the last mother + daughter day

Posted in Momma Needs a minute..., parenting apparently? by

today is our last mother + daughter day. hero worship is riding high in this household and darla has been talking about her daddy non-stop. that’s the way it should be. for about 2 weeks i’ve heard over and over all the things daddy is going to do for her when he gets home and if i say no to a particular request i get a “my daddy always lets me….” in return. well, well.

i’m very excited about mike’s return this time because this is the first display of anticipation darla has shown towards our nonconventional lifestyle. in the past she’s always been excited when she sees mike again but this is the first time there is cognitive eagerness for his return. i’m happy to have a companion in my pining for mr. mike.

except there’s another feeling in there, too.

all the things darla says daddy is going to do for her are the things i’m currently doing for her. have been doing for her these past three months. solo. i do want her to have a glimmering view of the times mike is included in daily life, but what about when he’s not? can’t those memories be as bright for her too? i try very hard to make all times magical around here and i guess, what i’m saying is, i want some freaking credit. is that selfish? probably yes, since it’s me after all.

i just hope that someday, down the road, darla will realize how every-ounce-of-energy hard this all is.  i hope the next time that mike is departing darla will be just as excited for she and i to be a twosome again. not that i don’t want her to miss her dad but i want to make sure her life is even and not full of pitfalls and disappointment when he leaves. i want some mommy worship too!

but today i’m trying to enjoy the last few hours to ourselves. for my own sake. even if darla never gets it. these days are infinitely special to me. no matter how much i pout and complain on day 36 of mike’s rocket 88 day tour.

to quote darla’s favorite book recently, Eloise (thank you frauntie amanda!!!): “she is my mostly companion.”

“you gotta napkin on your head, napkinhead!” – girls dinner out. mohawk restaurant.

baking cupcakes for daddy’s surprise

ready and waiting for his arrival. in the meantime…

mother + daughter tutu party!!!!!!!!!!!!

He’s back!

Posted in love and happiness by

our house currently contains:

2 – happy girls

1- happy and tired sailor

21 – soon to be eaten cupcakes. 3 already provided us with a nutritious breakfast. wink. wink.

i didn’t capture much at the airport, except for this very blurry father + daughter moment.

we’ll be spending lots of time getting reacquainted and mike has already been a trooper about listening to the barrage of information that has been trapped in my head for three months.

happy, happy day to you all from one happy, happy family.

dear salty sailor,

Posted in Uncategorized by

well here it is, your last update for a while. in a day’s time you’ll be home, part of this party. craaaaaazy. it’s always a little mystifying to go threw the warpzone of life with and without you. gosh, i really wish i had a major 80s band that could sing a song about that…

i wish i had the energy to editorialize more of our life these past coupla days but i don’t. just lots of the same old routines. sometimes i really love routines. i’m ready to break out a little bit though. good timing since you’ll come home and shake things up a bit. here’s a few last pics before you see it all live. beware: these kids have grown up a lot in these past 3 months.

i get a lot of credit for this child’s features but that facial expression is 100% mike wright.

we’ll see you in 36 hrs baby. safe travels. hope you packed a parka. all my love.

your adoring, exhausted, over-the-moon-excited-to-see-you wifey.

 

stranger danger

Posted in parenting apparently? by

is it bad that this video has been my main visual for teaching stranger danger?

i was shown a coupla years ago by my friend jeff. he warned me that it would forever ruin modest mouse for me. he was right. i don’t think Brak and Brock are a coincidence either.

*post update: i actually compiled this post over last weekend and set the publishing forward but since then i’ve seen a rather disturbing youtube video of an attempted kidnapping and the latest football scandal has really amped the need for some stranger education in our household. tried to hold the important convo with miss d today and at then end, when i asked what she would do if a stranger offered her a sucker to get in his/her car she said “mom, i would be very careful and take the lollipop and get in the car.” oy vey. work in progress.

love letter to my husband

Posted in love and happiness by

ok this is actually a post about a hypothetical love letter that you have written to me. (hey, you knew i was self-centered when you married me) oh, but it’s already been written by someone else. by your favorite band.

i finally listened to the words of “dear wife” the other day and i found myself crying. i know. i know. it’s not just because i’m pre mens. well maybe. but i feel like this song was written about us and especially appropriate come the end of your work tour. maybe there is a little bit of michael wright in jim james.

soooo can i just pretend from here on out that it’s a song you wrote for me. or a poem. a sea shanty, if you will?

please?

sweet, sweet, dear where are you?
I am out here somewhere working through the days
I imagine you are livin life,
but I must explain..

dear wife, I miss you always
aint it strange how quickly things can change.

