Kailin's book of choice for naps and bedtime for the last six days or so has been "I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly". Usually I read it. Tonight she announced that she wanted to read it. I love when she reads. It tells me which parts of the story she enjoys the most and it usually makes me laugh really hard (inside....).
The real (abridged) version is this:
"I know an old lady who swallowed a fly. I don't know why she swallowed a fly. Perhaps she'll die. I know an old lady who swallowed a spider...that wriggled and jiggled and tickled inside her.... yadda yadda yadda..."
Tonight's rendition went something like this:
"I know a lady......who's gonna eat a fly? Wriggly, jiggly...tickled!! She's gonna eat a bird....who's gonna eat a fly? Sufffff.....nnnnnnffffff Tickle tickle tickle!!!! Who's gonna eat a fly...how absurd (that one was supposed to be back with the bird...)....wriggly jiggled tickle! Now she's gonna eat a cow! Tickly jiggled....she's full of course!" It was far more dear than typing it out could ever be. I loved every minute.
Meanwhile... Colby was delightedly tucking himself into and out of Kailin's bed. He'd lay down and pull the sheets up to his chin and then giggle hysterically. He looked so little in her bed and it was just beyond adorable.
Today was one of those days where I was the mom I aspire to be - all day long. Most days I'm the mom I want to be some of the day and some days I'm the mom I want to be none of the day. Today I parented exactly the way I wanted to parent. I wouldn't change a thing (which is not at all to say that I parented perfectly.) I parented the best I know how and I was patient and loving and kind. I was creative and we played games and played outside. We took a long walk after the boys went home. It was as good a day as it gets and I'm documenting it so that on a day when I don't parent the way I want to. On a day when I wonder how on earth I'll ever get through and what my husband must be thinking of my antics - I want to remember THIS day. I want to come back and remember how happy it was and how good I feel at the end of it. I want it to lift me up and give me strength and help me to be a better mom. Thank God for my wonderful kids and for giving me the chance to be their wonderful mom.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Sunscream and flying crispies...
I had the kids outside on Thursday, but it was too chilly to play in the water table. I got out our other outdoor toys and Kailin came over to ask me to help her throw the crispy. I was stumped. What do we have that sounds like crispy? Balls...trucks...lawn mower...buckets...shovels....
crispy...crispy....crispy...FRISBEE!!!!!!! So she learned to throw the crispy on Thursday. It's still hit or miss, but she's doing pretty well!
I brought the little boys out to play when they got up from their naps. Kailin asked me if I was going to put sunscream on them. It only then occurred to me that "sunscream" is what she's always called it - and maybe I ought to document that one before it is gone. That and her "bathing soup". Not sure how that would taste....not sure I want to know!
I've decided to nix swimming lessons. It would've been nice to have her in lessons with Dakota, but at the same token, we'd have to miss 2 of 10 and I really doubt that she'd let me leave her and I'd have to be wrangling Colby tonight. I don't trust that I'd be able to pay attention to her and comfort her near the pool whilst trying to contain him (and it would be LOUD when he figured out that he wasn't going to get to swim....). Just not optimal for us. Oh well - there's always next session.
crispy...crispy....crispy...FRISBEE!!!!!!! So she learned to throw the crispy on Thursday. It's still hit or miss, but she's doing pretty well!
I brought the little boys out to play when they got up from their naps. Kailin asked me if I was going to put sunscream on them. It only then occurred to me that "sunscream" is what she's always called it - and maybe I ought to document that one before it is gone. That and her "bathing soup". Not sure how that would taste....not sure I want to know!
I've decided to nix swimming lessons. It would've been nice to have her in lessons with Dakota, but at the same token, we'd have to miss 2 of 10 and I really doubt that she'd let me leave her and I'd have to be wrangling Colby tonight. I don't trust that I'd be able to pay attention to her and comfort her near the pool whilst trying to contain him (and it would be LOUD when he figured out that he wasn't going to get to swim....). Just not optimal for us. Oh well - there's always next session.
Mr. and Mrs. Newparents
We were at Target on Friday (all four of us), headed for the car. Steve had Colby in the cart and I had Kailin by the hand. There was a car about to back out so we stopped. The lady in the car waved us by with this enormous smile on her face. I waved and we scooted past and crossed the lane (well, Kailin and I did - I thought our car was on the other side, but not so much....). As the car went past I saw that the woman was not the only occupant as I had previously suspected. Her husband was in the back seat with the baby. He looked over and smiled about as widely as she had. I chuckled to myself.
I'm not bashing new parents or parents who ride in the back with their baby. I just used that as an identifier that they were most likely new parents. Seasoned parents would more likely both be seated in the front seat - having come to terms with the idea that babies cry sometimes (and/or that one of them has developed adult onset backseat car sickness).
Anyway, my point in all of this is that I came to the conclusion that in the glow of their new parenthood they were looking at my family and envisioning their own family in such an outing when their child graduates to moving on his/her own and sitting up in the cart and talking (your ear off all day long....I digress....). They were basking in the glow of the perfectness....ignoring completely the idea that Kailin was on the verge of a tantrum, Colby was nearly wet-through, and we wanted only to get home, get them fed, and get them to BED. Ha ha ha. I, in turn, was ignoring their up all night, always feeding, burping, and booping needs and reminiscing about having just one child who could not speak or move of her own volition - and how simple things were back then. I wouldn't trade in what I have for what they do - but a nice break would be good sometimes. Ha ha. The grass is always greener.....
I'm not bashing new parents or parents who ride in the back with their baby. I just used that as an identifier that they were most likely new parents. Seasoned parents would more likely both be seated in the front seat - having come to terms with the idea that babies cry sometimes (and/or that one of them has developed adult onset backseat car sickness).
Anyway, my point in all of this is that I came to the conclusion that in the glow of their new parenthood they were looking at my family and envisioning their own family in such an outing when their child graduates to moving on his/her own and sitting up in the cart and talking (your ear off all day long....I digress....). They were basking in the glow of the perfectness....ignoring completely the idea that Kailin was on the verge of a tantrum, Colby was nearly wet-through, and we wanted only to get home, get them fed, and get them to BED. Ha ha ha. I, in turn, was ignoring their up all night, always feeding, burping, and booping needs and reminiscing about having just one child who could not speak or move of her own volition - and how simple things were back then. I wouldn't trade in what I have for what they do - but a nice break would be good sometimes. Ha ha. The grass is always greener.....
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Change of direction...
I wanted to let everyone know that posts may be fewer and farther between. I do not have time to both journal and blog. I need to journal for the sake of my sanity, so I'm planning to post (and cross post from my journal) here as I'm able. I hope it'll still be a couple of times a week, but I'm not ready to make any promises or anything....
Thanks to everyone who reads regularly and to those who read on occasion! Stop back now and then to see what I've said. Heaven knows that all of my questions of the universe will never be answered. Ha ha ha.
Thanks to everyone who reads regularly and to those who read on occasion! Stop back now and then to see what I've said. Heaven knows that all of my questions of the universe will never be answered. Ha ha ha.
Dark Knight better be good!!!
Steve had to teach last night (or so we thought - his students didn't show - but that's another rant...) so after the boys went home, the kids and I ran to Walmart for a birthday present for Dakota and then to the grocery store.
It was double coupon day and also they were running a promotion where if you bought 10 General Mills products (most of which were on sale for 10/$20), you'd get two free tickets to see Batman: the Dark Knight. Well we'd been talking about seeing a movie together soon and that one's as good as any, so what a deal, right? I got 9 of the products and then grabbed a box of Cheerios from an end cap. They weren't signed as 10/$20, but the box size was the same as all the ones that were.... and I asked the cashier if it was included and she referenced the ad and said she didn't know why not. Well now it's 5:55 and my kids are both READY for dinner and BED as well, so she was ringing my groceries while I was wrangling them and mediating fights...and it wasn't til the end that I looked up and saw that my milks (supposedly on sale for $2.79 each) rang up at regular price. I inquired and she said she didn't know why that was. I suggested that perhaps my store card hadn't scanned after all. She actually huffed at me and said, "Well then your coupons didn't double, either. I'm going to have to re-scan your card and re-do the coupons." Okay. Fine by me. Sorry for the trouble, but it's not my job to make sure the stuff is coming off as you ring - most of the time it doesn't come off til the end anyway, and it's not like it was going to save me $0.79 or something - we're talking about what amounted to $37!!!! I'm not walking away from $37! She fixes it, my receipt and certificate print, and I walk away.
My mom taught me always to check my receipt before leaving the store and more often than not it serves me well to do so! Well immediately I spy that the certificate I thought was the movie thing was entirely something else (and useless!). So I look and sure enough the blasted (dad burn) Cheerios were not in the 10/$20. So I schlep my cart and my kids over to the service counter to see what (if anything) can be done to rectify the situation.
The service counter lady says that it's not exactly "easy", but it is doable, so I dig all of the GM products out of my bags and put them up on the counter. Then I take the kids and the cart back to the cereal aisle and select another box of granola bars. Now it's 6:05 and the kids are behaving remarkably well, but Colby's emptying bags of groceries that he can reach and then trying to eat through a bag of (rapidly defrosting) frozen broccoli. The service center clerk "returns" my GM products, refunds my money and then announces she has to go. So she explains the situation to the next clerk who then re-rings my GM products plus the new granola bars.
It's now 6:10 and the kids are done in the cart and Kailin wants in the cart and so I decide to placate them by allowing them to switch. Of course I find that even though I changed him directly before leaving, Colby is now wet through. I'm balancing him precariously on my hip, willing him not to soak through my t-shirt. The new clerk says "Ummm.... the certificate didn't print." WHAT???? SERIOUSLY???? So she's now visually checking all of my products. Apparently yogurt covered granola bars are a repeat offender. I have none. The only idea she can come up with is that the 11.8 oz cocoa puffs are included, but I have one box of the 11.7 oz mixed chocolate and vanilla cocoa puffs (I had a coupon and they were on sale and they count as Saturday morning "chocolate sell-el"). Okay, fine. I tell her I am leaving the cart (full of additional rapidly thawing frozen items) and taking just the kids as I schlep BACK to the cereal aisle AGAIN to procure ANOTHER box of freaking cereal. I decide on Honey Nut Cheerios this time. They ARE signed, so they better work!! BACK to the service counter where I find that a. the woman helping me has disappeared and b. there are now two other customers in line to redeem their "dual fuels" promotional certificates for free gas or groceries. Now it's 6:15 and we're heading into serious meltdown mode - for all three of us (and the groceries)!!
The new woman behind the counter assures me that I'm being helped and helps the other two people (my GM products are all laid out on top of the service desk like a giant promo). As another person approaches the service counter NNSCL (new new service counter lady) attempts to help her and she says, "oh, no - this lady's been here much longer than I have" and NNSCL responds, "Oh, she's being helped." I interject, "No, actually the other woman has been gone through two customers. It's clear that she's involved in something else now." She says that she has no idea what's going on here, so I brief her (and that wasn't true anyway - she was there the whole time that NSCL was telling me about the 11.7oz vs 11.8oz Cocoa Puffs!!). She "refunds" the original 10 products and rings the new 11 products. She asks if the original purchase was cash. I say it was and then she asks me for $2. I gave them my last $2 for the extra box of granola bars, so I tell her it'll have to be a card. She says "well I already put it in as cash - that's what you SAID." I said, as nicely as I could muster, "I'm sorry. I must've misunderstood you over my overtired children. I thought you were asking about the original purchase." Meanwhile, she's moved onto telling me that the certificate STILL didn't print. I lost it and said, "I'm incredibly frustrated right now...." and she, of course, took offense and said that she was as well and it wasn't her fault.... I told her I knew that, but that this was getting just ridiculous and that I'd go and look at the ad myself to see if there was any rhyme or reason to what was happening.
