Nook nook, who's there?

I got a nook for Christmas and I'm in love. I never thought I'd be in love with an e-reader, but I am. I love how easy it is to get library e-books, I love that nook offers Free Friday books, I love that my cover makes it feel like a real book in my hand, I love that a book I've been wanting to read was on sale for $5 electronically. Love it, love it, love it. And I feel hip too!

Candlelight Service

The Christmas Eve Candlelight service, and in particular the one at my church, has always been my favorite church service ever. I love the full warm Sanctuary on a cold night, I love the glow of the candles, I love the strength of the organ, I love belting out Joy to the World. I love it all.

This year we decided to introduce the kids to the beauty of this service. They were spellbound. Emma and I lit candles in the sanctuary before the service, and then helped to extinguish them halfway through the service. Grant came with us for the first half, holding my hand while he hopped like a bunny alongside us. Once we were seated in the pew, they watched the brass play the songs, Emma tried to sing along to the hymns while Grant stood on the pew next to my dad. They both held their candles carefully, and when Grant dripped some on his hand he politely whispered for help from Hubs.

I was so proud of both of them. Joy to the World is that much better when your children are belting it out alongside you.

Happy Birthday Hubs!

Happy Birthday! In a break from tradition, no one is headed to the Med Clinic today. So have a great birthday!

Getting my cook on

Nicole and I took a cooking class at the Co-op tonight - Christmas Brunch ideas. Everything was delicious, including the eggnog bread pudding I was positive I'd hate. The highlight though was the scones. Delicious and light and flaky and buttery goodness. We made a plan to cook the whole thing on New Years Day, although I think I may make the scones tomorrow for breakfast!

The Nutcracker

Today was Emma and mine annual trip to The Nutcracker, and we were joined by several of Emma's Daisy troopmates. The girls were incredibly well behaved, and looked adorable in their fancy dresses. Everyone had a different favorite part, Emma's was the Russian dancers, followed closely by the Arabian dancers. Grant's anxious to join us, maybe next year. Or maybe this will be a girl thing. We'll see!

New sport for Emma

Emma went to a birthday party today at an ice skating rink and she's fallen in love. She's making plans to take ice skating lessons and then skate in the Olympics. And while I don't think we're Olympic bound quite yet, she did take to skating super fast. While the other kids were still clinging to their bucket tower for support, Emma was whizzing around the rink on her own. She even tried to skate backward at one point. Now if only ice skating lessons/ equipment didn't mean we'd have to take a second mortgage out on our house.

The tree is up!

It took some monumental schedule arranging but we did it. The tree is up. And the Christmas card picture was taken. All in one outing. So take that Christmas Chaos 2010, I win round 1.

Another lost tooth

Emma went to bed last night with two front teeth and woke up with one! She called me in at 4am to hand it to me and tell me she was having a dream her tongue was pushing her tooth out so she woke up and found it on her pillow! I informed her it was too close to morning for the Tooth Fairy to show up, and to go back to sleep. Now I guess we'll see if all she wants for Christmas is her two front teeth or just one front tooth.

My kind of field trip

I escorted a gaggle of 1st graders to see the play Elves and the Shoemaker today. Plays are my type of field trip - it's not too hot or too cold, I can wear cute clothes, and I get to see a play. This one was super cute and the kids loved it. Bonus for me? The kid who barfed didn't ride in my car.

No one is surprised

Emma's 1st quarter conference was today and she's doing awesome. She's above grade level in reading, right on track with math, and earned a 3 (at or above expectation) in just about everything else, including not talking excessively and staying on task. Go Emma! She needs to work on slowing down, something that plagued me and Hubs when we were kids, because she's making silly mistakes. And her teacher sent me home with all kinds of extra math sheets I'm sure Emma will be just thrilled to work on over Winter Break. So overall, Emma's a rock star student!

Holiday over

With "I do nothing" Day over, it was time to get back to work. The turkey broth is out of the crockpot and into the freezer, the last pumpkin is roasting, then will be pureed, the seeds are drying and awaiting roasting, now I'm tackling my inbox and I'm determined to get my 226 emails down to less than 100. Oh, and to finally order the 100+ pictures I've been needing to order from various online picture places. All this before resting time starts so I can read my super exciting book during resting time.

I've created a new holiday

It's called "I do nothing" Day. It's today, in case you want to mark your calendar. After the chaos of prepping Thanksgiving Dinner, plus cooking an extra turkey so Hubs has adequate leftovers, on top of running my first 10k, "I do nothing" Day is a welcome break. So enjoy the day, doing nothing. While everyone else is shopping Black Friday and hanging their Christmas decorations, I'm starting a new book, and will be doing nothing but reading.

I did it!

I ran the whole 10k! I felt like I wanted to alternately die and barf for the last mile, but I pushed through and completed the race running!

I wasn't sure I'd be able to do it since I had been fighting a cold for a few weeks before hand, and it was freezing cold when the race started. It stayed freezing cold most of the race because our route was really shaded, but between my layers and Hub's wool beenie, I stayed warm and my asthma didn't flare up.

Next up, a 1/2 marathon.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Thankful. And socially appropriate too.

Tonight was the Thanksgiving Eve service at church, a service we became acquainted with when Emma joined the kid's choir last year. It's my theory that they have the kids sing at the Thanksgiving Eve service in order to ensure people attend the service. It works, all the parents and grandparents show up and the church is semi full.

Anyway, Pastor Dan switched things around a little in order to accommodate the vast number of young children in the audience. Among other things, he invited the children to join him on stage to talk about what they were thankful for. Grant insisted on going up. Hubs and I held our breath as Emma dragged Grant up to the front by his hand, sitting on high alert, ready to risk our composure in order to whisk Grant away at the first indication of improper behavior. Pastor Dan gave his little kids talk, then started asking the kids to share what they were thankful for. Again, we sat perched on the edge of the pew, chanting "not Grant, not Grant, not Grant." Who knew what Grant would with the glory of a microphone. Dunbucker guacamole pants? I'm a crack baby? Farting noises?

Then we hear from Pastor Dan, "Grant, what are you thankful for this year?" and we change our chant to "no crack baby, no crack baby, no crack baby". Grant answers sweet as pie "crayons" and we let out an audible breath. Then suck our breath back in sharply as Grant races down the middle aisle before the kids are dismissed, falls into Hub's lap, and says in a stage whisper "and guacamole underpants!"

Going out with a bang

Today was Emma's last soccer game of the season. It poured. The entire game. In fact, I'd argue the freezing driving rain came down harder once the game started. Grant and my mom watched the game from her car, while the other coach's wife and I huddled under umbrellas and rotated the girls who were out through warm blankets under the huge umbrellas. It was the longest soccer game of my life. And the least fun too.

Being Scottish again

I just learned the free pumpkins we get on school pumpkin patch tours are sugar pumpkins! So I've been busy roasting, pureeing, and freezing every last pumpkin in this place. Woo free edible pumpkin! I was even smart enough to pull some of the seeds out so we can grow our own sugar pumpkins in the garden this summer. Again, making the Scottish ancestors beam.

Girl Scouts

Well, I did it. I finally agreed to co-lead Emma's Girl Scout troop. Cause I have so much free time right now. It was becoming obvious a troop at her school was never going to get started and I loved being a Girl Scout, so me and an equally over-committed mom agreed to share the duties. We've already got a full troop, and our first service project is today. We're making and decorating stockings for homeless girls, earning our "make the world the better place" petal. Hopefully Emma will love Girl Scouts as much as I did!

Trunk or Treat

Our black cat and digger man had a fun night at Trunk or Treat. Grant decided on the bounce house for most of the time, and Emma decided on collecting candy most of the time. We walked through our block too, then called it a night and packed the kids off to bed and unplugged our doorbell. Happy Halloween!

Getting my 10K run on

I just signed the whole family up for our annual Thanksgiving morning walk. Only this year, the fam will be walking the 5k and I'll be running the 10k! It'll be my first 10k, and I have my fingers and toes crossed I don't get a cold so I can stick with my training schedule.

