His Last Day

Yesterday was my father's last day of work at the mill. He clocked in and then at 8am, he officially retired. After his signed his all of his paperwork, he must have told me half a dozen times, "I'm retired."

He's so happy, and we're happy for him. It's going to be awesome to have him around more often, especially as I get more and more pregnant. And as I mentioned the other day, Lucy is going to be beside herself with joy at the prospect of extra pappy time. But really, it's all about him.

My dad has been working his job day and occasionally night for as long as I can remember, except for those times when he was laid off. He worked double shifts, changed jobs, went on strike, and generally towed the line. I know there were times he was frustrated with his work, and I know there were times when he outright hated it. But just his father before him, he stuck with it.

When I was really little, before my brother was even born, he got steam burns all over his face and neck. Luckily I don't remember anything about this incident except that there was a decent amount of time when he was unable to shave. This left me with a deep-rooted hatred of beards for a long, long time. And still, he went back.

When I was in second grade he was laid off for so long that he started to look for other work. He found a job in Florida, and with the help of my grandparents, my parents started slowly moving all of our things down south. My teacher even had a going away party for me at my school. And then the mill called him back. We had to move our picnic table inside to eat and my parents slept on the floor for weeks until they could manage to get our stuff back from Florida. But still, he went back.

I can't think of a way to adequately express how grateful I am for all of the years he spent working for us, for me. Any gift or token would only represent a small fraction of the love and happiness I have for him at being able to say, after more than thirty years, that today he's not going back.

IT'S PEANUT BUTTER JELLY TIME!

Finding the Beauty

Things and Things and Snowy Things

Yesterday my father signed his retirement papers. As of my birthday (February 1st, in case you forgot) he is a retiree! Despite a little confusion going into the process, both of my parents are super-excited for this. As you can probably imagine, I am too. Just knowing that we'll have someone at the ready for my other kids when this baby decides to come is a huge weight off of my shoulders. I'm also hoping that by giving Lucy unfettered access to her Pappy, maybe pointless tantrums will come to an end. Because having a loose ponytail? IS NOT A TANTRUM-ABLE OFFENSE.

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Speaking of this baby, Sam informed me today that he wanted to be present when his brother arrives, and that even if he is sleeping I should wake him up. I reminded him that I would be going to the hospital and not having the baby at home, and that kids usually weren't allowed to come with mommies during that time. He made a certain face, so I knew he was thinking carefully about what he was about to say.

'The thing is, mom, I really wanna know how that baby pops out of you,' he said.

I'm sure at that moment I also made a face that showed how deliberately I was choosing my next words. I gently told him that the baby will come out of my private parts. It's one of those things that kids might find scary or gross, even though it isn't, that it just takes being a grown-up to really understand it all. I told him he could ask me any questions he liked, I would answer them as best I could.

Naturally, he looked a little freaked out. He thought some more and then declared that he did not want to be there when his brother was born, but maybe he could come visit once I put my pants back on.

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SNOOOOOOOOOOOOW! MORE FREAKING SNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW!!!11!1!!! And for some reason our school isn't closed. Which means my 33+ week pregnant ass has to schlep out with both girls to pick up Sam and his carpool buddy at 3pm. Wish us luck!

Philly in Photos

Preparations

Tomorrow we set out for Philly, only instead of all five of us it will just be three. Sam is coming with us, and my parents are staying with the girls. Hopefully this will be the first of many occasions when we can have extended one-on-one time with each kid.

Sam has been asking to do certain things, like go to the Please Touch Museum or see the city, for a long while now. Plus he's desperate to spend some quality time with his Aunt Yan. It's been a little difficult for me, because I don't think I anticipated how much he was going to miss it there. Occasionally he'll say things that hit me like a fist to the jaw. He's decided that we have to move back to Philadelphia by the time he is 8. He wants to go grocery shopping at Trader Joe's. So when given the chance to take him along for a visit "home" we couldn't pass it up.

We have a lot planned for the next three days. I expect there to be a lot of laughs, maybe more than a few tears, food, hugs and fun. Stay tuned for details!

Tea for Two, Tea for Three

Yesterday afternoon Lucy, Maggie and I had a tea party. With butter cookies and water in the teapot and everything, which made Lucy the happiest girl in the world. Maggie just kind of watched from a distance with curiosity until I offered her a cookie. Once she joined us, though, she was rapt. As soon as Lucy would put the teapot down, little Maggs would pick it up and mimic her big sister's every move.