Now it's 6:25 and my kids are supposed to be headed to bed in five minutes and we're not even home, they haven't eaten, and we are all CRANKY! I've since switched them in and out of the cart 2 more times since I can't put Colby down or he'll take off and my arms were getting tired (but I still wasn't wet!). At this point I"m really ready to say screw it all, but then I've invested half an hour and dealt with the cranky kids, I want my freaking movie tickets!!!! I can't see anything in the ad except ambiguity. I turn around (I've literally been standing not 8 feet from the service counter) to find FOUR dual fuels redeemers have amassed!!!! I just about lost it. Finally, as if from Heaven, NSCL re-appears and NNSCL tells her that she gives up.
By some miracle NSCL re-rings the products one more time and the certificate prints. She hands it to me along with the new receipt and I say, "I didn't expect it to go that fast - I'm sorry, but I actually owe you $2 now and all I have is a card - I don't even have enough change..." She looks around for a minute and then says, "Joyce just told me that she's throwing it in for you." I said I felt bad about that and she said, "No, it's fine - you've been here a really long time. We're really sorry. This is one of the worst promotions they've ever run. It's so finicky." So I leave as quickly as I can.
But oh no... the story doesn't end there. Rush the kids home and Steve has luckily called me to learn that he should whip up something quick for dinner. Feed them and put them both to bed. As we are going to bed, I decide to hop online and redeem the certificate before it gets wrecked or lost. Would you believe that there are NO theaters in our area that allow ticketing via Fandango?????????? Would you? Luckily you can have the certificate mailed to you as a pre-paid visa debit card. The bottom line is that we MAY come out ahead as the value of the certificate cannot exceed $25.50, but with having it sent as a prepaid card, we might just get $25.50 which will exceed the two movie tickets! We'll see. I'll believe it when we successfully use the thing!
It was double coupon day and also they were running a promotion where if you bought 10 General Mills products (most of which were on sale for 10/$20), you'd get two free tickets to see Batman: the Dark Knight. Well we'd been talking about seeing a movie together soon and that one's as good as any, so what a deal, right? I got 9 of the products and then grabbed a box of Cheerios from an end cap. They weren't signed as 10/$20, but the box size was the same as all the ones that were.... and I asked the cashier if it was included and she referenced the ad and said she didn't know why not. Well now it's 5:55 and my kids are both READY for dinner and BED as well, so she was ringing my groceries while I was wrangling them and mediating fights...and it wasn't til the end that I looked up and saw that my milks (supposedly on sale for $2.79 each) rang up at regular price. I inquired and she said she didn't know why that was. I suggested that perhaps my store card hadn't scanned after all. She actually huffed at me and said, "Well then your coupons didn't double, either. I'm going to have to re-scan your card and re-do the coupons." Okay. Fine by me. Sorry for the trouble, but it's not my job to make sure the stuff is coming off as you ring - most of the time it doesn't come off til the end anyway, and it's not like it was going to save me $0.79 or something - we're talking about what amounted to $37!!!! I'm not walking away from $37! She fixes it, my receipt and certificate print, and I walk away.
My mom taught me always to check my receipt before leaving the store and more often than not it serves me well to do so! Well immediately I spy that the certificate I thought was the movie thing was entirely something else (and useless!). So I look and sure enough the blasted (dad burn) Cheerios were not in the 10/$20. So I schlep my cart and my kids over to the service counter to see what (if anything) can be done to rectify the situation.
The service counter lady says that it's not exactly "easy", but it is doable, so I dig all of the GM products out of my bags and put them up on the counter. Then I take the kids and the cart back to the cereal aisle and select another box of granola bars. Now it's 6:05 and the kids are behaving remarkably well, but Colby's emptying bags of groceries that he can reach and then trying to eat through a bag of (rapidly defrosting) frozen broccoli. The service center clerk "returns" my GM products, refunds my money and then announces she has to go. So she explains the situation to the next clerk who then re-rings my GM products plus the new granola bars.
It's now 6:10 and the kids are done in the cart and Kailin wants in the cart and so I decide to placate them by allowing them to switch. Of course I find that even though I changed him directly before leaving, Colby is now wet through. I'm balancing him precariously on my hip, willing him not to soak through my t-shirt. The new clerk says "Ummm.... the certificate didn't print." WHAT???? SERIOUSLY???? So she's now visually checking all of my products. Apparently yogurt covered granola bars are a repeat offender. I have none. The only idea she can come up with is that the 11.8 oz cocoa puffs are included, but I have one box of the 11.7 oz mixed chocolate and vanilla cocoa puffs (I had a coupon and they were on sale and they count as Saturday morning "chocolate sell-el"). Okay, fine. I tell her I am leaving the cart (full of additional rapidly thawing frozen items) and taking just the kids as I schlep BACK to the cereal aisle AGAIN to procure ANOTHER box of freaking cereal. I decide on Honey Nut Cheerios this time. They ARE signed, so they better work!! BACK to the service counter where I find that a. the woman helping me has disappeared and b. there are now two other customers in line to redeem their "dual fuels" promotional certificates for free gas or groceries. Now it's 6:15 and we're heading into serious meltdown mode - for all three of us (and the groceries)!!
The new woman behind the counter assures me that I'm being helped and helps the other two people (my GM products are all laid out on top of the service desk like a giant promo). As another person approaches the service counter NNSCL (new new service counter lady) attempts to help her and she says, "oh, no - this lady's been here much longer than I have" and NNSCL responds, "Oh, she's being helped." I interject, "No, actually the other woman has been gone through two customers. It's clear that she's involved in something else now." She says that she has no idea what's going on here, so I brief her (and that wasn't true anyway - she was there the whole time that NSCL was telling me about the 11.7oz vs 11.8oz Cocoa Puffs!!). She "refunds" the original 10 products and rings the new 11 products. She asks if the original purchase was cash. I say it was and then she asks me for $2. I gave them my last $2 for the extra box of granola bars, so I tell her it'll have to be a card. She says "well I already put it in as cash - that's what you SAID." I said, as nicely as I could muster, "I'm sorry. I must've misunderstood you over my overtired children. I thought you were asking about the original purchase." Meanwhile, she's moved onto telling me that the certificate STILL didn't print. I lost it and said, "I'm incredibly frustrated right now...." and she, of course, took offense and said that she was as well and it wasn't her fault.... I told her I knew that, but that this was getting just ridiculous and that I'd go and look at the ad myself to see if there was any rhyme or reason to what was happening.
Now it's 6:25 and my kids are supposed to be headed to bed in five minutes and we're not even home, they haven't eaten, and we are all CRANKY! I've since switched them in and out of the cart 2 more times since I can't put Colby down or he'll take off and my arms were getting tired (but I still wasn't wet!). At this point I"m really ready to say screw it all, but then I've invested half an hour and dealt with the cranky kids, I want my freaking movie tickets!!!! I can't see anything in the ad except ambiguity. I turn around (I've literally been standing not 8 feet from the service counter) to find FOUR dual fuels redeemers have amassed!!!! I just about lost it. Finally, as if from Heaven, NSCL re-appears and NNSCL tells her that she gives up.
By some miracle NSCL re-rings the products one more time and the certificate prints. She hands it to me along with the new receipt and I say, "I didn't expect it to go that fast - I'm sorry, but I actually owe you $2 now and all I have is a card - I don't even have enough change..." She looks around for a minute and then says, "Joyce just told me that she's throwing it in for you." I said I felt bad about that and she said, "No, it's fine - you've been here a really long time. We're really sorry. This is one of the worst promotions they've ever run. It's so finicky." So I leave as quickly as I can.
But oh no... the story doesn't end there. Rush the kids home and Steve has luckily called me to learn that he should whip up something quick for dinner. Feed them and put them both to bed. As we are going to bed, I decide to hop online and redeem the certificate before it gets wrecked or lost. Would you believe that there are NO theaters in our area that allow ticketing via Fandango?????????? Would you? Luckily you can have the certificate mailed to you as a pre-paid visa debit card. The bottom line is that we MAY come out ahead as the value of the certificate cannot exceed $25.50, but with having it sent as a prepaid card, we might just get $25.50 which will exceed the two movie tickets! We'll see. I'll believe it when we successfully use the thing!
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
A fine vintage for.....PINEAPPLE?!
I was shocked the other day as I opened a can of pineapple to make pistachio fluff for Ellie's birthday party. The expiration date was 2029. Seriously. I read and re-read it. 2029. 21 years from now. Really? Really I'd want to just make this fluff for Kailin's 24th birthday with THIS VERY CAN of pineapple and it would taste great? In fact, maybe people will rave about the pistachio fluff and I can say, "well it's that 2008 pineapple - it makes all the difference!" Well heck, I should stockpile it at today's prices then and never have to worry about inflation again.... ha ha ha.
Speaking of Ellie's birthday party - I did forget my camera, but thankfully Katie Lemm captured this moment for me.... Colby "riding" a tricycle. His legs were too short to reach the pedals, so he scooched forward on the seat as far as he could go and then paddled along on his tiptoes with his belly poked out and his arms pulled back (since he was hanging on to the handlebars). The picture truly doesn't do it any justice, but it was HYSTERICAL!! The finale was when he gave up on the tricycle and loaded into the little red car (you moms know of which I speak), slammed the door and took off - backwards, in a circle, as fast as he could go. PRICELESS!
Speaking of Ellie's birthday party - I did forget my camera, but thankfully Katie Lemm captured this moment for me.... Colby "riding" a tricycle. His legs were too short to reach the pedals, so he scooched forward on the seat as far as he could go and then paddled along on his tiptoes with his belly poked out and his arms pulled back (since he was hanging on to the handlebars). The picture truly doesn't do it any justice, but it was HYSTERICAL!! The finale was when he gave up on the tricycle and loaded into the little red car (you moms know of which I speak), slammed the door and took off - backwards, in a circle, as fast as he could go. PRICELESS!Monday, July 21, 2008
Peachy peachy goodness!
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Well those peaches I bought have been nearly beyond description. They are simply the juiciest, sweetest, most tender peaches I've EVER had. EVER. Hands down. No contest. They're so good that you want to start saying things like "Dad burnit" and "Dad gummit" and "durn it all". Ya'll would love these peaches! Seriously, I can't say enough. One bite and the juice starts running down your arm and you are transported to the south in a house with slamming screen door and barbecue going in the back yard. It's - as I said, somewhat indescribable, but it's amazing!! My mom decided to take HALF of the peaches. HALF. Half of my peachy, peachy goodness gone. Luckily, I've found that the truck will be back in our area next week and I'm planning on another purchase!
I made a Paula Deen peach cobbler on Thursday and it was really really good. Then we ate some plain peaches on Friday and Saturday. Yesterday we had a yummy four fruit salad for lunch with bananas, grapes, peaches, and plums. I don't have to tell anyone who knows us what my kids ate first! Kailin never got to her sandwich between eating a huge bowl of fruit and a helping of cucumber salad. Oh well - there are far worse things in the world than having your kids fill up on fruits and veggies! When I was at my mom's on Friday, I asked her if she had my Grandma Alley's peach cobbler recipe. We searched and she didn't. Yesterday the phone rang and she said she'd taken Grandma some of the peaches and asked her for the recipe. Grandma said she'd look, but wasn't sure she could find it. Wouldn't you know it was the first recipe she laid her hands on?! So I got the coveted peach cobbler recipe and wasted no time! I made it last night. It's distinctly different than the Paula recipe - a much flakier, pie like crust whereas Paula's was a lot cakier. Steve and I decided that we like them both (and if I do say so myself, mine turned out just like Grandma's used to and it was a culinary step back in time for me), so I'll keep both for future use.