Happy Birthday Grant!

Happy 4th birthday little dude! You decided on a Digger Man party, and that pretty sums up the little guy you are right now. Digging in the sand, digging in the dirt box, digging in my flower beds, you love to dig. And to laugh, and to run, and to ride Emma's scooter. With a big imagination, it's never a dull moment with you around. You rock!

Waiting waiting waiting

It's the time of year where we start waiting for Grant's first cold and whether it will lead to the daily nebulizer chore. So far we've been healthy, but winter isn't here yet so that may all change. We're also changing it up a bit and doing a daily dose of Singular, which deals with lungs in a different way than the Pulmicort steroid. It's a pill so it's way easier than the breathing treatments. I'll report back at the end of the winter. Or through out I guess.

Pillar of the Community

Grant spent most of the day saying "Waaaa I'm a crack baby!" which is only funny to me, Hubs, and Emma because of a time, as an infant, he rolled into the crack of the bed and when Hubs pointed it out, Emma called Grant a "crack baby". Obviously Hubs and I thought it was funny for a completely different reason than Emma. And now, it all comes back to haunt us in places like the church nursery during childcare today, in the grocery store check out line, and during school pick up.

So let's review: Grant drinks beer, only spells the word poop, and tells the world he's a crack baby.

Awesome.

He spells

Grant: P-O-O-P spells pop!
Me: Good spelling. Pop is P-O-P. One O in pop.
Hubs: P-O-O-P spells poop.
Me: Really? Did you really just say that to him?
Grant: P-O-O-P spells poop! Poop poop poop! P-O-O-P P-O-O-P P-O-O-P! Poop poop poop!
Hubs: At least he's spelling?

Winter garden

It's in! We pulled up the summer garden today, mixed in some fresh topsoil, and planted the winter garden. Because we're actually planting everything in a timely fashion, we did mostly seeds this time.


The box on the left has sugar pea plants, regular pea seeds, carrot seeds, and spinach seeds. That's basil in the pot. The box on the right has beet plants, broccoli seeds, lettuce seeds, and radish seeds. I'm ordering a bag to grow potatoes in, as well as seed potatoes since the store I went to today didn't have any.

Emma learned to draw noses today

A fact she informed me of today on the way home from school. Shortly after we arrived home, I received this lovely note.




That's me on the right, in orange. See the green eyes? That's the key it's me, not her (she with the blue eyes on the left).

Keeping the teachers amused

Other kids said things like "I help my sister all the time" or "I like to help my mom when she asks" or "I pick up my toys".

Not my kid.

Squeaky wheel

When Emma's teacher posted the in class parent schedule at Back to School night, there wasn't a single time slot that worked with my complicated schedule of preschool drop off/ pick up, work, MOPS, and managing an active preschooler in the afternoon. I offered my services on Friday mornings, being willing to hang things on the wall, swab off the desks, sharpen pencils, whatever would get me in the classroom and meeting the kiddos I didn't know yet. Her teacher didn't bite. So I decided to just drop in after school and remind her I was available on Friday morning, what could I help her with. And at the same time remind her of our conversation about getting Emma on some sort of high reader program.

Success!

On Friday mornings, I'll be leading seven classmates in the Junior Great Books reading curriculum (which my mom tells me she used to lead a similar group in my brother's class!). The 7 kiddos will get the reader added to their homework folders on Monday so they can read at home, they'll listen to the story on tape on Wednesday in class, then I'll lead a book club on Friday mornings during the last half of the reading centers. Each child is expected to come with a discussion question they want to present to the group, and we'll do art work and dramatic presentations to reiterate the point/ lesson/ objective of the story.

I'm super excited and a wee bit daunted by the teacher's edition all at the same time. But I also feel grateful that the teacher heard me about my concerns for Emma's learning, and gave me the chance to be a part of meeting Emma's learning needs. I left our impromptu meeting feeling, once again, so thrilled with the choice we made to attend this school!

A-ha moment

It's been a trying day with both kids and I get why boarding schools exist.

We survived

Emma and her 15 playmates (plus a surprise sibling) seemed to have a good time, based on the constant shrieking. A few feelings were hurt, a few unkind words were said, and a few complaints occurred over which silly bands they received. But overall, it was a success.

And now I'm going to bed.

I gambled and lost

Last year, in an effort to keep Emma's birthday party small since Hubs was out of town, we just invited seven girls. And three couldn't make it. Four guests is a little too small, and the party was pretty subdued. So, this year, I figured the same RSVP thing would happen, what with soccer games and such on Saturdays. On top of that, we got them sent out way late, only 10 days before the party. So I let Emma invite sixteen girls, thinking we'd have 10ish.

Fifteen girls are coming. Yikes.

So I've been busy cutting and pasting construction paper, figuring this is the last year I can get away with ghetto decorations. The girls will be designing their own treat bags, going on a treasure hunt (where the treasure is such goodies as foam crowns, candy necklaces, princess coloring kits, and princess silly bands), playing "princess princess frog", and "pin the candle on the cake". We'll end the party with frosting cupcakes and gift opening and hoping the parents all show up on time.

At least Hubs will be here this time. He's looking for ways to get out of the estrogen-fest, but I'm not giving in.

Happy Birthday Emma!

She's 6! And what an exciting day Emma had today. Thanks in part to a fabulous Birthday Girl headband I picked up from Target yesterday, there was no shortage of birthday wishes and attention today. At the 1st grade field trip all three classes sang Happy Birthday while Emma was swamped by hugs, she was the belle of the ball while passing out her marshmellows with sprinkles on top, and the school day was topped off with a sparkly pink birthday crown from her teacher. The phone rang all day for Emma, and we celebrated tonight with mac and cheese, pink birthday cake, and special gifts from special people. The topper being the Fancy Nancy skirt, shirt, and hair clip our friend Nicole sewed.

She loves basketball, pink, anything that sparkles, dancing, Tinkerbell, and dresses. And now, she loves being 6!

Montana

We've decided to keep her. So we've changed her name. And, in a much calmer moment, I was even able to get a picture.

Preschool Starts!

Preschool started Monday for Grant, and he loves it! Shocking, right? It's amazing to me how much more information I get from him than I did last year. He's already learned the names of the new kids, he reports details like stories read, infractions done to other kids (like hitting), and the projects they have worked on. Yesterday, he showed me around the room after class and pointed out all the different things he had down through the day. He's even doing the art projects. It's like having a completely different kid!

Canine Companion

Well it looks like we've got a dog. Technically we're trying her out for the week. And while yesterday was a rough day that included her nuzzling the back of Hubs' head all night and putting her head on his pillow while we attempted to sleep, as well as grabbing and chewing most of our water table toys, it looks like we've probably gained a canine companion. Oh, and her name is Emma, which is just as confusing as you may think it would be.



Sorry the picture is blurry, it's the best picture I can get of her right now. Yes, she's busy.

Beautiful bounty

Here's what the kids and I just picked from our garden!

More like Dodgeball

Watching 1st grade girls play tetherball is one of the funniest things I see in the mornings. They spend more time squealing and ducking from the ball than they do actually playing. In fact, it appears they have no idea how to play, and just take joy from throwing it around the pole. And not getting hit in the head. And squealing.

Accepting dowrys now

Today while Emma was at school, Grant vacuumed the hardwood floors in every room but Emma's, helped me wet mop said floors by squirting the bottle of cleaner, and put his laundry away (including folding his shorts before putting them in the closet).

We're accepting dowrys to hold your daughter's place as his future wife. He even knows how to bake banana bread.

From fleeces to flip flops

To say the concert was rad is an understatement. Dave Matthews is always awesome in concert, and the beauty of the Columbia River in the background only added to the experience. The drive from Seattle to George was beautiful also - lush green mountains turned to flat lands and shrubs. On the way back to Seattle on Sunday morning we had the added beauty of a rainbow over the mountain as the fog settled on the mountaintops.

