You get used to it… Because normal is just a setting on the dryer.

— 1 —

So I was just sent this news story. Someone apparently shot the Saturn V rocket in Huntsville.  Could have been n accident (not the firing of the gun, but the fact that it entered the Davidson Center and hit the rocket). Thankfully no one was hurt.

Have I ever mentioned how attached I am to Saturn V rockets?  That particular one used to lie in the back of Rocket Park outside the USSRC, and I loved walking by it when I worked there – the sheer size of it was overwhelming and amazing.  Then, they built a replica of it next to the center (which was a huge politics issue, and ultimately the full plan for a gantry and restaurant, etc,was never finished – just the rocket.

And it was under that replica that Chad and I more or less started dating. Not that we would have admitted it at the time.  When we drive into Huntsville for visits, I love seeing that rocket – it means we’re almost there.  In some strange way, the rocket is home in a way that other places in Huntsville are not. Chad and I joke about buying it to go in our yard, if the HOA would let us (the fact that the base of the rocket is larger than our yard is beside the point).

I was very excited when they moved the real Saturn V to the Davidson Center – it’s really nice, and I love how they are protecting it and displaying it.  And now I’m sad because someone shot it, and I have no idea why.  It seems like a pretty freak accident, if that’s what it was.

Anyway.  Enough space nostalgia. I hope they find out who did it and why.

— 2 —

Brianna still climbs up in bed with me about 2 nights a week or so.  Something will wake her up, and she’ll come snuggle until she goes back to sleep, and at some point I get tired of being kicked/poked/not having enough space, and I carry her back to her bed to wait out the rest of the night.  Or when I turn the light on in the morning, she decides her room is nicer because it’s dark, and scampers off to bed for a few more minutes.

So when she climbed into my bed two nights ago, telling me she was cold, I just rolled over and gave her some covers.  She was right – her legs were freezing!  But I felt nothing wet, and was too tired to ask questions.  So I went back to sleep.  Eventually, I carried her back to her bed, only to discover her sheets were soaked. She had wet the bed, gotten up and changed underwear and then gotten in bed with me.  Which totally makes sense, I guess, if you’re cold.

We has a middle of the night chat about letting mommy know then these things happen, and I changed her sheets and sent her back to bed.

Last night, when she crawled into my bed cold, I thought for a minute and asked “Is your bed wet?”.  Luckily, it was not.

— 3 —

Benjamin has entered the age of the tantrums.  Full blown, laying on the floor, screaming tantrums.  I have no idea what to do with this, any more than i did when Brianna did it.  He too young for logic, so I end up trying to separate him from whatever is causing the tantrum, distracting him, and holding him until it’s over.  But he’s becoming less distractable – maybe because his memory is better?  My point is, it takes more than a banana or some tickles to make him stop screaming.  If two is going to be this bad, I might just ship him off until he’s four.  Not really.  But maybe.

— 4 —

I have been trying (badly at times, like yesterday) to do more fun/educational stuff with the kids.  Brianna has been painting sun catchers, using scissors, writing with dry erase markers, and I even have some beads for her to string on pipe cleaners this weekend or next week to practice patterns and counting.  Bu I’m kind of at a loss for what to do with Benjamin -he’s only a year and a half, so he still puts pretty much everything in his mouth.  I’m thinking I might try homemade (edible) playdough this weekend?  But I would love some more ideas.

Any advice?

— 5 —

Chad discovered that Brianna really likes soccer.  And she’s actually kids of good at it (ie, better than me at chasing/kicking the ball, which probably doesn’t say much, but really, she’s 3). So we are starting to look at soccer leagues.  OMG.  The prices.  I have been so spoiled by our daycare, that offers Stretch-n-Grow and Ballet classes for $35/month/each.  So going into this, I was thinking, sure, soccer’s probably a little more.  Like $40/month, plus cleats, etc.

HAHAHA.  Summer session, which is 6-8 weeks, depending on the league, is $100-$150 depending on the league.  There are a couple of options for 3 year old’s in town, all claim to be positive and fun and blah blah blah.  No idea if we’re going to do it, or put it off another little while because she’s little, we’re lazy, and it’s expensive.

— 6 —

In looking for free concerts to take the kids too, in order to see if they will enjoy it/behave enough for us to buy the family symphony tickets, I stumbled upon the fee schedule for Pearland ISD Dawson High School’s Diamonds (the nationally ranked dance team).  Let’s just say soccer fees are the least of my worries. $600 just for costumes.  Plus fees for trips, competition, other fees, etc – it looked like over $2000.  For a year.

Brianna will need a part-time job to support that type of habit, if she goes that route in high school.  Because man, is that a lot of money.  Maybe soccer isn’t so expensive after all.

— 7 —

I have thrown away/recycled a small trash can full of empty sample packets and little bottles and such this week.  Most  empty, some not. Decluttering for the win! I’ve found a few winners in my sample pile, though – I’ll try to blog about them later.

I also am looking at some sample beauty box programs, trying to find some good products that work with my skin/hair/everything. I started with New Beauty TestTube, and just got my first tube, so I have some posts that should be coming up on that as well.  Not that I want this to turn into a beauty blog or anything – I just want to record what works for me and what I should look into buying later, when I run out of samples, haha.

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