On the Run at Target

She ran away from me today. I turned around and she was gone. No Anna as far as I could see. I called. No answer. I was terrified. I crouched down to look under the clothes racks. No little feet hiding in the clothes. I stopped and tried not to be panic. I knew where she had gone.

A few minutes before, we had misplaced the 99-cent lip gloss we'd planned to buy. "Mommy, where did you put it? I gave it to you so we wouldn't leave it behind." Yes, yes. I'm a bad mommy. "Let me finish up here, and we'll go back and get another one."

She screams at me: "No, mommy. Now." As I turn around to hurry up and finish the task at hand, I turn back around to negotiate some more, and she was gone. A Target saleslady was standing there, watching this whole exchange, and she saw me panic. "Do you remember what my little girl looks like? Can you help me find her? I think I know where she went, but I need you to stay here in case she comes back."

I'm running through Target screaming "Anna!" I see her in the distance (across the store) standing at the lip gloss picking out the one she wanted with two other moms standing nearby, keeping and eye on her. I scooped her up and we left--without the lip gloss of course.

Winner...

The winner of the Writing Motherhood giveaway is Tiffany Severtson. Thanks to all who wrote this week.

All I Want for Christmas

Yes, yes. I know it's too early to be talking about Christmas. Though I will take this time to point out that my Target has Christmas stuff out....yes indeedy. They may think it's hidden behind the Halloween crap, but it's still out. Even if you hide, it's still there. Anyway, I digress....

All I want for Christmas is this super awesome Plasma car. My neighbor has one for her three-year-old son. And I know I'm too old for it, but I can still want it, right? Yesterday afternoon, the neighbor kids were playing in front of my house with all the toy cars, bikes and scooters. But this was by far, the most bad-ass one I've ever seen. Why? Because it's big enough for a grown up to ride and go flying down the street.

My neighbor joked that I would buy one and while my kids were in preschool....there would be Miss Linda....flying down our street enjoying the fall weather. Yep, she's right.

The thing about this car is you don't even need a hill to make it go. Just by turning the steering wheel, you can go on a perfectly flat surface. I only wish we had room for this in our house. Maybe some nice family member will buy this for us. Otherwise, I'm going to buy it for my friend and her three boys and go play at her house.

The First Time I Understood Sacrifice

This is part of the "Writing Motherhood" writing challenge and giveaway. The topic is "a first." It can be anything: the first time you dropped your child off at school, the first time you realized you were a mother, the first time you freaked out. Just start writing. It doesnt matter what you write. It's just about writing. See what happens. Post a link to your own writing in the comments section and you can win a copy of "Writing Motherhood."

As a mom, "sacrifice" is a word we hear often. We sacrifice our bodies for nine months. We sacrifice our sleep for God-only-knows how long. We sacrifice our careers. We sacrifice our own time to clean up the dishes, make lunches, read bedtime stories and bathe our kids. We sacrifice our comfort as a squirming toddler sits on our lap crying for a 8-hour airplane ride. By the time our children are two minutes old, we've all experienced some kind of motherly sacrifice.

My kids are now four and three. The sacrificing is so much different for me now. I sacrifice my last piece of chocolate to split with them. I will sacrifice my computer time in the evening to read them a book. But generally they are more self sufficient so the sacrificing on my part has diminished a bit in some way. It's a little sad sometimes.

Now, our life has become a bit simpler--at least for now until something else stirs it up. I have three things facing me right now. New sacrifices. Should we A) add another baby to our household B) Send me back to work C) Buy a new house. Now I'm at a point where one of these roads will lead me to a different level of sacrifice--the first time of choosing to make a sacrifice. They may not all seem connected, but they are.

Another baby leads us back down the road to the ultimate motherly sacrifice--no sleep, breastfeeding, never sitting down to eat, starting it all over again. It also means I will probably delay going back to work for a while, which I both want to do and don't want to do. Delaying this means sacrificing my career in the long term. Having another baby means not working and not being able to afford a bigger house. Then we're sacrificing space and comfort.