Sunday was See Seattle day. We had lunch at a rooftop Mexican food place with delicious mole sauce. Plans changed after lunch since it was becoming more cloudy and cold then sunny and warm. So we ixnayed the harbor cruise plan and headed to the EMP museum (aka Rock n Roll museum). It was the weekend of a huge Seattle music festival so we had the pleasure of hearing some local bands while we meandered through the museum. The Science Fiction museum was thrown in free with an EMP ticket, so we quickly checked that out because how much time can you spend looking at Star Trek, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Planet of the Apes? But it was free so Scottish me couldn't turn it down.

Then we headed over to the Space Needle, wandering around the observation deck, checking out the city views and the water views. We watched a float plane land on Lake Union, the monorail zip by into the city center, and ferries passing on the Sound. We sipped wine in the cafe while sitting window side, soaking in the beauty. Dinner at a restaurant a friend recommended completed the night.

This morning we flew home early, trading in our fleeces for flip flops. We had lunch in Midtown, one final kid free event before we headed home. The topic of the lunch time conversation was how blessed we are to have local and involved parents. Hubs and I benefit so much from these getaways, and they wouldn't be possible without help from our village.

Kid free

We're in WA for the long weekend, kid free. We flew into Seattle last night, found an awesome Italian restaurant where we dined outside next to a fountain. The waiter had such a thick Italian accent I could hardly understand him as he recommended Sicilian black grape wine and described the deliciousness that was the special I ordered. Creamy mushroom soup so good you didn't want the bowl to be empty, hand crafted tortellini stuffed with spinach and spinach and cheese and topped with a light white wine and sage sauce, fresh Italian bread, and of course, a cappucino to finish. Yum.

This morning, we woke up early and wandered through Pike Place Market. It was an incredible array of colors and sounds and smells and people. We had breakfast in a restaurant with a third floor that looks over the Puget Sound, and even though it was super overcast, it was still beautiful.

Now, we're in George, WA, awaiting the start of the Dave Matthews Band concert at The Gorge Ampitheater. Hubs is beyond excited. Tomorrow we head back to Seattle for one more day of sightseeing.

Surfin Safari

Grant’s in the bathtub in my room while I’m one glass block wall away in the shower.

SPLASH!

Me: Grant? Are you okay?
Grant: Yep! I’m fine!

SPLASH!

Me: Grant, are you jumping in the bathtub?
Grant: Nope. Just playin.

SPLASH!

Me: What on earth are you doing? Is water splashing all around everywhere?
Grant: Nope. No splashes.
Me: Okay, well make sure there isn’t water all over the floor.
Grant: There isn’t!

After my shower, and as the water is draining out of the bathtub, I notice the bath pillow is among the bath toys.

Me: Why is the bath pillow in the bath tub?
Grant: Oh. I was just surfing with it.
Me: Surfing with it? Like standing on it in the bathtub?
Grant: Yep.
Me: Is that what all that splashing was while I was in the shower?
Grant: I made sure no water splashed out.
Me: Next time let’s make sure there’s no surfing either.
Grant: Oh man.

Given specifically to me

I’ve been thinking about a statement I read in the Momology book that is the MOPS book for the year. “God gave you the children you were designed to mother”. For over a month I’ve pondered this, thinking about my delightfully unique children, wondering what about them was designed specifically for me to mother. I haven’t figured Grant out yet, although I do know he’s a good fit for me. But Emma, I realized why she’s mine today.

I think God gave us Emma because I don’t embarrass easily. She loves to sing in public places, she loves to shout with joy when she’s high on the swing, she loves to be the center of attention, she loves shoes that clip clop and clothes that sparkle and big big pink bows on headbands. Her enthusiasm makes it fun to live life along side her.

She feels every emotion intensely and today the emotion was disappointment. Right before the bell rang for the start of school, she realized she wanted to wear her hair up but had forgotten a hair rubber band. A meltdown of enormous proportions ensued. It started right outside the door of her classroom, then at a quieter volume but still involving intense emotions as she entered into the classroom, and then onto the carpet where the teacher was trying to take role as the kids were getting seated for a story. The day was finally saved by a pink hair band from the teacher’s purse, and tears were dried and Emma was ready to learn.

As I walked to the car, wondering what on earth had just happened, I realized exactly why Emma is ours. I’m not easily embarrassed.

Moving on to a 10K

Last night Hubs looked at me and said "Whatever happened to you running a half marathon?".

Right. What did ever happen to that idea?

So I downloaded Couch to 10K onto my iphone, got my hiney out of bed at 6am on a Sunday, and kicked off 10K in 2010. I'm aiming for a Nov. 10K. It's feeling daunting, this whole running for an hour thing, but I'm trying to remind myself if I follow the day by day training plan I'll be fine.

I'll be fine.
I'll be fine.
I'll be fine.

As heard from Grant this week

- “There goes the battalion chief firefighter!” (What? Did he just say battalion chief? Where on earth did he hear that? Oh look, he’s right, there goes the battalion chief.)

- “Was that an appropriate choice I made there on the play structure?”

- “That was definitely awesome!”

And then, just to remind us he’s still silly and not all adult vocabulary, he emerged from his room after being asked to put his shoes on so we could take the trashcans down to the curb wearing his soccer socks pulled up to his hips and his rainboots.

Finding a long lost love

Emma and I started reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory tonight as her bedtime story. She loves it, and begged to read more. It was hard to refuse, because I love it too. I love Roald Dahl, and I’m so excited to share that love with her. We giggled as we read the other books written by him – James and the Giant Peach, the BFG, Charlie and the Glass Elevator. I can’t wait to dive into Beverly Cleary’s Ramona Quimby Age 8, or anything Judy Blume, or when she’s older, Madeline L’Engle and the Wrinkle in Time series. It’s finally time to get the box out of the rafters labeled “Chapter books”, a book I packed up 8 years ago, dreaming of the time I took it down and lovingly passed the books of my childhood on to my child. The time is now, and bedtime stories just got a whole lot more interesting.

She's a First Grader now

She had her dress picked out, a new pink headband with a huge bow, and brand new shoes, all ready for the first day. She had a new water bottle with purple stripes, a new Hello Kitty thermos, and we had a plan for what I would pack for her lunch. We had met her teacher at the Back to School picnic, connected with old friends, and talked about how to behave in the cafeteria and to remember to lock the stall door behind her in the bathroom. We were ready, and Emma was excited.

As Sunday wore on, Emma felt like she was going to barf. She was super lethargic, and a little bit warm most of the evening, and wouldn’t eat a thing. I spent the whole night worrying she was going to miss her first day of school. I debated emailing her teacher to give her a heads up, I cancelled Grant’s playdate for Monday morning, and I worried some more. I dozed instead of sleeping, waiting for her door to open and her to race to the bathroom to barf.

But that time never came. Monday dawned sunny, Emma woke up well rested, refreshed, and excited for First Grade. She put on the pink dress, the pink headband, and the sparkly shoes. She posed by the first day of school picture tree in our backyard. She grabbed her lunchbox (with a heart shaped note from mom inside), grabbed her backpack, kissed her dad on the cheek, and declared herself ready to go.

So we went. She marched down the hall confidently, found her cubby, squealed with joy when she realized she was seated next to Brooke, a good friend from Kindergarten, gave me a hug and a kiss, took out her freshly sharpened pencil, and got to work on the writing activity on her desk. One more quick smile and wave, and I realized she was ready for me to go. So I did, wondering the whole way back to the car when she became a First Grader.

Church Camp

We just spent a week in the Santa Cruz mountains, surrounded by redwoods at the conference center, and taking day trips to the beach to check out tidepools, play in the sand, and visit the Boardwalk. Hubs golfed one day, we hung at the pool one day, and we logged many hours at the conference center playground. In the morning, the kids made friends at the Children’s program, learning about the Armor of God, while Hubs soaked in the speaker, and I worked with the youngest attendees in the nursery. It filled our souls, strengthened our friendships with other church members, and taught us that we can survive a barfing kid on vacation. We’re hooked, and we’ve already paid our deposit to come back next year. It’s what childhood memories are made of!

