Modern-Day Jane

Let the adventure begin!

2010-09-22T14:26:00.000-05:00

Did you know that God answers prayers? Even prayers we don't actually pray?

This summer, I was getting a bit discouraged about this blogging business. I had big goals and dreams when I started about three years ago, but haven't seen real progress in building a reader base, and with the summer months, even those numbers were slipping. Of course, I haven't been reading anyone ELSE's blogs, either, so I tried to blow it off as a seasonal thing.

But still that sense of failure nagged at me. In retaliation, my fear of being a quitter would start up. So it went, back and forth, for several months. I finally decided that if I was going to be happy, I needed to stop relying on traffic and comments to deem my blog a success. It had to be for me and my family. Since blogging is, essentially, my form of journaling (more about that later!), it's where I record all the little things about my kids as they grow up. Other people may not be so compelled to memorialize every. blessed. detail, but I am and always have been. I decided to continue blogging just for my family's sake.

And then my amazing friend CB stepped in! She recommended Modern-Day Jane to a local woman who works for Forum Communications, based here in Fargo, but covering about 35 newspapers in a tri-state area. This woman, Tracy Briggs, has asked me to join the Forum's website called Area Voices, and then she'll promote Modern-Day Jane as a featured blog! This means that those 35 newspapers could choose to list MDJ in their papers, in whatever section they like.

Basically, I was recruited.

And after looking around at some of the blogs on Area Voices, I can see why. Most of them are political (Freethinkers, anyone?) or sports oriented, and a lot are just selling stuff. I have only found a few that are about family life, and those are well done...mostly by people who work for Forum Communications! There appears to be a big opening for "normal" mommy bloggers (an oxymoron if I've ever heard one. Like talking about poop and wiping snot all day is normal). I'm going to step in a take a chance.

Area Voices uses WordPress software, which I've heard is superior to Blogspot. If this whole thing doesn't work out, I'll probably stick with WordPress anyway.

My biggest concern, naturally, is that some of you reading now won't follow me to my new site. PLEASE come with me! You don't have to login to Area Voices or create an account there to see the new Modern-Day Jane page, but you CAN, of course, and it's super easy. ALSO, be sure to change your "favorites" link to the new page and Google Reader, etc... I'm not deleting this version of MDJ, so if you forget, you can come here and link to the new site. No new posts will be put here, however.

My biggest regret? Area Voices does not have a function for "following" a blog, so no longer will I have your friendly faces keeping me company in the right hand column. I will truly miss your silent (and maybe even inaccurate) voice of support.

One other, smaller regret? Losing my hyphen. For some reason, the Area Voices site does not allow punctuation in their URL addresses. My blog address is now http://www.moderndayjane.areavoices.com/ , but the blog will continue to be Modern-Day Jane, with the hyphen, thankyouverymuch.

I'm excited for a new challenge, and new readership possibilities! Already I've had a new comment, which may or may not rub you the wrong way, if you've been a reader here and have a feel for my parenting (and writing) style. I

Can't wait to see what's around the bend!

I'll be sure to get a photo of that, too.

2010-09-16T22:30:00.000-05:00

One more thing I forgot about Ben. Lately, he's been quite the diva, changing his clothes at least once a day. As a result, his laundry pile is twice as big as Leah's. Here's an example:

Ben: (wearing a T-shirt & that's it. I had just given him a new pair of undies. Also was wearing sweatpants previously.) Mommy, I'm too hot. Can I put on shorts?
Me: No! It's too cold out! You are FINE.
Ben: I'm hooooot. I want shorts! (Repeat MANY more times.)
Me: Fine.

After about FIVE MINUTES, he comes down with a different T-shirt and flannel pants, also new undies. Um, NO. I pointed out that T-shirts are pretty much the same warmth, and the pants are STILL PANTS. Also, sent him back up with the undies. Explained that he had a whole day's worth of clothes in his hands. Listen, I'm just trying to save the earth by reducing my laundry load.

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This weather is throwing things all out of whack for ALL of us. The mornings are around 40 degrees, but the afternoons are in the upper 60's. Leah has been going to school in capris and T-shirts, but also with socks & sneakers and a jacket. This seems to work for her, but Mr. Diva has been changing from pants to shorts somewhere around 3pm.

Which is fine. For about 2 hours, until the sun starts to go down.

Tonight, for example, we were all outside. Aaron, Adam and I were wearing pants and jackets. Leah is wearing her clothes from school (capris) and Ben is...in a t-shirt and shorts. Shocking! The ticked-off mosquitos were enjoying the free meal, I'm sure.

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I really want to tell you about all these cute things that Adam is doing lately, but since I don't have photos of them, it seems kinda cruel. So I'll work on that, and get back to you soon.

He's now holding his own cup - YAY - so my next request is that he start talking. Now. That would be sooo helpful. Because the crying tantrums? NOT so cute.

Down by the Seaside (not really)

2010-09-15T21:37:00.001-05:00

Leah has had this thing lately where she thinks she's right all the time. And that would make us, her parents, wrong. This is annoying for two reasons: 1) SHE'S USUALLY WRONG and 2) I know I get to look forward to this for the rest of my life. This is what some people might call karma.

Here's an example of a recent conversation - remember she rides home from school with another mom and her kids:

The parents: Leah, when you ride home, do you sit in the middle?
Leah: No, I sit in the back...
Parents: By yourself?
Leah: No, next to Sarah.
P: So, does anyone sit behind you?
L: Yeah, I guess B sits behind us, and J does too if he's with.
P: Sooo....you sit in the middle.
L: Hehe, I guess I do!

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Ben's thing lately has been nudity. We've had some backsliding in the poopy training area after a fairly good several weeks. This has naturally lead to many changes of underwear. He's more than eager to have clean ones, but it seems to take for-EVER for him to put them on. Like, I have to remind him about 20 times to PUT THE THINGS ON.

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MY thing lately has been cleaning out the sandbox. Not of toys, although that's happened, too

And not of sidewalk chalk, although I've gathered a lot of that as well.

See all that pea gravel surrounding the sandbox? Yeah.

I've spent a couple afternoons out there with the boys, sifting sand through a toy sifter, tossing the pebbles back out. It's been oddly satisfying work. I can see progress begin made, even though Adam has been trying to help by tossing out perfectly good sand.

Now I'm just trying not to think about how my two afternoons of work could be erased in 30 seconds.

Denial. It's every mom's best friend.

Free desserts also appreciated.

2010-09-13T16:48:00.000-05:00

The stars aligned just right today. I remembered to turn on the radio to a talk program I like AND had enough quiet in the house to listen and not go crazy. I even tried to call in, but by the the skies must have shifted and the kids started yelling. Or maybe it was just that at 11:30 my boys turn into hungry gremlins.

The radio program is The Christopher Gabriel Show, and we are lucky enough to be friends - IN PERSON- with both Christopher & his amazing wife Wendy. Their oldest daughter, big C, was in Leah's class last year, and although she's being homeschooled this year, it has not changed the fact that Leah and big C are cut from fairly identical cloth. Little C is a bit younger than Ben, and keeps things lively.

Anyway, CG always teases that I don't listen to his program. But it's nothing personal - I don't really listen to ANY radio while at home, but if I do, it's his. So there.

Today I caught that The Christopher Gabriel Show was going to be discussing a restaurant that had hung a sign saying, "Screaming Children WILL NOT be tolerated!". Apparently the restaurant has seen an increase in traffic, rather than ~~the~~ my predicted decrease.

I have no problem with people not wanting to listen to a screaming kid. It's not like I personally enjoy it, either. And if a kid IS screaming, and the parents are ignoring the child, then yes, go ahead and point out the fact that they are in PUBLIC and maybe they might want to try to parent, hmm?

If a kid is screaming and can't be consoled, most reasonable parents will leave until the child is calmed down. And if you have a child prone to screaming fits, I don't think "eating out" is at the top of your list. We are currently in the phase of Adam's life I like to refer to as "the no-restaurant zone". Since Adam was about nine months old, we have avoided restaurants except when traveling. Oh, we still eat out once in awhile, but it is much rarer than before. This is purely for our convenience - babies from about 9mo- 18 mo are just a pain to feed away from home. They are messy, eat specific foods (peas but not beans), and tend to have an attention span of approximately 3 seconds. Also, they have NO patience for waiting for food to arrive.

If we DO decide to go out to eat, we take turns walking Adam around the restaurant sight-seeing (which may be more annoying to some patrons, but can you not smile at his drooling, grinning face? I don't think so.) We also bring snacks and let him play with the crayons and kids' menus that are provided at the restaurants we frequent. Also, we hand him spoons and butter knives. But we have learned not to let him play with the creamer cups.

But still.

Here's my problem: Does this sign give you a general warm feeling about this restaurant? Um, no. Not as a parent, but even just as a human being. "Will not be tolerated" is not a phrase that I associate with "Come on in and let us serve you!"

Also, if screaming children will not be tolerated, I would hope that the following would not be tolerated, either:

1) Obnoxious laughing (the kind you can hear across restaurant)
2) Swearing
3) Dirty jokes
4) Excessive alcohol consumption

and also, from the restaurant itself (as long as we're making rules!)

1) rudeness from staff
2) having to track down the check so we can leave
3) a sticky seat...or table

But I don't like to dwell TOO long on the negatives. Here are the things that I LUUURVE about past restaurants:
1) servers who talk to the kids and seem to genuinely enjoy them
2) being given extra napkins - and even an extra plate!
3) drinks refilled without us noticing

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What do you think about the "no screaming kids" sign? Would you go in with kids? Or without kids? Have you had a really great experience at a restaurant lately? What made it great - one thing, or lots of little things?

Thumb leaning towards green-ish

2010-09-10T22:27:00.002-05:00

I was raised by a mother with not one, but two green thumbs. There may have even been a few greenish fingers in there too, and if it happened to be pea shelling time, that was very literal. Our garden was a quarter of an acre, and was fueled by 100% people power. Okay, a tractor tilled it up. But from there on out, the planting, watering, weeding (and weeding and weeding), and of course harvesting, was all done by Mom and us four kids. A few times we had friends join us for snapping beans - there were bags and bags of them - 8 kids and 2 moms going at it! Insane. And then the freezing and canning started.

This may give you some insight into why I feel like gardening is something I must do. Even if my own personal feelings lean more towards the ambivalent than the passionate.

Adam tests out the dirt in the new garden bed. He got a bath afterwards.

Aaron built me these gorgeous garden beds. We had some in our old house too, but with the move in the middle of the summer, and then Adam being born in June last year, the gardens got delayed a bit until this year.

I start out strong - choosing which veggies to plant, buying the seeds, and even making a chart of what will go where. Leah and I planted those garden beds this year, and it was every bit as picturesque as I'd always imagined - mother and daughter bonding over putting these little capsules of potential into the warm earth. We quickly decided that beans were a better choice for her first planting experience, rather than lettuce - hence the random lettuce growing on the side of the yard!

Aaron wisely put the garden beds along a sprinkler line, and put new sprinkler heads in so that with a turn of a wheel we could water just the garden beds (not even the whole lawn), and not have to fight the mosquitos to do it.

Oh yeah.. The mosquitos. Those nasty buggers are one of the reasons for the lackadasical progression of my gardening. One hand was picking, and the other was smacking and swiping as fast as possible. Makes you appreciate the "gathering" part of "hunting and gathering" a little more - it becomes a contact sport.

Because the beds are raised, weeds aren't too much of a problem. When it comes to harvesting...you'd think I'd be a little more excited. But after the 10th day of having salad twice a day, the enthusiasm, it tends to wain a bit.

It's too bad that those veggies don't pace themselves out more. I might be more happy to see them. But none are more welcome than the snow peas. Raw or cooked, we eat 'em up!

Adam approves the snow peas.

And the dirt. Again. But isn't he just ridiculously cute?

And beets! They are the size of baseballs, or even softballs.

At some point at the beginning of August, Aaron usually accuses me of being a hypothetical gardener and claims that he's doing all the work, and usually he's pretty much right. So I step up my gardening and try to justify planting another one next year. As much as I might get tired of the overflow (green beans at least 3 times a week for a month? Um, SURE!), I love being able to go pick the veggies for dinner. Plus, the carrots taste WAY better than store-bought. Next year, I'm trying leeks. No beets, though.

Maybe. We'll see how I feel.

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To what degree are you are gardener? Apathetic, lukewarm, or fired up?

Things I wish my kids would learn:

2010-09-08T16:50:00.000-05:00

Adam: How to talk. He could at least use the few basic signs we've been modeling for him the last 5 months. This would be oh-so helpful, but since Ben didn't start talking until 2 yrs, I'm not holding my breath.
How to hold his own cup. The problem is that he's got his mother totally whipped into holding it for him about 95% of the time. I've seen him do it himself, but if I'm at all in the vicinity, there's a bunch of "uh-uh"ing and even HOLDING THE CUP out to me. So clearly those paws at the ends of his arms work just fine.

Ben: This one would seem obvious - poop in the toilet - but I have to say that he has really improved! In fact, over the past month, the only accidents have been when we were on vacation or had a babysitter that one time. So basically, if we are at home and in his regular routine, he does great! Now to work on those other occasions...

Leah: My girl is so smart! She's loving first grade, and now that we have started our carpool (another neighbor mom brings her home) so am I. But she really needs to learn to tie her shoes. And again, the fault lies mostly with her mother.

You see, when other parents were teaching their kids to tie their shoelaces, I was blithely buying sneakers with velcro and not really worrying about tying at all. That was all fine until she need new shoes for tennis lessons this summer. And there just wasn't a very good selection of decent athletic shoes in her size, much less a choice with velcro. ALSO, Aaron has mentioned several times that those velcro shoes don't tighten up enough to stay securely on the foot (as demonstrated by both Leah and Ben losing their shoes on the soccer field).

So we got honest-to-goodness tennis shoes with laces. And I did work with Leah a bit on tying, but she definitely never hit the mastery level.

Now Leah has gym class 2-3 times a week, and because it's a small gym that gets used for a lot of activities (like, EVERYTHING), the kids need to keep shoes at school so they are clean for gym class.

After the first day of gym, I asked what she did about her laces. She said, "Well, Jordan tied one, and Caleb tied the other." Oh dear. The second day, her teacher tied them - and mentioned that she should learn to do it herself- and then Blake tied one in class that had come undone.

Clearly, we have a problem. I pointed out that she really needed to learn to tie her shoes, and she offered a solution: "I know how to tie knots! Why can't I just tie a double knot?" Um, 'cause there would still be laces dragging on the floor. "How about a triple knot? Or a quadriple knot?" Nice try.

Unfortunately for this particular step of independence, Leah has no pride issues about asking for help. I said, "Wouldn't it be silly if you had to have another kid zip your coat for you?", and she answered, "Actually, I had to do that today because it was tricky!"

She gets away with this because she's so much smaller than the rest of the kids, I'm sure. She tends to become a class pet.

One who need her shoes tied and her jacket zipped. At least she brings her own food and is house-trained.

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What step of independence do you remember learning? When was it obvious that you (or your child) needed to learn that skill?

So far, all limbs are intact.

2010-09-07T11:12:00.001-05:00

Friday was one of those days.

Sometimes Aaron comes home and asks, “So, what did you do all day?” And sometimes all I have to contribute is: “I kept three kids alive! Isn’t that enough?!”

But that day I would have to add, “I BARELY kept three kids alive.”

The list of victims started with Ben. We had overnight guests, including 2 boys. Ben and the boys were running around, of course, and at one point, Ben threw himself back onto the ottoman. Which happened to be pushed up against the fireplace hearth. His head made contact, crying ensued, and Mommy gave out hugs and kisses. A few seconds later, he was off running and playing again. Another few seconds later, and my palm was sticking to my keyboard… with blood. Is it bad that I first checked my white shirt before calling Ben back? The back of his head was bloody in an area about the size of my palm.

In one of my more genius parenting moments, I chose a dark colored washcloth to blott his hair, knowing that if he saw the blood, his crying (which had started again) would quickly turn to panic. After getting cleaned up, he seemed fine – I couldn’t find the cut, and it stopped bleeding on its own, so I figured that stitches wouldn’t be necessary.

We managed to get through the rest of the morning and naptime unscathed, but the day’s next victim was poor baby Adam. We were all outside, and he decided to take a stroll on the sidewalk. Unfortunately for him, I foolishly attempted to “help” him by holding his hand…which only prevented him from catching himself when he fell. One bloody lip was the result, but it quickly developed into a swollen lip worthy of many inquiries from an amazed father. “WHAT did you do? HOW HARD did he fall?!” I assured him several times that Adam had fallen from his own height – I hadn’t dropped or thrown him. Thankfully, a neighbor friend was there in case a witness is ever needed.

