Road Trip Do’s

 

Decided to shave off the (very cool) Mohawk in favor of buzz cuts for our big vay cay on Monday.  All joined in the fun.

Or not so much fun.

When Finn gets my camera

 

Okay, so it’s just my iphone camera, but it’s funny when I come across his random pictures.

I love this one.  Just a shadow of a boy.

Big brother playing “dentist” with Claire.  I guess it’s funny because I never knew any of it went on and then there are all these pictures.  Their secret lives.

 

Tiny Bunnies and other exciting critters

 

Last Monday, the kids all came yelling from the backyard that they had seen three baby rabbits in the backyard…oh yes, sure you did.  Lo and behold, momma rabbit had dug her nest right under their slide and the babies had all hopped right out.  By the time I got out there, we could only find two, but they stuck around all day…despite their sheer terror from two toddlers and a 7 year old monitoring their every move.  They were very tiny, and very still…so still that the kids could even pick them up.  Needless to say, they did not stick around long enough for us to start calling ourselves rabbit farmers, but it was a nice treat for a day.

Sadly, we said goodbye to baseball this week.  I think I have had nothing more enjoyable as a parent to date, as this season’s baseball games.  The boys on his team are all super, the coaches were great and the games were lots of family fun. 

We are on week 3 of swim lessons at the Y.  They are inexpensive, and the kids all seem to enjoy them.  Duncan is doing particularly well, and this week is one-on-one with his coach.  I am kind of hoping he will want to do swim team at some point. 

We got to have breakfast at a really great place where kids can play with some of our oldest and best friends in the world.  These two have been friends since their lives began, and continue to be close and enjoy each other.  It’s really a rich blessing for me to watch them grow. 

We are pet sitting this week for this creature.  He is a green anole, and is more endearing than I imagined him to be.  The kids are really having a good time, but guess who feeds him his meal worms?  Yes, that’s right.  I’m figuring it is a good lesson learned.  Not ready for a dog or cat quite yet.

Oh, and all that sadness about baseball?  Totally being (temporarily) remedied by Finn starting tee ball.  There are only three games, though, so our relief of kid sport fever will be very short lived.  I think next is Claire doing gymnastics, which might be the most entertaining of all.

Have a good week!

Phone Dump Mail It In Post

 

We spend a lot of time at the pool, which is great.  Wears them out and they love it.  I fantasize about how great it will be when they are all independent swimmers and I can read.

Duncan and his friend C. got the game balls last week for their team.  This was one of about 786 silly poses.  They are super cute friends, though. 

Finn has started tee ball.  Every day he thinks he has a game, and that Josh Hamilton is his coach.  He’s a slugger, though.  I see lots of baseball in our future…and a Yukon.

We had VBS last week!  Love VBS!  Wish I could have enjoyed the whole week.  I helped with preschool snacks again this year and we did some really fun stuff. 

My reason for missing most of VBS.  Claire was hospitalized for her asthma and walking pneumonia.  Really hit her hard and she was on oxygen for three days…probably could have justified a fourth but we begged to go home under close supervision. 

Did you know you get all the ice cream, popsicles, jello and chocolate milk you want when you are 3 and in the hospital???  Claire does.

After we were able to bring her home, our wonderful sister/in law who is a pediatric nurse practitioner, came to stay with her so Iain and I could go out…to a movie theater that serves cocktails.  Then to dinner and a hotel.  Whew.

The next morning, Father’s Day, we had brunch with no kids!  Fun!  Isn’t he good looking?

This week, we are doing swim lessons, which has been great.  We really do have three little swimmers.  They all love it.  Duncan is doing exceptionally well, and I see swim team in our future. 

More fun at the pool club.

Took the boys for summer cuts.  Wanted real mohawks but instead we ended up with some silly faux hock.  Mommy will fix that.  Finn is super excited to look like big brother, though.

One tee ball game, one baseball practice and two baseball games later.    It’s been a good week!