I fear that the peaches are fast away fading, so today during nap I'll blanch the rest of them and slice them up to get out later this year when I'm dying for a sweet peach and there are none to be found.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Kailin's big night out
Friday we headed out to the Lemm's to scan some photos and then went over to my mom's. The kids had a great time playing with her, as always, and we had some yummy chicken casserole for lunch. The kids went down for a much needed nap, and I spent some quality time with my mom.
Kailin spent the night at my mom's and needed a little convincing that it was indeed what she wanted to do when it came time for me to leave. (A little reminder about all the fun they'd be having and the promise of a trip to the park was all it took for her to be saying, "Bye Mom! Take Colby home now. You come back tomorrow - get me!") Colby was horrified when I put him in the car and Kailin's seat was gone. He shrieked and pointed at the empty space for five minutes before I could convince him that it was okay and we'd see Kailin the next day.
Our evening was quiet, but it turns out that Kailin was whooping it up with my mom. Well, all told, she whooped it up! I think they turned in early on Friday night after a yummy dinner of spaghettios, but Saturday they managed the park, McDonald's, and the dollar store - all before nap! Mom said that while they were playing "going to the store" she told Kailin to run in and get some graham crackers, milk, and cereal. Kailin got out of the car and ran in, exclaiming "I found the graham crappers!!" Ha ha ha. I'm sorry I missed that little gem!
Saturday I enjoyed some alone time with Colby as Steve was working and Kailin was still at my mom's house. He was cracking me up with his funny little habits and, as my sister calls it, his dirty little laugh. Unfortunately, I was planning to throw caution to the wind and sleep until whenever my little sleeper got up (since I'd been getting up at my usual time all week). "My little sleeper" slept til the crack of 5:15 which is EARLIER than I'd gotten up the rest of the week!!! Oh well... he took a great morning nap for me! My mom called to advise that Kailin had a runny nose and while we were on the phone, she asked if Kailin wanted to talk to me. I heard a resounding, "YES!!!" in the background. She got on and said, "HI MOM!!! I'm having a good time. I'm CLEANING sunting!" That indeed would be Kailin's idea of a good time. ha ha ha.
Before I knew it, it was time to load up and head off to pick up Steve and then Kailin and then it was time for Ellie's birthday party! The kids had a good time, but Kailin was a little overwhelmed by the crowd and reentry into family life. Colby was overjoyed at the presence of many balloons, but by a little after 7 they were both DONE. We headed for home.
Seedy....
On Wednesday, I read in our local "junk paper" that there would be a fruit company in the area on Thursday selling Georgia peaches. The deal was 1/2 bushel of peaches (~25lbs) for $33. Sounded good to me! Of course I was a little wary of traveling fruit companies I'd never heard of, but I looked them up online and things looked legit. I figured worst case scenario I'd show up and it would look a little shady and I'd leave without the peaches. My mom said that she'd take some of the peaches if I got them - so I wasn't quite in for a penny in for a pound anyway. Ha ha.
I figured if I was headed to Saukville, I'd run on over to Grafton and look for a birthday gift for our friend Ellie (who turned 8 on Thursday) at Banner Crafts. I loaded the kids up and we headed to Banner. When we pulled into the parking lot there was a little farmer's market set up! What a nice surprise! I bought some cucumbers and some "pickles" (small cucumbers that you don't even have to peel to eat).
Banner has a little of everything and Kailin was truly enjoying looking at everything. We didn't find what we were looking for, but we did have a grand time poking around (and Colby enjoyed causing me to come up with creative ways to keep him out of arms reach of all the shelves!!).
We headed over to get the peaches. There was a small line, and I unloaded the kids and joined it. The peach sellers were an older man and his wife. They were quite friendly (of course that's no indicator of the quality of the peaches!) and were giving tips about how best to handle the peaches. They both remarked that I had beautiful children (and I heartily agree!) - so they've got to be good people, right? Anyway, we loaded up the peaches and headed for home.
The kids were hungry, so I gave them each a pickle. Kailin claimed she couldn't bite hers, so I took some of the skin off and she ate half before she said she was done. Colby laid right into his with a vengeance. He ate about 2/3 of it when he discovered that if you plunge your finger into the seedy part of the cucumber, you can make a nice little hole there. If you do it repeatedly at increasing speed, you will succeed in spewing seeds and cucumber juice all over yourself (much to your delight in case you were wondering). I had to laugh out loud at him back there gleefully reaming the center out of his cucumber. Kailin got the giggles and soon we were all laughing our way home (until 2/3 of us remembered that we were really hungry and fussed and wailed the rest of the way - any guesses which two it was?). I wish I'd had a camera and a safe way to take a picture of Colby's seedy little self in all his cucumber glory!
I made the kids some lunch and started unpacking peaches. More on them in a later post. Suffice it to say that it was money WELL spent!
The rest of Thursday was pretty uneventful. I can't say I'm too sorry about that!! Vacation week was pretty hard on me!
I figured if I was headed to Saukville, I'd run on over to Grafton and look for a birthday gift for our friend Ellie (who turned 8 on Thursday) at Banner Crafts. I loaded the kids up and we headed to Banner. When we pulled into the parking lot there was a little farmer's market set up! What a nice surprise! I bought some cucumbers and some "pickles" (small cucumbers that you don't even have to peel to eat).
Banner has a little of everything and Kailin was truly enjoying looking at everything. We didn't find what we were looking for, but we did have a grand time poking around (and Colby enjoyed causing me to come up with creative ways to keep him out of arms reach of all the shelves!!).
We headed over to get the peaches. There was a small line, and I unloaded the kids and joined it. The peach sellers were an older man and his wife. They were quite friendly (of course that's no indicator of the quality of the peaches!) and were giving tips about how best to handle the peaches. They both remarked that I had beautiful children (and I heartily agree!) - so they've got to be good people, right? Anyway, we loaded up the peaches and headed for home.
The kids were hungry, so I gave them each a pickle. Kailin claimed she couldn't bite hers, so I took some of the skin off and she ate half before she said she was done. Colby laid right into his with a vengeance. He ate about 2/3 of it when he discovered that if you plunge your finger into the seedy part of the cucumber, you can make a nice little hole there. If you do it repeatedly at increasing speed, you will succeed in spewing seeds and cucumber juice all over yourself (much to your delight in case you were wondering). I had to laugh out loud at him back there gleefully reaming the center out of his cucumber. Kailin got the giggles and soon we were all laughing our way home (until 2/3 of us remembered that we were really hungry and fussed and wailed the rest of the way - any guesses which two it was?). I wish I'd had a camera and a safe way to take a picture of Colby's seedy little self in all his cucumber glory!
I made the kids some lunch and started unpacking peaches. More on them in a later post. Suffice it to say that it was money WELL spent!
The rest of Thursday was pretty uneventful. I can't say I'm too sorry about that!! Vacation week was pretty hard on me!
Friday, July 18, 2008
Woeful Wednesday?
No, not so much. It sure didn't start out on a stellar note with Kailin having one tantrum after another in the grocery store. It perked up, though, when my mom showed up for the day and the kids are always overjoyed when Nai Nai shows up.
The "big" activity for the day was playing in the water table - but oh did they have a good time! Toward the end we discovered that Colby loves to be sprayed by the hose. It was cold, of course, and he'd suck in his gut and a whoosh of air and then blow it all out and giggle like no tomorrow! Kailin, on the other hand, preferred to be much less wet and played a rousing game of fill the bucket and "feed the goats". (It involves setting the bucket on another bucket and commanding the imaginary goats to "STAY AWAY!!!" Then at the time deemed appropriate by her, flinging handsful of the water out into the lawn screaming, "Come and eat, goats!!!!" Both performances were good for a hearty laugh and it was exactly the type of thing I'd been hoping for this week.
As is prone to happening lately when I try to get together with my mom, severe weather rolled in in the afternoon. No more water table and certainly no trips to the park! Steve finally made it home (he had to drive right through the mess) and we snarfed some dinner and Kailin, Nai Nai, and I trooped off for Kailin's last swim lesson. Although she didn't really care to listen in the pool and I did have to threaten that we'd leave if she didn't shape up, she also put her face completely in the water by herself (once) and let me dunk her (once) without tears. I'm still on the fence about signing her up for the next level starting a week from Monday, but we'll see. We stopped for ice cream to celebrate on the way home and told her to keep it a secret (we didn't get any for Steve because it never would've made it home) and then asked her if she was going to tell Daddy about her ice cream and she said, "YES!!!!" We started over again with the explanation of a secret. ha ha ha. She did keep the secret in the end, but I guess now the cat's out of the bag so to speak.
The "big" activity for the day was playing in the water table - but oh did they have a good time! Toward the end we discovered that Colby loves to be sprayed by the hose. It was cold, of course, and he'd suck in his gut and a whoosh of air and then blow it all out and giggle like no tomorrow! Kailin, on the other hand, preferred to be much less wet and played a rousing game of fill the bucket and "feed the goats". (It involves setting the bucket on another bucket and commanding the imaginary goats to "STAY AWAY!!!" Then at the time deemed appropriate by her, flinging handsful of the water out into the lawn screaming, "Come and eat, goats!!!!" Both performances were good for a hearty laugh and it was exactly the type of thing I'd been hoping for this week.
As is prone to happening lately when I try to get together with my mom, severe weather rolled in in the afternoon. No more water table and certainly no trips to the park! Steve finally made it home (he had to drive right through the mess) and we snarfed some dinner and Kailin, Nai Nai, and I trooped off for Kailin's last swim lesson. Although she didn't really care to listen in the pool and I did have to threaten that we'd leave if she didn't shape up, she also put her face completely in the water by herself (once) and let me dunk her (once) without tears. I'm still on the fence about signing her up for the next level starting a week from Monday, but we'll see. We stopped for ice cream to celebrate on the way home and told her to keep it a secret (we didn't get any for Steve because it never would've made it home) and then asked her if she was going to tell Daddy about her ice cream and she said, "YES!!!!" We started over again with the explanation of a secret. ha ha ha. She did keep the secret in the end, but I guess now the cat's out of the bag so to speak. Tuesday, July 15, 2008
I just love her!
Somewhat to our chagrin, we heard our door open this morning. This chagrined us on two levels. One, Kailin was up and it was only 5:45am. Secondly, and probably equally as important (in my eyes at least), she broke the juice rules.
We developed "the juice program" back in the days when she was routinely getting up and wailing in her room in the morning and/or opening and closing her door (and ours!) enough to wake her brother up. The rules are thus: stay in your room, keep the door closed, stay quiet, and get juice! (the exclamation is there because if asked, Kailin will indeed exclaim them, although more often than not her version goes like this "stay quiet and get juice and get juice and stay in your room and get juice and stay quiet...."
She did actually close our door again and go quietly back to her room and close her door. But she still broke the rules. I know some are thinking "geez, give the kid a break!" I'd love to. This is yes week, remember? But I know my daughter and I know that giving her juice after she breaks the rules for even ONE day will result in an immediate shift in the rules that will be very difficult to undo. Not giving her a break got even harder when I went to get her and she excitedly exclaimed, "I stay quiet!!!!!!" and I said, "You did - great job, but you also didn't stay in your room." She said she wanted juice. I said no. She said, "I get up, I go potty by myself. I don't flush toilet. It's loud and Daddy was still sleeping - I checked!" Seriously now people, resist THAT. Thankfully, the very level of reasoning that causes her to believe that a one day bending of the rules equals new rules also helps her to know deep down when she's broken them and she didn't ask again. I told her I was so proud of her for going potty on her own and gave her a giant hug. Then I went down the hall to tell Steve.