VBS Friday night show

VBS was a super fun week, just like always. This year was our first year attending the Friday night show where the kids sing a bunch of the songs they've been singing and share the bible points they've been learning all week. I had the pleasure of mc'ing it, which was super fun.

Emma was in her element. She was singing at the top of her lungs, dancing with the beat, performing all of the hand motions, and shouting "Let's Go!" after each bible point was read. It was clear that she was in a state of total joy all night.

Grant was also in his element. He somehow ended up in the very front row and entertained the entire room with his shouts of "HEY!" 6 beats late, his silly faces, and his made up dances. He didn't sing any of the songs, he didn't do any of the hand motions, and yet it was clear he was in a state of total joy all night.

Emma closed the whole program with a prayer, and mid way through Grant tried to yell in the microphone so he could have a turn talking into it also. Anticipating this, I moved quickly and set him down mid shout. He wandered over to the steps and sat down with his chin on his hands, and his elbows on his knees, and a pout on his face. Classic deprived child. He perked right up when I announced the ice cream was ready in the back of the room though.

Mr. Miyagi

Grant came out of his room during resting time today to report a fly in his room. Ten or so minutes later, he came back out and said "I caught the fly and cutted it in half and it pooped on me!". And then he held up his hand so I could see the two fly halves and the yellow slime/ fly poop.

Huge Milestone

We no longer have to lock the water dispenser on the fridge to prevent surprise kid showers.

Maybe by winter?

When we planted our garden in late May I couldn't find any strawberry plants, only strawberry seeds. This is what they look like today:


I'm looking forward to juicy, ripe strawberries in February.

Swim lessons: Part 2

The second session of swim lessons ended tonight and the kids are regular fish. Emma is swimming freestyle and working on remembering to use side breathing, as well as starting to master backstroke. She's also doing bobs without plugging her nose, and jumping off into the deep end and then starting to swim. But, the most exciting news of the day is that she marched herself up onto the diving board and jumped right off without freaking out. And then, she swam to the side and jumped off two more times! She has since decided that she loves jumping off the diving board and plans to do it at every pool we visit.

Grant spent the whole play day riding down the water slide, and by the end had learned to bank off the curve to get maximum speed for the straight part that goes into the pool. He also jumped off the diving board a few times, including landing on the instructor's head moments after I warned the instructor he liked to aim for heads. Grant was promoted up to Seals, even though he's too young, because he's completed everything in Otters. He's bobbing under the water, putting his face in the water when he tries to swim, and jumping off into the deep end.

I think we'll try to do one more session in Aug, after we get back from church family camp.

Summer camping: By the numbers

4 - the number of days, our longest trip yet!

6 - the number of adults, one more than last year and it made alllll the difference

3.5 million - the number of mosquitoes that swarmed us when we stepped out of the car

2 - the number of fish caught by my redheads

0 - the number of fish caught by others

3 (measured in tons) - the amount of dirt we brought home with us

12 - the number of people who are looking forward to camping together again next year

We got home yesterday, late morning. After cleaning off, napping, and unpacking, we headed back out with the same friends to swim for a while and then shoot off some fireworks. Then we all headed home to tuck our exhausted, but happy, children into bed.

Garden Update

Here's a picture of the garden, just about one month later. Isn't the change incredible? Some of the plants look a little wilted because it's the heat of the day right now. But they all perk up as the sun goes down. That's the pumpkin that is pouring off the side of the planter box. And the tomatoes are growing tall in the back. The only thing I'm worried about is the sunflowers, the plants growing out of the pot in the middle. I read yesterday they often have roots which grow 9 feet deep. Oops. We'll do them differently next year I guess!

The lure of the diving board

Yesterday we went to a birthday party that was at a neighborhood swim club. When we arrived, it was adult swim only, so the kids headed over to the wading pool. But a short while later the big pool opened up and the kids descended on it. I was in the shallow end with Emma, with a vague idea of where Hubs and Grant were. After chatting with my friends and playing with Emma, I started to look around and noticed a line of little boys extending from the lower diving board, and and equal number of dads in the pool along the wall. A boy would walk out onto the board, the corresponding dad would swim out to catch him, they'd swim to the wall together, and then the next little boy and the next dad would take their turn. Mixed in with the boys and dads was Grant and Hubs. Over and over and over again the little boys would jump off the diving board, pop up with a smile on their faces, and ask to go again. 30 minutes later dinner came off the bbq and many a tired dad climbed out of the pool to refuel for the next jump-a-thon.

Movie Night: Take Two

Hubs is out of town this weekend, so we borrowed Toy Story 2 from a friend and had another movie night. Once again we compromised with Emma's table and Grant's chairs in the living room so the kids could eat dinner while they watched. The menu was string cheese, popcorn, apple slices, blueberries, and ICE CREAM! They each chose the Ben and Jerry's single serve chocolate fudge brownie and yummed their way through dessert. It was a fun evening, and the kids have been pretending to be Woody and Jessie the cowboys ever since.

Swim lessons

Well the first round of swim lessons is over and everyone made progress. Both kids had private lessons with a friend who has at the same level. Grant is infinitely safer in the water than he was before. He started putting his face in the water while kicking around, and using very rudimentary dog paddle. He went down the water slide 2 times yesterday, and jumped off the diving board 3 times.

Emma is working on real freestyle instead of dog paddle, and jumping off the side in the deep end. She learned elementary back stroke and water rescue. And she swam across most of the short deep end! She chose not to ride down the water slide or jump off the diving board, which was no surprise.

They are signed up to start their second session on Monday, Emma in private lessons with the same friend, and Grant in the Otters group lesson (which only has one other kid enrolled right now).

Yum!

This was dinner tonight:

Balsamic Skirt Steak

I paired it with the wilted garlic spinach you can see on the left of the plate, and some crusty bread from the bakery. We all four loved it, although Grant had a hard time chewing it unless I cut it into itty bitty pieces. This recipe also solidified my love for Cooking Light magazine!

Father's Day

We had a chill Father's Day this year. Hubs took the kids up to his Dad's house to bbq and swim, and then I joined them after church/ work. We spent most of the afternoon there, then headed home to tuck tired children in for an early bedtime. I joined my Dad and brother for a nice outdoor dinner along the river. We each liked our meal and we stayed so long we were the second to last people to leave. We had to slink out the patio gate to get to the parking lot!

Liar liar pants on fire

That's what I find myself wanting to chant to the kids just about every day. The lying around here has gotten out of control, with the kids casually dropping lies multiple times a day. They lie over ridiculous things like whether they've brushed their hair and they lie about big things like who threw the dirt clod at my car. And they've both perfected their poker faces so it's nearly impossible to tell if they are lying or telling the truth.

I feel like I've tried it all - direct confrontation, time outs, ignoring it, lecturing on trust and lying, lecturing on not lying to your parents (and teachers, and friends, and finally, JUST DON'T LIE!), pitting them against each other (with the dirt clod incident they both sat silently, back to back, on the driveway until Grant finally confessed it was him who threw the clod). What's a mama to do when summer is just starting and both kids are lying?

Finally, after a morning full of petty lie after petty lie (who threw water on the mirror, who left the toothpaste out, who slammed the door, who left the book in the hall), I sent them to Emma's room with a paper and pencil and told them to work together to create a list of consequences for when they lie. Based on the nagging to come sit down and stop playing that was occurring, I think Emma shouldered most of that task. Their list includes the following:

1. Take away too stuffed anamals.
2. Not watchen TV for the whole day
3. Not haven a stoy at bedtime
4. Takeen a way a favrite toy for the day
5. To have a 5 meunet time out.

So basically, when I catch them in a lie, they walk, with their heads hanging, over to the list, peruse it while repeatedly assuring me that they'll never lie again, and then grudgingly decide on a consequence. So far Grant has had a 5 minute time out and Emma has lost a bed time story.