Dear Sweet Jesus,

Today is Day 1 of Week 3 of summer vacation.  I kind of lost a week because of the whole kid-in-the-hospital thing.  But today, Lord, I find myself with zero patience.  I am unable to tolerate the slightest infraction.  And that is going to make for a very long day. When I think of how many of those days it takes to make a week, and how many weeks we have until school starts, I get all kinds of worried.  So, I think I need a huge dose of patience.  Right now I feel like I can't unload the dishwasher without having to deal with the aftermath, be it Desitin smeared all over some porous surface, a fight, or every single pillow and blanket being dragged out of the closet.  And even seven year olds can't really fold up big blankets to put them back.  So, if I can't even unload the dishwasher, how am I supposed to take a shower?  Or eat lunch?  See, I get kind of panicked.

And kids fight.  Did you know that, Lord?  Did you know that when you blessed us with three of them?  I suppose even I knew, on some level.  I should have started praying back then, at that first sonogram, that I'd be better able to deal with the fighting.  Maybe you could show me how?  I know it wont go away, but if you could whisper in my ear a way for ME to deal with it, and how I should react to it so that I don't lose my sh%t, that would be helpful.  Because me yelling at them for yelling doesn't seem to make a whole lot of sense.

I really want to enjoy them, Jesus.  I love them so and wanted them so deeply.  But I want to enjoy them AND be able to get some laundry done.

Amen,
Christie

First and Last

 

First Day of 1st Grade (above)

Last Day of 1st Grade (below)

I am not good at endings.  I don’t like things to end, or to change so the last day of school is always (ha!  like I’ve been doing it forever…perhaps always is a stretch) difficult for me.  To see how they have grown and changed, and know that there is nothing we can do to stop it, puts a lump in my throat.  I see him changing rapidly, turning 7.   The “age of reason” supposedly.  We see glimpses of that and it’s really exciting.  We also see glimpses of more independence, more connectedness with friends, and pulling away.  So, as you turn 7, Duncan, and prepare for another year, know that Mom and Dad are super proud of you and what you have done this year!  You are shaping up nicely.

Love,

Mom

Zzzzzzzzzz

Dang we are tired.  Of course, no one is sleeping late because that would be too easy.  Sometimes I fantasize, right in the middle of the day, about having a teensy bit more control of my own life.  Want to go lie down?  Just do it!  Want to take a shower?  Just do it!  Want to sleep past 7:12 a.m.?  Just do it!  I know someday it will be that way and we'll "miss all this" blah, blahdy blah.  But dang.  For now, we are all tired. Oh, and cranky.  Duncan burst into tears no fewer than three times all before 7:50 a.m.  Claire and Finn have been up and down all day.  It's 2:30 and feels like it could easily be 5:00.  Is 5:30 too early for bedtime?  I think not.  Not a quiet week, either.  Duncan has a playdate this afternoon (please, Lordy, let him hold it together).  Tomorrow, we have chess club and baseball practice.  Thursday is a baseball game, and our niece Kathleen is going to come spend the night.  Friday is the big end of year 1st grade picnic (oh, that I'm in charge!  Of planning!).  Saturday is an open house at our neighborhood pool and a really super fun pool party and BBQ for one of is very favorite friends who lives two doors down.  Now that it's hot, they all want to go swim.  Every day.  I love them being so tired in the evenings but while school is still in session, man.  Dang.  We are tired.

Big Weekend

Whew!  Big weekend for the family.  On Friday night we had Grandpa’s birthday.  Small scale, but I did manage to whip up a home made chicken pot pie that was pretty great.  Mailed it in on the cake though, and let Costco do the work.  Bedtime?  9:00. 

On Saturday morning, Duncan had a baseball game.  Of course, no one slept late so while we weren’t totally foul, I could smell it coming.  We managed to get to the game but close to the end I decided to take the twins home…but we stayed to watch Duncan’s last at bat.  And good thing we did because he scored a grand-freakin-slam.  HUGE deal.