We developed "the juice program" back in the days when she was routinely getting up and wailing in her room in the morning and/or opening and closing her door (and ours!) enough to wake her brother up. The rules are thus: stay in your room, keep the door closed, stay quiet, and get juice! (the exclamation is there because if asked, Kailin will indeed exclaim them, although more often than not her version goes like this "stay quiet and get juice and get juice and stay in your room and get juice and stay quiet...."
She did actually close our door again and go quietly back to her room and close her door. But she still broke the rules. I know some are thinking "geez, give the kid a break!" I'd love to. This is yes week, remember? But I know my daughter and I know that giving her juice after she breaks the rules for even ONE day will result in an immediate shift in the rules that will be very difficult to undo. Not giving her a break got even harder when I went to get her and she excitedly exclaimed, "I stay quiet!!!!!!" and I said, "You did - great job, but you also didn't stay in your room." She said she wanted juice. I said no. She said, "I get up, I go potty by myself. I don't flush toilet. It's loud and Daddy was still sleeping - I checked!" Seriously now people, resist THAT. Thankfully, the very level of reasoning that causes her to believe that a one day bending of the rules equals new rules also helps her to know deep down when she's broken them and she didn't ask again. I told her I was so proud of her for going potty on her own and gave her a giant hug. Then I went down the hall to tell Steve.
Monday, July 14, 2008
A week to remember...
I'm off this week. The family I sit for is on vacation and thus, I am as well.
I sometimes feel like one of those moms who ends up saying no more often that I ought (or want) to. Sometimes it's because whatever is being asked of me is too difficult to fathom with four kids running around and sometimes it's because whatever is being asked of me requires more effort than I am willing to put forth at that exact moment, or because it contains more pieces that any game should. Sometimes it's just not something a mom should say yes to.
I read an advertisement for DisneyWorld the other day that gave a bunch of things the mom was saying yes to just because they were on vacation. Like ice cream for breakfast. And staying up late. And another swim in the pool.
I'm trying to make it a yes week for my kids as well. Yes, we can play in your water table for the third time today. Yes, we can walk to McDonald's, get some ice cream. Yes, we can have dessert after lunch. Yes, we are going swimming.... yes, I do smell like burnt up brownies, but that's beside the point.
For those of you who are guys and would prefer not to read the details of the inner workings of a female, go on ahead and skip down to Tuesday's plans. Today is a little bit of a bust. It's supposed to be Kailin's second to last swim lesson tonight. Steve is working late (dog training) and there's no one to take her but me. Problem is that I'm having a rather nasty visit from my least favorite aunt. It's been one of those days where you find that you'd really just sit on the toilet the whole day and get it over with. Needless to say, I'm not real confident about leaping into the pool this evening. I think if there were any sharks afoot I'd be attracting them for certain and in the absence of sharks in the pool, I think that there is a better than favorable chance that I'll be making the rest of the adult population (including myself) of the pool quite uncomfortable. So I'm a horrible mom and I'm making her skip it. I am going to set up the water table as soon as they wake up from nap and I am going to let them have a popsicle and I am not going to feel any little bit better about making Kailin skip swim when she has actually been quite well behaved today.
Tomorrow we are having a family day. We're going to have our first family portrait (since Colby came home) taken in the morning and then we're taking the kids to Chuck E. Cheese for lunch and some fun.
Wednesday, my mom is coming up and we're hoping to take the kids to the beach before Kailin's final swim lesson (which will be with either my mom or Steve, I think - unless conditions improve drastically).
Thursday is open - although I'm trying to dream up something fun (and free).
Friday I'm heading to my mom's with the kids and after we find something fun to do, I'm leaving Kailin there for the night.
All in all, I hope that today is a minor blip on the fun-o-meter and that the rest of the week can be as wonderful for my kids as I hope it will be. I know that I'm probably making the week out to be far more rosy than it will be. I know that there will be fights and tantrums, and bad naps and early wake-ups. But overall, I hope that this week will be one I'll look back on and smile.
I sometimes feel like one of those moms who ends up saying no more often that I ought (or want) to. Sometimes it's because whatever is being asked of me is too difficult to fathom with four kids running around and sometimes it's because whatever is being asked of me requires more effort than I am willing to put forth at that exact moment, or because it contains more pieces that any game should. Sometimes it's just not something a mom should say yes to.
I read an advertisement for DisneyWorld the other day that gave a bunch of things the mom was saying yes to just because they were on vacation. Like ice cream for breakfast. And staying up late. And another swim in the pool.
I'm trying to make it a yes week for my kids as well. Yes, we can play in your water table for the third time today. Yes, we can walk to McDonald's, get some ice cream. Yes, we can have dessert after lunch. Yes, we are going swimming.... yes, I do smell like burnt up brownies, but that's beside the point.
For those of you who are guys and would prefer not to read the details of the inner workings of a female, go on ahead and skip down to Tuesday's plans. Today is a little bit of a bust. It's supposed to be Kailin's second to last swim lesson tonight. Steve is working late (dog training) and there's no one to take her but me. Problem is that I'm having a rather nasty visit from my least favorite aunt. It's been one of those days where you find that you'd really just sit on the toilet the whole day and get it over with. Needless to say, I'm not real confident about leaping into the pool this evening. I think if there were any sharks afoot I'd be attracting them for certain and in the absence of sharks in the pool, I think that there is a better than favorable chance that I'll be making the rest of the adult population (including myself) of the pool quite uncomfortable. So I'm a horrible mom and I'm making her skip it. I am going to set up the water table as soon as they wake up from nap and I am going to let them have a popsicle and I am not going to feel any little bit better about making Kailin skip swim when she has actually been quite well behaved today.
Tomorrow we are having a family day. We're going to have our first family portrait (since Colby came home) taken in the morning and then we're taking the kids to Chuck E. Cheese for lunch and some fun.
Wednesday, my mom is coming up and we're hoping to take the kids to the beach before Kailin's final swim lesson (which will be with either my mom or Steve, I think - unless conditions improve drastically).
Thursday is open - although I'm trying to dream up something fun (and free).
Friday I'm heading to my mom's with the kids and after we find something fun to do, I'm leaving Kailin there for the night.
All in all, I hope that today is a minor blip on the fun-o-meter and that the rest of the week can be as wonderful for my kids as I hope it will be. I know that I'm probably making the week out to be far more rosy than it will be. I know that there will be fights and tantrums, and bad naps and early wake-ups. But overall, I hope that this week will be one I'll look back on and smile.
The sweet smell of success...
This is not a proud post. This is an honest post and a post that you (and I - someday, if not this one) will think is funny.
I was CRAVING chocolate today. CRAVING it to the core of my being. We have no "desirable" chocolate in the house. So I did what any girl would do. (okay, probably not any girl - probably not anyone other than me....) I decide to make a half batch of brownies (so half of an 8x8 pan) and bake half for Steve for later (or let's face it - potentially for me if the batter doesn't tame the craving beasts) and then just eat the rest of the batter (which I love far more than I should).
Why turn the oven on for just 1/4 of a batch of brownies? I'll throw the batter in a ramekin (who doesn't love a ramekin?) and chuck it in the microwave and then we're off to the races. So I do that. And I take my brownie batter and go sit down and watch my taped "The Next Food Network Star" while the microwave is humming. We have a small, very old, notoriously WEAK microwave.
It's a beautiful summer afternoon and I have the windows open. The birds are singing. The scent of freshly cut grass is wafting on the breeze. And then...what's that now? Another scent...hmmm....maybe I should check on the brownie. I walk into the kitchen and am greeted by a haze of smoke. A few more steps and I can now see that smoke is BILLOWING out of the microwave. I hit the stop button and then foolishly open the microwave. I thought I'd seen billowing, but wow. This was acrid, stifling, nasty (makes rotting chicken smell great) smoke! Now not only am I worried about the smoking ramekin on the microwave carousel, I'm freaked that the smoke alarms are going to go off (a distinct possibility and a disastrous one since then the alarm will sound in EVERY BEDROOM) and wake up the kids who MUCH need their naps. Thankfully, the open windows saved me and removing the smoking ramekin to the stove with the hood fan on high did the trick. Good heavens!!! Lesson learned! I eventually needed to get the charred contents of the ramekin out of the house entirely because they continued to stink long after they stopped actively smoking.
Okay, now that you've all had a chuckle at my expense, I'm going to change my shirt - it reeks of burnt up brownies. Yuck. I don't know what success smells like - but I sure hope it's not like this!! Needless to say - I don't need to worry about the temptation to eat the other half of the half batch of brownies!
I was CRAVING chocolate today. CRAVING it to the core of my being. We have no "desirable" chocolate in the house. So I did what any girl would do. (okay, probably not any girl - probably not anyone other than me....) I decide to make a half batch of brownies (so half of an 8x8 pan) and bake half for Steve for later (or let's face it - potentially for me if the batter doesn't tame the craving beasts) and then just eat the rest of the batter (which I love far more than I should).
Why turn the oven on for just 1/4 of a batch of brownies? I'll throw the batter in a ramekin (who doesn't love a ramekin?) and chuck it in the microwave and then we're off to the races. So I do that. And I take my brownie batter and go sit down and watch my taped "The Next Food Network Star" while the microwave is humming. We have a small, very old, notoriously WEAK microwave.
It's a beautiful summer afternoon and I have the windows open. The birds are singing. The scent of freshly cut grass is wafting on the breeze. And then...what's that now? Another scent...hmmm....maybe I should check on the brownie. I walk into the kitchen and am greeted by a haze of smoke. A few more steps and I can now see that smoke is BILLOWING out of the microwave. I hit the stop button and then foolishly open the microwave. I thought I'd seen billowing, but wow. This was acrid, stifling, nasty (makes rotting chicken smell great) smoke! Now not only am I worried about the smoking ramekin on the microwave carousel, I'm freaked that the smoke alarms are going to go off (a distinct possibility and a disastrous one since then the alarm will sound in EVERY BEDROOM) and wake up the kids who MUCH need their naps. Thankfully, the open windows saved me and removing the smoking ramekin to the stove with the hood fan on high did the trick. Good heavens!!! Lesson learned! I eventually needed to get the charred contents of the ramekin out of the house entirely because they continued to stink long after they stopped actively smoking.
Okay, now that you've all had a chuckle at my expense, I'm going to change my shirt - it reeks of burnt up brownies. Yuck. I don't know what success smells like - but I sure hope it's not like this!! Needless to say - I don't need to worry about the temptation to eat the other half of the half batch of brownies!
A bushel and a peck...
When I was growing up we (mostly my sister) always said, "I love you a bushel and a peck and a hug around the neck!" Kailin is BIG into randomly (incessantly) saying "Mom, I love you!" and while I soak it up like a sponge, I do try to change up my response a bit. So I started saying, "Well I love you a bushel and a peck and a hug around the neck!!" and she picked that up.
We have a song that I got off iTunes because it goes "I love you a bushel and a peck... a bushel and a peck and a hug around the neck!" but I love it because it continues..."a hug around the neck and a barrel and a heap..." so I've started saying that. The first time I said it she said, "Mom, what's a heap?" I told her it was a giant pile. We happened to be looking at that giant bowl of strawberries at the time so I said, "oh - that's a heap of strawberries!" She thought that was pretty funny. She's trying to master the barrel and the heap, but she's still working on it. Here's what I've heard in the last few days....
"Mom, I love you a bushel and a hug 'round your neck! And a barrel in the deep!"
"Mom, I love you a bushel and the neck and in the deep!"
"Mom, I love you a bushel and a peck and a hug on your neck and a deep!"
and just now as I put her down to nap....
"Mom, I love you a bushel and a peck and a pile and a bush!!"