Oh, and he's cutting his two top canine teeth, hence the immense amount of drooling going on right now. I'm not sure if the runny nose is related to teething or a separate symptom, but basically his face is oozing liquid 80 % of the day. And apparently his face is mosquitoes favorite food.

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Saturday we headed to the Cities to visit my brother, his lovely wife, and their 2 adorable boys, David (20 months) and Henry (2 1/2 months). Needless to say, all three mobile boys quickly became best buds and bitter rivals. Especially concerning a particular toy motorcycle, which was threatened with several time outs.

Sunday morning the injury streak started again, with Adam crashing down a couple of steps onto a hard floor. The result was a bruise the size of a finger on the side of his face - MY finger.

Throughout the day, I kept insisting that it seemed to be fading and not getting too dark, based on my own experience that deeper bruises don't show up immediately, as Adam's did. Aaron was doubtful, and continued to question my parenting skills. I have to admit, my track record for the weekend did not look good.

Later Sunday morning, SIL Jess and I ventured to a park with all five children. Within minutes, Ben pooped in his underwear. Thankfully, there was a portapotty nearby, so we got him changed quickly. After about a half hour of playing and snacks, the kids wanted to move over to the swingset. As I hoisted Adam and all my gear (jackets, purse, diaper bag), Adam belched and up came some of the crackers. Thankfully, that was pretty much all it was, but it managed to hit my pants, sweatshirt, and the diaper bag. Lovely.

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Monday morning I went to Super Target with Leah to pick up some shoes & leggings for her, and lunch for everyone. (If we had a Super Target here, I think I would buy myself California rolls on every visit.)

When I returned - which was NOT two hours later, as Aaron insisted, Adam had a NEW BRUISE on his face! This time, an inverted V on his forehead. Our guess was that he fell on one of the blocks he'd been carrying around.

As we drove home that afternoon, we'd glance back at Adam passed out, leaning forward in his seat against his straps, drool running down his chin, face covered in bruises and mosquito bites, and just marvel that we hadn't been to the hospital yet.

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This is the kind of photo that is responsible for all those younger siblings out there:

Adam sat and "read" books while Henry played.

And this is what happens when the baby is removed.

Progress

2010-09-01T11:54:00.003-05:00

School has started. So that's it. It's all done. It's all she wrote. Summer is over.

Except for those last few 80 degree days that we may still have, and Aaron might be talked into putting up the inflatable waterslide one more time, or at least to hook up the slip & slide. Folks, we may not ever have a pool, but we DO like our water!

Leah has returned to school, with no immediate plans for homeschooling. I still think she's a little disappointed though, especially when she heard about how the boys and I all took naps the other day. It was the first hint I've had from her that school is tiring -she said, "I wish *I* could take a nap!" The girl hasn't had a nap (except during extended travel or sickness) since she was about 3 years old!

I informed her that although this week I've been hauling the boys into the school to walk her to class in the morning, next week I would like to just drop her off. "Disgruntled" would be the best way to describe her reaction. Not that I can blame her too much - there are WAAAY more kids here than at her school last year (same school, different campus), and last year the oldest kids were 3rd graders. Here, it's up to seniors.

What makes me so much more comfortable about this is that I personally know quite a few of those big kids, and Leah even knows several from VBS and other church functions. I also know that a handful of those students have a particular gift for working with kids, and are kind enough to help her if needed.

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Ben has started his "schoolwork", also. He did his first lesson wearing only a t-shirt and undies. Aaron asked why, and I explained that he had asked earlier if he could wear only undies, and since I was waiting for him to poop, I let him. And what is the point of homeschooling if you can't do your lessons in your underwear? I ask you.

It was either the comfort of not wearing pants, the cuddling and one-on-one with mom, or the confidence that comes from knowing all the material, but he enjoyed it so much that he got upset when I said we were finished. The next day we took naps instead, and I got earfull for that, too! Yesterday we had a lively discussion on markers vs. crayons, read a Bible story, learned a memory verse, and read a few storybooks. Today Ben talked Daddy into doing schoolwork while I was out for a bit, and got to randomly pick what pages to do. He chose the review pages at the end of the book, and seemed to get it just fine.

Oops.

This year may be a big self-esteem boost for him, but is that so bad, really? He has started to write his own name, which stuns me, since a few months ago he refused to even TRY to write any letters. I have also learned, via the evaluation section, that although Ben can identify the alphabet in capital letters, but not in lower case, and neither can he recite the alphabet. Something to work on!

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Adam is walking, people! Have I neglected to mention that lately! The child waited until after his 1st birthday to start crawling. But in the last couple of weeks he has rapidly improved his upright motion. The best part is the huge grin on his face the whole time. You just know he's bursting with pride at his mad walking skills.

He rarely crawls anymore. He may not get from point A to point B without falling a few times, but he gets right back up and continues on. When he walks towards you, however, be ready to catch him...he walks just far enough, and then falls the rest of the way.

Because no matter how cool independence is, a hug from mom or dad is worth a tumble!

I've been reading, not writing...

2010-08-25T21:09:00.004-05:00

More reading has probably been done this summer than any other project. Kinda sad, huh? Especially since this weather has been nearly perfect. Before you start scolding me about how I should be getting outside more (guilty), let me assure you that most of that reading has happened after the kiddos are in bed. And a lot of that has actually been after 10pm, which is officially TOO LATE.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

By now you (if you are a reader, anyway) have probably read the first two books of this trilogy. And if you haven't, you probably should, especially if you like post-apocalyptic and/or young adult fiction. Most of us in the book club were nearly fanatical about the first book, including our member E who was hesitant to read it for fear it would be "gross". I assured her it wasn't, and after reading, she agreed.

Which is odd, since it's basically about kids killing each other for sport.

The formula would look something like this: Survivor + Lord of the Flies+ The Lottery+ The Truman Show. But despite the sum of it's parts, the story is told in such a way that lets you like the main character Katniss, instead of being repelled by the brutishness. Of course, you are SUPPOSED to be repelled - just enough to hate the government that is behind the whole insanity, but not enough to close the book.

And that is the hardest thing to do. I read this first book, and the second, Catching Fire, in about 1 1/2 sittings each. The third (and last!) book, Mockingjay, came out a few days ago, and I can't wait to dig into it. And can you please tell me WHAT the point of pre-ordering a book on Amazon is if I can't get it immediately?

Of course the movie will be coming out shortly. And I'll probably be in line for that, too. I love me a good series! (As a disclaimer, I should admit that Aaron was not so enthralled, and actually preferred the Twilight series for plot AND writing style. But since he's so good with the kids and doesn't hassle me about mowing the lawn, I'll keep him around.) (Just kidding, honey. I love you!)

Romancing Miss Bronte by Juliet Gael

A couple of things right away:
1) This author has the most romantic-sounding name. I kept thinking it was the name of a character.
2) I felt like a total sucker for picking this book off the library shelf. "Hey, are you a middle-aged woman who likes Jane Austen and a good romance? I wrote this book just for you!" In fact, I almost put it back just to show it who was REALLY in charge. But it turns out they profiled me perfectly.

And it wasn't that bad. It is a the fictionalized story of the three Bronte sisters, based on letters and biographies available. Charlotte becomes the main character, since she outlives the other two ladies and publishes the most popular book of the three, Jane Eyre.

The most interesting thing about the writing was how the author told the story from a 3rd person perspective, but let us see characters thoughts, and then turned to a narrator talking about future events. Odd, but smoothly done.

At Home in Mitford by Jan Karon

Yeah, this is one series that's been around for quite awhile. So long, in fact, that my mother-in-law not only read them all, but has already donated them to a library...or somewhere. Several of the book club ladies are fans, so when I found Book One in a used book store earlier this summer, I grabbed it. Our trip to visit Aaron's family out West provided some lovely unoccupied time to check it out.

And....nothing really happens. There are lots of little escapades and such concerning Father Tim and his flock, but the connecting link is his flowering romance with a neighbor lady. Oh, did I mention Father Tim is 60 years old? So this is definitely NOT falling into the "bodice ripper" category...no offence to you 60 year olds out there. I don't want to know who are.

This book also spends a lot of time talking about food. I honestly never noticed this oddity of novels until I read a review of Twilight that pointed out how often Meyer describes Bella cooking dinner for her dad. WHY do we need to know what fictional characters have for breakfast, lunch, and dinner? Just weird.

I spent an entire day reading this leisurly little book. And I enjoyed it. Also, I find myself daydreaming about the next books that are waiting for me in the church library...

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

This was a recent book club read, and since it's been on the best seller lists and every other book club is reading it, this is also old news, probably.

But the news is: It's great! This was another that I read in about 2 sittings, even with Southern dialect and alternating points of view. It takes place in Jackson, Mississippi in the middle of the civil rights battles of the 1960s. We all enjoyed it.

Unfortunately, we all also had a hard time staying on topic. Instead we discussed:
- making your own vanilla extract with vanilla beans and vodka
- bear attacks in Yellowstone Park (including the fates of the bears, zoo vs. euthanasia, the possibility of the bears having a mental illness...which S. suggested would make them "bi-polar bears")
- homeschool vs tradition schooling
- uniforms, pros & cons
- popularity & how kids dress (CB declared that professors' kids were flat out of luck...)
- danger in unfamiliar locations - which was actually prompted by the book (and S's quote "There's a reason we don't carry our important papers. 'Cause they're important!")
- racial impact of Arizona's immigrant law (Wow, did this one cause dissension in the ranks!)

And another prompted by the book - and used as a distraction from the previous topic -
- beauty treatments. And breast enhancement/reduction surgeries.

Because no book club meeting is complete without some discussion about boobs.

Mr. Sensitive

2010-08-13T14:30:00.002-05:00

My new motto for Ben: THIS IS NOT SOMETHING TO CRY OVER.

Examples falling in this category:

Shirt is inside out.
Can't find other shoe.
Adam is in the same room.
Told to go sit on the toilet.
Underwear doesn't magically appear in the bathroom when needed.
Underwear is inside out.
Dad is ready to leave before you are. (No, he will NOT leave without you. Yes, you should have gone potty 5 minutes ago when I first told you!)
Leah is not playing Little People with you.
Have to finish dinner.
Have to finish a carrot before being done with dinner.
Have to finish the meat before having seconds of noodles.
Food dropping on the floor.
Mud on your legs.
A fly is in the van.

I'm really trying not to use the phrase I heard a lot growing up (not necessarily said to me!): "Stop crying or I'll give you something to cry about!"

But it's hard, friends.

Also, he's kinda cute.

2010-08-12T11:40:00.003-05:00

Another thunderstorm in the middle of the night. Another visit from Leah, wanting to sleep with us. This time, she agreed to sleep on the floor next to our bed. From now on, if a thunderstorm is predicted, I'll be prepared.

Last night Ben also had one of his few bed-wetting episodes, requiring a visit from Mommy to help change pj's and put a towel over the wet spot on his bed.

For the record, our/my evening looked like this:

11pm - to bed
2:30 - up to help Ben
4:30 - up to get Leah settled on the floor
7am - Adam up (and this is the child who has been sleeping until 8am lately)

Thankfully, Daddy got up with Adam and the rest of the kids, so I got an extra hour of uninterrupted sleep.

And I have friends with preemie newborns, kids with feeding tubes, and MULTIPLE children who wake up from storms. All in all, I count myself lucky.

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The other night for dinner I thought, "Huh! I have several items in the fridge that might work together well in a salad!" Leftover grilled chicken, lots of salad greens, Mandarin oranges... it sounded promising.

And it was, until I decided to add to the mix the chow mien noodles (which were moved into this house, I'm fairly certain, making them at least 2 years old). And then shred some Parmesan cheese. And use Cesar dressing.

And that, my friends, is at least two moldy flavors too many.

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If you are a fan of Modern-Day Jane on Facebook, you got hints of this next bit yesterday. If not, what are you waiting for?! You are, like, TOTALLY missing out.

As I'm sure I've discussed before, Leah and Ben were not only remarkably easy babies, but they were also remarkably SIMILAR babies. And then we had Adam. He seems bent on breaking my every expectation of babyhood.

When Leah was born, I bought a tube of diaper rash cream. Just to be prepared.

I used the same tube for Ben. There was still about half left when Adam came along! And now we've been through about 3 more. The kid seems to be constantly on the verge of a mild rash, and it occasionally flares up. (Doesn't seem to be allergy related, since he got even while exclusively nursing.)

At the most severe, we decided to stop the zinc oxide based cream (which wasn't helping anyway) and instead try something petroleum based. For the last several months, Vaseline has been our diaper-changing companion. It seems to help, and bonus! makes poo come off his bum much easier.

If only it came out of clothes that easily. Yesterday we found Adam in the Vaseline container, with the stuff up to his elbows. And on the carpet. But mostly, on the front and diaper area of his outfit, as if he was trying to put it on himself. Aaron was the last one to change him, and swears he put the cap on the container. If that's so, our baby may be an evil genius.

He's also figured out that pressing buttons on the CD player will get a magnificent reaction from his sister and that ketchup makes almost everything taste better.

In his favor? He is definitely the best of the three at sleeping in new locations. Yesterday he even napped at a friend's house for a while. I never would have attempted that with either of those other two kids.

So I guess we'll keep him around.

No mean ladies on bikes, either.

2010-08-09T21:49:00.006-05:00

We drove straight through Tornado Alley TWICE last week, but only saw a tornado once we got back to North Dakota. There we were, driving the home stretch, discussing whether or not Ben had pooped his pants yet, and Aaron turns his head and says, "There's a tornado over there!" And I'm all, "Whaa?"

It was so weird because the weather around us was totally fine. Sun shining, everything. I don't know what I expected...flying cows, I guess. Or flying SOMETHING.

But of course I grabbed my camera. The photos aren't the best, but we sure didn't want to get any closer. Aaron's parents were driving ahead of us and had stopped in a nearby city for supper - the sirens were going off and fire engines were in the street ready for action. Fortunately no one was injured although two farmsteads were destroyed.

On the news that night it was reported that the tornado was on the ground for 20 minutes. We probably saw most of it, including the end where it went back up into the clouds. It was only once we were past the storm that we could see how scary that big cloud actually did look. And a few days later it was determined to be an EF4 tornado.

On a scale of 5.

Yeah. I'll stay 20 miles away, thankyouverymuch.

What, you're still here?!

2010-08-09T21:15:00.002-05:00

I'm not even going to try to catch you up on all that has been happening around here. I know I've left you out of the loop, but I honestly feel that you will survive just fine, mostly by living your own lives.

Today, Adam spent almost the entire morning in a full-out tantrum. Wailing, sobbing, rolling on the ground, you name it. After the first 10 minutes or so, he dragged himself over to me (I had left after five minutes of the drama), pulled himself up on the chair, made those hiccupy gasps that indicate a return of self-control, and reached his arms up to me. How can a mommy resist? He sat on my lap for a long time, just relaxing, and occasionally giving me hugs and resting his head on my shoulder. Worth the previous torture session? Yes.

Too bad we were doomed to repeat this scene the rest of the morning, with mommy being less and less of a sucker. Lunch was followed by a 2 1/2 hr nap, which again, almost made the saga worthwhile.

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Also, Adam is pretty much a one-nap kid now. The mornings can get a bit rough, but if we do an earlier lunch, we all survive in one piece. Of course, this is all because he's been going to bed about an hour later than usual and then waking up an hour (or more) later than usual. School is going wreak havoc with this great schedule.

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Now that I brought it up, what exactly ARE we doing about school, anyway? My nerd of a daughter is actually disappointed that we aren't going to homeschool this year. Apparently what sold her on the idea was my explaining that we could do school anywhere, even on trips. She chimed in, "Yeah, so when we're at a hotel, Ben and I can do our homework there!" Tell me, what kind of future does a kid like that have? One of being stuffed into lockers and having her books pushed onto the floor. Better homeschool her just to save her from herself.

And we just might - but not this year. I need more time to convince myself and feel prepared and educated about all the options for curriculum and activities. This year, we will indeed be making the MUCH longer commute to the other campus. Time to figure out some carpool options.

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Aaron and I flew the coop last week and drove down to Kansas City to see his brother JJ and SIL EJ, and of course our niecy-poo MVJ. It is a 9 hour drive (we stopped overnight on the way down), and we were only there for a day and a half, but it was a great trip. For one thing, it was lovely to discover that we still like each other. With 3 kids running everywhere, it's so easy to get wrapped up in the day-to-day annoyances. It was also good to have time to really talk about things...like homeschooling...without interruptions.

And it is HOT in Kansas City. I went to my first two years of college at Cottey, just an hour south, and the heat and humidity had me reminiscing about serving as an Orientation leader. And hauling luggage up 3 flights of steps in August. With no air conditioning. I have never been so glad to live in North Dakota. Just saying the name feels like a tall drink of lemonade in this kind of weather.

