coliseum in Saturday's case) falls dark in anticipation of the show. I still want to reach for my mom's hand - we always held hands when the curtain rose - every show I remember going to - we always held hands.
But on Saturday morning, it was my turn to be the mom, and I reached over, took A's little hand in mine, and quietly shed a tear. 
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