Ooh, I just love that kid!!! (a bushel and a peck and a hug around the neck AND a barrel and a heap!)
We have a song that I got off iTunes because it goes "I love you a bushel and a peck... a bushel and a peck and a hug around the neck!" but I love it because it continues..."a hug around the neck and a barrel and a heap..." so I've started saying that. The first time I said it she said, "Mom, what's a heap?" I told her it was a giant pile. We happened to be looking at that giant bowl of strawberries at the time so I said, "oh - that's a heap of strawberries!" She thought that was pretty funny. She's trying to master the barrel and the heap, but she's still working on it. Here's what I've heard in the last few days....
"Mom, I love you a bushel and a hug 'round your neck! And a barrel in the deep!"
"Mom, I love you a bushel and the neck and in the deep!"
"Mom, I love you a bushel and a peck and a hug on your neck and a deep!"
and just now as I put her down to nap....
"Mom, I love you a bushel and a peck and a pile and a bush!!"
Ooh, I just love that kid!!! (a bushel and a peck and a hug around the neck AND a barrel and a heap!)
A little bit Zooey...
Saturday was Steve's company picnic at the Zoo. It's always something I look forward to since I've been going to these picnics (with a few years of interruption) at the zoo pretty much since their inception. My dad worked for the company that Steve works for and I worked for them before I was home with my kids. The picnic used to be held at a county park, but was moved to the zoo and hasn't left.
Feeding the goats proved to be a family affair. Kailin and Steve went into the goat pen to feed them and again, no fear from Kailin. I foolishly thought that Colby would be content to watch his sister in action, but of course that boy is never content to be on the sidelines! When Steve and Kailin and Steve got back, we turned it into a family affair and true to form, Colby was thrusting his hand through the fence within seconds. He did sample the goat food and found that alfalfa pellets are not actually as tasty as they apparently appear. 
We were off to the train and the carousel. It was well past their normal bedtime and we were very aware that we were working on borrowed time. We gave them both some snacks (candy snow for Kailin and popcorn and nachos for Colby (who rejected the candy snow)) and they were fired up for the train. Colby adored it, but near the end was looking more like the picture below and we knew it was time to head for the hills before things got truly ugly. Kailin wanted one more ride on the carousel and I said I'd take her. Just before we got there, they came out and plunked a "closed" sign in the middle of the line. Things got truly ugly! I plied her with one more candy snow and we headed for the parking lot. Another picnic to remember for sure!
It's pretty neat - we can arrive anytime during the day, but when the zoo officially closes at 5pm, the company has the grounds until 9pm. That means no crowds at the best attractions and as many train and carousel rides as you want and as much ice cream, popcorn, and cotton candy (candy snow according to Miss Kailin) as a person can stomach. Our goal has always been to arrive "early" and see the animals before dinner and then just catch the "attractions" (feeding the goats, the big summer exhibit, the train, and the carousel) afterwards when they're less crowded (and also FREE). We've never been successful. To achieve the goal this year, I (Steve worked Saturday so that he can take tomorrow off for our little family fun day) put the kids down an hour EARLY with the expectation that they would also then arise an hour earlier than normal. Of course not. They slept until almost their normal time and we didn't get out of the house until 3:30 by the time I got everyone changed and sunscreened. (I contemplated having them nap in the car on the way to the zoo, but I knew that while they normally would fall asleep in the car, this would be the day that they wouldn't fall asleep in the car and then we'd have them up late with a copious dose of sugar and it would all spell DISASTER!!!) I debuted the dvd player that my mom got the kids for their birthdays for the long drive. Being that they'd just napped I figured that it was the most peaceful way to make the trip. --Yes, I've become one of THOSE moms who lets her kids watch movies while we roll along. I said I wouldn't, and I don't intend to be plugging them in for any drive less than 45 minutes, but I challenge any of you to ride in the car with Kailin for over 45 minutes sometime. The constant stream of chatter emanating from the back seat will be enough to drive you, too, to dig out the dvd player and plug that puppy in!!! Kailin was overjoyed with the ability to "watch a show" in the car. She immediately asked if we could see the monkeys (why is monkeys ys and not ies? I spelled it right and as I proofread, thought it should be ies and then spell check tells me no....) from the car when we got to the zoo. Ha. Point made.
We didn't make it to the zoo until 4:30 AGAIN. Oh well.... we'd see whatever we could see and be happy with that.
I guess not having a zoo pass for a year will do it, but there is a massive new entrance that popped up. It's pretty, but I'm not sure it's entirely necessary. Maybe they could've spent the money sponsoring Lucy the African elephant instead.... ha ha ha. I joke, I joke. After Steve registered for the door prizes, we set off to see some animals.
Kailin truly enjoyed the penguins this year. One of them was swimming in the tank and she got a big charge out of that. This was Colby's first trip to the zoo and we were anxious to see his reaction. Out shot his arm, finger (index, thankfully!) extended. "Eh!!!! Eh!!!!!" It was a hit. He WANTED one of everything. Wanted to pet (or hold!) the penguins, the monkeys, the polar bear, and I think even the elephant! After the penguins, Kailin declared that she wanted to see the Da Xiang (I probably didn't spell that right and I'm not going to look it up) (Elephant) so we set off for that and we got to see one of them eat a big bale of hay. After that we were on a quest for 
none other than CHICKENS, but Kailin was happy to stop and see several other animals on the way. We stopped to get some dinner and managed to miss the sea lion show. Maybe next year. She did eventually get to pet a chicken and also pet a cat and even a snake. I think she shares her mama's love for creatures of all kinds.
none other than CHICKENS, but Kailin was happy to stop and see several other animals on the way. We stopped to get some dinner and managed to miss the sea lion show. Maybe next year. She did eventually get to pet a chicken and also pet a cat and even a snake. I think she shares her mama's love for creatures of all kinds. 
Feeding the goats proved to be a family affair. Kailin and Steve went into the goat pen to feed them and again, no fear from Kailin. I foolishly thought that Colby would be content to watch his sister in action, but of course that boy is never content to be on the sidelines! When Steve and Kailin and Steve got back, we turned it into a family affair and true to form, Colby was thrusting his hand through the fence within seconds. He did sample the goat food and found that alfalfa pellets are not actually as tasty as they apparently appear. 
We were off to the train and the carousel. It was well past their normal bedtime and we were very aware that we were working on borrowed time. We gave them both some snacks (candy snow for Kailin and popcorn and nachos for Colby (who rejected the candy snow)) and they were fired up for the train. Colby adored it, but near the end was looking more like the picture below and we knew it was time to head for the hills before things got truly ugly. Kailin wanted one more ride on the carousel and I said I'd take her. Just before we got there, they came out and plunked a "closed" sign in the middle of the line. Things got truly ugly! I plied her with one more candy snow and we headed for the parking lot. Another picnic to remember for sure!
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Corporate Sugardaddies
We used to have the GMO (Greater Milwaukee Open) and County Stadium here. Now we have the US Cellular Open and Miller Park. Last night at the zoo, I noticed that Lucy the African Elephant is now brought to me by Saturn - on a placard. Seriously? REALLY? We need a corporate sponsor for Lucy the elephant now too? I know that the Zoo is a not for profit and that they need money just like anyone else. But I guess I question where we're going in the world when Saturn needs us ALL - ALL OF US - without a doubt, not just those who read the pamphlets about who sponsors the zoo, to know that THEY ALONE bring Lucy the African Elephant to me and all other zoo visitors. Truthfully, if I was wondering about which companies are generous enough to donate to the zoo, I WOULD read the pamphlet. If I were inclined to give my allegiance to businesses who sponsor the zoo, then I would give it to those who DON'T feel a need to proclaim their "benevolence" (if you can even call it that) on placards everywhere. It's actually more likely that I WON'T patronize Saturn now since I'm annoyed at their need to announce it to the world. And I know someone's saying "oh, but maybe the zoo wanted to do it in appreciation..." and my response would be that Saturn could've said no. I know, I'm hard core.
It did give me an idea though.... maybe I could get a corporate sponsor. Unfortunately, I'd be looking for one who would be willing to allow me to wait until someone said, "Gee, that's a great purse/outfit/necklace/pair of shoes/laptop/Thunderbird!" to respond, "oh, thanks! I'm brought to you and sponsored by....." Anyone want to offer to be my sponsor? I didn't think so....
It did give me an idea though.... maybe I could get a corporate sponsor. Unfortunately, I'd be looking for one who would be willing to allow me to wait until someone said, "Gee, that's a great purse/outfit/necklace/pair of shoes/laptop/Thunderbird!" to respond, "oh, thanks! I'm brought to you and sponsored by....." Anyone want to offer to be my sponsor? I didn't think so....
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Explain this....
My dishwasher is normally crammed beyond capacity when I run it. This was certainly the case yesterday. Not a space left in that baby. Yet, when I opened it there was a large space in the middle of the top rack. Empty. Nothing else seemed askew and when I checked the bottom to see if something had been flung down there by the water jets, no go. I haven't yet come across anything missing, but that's not really saying anything. So, I ask you this - where did the space come from and/or where did the stuff originally occupying the space go? Is it playing with the socks that appear to get lost in the dryer?
Also, why is any minute piece of chicken the first thing to ROT in the trash. Good grief - it's almost instantaneous. And it's NOXIOUS. I've tried sealing it into a plastic bag and that seems to hold for awhile, but heaven help us if there's a leak. I actually plan my chicken meal of the week according to our trash day so I can get that mess OUT of the house for good!
Also, why is any minute piece of chicken the first thing to ROT in the trash. Good grief - it's almost instantaneous. And it's NOXIOUS. I've tried sealing it into a plastic bag and that seems to hold for awhile, but heaven help us if there's a leak. I actually plan my chicken meal of the week according to our trash day so I can get that mess OUT of the house for good!
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Mow, mow, mow the lawn...
Our lawn needed mowing in a bad way, we have an open house this weekend, and I just didn't see when Steve was going to get a chance. Kailin has swim tonight, he teaches dog school tomorrow night and it's supposed to be 88 and muggy with scattered thunderstorms on Friday. He's working Saturday before his company picnic at the zoo so that he can take Tuesday off to spend with the kids and me and the open house is Sunday. So there you have it. An insanely long explanation for why I just mowed the lawn. Not that any of it matters because I have actually mowed the lawn more often than not this year for various reasons. Moving on....
I thought it was a wonderful day for mowing the lawn. There is a nice breeze coming in and it was relatively mild out this morning when I turned off the a/c and opened the windows. One might even have said it was chilly. Of course when I put the children down, donned my "mowing shoes", and opened the garage door to pull the lawn mower out onto the driveway I found that the breeze was still there, but no longer coming off the lake (not as cool) and the sun is now out in full force. For my far away friends, make no mistake - it's probably only mid to upper 70's here, but for us that's been about the extent of it this year. (read - I'm a big old heat wimp and shoving a lawn mower up and down and all around in the sunshine is not my idea of a fantastic use of my nap time break. At the same token, had it been cloudy today the mosquitoes would've carried me off, so there is in fact a silver lining to every cloud - or lack thereof.)
I started out mowing in my usual method. The longest passes first making a right angle at the back of the lawn and mowing that stretch. What I usually do (since I know you are dying to know about exactly how our lawn is mowed) is turn around and follow the back of the yard back across and back up the long pass again. I decided to spice it up today and did a complete U around the yard and then back again.
The sweet scent of clover was in the air (read - our lawn is mostly clover right now and I'm making it sound like a good thing) and the sun was shining brightly (read -by this point I was sweating like a pig and wishing Kailin hadn't broken Steve's headphones so that I could be listening to my iPod rather than the soothing sounds of the mower (Incidentally, "sweating like a pig" is a bit of a misused phrase. Pigs don't actually sweat. That's why they need the mud. So either I am the only one using it to mean profusely sweating and in fact everyone else who uses it is proclaiming with joy that they managed an arduous task without perspiring at all, or we're all using it wrong.).).