It was sooo fun to spend time with MVJ (now a very charming 18 months old) without my own kids to take care of. What a blessing that she likes me! I was able to carry her periodically, giving her poor mommy a break (seriously, EJ, you need to pare down the diaper bag!) Her kisses are precious, and really the best way to wake up is to have her climb onto your air mattress. Being a truly indulgent auntie is such a wonderful joy.

*******************************************
We have more adventures planned for this week, so tune in later on! Maybe I'll even post some of photos of the tornado we drove next to on the way back from Kansas! (No flying cows. Sorry.)

Back to School. Maybe.

2010-07-30T16:18:00.002-05:00

Just a few short months ago, I was so confident in Leah's educational future. She would continue to attend the Christian private school through graduation, unless she decided at some point that she would like to try public school. Then there would be a discussion.

But it turns out the discussion is happening now. Because of the 10 kids in Leah's class, 1 is repeating kindergarten, 2 are going to public school, 2 are switching to the other campus (ours is just preK-3rd, the other is K-12), 1 may be homeschooled, and the other is a big ol' question mark since the dad lost his job recently. The leaves Leah and 2 boys as the only "for sure"s from her class.

And that is NOT a full class, my friends.

There are several options:

1. 1st grade will most likely only be offered at the other campus, which would require a MUCH longer morning and afternoon commute. Our commute is already complicated by a baby who could be napping during pick-up times.

2. We could attend the other campus, but carpool with another family.

3. Leah could attend another Christian school, which happens to be very close to the one she attended last year, so our commute would be similar.

4. We could homeschool.

Just to be clear, homeschooling is neither a foreign nor a favorite concept around our house. Aaron was basically homeschooled for a good portion of his elementary/high school education, and even *I* was homeschooled for my kindergarten year. We have many friends who homeschool and love it, including potentially Leah's best friend from class last year and neighbors across the street.

Keeping Leah at home has many positives:

1. We'd save a bundle of cash.

2. Our schedules would be waaaay more flexible...no worrying about how late Adam sleeps or when he naps. Vacations could happen whenever we want. (Can you say 'Disney World in October'? Yessss.)

3. Leah is a self-motivated learner - meaning, she could basically learn in a box. Homeschooling her would be a breeze. We could probably do her classwork super fast, and she could move at her own pace.

4. I could supplement the normal 1st grade curriculum with stuff she's interested in, like Spanish. (Heaven help us all if we go that direction. Professor Brown would be horrified at the thought of my teaching ANYONE Spanish.) And of course, I COULD do this regardless of our decision.

5. This could be a good intro to homeschooling for Ben, who may actually require it, especially if he hasn't figured out the whole pooping-in-the-toilet thing by kindergarten time. I may do a preschool curriculum with him anyway, just to make sure he's ready for school in a year.

Of course, there are a few negatives as well:

1. I would be in charge of Leah's education. This might be a positive for others, but it totally overwhelms me. I like trusting someone else to make all those decisions, as long as I trust the decider.

2. Leah loves school. Last year she adored everything about school: her teacher, her classmates, learning about God, and doing the schoolwork.

3. I feel loyal towards her school, even though we've only attended one year. Lots of my friends work there or have kids there, and our nephew graduated from there.

4. Leah is a great kid to have in a classroom. From my former-teacher perspective, she is a good influence: excited about learning, but respectful of others. Her teacher last year said she was a good friend and helper to others in the class, and actually told us we couldn't take her away to homeschool when I mentioned it!

5. That self-motivated learner part? Worrisome. I'm not a super fan of skipping grades (although I have seen it work out just fine.) But the possibility of her going to college at sixteen scares the stuffing out of me.

6. Have you ever tried curriculum shopping before? Oh my word. I get stress headaches just thinking about it.

7. Oh yeah, then there's that whole "having only two kids for most of the day" part. I was kind of looking forward to that.

8. I'd probably still be going a lot of places where Leah would end up being the only kid her age, stuck with a lot of little kids. She'd get used to it, yes, and would adapt, but it would still stink.

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So. I have lots of lists, but no conclusion. Aaron thinks that I might love homeschooling, but I'm not so sure. And if I DO love it, that would require a whole reconfiguration of our future as imagined by me. What a pain.

I don't really want to hear all about your decision, either! That's so unfair, I know, since I just made you listen to all this gobbledegook. But even though homeschooling/private school/ public school worked wonderfully for your family, EVERY FAMILY is different. So your experience really has no bearing on ours.

But please, feel free to tell me how you had doubts and questions, but your kid turned out intelligent and normal anyway. Tell me how kids are resilient, and one year couldn't possibly damage her entire life. Tell me to breathe. Tell me to continue encouraging her learning in any way I can, even if it becomes the focus of my own life. Tell me it's okay to let my life completely revolve around my kids. Tell me that the most important thing is what is the best option for MY KIDS, not the best for me, or the school, or everyone else's kids.

So why am I telling all of you this? Because you've probably had some concerns and issues regarding your child's education, and if you haven't yet, you will. At some point. Especially if you think you have it all figured out.

We did almost lose a wading pool once, though.

2010-07-27T10:32:00.004-05:00

Last night we got another big lightening and thunderstorm. Why do these storms (our 3rd biggie of the summer) never come in the afternoon? Why always at 1am? Leah must have some input on that, since she's decided she's afraid of thunder and must sleep with Mom when a storm hits. I think she just likes the cuddling and can't sleep, but who am I to argue?

When any severe weather hits these days, I find myself getting a jolt of adrenaline, and not because I have dreams of being a storm chaser.

It's because I grew up on a farm.

This farm is in western North Dakota, where mild weather is an unheard of thing. It's never rather warm - it's sweltering. It's never dryish - it's parched. It's never kinda wet - it's sopping. It's never cool - it's chilly. And that's just the summer! The amount of perfect summer weather can be measured in hours, usually between 6 and 8 in the morning.

During the time I lived on the farm, the area was experiencing a drought. For about five years, the rain was so minimal that the garden was constantly being watered by us, not nature, and there were actual prairie fires. You know, like in Little House on the Prairie. That we beat out with towels. (Nevermind that they were usually lit by a spark from our burning garbage. Just as scary, my friends!)

Because the house is about a century old and of course has no air conditioning, the windows were almost always strategically open.

The few times it rained, it never sprinkled - it downpoured. And so the cry would go out from my mom: "Shut all the windows! Get the laundry in!" and all four of us would fly out of the living room where we were slavishly watching TV reruns and slam the wood frames shut, and then run out to yank the jeans and towels (and undies, and socks...) off the clothesline and into baskets to haul into the house.

At least once we got hit with a huge windstorm, in which we added to that list of emergency precautions: grab everything that isn't nailed down, or it'll end up in the next county.

Hail added another dimension: nothing to do but survey the damage afterwards. Farmers dread hail like no other weather induced failure - with a drought, you KNOW the crops will be poor. But hail takes an otherwise promising yield and pulverizes it in mere minutes.

Aaron sometimes wonders, when it starts raining really hard, why I whip my head around to the windows, even though we usually have them shut to preserve the precious air conditioning. If only he could see the list in my head: Do plants need to be brought in? Is there anything outside that shouldn't be? Is everything secured?

And of course, because we are city folk, the answers are usually: No. No. Yes.

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Any memories of severe summer weather? Thankfully we never had a tornado that I remember - but we may have been down in the basement a few times.

Or maybe I'll just have a Sprite.

2010-07-26T19:57:00.004-05:00

I really REALLY want to, but I'm not gonna. I'm NOT gonna bi- I mean complain - about how the kids have been sick and driving me crazy (those are separate things. Sick kids are great - they sleep a lot.) You don't really care very much out the "check engine" light coming on in the van or how the air conditioner needs a new circuit board, but really just needs to be replaced. (It's a whopping 5 years old.) And I'm positive that you are tired of hearing about poop, so I won't mention how Ben had a major (#1 AND #2) accident tonight, two feet from the toilet. And how I totally lost my temper and had to apologize afterwards.

Instead, I'll tell you the positive things that have happened lately:

1. Leah did her Sand Art project which she received as a birthday present, and it went surprisingly well! It looks good, and the mess was contained to the newspaper workspace - outside.

2. We have fun things planned for the next 3 days, and 2 of those involve dinners that I don't have to worry about.

3. Adam can climb steps REALLY WELL.

4. Aaron put up our new baby gate today. Here's hoping that at least Leah can figure out how to open it!

5. Leah and I de-cluttered her room.

6. I got both kid bedrooms dusted, and the whole upstairs vacuumed. (If this sounds like your typical morning, please note that these duties happen maybe twice a year.)

7. Tomorrow I get to leave the house (with kids, of course) since we had a fever-free day today! Woot!

8. A friend made a special trip to bring me a new pair of sunglasses!

9. And another friend made a special trip to bring me coconut M & M's!

10. Have I mentioned that I have awesome friends?

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But still...

Tonight, as I was arguing with Ben to get him to finish eating last..freaking...bites... of supper and trying to satiate a whining Adam, Aaron announced that he was going to tennis. In 15 minutes.

"Fine. (deep sigh) Go ahead. Come home whenever you want." (We go for dramatics at our house.)

"Sweet. I'll be home at 10."

"Okay. Then I'm leaving."

"To go where?!"

"Somewhere that's open at 10."

He then pointed out the obvious that I would have NO CHOICE but to purchase an alcoholic beverage, since the only places open after 10 around here are bars. No offense, honey, but DUH. I'm hardly what you'd call a drinker - or even a social drinker - but sometimes, that "daily margarita special" sign on the Mexican restaurant just down the street looks pretty darn tempting.

The last half of last century was okay, too.

2010-07-23T15:51:00.002-05:00

Today has been spent waiting for the rain to fall. And it just keeps clearing up and getting cloudy all over again.

In between trying to predict the weather, Ben got sick. I knew something was off when he had a total meltdown at a friend's house because the boy was chasing him with a squirt gun. After he had said "Stop!". How dare that child act like a perfectly normal 4 year old boy. Sheesh.

Ben's meltdown was not an angry one, however. It was a sobbing, emotional mess. Something was up.

After he refused to eat his lunch because people were looking at him, I convinced him to let me take his temperature. That confirmed my suspicions: 99.9. Not an official fever, but not normal, either.

He took a nap right away, then ate some of his lunch, and then finally took some medicine (in juice with a straw. Difficult.) Before meds, temp of 100.3. After, he's outside playing in the sandbox.

I love living in this century.

The Manny

2010-07-19T18:05:00.002-05:00

Our nephew Marlin has been staying here for a couple of days, so of course I took advantage of him and left him home with the baby while I ran some errands. (Oh, did I mention that he's 21? No, I'm not leaving the kids with an 8 yr old!) He doesn't seem to mind too much, and actually plays with the kids.

After the errands, we loaded up and headed to a wading pool. These wading pools are awesome - clean, staffed, lightly populated, parks next door, and FREE. So if you have to leave after a half hour, it's not too big of a deal.

We have made some great trips to the wading pool, but today was, sadly, not one of them.

Minor Catastrophe #1: I forgot Adam's swim suit. I DID remember the swim diapers, which would have made this a MAJOR catastrophe. The main problem was that his swim suit includes a shirt. And as Adam's auntie Korina says, "We've got to keep his marshmallow skin looking like a marshmallow!" I doused him with sunscreen twice, but he was still starting to look a little pink towards the end. This evening, though, he looks okay.

Also, this baby LOVES the water. All the kids loved baths from their very first one, but Leah and Ben were both pretty wary of pools and lakes. Adam, however, has shown no hesitation, not even depending on the temperature of the water. He has a blast.

Minor Catastrophe #2: I brought 3 towels. This doesn't sound like that big of a deal, right? Well, what do you do when an emotionally distraught 4 yr old wants one to get "warmed up"? If you are me, you get in a stupid battle of wills. I lost. The 10 minutes of sobbing and his gibberish attempts and asking for what he wanted finally wore me down. Then he had very specific (of course) requirements for how EXACTLY he wanted to be warmed up. I SOOO don't care. Gah!

Minor Catastrophe #3: Trying to locate all our swim toys when it was time to go. We couldn't find our squirty toys ANYWHERE. And since I knew pretty much everyone who had already headed out, I really didn't think they'd gone home with the wrong kid.

The pool staff girl rescued us. She went over to the filter box, reached past the flap, and pulled out a watering can and THREE of our toys. Mostly I was relieved that when I'd spotted one earlier, gone to that area of the pool, and then couldn't find it, I wasn't delusional.

Minor Catastrophe #4: Ben tried to balance on top of a swim noodle. On the concrete. While wrapped up in a towel. FAIL. He landed directly on his knees, then fell onto his side. Much crying ensued.

Of course, there was a ton of extra-minor catastrophes, such as keeping the sun out of Adam's eyes while getting him into, and then out of, his swim diaper, making sure he didn't drown, refereeing the kids (so glad the Manny was there, so at least they were entertained!), and making sure everything got back in the bag to go home.

While we were heading back, I told Marlin the Manny: "I haven't taken all three kids to the pool by myself yet..."

Him: "There's no need for further explanation."

And at that point I stopped feeling like a wuss. It finally sank in that it may be a matter of survival (mine, Adam's, or Ben's) to have another adult-ish person with me. At least until Adam can walk and be trusted slightly out of arm's reach. So another two years. Gah.

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Minor catastrophes at the pool? Which have made you happy to leave the pool to the relative calm of home?

The Best Way To.... (a week in review)

2010-07-17T12:47:00.007-05:00

....locate the nearest gas station: see the flashing "empty" on your gas gauge.

....make a trip to the zoo even more exciting: almost run out of gas trying to get there. The van said "0 miles per gallon" when we were within sight of the pumps. Some heavy praying was going on in the passenger seat (probably driver seat, too) which thank God was answered "Yes!".

....get a boy to poop on the potty: design incentive trips such as a visit to the "big" zoo, and going mini-golfing/go-carting. It took a month and half for Ben to "earn" (10 poops) the first trip, but in a week he's half way to the second one! Do you know how happy we are?!!

....be motivated to clean your house: agree to host several different groups of people in the same week.

....get a lot of things done: drink coffee. And (for me, at least) turn into Liz at turbo power.

....find the sleeping capacity of your house: agree to host several different groups of people in the same week. At one point, 4 adults and 1 child. At another, 3 adults (no couples!) and 2 children.

....be rudely woken up: is by a kid other than your own. Niece MVJ woke me from a much needed nap by banging my cell phone on my face and sticking her fingers in my eyes. Yes, I woke up, and No, I wasn't crabby! If it had been my OWN sweet child...that's another matter altogether.

....finally sort and file that huge pile of papers on your desk: discover a random water drip from the ceiling nearby. After about a half cup leaked out, it stopped, with no apparent source or repercussions, other than the complete clearing of the counter underneath. So weird.

....find a lost child: have friends in the media. Thanks again, CG.

....keep track of your kids: go it alone. When Aaron and I took the kids to the street fair, we lost one (and found him again). When I took them by myself to the OTHER fair in town, they were all accounted for at all times. Because there wasn't another adult for me to assume that they were with.

....identify all the potential choking hazards in your house: volunteer to babysit a friend's baby. Somehow all the things that Adam COULD be eating (but somehow hasn't yet) leaped out of the shadows before baby Asher showed up.

....keep children entertained: agree to house an adult nephew for a few days. So great! He's a free manny! The big kids WILL get their hair cut this month after all!

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It's been a great week, full of family and fun. What events happened in YOUR house last week? Here's hoping for another several days of summer perfection.

Here's your sign.

2010-07-15T19:13:00.003-05:00

Yup, it's summer. And we've been awfully busy having fun. I have lots of stuff to tell you about, but first, I have to tell you about one of my Terrifying Parenting Moments.

This week is the annual Downtown Street Fair. The fair (crafts and other similar items, lots of food!) covers about 7 or 8 blocks of Broadway, is 3 days long, and is supposedly the largest event in North Dakota. We packed the kids in the van and headed down there at about 10:30 this morning, the first day of the festivities.

And there was NO parking. No FREE parking, anyway. In the past we've been able to find a spot on a street and walk a few blocks, but there was NOTHING. So we used a parking ramp, spent a buck and didn't have to walk as far. Might be a new tradition!

Anyway, we actually bought a lawn ornament (rock/ re bar sculpture) that I've admired in past years, then watched a magician, chatted with a few friends, ate a funnel cake while watching a juggler, and in general had a good time. After a few more blocks we turned around. At one point Aaron and I admired some metal wall hangings and then noticed Curious George outside the Fargo Theater. Since Ben is kind of wary of oversized characters (and really, who can blame him?!) we walked by. About half way down the block, I realized that Ben was NOT holding onto the stroller, as I'd thought.

Last I remembered, he was holding MY hand by those metal wall hangings. Slightly worried, I retraced my steps.

