Elastamom's Excerpts

***grab my button and share what made you happy this week!***

Soccer is over…which is sad…but also happy because it frees up some evenings.

You all know how much I’m love the show Parenthood, right? I got to meet Sam Jaeger, who plays Joel (my favorite), on WednesaY! My friend from work told me about it because it wasn’t widely advertised. My friend Sherri and I went and it was awesome! He was so normal and nice and funny and adorable! (Unedited version…hello shiny face!)

Our dishwasher broke And Matt’s in no hurry to replace it because, in his words, he loves doing Dishes. Matt’s birthday was yesterday and, as a joke, I bought him a dish rack. He LOVED it! He is such a goof.

I shared this on Instagram, but just in case you missed it, I must share the lovely sentiment from my 7-year-old before I erase it: happy mother’s vagina day!

Rainy nights = board games and board games make me happy!

These two are just the best. They make my heart so very happy. Not sure what I did to deserve them!

The older kids had their spring program on Thursday. Gabe kept catching my eye and smirking because he told me how “stupid” it was and he wold give me this look like “Can you believe I’m dancing?” Made me laugh.

Olivia was amazing a her program. She waved to me and whistled and took bows. She did such a great job dancing. I was fighting tears…her teachers and aides were bawling! She also played the triangle and the recorder.

Look for her on the left behind the main line…

And in this one she’s on the end on the left!

How cute is she??

What made you happy this week?

**Linking up with MamaKat today: 1.) 15 Reasons You’re Awesome. (inspired by LouLou’s Views) **

Regular readers know this is hard for me…so I’m stepping out of my box and telling you why I’m awesome! (I’m much better at why I suck.)

1.) I make a big deal out of things for fun: the first day of school, the last day of school, birthdays, soccer games, Wednesdays.

2.) I have a smile on my face 99.9% of the time. I’m a glass half-full kind of a girl. (Most of the time.)

3.) I’m a kick-ass teacher.

4.) I’m a good listener.

5.) I’m not afraid to talk about Olivia and how hard things are at times.

6.) I’m very loyal.

7.) I know all the words to all the songs and sing them at the top of my lungs. (Or so my kids say.)

8.) I love to dance.

9.) I’m very thoughtful.

10.) I’m raising really kind, caring kids.

11.) I scream loud at soccer and baseball games.

12.) I dye my hair bright red and bright pink.

13.) I can cook you a fantastic meal with a decadent dessert.

14.) I take pretty good pictures and I love doing it.

15.) I snagged the best husband on the planet!!!

Are your kids at the age yet where they’ve “picked” their sport and their super passionate about it? Gabe is. He is all in for soccer. I’ve started calling him Soccer Gump because everywhere he goes he’s playing soccer. Even when he waits for the bus. Or walks home from school. Or talks to me in the kitchen. He has a soccer ball and he’s kicking it. It’s funny to think that when he started playing when he was four, he would sit on the sidelines and cry once the game started. He’s come a long way! Matthew plays too, and enjoys it, but he’s only seven and hasn’t “picked” it as his sport yet. I’m hoping he does though because I love to watch them play. And guess who’s the best cheerleader? You got it. I even bought Olivia a cheerleading shirt that says “I cheer. We score. We win.” because she really is the best yeller!

Gabe is a defender. I love watching him go out and command the field. I love the look he gets on his face that says “Nothing gets by me.”

This is my favorite picture from the whole season even if it’s not of Gabe. This girls’ team was amazing and they killed us. This picture pretty much sums it up.

We moved up a division this year and lost quite a few games in the regular season but learned quite a bit. The boys competed in a big tournament in Cleveland last weekend. Gabe’s team ended up playing in the championship game! They lost, but they were thrilled to make it that far. Way to go boys!

You know what else I noticed when I was editing all of my soccer pictures? The boys both do something that I do: they stick their tongues out when they’re concentrating! My dad used to yell at me all the time when I played basketball and did it because he said I was going to bite my tongue off. The boys didn’t believe me until I showed them the evidence.

Isn’t watching your kids do what they love so fun? What are your kids into?

Life is too short to…

Buy cheap bras and underwear

Not drop everything and play with your kids when they ask you to

Pass on a piece of cheesecake

Finish a book just because you started it even thought it’s terrible

To watch Jersey Shore

Be friends with people you don’t really like

Spend it scared of what might happen; sometimes you just have to leap!