On one of the passes into the front yard, I took care of the sections between the sidewalk and the road (as you may remember (unless I am the forgetful one and actually never blogged it), last time I mowed, I ran out of gas with one swipe left on one of those sections. Even I had to laugh at that one.). When I started running out of side yard, I took care of the rest of the front yard and made a final pass into the back and then completed that in concentric rectangles. Our lawn seems to require 1 + 1/1,000,000 of a tank of gas to mow (hence the issue with the last pass on the front curbside). I decided that if I ran out of gas in the back I was just going to leave it be and declare that we were allowing that patch to be "free range". I guess I topped of the tank just enough that I actually finished the whole thing.
Okay, I am all cooled off now (after having come in the house and splashed my face with cold water which promptly washed all the sweat into my eyes causing them to sting and tear), and I hear my son stirring. Perfect timing (not so much....). Hope you enjoyed this really verbose way to tell you "I mowed the lawn this afternoon."
I thought it was a wonderful day for mowing the lawn. There is a nice breeze coming in and it was relatively mild out this morning when I turned off the a/c and opened the windows. One might even have said it was chilly. Of course when I put the children down, donned my "mowing shoes", and opened the garage door to pull the lawn mower out onto the driveway I found that the breeze was still there, but no longer coming off the lake (not as cool) and the sun is now out in full force. For my far away friends, make no mistake - it's probably only mid to upper 70's here, but for us that's been about the extent of it this year. (read - I'm a big old heat wimp and shoving a lawn mower up and down and all around in the sunshine is not my idea of a fantastic use of my nap time break. At the same token, had it been cloudy today the mosquitoes would've carried me off, so there is in fact a silver lining to every cloud - or lack thereof.)
I started out mowing in my usual method. The longest passes first making a right angle at the back of the lawn and mowing that stretch. What I usually do (since I know you are dying to know about exactly how our lawn is mowed) is turn around and follow the back of the yard back across and back up the long pass again. I decided to spice it up today and did a complete U around the yard and then back again.
The sweet scent of clover was in the air (read - our lawn is mostly clover right now and I'm making it sound like a good thing) and the sun was shining brightly (read -by this point I was sweating like a pig and wishing Kailin hadn't broken Steve's headphones so that I could be listening to my iPod rather than the soothing sounds of the mower (Incidentally, "sweating like a pig" is a bit of a misused phrase. Pigs don't actually sweat. That's why they need the mud. So either I am the only one using it to mean profusely sweating and in fact everyone else who uses it is proclaiming with joy that they managed an arduous task without perspiring at all, or we're all using it wrong.).).
On one of the passes into the front yard, I took care of the sections between the sidewalk and the road (as you may remember (unless I am the forgetful one and actually never blogged it), last time I mowed, I ran out of gas with one swipe left on one of those sections. Even I had to laugh at that one.). When I started running out of side yard, I took care of the rest of the front yard and made a final pass into the back and then completed that in concentric rectangles. Our lawn seems to require 1 + 1/1,000,000 of a tank of gas to mow (hence the issue with the last pass on the front curbside). I decided that if I ran out of gas in the back I was just going to leave it be and declare that we were allowing that patch to be "free range". I guess I topped of the tank just enough that I actually finished the whole thing.
Okay, I am all cooled off now (after having come in the house and splashed my face with cold water which promptly washed all the sweat into my eyes causing them to sting and tear), and I hear my son stirring. Perfect timing (not so much....). Hope you enjoyed this really verbose way to tell you "I mowed the lawn this afternoon."
Monday, July 7, 2008
Enjoying the fruits of our labor
Yesterday (Sunday) was an interesting day. We missed church. Not because one of the kids slept too late (on the contrary, Colby seems to know when it's a weekend and get up at 5am EVERY DAY accordingly....even after having been up in the night for a bottle (that boy better grow!)....but I'm not bitter)....not because we needed to be somewhere else....we missed church because I had a tantrum. I'm not proud of it, but there it is. Mommy had a tantrum and Mommy needed a TIME OUT!!!!
Last year, we took a picture of a very exited Kailin with a giant bowl of strawberries and I got to thinking that it would be an awesome tradition for us. We don't have a pic of the first year she was home, though, and I was thinking back as to why I didn't pick that year. I remembered that I was all set to go with my neighbor, Jill and that very morning was the morning that mono hit me like a Mack truck - so there were no strawberries to show off that year, and who'd think to take a picture of Kailin with an empty bowl.... ha ha ha. So here are this year's pictures. (It was really hard to snap a happy one of Colby without letting him get his hands in the berry bowl!!!) I already can't wait for next year!
I got up with the kids. Knowing that I'd been up in the night with Colby, and knowing that I've been just exhausted lately, I should've known better and asked my husband to do it even though he'd let me sleep til 7:30 on Saturday morning. I failed. I could do it all, I decided. Bad decision. I should know myself by now. I'm NOT one of those moms I look up to who can miss tons of sleep in the night (or ANY sleep) and then get up early the next morning and be all chipper and cheery and patient. Part of the problem is that I'm also not one of those moms that deals well with continued whining and crying for no apparent reason. I guess there was an apparent reason - Colby went to bed late, was up in the night, and got up at least 2 hours too early.... but he was just unhappy with any option whatsoever. He didn't want up, he didn't want down, he didn't want to eat...he just wanted to fuss. Kailin WHINED about everything and it just put me over the edge. By the time Steve got up and got in the shower (still thinking that we were headed to church), I knew that neither child would make it through the service and that I needed to be as far from people as I could get for awhile. What I should've done (and what my husband suggested after he read the note on the closet door that said, "NOT going to church") is GO to church myself. I always feel better after I do, but I was just so far from being in the mood to be anywhere with other people that I nixed it. I self imposed a time out (after my husband suggested (read - close to ordered) that I go visit my mom, my sister - ANYONE and get out of the house - if he, mister anything rolls off his back, laid back, nothing bothers me, is telling me to get out - it's BAD), took the paper and my breakfast and went upstairs. I told him that I'd be back when I could be a decent human being. I read the whole paper and then showered and I was back to human again. (I was perturbed, however, to read an engaging article about an orangutan baby that just ended in the middle. I searched the whole paper in vain looking for the conclusion. No luck. Strange and annoying!)
We let the kids play in the water table again. Steve went downstairs to work on the toy box he's been building for them and I sat outside in the warm sun and read a magazine while they played. I love that water table!!!
We all walked over to the little store to get pectin so I could finish off putting up the strawberries. (it's too bad I forgot to get sugar as I'll now be finishing that off today instead!!) We've been having a grand weekend of it with strawberry shortcake on Friday night, fresh strawberries on Saturday, and strawberry pancakes last night. I froze lots of cut strawberries and will make some strawberry puree and freezer jam to freeze today. I love strawberry time.
Last year, we took a picture of a very exited Kailin with a giant bowl of strawberries and I got to thinking that it would be an awesome tradition for us. We don't have a pic of the first year she was home, though, and I was thinking back as to why I didn't pick that year. I remembered that I was all set to go with my neighbor, Jill and that very morning was the morning that mono hit me like a Mack truck - so there were no strawberries to show off that year, and who'd think to take a picture of Kailin with an empty bowl.... ha ha ha. So here are this year's pictures. (It was really hard to snap a happy one of Colby without letting him get his hands in the berry bowl!!!) I already can't wait for next year!
It was a weekend to remember for certain - more good times than bad, and one of the few where we have virtually no plans and can just enjoy time together as a family. I love weekends like this, and I love (save my tantrum) when it works out that we really do spend the time together. That, for me, is what life is all about, and what I've hoped for and dreamed about for so very long.
Sunday, July 6, 2008
A bittersweet day...
I thought that yesterday was going to be a happy day where I'd report that we trucked off to the first farmer's market of the year and had a wonderful time (as always). We did truck off to the first farmer's market of the year, and we will be dining on fresh beets this week (which I'll need to remember the morning after or I'll be panicked in the bathroom once again). What were not doing yesterday morning, nor will we be doing on any Saturday soon, is enjoying our weekly treat at Goosey's Galley. While we waited patiently for the summer to come, Goosey's fell victim to the economic downturn. It was a sad day indeed. Each of the kids ended up with a monster cookie from the scratch bakery and Steve and I got two mini-pies. The pie flavors are noteworthy, I think, as I'd never had either before. Bumbleberry was a mix of blueberry, strawberry, raspberry, apple, and rhubarb and the other was mulberry-currant. YUM!!!!
By the time we got home, Colby was way past nap time so we put him down. I cut Steve's hair and then while he was in the shower I decided it was a fine day to let the kids play in our water table while I finished my garden tasks from the Fourth. I woke Colby up at 11 since I was afraid that he'd refuse an afternoon nap if I let him sleep any longer. He was very displeased at having been woken, but once he was dressed in his swimsuit, hat, crocs, and donned his duck whistle things started looking up. This was Colby's first experience with the water table since I usually let the older kids play with it while the younger ones nap in the morning. To say that he delighted in it would be an understatement. He squealed and splashed and had quite a time. After some initial squabbling about splashing and space, the kids calmed down.
While I was digging I found a small angle worm. I called Kailin over to look at it. She'd been watering my flowers for me with her little bumblebee watering can. She looked at the worm and said, "Awwww.....he is so cute!! Can I water him?" I told her she could not water him as it would hurt him. About 3 seconds later she exclaimed "Wook! I found 'nother one!" I looked and it was a potato bug. I told her so and she said, "Can I water him?" I told her she could. I'm not sure that I know what potato bugs do in life, but there is no love lost between the potato bug and me. I chuckled at her desire to water the world.
By the time we got home, Colby was way past nap time so we put him down. I cut Steve's hair and then while he was in the shower I decided it was a fine day to let the kids play in our water table while I finished my garden tasks from the Fourth. I woke Colby up at 11 since I was afraid that he'd refuse an afternoon nap if I let him sleep any longer. He was very displeased at having been woken, but once he was dressed in his swimsuit, hat, crocs, and donned his duck whistle things started looking up. This was Colby's first experience with the water table since I usually let the older kids play with it while the younger ones nap in the morning. To say that he delighted in it would be an understatement. He squealed and splashed and had quite a time. After some initial squabbling about splashing and space, the kids calmed down. While I was digging I found a small angle worm. I called Kailin over to look at it. She'd been watering my flowers for me with her little bumblebee watering can. She looked at the worm and said, "Awwww.....he is so cute!! Can I water him?" I told her she could not water him as it would hurt him. About 3 seconds later she exclaimed "Wook! I found 'nother one!" I looked and it was a potato bug. I told her so and she said, "Can I water him?" I told her she could. I'm not sure that I know what potato bugs do in life, but there is no love lost between the potato bug and me. I chuckled at her desire to water the world.It turned into one of those times, as I sat on my garden stool with the sun filling my body with warm rays, that I looked over at my kids splashing in the water, hooting and hollering together, having the time of their lives that I wondered how they could ever frustrate me to tears or make me question my sanity....
And then it was after nap time and they were both cranky as all get out and Steve and I were looking at the clock wondering if it was time for bed yet (us or them - wouldn't have mattered to us!) and I remembered all about how they could ever frustrate me to the point of saying "I don't want to hear another kid voice today!!!! (to myself - not to them!)" ha ha ha. Soon enough they were back to treating each other well and enjoying a fun little racetrack toy that I hauled out of the basement (I was down looking for the dishwasher manual and found a stash of toys Colby got for Christmas that we haven't brought out yet.).