No Ben.
I ran back up to Aaron, looking at all the little boys on the way: No Ben.
Ran back to the theater: No Ben.

Went to the other side of the booths and ran up a ways: No Ben.

Found Aaron again, who so helpfully said: "You still don't have him?" NO BEN!

At this point I went into full panic mode, and was imagining going home with only two kids, telling my parents, issuing an Amber Alert...you get the idea.

I was on the way to check the juggler's crowd when I ran into a friend Wendy who's husband is a radio personality. While I did some more running and scanning of small children, he got it on the air, and soon after Wendy found me and told me they had him.

THANK GOD. And I did, several times.

A lady handing out stickers had asked Ben where his mom was, and then kept him with her until two police officers joined them. At that point they heard the radio broadcast (I think - the details are a little fuzzy) and waited for me. Praise the Lord for Wendy and her hubbie, Christopher Gabriel. Knowing they were at the fair, I actually had thought, "If I can only find Christopher, I know we'll get Ben!"

Ben, of course, was totally fine. He didn't look upset at all, and had a police badge sticker to show off, as well as other stickers for him AND his siblings (isn't that sweet? He insisted on handing them out when reunited with the other half of the family.)

I held tight to his hand for the rest of the walk back to the car, and didn't even argue too much when he wanted to buy a marionette that I know I'm going to spend hours untangling.

I love him THAT much.
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What really kills me is that mere minutes before losing the child, I had been stroking my ego, thinking about how great it was that we could take 3 kids to a street fair and be fine.

That fourth kid? Not gonna happen, I'm thinking.

Oh TOODLES!

2010-07-08T20:00:00.008-05:00

The Fourth of July is traditionally a holiday that we spend with Aaron's family. It used to be that two of his sisters lived in the same small town where his parents own a motel - convenient! We could all gather there, get free rooms, and have our own space. Even better is that the motel has an apartment below the manager's house, and we've claimed it as our residence when in town, by right of having the most small children. Believe me, having that extra bedroom and a place to watch TV when the baby is sleeping makes a world of difference in the quality of our vacation.

What do the kids like best? The virtually unlimited Disney channel. Also, Adam can eat whole grapes and pluck them right of the stem! How handy is THAT?

Yes, I outfit the family in matching outfits. Kinda. Mine was the only one not coordinated, but see how I hid behind the kids? My blue shirt blends in perfectly! MUAH HAHA!

But this? This is the future "world's most patriotic baby" photo contest winner.

I was sure that Ben and possibly Leah would be watching the fireworks from the house, but my nephew A's girlfriend W saved the day. Ben started the weekend being afraid of her, but as you can see, that didn't last long. It helped that she was nice, played with the kids, and is rather pretty. Ben learned a new word - girlfriend- , though, after he kept calling her A's "babysitter". Can you blame him? The only non-family girls of that age that he knows have been paid to hang out with him. Now, if A starts doing the same, we have a problem.

Instead of hiding in the house, the kids spent the evening covering their ears. And waiting for these ginormous sparklers to burn out.

Breaking the first rule of sparklers: DON'T POINT THEM AT EACH OTHER. Unfortunately, there are about 12 other rules after that one. But how many trips to the emergency room did we have? Oh yeah - ZERO. Boo yah!

On the way back home, we stopped for lunch at Perkins. And for some crazy reason, after sitting for almost 3 hours and sleeping for two of them, Adam didn't want to sit in his high chair and play the good baby. No. He wanted to be climbing around and touching everything in sight.

This included the sugar packets and creamer cups. I kept a close eye on those packets, sure that he'd try to get them into his mouth. But he lulled me into complacency, and while we waiting for our orders, there was a loud popping noise, followed immediately by milk spraying everywhere.

The aftermath:

Guess those sharp teeth of his are good for puncturing as well as eating. Speaking of, he's currently cutting his 11th tooth, which will make his 4th molar. He ate almost an entire tuna sandwich today - that would be TWO slices of bread. He's also going up the two steps from our sunken living room, and generally tearing apart anything he get his hands on. It's so much fun! (And that was said without an ounce of sarcasm, I'll have you know. We love him THAT MUCH.)

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Did your parents dress you up matching for holidays? Have you had to seek therapy for residual issues from that experience?

Have your children (or did you?) caused any explosions? How long did they take to clean up, and did they require more than a stack of napkins?

He doesn't like peaches, either, except in pie. But I'M the picky one.

2010-07-07T20:45:00.007-05:00

First of all, the kids' photos today were a huge success, as were the bird t-shirts. I will post photos soon, and maybe I'll even talk Tara into making them the photos on my masthead. (Is that the right word? Dooce uses it, but I'm *ahem* not quite to her caliber. I mean the top of my blog page. You got that, right?)

Now to play some catch-up with past events. Over the weekend of the 4th, we spent one night at our family farm so that I could attend some of my 15th high school reunion, and oh yeah, it was the town's 125th anniversary.

Mom and Dad have been going out to the farm about every other weekend to get the house ready to be lived in full time...by them. A big BOO to them moving. But a HECK YEAH to them having Cousin Camp at the farm in the summer! I am already planning to leave the two big kids there for a week next year. (Assuming, of course, that their house here in Fargo sells soon.)

They have been making lots of preparations, but thanks to some less-than-stellar renters, it still has a long way to go. Especially in the way of furnishings, since they are currently maintaining two houses.

While we were there, the kids slept on an air mattress and did just fine, despite the 90+ degree heat during the day. I love how adaptable they are growing up to be!

Adam and his parents did not fare so well. Thankfully, Aaron let me sleep in the next morning, and when I finally got out of bed at a luxurious 7:30am (ha! haha!) I found the entire family outside. Watering plants.

And yes, the kids are in their pajamas. You have to understand that this activity made up a large portion of my existence on the farm. Watering, weeding, dusting "ledges", and hanging out laundry. Oh, and watching "Full House". How we suffered.

Then Aaron informed me that Leah had already pumped five (FIVE!) buckets of water and only stopped to holler, "I need more buckets!". She is a water-pumping prodigy.

PUMP water, you say? What century are you living in, you ask? On the farm we have this obscure thing called a WELL, and that's where we get the water that we use to water plants in the massive garden, of which Mom thankfully only planted half this year. I took this photo last year when we were silly and snuck onto the farm and even into the house on a trip to the West.

Then we went in to the reunion activities. I had been at the big concert in town the night before - Gwen Sebastian. I'm going to do a little bragging here, but she was about 3 years ahead of me in school and her little brother was in my class. I liked her because she was nice to me (that whole class was pretty great). And she's a superstar! It was a great concert (the woman sang both Sarah McLachlanAND White Snake. Can you say "range"?) and lots of folks from school were there, although it seems I missed a few that were on my list.

So anyway. The reunion. What can I say? It was good in that I felt like a mature, confident adult, not the self-conscious, nervous dork that I was. People have not changed that much, and maybe I'll just leave it at that. There are some that I'm hoping to stay in contact with, and many that it will be good to catch up with in another five or ten years. By then we will be less encumbered by small children, and hopefully get more uninterrupted conversation!

My Grandpa Henry maintains and curates the Hebron Museum, so it's his prerogative what goes into it...and wouldn't you know it, these two paintings by his son, my uncle Jim, made the cut. Although I'd personally prefer to have at least the cow one on my wall, I guess the museum is a good second place. Don't you love how enthusiastic Ben looks? Did I mention it was HOT? Inside the museum it was probably about 80 degrees. Yowzers.

I contributed to the local economy by buying a couple of beautiful glasses at the antique store Yesterday's Keepsakes (you can't just go in there and spend 30 minutes and not buy SOMETHING!), some pottery at Dacotah Clayworks (Robin almost feels like family, my mom and grandpa talk about her so often!), and three kuchens at Lapp's Grocercy & Bakery. Yum. Never have I been so glad that Aaron doesn't like rhubarb.

Tomorrow: super cute 4th of July photos!

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What happened at YOUR reunion? (I know some of you had one this year...)

How did your parents torture you? (As in, what chores did you have to do all. the. time.?)

Photographic proof is coming.

2010-07-06T22:11:00.003-05:00

We had a busy weekend filled with a class reunion, family, and traveling with 3 small children. I have lots of cute (and I mean SUPER cute) photos to prove it. But am I blogging about any of those things?
No.

I spent all evening appliqueing matching t-shirts for our annual kid photos tomorrow. And once again, my mom gets the blame.

My original idea was to put the numbers 1, 2, and 3 on shirts for the the kids to wear in their group photo. Then I made the mistake of telling Mom that, and of course she had to go all Martha Stewart on me. Her suggestion? Birds.

One large bird (swan) for Leah, 2 medium birds (owls) for Ben, and 3 small birds (chickadees?) for Adam.

And I WENT for it! This is what I cannot believe. Now I have three incredibly cute shirts and no blog post written.

Thanks a LOT, Mom. I love you.

Things I'm hoping not to hear at my high school reunion:

2010-06-30T19:07:00.003-05:00

10. "Man, you look OLD." (Standard reunion comment, I know.)

9. "Hey, I remember when you wore those smashed glasses!" (Me too. ME. TOO.)

8. "Still a nerd, huh?" (REALLY hope I don't get this one...)

7. "How many books have you read now?" (A lot. And now I even talk to people about them!)

6. "Aren't you the one who had a crush on _________?" (And I thought I'd been sooo subtle.)

5. "Aren't you the one who said something mean about Jill's haircut?" (Yep. That was me. Sorry, Jill.)

4. "Didn't I send you a Facebook friend request?" (Yep. But I don't really know you...)

3. "Didn't you go to that lesbian college?" (It was a women's college. Grow up already.)

2. "So, you don't do anything then?" (Nope, I just keep 3 kids alive every. blessed. day. Pretty much nothing.)

1. "You look exactly the same!" (Yeah. This might be my nightmare.)

I'm glad for a walk by myself. When I can get it.

2010-06-29T12:56:00.003-05:00

The Salem book club met the other day at my house, since member G was an overnight guest (with her family) for a few nights. Six members were in attendance.

Our selection was Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier (also the author of Girl with a Pearl Earring and Burning Bright, both of which the Club has read previously.) Like the other two novels, this one explores the life of a historical person, in this case, Mary Anning. Anning was one (if not THE) first to discover dinosaur fossils.

Here are some of the highlights of that conversation:
* At the end of the book, we were all pleasantly surprised to discover that much of the book is factual!
*Mary's lightening strike becomes a metaphor for her life
* The compulsive hunt for fossils is something a few could relate to, but I had to resort to the hunt for a garage-sale treasure. I just don't like dirt that much, I guess.
* Switching perspectives was good for the tempo of the book, which was slower (but none of us found it boring!)
* Elizabeth criticizes Jane Austen for giving girls (like her sister) false hope for marriage prospects - we of course thought that was a bit harsh and misguided! After all, Jane herself never married...
* Women's independence and being able to travel unescorted was one of the side themes in the novel
* Leading with a specific trait (nose, chin, hair, chest, etc...): we were wishing a personality inventory was available, and even brought up having a secret vote for those present. Thankfully it feel through - I'm not sure I want to know that I lead with my blathering tongue!
*The religion vs. science debate at the time was a major theme, and accurate for the time. Human assumptions about God's intentions lead to a lot of conflict. At this time the debate centered around the disbelief that God would allow any of his creatures to face extinction. Interesting!

Other topics discussed:
* How much freedom to give kids, and at what age? CB, on how she didn't get a bike as soon as other kids: "I was a FAST runner."
* Briefly discussed the Girl with a Dragon Tattoo books, but decided they were probably a little too graphic for our group. As I said, "If it had JUST sex and violence, I might have been okay."
* Fear of ticks. I shared my shock & horror when, during my teen years, my mother stripped to her undies on the sidewalk in front of the house to do a full-body check after picking juneberries.
* CB told about open-air showers on a trip in her college years and how, "It's horrible when someone peeks." Yes, indeed! This led to two of us singing, "There's a place in France..." and if you don't know the song, neither did ANYONE else at the meeting!
* The appeal of reading books about art - fictional books. Decided it must be because it's historical and somewhat factual. Several of us enjoy the topic, and we aren't artists or even art buffs.

When you give a mom a few hours off...

2010-06-28T16:34:00.002-05:00

...first she'll stare at you.

After she's realized what that means (FREEDOM!) she'll make a list.

After she makes a list, she'll head to the store. She'll spend half the usual time getting the same amount of groceries.

After getting groceries, she'll go to Target and buy a coffee.

After getting a coffee, she'll spend some time in the clothing section. HER clothing section.

After buying some shorts and other staples, she'll head out to her car and realize that she still has time left to kill.

WHAT?!

After weighing her options, she'll go to used bookstore or the Boys' Ranch & dilly-dally for awhile.

After having an afternoon or two off, that mom will want a few more. If you give that mom a few more afternoons off, she'll probably want to spend a couple with her husband, eating lunch at places without kid menus.

After she eats adult food, she'll probably start thinking about tasks that need to get done at home. She'll head to the local nursery to price trees.

After comparing prices & researching varieties, the husband will purchase two trees for the backyard.

And after those trees are purchased, the Handy Husband has his next job lined up! And that mom will probably have more grocery shopping to do...she'll have to make a list.

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Leah had a Park District art class this past week, right during Adam's nap time, so I was lucky enough to employ a 12 year old neighbor girl to babysit the boys while I took Leah to class, ran errands, and then picked her up again. It was a perfect "training" situation - during the day, she only had 2 of the kids, one of whom would be napping for at least half the time...and she did wonderfully. Thanks, Emily!

Aaron and I enjoyed two afternoons together, which basically ended up being lunch + errands, but still - when you are together and no kids are involved, it's a date!

But now I'm spoiled and think that maybe Emily should come over EVERY time I have shopping to do...I really enjoyed the time "off"!

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Aaron and I have a new nephew today! Hip, hip, hooray! He's so new we don't even know his name yet, but I'll bet he's completely adorable, judging from his big brother. Sooo looking forward to meeting him.

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We have plans for the weekend that may result in even more infrequent blogging, so again...you guys will have to deal by living your own lives. Enjoy it!

Hope you guys like my kids.

2010-06-23T16:24:00.004-05:00

Ben has been full of funnies lately, and I've been waiting impatiently to share them with you.

About an hour into our drive to Minneapolis the other day, Ben starts sniffing the air and says, "Why does it frell wike wobster in here?" Now, DOES he know what lobster smells like? Not that I know of. Unless he's thinking of the smell of the grocery store near the lobster tanks, which is the only thing I can think of.

Also, it did NOT smell like that in the van. Adam's butt didn't smell like hazelnut a while back either, but that was Ben's assumption.

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While we were eating at that Thai restaurant, he was eating his veggies and said, "You know dose peas in firfry? I'm into dem." I'm realizing that maybe I just find it hilarious cause he's my kid, and you all just think it's lame. Too bad.

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While we were trying to make it up the interstate at about 4pm, Ben asks, "Is this traffic?" Yes, Ben, this is traffic, and this is also why Mommy & Daddy never want to live in a "big city". Blah.

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Leah was singing a song the other day. It went something like this (with Ben's side comments in italics):

"And He's known me and He's loved me
since before the world began"
"Who's dat man you talkin' bout?"

"Our God is a great big God,
Our God is a great big God,
Our God is a great big God..."
"Like Paul Bunyan?"

Yeah, Aaron and I were about rolling.

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We had to make an emergency trip to a public bathroom the other day. As we went to wash our hands afterwards, Ben takes a look at the 3 sinks and says, "Dere's a lot of sinks, like on Cribs!"

Um. Yes, he's seen Cribs. I'm sorry, World. I have failed you.

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On the Leah front: She has a loose front tooth! How did we figure this out? At lunch she says, "I think I know which tooth I'm going to lose first: This one, because when I bite into something with it, it hurts a little." I inspected, and sure enough! It'll be the first victim. Now the Tooth Fairy needs to decide if she's going to show up or not, and what the deposit will be. I'm leaning towards Sacagawea dollars myself.

Adam: is CRAWLING. And cutting 2 more teeth, which would bring the total to 10. He is officially only eating table food, except for some baby cereal in the morning. This kid got a slow start to the whole "eating" thing, but he's making up for lost time. He's also starting to wave "bye bye" and babble "a -dah!" and "ma-ma-ma" - tho not to anyone in particular. Come ON, words! Don't make me wait until you're 2, like your turkey-brother did!

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Which childhood milestone is/was most highly anticipated and/or delayed? Ben was actually advanced with his gross motor skills, even though his language didn't come until two years old. Adam seems to be slightly delayed with both. AUGH!

Rant: Ikea's Smaland

2010-06-21T21:04:00.003-05:00

My friend Christina and I thought we were up for the challenge of bringing our combined 5 children to Ikea.