 

Back home for “rest”…well Claire slept anyway.  Was not a total loss.  Duncan had a big birthday party for a cub scout/baseball team friend so I geared up to drive him and three buddies to the party at 5:30.  Dropped them off for two hours to jump on trampolines and play dodgeball.  He got home at 8:00.  Bedtime, 9:00.

On Sunday morning, it was Sunday School.   We are making a real effort to be more consistent for the kids, realizing how much better an experience church is for them when we are so.  Got them all there and lo and behold it was petting zoo day!  Hooray! 

After some loving on all God’s creatures, we packed up and drove to my sister’s and mom’s to celebrate my oldest brother’s 63rd birthday.  He and his wife and his daughter are here from Spokane so it was a special treat.  It was a pool party and I knew our kids would swim all day, only to emerge to shove a hot dog in their pie holes and then get right back in the pool. Cramps!  Egad!  Swim time, 11:30 – 6:30.  Bedtime?  8:00.    Oh yeah, and we got to sit in my Uncle Joe’s restored ‘65 Vette.

Bag Lady

 

 

I know it’s cliché, but I am finding it hard to believe it is the end of the school year.  Which means we have lived in this house for almost a full year.  And we still have stuff in the garage that needs to be “unpacked”.  I’ve had some round about thoughts lately, that I do believe have perhaps settled down and come full circle.  Some times it takes me a while, but every so often I get it and have a light bulb moment. 

This house meets our needs.  When we first looked at it, we walked away for 30 days and continued to look for something we like more, that had more room.  This one had been remodeled by the previous owners so it was fine, but not really to our tastes and probably not what we would have done had the job been up to us.  It is not large, and the office set up for Iain is not the greatest.  But, it is right across from the school that we wanted.  We found other houses in the area that we liked much better but they seemed to have some issues that made us nervous, like foundation reports.  So, in the end we kind of “settled” for this one.  I will not lie.  I do not love this house.  But, I do love where it is and I do love the neighborhood..a lot.  It is worth it to be in the area. 

There are many things I would like to do to this house to make it feel mine.  I would like to change the front of it, paint the brick, add a front patio space, put in new windows, replace the awful fake wood floors, put some color on the walls (oh the beige…it bores me to death).  All of these things take money.  A lot of money.  So, in my very round about way I have realized how much I value being able to make these changes, if we are to make this house a home.   I have also realized I do not have to do it all at once, or even start with one of the bigger jobs.  Even a small change can make a big difference.  So, I started with my little Pinterest blog experiment, and my front flower beds (which were full of awful, boring, old person plants). 

Once immersed in these projects, it became clear to me that we were living in a bit of chaos. Too much stuff.  So, I started filling 13-gallon garbage sacks full of things we did not need.  Clothes, linens, toys, etc…So far I have taken about 8-10 bags to the Goodwill drop off and with each bag I feel lighter, more free, and like I have more room, more freedom, more time.  Less chaos.  Less clutter, physically and emotionally.  I have not missed one.single.thing. that I have donated.  Things that I thought I needed to hang on to for purely emotional reasons….gone! 

I have a fantasy that this reduction in clutter and chaos will free up what we need to do in order to get our finances in better shape so that we can afford to to the bigger projects sooner than later.  Will post pics soon.

Finn

 

Oh, sweet Finn. Where do I begin?  I need to get things written down before I forget this magic age of almost 3.5.  Random.

You love noodles, gummy bears, Fruit Loops, and milk.  That’s about it.  There are other things you will eat, but those are your main food groups.

Funny things you say include, “I’m okay!” whenever you hit your head, which is often.  When someone asks you a question, your answer is always, “pretty good”!  No matter what the question.  You also say, “What you are doing?” or “Where you are going?”  Consistently. 

You cannot sleep without blankie and your Toys 3 flashlight from Peachy. 

You hit the ball almost every time off the tee and are a bit of a phenom. 

You refuse to poop in the potty. 

You know all the words to Take Me Out to the Ballgame and Who Let The Dogs Out.