I’ll be out here wanting you
you’ll be out there wanting me
and I’ll be back there runnin’?
you’ll, you’ll be in here lovin me.

(solo)

sweet, sweet, dear how are ya?
well the nail of your kindness hits my brain.
when you pounded it in with such violence,
I must exclaim..

dear wife I love you always
aint it great how quickly things can change

I’ll be out here wanting you
you’ll be out there wanting me
and I’ll be back there runnin’?
you’ll, you’ll be in here lovin me

I’ll be out here wanting you
you’ll be out there wanting me
and I’ll be back there runnin’?
you’ll, you’ll be in here lovin me
You’ll be in here lovin me

three things i love

Posted in Run Da House by

ONE!!! the local food effort of central ohio.

TWO!!!! my green bean delivery service.

THREE!!! the edible columbus magazine.*

well, daggummit, the planets align for this season’s issue. green bean has a write up for fall!  i really just adore this publication even though i don’t really know my way around the kitchen. i just like the pretty pictures.

and no, green bean does not pay me to plug their service. but THEY SHOULD. i just really revere them for simplifying my life a little. i’m giving them and edible columbus a slap on the proverbial back and a somewhat softer smack on the proverbial bottom. good job, folks. keep it up.

http://ediblecolumbus.com

actually, if anyone would like to try the service i have a coupon code for 50% off. just email me at elaine (dot) tucker (at) gmail (dot) com.

*(in my head this is sung to the same tune as Black Kids – “i’m not gonna teach your boyfriend how to dance with you.”)

B day celebration

Posted in it's cool to school, kiddie-do, parenting apparently? by

no annual milestone over here, just our letter of the day. and what a B-eautiful day it was, too.

we started of course with breakfast of bread and butter and berry yogurt

it was at this point in the meal that my daughter jumped up and ran out of the room yelling “oh i forgot something.” she returned 20 seconds later wearing her ruby slippers. only her ruby slippers. she stripped out of her sleeper and put on a pair of buckle shoes in a speed that is going to make me very frustrated then next time it takes me 18 minutes to get her in or out of an outfit.

i think she took B day literally and so wearing her birthday suit was entirely appropriate. 

after getting dressed with a lot of attention paid to the letter B – braid with a blue hairband, boots and a birdie shirt we hopped on cordelia and biked to the audubon center for bird learnin’. hence the appropriateness of the bird shirt.

i know i post about the audubon park a lot but it’s by our house and is really a beautiful, magical place. this town does a great job with it’s parks. here’s our little bird watcher.

using the binoculars (the wrong way) to spot what she says is a “jerry bird.” huh?

and there he is. just imagine my sugar sweetness congratulating her for being able to spot an 8 FT PAPER MACHE GULL. ohhh, i laugh at life.

in the center we: read books about birds, bats, bugs, butterflies blah blah blah. visited the salvaged art butterflies which are still holding up with original coolness factor and did some of the center activities testing different bird beak designs.

we discovered a new room with lots of grand activities including bird and butterfly costumes seen here as well as a simulated climbing tree biosphere complete with root system too.

but the greatest resource discovered at the audubon park today….

BIG KIDS

i have previously noticed the magnetic pull that exists between pre-teen/teenage girls and toddler girls – probably toddler boys too but i don’t have as much experience with that. darla first adopted this group of homeschool kids and they were impressed that she knew words such as “audubon,” and  “insect.” i think they were most impressed by her cowgirl boots, though. they then adopted her and entertained her for 15 whole minutes. i ate and entire apple in peace!  all three were jumping, hand in hand, from atop this fire pit thingy, pretending to be birds and chanting “we fly so high in the skyyyyy!” it was very cute and gave me hope that one day darla, too, will grow into a lovely pre-teen and give a weary mother a break by bossing her toddler around for her. thanks again, universe.

friendly friends from afar

Posted in love and happiness by

i received this too cute and personalized card in the mail yesterday from a dear, lifelong friend. i’m sharing bc it was a little ray of sunshine in a somewhat harrowing day. she is a really good person and a much better friend than i. she is always thinking of others and i need to emulate her more often. of course i love her b/c she’s thinking of me and, well, i love when people are thinking of me.  weeeeee! selfishness you’re so fun!

thank you, beautiful friend.

ruby tuesday

Posted in kiddie-do, love and happiness by

someone is now obsessed with all things dorothy and ruby and wizardy and ozzy. this was the best i could do to appease her fashion desires of looking the part of dorothy gale. i now also hear a lot of “lions and tigers and bears. oh my!” around the house. i gotta say that i’m having a ball getting reacquainted with the wizard myself.  revisiting past loves with my child = cryfest.