Listen to One Direction when you could be listening to Pink

Miss out on having coffee with a friend who needs you

Skip kissing your husband in the morning because you’re too busy

Forget to tell people you love them

Life is too short to…what? Share your thoughts!

**Grab my button and share what made you happy this week!**

This week was one of those hold-on-for-dear-life-soon-it-will-be-the-weekend weeks. Actually that has pretty much summed up the month of May for us. How about you? But I still managed to find some happy things.

Olivia got a new job at school this week. The music teacher asked her to pull up all of the masking tape from the floor which she used to show students where to sit. Olivia loved this job. She came home and told me “it was right up her alley”. The phrases she picks up crack me up!

She also asked her teacher who she was talking to on the phone, and it was me, and her teacher said “My friend!” and Olivia asked “Which one?” and her teacher said “A beautiful one” and Olivia said “Also known as Tiffany?” Isn’t she hilarious?

I had to go out of town for two days for work this week (yuck) but I did get to ride in the car for 2 hours with one of my besties and it was great to catch up! I also was able so sit next to my work bestie and chat when we should have been listening! Teachers are the worst students, didn’t you know?

Matthew’s playing baseball and they got new uniforms. He was so proud of it and especially because it says “Townsend” on the back.

Gabe has a soccer tournament out of town this weekend. We’re staying for two nights in a hotel with a pool, watching lots of soccer and hanging out with friends and my Mom is going with us. We are super excited for the weekend! And we get Monday off!!!

I had my nails done and got them painted sparkly red. They make my happy every time I look at them.

I finished a wonderful book (will share with you next week) and started another great one. I’m so looking forward to summer when I have tons of time to read, read, read!

What made you happy this week?

Last week, we sat down to dinner after school and soccer practice and the general craziness of a day and Gabe started crying when I said it was time for baseball.

He didn’t want to play baseball, he said.

I asked him why and he said he just didn’t like playing anymore.

I was upset, not because he was not going to play, but because we had already paid for the season and I had asked him 10 times if he was sure he wanted to play before we signed him up and he said yes.

It was one of those nights where everything piles up (including Olivia taking a Vaseline bath…oye…) and it leads to something that’s not a big deal at all seeming like a very big deal. Do you ever have those nights? Thought so. He cried, I cried and got mad, Matt got mad at me, I got mad at Matt, everyone was upset. Love nights like those.

Later on that night, when things had settled down, I went into Gabe’s room to say goodnight and to chat with him about baseball. I asked him why he said he wanted to play when he really didn’t. He said he thought I would be upset if he didn’t play. I shared with him that the reason I asked him ten times if he was sure he wanted to play was because I really was hoping he’d say no! Once you get to kid pitch, the games are l-ooooo-ng and boring and, as much as I’ll do anything my kids love, I knew he didn’t love it and was hoping he’d say no. But he said yes so I signed him up.

What ended up happening is we had a marvelous conversation about saying yes when you really mean no. We talked about how hard it is to say no when you think the person asking really wants you to say yes. So many things are coming up for him as he enters junior high next year and he’s going to have to be strong. We talked about what happens when your friend asks you to steal, buy beer, kiss a girl, cheat on a test, anything where you really want to say no but you think they’ll be upset if you do. I shared with him that it’s much, much harder to say no to someone you care about. I also shared with him that, by the ripe old age of 37, I’ve had my feelings hurt plenty of times and this wouldn’t have been the first. I shared that I’m a tough cookie and that he is stuck with me. He can hurt my feelings a million times and I’m still not going anywhere because I love him. And I shared with him that key point: if someone loves you, and really truly cares about you, they will stay and love you even if you say no.

Is there anything better than those every day conversations that turn into something so important? I don’t think so. I just hope he listened.

I love watching her progress…year after year, day after day. Lately she is very aware of pronouns…changing his to hers and he to she where appropriate. When you stop and think about it, that’s a huge language and social milestone.

After school, Matthew and Olivia were playing on the trampoline. She had her constant companion, Fix It Felix from Wreck It Ralph, and Matthew was chasing her reciting the Gingerbread Man poem. When it was Olivia’s turn, she added “because” in the appropriate grammatical spot and, since she was talking about herself, changed it to Gingerbread Woman.

These are my favorite moments. Just an ordinary afternoon, hanging out in the backyard, capturing a precious moment between brother and sister and being able to reflect upon the significance of it all.

Watch Olivia here.

Happy Tuesday.