We love you Finny!

Copycat

 

So, a few of my really good friends posted on their blogs about this really clever idea!  So, when I found myself with two loaves of kid bread, and a big jar of cheap peanut butter I said, “self, you are going to do this.”  Slapped 9 of these babies together in about 10 minutes, wrapped up up tight, put them back in the bread bag and threw them in the freezer.  It’s a little sad what a thrill it gave me, and continues to give me.  I can’t wait to throw one in D’s lunch Monday morning and experience the full-on rush of actually having saved myself some time.

Thanks, friends!

Sweetness

 

Oh, Finn.  Sweet, big-eyed, candy and doughnut loving Finn.  I cannot resist you.  Even though I know you will only lick off the frosting and leave most of the doughnut in tact, when you ask me for the football shaped doughnut I will buy it for you.  Every time.

Took the kids to Krispy Kreme last Saturday on the way to Aunt Becky’s and Granny’s.  Every once in a while I realize that I’m doing something that used to frighten me…like taking all three of them somewhere with no restraining device or backup help.  We simply get out of the car and walk through the parking lot like normal people, go in, sit down and do whatever.  Truly, this is a huge step for me. 

We (they) ate doughnuts then went to visit Aunt Becky and Granny for a bit while Daddy took a concealed handgun class (watch out all you Richardson bad guys).  It was a good day.

fat mum slim: February photo-a-day challenge

fat mum slim: February photo-a-day challenge: Doing this!

Happiest Place on Earth

 

Claire loves horses.  She got the Tangled set with the doll and Maximus and leaves poor Rapunzel to fare for herself while Claire and Max go have good times.  I found her four plastic horses, about twelve inches high, at my favorite thrift store a few months ago and she takes at least two of them everywhere we go.  We have Buttercup, Apple, Smoke, Brownie, Big Brownie, Maximus and Tiny Horse.  She reads books about horses and has long talked about riding one at the zoo.  A really great friend of mine gave her an unbelievable rocking horse for Christmas last year, which I think started it all.  Baby dolls lie lonely in the floor but the horses make magic happen. 

Finally, Aunt Becky made her dream come true. 

Major Upheaval

 

Friday afternoon was a pretty spectacular day, weather-wise.  Just about 70 degrees, sunny.  Very nice for January.  So, I invited my great friend over after we picked up our kids from school.  We’d sit on the patio, drink wine, menu plan, and watch the kids play peacefully. 

Finn had been complaining that he didn’t feel well, and that his body hurt.  Finn doesn’t complain much but I have a hard time learning these lessons so I kind of down played it.  I told my friend, but she said she didn’t mind and we’d stick with our plan.  Hurray! 

Shortly after we got back from school, Finn puked all over the floor.  Panic.  Tears.  Lysol.  Got him cleaned up, as well as the floor and Iain took him back to lie down on our bed.  We all continued with our wonderful afternoon.  Finn emerged about twenty minutes later and despite my efforts to at least keep him on my lap, insisted on playing baseball.  Maybe it was the wine.  Maybe the glorious warm day.  But again, we just kept chugging along.

Friend and her kids went home later on and all seemed pretty fine.  Finn seemed better, just sleepy.  Saturday was “family work day” since we were having friends for dinner.  Again, Finn seemed fine.  We even passed the 24 hour, golden rule mark of kid vomit.  Cleaned the house, made pot roast, chocolate cake, had a really fun day.  Friends came for dinner.  Great time was had by all.

Sunday morning I thought to myself, “I must had had too much wine last night”.  But soon realized very differently.  Claire and I had both fallen.  She seemed to have a brief spurt, and recover quickly like Finn but that would soon prove wrong.  I took to bed most of the day.  I got up around 2, and Iain went to run some errands.  Just about then, Claire resumed being sick and did not stop until well after bedtime.  Duncan fell at 4 a.m.  Iain is currently in fetal position in our bed. 