This may seem insane to you. But Christina and I are just the two moms to take on the challenge: I am passionate about Ikea's style (and prices), and Christina is simply fearless. The woman drove through a blizzard with both kids & husband in a small sedan to get to HIS family in Colorado. She also has colitis and recently had her colon removed. Can you beat that?

So we got there with the intention of depositing our 4 mobile - REALLY mobile- children Smaland, Ikea's children's play area. When we arrived, it was full, and we were told there would be a 5 minute wait. So we waited.

Then there was only room for 3, so I bribed Leah into shopping with us so that the boys could all go in - D (age 6 1/2) and J (age 3 1/2) and then my Ben. We went through Smaland protocol, which included nametags for the kids, each kid having a separate bin for their shoes, stamps on kids' hands and matching ones on the moms', and then the mom signing them in and getting a pager. I thought I was sending them to boot camp.

Off we we went to enjoy our hour without boys running circles around us. And sweet it was. Until my pager went off.

One of the requirements of Smaland is that the kids be potty trained. And no pull-ups allowed. This gave me a little anxiety, as some of you might predict, considering Ben's track record of pooping in his pants. I was basically crossing my fingers that he wouldn't crap his pants for the brief span of time that he would be in kiddie-prison.

FAIL.

I raced down to the Smaland door with Adam in his stroller, leaving Leah to pick out her toy/bribe in the children's showroom with Christina. At the parent pick-up area, I was told that Ben had had an accident in the bathroom, and moved to go through the gate. The employee stopped me, and explained that "parents weren't allowed" into the Smaland without their manager being present.

WHAT?!

There I stood, with my baby & stroller, all ready to go help my kid, where for all I knew he could be in hysterics, and I WASN'T ALLOWED TO HELP HIM? I could see the bathroom door, and right in front of me were three staff members standing in the office area. All the children were either watching a video or out of sight playing. I still don't understand what magical powers the manager was supposed to have.

As I stood there and waited, a couple more moms came to the gate with their own pagers flashing. The staff explained that the children had to use the bathroom, but because there had been an accident, they couldn't use the one there, and would the parent please take them to the regular bathroom?

I was RIGHT THERE. If I had been allowed in, they could have saved themselves and those other parents a lot of grief. And then Aaron called and I became an emotional mess, even crying a bit.

Finally the manager arrived and I was permitted to enter. Adam and I went into the bathroom, and there was Ben, perfectly calm, sitting on the toilet. Thankfully, most of the poo went into the toilet. I had flushable wipes and clean undies with me, so things were quickly taken care of.

As we headed out, I went up to the manager and explained that although I knew it was policy, I thought the policy was ridiculous. The manager said something about the policy being in place to protect the other children...I never did catch what it was they were being protected from. Then a staff member interrupted and said, "Ma'am, if you want to talk, you have to come over here..." and motioned to the other side of the partition we were standing next to. At that, I just grabbed my kids and got out of there.

The afternoon was pretty much ruined for me. Unfortunately, I had promised Leah that the next time we go she could hang out in Smaland, even though at that point I pretty much never wanted to see the place again. So I'll keep my promise and then after that, keep my kids with me. It's not worth the stress.
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Have any of you had similar experiences? Kid's areas that seem to have lost their common sense? Or maybe you have some insight into Smaland's policy?

Any kid potty emergency fails in a public place? I KNOW I am not the only one, people.

Vacation: Part II

2010-06-21T15:41:00.005-05:00

Here you are, back for more of the gory details of our recent vacation. I'll try to shorten this installment up a bit, because believe it or not, there are other things I'd rather write about. Like, for instance, why I started crying in Ikea, the funny stuff Ben has been saying lately, Adam's recent developments, and what I did with my kid-free afternoon (the first of FOUR!)

So here we go.

On Friday I met my friend Kristen at the Minnesota Children's Museum. Thanks to her handy membership card, and also the fact that she only had one of her 3 kids with her, we all got in free. My total cost for the five hours we were there? Lunch at Subway and $8 for parking. Not too shabby!

This Museum rocks, and I would gladly pay the entrance fee if I knew we had a half day to kill. There was more than enough to keep all 3 of my kids entertained, and that was with a couple exhibits closed for transitions.

Adam liked the water tables best, because they were just the right height for him to stand against and splash in. Yes, he got a little damp. But look at that face! How could I say no?

Ben loves to pretend to be a dog. Why? I'm not sure. But whenever Leah plays dress-up, his only request is to be the dog. Maybe he need a doghouse of his own? Hmmm....

Leah spent an extraordinary amount of time sorting & delivering mail. Not helping were the several other kids doing the same thing, but not as methodically. I sat on a bench with Adam and watched, although it was tempting to nap like the fellow next to me. (!!!)

A few awesome things about the Museum: Each exhibit is totally hands-on, of course, but each only has ONE entrance, so as long as you keep your eyes there, the kids can pretty much run free. Also, there are a couple of family bathrooms on each floor, stocked with diaper, wipes and changing pad covers, and there are also a couple of nursing rooms in a separate gated play area for the really little ones. I think we spent about an hour in various bathrooms throughout the day.

Then came one of my proudest moments from the whole trip: I left the museum, made my way back to the University campus to our hotel, found a metered parking spot directly in front, and was there 5 minutes before Aaron was done. He hopped in, and we took off for my brother's house and the Familypalooza that was to be the weekend.

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Now begins the family section. I'm going to do this in bullets and leave out the photos, since those who really care about them can see them on Facebook! You readers who aren't my family, well...there will be lots more photos of the kids to come. I promise.

Main points of the Familypalooza:

*14 of us, all together: 4 in-laws, 2 parents, 4 kids, plus 4 under the age of 7.

* 1 brand-spankin' new house big enough for us all.

* 3 air mattresses, 1 foam mattress pad

* 1 deflated air mattress

* 2 expectant mommies; 1 with her second, 1 with her first!

* 4 over-indulgent evening meals

* 1 visit from a cousin and 2 cute little boys

* 3 days of rain

* 2 nights out for the boys - 1 at local watering holes, and 1 at Dave & Buster's

* 2 nights in for the girls - 1 with birthing stories providing 3 years birth control for the non-mommy, 1 with mocktails for us all!

* 1 trip each to SuperTarget and BabiesRUs

* 1 round each (between downpours) of Frisbee golf and regular golf - well, as regular as it gets with 3 of 4 being novices

* Many of the following: movies on TV, rounds of Bananagrams, rolls of toilet paper, and baby gifts exchanged

* 8 Aunties & Uncles to cuddle the neices & nephews

* 1 baby dancer

* 1 sick baby who kept his parents (& most of the house) up all night. Fortunately this was the LAST night.

Does that sum it up? It was a fun time, and I thoroughly enjoyed the girls-only time that we don't get very often. The boys were okay, too, I guess.:) Looking forward to the next time...wait, is that going to be at MY house?!

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What are your tips for surviving family get-togethers? Or reunions in general, as my 15th high school reunion is coming up in a few weeks.

Worst night away from home EVER? Give me some details.

Vacation Part 1

2010-06-18T13:21:00.013-05:00

I'm sorry. I've been neglectful, and I admit that updating the blog hasn't been at the top of priority list lately.

Which some of you (ahem, Aaron), may think is about time.

Anyway, we went to Minneapolis last week. Thursday and Friday Aaron was at a work convention, so the kids and I got to play. Friday evening through Tuesday morning we were at my brother David's new house in a suburb with all of my sibs & in-laws. Then Adam got sick, and I packed us up at 6am. We got home around noon and then spent 2 hours at the clinic & medical supply store, buying a nebulizer. That night, friends emailed to ask if they could stay over Thursday night.

That's the thumbnail version.

In more detail (probably waaay too much, now that I think of it):

Wednesday: Was Aaron's birthday. Because he was insistent that birthdays be celebrated on the ACTUAL DAY OF BIRTH, I decorated the van with a couple of hanging doo-hickeys and some mylar balloons. And of course, a healthy stack of party hats.

The drive was less than festive, however. After dealing with fussy, restless kids, I began to see the sense in Aaron's stance that three is enough kids for us. Thankfully, we were still able to make it to our destination in downtown Minneapolis before rush hour traffic started. Aaron picked our dinner location, a Thai restaurant within walking distance from the hotel.

Personally, I'm still in awe that we stepped foot into a Thai place with our less-than-adventurous eaters. Of course, Leah and Ben ate what amounted to chicken, rice & a salad, all in their own neat sections of the plate. But they DID try bean sprouts and pronounced them "yummy!" so I count it a complete success.

Later, Aaron took the kids to Baskin Robbins while I put Adam to bed. Poor kid was wiped out. And then we learned that putting Leah & Ben in the same bed while both are awake is a good way to spend an hour or so "shushing". We spent that hour perched on the side of the tub and the toilet seat while watching the first half of "Julie & Julia" on the laptop.

Thursday: Aaron went off to his conference nice and early and got a lovely fresh breakfast, while the kids and I noshed (ha! That's the first time I've used that word!) on grapes, Pop Tarts & juice boxes. Adam looooves Pop Tarts.

Then we packed up and headed out to meet my good friend Christina & her two boys at REI to let the kids run around for a while. And then we went to the Mall of America and Legoland and let them run around some more...on a slightly smaller scale. I did lose track of Ben entirely for about 2 minutes in the food court, but he was actually only a few feet away.

Also, just in case you were wondering, the food court at the great MoA is rather busy at noon. AND, the Sbarro line happened to be the longest of any restaurant...and of course that's the option the kids chose. AND they didn't give me any napkins. Christina swiped some off a deserted table: "They look clean!" I didn't argue. That pizza was greasy.

OH NO, we weren't done for the day, not even close! After that whole deal (and getting to, parking, getting to a location, getting to a second location, and finding your car again is definitely a "whole deal") we took a jaunt (ie, Christina almost getting hit while taking her right-of-way at an intersection) across the street to Ikea, where an incident took place which actually might diminish my fanatic patronage of the Swedish store. It didn't, however, stop me from picking up several items and a bottle of sparkling juice, chocolate & Swedish fish from the food store.

My niece Meghan & her baby girl Lyrah met us at Ikea as Christina headed home. Then I headed back to the hotel with the kids to pick up Aaron (managing to get through downtown at 4:30 in less than 20 minutes!) and turned around to head to Meghan's for dinner. So nice of them to have us over, AND there was a great bakery down the street (along with a bike/coffee shop and a bar...which pretty much describes every street in the area, we were told later) where I picked up a fantastic chocolate bread pudding. That bread pudding was my dessert that night, and the OTHER half was a treat for me plus 3 others later on in the week!

That night we put the kids to bed separately, and moved Ben over when we were ready to hit the hay. I have to say, having all 3 kids in a hotel room was really one of my nightmare scenarios, but it went super well. All the kids slept until at least 6:30, and Ben of course was the early riser. He was kept quiet with Sesame Street on the laptop in the bathroom, and the other two slept until 7:30! In fact, on the whole trip, we never got woken up in the middle of the night.

The Ikea juice, chocolate & fish were demolished during the second half of our movie date. This one was considerably more comfortable, since I trekked to the parking garage not once, but TWICE to retrieve first the kids' headphones and then the splitter. Skyways are lovely, especially at 10pm.

Tomorrow: More adventures! More cute photos! Ya'll come back now, ya hear?

Ciao!

2010-06-09T09:49:00.001-05:00

The kids are at VBS this week. Well, at least 3 days of the week, before we take off for several days.

The church is decked out in Western decor to emphasize the cowboy theme, named Saddleback Ranch. The kids got to see a promotional video at church on Sunday, and that thing was so flashy both the kids stood there with their mouths hanging open. Leah was convinced that she was going to get to ride horses (kinda like she was convinced she was a real fairy...as in, not very), while Ben just turned around and started sputtering nonsense.

What I could make out was, "cowpokes" and that the cowpokes have, as he demonstrated by holding up two fingers, "six-shooters". I am SO GLAD he started talking!

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As you read this, I am madly trying to remember everything we need for six days away from home. Six days that may include swimming, rain, and 90 degree days. All of that needs to get crammed into the van, along with the pack & play, 2 air mattresses, and amusement & snacks enough for a four hour drive with 2 - make that 3- ornery kiddos.

Wish me luck. If you don't hear from me for a couple of days, please don't panic. I'll be back soon with lots of good stories, I'm sure!

More cake for baby!

2010-06-08T11:43:00.012-05:00

Yesterday Adam turned 1 year old. Of course, yesterday was ALSO a Monday, and so his party was held on Saturday. I'll get to why that's significant in just a minute or so.

Adam DID get a snazzy new onesie to wear for the occasion. This is one of my new little projects - appliqueing shirts & onesies. Sooo easy. And also a handy way to cover up the bratty sayings on this particular pack of Gerbers. Do I really want my kid advertising that, "I'm in Charge"? No, I'd prefer to keep that particular fact private, actually.

This is as close to crawling as Adam has gotten. He can push himself backwards pretty well, and gets from his belly to sitting up like a pro. Using this combination, he pivots his way across a room faster than you'd think he could.

But still. Walking would be quicker.

The lack of forward motion combined with nursing three times a day and no words yet seems to indicate that I have gotten my wish: he has stayed 9 months old!

Blowing out a candle was not even a consideration for baby Adam, and given his previous track record with cake, I was afraid he'd try to grab the flame itself. So this is as close as he got.

Of course we gave him a slice, though! You didn't think we were neglectful parents, did you?

Aaron has two rules for birthdays: 1) They must be celebrated on the actual day of birth, and 2) there must be party hats involved.

I didn't really know that #1 was a rule until this year, when everyone's birthdays fell on weekdays. Since I'd already thoroughly broken one rule, I've tried really hard to salvage the other. What I couldn't believe is that Adam kept that hat on! Everyone wore one, in fact, even 85 year old Grandma Gigi.

The boy likes his cake. Or your cake. Pretty much any cake he can get.

Close-up of the cake itself. For Leah & Ben's 1st birthdays, I made a Suzy's Zoo duck cake with a molded pan. It required 4 different frosting colors and using a star tip to cover the whole thing. After I spent 4 hrs the night before Ben's birthday decorating it, Aaron banned me from every making it again.

But I still had to do something special, right? So why not try fondant for the first time?

I found this photo, and this recipe, and did my own interpretation. Obviously I used regular frosting for the base - Betty Crocker tinted yellow. Although it did take me an hour to make, roll out, and cut the fondant, I still think it was easier than frosting a molded cake. I did the stars the night before and kept them covered in the fridge, putting them on the cake the afternoon of the party.

Good thing I took the recipe seriously about the fondant getting sticky - boy, did it ever! Basically all it is is marshmallows with enough powdered sugar to make it workable. Uncle JJ was kind enough to do the cutting, but he had to remove the stars to do it.

See? Party hats. Also, notice Adam eyeing that cake.

Next, of course, was presents. I highly recommend the following system: When your previous child is about 2 years old, pack up all the baby toys and put them in storage. Then, when it is time to give baby gifts, Boom! You have tons of "new" toys to give them.

Adam's two gifts from me were both given to Ben at HIS first birthday. Some new batteries, and now there are two more toys in this house to drive me batty.

Cousin MVJ loved them. Good thing Adam can't walk yet, or we would have had some baby wrestling on our hands.

The "big kids" were plenty excited, too. This ball popper toy is the bomb with all ages, am I right? (Note: If you HAPPEN to find yourself short of enough balls to make the toy work, you can buy a new set. On the Playskool website, under tabs Customer Service- replacement parts, you will find this order form. As a bonus, about a week after receiving the new set, you will start finding all the original ones, too! Now you will have too many to fit into the toy at the same time.)

Now if we could just convince the kids to let Adam play with his presents, things would be so peaceful around here!

MVJ was making the most hilarious faces! Poor thing was getting frustrated, since her whole goal was to keep those darn things inside that tube, and the toy just wasn't cooperating. Adam was trying to get them before they popped out of the top.

Even though Aaron is usually the one complaining about how the kids have too many toys, he insisted on getting Adam something "special". Despite my arguing, I have to agree that this thing is perfect. It's a pusher/ride-on, perfect for inside or out. And when you press the nose, it lights up and plays music! (Okay, that little bit there was sarcastic. But it does have an off switch, so it's forgiven.)

Don't those legs look a teensy bit unfamiliar with the concept of walking? It's okay, baby. You can stay little as long as you like.

Baby + cake = bliss

2010-06-07T14:40:00.005-05:00

Note: This is not Adam's official birthday cake. Those photos will come later.

This was at my Grandma's 85th birthday party,held about a week ago and organized by my cousin Terri (great job, lady!) and attended by all four of Grandma's sons, all four daughters-in-law, four grandchildren, and 6 great-grandchildren.

Adam is about 26 hours younger than Terri's daughter Paige, and she was generous to put his name on a cake along with Paige's. We plunked the babes down with the cake in front of them, and this was the second photo I had time to snap:

The first photo I took was of someone grabbing Adam's hand, already full of frosting. After they let go, and I didn't immediately move either him or the cake, Adam realized it was fair game and really dove in.