They also remind each other not to lie or they'll have to chose a consequence, a nice little side effect I hadn't planned on. We'll see how much longer this is effective.

8 young kids in one cabin

Our small group, minus one family, spent the weekend together in a cabin in the woods by the big beautiful lake. So four families, each with two kids, with Emma being the oldest at 5 1/2 and Ella being the youngest at 18 months, and then 6 boys in between. Sounds like a sarcastic blast, right?

It actually was really fun! We hiked through the woods to a meadow for a picnic, only to turn right around when said meadow was instead a lake of winter snow run off. The boys and dads built a quick little fort around a tree by our deck, complete with each boy getting a turn with a hand saw and a hammer. We rode bikes, and soaked up the sun, and played in the indoor hot tub, and climbed small hills of packed snow. We went down to the lake and threw stones and waded until we couldn't stand the cold anymore, and played on the beach playground. We ate family style, learned just how much coffee everyone consumes, and realized we aren't the only ones whose children don't sleep through the night and then get up with the sun.

It was an awesome beginning to our summer.

Author Interview with Shelly Radic

I feel so lucky to be able to have email interviewed Shelly Radic, Chief of Staff of MOPS International, and author of Momology: A Mom's Guide to Shaping Great Kids. She's also a mom to four kids, so she gets it. Enjoy!


Can you share a little bit about the research that went into Momology?

The research being done on parenting and families is extensive. To shape the content and better understand what moms are most concerned about, I spent several months reviewing research done by agencies and organizations such as the YMCA, Search Institute and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as well as reviewing the thinking of multiple parenting experts, current university and government research as well as mom websites and blogs. About 1,800 moms of preschoolers also responded to surveys specifically for Momology. Momology is also based on what MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers, Intl.) has learned in over 35 years of working with moms.


What are some of the daily practices a mother can do to intentionally develop finesse as a mother?

First and foremost a mom can be intentional about spending time loving her children and getting to know them. Attentive listening and watching, first to baby’s cries and expressions, later to a preschooler’s dialogue and body language in describing how sprinklers work provide clues to who our children are. Finesse is personalized for each child and knowing your child is important in every situation.

Second, listen to your intuition. If you think something seems wrong for your child or your situation, think long and hard before saying yes. Even if it means making a different choice from all your mom friends…or your mom.

Third, be willing to try and fail without beating yourself up. Often it takes several tries to find the right technique or solution for a situation. Decide ahead of time that every failure provides opportunity to learn and moves you closer to a solution. Keep trying until you find something that works.



Why do you urge mothers to be lifelong learners? How does that relate to their parenting?

Four reasons.

Moms who are lifelong learners better understand and interact within the complex, ever-changing world we mother in.

Moms have children who are constantly learning and changing. This requires that moms constantly assimilate new information about and for them into our mothering repertoire.

Moms are gifted with amazing mom brains and we should steward that gift by honing skills, diving into topics we’re passionate about and developing something new. Lifelong learning opens up options for our own future and fortifies a resilient mom core.

Moms who model lifelong learning to their kids are more likely to have kids who are lifelong learners.


Your statement about how easy it is to let cultivating relationships drop to the bottom of the to-do list really struck me. As a mom to four children, what were some successful strategies you used to cultivate and maintain friendships while mothering young children?

Routine. For instance, when my younger two daughters were in kindergarten, I met with a mom friend every Monday after we dropped our girls off.

Join. One of the best things I did as a young mom was meet with other moms on a regular basis. I was part of a MOPS group and a stroller walking club, but it could also be joining a gym with another mom or organizing a neighborhood play date.

Volunteer. Some of my deepest friendships were formed as I volunteered. Work with another mom in the church nursery or organize a group of moms to visit a senior center once a month.


I love your chart on engaging young kids spiritually. What types of things does your family do as you are raising your children? What are some of your favorite family traditions that also help your family grow spiritually?

For many, many years, we had a designated family night. Often (but not always) that included time to pray for others- our Compassion child, a missionary family, friends with specific needs. It also included a Bible story or concept. Wrapped around that was time to have fun together.

Holidays were also opportunities for spiritual development, especially Christmas, Easter and Thanksgiving. We read books and enjoyed Advent calendars and Easter eggs which offered opportunity to engage with the Bible stories. At Thanksgiving we still share what we’re thankful for, but when my kids were little we made a Thanksgiving tree, writing those things on the leaves.

We also prayed together in the mornings, at meals and before bedtime. It was part of our routine. As we read books, Bible stories were included in the mix on a regular basis.

Church attendance is a priority, above sleep-overs, sports and other activities.

We also engaged our children in service from an early age, delivering meals, collecting canned goods, filling shoe boxes with small gifts; small, hands-on opportunities to do good for others.

Intentionally incorporate the spiritual into every aspect of life. That’s where it belongs. I do wish I had been more intentional about one-on-one spiritual mentoring, especially as my kids got older. Faith is unique to each person and in retrospect I can see my kids were dealing with unique faith challenges that I wasn’t addressing with them.

Blog Book Tour #3

This time, I was excited to read Momology: A Mom's Guide to Shaping Great Kids by Shelly Radic. I was excited to read it because it's the book for the new MOPS year!

I wasn't disappointed. Although it talks about shaping great kids, it really helps to shape great moms too. Starting with a mom's "core", which Radic defines as "a mom's unique, inner self, including her temperament, life experiences, emotions, passions, and potential", Momology walks us through becoming great within ourselves so we can become great moms. By learning who we are as women, we set ourselves up to become greater moms. How validating is that? Spend the time you need to spend to get YOU figured out, then you can rock as a mom. Awesome.

Part two, "finesse", puts the first piece of who we are together with the second piece of being a mom. Radic defines finesse as "artfully rendering the brief sketches that make up our daily routines so that, little by little, they form together into the desired big picture." Doesn't that pretty much sum up your daily life as a mom of young children? From attachment with your child to taking time to take care of you to discipline, the section on finesse gives pointers, advice, and a bit of cheerleading that every mom needs. Daily.

Raising kids isn't just about you though. It takes a village, or "circle" to raise awesome little people. Your circle is "the people and networks who share in shaping your family environment". From your neighbors to your friends to the people who bag your groceries every week, your circle is having a large influence on you as a mom and on your kiddos. Radic reminds us that relationships are important, even though they are sometimes hard to focus on while immersed in family life. From the outer ring of acquaintances to the middle ring of friends to the inner ring of parenting partners and marriages, Momology covers it all, and it's importance. It's a chapter I need to re-read every year as a self check on how I'm doing with maintaining and growing my "circle".

Finally, Radic brings it all together with the final chapter on "grandscape", or the broadest view of life. Discovering God's love, accepting God's love, and finding your purpose in the "grandscape" is the final piece in shaping great kids (and great moms). I turned over page corner after page corner, nodding my head yes at so many things I was reading. Hands down my favorite was a chart on engaging young kids spiritually. It was full of ideas that ranged from simple (pray before sharing a meal) to grand (sponsor a child in another country), but all of them brought together the previous three pieces of the book to create family traditions that feed everyone in the family spiritually.

Sprinkled through the book are snippets from real moms, opportunities to go deeper at mom-ology.org, and deep thought questions that would be awesome for journaling or small group discussion.

Stayed tuned for my author interview with Shelly Radic, I'll post it later this week!

Happy Reading! Momology: A Mom's Guide to Shaping Great Kids is available June 2010 at your favorite bookseller, from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.

Angel Island

The big field trip for the Kindergarten classes at Emma's school is a day trip to Angel Island. Yesterday was that day and it was a blast! Hubs took the day off and the three of us headed out early in the morning, excited to hike around the island and study the ecosystem. With Emma as our ecosystem expert, and a guide book the teachers had put together, we were set. Grant was excited to spend the day with his bestie, and his bestie's mom, and to have pepperoni pizza with Granny for dinner (as he would tell me, "not any pizza, PEPPERONI pizza").