The other high point of the day is that MY man (as opposed to "the" man) fixed our dishwasher!! He doesn't charge $70 to walk through the door, either! Hooray!! I'm thrilled to have it back in working order again, although we have decided that we need to spend the money to get a water softener as we believe that hard water gunk was the primary cause of the problem.
I was just thinking that I should post an update pic of Colby's toe (since I'm going to print this blog into a book format to save as my journal later on) since it was turning ever blacker. I did snap this pic the other morning when it was at it's worst. The blood blister must've worked it's way to the surface because without any protest (leading me to hope it was painless!) from my little guy, it burst on Saturday night and now his toe looks very nearly normal. I'm hoping this means that he won't lose his nail as I'd feared and also that we'll all look somewhat normal for our family picture next Tuesday. What remains to be seen is if any of us will be smiling and whether or not I can find coordinating clothing options for all four of us!
I was just thinking that I should post an update pic of Colby's toe (since I'm going to print this blog into a book format to save as my journal later on) since it was turning ever blacker. I did snap this pic the other morning when it was at it's worst. The blood blister must've worked it's way to the surface because without any protest (leading me to hope it was painless!) from my little guy, it burst on Saturday night and now his toe looks very nearly normal. I'm hoping this means that he won't lose his nail as I'd feared and also that we'll all look somewhat normal for our family picture next Tuesday. What remains to be seen is if any of us will be smiling and whether or not I can find coordinating clothing options for all four of us!Saturday, July 5, 2008
Fun Family Fourth
Kailin was up early (BIG surprise there!). I had a mommy moment and declared it chocolate cereal day (which is Saturday, not Friday). Kailin was elated and she and Steve took Peanut for a walk after the three of us ate breakfast. I tried to get some gardening done, but it was shortlived. Captain Cocoabeard was happy to eat his chocolate cereal when he finally decided to wake up at 8am. I wanted to get a few pictures of the kids on the Fourth and they actually were affectionate toward each other for the occasion!We asked (suckered) my mom into coming up to watch the kids so we could go strawberry picking. Kailin glommed on to her from the moment she got out of her car. I couldn't get a word in with her without Kailin screaming "Nai Nai!!! Come and play wif me!!!" Quick instructions and we hit the road to the strawberry farm. It was a beautiful day for it - very low 70's and sunny. The mosquitoes weren't bad at all and we had five 5qt buckets picked in just under an hour.
(As a funny aside, Colby liked fruits of all sorts when we first got home and then about two weeks ago he determined that strawberries and blueberries were no longer to his liking. He still wanted them every time I pulled them out, but would then thrust one into his mouth, make a horrible face, and remove it in disgust. As we played out this little song and dance on Thursday, Colby changed up the ending a bit and ate the strawberry and then requested more. It was almost as if he knew our household would be tuned in to the all strawberry channel and figured he'd better get with the program.) This picture is unrelated to that, but I wanted to show off what I think will be Colby's version of "the cheesy smile" most kids seem to get at about his age. Ask him to smile for the camera, and this is what you get....The troops (Nai Nai, Kailin, and Colby) were thrilled with our loot. We (Steve and my mom) commenced to allowing our bibless children to eat their way through enough strawberries to thoroughly stain all of their clothing. Lovely. We decided to feed everyone lunch early since I'd promised Kailin on Thursday (when we were coming back from the cheese store and passed McDonalds and she asked the question that she always asks when she sees those golden arches) that we'd all "go McDonalds - get some ice cream" when Nai Nai came. We coaxed Kailin to eat (as usual) while her brother polished off an entire pb&j and some cheese and then convinced my mom to make him another half sandwich (on which she used half a jar of jelly - I swear!). When we got him out of his high chair, the evidence of too much jelly was all over his pants. Swell. We trooped off, Sugar in tow, to "get some ice cream." Kailin declared that she and Colby would get tiny ice creams and the rest of us would get big ones. That girl.... Sugar got her own tiny cone and we all had a good time of it. Then it was home for naps - but not without figuring out that Colby'd lost a shoe along the way and me trekking(okay, it's entirely flat and paved, but I like the idea of me setting out on a harrowing journey to find the beloved (not so much) lost shoe) back to find it.
I'd already hulled one bucket of strawberries before lunch, but we needed to run to the store for a few things I needed for dinner (and according to my mom, to lay in a new supply of food for Colby - that boy must be about to grow because man alive is he eating us out of house and home lately!) so the strawberries had to wait.
Colby was up from nap first, but it wasn't long and Kailin (who CLEARLY needed more sleep) joined us downstairs. I resumed strawberry hulling and was in my own little world. It occurred to me that I'd been rather tuned out and was now hearing what sounded like a child TOO happy in the living room. Sure enough, it wasn't apparently logical to my mom that Kailin would not be allowed to jump on the couch. COME ON, MOM - were WE allowed to jump on the couch as kids?? Alrighty then!! So I told Kailin that she knew better. She figured that if I left the room all bets were off and when my mom told her that she was no longer allowed to jump on the couch, she threw herself on the floor and began wailing. I came in to see what was going on, and I'm so glad I did! I just wish I'd brought the camera with me. Kailin is on the floor wailing and over comes her brother and gives her a little (giant and wet) kiss on the cheek, complete with sound effect. It didn't work. Not one to give up easily, he went in and gave her a little hug. It didn't work. He went in and gave her a hug while resting his head on her shoulder. It didn't work. He shrugged and moved on. I ran out in the garage to tell Steve. It gives me hope that they will one day get along more than they fight. One day....
It wasn't long and we were eating dinner. Mom enjoyed the corn show. Ha ha. Colby needed BED, but we let Kailin stay up a bit longer than normal - and it proved to be well worth it for me at least. My mom and Kailin were playing "driving" where Kailin finds something to serve as a steering wheel and then the elaborate scenarios begin. Let me set the scene. Mom is sitting to the right of Kailin on the couch and Kailin's got a purse which she assures us both is filled with money to finance all the adventures they'd be going on. Kailin states that they should put their seat belts on. They do. Mom's got the steering wheel and is making appropriate car noises. They've been "traveling" for some time when Kailin casually mentions "Nai Nai. Close your door." She then closes her door as well. I bust out laughing because I've determined that a. they're either in Australia or England as Mom is driving on the right and b. I had a rather hysterical vision of Mom and Kailin driving through the English countryside with their car doors open. They went to feed the goats, hit some local cheese stores, and I believe the zoo as well. What a good way to end a good day. Not a typical Fourth and the kids still haven't seen fireworks (we just can't keep them up that late yet), but it was a fun one, and one I'll remember for a long while.
Friday, July 4, 2008
Mom, this is AWESOME!!!!
Okay, so I am using the word "tomorrow" loosely these days (other than if I make a promise to my kids - I always keep my promises - learned that from my mom and I think it served her well...). Today is now tomorrow and yesterday was neither today nor tomorrow..... how's that for confusing?
Kailin is killing me at swimming these days. On Monday she let me dunk her all the way under twice! ("Let me" should be read to mean "did not protest openly when I announced that I was going to do it after she'd previously indicated that she would rather not do so...") She survived just fine and actually shed no tears (to my shock and amazement). She also started paddling around on a couple of pool noodles.
Wednesday made Monday look like a paddle in the kiddie pool. Granted I am a way biased, overly proud mama, but man that girl amazes me. First she made me laugh, though. As we were cruising around the pool she suddenly exclaimed, "MOM! This....is.... AWSSSOME!!" It took me by surprise and I giggled out loud and then she giggled out loud and then I felt guilty for having wanted to skip swimming because I was worn out and it was supposed to storm.
Next she requested some pool noodles. I obliged in the colors of her choice. She got going doing her little doggie paddle around the pool and then.....she told me to let go!!! I was in shock! I'm pretty much in shock anytime she does anything daring. She's just not normally the daring type. And then suddenly she is. Monday I'd tried to let go a little and both times she pitched forward and got a face full of water - far far far from her favorite thing, so me letting go being her idea was nearly astounding. She kept sending me out further and further away from her (further than I was comfortable with - I was a little afraid that if she got out past arm's reach, she'd keel forward again and I wouldn't get there fast enough to stop her from going under. I had no fear that she'd drown or anything. I just worry that given her personality, one bad experience will sour her on the whole deal. I worry too much, I know.). She agreed to let me stay near her if I would let her try to paddle across the pool. She made it!! I talked to her teacher about potentially putting her in the next level coming up. Dakota is signed up in the mid August session and I think I may go ahead and sign her up (no moms in the pool for that one!).
Anyway, the teacher suggested that maybe we could let the kids jump in off the side of the pool (allowing them to fall in only to their comfort level). I didn't need to ask Kailin twice! I hoisted her out of the pool and set her on the edge. Suddenly, her eyes got wide and I thought "oh no, she's not going to want to do it....oh well.... I'll just bring her back in here..." Eyes open as wide as they'd go, she hissed, "Moooommmm......" and pointed to the steady drizzle of water coming from her suit. She presumed that, without her go ahead, her body had betrayed her and she was peeing right there at the edge of the pool!!! The nerve!!! I explained that it was just water draining out of her suit. She seemed relieved and then jumped (read that real fast....like the relief is just setting in with her and the understanding and amusement with me and then WHAMMO, she's jumping - head's up Mom - think quick - don't miss!!!!) The next 27 jumps were preceded by the instruction to STAY THERE UNTIL I TELL YOU IT'S OKAY!! Around jump 20, I told her that I was going to let her go all the way under. She said okay. In retrospect, I don't think she was very clear about what exactly was going to happen. She went down and then I yanked her up and she sputtered and thought about crying and declared that she didn't like it, but bless her soul she climbed right back up on the edge of the pool and jumped in again (but requested (read demanded) that I not let her go under again).
I think this has been a long enough stream of syrupy pride to send anyone into a sugar coma. We had a fun Fourth of July, so I'll post about that tomorrow. (relatively speaking anyway)
Kailin is killing me at swimming these days. On Monday she let me dunk her all the way under twice! ("Let me" should be read to mean "did not protest openly when I announced that I was going to do it after she'd previously indicated that she would rather not do so...") She survived just fine and actually shed no tears (to my shock and amazement). She also started paddling around on a couple of pool noodles.
Wednesday made Monday look like a paddle in the kiddie pool. Granted I am a way biased, overly proud mama, but man that girl amazes me. First she made me laugh, though. As we were cruising around the pool she suddenly exclaimed, "MOM! This....is.... AWSSSOME!!" It took me by surprise and I giggled out loud and then she giggled out loud and then I felt guilty for having wanted to skip swimming because I was worn out and it was supposed to storm.
Next she requested some pool noodles. I obliged in the colors of her choice. She got going doing her little doggie paddle around the pool and then.....she told me to let go!!! I was in shock! I'm pretty much in shock anytime she does anything daring. She's just not normally the daring type. And then suddenly she is. Monday I'd tried to let go a little and both times she pitched forward and got a face full of water - far far far from her favorite thing, so me letting go being her idea was nearly astounding. She kept sending me out further and further away from her (further than I was comfortable with - I was a little afraid that if she got out past arm's reach, she'd keel forward again and I wouldn't get there fast enough to stop her from going under. I had no fear that she'd drown or anything. I just worry that given her personality, one bad experience will sour her on the whole deal. I worry too much, I know.). She agreed to let me stay near her if I would let her try to paddle across the pool. She made it!! I talked to her teacher about potentially putting her in the next level coming up. Dakota is signed up in the mid August session and I think I may go ahead and sign her up (no moms in the pool for that one!).