***Grab my button and share what made you happy this week!***

I had a fantastic Mother’s Day! Matt arranged a catered brunch for me, my mom, his mom and the rest of the family. It was so nice because no one had to cook! He and the kids also got me this gorgeous mother’s ring.

I love looking at it and thinking about how blessed I am.

Gabe and I had a great conversation that I will share with you next week. Made my heart very happy.

My azaleas are in bloom! Between the trees on our street and these bushes along with the green grass, my place is gorgeous right now!

Matt and I celebrated our 15th anniversary this week. I love that man. He makes me happy every day.

In other news, only 3 weeks left of school!

What made you happy this week?

“The truth about love is it comes and it goes…it’s all the poetry that you’ve ever heard…” — P!nk

After 15 years of marriage, I’ve learned a few things. P!nk is dead on. The truth about love is it comes and it goes. Sometimes you feel like your heart is going to burst because he fills you up with so much love. Other times you just wish he would stop farting so loudly in bed and take out the garbage. Sometimes you can’t wait to share a glass of wine and a piece of chocolate and tales of your day and other days you just want to go upstairs, shut the door, enjoy your glass of wine alone and read a book. Sometimes he’s the funniest person in the room and you laugh out loud at his jokes. Other times you just want quiet. But the truth about true love? It’s ok that it comes and it goes because at the end of each day you feel lucky that he’s yours.

We were so young when we got married. At the time I remember being offended on my wedding day when someone said I looked like a baby and was too young to be getting married. I was 22, how dare they! Now I see 22 year olds and think they look 12 so I understand. It’s amazing to me that Matt and I knew we were right at such a young age. I could hear his song to my heart and knew it was just for me.

From the day he let me borrow his sweatshirt, to the day he didn’t leave me a tip, to the day he showed up at my sorority house wasted and every single moment since he sent me that care package, I’ve been completely his. We’ve been through more in our 15 years than most people do in a lifetime and we’ve come out stronger. There’s no one else on this planet I’d rather be with. Each and every day.

We’ve done a great job over the years of putting us first. It’s not easy to do when you have three kids. We both know that the kids are happy if we are happy. We also know that some day the boys will have their own life and we better still like each other. We make an effort each and every day to connect on a level that doesn’t include pull-ups, soccer,homework and schedules. In 11 years when we are (sort of) empty nesters, I don’t want to look at him and say “Who are you?”, I want to look at him and say “YEE HAW! Let’s get this party started!”

Not only would I still pick Matt, I’d marry him the morning after he let me borrow his sweatshirt. And I’d never, ever let him go.

Here’s hoping and wishing and praying we are lucky enough to have many, many, many more.

It started with a bit of fuzz on her nether region. Which soon became totally full. As for any parent, it’s strange to see your child grow up in these ways. As a parent of a child with special needs, it’s even more strange. You have this daughter, whose body thinks she’s 12, but whose mind thinks she’s a toddler. When they don’t match, it’s very strange. How can one still be wearing a pull-up and have hair down there? But it happens.

Last fall, I noticed that the half-camis weren’t doing their job anymore. It was time for a…*gulp*…bra. We headed out to get fitted and measured and try them on. Too big for camis, too small for real bras, but luckily we found some that worked. It is beyond weird to go bra shopping with your daughter in a stroller. But we did it.

When this happened, Matt threw his hands up and said “I’m out!”. He sort of freaked out when he saw the clasps on the back. These weren’t just pull-them-over-her-head type bras, these were real. He was having a hard time with it. I was too but all of a sudden it hit me how very strange and weird and uncomfortable this must be for him. I spend most of my time keeping myself in the right headspace and Matt’s always there to help me. But now I needed to be there for him. To think of how difficult this must be for him. Normally by age 12, fathers don’t ever see their daughters naked. Ever. Definitely not when hair and bras enter the picture. But for us, it’s a necessity. I can’t always give her a bath or change her clothes or get her dressed. Sometimes he HAS to do it. It’s not lost on me how difficult it must be for him.

It’s so easy for me, since we have a daughter with special needs, to always think about the things that I’m missing out on as a mother to a girl. Most of the time Matt is pretty unaffected by these things. Very little fazes him and for that, and a million other things, I am very thankful. We often talk about how he would feel if our only boy had special needs and he agrees that it would be harder on him. But this is one of those areas that’s much more difficult for him. Bath time, bathroom time, clothes changing time have all entered a whole new dimension that we’re getting used to. It’s another reminder of how lucky I am to have this awesome partner in life who, after the initial “NO WAY JOSE!”, jumps in and goes along.