With a group of classmates/ friends, we hiked to Mt. Livermore, the top of the island, noticing the copious amounts of fog the entire way. What should have been spectacular views of San Francisco and the Bay, was instead a whiteout of fog. But the wildflowers on the way were beautiful, and Emma spotted many mole holes (on our guide book check list for hikes) and an ecosystem "recycler" aka mushroom. The hike we took back down to the beach promised beautiful views of Mt. Tamalpais and the Marin Headlands, but alas, it too was a whiteout of fog. However, one of the boys had the find of the day when he spotted a tiny nest full of tiny speckled eggs buried in the side wall of the trail. It was awesome, and the kids chattered about it the rest of the way down the trail. We spent the last hour on the beach, watching the kids splashing, chatting with other exhausted adults, and basking in the newly emerging sun.

If you ask Emma her favorite part of the day, she'll answer without hesitation, "The ferry ride! And then we got to ride the ferry AGAIN!" I'll agree, the ferry ride was pretty awesome, but my favorite part of the day was spending the day with Emma and Hubs in the beauty of Angel Island. I'm already looking forward to Grant's Angel Island trip.

Laundry

I load Grant's laundry into the dryer, shut the door, turn it on. Open the door to investigate the weird sound. Three rocks and a straw fall out. Close the door, restart the dryer, no more noise.

3 days of fun

Before the kids were born, Hubs and I kicked off the summer by spending Memorial Day weekend at an awesome camping site by the river. And then we just never really slowed down until after Labor Day. The addition of the little people changed things, and our paced slowed down to accomodate nap schedules and bedtimes, feeding times and travel time tolerances.

If this Memorial Day weekend was any indication, we're back to our pre kid pace. Joyfully.

Saturday was spent finishing up the garden, tidying up the backyard, and hanging out with my extended family and a cousin visiting from Ohio. It was super cool to meet her 5 year old, and to catch up over a casual dinner in the backyard. She ended up putting her daughter to bed on Emma's floor and stayed until almost midnight! It was great.

Sunday morning was our usual routine of church/ work, and then a late lunch. The kids have been begging to blow up our pool and yesterday it finally seemed hot enough. They splashed around all afternoon while Hubs and I chilled in the shade reading and resting from Saturday's fun.

Today, we spent the morning hiking in the foothills, counting butterflies, noticing flowers we don't see in our neighborhood, listening to the river rushing and the birds cheeping, and looking at hawks in the sky. We set out on a slow meandering path along the river, only to be stopped by a hiker going the other direction because there was a bear sitting on the trail. We randomly selected a different trail head, and ended up going uphill for the first 20 minutes. The kids were troopers though, and the path soon flattened up and was nicely shaded. We found a log to sit on to have lunch, and then headed back to the car just as it started to rain. The raindrops never got to big, and no one got soaked. As we were buckling the kids back into their car seats, each of them asked when we could go hiking again. We rounded out the day with a bbq with some friends, and now the kidlets are tucked into bed and Hubs and I are just hanging out, reflecting on how excited we are that the kids love hiking. Today at least.

Mary Mary Quite Contrary

How does your garden grow?



With tomato plants, a cantalope and pumpkin, and basil plants all in a row. With crooked neck squash, bell peppers,and a cucumber, sunflowers in a pot and strawberry seeds on the windowsill.

That's how our garden grows.

Blog books

Lookie what came in the mail today! I'm over the moon excited with how they came out, they're like a super glossy high end magazine. They'll sit on the bookshelf right next to the half completed baby books.

We'll call him Mr. Belvedere

It's the small things in life that hang me up. So I've decided I need a butler. He'll do things like make sure my glasses are clean, my phone/ camera/ computer are charged, I have a bookmark available, my Tivo is up to date, Emma's t-ball pants are washed for her next game, Grant's pull ups are well stocked, and there is ample milk in the refrigerator. I can take care of the bigger things, like opening my own front door and answering my own (well charged) phone.

It's like a park

Before

After

I know, crazy rad.

Boy + hose = muddy fun

The dirt Formerly Known as The Pit is now a mud pit.



Can you see Grant's little footprints in the mud puddle he created? Give that boy a little trickle of water from the hose and he'll be happy for hours. He started out just squishing his toes in the mud, but eventually was sinking up to his knees and then making the muddy area bigger and bigger. At one point, he had a rut from the bobcat filled up with water and was splashing around in it. We had to strip him down naked and hose him off before he could step inside.

Woo-Hoo!

The pit has been filled in! Of course my front yard is trashed from the bobcat driving back and forth, and I've got a swath of dust on the street stretching the length of my property that just blows around the neighborhood, waiting for the street sweeper to come along. And my side fence is broken from where Dirt Guy had to remove it to get the bobcat into the yard. And I've got a scrub tree laying across the side yard, removed by the bobcat during one of it's trips from the front yard to the back yard.

But the pit has been filled in!

And Grant has a new career aspiration. No longer longing to be a Digger Man, he now aspires to be a Bobcat Man. He spent most of the last two days running from his room where he'd watch the bobcat drive by, to the sliding door where he'd watch the dirt get dumped into The Pit, to the couch to watch the bobcat fill up it's loader, then back to his room to watch it drive by again. And again. And again.

Mother's Day

Mother's Day this year really was on Thursday instead of Sunday. The Kindergarten classes hosted a Mother's Day Tea, complete with a concert and some hat making. The kids draped a square piece of butcher paper over our heads, taped it around our heads, then rolled up the sides to make a sun bonnet. Comical doesn't even begin to describe it. Emma also had a sweet card she'd written where she told me I was pretty and that I do "stuf relley well." She painted a vase with some flowers in it, which is now hanging on my bedroom door. And she filled in the blanks on a paper titled All About My Mom. The best part of that was where she stated I weighed 50 pounds, and my eyes were "green with a dot of brown." She also wrote that I don't like alligators very much. The Tea was was super fun morning of special girl time and yummy treats.

Grant had some treasures for me that day also. He had a bookmark he had colored and his teachers had added a picture of him and had laminated it. He also filled in a All About My Mom paper. He thinks I'm 9960 years old and that I watch "adult things" on TV. He also thinks I'd really love to have "hamburgers opened at the top." I have no idea what that means. The card was finished off with his handprints on the front.

Actual Mother's Day included a lovely lunch with my mom and Emma, then a leisurely trip through a bookstore where Emma selected her first diary. Tinkerbell, of course. She's decided she's going to write special things she wants to remember, and her first entry described the ginormous dessert she had eaten at lunch.

It's been a relatively calm last few days with the kids, which has filled my heart up to full.

Closing the chapter

We're closing the chapter on The Pit this month and moving into a new chapter of our lives, that of Functional Backyard. We've been through a lot with The Pit - a new liner, a new deck, a new pump motor, more submergable pump rentals than I care to count. It's basically been a nightmare since shortly after we moved in and we're eager to get past it and forget it.

Dirt Guy comes Monday to fill in The Pit and compact down the dirt by driving his 8000 lb Bobcat over it as he fills it. Then Landscaper Guy starts May 17th with ripping up the concrete path, the rotting rosebushes and the old lady neighbor's overgrown bushes that are invading through the wire fence. By the end of May, The Pit will be a fading memory while we cavort and cartwheel all around our new grass complete with functional sprinkler system and raised bed garden.

It's going to be awesome.

This Week

• In t-ball, the coaches started pitching to the kids in the third inning and Emma nailed it!

• In preschool, more art has been coming home than ever before. It's been a lot of easel painting but also a lot of drawing, asking the teacher to label it, and also things like stamping and stickers. It gives me hope that Grant's memory box will be as full as Emma's eventually.

• Yesterday I learned that I can't pop open the bathroom door with a bobbypin when Grant locks the door, then sits down to poop and refuses to open the door because he doesn't want to get poop on the floor. I found myself wishing I had an icepick while at the same time wondering who has icepicks in their house anymore.

• I had my first work vs. school activity conflict today and work had to win this time. School activity wins next week. It's a constant balancing act.

No Disney for dinner

Grant: Ew I don't want Pinocchio for dinner.