Anyway, the teacher suggested that maybe we could let the kids jump in off the side of the pool (allowing them to fall in only to their comfort level). I didn't need to ask Kailin twice! I hoisted her out of the pool and set her on the edge. Suddenly, her eyes got wide and I thought "oh no, she's not going to want to do it....oh well.... I'll just bring her back in here..." Eyes open as wide as they'd go, she hissed, "Moooommmm......" and pointed to the steady drizzle of water coming from her suit. She presumed that, without her go ahead, her body had betrayed her and she was peeing right there at the edge of the pool!!! The nerve!!! I explained that it was just water draining out of her suit. She seemed relieved and then jumped (read that real fast....like the relief is just setting in with her and the understanding and amusement with me and then WHAMMO, she's jumping - head's up Mom - think quick - don't miss!!!!) The next 27 jumps were preceded by the instruction to STAY THERE UNTIL I TELL YOU IT'S OKAY!! Around jump 20, I told her that I was going to let her go all the way under. She said okay. In retrospect, I don't think she was very clear about what exactly was going to happen. She went down and then I yanked her up and she sputtered and thought about crying and declared that she didn't like it, but bless her soul she climbed right back up on the edge of the pool and jumped in again (but requested (read demanded) that I not let her go under again).
I think this has been a long enough stream of syrupy pride to send anyone into a sugar coma. We had a fun Fourth of July, so I'll post about that tomorrow. (relatively speaking anyway)
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
A word problem....
*It's evening now, and having read this post out loud to Steve, I have now recognized several egregious errors in my grammar. Word omissions and substitutions abound, and I will commence immediately to righting the situation.*
One three year old and one four year old (close enough for both) choose (for the umpteenth day in a row) to eat approximately 1/10th of their breakfast. Given the metabolic rate of a typical child this age, calculate the amount of time it will take for their blood sugar to drop to a level where I will begin hearing "MOM!/SARAH!!!!!!! he/she hit/kicked/shoved/didn't share/called me a name/got in my face!!!!!!!!" and/or crying? The answer is not even as long as it takes me to clean up the breakfast dishes and finish my bowl of cereal.
Seriously, people, what do I do with this???????? I'm not going to have them sit there and force them to eat their breakfasts and yet it will inevitably get uglier and uglier as the morning wears on and we progress toward snack time. Here is an equation you may need in working this problem - the increase in number of times they tattle on each other and the wonder twins is directly correlated to the increase in my blood pressure and the decrease in my patience.
I will entertain any solutions you would like to offer up. It does not seem to matter what the breakfast menu is(except for syrupy waffles/pancakes which in their sugary decadence burn off in the same time period as the 1/10 of a bowl of something remotely nutritious), it will yield the same results. (I must also caveat that the wonder twins are at a stage where they will have an enormous breakdown if they don't have the same thing as the older kids, so whatever you suggest must be practical to all. I'm just not up for a screamfest at 7am...) So I cry out - SAVE ME!!!!!
To further my cranktastic mood (which elicited the above rant about the breakfast situation), our dishwasher is broken AGAIN. I'll be feeling the joy of calling "the man" in a bit to see how much financial life THIS is going to suck from us. Being that this is the second time this dishwasher has already crapped out in 3.5 years, I'm all for getting a new one and calling this one a dud. Steve is willing to sink more of our non-existent cash into it and hope for the best. I guess we'll see what "the man" has to say regarding how much this might run us before we make the call. *I didn't call "the man" as I found more than one website suggesting that we might be able to remedy this ourselves without causing any further harm if we fail. We're going to give it a go on Friday. Until then we'll be enjoying the pleasures of hand washing....*
And while I'm whining - I HATE TMX Cookie Monster right now. I thought he was adorable when Colby got him as a gift. Heck, I still think he's adorable. I am such a sucker for big, googly eyes (what do you think got Peanut in the door??) I'd have bought him for someone as a gift, and in fact, I may still do that. There is actually little wrong with TMX Cookie Monster himself. It is the fact that my son is drawn to him like a moth to the flame yet is just as horrifed as the moth when he actually reaches the flame (TMXCM). Colby wants him turned on - all the time. If he could talk, I'm quite certain he'd be saying "please poke this in the belly, Mom...." every time he carries TMXCM over to me (which occurs about every 37 seconds for the entirety of the time he is awake). I oblige despite knowing full well that what will ensue is his alternate amusement and horror with the thing. So he will first laugh at TMXCM laughing and then the moment he moves, run to me screaming with his arms up. While it is indeed a somewhat endearing (and funny) vision, it is NOT funny or endearing for the 850th time today. And no matter where I try to hide TMXCM, he seems to reappear. I ask you - spooky boogy (as my grandma would say) or just coincidence??? As a small aside, and not having actually disemboweled TMXCM (yet), I believe that it works on some sort of a level system, so I am a little annoyed that if he's not standing up perfectly straight when you poke his belly, he will right himself and require another (or more) poke to actually commence with his little song and dance. The requirement of two or more pokes isn't terrible, but the fact that I don't even have the song and dance to distract from the (apparently horrifying) movement. For a busy mom who is already committing to the "calming down period', it's a little obnoxious. Again, for the rest of the world, this would be a fantastic toy. Who knew??
Tomorrow's post will be a much less cranky me bragging about how fantastic Kailin is doing in swim....
One three year old and one four year old (close enough for both) choose (for the umpteenth day in a row) to eat approximately 1/10th of their breakfast. Given the metabolic rate of a typical child this age, calculate the amount of time it will take for their blood sugar to drop to a level where I will begin hearing "MOM!/SARAH!!!!!!! he/she hit/kicked/shoved/didn't share/called me a name/got in my face!!!!!!!!" and/or crying? The answer is not even as long as it takes me to clean up the breakfast dishes and finish my bowl of cereal.
Seriously, people, what do I do with this???????? I'm not going to have them sit there and force them to eat their breakfasts and yet it will inevitably get uglier and uglier as the morning wears on and we progress toward snack time. Here is an equation you may need in working this problem - the increase in number of times they tattle on each other and the wonder twins is directly correlated to the increase in my blood pressure and the decrease in my patience.
I will entertain any solutions you would like to offer up. It does not seem to matter what the breakfast menu is(except for syrupy waffles/pancakes which in their sugary decadence burn off in the same time period as the 1/10 of a bowl of something remotely nutritious), it will yield the same results. (I must also caveat that the wonder twins are at a stage where they will have an enormous breakdown if they don't have the same thing as the older kids, so whatever you suggest must be practical to all. I'm just not up for a screamfest at 7am...) So I cry out - SAVE ME!!!!!
To further my cranktastic mood (which elicited the above rant about the breakfast situation), our dishwasher is broken AGAIN. I'll be feeling the joy of calling "the man" in a bit to see how much financial life THIS is going to suck from us. Being that this is the second time this dishwasher has already crapped out in 3.5 years, I'm all for getting a new one and calling this one a dud. Steve is willing to sink more of our non-existent cash into it and hope for the best. I guess we'll see what "the man" has to say regarding how much this might run us before we make the call. *I didn't call "the man" as I found more than one website suggesting that we might be able to remedy this ourselves without causing any further harm if we fail. We're going to give it a go on Friday. Until then we'll be enjoying the pleasures of hand washing....*
And while I'm whining - I HATE TMX Cookie Monster right now. I thought he was adorable when Colby got him as a gift. Heck, I still think he's adorable. I am such a sucker for big, googly eyes (what do you think got Peanut in the door??) I'd have bought him for someone as a gift, and in fact, I may still do that. There is actually little wrong with TMX Cookie Monster himself. It is the fact that my son is drawn to him like a moth to the flame yet is just as horrifed as the moth when he actually reaches the flame (TMXCM). Colby wants him turned on - all the time. If he could talk, I'm quite certain he'd be saying "please poke this in the belly, Mom...." every time he carries TMXCM over to me (which occurs about every 37 seconds for the entirety of the time he is awake). I oblige despite knowing full well that what will ensue is his alternate amusement and horror with the thing. So he will first laugh at TMXCM laughing and then the moment he moves, run to me screaming with his arms up. While it is indeed a somewhat endearing (and funny) vision, it is NOT funny or endearing for the 850th time today. And no matter where I try to hide TMXCM, he seems to reappear. I ask you - spooky boogy (as my grandma would say) or just coincidence??? As a small aside, and not having actually disemboweled TMXCM (yet), I believe that it works on some sort of a level system, so I am a little annoyed that if he's not standing up perfectly straight when you poke his belly, he will right himself and require another (or more) poke to actually commence with his little song and dance. The requirement of two or more pokes isn't terrible, but the fact that I don't even have the song and dance to distract from the (apparently horrifying) movement. For a busy mom who is already committing to the "calming down period', it's a little obnoxious. Again, for the rest of the world, this would be a fantastic toy. Who knew??
Tomorrow's post will be a much less cranky me bragging about how fantastic Kailin is doing in swim....
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Oh my aching toe!!!
Not so much mine as Colby's. Last night he knocked a chair from the "tiny table" over onto his foot. He gave me quite a scare because my tough little boy HOWLED like I've never heard him howl before for a LONG time. I was getting worried that maybe he'd broken it - the chairs are very sturdy and solid wood - those buggers are heavy!! He finally calmed down and a few minutes later I noticed that his toe was hard as a rock and his nail was getting black. Ick. I did call the Dr. because I was worried about his toe being so hard. She said that unless he won't walk on it, they prefer to leave it alone, so that's what we're doing for now. It's tender and he was up in the night a couple of times, but other than that, he's still motoring around like always. I do swear that boy will have us in the ER before he's five!! We've come close twice now....
I also thought you'd like to see a picture of Captain Cocoabeard from the other morning. Our kids get sugared cereal once a week on Saturday morning. Kailin always picks cocoa puffs, so we let Colby have some this weekend. The result, as you can see, was a bit hilarious. As of yesterday, he's making "bock bock bock" for a chicken noise and is starting to imitate more and more sounds. I think I've heard a few "dada"s and he's working hard on "dog". His comprehensive English continues to amaze me sometimes, so I suppose it won't be long and I'll be wondering why I couldn't wait for him to talk!
Then of course Kailin wanted me to "picture her" and I was only too happy to oblige. Who could resist a face like hers?
I also thought you'd like to see a picture of Captain Cocoabeard from the other morning. Our kids get sugared cereal once a week on Saturday morning. Kailin always picks cocoa puffs, so we let Colby have some this weekend. The result, as you can see, was a bit hilarious. As of yesterday, he's making "bock bock bock" for a chicken noise and is starting to imitate more and more sounds. I think I've heard a few "dada"s and he's working hard on "dog". His comprehensive English continues to amaze me sometimes, so I suppose it won't be long and I'll be wondering why I couldn't wait for him to talk!Then of course Kailin wanted me to "picture her" and I was only too happy to oblige. Who could resist a face like hers? She let me dunk her twice at swimming last night and also swam on her own (doggie paddle) with a couple of pool noodles, so she's coming along and getting braver than I ever would've given her credit for!!
My kids are constantly amazing me (and challenging me and making me question my parenting abilities and methods --and sometimes my sanity!). I'm so thankful to be their mom and even more thankful that I have such a supportive and loving husband to help me through it all!!!
Visitors from the South
We had some special visitors this past weekend. One of the families with whom we traveled in China when we adopted Kailin was here to visit. We haven't seen the Bond family since we left China and it was wonderful to see the girls together, although poor Hannah spent Friday night and most of Saturday saying "Hi Kailin" to no avail. The girls mostly just co-existed. The picture to the right (with Kailin's new, somewhat ridiculous smile pose) was the best of our attempts to get a close-up of the girls together. 
Of course, as the visit wound to a close, they finally decided to interact. Figures, doesn't it?
We're so happy that we'll be getting to see more of the Bonds as they now have family in this area. We hope we've lured them back with the promise of good frozen custard and squeaky cheese curds!!
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