Some Marchness

So, I'm not really sure what's going on with me...
About two weeks ago I woke up with a pinched nerve in my neck (left side). By Saturday of that week, the pain hadn't gone away, so I got a massage. It made everything worse and the pain shifted to the right side. Tuesday morning of this week, I woke up with stomach flu-the sleep on the bathroom floor kind-combined with the pain in my back and neck, which has now traveled to mid-back. Now the stomach flu is under control (I can keep down a piece of toast and some jello) but the the pain is worse. Plus I've missed a lot of work with illnesses lately and it's stressing me out. *feels grumpy*

In other news, the girls are doing really well. We finished our little ice skating experiment a few weeks ago.  Leah started Jump Rope Club at school with mixed results. I stayed and watched on her first day and it was another reminder to me that she just learns differently than other kids. The other first graders were running around with their ropes, jumping and playing games with the volunteer instructors. Leah stood there and watched, but had no idea what to do with the jump rope. I think it's going to take some one on one time to get the concept to click.

On a sort of related note, Hannah is going in the opposite direction. She can't learn fast enough and is starting to surpass Leah is some skill areas. I don't really know how to deal with it--I want to encourage Hannah's desire to learn without making Leah feel bad. It's a tough balance. Here's an example:

Hannah learned how tie a hair elastic on her own hair...and others (read: me and Barbie). She's been spending a lot of time doing my hair. I try really hard to not wince and yelp. Leah also went through this phase when she was 4.

Here's the progression of this activity. We can also insert my facial expressions into some of the other activities that I get roped into (puppet shows, cooking projects, etc) where I'm having fun with them for a while but then my patience level drops.

"I let my girls comb my hair for 45 minutes without screaming in pain! Aren't I Mom of the Year?"


"Okay, this is getting a bit old but my 33 year old behind can still sit on the hard floor for an hour. Surely this is the last picture Hannah will take. And surely no one will ever see me like this."


"I'm really done with this whole thing. Put that camera down."


Just some random goofiness:

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