Me:  It's gnocchi Grant, gnocchi.

I need a wife

I'm leaving in a few short hours to go to the snow for the Women's Retreat through church. To prepare to be gone for the weekend, I've loaded and run the dishwasher, put dinner in the crock pot, stocked the frig with easy to cook foods, set the checking account to pay a few bills online, washed Emma's laundry so her uniform is clean for her t-ball game tomorrow, and taken the kids to the library for new books. I've also packed for myself, including spa products and snacks for my friends.

When Hubs goes out of town for a weekend, he packs for himself.

Note to self

Both kids in the dressing room with me means the entire dressing room area will get quite a commentary on my underwear, it's pattern, colors, and if said colors are particular favorites of the loud mouths in the dressing room with me.

Giving crayons a new life

After cleaning the art supplies section of the closet for the umpteenth time, I realized we have a ridiculous amount of broken crayons. Add that to the recipe Emma got at church a few months ago, and we had an afternoon project!

What you'll need:

a muffin pan sprayed with non stick spray and lots of broken crayons (burnt on muffin remnants you can't scrub off no matter how long you let it soak is optional)



Preheat oven to 200 degrees and put the pieces into the muffin pan. I chose a mini muffin muffin pan because I'm emotionally attached to my regular muffin pan and didn't want to risk sacrificing it to the crayon gods. No muffin pans were harmed in the making of this fun craft.



Bake for 9-10 minutes.



Then let them cool for 1 hour. We popped ours in the oven before resting time so they could cool during resting time.



Pop them out of the pan and enjoy!!

Aren't we pretty?

Homemade hummus

I just made my first batch of hummus and it's pretty good! I added a bit more garlic and bean liquid than the recipe called for, and I used sea salt instead of regular salt. Oh, and I didn't use the cumin because the smell grosses me out and I didn't have any, because the smell grosses me out. It made a huge batch, so if you aren't sure how you feel about hummus, maybe half the recipe. I got some tips from friends that I'm going to try next time, things like sauteing the garlic in olive oil first, adding cayenne, or adding soy sauce for a weird salt flavor. My overall plan is to perfect a sun dried tomato hummus recipe so I can stop single handedly keeping our local Trader Joe's in business.

How's that plant growing?

Remember that seed/ paper pulp disc we tried to plant over Spring Break but needed to soak? We finally got it planted, in between antibiotic doses and Disney movies.

Soak seed/ paper pulp, soak


Planted and ready to grow



Almost 2 weeks later. No change. Maybe by next spring?

Skiing, take two

After the disaster that was my birthday ski trip, Dad and I tried again today. We went to the same resort, partly to use my free rental voucher, and partly because he wanted to get a season pass for next year.

Determined to get fitted with correct boots, boot fitter guy and I went through 3 pairs of boots before finding a pair that fit correctly. Ski fitter guy asked me if I wanted demo skis and I almost said "Duh!" but really said "Yes!". So I had boots that fit and smoking rad skis.

And I skied my little heart out. It was an incredible day on the snow - not because the snow was great (it was a little heavy) but because the company was great, the weather was great, and my equipment was great. Any concerns that had been lingering about my skiing abilities after last month we gone as I glided down run after run.

Dad and I made a plan for the whole family to spend a long weekend together next winter so my kids and Hubs can get some lessons under their belts while my brother, dad and I ski, and my mom and niece have snow ball fights and make snow angels. We've named it Weekend 2.5.1. Short for 2 grays, 5 reds, and a brown.

Whew, that still makes me laugh out loud.

It didn't get much better

Spring Break didn't get much better. After two doctor trips over the weekend (one for each kid), we added one more doctor visit for Emma and one barfing episode on Tuesday night by Grant. I finally made it to work yesterday when my mom offered to come over and care for the still recovering kids. Basically, it's been a week of antibiotics, whining, and Disney movies.

We did however, finally get the garden stone painted and properly glittered.



And Grant did a lot of this



Tomorrow is the Easter Egg Hunt at church, and it's suppose to pour down rain. That should be be rad.

Spring break is off

With a fizzle.

Today is a stay at home day, a loong stay at home day since Hubs is teaching tonight. I had grand plans to keep the kids interested and occupied. And they've all fizzled.

Emma was finally going to work this morning on her Tinkerbell garden stone that was a Christmas gift. Only the plaster has to dry overnight before she can do any of the painting.

And we were going to plant this cool paper pulp and seed disc and watch it grow all week. But the disc needs to soak overnight before we can plant it.

So here we are, watching the garden stone dry and the seeds soak.

Fizzle fizzle fizzle.

One tooth down...

Emma lost her tooth tonight! After wiggling and wiggling and wiggling and wiggling for the past week or so, after thousands of guesses of when it might fall out, and after MANY prayers on my part that it didn't get lost when it did fall out, Emma's tooth fell out while she was playing chase with Hubs after dinner.

And it rolled under the couch.

Grant ran and got a flashlight, and Hubs pulled out every last tooth shaped piece of fuzz before finally finding the sweet little tooth. We put it in an envelope for safe keeping and then called all the grandparents to share the exciting news!

Emma decided to leave it in the envelope so the Tooth Fairy could find it. And I predict the Tooth Fairy will leave a similar envelope with a golden dollar coin and a cute little Tinkerbell sticker.

Mother's Day came early

All the Kindergarten kids made family couches for Mother's Day, and we received them at Open House last night. Isn't it precious? I'm the one in red, with the short hair. What you can't see is Emma's loooong hair down her back. It's pooling on the back of the couch. We really have a green couch too. And I love that the three of us have red hair, while Hubs has brown (and apparently a brown beard too?) Could we take a moment to appreciate I'm the tallest one on the family couch please?

This makes so many things from the last few weeks so much clearer. For example, she's been obsessed with what color Amiga's eyes are. She's been grilling Grant on what his favorite color is. And then she was distraught when it changed away from orange to green. She also quizzed Hubs on his favorite color.

Emma was beyond excited to give this to me, and I was beyond excited to receive it! I adore it, and have it on the kitchen windowsill so I can glance at it multiple times a day.

Shoe shopping by gender

Grant walks into the shoe store, I steer him toward the section with his size, he sees the exact same sandals he had last year, and declares that is what he would like again this year.

Emma walks into the shoe store, I steer her toward the section with her size, and tell her we're looking for sandals only. She picks high heeled ones. I say no heels. She picks light up Disney Princess ones. I point out, with a sigh of relief, they aren't her size. I suggest a pair with flowers. She declines and suggests a bright pink pair. I remind her her Easter dress is purple and yellow, and she decides they wouldn't match. I again suggest the pair with flowers, she again declines stating they aren't fancy enough. She picks up the high heeled ones again and exclaims they are EXACTLY what she's always wanted. And adds a please. I say no heels. And add an "I'm not giving in on the heels so stop asking." She can't decide on a pair of shoes, I don't see anything in her size that I think we'll both agree on, so I suggest we go to a different shoe store on a later date. She falls on the floor crying because she's not going to get a new pair of shoes on this day. I realize how invested and excited she was to get new shoes, and being able to relate to that feeling, I scan the shoes again. Jackpot - white sandals with bling I can live with and no heels. She likes them, and decides to wear them out of the store.

We get 4 steps out of the store and she reports they are hurting her. I turn us around and head back into the store, with Emma crying and promising me she won't complain about them hurting again. I explain we don't buy shoes that hurt. She begs, pleads, cries, and begs again to get these shoes, even though they hurt. The saleslady saves the day by suggesting Emma put them back in the box, put her old shoes on, and wear the sandals around the house for a day or two. I agree with this brilliant plan. Emma does not. She refuses to put her "stinky dirty shoes" back on. I, in an effort to merely get out of the shoe store before Grant starts climbing the shelves again, bribe her with a Sam's Club pretzel and finally get us all into the car, with old shoes on everyone's feet.