After I finished my "tea" I sat back and observed my two girls, playing and talking with each other. A little lump began to rise in my throat, maybe from hormones or just happiness. Why? Because this was why, two years ago, I wanted to have another baby. Just for the chance that I might have two daughters. And to see this wished-for scene unfold in front of my eyes? Well, I'm glad I had the camera on hand because I couldn't see clearly through the tears in my eyes, but I was able to get a few clear shots through my lens.

Happy Birthday Nunni!

Today is my mother's birthday, and as per the tradition, here is a video of the kids singing to her:

I edited out the part at the end when Sam jumped up and knocked over the camera, but I couldn't leave out the part where he picked his nose. It's priceless, don't you think?

As per the other part of the tradition, here is take two, wherein Lucy pouts the entire time:

All In a Row

For more Team Up Thursday visit Melody, Megan and Flickr!

The Enchanted Rose

Our house here in West-by-god-Virginia was built and designed in the late 80s, so as you can imagine it is the pinnacle of taste and restraint. SOB and I often joke that the design team sat around a large pile of cocaine and money and tried to make certain aspects as excessive and tacky as possible. For example, there are more square feet in closet space in this house than in most apartments I've ever lived in. Also, there are approximately 174 light switches. One for each bulb, it seems. Trying to turn off the lights before bed is a chore, and most nights we miss one or two.

As far as the tacky goes, ohmygod the light fixtures. We SOB spent days on end converting the hideous brass space ship wall sconces to various less ugly ones.

But the window you see on the right side of the above photo is the pinnacle of awful in this house. I give you The Enchanted Rose Window:

This is what you gaze upon as you soak in our obnoxiously huge bathtub. And my three year old daughter? Who ever since Christmas is obsessed with Beauty and the Beast? Thinks that that window is the most amazing thing EVER. She will slip away, and I'll find her in my bathroom just staring up at it, mumbling incoherently about Belle and the Beast and Mrs. Potts.

We've been wanting to replace it, but now that she is in love with it, I don't know if we'll be able to. Maybe we'll just put the space ship lights back up, get some scrunchies and roll with it, 80s style.

Celebratory Smile

When we decided to move to West Virginia, to say my parents were elated would have been the understatement of the decade. After we picked out a house, everyone was feeling particularly festive, so we headed to a beer garden in Pittsburgh. My mom and dad had been wanting to visit this restaurant for a while, and the triumphant return of their daughter and family was the perfect occasion for a few celebratory toasts.

I'm posting this photo as part of I heart Faces second birthday 'Smile' photo contest. Visit them to see all of the other amazing entries!

Lucy on Ice

After Sam's successful introduction to hockey, we decided that we should get Lucy on skates as soon as possible. There is a pretty decent girls hockey league here, and there is also a figure skating club, so no matter what her inclination, she would have something to do at the ice rink. Right now we have them both in dance, and she is a little jealous that Sam gets to go to hockey also. I think as we move forward that we'll keep them in similar activities, since they like it.

I was a little concerned that her stubbornness (to put it nicely) was going to be an issue, and for a minute I was almost right. She didn't like the skates they provide with the lessons, but I realized that they were too small and then she was ok. She was the youngest kid in her class, which goes up to six year old, so they immediately gave her a sled, which looks like a walker, to push around. When Sam first began skating, he was really reluctant to give up the assistance, so I was expecting Lucy to do the same. Imagine my surprise when after about ten minutes she looked right at her instructor and clearly said, "I don't want this anymore," and skated off without it!

Maybe it's the former figure skater in me, but she seemed like a natural! She fell down occasionally, including a pretty hard head knocker at the end, but she was smiling to beat the band most of the time. When the lessons were over, they collected the name tags, and she began bawling because she thought that meant she wasn't allowed to come back. It took me almost the whole ride home to convince her otherwise, but since then she's been telling everyone about her skating adventures.

She's only had one lesson, but I'm already envisioning her in a clean pair of white boots with a twirly skirt, leaping through the air!

Team-Up Thursday: New

Visit Megan and Melody for more, and be sure to visit the group Flickr page!

And That's the Tooth

So I'm in total denial about the fact that my son is on the cusp of turning five. I don't even refer to him as 'four-and-a-half' or anything, because HE IS NOT TURNING FIVE.

However, there has been a recent development that is forcing me to face facts: Sam has a loose tooth!

(That's the one, right there. As if you couldn't tell.)

The wiggling is soooo barely noticeable, but four adults have confirmed that it is indeed moving around in there. He might not even lose it before his birthday, but every day he asks me to check to make sure today isn't going to be the day. He is so excited, and I can't help but get caught up in it, too.

Until I remember that he's going to be five.

Bed Head: New Inspiration

Last week Maggie woke up with the most amazing bed head ever, which reminded me of when I did the bed head project with Lucy. I think I just found some inspiration!