Happy Halloween!!!

Or Samhain, for those who celebrate that, too.



Last night I had to go to Wal-Mart (yes, I know it's an evil place that is horrible to their workers and runs small - or even large - business out of business, but I'm having to pinch pennies here) for diapers, toilet paper, and Halloween candy. The place was packed! I went to browse the Halloween aisles and found that it had all been consolidated (or crammed) into one aisle. There was absolutely no way I could drive my cart down the aisle because there were so many people trying to pick up last-minute Halloween decorations and costume essentials. It was nuts! On the aisles that used to house the Halloween stuff, you know what I found? CHRISTMAS STUFF! Already! Later I found a small bit of Thanksgiving decorations and items on a clearance aisle, but even Thanksgiving had been moved aside to make way for Christmas!

This is Tree Faerie's first Halloween, and I didn't even buy her a costume. I did buy her a couple of really cute Halloween pajama sets, though, and I sent her to daycare today in one of the pajama shirts, a pair of jeans, and a pair of jack-o-lantern socks. I just couldn't bring myself to spend $20 on something she would wear once! I plan on letting her wear the pj's until she grows out of them, not to mention they were only $5 a set.

This is our second Halloween in this house, and also the second year to give out candy. Last year we had a blast scaring the kids. This is what they saw when they came to the door (only all the lights were out in the house, so we were only lit by the streetlights):

People actually thought he was fake, and when they were at the door getting candy from me, he'd speak and move, scaring everyone. One little girl (who wasn't even in a costume, so this totally made it okay), was so scared that she ran away! She kept coming back, though, because she really wanted the candy! After about the fourth time, I figured she'd been entertaining enough that she deserved at least one piece! We had a blast, and we were blaring Midnight Syndicate, which made it that much creepier.

I was kneeled down in the floor where the candy bowl is in the picture. I would upload a picture of me from last Halloween, but I was really bloated and pregant all over, which is pretty scary!

I'm not sure what we're going to do differently tonight, but I'll be sure to tell you all about it tomorrow!

Have a safe and happy holiday! MUAHAHAHAHAHA

Missing in Action

I've missed blogging. Tree Faerie was sick last week, so I had to take off of work and tend to her. She's better now, though. Until last week, I thought it would be nice to be a stay-at-home-mom. Now I know better. Kudos to all the ladies who are SAHMs - your job is much more difficult than my job as a career mom (as DTTF so nicely stated). When I'm working, it's definitely a lot more fun spending time with Tree Faerie because I've missed her all day and am not burned out. When I'm home with her for several days in a row, I get no time for myself and it really takes a toll on me. I know I don't want to do my salary job 24/7, and now I realize that as a SAHM, one is a mom 24/7. The work just never ends!

So, to all you SAHMs out there, bless you for being able to stay home with your children and not completely go bonkers (with a few exceptions, of course)!

The festival was wonderful. I actually had a great time and wasn't overly critical. I didn't step in and take over. I enjoyed myself and got to visit with a lot of friends I haven't seen in a year or more. Tree Faerie was a delight, though she wouldn't eat any of the food and stuck to breast milk and sweet puffs all weekend.

Of course, everyone just fawned over her, which she really didn't like much. Tree Faerie communicates very well, and it was blatantly clear that she didn't like people in her face or strangers touching her, at least not without permission from her. She didn't fuss much, but I was also following her cues with what she was comfortable doing. She loves watching people, but she wants them to stay at a comfortable distance. It was very interesting to watch her interactions. I'm kicking myself at the moment, though, because I didn't take a single picture.

She has started doing one of the cutest things, though. I've been trying to teach her that there are just some things she's not allowed to play with, even when it's within her reach. The laptop is one of those things. DTTF's school books are another. Strange things she picks up off the carpet or ground do not go in her mouth. It's going surprisingly well, and she's proving more and more that she knows what's on the off-limits list. She started by shaking her head no every time we made the negative sound (kind of an "aant" sound) or said "no" or "stop". Now, when she reaches for something she knows she shouldn't play with, she'll shake her head no before I can even say anything and pull her hand away. Last night, she was even saying "aant" before I could!

It's good to be back... :)

Disclosure

This blog is written and edited by me. For questions about this blog, please contact momtothefey at gmail dot com.

All of the posts on this blog are my personal thoughts, views, and opinions. Occasionally I write posts for which products or revenue has been exchanged. The words expressed in this blog are my own, and the opinions here are honest regardless of compensation.