I love this photo. They might as well be an old married couple. He's all, "What? It tastes good, and no one's saying no! It must be okay! Just relax and enjoy yourself!" And she's like, "Don't you realize that you look like a fool and are acting like a pig? Have a little self-respect, man!"

Poor Paige just looked on disapprovingly while Adam demolished the cake.

The photos were so cute, and the whole thing was just so darn funny that I kept letting him go at it. Leah and Ben were dancing around laughing maniacally during most of it.

I mean, how can you NOT let this baby have as much cake as he wants? He obviously knows what to do with it. There's no messing around - it goes straight into his mouth. With a teensy bit around the lips. He may be smiley most of the time, but when it comes to eating, and especially eating cake, it is ALL BUSINESS.

At least my stairs got clean.

2010-06-03T18:15:00.005-05:00

It's been a few days, and since that is a bit unusual, I thought I'd explain.

The blame belongs with the Kirby salesman who came knocking Tuesday morning. Do I want a room of carpet cleaned - for free? "Of course you don't have to buy anything..." And I'm cheap, so I had them do the steps that we've been meaning to have shampooed anyway. Three hours later they FINALLY left. I have to say, I rather liked Frank, the kid who did the actual demo & cleaning. His "boss" Alex I could do without - he was so obvious I could actually anticipate what he was going to say next. Which came in handy when refusing to purchase a $900 vacuum cleaner without consulting my husband first. Because I'd kind of like for him to talk to me sometime in the next five years, or as he put it, not to "have a coronary."

Because of that "presentation", when my mom showed up with plants for our newest garden bed, we had to wait until after lunch. Also not helping was Adam's refusal to take a morning nap (he didn't today either. Hopefully this isn't a permanent development.)

Because I was planting in the afternoon, no laundry got folded. It all got washed, though, so I felt pretty good. Scrapbooking WAS going to fill in the gaps between loads, but...thank Kirby, I'd MUCH rather work on the album until 11pm. Of course.

(Remember, this is Adam's baby album that I'm trying to get up to date before his birthday party on Saturday. Right now, I'm at 9 months and feeling okay about that.)

But before that scrapbooking could start, we had a soccer practice to almost miss, thanks to traffic and me not checking for the field number. Then just before showers, the hose/sprayer attachment in the kids' bathroom broke off. So we moved everything to the master bath, extending bedtime by a good half-hour.

Wednesday we had a playdate here with a two little girls, one Leah's age and a friend from gymnastics, and the other Ben's age and a friend from playgroup. Isn't it lucky that they have the same mom? I thought so. While that mom and I chatted, I folded all our laundry. (Except Aaron and my undies. I do draw the line SOMEWHERE.) After lunch I got a few more pages done in Adam's album and played with the kids, waiting for Daddy to come home from an overnight work trip.

We were going to try to watch Alice in Wonderland last night, but our 6-month old Blu-Ray DVD player hasn't been playing any of our Netflix videos. Until now we've been thinking it was because of the "region number" of the DVD's. (??) But after a few calls, it seems it's the machine's fault. The machine which had a 90 day warranty. And cost $200 or so.

REALLY? How is it that we pay TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS for something, and the manufacturer basically says, "Hey, you'll get a good 6 weeks out of it! Have fun, kids!" Also, can I point out that this is our THIRD (make that FOURTH, as we remembered later) malfunctioning DVD player in 2 years? I've had it with technology. Take me off the grid, please.

But give me my Internet. At blazing fast speed, with no quirks or errors.

Anyway. Now you see why the posting has been sparse - clearly my days were jam-packed with no down time to speak of.

Next week is worse: VBS and then heading on "vacation" (cause you know what a vacation it is to travel with 3 little kids, right? NOT. MUCH. It should be called a "change of scenery".) for almost a week. During that week, I'll get to hang out with two old friends. And then all of my sibs & their spouses! In one house! For THREE DAYS. Only the toughest will survive.

Which means I'll be out after two hours.

On the other hand, that will leave me plenty of time to blog! See? Silver lining, right there.

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Any family gatherings planned? How do you survive 3 kids in a hotel room? Have you ever bought anything from a door-to-door salesman - not including kids' fundraisers?

National Pasttime

2010-05-31T19:41:00.003-05:00

Aaron sliced up a pineapple last night. And of course, being the frugal guy he is, he didn't want to waste any of the deliciousness, so he gnawed at the skin portions to get those few bites worth, slobbering and dripping over the sink while I watched with a mixture of amusement and horror.

Later at dinner, he was moaning about how pineapple he'd eaten. I wasn't very sympathetic, and pointed out that it hadn't helped that he'd gotten to first base with that pineapple before supper had even started. We looked at each other, and then he said, "I got waaaay past FIRST!"

Leah laughed and said, "You probably got all the way to home base!"

Just wait until she knows what that metaphor is actually referring to. Then we will ALL be in trouble.

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After dinner, we all hung out in the backyard for a bit. Aaron played baseball with the big kids, and surprisingly, they each got a few good hits from the pitches. At one point, Leah got a hit, and Ben grabbed the ball and tried to tag her out. As she ran in a random line that may or may not have followed imaginary bases, but DID go over a pile of rocks, she yelled out, "There's no bases, so you can go wherever you want!"

This continued for the next several hits, until they figured out that the runner had to come back to home, and would corner them there.

Okay, this story is not nearly as funny as it was at the time, watching those kids run like crazy people all over the yard.

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What was ALSO funny is when Aaron gave Leah license to push Ben back when he started shoving her. It's like the thought had never occurred to her! What a girl. Another boy would have been all over that from the first stumble.

Anyway, that dissolved into a good wrestling match, with Leah being bigger and stronger, but Ben being more aggressive. Some ground rules were established: No biting or pinching.

Leah inevitably won just be being able to sit on him. And Ben...started crying. And then shoved her from behind as she walked away. And then she sat on him again. And he started crying again.

You know what that means? Bedtime.

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What is a sure sign of bedtime at your house - for you OR the kids? Any backyard baseball memories? Any metaphors that your kids have inadvertenly gotten correct?

Bring it on!

2010-05-28T13:18:00.006-05:00

Summer is here!

Time for...dirty babies...

...and baths almost every night (can't stand the thought of them sleeping in bug spray & sunscreen. Gross.) Daddy got to give Adam his immediately after this episode, since of course it was his idea! Mommy just allowed it and took the photos...:)

....big smiles and new adventures...

...and veggies fresh from the garden! Well, in a few weeks, anyway.

Leah graduated from kindergarten last night. And although that might seem like a non-occasion (and I would have to agree with you, a little bit), they did such a good job! It really was a production - 20 kids sang about 10 songs, all of them completely adorable. But my favorite was a rendition of "New York, New York" but the Big Apple was replaced with, "I'm gon -na be a part of it, FIRST GRADE, FIRST GRADE!" Loved it. Their little helium voices just cracked me up, as well as the expressions and antics of various classmates.

(Our school has two campuses, each with a kindergarten class. This is Leah's group.) My little honey is that teensy one in the front row, second from the right. She loved her pretty new pale yellow dress, which I found at a garage sale earlier in the day for $4! She sooo doesn't care.:)

Now that we will have Leah home with us every day, there are some changes a-comin'.

1) I want to get out with the kids and go around our neighborhood every morning right after breakfast. It's a nice 2 mile loop, which they can bike pretty easily.

2) To end any "I'm boorrred!" complaints, I'm going to establish "the popsicle game". A mom I knew in Rochester did this with her kids: she wrote every. single. toy/game the kids owned on a popsicle stick and then put them in a cup. Any time a kid was bored they'd pull out a stick, and that's what they'd have to go play. I explained this idea to Leah, and she was game for it. But the rule is, you can't say, "I don't FEEL like doing that." You have to just do it. I don't quite know what to do with 2-people needed games...any ideas?

Of course, with the original kids, it became a fun thing to choose a stick, and they'd ask to play just for the heck of it.

3) Ben has a new poopy motivation plan. We were taking things away each time he went #2 in his pants, and had quite a pile up above the cabinets. He started going in the potty, and earned them all back. And then he'd have an accident, loose his cars, and the earn them back again - this went on for about a week.

AND, we will be leaving town several times this summer, and I just can't see that whole method working very well away from home.

So yesterday I started a new system. Instead of negative reinforcement, we're going to give the positive another try. I made a chart with 10 boxes. Each time he goes poop in the CORRECT place, he gets a sticker on a box, and when they are all finished, I promised to take him to a zoo with monkeys (the nearest being 45 min away. I don't care. )

Of course, he followed the explanation of that plan by pooping in his shorts again.

We'll see how this works.

4) Today I have to sit down with Leah and go through the end-of-school questionnaire that I did with her when school started. It'll be interesting to see what has changed, and if she really learned what "100 plus 100 is!"

5) At the end of every summer, I want to make sure that we "suck the marrow" (Ha! Such a Little House on the Prairie saying!) out of the summer. Now that the kids are big enough, we are going to a make a list of things to do. I'm anticipating that, "buy ice cream from the ice cream truck" and "go swimming" and "eat popsicles" will be on there.

I'm going to make a super-sized copy of that list and put it in their bedroom. Before bed we can mark off what we've done. Then at the end of the summer, we can review and know that we had a worthwhile summer.

5) My favorite change?Not having to wake up Adam every morning. I feel so bad doing that to the little dude. And maybe I'll get a few more winks, also!

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Any summer changes to your schedule? How do you adapt to more kid time? What is the summer activity you are most looking forward to?

Book Week

2010-05-26T13:52:00.002-05:00

Lately I realized that I can't do it all.

I know. It's shocking.

There is just NO WAY that I can keep up with 2 book clubs, my scrapbooks AND my sewing wish list at the same time. Oh yeah, and those 3 kids who keep needing stuff, like food & clean clothes.

So I've figured out a kind of system. I choose one of those hobbies and go hard core on it for about a week. Then I can take a breather and see what else needs to be dealt with.

For instance:
Reading: The last week has been panic-reading. This is no leisurely read - this is reading to be done within 3 days of a book club meeting. Last Thursday I got our book for the monthly club - which met Saturday, and I've had the book for my bi-monthly (by that I mean every other month, not twice a month, which would surely kill either me or the kids) for a couple weeks. I started reading Monday evening, finished last night at 11pm, and the group met this morning.

Scrapbooking: A couple months ago I realized that Adam will soon be one year, and his baby album is still back at 5 months. However, our FAMILY album was even further behind. So I've pretty much gotten caught up there, and now it's on to Adam's book. Right after I finish a mini-scrapbook for my grandma's birthday on Saturday.

Sewing: Between Adam's birthday party and leaving to see my family for several days, I want to sew some baby stuff - there will be 3 days. Huh.

After we get back from that "vacation", I will be passing out in front of the television.

Here are some details from the Salem Book Club - that would be, the monthly one, and the one WITHOUT half a dozen babies to keep track of at the same time:

We met Saturday at G's 1st stop on her family's tour of local homes (for those of you unfamiliar, G's fam sold their house this month and is heading out of the country for a year in August. Until then, they are staying at various vacationers' homes and visiting family around the country.)

First order of business, realizing that we must have been crazy when we chose the June meeting date, since it's only 2 weeks away and also the first night of Vacation Bible School. It must have sounded good at the time, but now it sounds insane. Will try to reschedule for the end of June - when G will be staying at MY house! I'm trying to talk Aaron into painting the guest room before then.:)

While we waited for 2 regular members to not show up (Hi IA & CB! We missed you!) we discussed some other books. G has lately read "The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate" which she said was a beautiful story of a girl's relationship with her grandpa. I suggested that if she liked THAT, she might want to check out "Pilgrim at Tinker Creek" by Annie Dillard, which bored me to tears during a writing class in college.

Our discussion was on "The Great Divorce" by C.S. Lewis. It's basically his take on heaven, although we agreed that it was more about what keeps people from getting there than what heaven is actually like.
- a collection of short stories, with each being a background of a character, could easily be written
- the concept of heaven and hell working backwards was interesting. 2 people could live the same life, but to one it would be hell and the other heaven... Don't ask me to explain this now, but it made sense at the time!
- Basically, the characters are kept out of heaven by their need to hold onto sins & guilt and not just let go to God. If they can just look to Him and joy instead of themselves, they would be fine.

Then of course we discussed some other stuff, like how the starting line of a marathon is NOT necessarily an accurate cross-section of America. That is because, according to one member WHO WILL REMAIN ANONYMOUS BY REQUEST, "Marathoners are wacky." Having three of them in my own family, I tend to agree! I prefer my pain accidental, not deliberate. But to each their own!

Another quote, which I think is fairly accurate, is G's summary, "Books are ALWAYS better than the movie." I have only found this not true in one circumstance - "A River Runs Through It". Unless you are a fly-fisherman, the book is rather boring.

This came up when I was assessing the movie versions of "Time-Traveler's Wife" and "The Other Boleyn Girl". Neither of the movies are nearly as racy at the books. But then again, "I have some very loose standards," for movies, of course. Not in general.

ALSO, the book for my other group was "The Help", and if you haven't read it, you really should. It's not often that a book set in Jackson, Mississippi during the 60's can actually make you chuckle. Meaning, it's more fun that you would think it would be. The Salem book club will be discussing this book in August, and YES that is totally because of my insistence. I can't wait!

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So, have you read any good books lately? What was the shortest time between you finishing a book and when it was supposed to be done? (and CB, you don't count, since obviously you are addicted to the adrenaline rush of a last minute reading frenzy.)

How do you manage your time to avoid a spouse and/or children feeling neglected?

Gifts, Please.

2010-05-24T13:41:00.002-05:00

As the list of kids invited to Leah's birthday party inched closer to 20, I started stressing. Not about games, food, or location - thankfully those were easily dealt with.

What I was stressing out about was the gifts. All those gifts. I am not altruistic enough to say "no gifts", not unless we had a specific goal - like friends a few years ago, who asked for small items and used clothing for a close friend to take to Africa.

And I really couldn't imagine having the kids sit through Leah opening 15 presents. It was tough to see ADULTS sitting through that.

Then I stumbled across this etiquette article. Finally, the solution!

Now, in this area of the country, pretty much everyone opens presents at the party - be it a kid's birthday, baby or bridal shower, or wedding (although that might be a separate party). So I felt a little oppositional saying that there would be no gift opening at Leah's party.

The precedence for our family was set by also not opening presents at Ben's party. This actually made things much easier, since those little boys have a tough time paying attention to someone else having all the fun, and I really didn't want 200 plastic dinosaurs strewn across the house. My plan was to have the most fun activity after the cake and singing, to distract from any expectations (do 4 year old boys have any expectations for a birthday party besides friends and treats?!) So the dinosaur excavation outside was perfection.

For Leah's party, we did cupcakes outside, and then a scavenger hunt. What also helped was that I covertly mentioned to most of the moms of invitees to BOTH parties that we would be opening gifts after the party.

Both parties went without a hitch and the kids all had lots of fun. But I've also had a few parents disagree with my new policy. The main pro for opening presents at the party is so that kids who carefully chose the gift for the bud can see them love it.

I get this. I really do. And I wish there was a way to still have that experience - maybe one year I'll take a photo of the kid with each gift as they unwrap it and use that as a thank you note. But here were my own reasons for opening later - and some benefits that I didn't anticipate:

1) No drama. A mom commented, "There wasn't any ISSUES!" What do the tears and arguments usually arrive at a birthday? Right about gift opening time. Probably because that's usually at the end of the party, but also because greed and envy rear their evil heads, and kids just can't hide it very well.

2) No toys being opened willy-nilly. Which is especially beneficial when those toys are Littlest Pet Shop sets that have about a gazillion pieces. Although since each tiny item is lashed down with about 5 ties, the kids would at least be slowed down a bit.

3) Thank you notes are a must. This is mostly for MY benefit - I'm kind of a slacker when it comes to thank you notes. I figure, if we say thank you in person, a card is not really needed. But this way, there is no doubting that they MUST be sent. And Leah wrote out every one of them, to her friends at least. I told her I would do the ones for aunties or uncles. When she complained about being bored, I told her I'd take back the gifts. Guess what? She finished.

And we also made special thank you cards, with a picture of the whole group and one of Leah with her cupcakes. She wrote her little note on the backside of the photo card (5x7).

4) Opportunity for re-gifting. This sounds terrible, I know. It happened that one gift was something that Leah already had, but would be perfect for a party she was attending the next week. And I didn't have time to get to the store. Is this so bad?

5) Calm & collected unwrapping. We had some family over for dinner and cupcakes after the friend party, so Leah opened all the presents from both groups at one time. It was fun! We enjoyed watching her reactions and also getting a chance to really check them out, versus handing out goodie bags and hustling kids out the door.