I am glad for a few things.  That Iain and I did not get sick on the same days.  That Duncan is old enough to puke in a bucket.  That I have a good washer with a sanitize cycle, even though it takes 3 HOURS TO COMPLETE. 

Oh, and we managed to get 1 other child, and two other adults (at this point and time…there could be others) sick!  Hooray!  So, this morning we are having a Shawn the Sheep marathon.  Claire is still kind of listless but is drinking Pedialyte.  Duncan keeping everything down so I’m hopeful for school tomorrow.  I feel great!

Does this post make my butt look big?

 

Some of you may remember this post about jeans.  I loved it and took it to heart.  I immediately got rid of my old jeans with misplaced pockets and decided I would try to find some new ones.  I am always trying to lose weight and often find myself in the trap of  “when I lose xx pounds I will _________”  i.e. buy some new jeans.  This time I just decided to do it. 

I found myself with some time on my hands last Thursday (my only day in which I have five glorious, kid-free hours) so I went into Stein Mart.  There on the clearance rag were a pair that kind of spoke to me.  I knew I wanted a dark wash, and that the pockets had to be right.  I also knew that there were probably many pairs in Stein Mart that would lead me down the wrong path so I was skeptical.  I trudged into the fitting room, braved the terrible lighting and pulled these on.  Need I even say how grateful I am that so many jeans now have some lycra?  Glory be.

I wondered how I would know about the pockets so I tried to use my phone to snap some pics. Who takes pictures of their backside, much less in a dressing room?  It was that important.  I got a couple of shots and decided that they looked like they could work.  They actually fit, which was reason enough to buy them, but I’m thinking the pockets pass the long-butt test.  What do you think?

Photo Book

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I had a $20 credit with them (Free!  Because I ordered my Christmas cards from them.) and used it on a quickie photo book of the Christmas pics.

January 1

 

This day, Time winds th' exhausted chain;
To run the twelvemonth's length again:
I see, the old bald-pated fellow,
With ardent eyes, complexion sallow,
Adjust the unimpair'd machine,
To wheel the equal, dull routine.
The absent lover, minor heir,
In vain assail him with their prayer;
Deaf as my friend, he sees them press,
Nor makes the hour one moment less,
Will you (the Major's with the hounds,
The happy tenants share his rounds;
Coila's fair Rachel's care to-day,
And blooming Keith's engaged with Gray)
From housewife cares a minute borrow,
(That grandchild's cap will do to-morrow,)
And join with me a-moralizing;
This day's propitious to be wise in.
First, what did yesternight deliver?
"Another year has gone for ever."
And what is this day's strong suggestion?
"The passing moment's all we rest on!"
Rest on-for what? what do we here?
Or why regard the passing year?
Will Time, amus'd with proverb'd lore,
Add to our date one minute more?
A few days may-a few years must-
Repose us in the silent dust.
Then, is it wise to damp our bliss?
Yes-all such reasonings are amiss!
The voice of Nature loudly cries,
And many a message from the skies,
That something in us never dies:
That on his frail, uncertain state,
Hang matters of eternal weight:
That future life in worlds unknown
Must take its hue from this alone;
Whether as heavenly glory bright,
Or dark as Misery's woeful night.
Since then, my honour'd first of friends,
On this poor being all depends,
Let us th' important now employ,
And live as those who never die.
Tho' you, with days and honours crown'd,
Witness that filial circle round,
(A sight life's sorrows to repulse,
A sight pale Envy to convulse),
Others now claim your chief regard;
Yourself, you wait your bright reward.

True Image

A sweet friend of mine at Sarah Thompson Photography took these pictures (and more) of our kids a few weeks ago.  It was a really warm day and I just got them in some clean play clothes and ran.  Claire and Finn threw pretty spectacular fits in the van on the way there, and I could not convince Duncan to wear shoes other than the hand-me-down cowboy boots he got from a neighbor.    And these might be my favorite pictures ever.  Especially that shot of Duncan.  There are 21 in all, and I am going to have a super time creating a Christmas card this year.