If I choose B (going back to work), I'm sacrificing having another baby. It does not bode well for an employee to take a job and get pregnant right away. So it doesn't make sense to jump back into the workforce only to take off some maternity leave and struggle to do it all. If I chose to not have another child, going back to work means sacrificing my time with my kids. Even with them in school now and their ability to play on their own, I love being at home with them.

A new house means many things for us. Mainly it means I either go back to work (sacrificing my time here at home) or make some major sacrifices here at home in order to afford the house we want.

If we leave everything status quo? I'm left in our small house enjoying my two kids. It's not a bad place to be, is it? But I feel sometimes taking risks is a good thing and with risk comes sacrifice. But in the end, it's me making the sacrifice. Now I have the opportunity to decide which way I want to go. What do I want to sacrifice?

Where I Am These Days

I've been so bad these days with keeping up on my blog. So I thought I'd let you know where I've been lately. Mainly, I'm spending quite a lot of time over at Baby Bunching--not just writing--but trying to promote. Want to help? Link to our new blog please!

I'm also still writing over at DC Metro Moms when I can find the time. Occassionaly I help my friend Tech Savvy Mama out over at Being Savvy DC. And just recently I have started blogging for Tea Collection as an outlet for all my travel journaling I did during our travels. This way you all can stop hearing about "In Sweden . . . " or "In Qatar . . . "

You Can't Ever Be Fully Prepared

I arrived at the gym 8 minutes before my kickboxing class. I was stoked that I managed to be so efficient this morning, got hubby to take daughter to school and son and I were ready for the good ole' YMCA. Stopped in to make a pit stop before class only to find out Dear Aunt Flow decided to visit two weeks too early. My purse contents contained: water bottle, head phones for the gym, wallet, cell phone, sunscreen, wrappers of cough drops, a few crayons, wipes, bug spray. Contents of purse did not include tampon. OK, no problem. I dropped in at EVERY bathroom at the Y only to find out they do not stock feminine products. I ran into one friend and one former preschool teacher. I had no shame in begging for help. No help.

I was going to have to ask the front desk. There was no negotiating around this issue right now. Alex was dropped off at the gym's childcare already. I was mentally prepared for my class. No way was I going to miss it, and no way would I be able to go through it without something. So, I swallowed my pride and asked the front desk.

Fortunately, I hadn't been the only stupid person because she said she'd been asked the same question on Friday. Ha! That made me feel better. She went and asked another coworker. She couldn't find any. But she had one in her purse. Nope, she'd brought the wrong purse. She went to dig through some more places and then another coworkers asked if she could help. I now have three women looking. Sure enough, they found one and I was saved.

Good thing, because it was a great workout! I imagine to have everything in my bag to prepare me for anything, except this. Stupid period.

The Weekend of Festivals

Lately, my monkeys have been accommodating for various festivals around town. A year ago when Anna was two and Alex was 3 1/2 we couldn't manage this since she didn't listen very well, but this fall (my favorite time of the year here) we've been relishing in all the fun fests.

Two weeks ago we attended a local Oktoberfest (my kids can be spotted in a few of the pix) at our very favorite Austrian restaurant: Euro Bistro. This was the first year they tried it, and I think it was awesome for a little parking lot in Herndon. Great music, great food and great beer. The kids danced and sang and we drank beer.

After that festival was such a success, we tried a wine fest this weekend. Beer.....wine.....we like to introduce our children to finer things in life early. So we drove out to Tarara Winery on Saturday morning for their Great Grape Festival. The kids enjoyed a "hay ride" out to pick apples and ride paddle boats, moonbounces, live music, playground and picnic. Mom and Dad enjoyed a wine tasting and the little local crafts. Because isn't everything better with wine?

And just because we're that crazy, after a day at the winery, today we made our second family trip to the opening weekend of Cox Farms. Us and about 30,000 other Northern Virginia suburban families were there with our coupons in hand for a free visit. I'm not sure if this topped our visit from last year. The great thing was that this year, both kids had no fear of the slides. The hay ride was even more fun this year because the kids were ready to see the witches, alien, and "barn of doom."

After a few workouts and running after the kids, I am thoroughly exhausted. Our next festival?? Probably the Great Country Farms fall festival.