6) Hilarity. Leah was blessed with wonderful presents. Just about every friend also included a sweet greeting card. The one I remember, however, was from a kindergarten classmate, and it said something like, "You are turning into a lovely young lady, " on the inside. Oh, how we laughed.

Aaron and I got off kinda easy in the whole present department this year, thanks to all those friends. But I still made her these stuffed bookends:

Blossom turned out a little scary looking, but Ruff is pretty darned cute, if I do say so myself. Now Ben wants a set of friendly monsters, but I'll have to make sure they are super strong, since he wants to throw them around!

So where do you stand on all this? Which way do you prefer - gifts during party or gifts after? Why? What do you do about thank you notes? Can you possibly imagine a baby showere where the gifts WEREN'T opened at the festivities? I think there would be a stampede to get to those teesny cute outfits.

Why Christian school is totally worth it.

2010-05-19T15:11:00.002-05:00

Since there are only single-digit amounts of days left of school, I asked Leah the other day how she felt about school being out for the summer. I honestly didn't know how she'd respond, since she adores the place, along with her teacher and friends. Luckily, Mrs. D goes to our church, so we'll see her on Sundays (how that woman can have the enthusiasm to return Leah's hugs every blessed week is beyond me. I guess God gives us all different talents.) But of all the families from our church who go to this particular Christian school, NONE of them have kids Leah's age.

Anyway. Here's how our conversation went:

Me: Leah, how do you feel about school being done for the summer?
Leah: Weeeelll, kind of good and kind of bad.
Me: Really? Okay, tell me the good parts.
Leah: We won't have to be in such a hurry to get ready in the morning.
Me: Alright, now what are the bad parts?
Leah: Well, we won't get to learn about God as much...

There may have been more, but honestly, that is the part that sticks in my memory - my baby girl loves learning about God!

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Are your kids excited about vacation? What will they miss about school? What are your end-of-school memories?

Why my kids are awesome:

2010-05-18T14:28:00.003-05:00

Ben has a sweet tooth - this is a known fact. At least once a day he asks for a piece of candy, and I usually indulge him, assuming it's not too close to supper and he hasn't just crapped in his pants. Leah, on the other hand, enjoys the occasional treat (usually requested after Ben walks up to her chewing on a sweet), but has had candy in her possession for literally weeks before I put her out of her misery by eating it myself (candy hearts. jelly beans. tootsie pops. I love you all.)

The kids each have a "candy bowl" on the counter, partially out of sight, where I deposit all the loot from birthdays and holidays. Lately, the bowls have been brimming, thanks to several birthdays (btw, I didn't put candy in EITHER of the kids' birthday treat bags), Easter and May Day (this one was a surprise. They both got quite a haul, and it was so dreary and rainy that I didn't bother to do anything ourselves.).

What I love is that when Ben says, "Can I have a piece of candy? Just one? Pretty please with cake on top?" (he hasn't quite got the hang of that form of wheedling), and we concede, the kids spend about 10 seconds hovering over their bowls, trying to decide what to choose - Large tootsie pops, small tootsie pops, toosie rolls, fun-size Hershey bars, Laffy Taffy, DumDum suckers - and they have lately been choosing the smallest thing possible, the Tootie Frooties, which I think cost about 10 cents for 100 pieces. That's just awesome.

And it leaves the bigger things for me.

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Leah and Ben are not allowed to leave their rooms before 7am. They have been taught this since they were able to match the 7 on a digital clock to the 7 on a piece of paper covering the digital minutes. (This keeps them in bed, but allows for sleeping in.) However, they don't have to SLEEP until 7am. As long as they are quiet, we don't really know or care what they are up to.

For the past couple months, their internal clocks have had them waking up around 6:30am. Well, that's BEN's internal clock - and then he wakes up Leah. Don't you just feel sorry for her? OH YEAH, I've had a personal wake-up almost every day for the last six years. Chickee doesn't get much sympathy from me.

Anyway, back to why they are fantastic.

Since I've been occasionally getting up at 6:30am for some quiet time with God and a cup of tea latte, I've been able to hear when they wake up. Sometimes there some loud squawking going on for quite a while, and sometimes they are looking at books together on Leah's bed.

The other day, it was all quiet, even until I went upstairs around 7 to shower. I looked into the room to check on them, and saw them curled up on Leah's bed. Leah was still under her covers on her side, but Ben was laying with his head on her hip and feet pointed towards the headboard. And they were holding hands. And chatting like an old married couple. It was about the sweetest thing I'd ever witnessed, and made me so glad that we'd had two kids close together.

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And then there are a couple smaller, more random things, but it's stuff like this that makes me impressed with my kids - and maybe reveal my own personal biases:
- the day Leah chose Rice Chex over all the other "sweeter" cereals in the pantry
- when Ben got super excited about vanilla yogurt out of a tub, which I'd never considered even offering and only purchased for Adam

How have your kids made you proud lately? Or, what is a little thing that can make your outlook sunnier?

Physics Stinks.

2010-05-17T20:37:00.004-05:00

I've been fighting the law of gravity lately, and losing. As you might expect.

The first battle was just over a week ago. I was bringing up a tub of Leah's baby clothes from the basement. My niece MVJ is just the right size to wear some of those cute dresses, and Mom has given me permission to hand them down...temporarily.

I was heading into the living room with the tub, when my sandal (completely free of traction) slipped on the carpeted step. This has happened before, and before I've been able to catch myself.

Cue tub of clothes.

This tub was too large for me to just toss aside for the flailing arms. And so I took option B, which was an awkward collapse to the floor, all the time still holding that darned tub. To those watching, it appeared that I had simply decided to sit down. Only I was aware of the seconds of panic, resulting in a slightly twisted ankle.

And then again this last Friday at playgroup. We were all in the kitchen while the kids had a snack (and can I just tell you that these new moms in our group have really stepped up the snack game? We're talking MULTIPLE options, for both kids AND moms, and even juice boxes. I usually just throw out some fishy crackers and water...). I was sitting at a counter on a high swivel chair while Adam was on my lap eating some crackers.

As I was sitting there, I was aware that the ring around the bottom of the legs was loose.

And then I was aware that I was falling.

A screw had come loose, and the leg of the chair slipped out, dropping the chair to the ground. Fortunately, Adam had been on my LAP, and not sitting on the actual chair - he didn't make a single squeak, and in fact I don't think he missed one bite of his cracker.

I, on the other hand, was a bit more startled. My arm hit the chair somehow, and my rear took some impact of course. The lasting effect was the arm, which now has a 3 inch yellow bruise on the underside between my wrist & elbow. The bruise didn't show up until Sunday, but hurt well before that. Thankfully now I have proof for my whining.

And the next time I decide to take on Gravity, I'll make sure I don't have anything in my hands. And a soft place to land.

Not just good - super fabulous!

2010-05-13T20:46:00.004-05:00

Today was kind of nuts. We started with dentist appointments for me and Ben. When I first told him about it, I got the predictable, "Nooooo!" with appropriate facial and shoulder reactions. But then Leah piped in with one of her more helpful comments: "I wish *I* was going to the dentist!" And she meant it. Cause she's weird that way.

At any rate, he seemed okay with it from then on. We brought along his Leapster and a few cars, and he sat quietly and happily for my entire exam/cleaning.

When it was his turn, he sat in the chair on his own (the last time, he sat on my lap) with his little sunglasses and did whatever the hygienist asked. He did so great! And he was rewarded with a Mater (from Cars) toothbrush. I'm telling you, these dentists don't mess around - they go straight the 4 star freebie toothbrushes.

The hygienist and I showered him with praise, but I guess that wasn't enough. On the way home, he asked from the back seat, "Mommy, do you want to tell me something?"

I said, "No, I don't think so - why?"

"Something about how I did at the dentist?"

"OH! Ben, I am very proud of how you did so well at the dentist."

"Thank you, mommy!"

(Another Benism - the other day, he was particularly crabby with Adam, and kept saying he didn't want to sit near him, because he smelled like hazelnuts. HAZELNUTS! How does the kid even know what those are, or smell like for that matter? Not to mention that Adam did NOT smell like hazelnuts. We finally figured out that it was the peppermint-scented diaper ointment I'd been putting on him that day. Hazelnuts. Whatever, kid.)

About 45 minutes after returning home from the dentist, Ben and I headed to school to pick up Leah. Because it's been raining for oh, about 20 days now the kids were in the gym, AGAIN, and that's about the only time Ben really gets to run around, so I like to let him for awhile.

Anyway, we headed back home when the students were ready for lunch. After scarfing some lunch, I headed to my friend Grace's house to help clean their house in preparation for moving. Floors were scrubbed, a hallway vacuumed, some laundry folded (and some more brought home to dry at my house!) and then I zoomed back home again, for an hour or so, until it was time to take Leah to gymnastics.

Are you getting the flavor of this day yet? Too much driving, too much running around, not enough sitting with my family or cleaning up after them. Fortunately, Aaron was home today to pick up some of the slack, like feeding that stubborn baby of ours, who has decided he'd much rather feed himself, thankyouverymuch. Except that he's still pretty limited in his diet of "real" food. Anyway.

I took Ben with me to gymnastics, thinking that Adam would nap while we were gone and Aaron could get some non-kid time. That was a nice dream, anyway! Ben was once again super at gymnastics, and even said that he LIKED gymnastics again, and wanted to do it again. Poor kid is missing out on soccer because of the rain, and I'm not signing him up for gymnastics again until fall. ANYWAY. I think his good behavior at the dentist and gym may have something to do with that Leapster. He even makes sound effects for the cars in the game! That is SUCH a boy thing, it made me giggle listening to him.

We got home from gymnastics, and right away Leah changed and I wrapped a gift for the birthday party she was attending at Chuck E. Cheese's at 5:30pm. Thank goodness soccer was cancelled - that was supposed to be at 6pm.

After I dropped Leah off at the party, we ate our dinner of frozen pizza, and Aaron went to Menards, taking Ben with him. I bathed Adam, cleaned up a bit, and took the baby with me to pick up Leah from the party.

When Aaron got home, he reported that Ben had not complained even once the whole time they were shopping! This, along with the day's previous exemplary behavior from the little guy, PLUS the fact that he pooped in the potty again - just one attempt, no change of undies needed! - means that today is one for the record books.

Ben, you do indeed make your Mommy proud.

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What is your trick to keep your kids happy in a less than ideal situation? How has your kid made you proud lately?

No more suggestions unless they are here to help.

2010-05-12T18:23:00.013-05:00

I'm splitting the blame for this birthday party theme squarely between two of Leah's aunties. Those special aunts would be Kate (the artist) and Ruth (the musician/theater person). This whole thing started at Christmas, when Kate drew Leah a picture of her, Ruff, and Blossom in a field of butterflies.

It was adorable. And yes, it's framed and on her dresser.

Then Ruth chimed in: You could have a Ruff Ruffman themed birthday party, Leah!

Oh yes. Let's.

I mean, I love Ruff as much as the next person (What? You STILL have no clue what I'm talking about? Here's a clue:

How can you not like such a happy little dude? He's the host of a reality game show for tweens. He and his assistant, a black kitty named Blossom, kind of rock the world of kid shows.)

The only thing I had against a Ruff themed birthday party was the complete lack of anything premade. There are NO plates, napkins, balloons, goodie bags, nothing. Which means Mommy has to get creative.

Because do I really want to let down this little girl?

Um, no.

So I emailed the producers of the show. (Yes. I love her THAT much.) They were kind enough to give me a copyright release for the invitations and stickers. The stickers were just a series of images on one big 8x11.5 label, and then I cut them apart.

I also made nametages for each kid, since there were kids from MOMS Club, church, and Leah's kindergarten class. Even JJ, EJ, and MVJ got nametags, along with The Mom, The Dad, and The Brother.

Oh yeah. About all those nametags: there were about 16 kids in attendance. And 16 kids went home.

Before we officially got started, the kids played birthday freeze tag (to unfreeze, yell "Happy Birthday Leah!") and duck-duck-goose. Once they came inside, I divided them into groups. We had 4 stations set up, manned (or "mommed"! Ha!) by 4 pseudo-volunteer friends, all of whom had a kid or 2 at the party already. Leah had wanted to invite a few older girls (friends from school -she's kind of a pet there), so we made them "helpers" at the stations.

There were 2 different activities. The first one was called Float My Boat. It involved making tin foil squares into little boats, and seeing how many pennies you could put into it and still have it float in a tub of water.

I did NOT come up with this activity, or the other one. If you follow that link above, you'll find yourself at the Fetch! website, and there are tons of activities there. So fun!

The other activity was Throw Your Weight Around. It had the kids trying to get up out of a chair without bending their backs and trying to pick up something off the ground while leaning their shoulder against a wall. Also, they had to do a pretzel race (photo above) and other goofy balance stuff. Some of the groups even managed the puzzle sit - where everyone lays back on someones legs, and you all have to support each other for everyone to stay up. I was pretty impressed with their teamwork.

In past years, the cake has been a centerpiece of the party. But this year, I slacked a bit. Leah preferred cupcakes, and I kept it simple - JJ frosted them yellow, and then I use a grass frosting tip (lots of little holes) to pipe "fur" around the edges.

I was aiming for them to look like Ruff's belly, but they may have fallen a bit short. They were good, though!

The kids were herded outside for cupcakes and juice boxes (with straws already inserted, one of my better ideas!)

Then there was one more thing...the treat boxes.

The kids had a short scavenger hunt to accomplish before finding the basket of goodies under the tree in the front yard (an evil plot of mine to get them to run around outside for a little while). I'd like to have had a more extended hunt, but it had been raining all week, and I just wasn't sure the outside thing was going to work at all. But it did!

Leah reads the first clue...

...and on to the next one! It was pretty hilarious to watch those kids on a mission.

And the treat boxes? I'm particularly proud of them. Any fan of Ruff's knows that he is one dog who loves his Chinese food. So I bought some from our neighborhood buffet, and filled them with magnifying glasses and notebooks from Oriental Trading, along with some dog biscuit shaped graham crackers and few of those Ruff stickers I made. The notebooks had a blank cover, and I added a Ruff sticker and another that said: The fact is, I'm glad you came to my birthday party! Cute, huh? We were trying to push the science aspect of the Fetch! show.

There you go. The party was fun, we've had positive feedback, and we are not asking those aunties for party suggestions for another several years. (We love you! And can't wait to see you in ONE MONTH!)

Next up, Shrinky Dinks!

2010-05-10T22:07:00.003-05:00

Aaron's brother JJ and our lovely sister-in-law EJ visited this weekend for Leah's birthday celebration (I swear photos will be posted soon!). The other night at dinner, JJ was telling us about how he was doing some painting for hire. We were teasing him a bit, because Aaron & JJ's dad owned a painting contracting business, which all the kids worked for at some point - and JJ almost took over.

JJ said that a friend had offered to help paint, but he "charges $50 an hour and doesn't know how to hold a brush!" We laughed, and I said that in THAT case, I could help, too...and Aaron said, "For that matter, LEAH could help..."
Leah: "Help with what?"
Aaron: "Help paint a house!"
Leah: "PURPLE?!"

What killed us is that there was NO hesitation. And I don't know where she got purple from anyway, since we'd been talking about yellow, orange & pink all day. But if anyone is painting their house purple, I know someone who can "help".

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My SIL EJ brought me a stack of Martha Stewart's Kids magazines, and it was like I'd been given an extra Christmas present. I love those magazines, and Leah is just getting to be able to do some of the projects.

I had a page open to examples of clay buttons and beads that you make yourself when Ben came over to check things out. He pointed right at it, and said, "Can we do that?"
Me: Sure, we can do that sometime.
Ben: We better have Grandma help.
Me: Why? You don't think I can do a craft without Grandma?
Ben: Nope. But...you can sew. (His tone here was not very convincing, as if he wasn't quite sure about that one, either)

So no offense, Mom, I love (and, lets face it, need) your assistance, but I think I need to start doing some stuff on my own with the kids, or they are going to think I'm completely useless.

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The big kids have been taking swimming lessons once a week at a local university, and let me tell you, it's worked out to be pretty cheap private lessons. Leah only has one other kid in her class, but usually she's by herself. Ben is the only one in his class. I was a bit worried about Ben's cooperation, but he got in the first day and has loved it ever since, so it's actually been kind of pleasant. Their classes are at the same time, and I get to chat with a friend for part of that time, so it all works out well.

Today I almost forgot about lesson altogether except that I was folding towels and came across their swim towels. Lucky that was an hour before we had to leave!

On the way to the pool, we drive by a uniquely shaped dormitory commonly known as the Beer Can. Of course the kids commented on it the first day, but I didn't tell them THAT name, of course. I just said it was round, so the rooms were shaped like pie pieces.

Today Ben pointed out, "Mommy, there's that building that looks like a jar of peanut butter!"

