Slow Boat Through Grafton

Yesterday Joanna saw something surprising in our back yard.



People were fishing behind our house! Not only that they said they had caught some.

This made Joanna want to go out in a boat. Rick promised to take Joanna on a canoe ride. She was a little nervous about it remembering seeing our friend Greg and his son Jonah tip the thing over last year.



We convinced her that if she sat still and did what she was told this would not happen to her. She put on her life vest (yellow of course) and they got in the canoe.




Soon they were on their way. I walked up the road to watch them. Rick and I later debated who got the most exercise. He had to row but I walked over the big hill on Logan Path the get the pictures. I think this photo may support my side.



Zooming in it looks like someone might be slacking there.

Soon they were coming back in and Zena was very happy to see them.



After getting out and hauling the canoe out of the water Joanna said "Let's go again!"

Amoxicillin to the Rescue!

This was Joanna all day yesterday.



Blanket, pillow, Little Zena and television. At one point Dora was asking everyone to jump up and Joanna responded to the TV, "Can't, too sick."

Her fever shot up to 103 last night so I made an appointment with the pediatrician this morning. Turns out she has a nasty ear infection. We started the antibiotics today and she will probably be feeling better tomorrow.

While we were filling her prescription, she saw some nail polish she wanted so when we got home she got a manicure and a pedicure.



Anyone surprised by the color? It's called "Taxi Yellow Creme".

On the upside of staying home 2 days with a grumpy child, I cleared a lot of old stuff from the TiVo, got a lot of knitting done and had dinner ready before 7:00.

I think I will be glad to go back to work.

Not Feeling Well

A couple weeks ago we purchased an Ikea loveseat from eBay. I told Rick that we needed more seating in the waiting area at the front of his office. There was only one chair and many of his clients came in pairs. As a temporary measure I moved the two guest seats from his office out there since he met with most of his clients in the conference room anyway. When we saw the loveseat on eBay we thought in would go well with his Ikea desk and could replace the chairs. After we got it we found it was very low to the ground. Rick's clients would be looking across the desk at his belly. We moved the guest chairs back to his office and put the loveseat out front.

When it started raining in the office we folded it up and put it in a little alcove at the back of the office. Since they still have not fixed the roof it remains there.

Today the loveseat found a purpose.

I got a call from the school telling me Joanna was sick. Her school is in the same building as the office so I went down to get her. She had vomited on her mat during rest time. At least the vinyl mat was easy to clean.

When I came to get her she felt a little warm but the most telling sign was that she was quiet. This child is generally either talking or sleeping so something was definitely wrong.

I carried her up to the office and Rick set up the loveseat.

After a children's Motrin and a good two hour nap she seemed to feel a lot better. Pretty soon she was talking up a storm and getting into all of daddy's toys.

We will have to see how she feels when the Motrin wears off.

Hair and Other Unmanageable Things

Joanna's hair has been a problem for a while. It is straight in the front and wavy in the back.
It is a bit windblown in this photo but I think you can see the problem.
















I like little girls with long hair. I want to be able to brush it and braid it and put it up in pig tails and do all those cute girly hair things. Not going to happen. I'm lucky she lets me comb it. She doesn't want braids or bows. Clips are okay as long as they aren't actually holding back hair off her face. She did let me braid it before bed once.





















I thought it would help keep it from tangling at night. It did, but it was wilder than ever the next day. I finally had to admit that I have a shaggy child.

Yesterday Rick decided he needed a hair cut so we all went to Supercuts after work. Joanna and I looked through the hair cut picture books. There were hair cuts for straight hair, hair cuts for curly hair, hair cuts for wavy hair, but no hair cuts for straight in the front/wavy in the back hair.

In the end we went for a simple bob.



Easy to take care of, nice for summer, and no more shaggy child. There was a lot of hair removed but it wasn't anywhere near as traumatic as Bernice.

After the hair cut we went to the mall so Rick could look at cell phones and he and Joanna took a ride on the carousel.