Festivals and Family

This weekend is our annual Festival of Souls. DTTF and I are usually co-coordinators, but we've taken this year off to focus on more important things, like Tree Faerie. I've been a little nervous about this weekend for many different reasons. In no particular order:

• Because I consider this one of my babies, I tend to be overly critical when things don't go right (and of course, when I say 'right', I really mean 'the way I would do it'). I don't want to be overly critical. I want to relax and have a good time.
• Tree Faerie has been sick and not sleeping, therefore I have not been sleeping. No sleep for Mommy means a cranky Mommy. Cranky Mommy means I'm less likely to bite my tongue. See #1.
• I'm fat. Or at least I'm fat compared to 2 years ago, and especially compared to 5 years ago. Not that I really need to impress anyone there with my beauty and grace, but it would sure make me feel better if I weighed less. So, I'm self-conscious. Thankfully the people who love me do so for my personality, not just my looks. DTTF still tells me I'm beautiful, even more-so now that the baby weight is coming off more and more.
• Speaking of self-conscious, I got my hair cut again in the same style as last time, but the bad thing about natural curls is that I have no control over which way they curl. Thus it doesn't look the same. It looks better now than it did a week ago, but it doesn't look as good as it did the last time.
• As I mentioned before, Tree Faerie has been sick and not sleeping. What am I going to do if she's up every 45 minutes at FOS? What if she's keeping everyone around us awake? Thankfully, the people in the cabin next to us are like family to me, so I'm sure they'll forgive me.

Okay, now that all of that is out, I actually feel better. My hair and my weight - it could be worse. Looking at last year's pictures, I was pregnant and bloated, and my 'family' still loved me, so I'm just being silly. As for those few people who will criticize me because I'm not slim, who cares? Their opinions should not count.

As far as Tree Faerie goes, I know we'll handle it just fine. We always find a way to make things work. And thankfully I have a beautiful and loveable child, so it makes it a little easier for people to forgive me. She's usually full of sunshine and laughter, so hopefully all will be wonderful.

So, here's to having a wonderful and stress-free weekend! In case I don't post again before the weekend, have a great one!

Ball Phobia?

This morning when I was dropping Tree Faerie off at daycare, I put her on the floor like normal, and she started playing with one of the balls. This particular ball was abou the size of a softball. As I started to head out the door, Tree Faerie's teacher got out one of the big bouncy balls, kind of like a beach ball. Tree Faerie started backing up and ended up crawling under one of the cribs while trying to get away from the ball. She kept waving bye-bye with both hands at it. I was watching all of this through the window in the door, and I kept waiting for her teachers to realize that she was obviously scared of it.

They didn't seem to be catching on, so I opened the door and whispered in my best stage-whisper, "Tree Faerie is afraid of big balls!"

She is also afraid of the balls that make noise and roll around. Her Nana bought her a ball that rolls around and makes noises, and she runs from it every single time.

I must admit - I've been laughing off and on all day because my daughter is afraid of big balls and balls that chase her. I wonder how long this fear will last...

(And you know my mind is in the gutter...)

Funky Sock Friday

We finally made it to Friday, and the weather here has finally dropped below 80 degrees for the high. This morning I sent Tree Faerie to daycare in size 12 month pink corduroy pants, a size 12 month white and pink shirt that had some cute saying on it (but I can't remember exactly what it said), and PURPLE SOCKS WITH SPIDERS that in no way matched what she was wearing! So, I've now dubbed this Funky Sock Friday and hope to have started a tradition with my daughter. I wear funky socks a lot. The ones I'm wearing today have kittens all over them. I have a pair with monkeys, cute holiday socks, and I will soon purchase Halloween socks, too.

Today is going better than the rest of the week has. I took Tree Faerie to the doctor again yesterday afternoon because I was afraid she had another ear infection. Turns out it's not an ear infection yet, just fluid in the ears and a head cold. So, the doc wrote a script for amoxycillin just in case things got worse (i.e. if she continues pulling on her ears and doesn't seem to be getting any relief) and told me to give Tree Faerie benedryl to relieve some of her stuffiness. Last night was the first night this week that she let me actually get more than an hour of sleep at a time. Of course, if I wasn't aware of how bad she's feeling (clearly stated by my sunshiny baby being a storm cloud), her benedryl-induced daze might be funny.

An old friend of mine Sooj was in town last night and dropped in to see us. While I knew I missed her since she's been hopping all over the country playing shows and spinning fire, I didn't realize just how much I had missed her until I actually got to see her. Sooj is an absolutely amazing woman with an awesome voice, and her abilities on the guitar are purely magickal (spelled that way intentionally). I will always be able to say I knew her before she was famous and even get to sing with her on occasion, which I love doing and can do pretty well as long as there's not a microphone involved (I'll explain my fear of microphones another time). She has a show tonight in Missouri and one tomorrow night in downtown Memphis. Check out her website, http://www.skinnywhitechick.com/, for more information and to hear some of her music.

I also taught my first Outer Court class last night, and I didn't do too bad of a job! I even managed to breastfeed while teaching! Thankfully the group is a very open one and can handle such things. I actually rolled several interrelating topics into one class and even had time for exercises at the end. I know we will expound upon those topics again in the future, but I feel that it will be more on an individual basis so that we can help each person find what works for them.

My plans for the weekend were scrapped by someone else, so I decided to make my own. I'm still waiting to confirm the new plans, but even if those are scrapped as well, I have a Plan C as well! So, the weekend is mine to conquer!

So Now We Know

I always wondered...