A day of wearing the sandals in the house, along with the threat to not buy her more sandals this summer if she lies to me about these particular sandals not hurting her feet, and Emma decides all is well and the sandals are EXACTLY what she always wanted. Thank goodness.

Movie Night

Emma was invited to a pajama movie night birthday party a few weeks ago. It was about the most exciting thing in her life, until Hubs and I dropped the bomb that she wouldn't be going because we didn't think the movie was one she needed to be seeing. Nothing scandalous about the movie, we just didn't think it would be a good fit for our sensitive girl.

To make up for the complete and utter devastation of missing pj movie night, we had our own tonight, the night of the birthday party.

We rushed home from t-ball practice, the kids had a quick shower, put on their pajamas, and settled in to Grant's chairs at Emma's table (it's never to early to learn the art of compromise, right?) to eat in the living room. They had a dinner of pop corn, string cheese, fruit, and Scrabble Cheez-its while watching Toy Story for the first time. To say they were riveted is an understatement. The cherry on the movie night sundae was chocolate pudding for dessert. Delish.

With Hubs out of town for four days this weekend, movie night was a welcome distraction. The kids were incredibly well behaved all day, in anticipation for movie night. I enjoyed the chill evening and their day long excitement. And now the little people are in bed, and I'm settling in for a quiet evening with my newest book. Overall I'd say movie night was a big huge success.

Wiggle wiggle wiggle

Emma's got her first loose tooth!!!

A Box

Early this week a box was delivered, with a birthday gift inside. It was an absurdly large box for the size of the gift, which appalled me but thrilled the kids. Grant in particular. While Emma worked on homework, Grant rowed in his "boat", hid under a "rock", then tore the box into pieces and rode various sized "surfboards". Thursday the box became a fort, wrapped around the post in the dining room, with Grant hunched inside roaring when someone walked by. Later, the smaller pieces were stepping stones across a river that used to be the living room. Friday saw a return to surfboards and forts. Today, as pictured above, the box became a tent. With windows cut out of the big pieces, and the little pieces propped up as a gate, the tent is secure from bears and ready for camping. All from a box.

A day of firsts

I went skiing with Dad and my brother today. Which isn't the first time. We skied at a big huge awesome resort. Which isn't the first time (although the first time in a reeeeeeallllllly long time). We were skiing because it was my birthday. Which isn't the first time.

It was, however, the first time in my dad's super cool new car. It's like a comfortable computer on wheels. It's pretty rad.

It was the first time I was given a men's size 8 boots instead of the equivalent of a women's size 8 boots.

And, as a result of that equipment malfunction, which didn't get figured out until mid way through the morning, I had my first ride off the hill on a snowmobile. Not because I was hurt, but because ski patrol wanted to make sure I didn't get hurt. The snowmobile ride was crazy awesome. And crazy fast. And crazy scary. But awesome.

My legs were so exhausted from skiing in the wrong boots that even an extended lunch break after I went back to the rental office to get correctly sized boots (and it turns out shorter poles) didn't give me enough rest to ski the rest of the day. So, as a result, two more firsts. First time getting off the mountain before the lifts close for the day. And first time riding a lift down the hill while my dad and brother skied down.

And, the last first of the day, first time getting a free rental to compensate me for the not so rad ski day.

Letter sounds, by Grant

Mmmm....M! Like mom!

Jajaja.....G! Like Grant!

Dadada.....W!

Two more things

Two things I forgot to mention:

1) I've introduced The Muppet Show to the kids and it's not clear who is enjoying it more - me or them. Probably me since I know all the characters and get all the jokes. My mom and I just laugh while the kids watch it because they love the show even though they don't get it at all.

2) I interviewed for a j.o.b. today. Very part time, only 15 hours a week. So stay tuned on that one.

Sorry

It's been too long, hasn't it? The Olympics are on, the "pool" had to be bailed out with a bucket, and I've been reading a lot. Along with a myriad of other reasons why I haven't blogged recently. I'm hoping I'm back on the horse since most of the reason why I blog is to remember this chapter of life with young children when they're grown and I'm managing empty nester life.

So let's get on with the memory making. Here are a few highlights from the last two weeks.

We took the kids skiing again and they both rocked it. Emma is reaching a point where she can make corrections while she's skiing down the bunny slope, and Grant skied down more than once, which is more than he did last year. They had a great time with the tubing too, so I'm hoping we'll make it back to this spot again this month or early March.

Emma can roller skate! She's been skating around the house in the skates Santa brought her, and doing a pretty good job. Then on Saturday we took a family walk around the neighborhood and Emma decided she'd rather skate. That girl has some skills! She only fell once, and popped right back up and kept going. It was super fun to watch, and brought back so many lovely memories from my own roller skating childhood.

I had this gem of a conversation with Grant last week:

Grant: Me think me be God when I grow up.
Me: God?
G: Yep, me want to be God and live in heaven.
M: Well how are you going to get to heaven?
G: Me think me break hole in the sky so I can peek through and see God and Jesus and their feet. Then God can liiiiiiiift me up through the hole and me be in heaven.
M: That's a good plan. What are your plans for when you're God?
G: Me think just be in heaven with God and Jesus.
M: Huh. Interesting.
G: Or me just be digger man or police man or fire fighter.

And with that he walked out of the room.

Alright, enough blogging. Back to the Olympics on my Tivo!

Waiting for an envelope

Dear Home Depot,
I'm wondering if we can work out a rental deal. Something like "rent a submergable pump twice, get the third rental free". Maybe I could use a punch card or something to keep track of my pump rentals. Really I think it's win win for us both, don't you think? Either way, I imagine I'll see you all Thur or Fri.

Sincerely,
Your Best Rental Customer

Move over Cake Boss

There's a new player in town.



I made some Valentines petits fours thanks to this blog post, and my MOPS dessert for a training I'm attending tomorrow is looking tres chic!

Behind closed doors

It's resting time and I hear a weird noise from Grant's room. A noise suspiciously like him doing something unsafe with his furniture.

Me: What are you doing with your furniture?
Grant: Pretending my lamp is a fireman pole.
Me: What? Don't do that, you'll break your lamp.
G: (starts crying) But how me be fireman then?
Me: I don't know, but not by sliding down your lamp!
G: Hmph. Me want to be fireman.

I don't think so

Me: Time to clean up the toys, it's almost dinner time.
Emma: I'm like a stepsister, I don't do work.
Hubs: We're all Cinderella's in this house honey. Get to work.

Where do I even start?

Should I start with our "pool" overflowing from all of the rain and having to make an emergency trip to Home Depot to rent a pump?

Or should I start with the swarm of ants I discovered in the laundry room and the bug company is closed for the afternoon because of an award ceremony?

Maybe I should start with it beginning to pour down rain as I pulled up to Goodwill to unload my car?

Oh no, I know. I'll start with Emma learning a horrific bad word at school today. That got your attention, didn't it? So I'll start with that one.

In the car today, on our way home from Home Depot:
Emma: I read a bad word on a pole at school today.
Me: What did you do about it?
Emma: I told the teacher.
Me: Well, it sounds like you handled it.
E: Do you want to hear what the word was?
M: Sure (I'm thinking it's butt, or stupid, or dumb)
E: It was F***.
M: (my ears begin burning, internally I'm freaking out, I start sweating, I almost drive off the road, I can't believe my sweet baby just said the worst word in the whole wide world) My goodness, that certainly is a bad word.
E: What does it mean?
M: Well.....uh.......it's a very bad word that sometimes adult say when they're mad. And you need to know that it's such a bad word I don't ever want to hear it come out of your mouth.
Grant: f***, f***, f***
M: Um, okay, that's enough, we're not saying it anymore.
E & G: Okay.

OH MY GOSH!!!!!!!!!!!

Bye bye Emma's childhood. She now has a curse word in her vocabulary that she'll recognize if she hears it again. It's a word her ears are familiar with, her eyes are familiar with, her mouth has said. I'm incredibly sad about the whole thing. And completely horrified that I heard both my kids utter such a horrible word today. I really need to figure out a livable bubble for each of them.