As for other unmanageable things, it's raining. No, I not talking about the rain outside, I'm talking about the rain inside.

It is raining in my office.

During the last rain we told the management company that the roof was leaking. They did nothing. During this current rain the leak has gotten much worse. Here is the wall just outside our door.



Nice. On Saturday one of the ceiling tiles became so saturated it fell and broke. Fortunately we had removed the computer from my desk but we did have to use the table in the conference room to dry out some papers.



This is the ceiling over my desk.



You should be very glad I can't upload the smell.

They did come and clean up the broken tile but this is what my desk looks like right now. I think we are using every trash can in the office to catch water.



I'm working in the conference room.

We were wondering why it was taking so long to fix the roof. Perhaps they were having trouble locating the breech. We went outside and looked up.



I don't know a lot about roofing or construction in general but I think I can see the problem.

My psychic powers are predicting an office relocation in our future.

Mother's Day

There were a few years when Mother's Day was a day I wanted to wipe off the calendar. After my first pregnancy ended unexpectedly at 21 weeks, I did not need this day to remind me of what should have been. Each year the feelings of loss, failure and inadequacy all came rushing back and the pain was suddenly fresh again. The first Mother's Day after her death I had no idea how it was going to hit me. It had been 10 months. I went to church that Mother's Day without a clue what it was going to be like. When they started passing out flowers to the mothers, I found myself fleeing to the bathroom. One lady sought me out and gave me a flower. She told me not to forget that I was a mother too. I did not forget, but I made a point of not attending church on Mother's Day again.

When Joanna was born, I starting going again. I still have mixed feelings. I try to make sure I have something for my mom and that Rick gets something for his mom but I don't really expect a lot for myself. This year was nice.

Mother's Day began on Friday when Joanna's school had a Mother's Day tea. The children set the little tables with placemats, vases with flowers, a candle and a place card. There was coffee, tea, cookies, fruit, and bread the children had baked the day before. Each child also made a gift for their mother.



Joanna put her handprint in yellow and signed her name. All the letters are there, just not in the order you would expect.

It was great fun to try and gracefully sit in the tiny chair at the tiny table.

After the tea, each child gave their mother a rose.

On Sunday, Joanna made a card at Sunday school, and during the service she selected a yellow carnation for me. It was all very sweet, but I still remember when it wasn't.

For those of you who face the day with dread, I understand. It's over, take a breath, you've got another 364 days before it comes again. Perhaps the next one will be better.

Laura, mother of Joanna and Megan

Jonathan turns 2!

On Saturday we went to celebrate Jonathan's birthday.

Nothing like new toys to play with.



There was craft time.



Joanna was in a very yellow mood and placed only yellow stickers on yellow paper.

Soon Joanna and Jonathan were ready for food



Jonathan's mommy made chocolate cake!



Joanna enjoyed the cake.



Jonathan really enjoyed the cake.

Sturbridge Revisited

Our tickets for Old Sturbridge Village were good for a second visit so we took Rick with us this time. We got to wander into some of the building we missed the first time and revisit a couple of Joanna's favorites.

We went to "meet the teacher" at the schoolhouse. We had to bow/curtsy as we entered and sit in the rather uncomfortable benches. The teacher told us that in 1830 she would have actually been a "school keeper". She would have taught the 4 year olds their alphabet and basic reading. From there the kids were on there own to go through their lesson books and her job was just to keep the peace.

Out on the playground Joanna tried to figure out the hoop and stick. It looks a whole lot easier than it is.



We also went to the bookstore. Joanna picked out a little book that came with a tiny tea set. It also had little place cards and menus that you could remove from the book and recipes for miniature food. One example was a miniature chocolate cream pie that was a chocolate sandwich cookie with the top removed and whipped cream with chocolate sprinkles put on top. I got a a knitting book (of course).

On Sunday Joanna wanted to help Daddy mow the lawn. You're never to young to learn new chores! Because of her height she got totally covered in grass cuttings.