So that's what it is for us now. The Peanut Butter Jar.

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And a potty-training update for those of you wondering: Ben had a relapse of #2 on Saturday (WHY would you run RIGHT BY the bathroom when you desperately have to go potty, and instead choose to lean against the freezer? I do not understand what is going on in his head sometimes.) but this evening went in the potty like it was no big deal. He agrees that it is much easier to go in the potty (especially since it doesn't require 20 minutes of theatrics while he takes off the soiled undies and dumps the poo in the potty - THEN I'll help him.) There are only 2 toys left up on the shelf from when we resorted to negative reinforcement, so hopefully soon I won't feel the need to update you all on this rather gross topic.

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Leah's birthday party was very fun, and thanks to my many mommy friends who helped out, I retained my sanity throughout the entire day. Every time someone asked what Leah wanted for her birthday (to which SHE would reply, "I don't care! Stuff girls like!") I'd tell them that she loves art. And it's a good thing I was correct, because almost all of her gifts are art/craft kits. She is in heaven, and I know she (and her mother) won't be bored for a long time.

I'll update you on the status of those kits. I'm trying to let go of "saving" them until she can make a "really nice" project, and just let her have fun. Of course, I'm going to encourage her to think about her designs before jumping in with the paint....Not only will that make the creative process last longer, but it will hopefully contribute to her valuing them more, as well.

And maybe he'd throw in extra chores, too!

2010-05-05T18:48:00.005-05:00

The other night I revisited Adam's early days, except without all the cute, new-babyness. The part I got to experience again was being woken up every 2 hours by a needy child.

I went to bed at 10:30 (which is actually earlier than usual, sad as that is). At 12:30, Ben woke me up, needing help to go potty. Fine. This has become a new normal.

At 2:30, Adam started crying, and I went in, gave his pacifier, and left while he cried - until I closed the door behind me. After 2 beats, he was quiet until he woke up at 7:15am. NO nursing. YESssssss.

Then at 4:30, I think Leah came in with bad dreams. But I KNOW Ben did. After I wouldn't bite for tucking him back in after a bad dream ("you can tuck yourself in" has become my new night-time mantra), he decided that he'd try to go potty. This is outright taking advantage of my sleep deprived state, and manipulating my desire for him NOT to have an accident while sleeping. He knows that if he goes potty, I'll tuck him back into bed.

My alarm clock went off at 6:30.

And this mommy has had quite enough of walking around tired all day.

So last night I laid the smack down, and told Ben that he would be going potty by himself from now on, and I would NOT be tucking him back into bed, for any reason. He acknowledged the new rule, and when I kissed him goodnight, won my heart all over again with his sweet little, "Mommy, me sorry me wake you up."

But he still did. BUT, I didn't get out of bed, and I think everything went alright. At any rate, he didn't wet the bed or his pjs, and he didn't fall off the stool and get a concussion. And in the morning, he was insistent that I'd helped him. No, dear, I did not. But if you need to BELIEVE that I did, go right ahead.

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Last night was bath night, and as usual, it was Adam's turn first. He just loves his baths and gives you the biggest, "This is AWESOME!" grin when you plunk him in the baby tub. After I had washed him up, I decided to feel for a new tooth that I'm sure is coming in (that would be the 7th.) He was so obviously enjoying it, using my finger as a teether. I was being so very careful to avoid those pearly whites already present, when I got distracted and moved just a hair to the wrong side....and got my index finger biten on both the top AND bottom.

I yelped, and Adam looked at me with his bottom lip tucked in, eyes all big and round. Then I looked at him again and said, a little less sharply, "Owie!"

And he started bawling. Not just play crying either - his face turned red, tears were rolling, and it took several moments for me to reassure him that everything it was fine. It did, however, take me MUCH longer to get over the pain in my finger.

Then I got to thinking - wouldn't it be awesome if parents still had that power when the baby is a teenager? They'd come in late, Mom would glare and say, "You are late!" and the kid would ground HIMSELF. After crying himself to sleep.

Leah's Photo Review

2010-05-03T10:30:00.028-05:00

Six years ago, we became parents for the first time.

I'm a day late posting this, of course, but I remember very VERY clearly that it was about 10pm on Sunday night, May 2nd, 2004 when contractions started. Aaron and I, being novices at this whole "labor and delivery" thing, spent the whole night breathing through contractions. And yes, I do mean BOTH of us, cause there was no way I was going to let him sleep with that kind of pain going on. But they were still 10 minutes or so apart! By 6am we decided to go to the hospital. (I am NOT sure of when I called my substitute teacher and asked her to go in for me the next day...)

I could barely stand the ride to the hospital, and refused a wheelchair because standing seemed preferable to sitting. I wonder if that medical resident has ever gotten over the terror of riding in an elevator with a woman hoo-hoo-heeing through contractions? While leaning against the wall?

Anyway, by the time I was examined I was 7cm (YES! What were we thinking?!) and I got a blissful epidural at 8cm. Blissful except that I couldn't feel my left leg at all. Weird, but I was able to take a nap while dilating to 10!

And then I pushed for FIVE. HOURS. There was a lot going on during that time, but I'll try to summarize by just saying that after 2 1/2 hrs we discovered Leah was in the worst position possible for a normal delivery (sunny-side up AND diagonal) and that her birth involved my midwife, the OB resident on call, the OB head resident, and the OB doctor on call - and also the vacuum. They may have been a cleaning lady who hadn't been in the delivery room yet, but I think pretty much the rest of the floor staff had been.

We finally got that girl out (after she turned herself face down, in the birth canal, thankyouverymuch) at 3:20pm.

Still in the hospital, and she blessed us with a (gas) smile. Oh yeah, before I forget to warn you - we bought our very first digital camera a few months before Leah was born, and we were still figuring things out - which is why some of these photos look pixelated.

Going home for the first time. When the boys were born, I was amazed at how much better I felt after NOT pushing for 5 hours. Thankfully, at the time I had nothing to compare it to.

Leah was pretty orange from jaundice those first days. Her bilirubin number was 17, and when I asked a doctor what that meant, he said, "Well, at 20 they usually go into the hospital." That freaked us out, and Aaron spent several days trying to get her in as much sun as possible. And I nursed her a LOT. It must have worked, because at the next check she was down to 12. (Which was the peak of Adam's jaundice, btw!)

Look at that peanut! This is after her first bath, on my very first Mother's Day.

Had to document on the blog her blankie, the crocheted one. She still sleeps with it every night, even though it has been reduced to a life-threatening pile of snarls. Every night before I go to bed I check to make sure she isn't cutting off her circulation.

About 3 months old. Still makes this "kissy lips" face every once in awhile.

Hopefully now there is no doubt who Adam looks more like. Except for the eyes, they are so similar it freaks me out once in awhile! The killer grin is just icing on the cake.

10 months, and already loving books!

1st Birthday cake! I made the same one for Ben, too, but will have to figure out something else for Adam, since Aaron has banned me from making it ever again. Apparently he doesn't like to see me stressing about cake for 4 hours the night previous to the party.

Leah stressed about the cake for about 4 seconds before diving in. And she stayed fairly clean, until she had to rub her eye.

This photo kills me. It is the perfect illustration of "first grandchild". That would be Grandpa, Grandma, Auntie Ruth, and Uncle Tim trailing behind, watching her every move.

Almost 2 years, at Ben's baby shower. The coordination was not planned, but was perfect!

Two years! Elmo cake!

Grandpa Henry has learned that the way to get a little kid to give kisses is to prep them with ice cream.

At buddy Alex's birthday, eating only the frosting off the cake. Man, I love this kid!

We bought this strawberry. Leah ate it. For lunch. (Just kidding. I think.)

On the beach at Cape Cod.

Fall Festival at our church. Leah went as cowgirl, with much assistance from friends (who lent the boots & pony) and Grandma (who made the shirt).

Gymnastics warm-up in the Pit!

This is probably one of my favorite photos of my girl. She adores dress-up, but will drop everything for television. And when she's watching her favorite show, even Mommy taking photos doesn't interrupt her concentration.

5th birthday - Dress-up theme. My daughter is testing my creativity - this year it's a Ruff Ruffman theme, which ALSO doesn't have any pre-packaged party items to help a mom out! I'll have photos on Monday so you can see how non-creative I'm being. Right now, I'm most proud of the goodie-bags. Hopefully the kids will enjoy them as much as I've enjoyed putting them together!

Oh baby girl, you are growing up so fast, and I thank God for what an intelligent, sensitive, happy kid you are. The past six years have been a blessing, and I can't wait to see what you have in store for us in the future.

Settle in, kids.

2010-05-03T09:42:00.002-05:00

My dad has a unique way of telling a story. I don't know if he's just developed it since I've been adult (you know, in the last 3 years or so) or if he's done it forever and I just hadn't heard enough other storytellers to appreciate the difference. In any case, Dad tells a story sloooowlllly. In fact, because my family is so loving and patient, the poor guy usually gets peppered with, "Aaaaand?", "And THEN what, Dad?", "Come on, tell it already!" several times before the rather anticlimactic end of his tale.

We were up at Mom & Dad's house for supper the other night, and part of that always involves enjoying some television channels that we don't get at home. (And NO, we don't get TLC, H&G, The Food Network, or anything else worthwhile. The only "cable" channels we get are MTV and VH1, which apparently are so crappy that they give them away, since they are not officially part of our package.) For some reason, Aaron didn't want to watch a cake decorating show, so it was NASCAR, instead.

Now, neither Aaron or I can see the point of any kind of car racing. But the kids kind of like it, at least for about 10 minutes. We happened to be catching the very beginning, so Aaron had the kids listening for, "Gentlemen, start your engines!" which was kind of fun. Then we watched 4 laps or so...with only 396 to go! Seriously, I don't know how the fans don't die of boredom right there in the stands.

Anyway, Aaron made a comment about NASCAR having the biggest fan base of any sport, and then said, "Geez, there's a lot of rednecks out there!"

Leah immediately asked, of course, "What's a redneck?" and I tactfully decided to let the guys take care of that one. Grandpa jumped in to save Daddy, and started with some background:
"Well, it used to be, that when you sat in the balcony of the church you could tell who the farmers were because of their red necks. They were red because they had been out working in the sun..."
and about there Leah broke in - "Okay, I wasn't listening. What did you say?"

And we all laughed, because we, the sensitive, caring family that we are, usually tune out for the history lesson part of Grandpa's stories too.

I don't know what's more disturbing: that now she thinks all farmers are red necks, that she's picked up on our rudeness to the family patriarch, or that she was THAT involved with watching the race.

Mom's day gifts - or birthday, if you're the procrastinating type.

2010-04-30T22:50:00.004-05:00

digital camera without a spot on the lens - and automatic red-eye removal (because you KNOW that extra flash doesn't always eliminate the problem)

a year's worth of weekly menus & the coordinating grocery lists

this fun tape, brought to my awareness by my sister

frequent updates of the best price for toilet paper and diapers that don't involve me doing math

these photo ropes, which I'd like to hang EVERYWHERE...

a Keurig coffee pot and case of vanilla-flavored caffinated coffee that won't get me addicted to caffeine

pretty much any of these necklaces...

Cricut with all the cartridges that I might ever be interested in

these earrings, which I bought for a friend's birthday but almost kept for myself

Then there are the real biggies:

time to scrapbook and catch up on all my albums
time to catch up with all the housecleaning that's nagging me (windows, dusting, vacuuming upstairs...etc)
time to absorb all my kids' charms before they grow up too fast
time for a date night with Aaron once a week (I guess if you gifted me a babysitter, that would work, too)
a mama & daddy for every child
food for every mouth
peace in every country, with all people

You know, as long as I'm doing some wishing....

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What are you getting YOUR mom to commemorate all the time she's put into turning you into productive member of society? That is not a small undertaking, you know.

Hopefully the kids will stage a coup tomorrow...

2010-04-30T20:47:00.003-05:00

My kids are lovely. Today has been good, and I've accomplished a fair amount. For some reason, the back tire on Ben's bike won't touch the ground, which means he sits, pedals, and the nothing moves. It's actually pretty funny, but also very frustrating to him. Fortunately, Leah won Big Sister of the Year by letting him ride her bike for a bit. Also, Ben went #2 on the potty this morning! Not sure exactly why, but he's told me AGAIN that he's not going to poop in his undies anymore. One of these times I'll believe him.

So there's my day. Nothing too exceptional, at least not that I'm already sick of talking about (see: pottytraining.)

I had a request at the Modern-Day Jane Facebook page for information about our last book club meeting. We discussed The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, which is the hot new thing in adolescent literature. I borrowed the book from a friend and finished it in one day. It was so good that I pretty much ignored my kids, except for cooking dinner & doing baths/bedtime.

At our club meeting, we discussed other post-apocalyptic teen lit novels and stories, and the story The Lottery came up. Some members were not familiar with this short story, although I think it is required reading in most high schools. It is one of the most horrifying examples of mob mentality, and also an example of "governing" the wrong way.

One of my favorite blogs mimismartypants just happened to mention this story recently. And since I'm having a little writer's block, I thought I'd pass you on over there. WARNING: This blogger is not kid friendly, and does occasionally use some swears. But she. is. funny. Plus, she lives in Chicago, and it's fun to read about the craziness of the big city where my sister lives. (Like El train rants!)

Also, whenever I feel the pressure to do MORE with my blog, I remember that the reason I love Mimi is just because of her writing. Not that I am nearly as good as she is. But, she doesn't have photos, rarely links, no advertising, and NO widgets, fancy or not. Stick to the basics, and do it to the best of your abilities.

Which is why I'm totally slacking off tonight. Apparently, I am a good slacker.
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What's your favorite blog? What do you love about it?

Old Man is Snoring

2010-04-29T21:38:00.002-05:00

Our first really good spring rain came today. Here's what else happened:

- We slept in. (Well, maybe not entirely because of the rain. But I swear the barometer pressure makes a difference.)

- Aaron had to work in the basement instead of the yard, replacing ceiling tiles.

- Leah had recess in the gym instead of the park, which worked out perfectly, since us half-day moms had planned to have pizza for lunch with the kids at school.

- Ben got really, REALLY sweaty running around in the gym.

- Ben also had to apologize to his little friend Cadence about five times for hitting her. Accidentally? On purpose? Who is really to say?

- The big kids and I went to Target. It took them a full five minutes to walk the 20 feet to the store's door - because they were sharing an umbrella.

- Found flip-flops for Ben & Leah, some new storage for Leah's dress-up collection, and Multigrain Cheerios for $2 a box! (with a coupon, of course)

- Almost poked myself in the eye twice maneuvering our two umbrellas, a sliding van door, and Ben's carseat straps.

- Ben fell asleep on the way home and slept for another hour and a half.

- Oh yeah, that other kid? Adam slept until 8:30am, napped from 10-11:30am, and then again from 2pm - 4pm. Good napping weather!

- No soccer for Ben! And it was such a relief, too, since Leah has gymnastics from 3:45-4:45pm, and soccer practice starts at 6pm. It's a tight time schedule, especially to try to get a home-cooked meal in between those two events.

- The rain cleared up just before dinner, so Aaron was able to escape the house - to the driving range, of course. Leah went with, and was a great help in pounding tees into the ground.

- The boys got baths. Ben turned nice & pruney in a long bubble bath.

I love rainy days, and especially in the spring! There's just something about all that sand and scum being washed away. Now if it would all clear up for Aaron's golf excursion this weekend...a happy husband is always lovely!

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Any special rainy day activities?

Master of Procrastination

2010-04-28T16:44:00.003-05:00

Folks, I am a little anxious tonight.

In that box to the right, just under the photo of a truly modern Jane, it says that I "want a Masters degree without all that work". Truer words have never been spoken.

I renewed my teaching license a few years, but time it is a ticken', and now I only have two years left to renew again. Fortunately Aaron has a license for his job, too, and can appreciate that it's usually easier to go through the renewal process than let it expire and try to get a new one. I really do plan to go back to teaching, possibly part time once Adam is in 1st grade, so I do need to get this done.

The last time, I had a slew of continuing education credits from my stint teaching middle school for three years. Plus, I made a half-hearted attempt at grad school (I never should have tried to be a teaching assistant - TA- for a class. I think if I'd just stuck to TAKING one class, things would have been much better. Anyway.) Those credits, plus a couple easy online classes for specific content areas, and I had all the credits needed.

This time? It's not going to be so easy. First of all, I haven't worked in almost six years. I also haven't taken any other classes since my last renewal. All of which means that I'm starting to get stressed about what it's going to take for me to keep that license.

My last graduate school attempt was for a Masters in English, which is much harder than a Masters in education. But still, I'm not sure if I'm willing to do the work required for that degree, either - I mean, I DO have 3 little kids and spend a good part of my day wiping poopy butts. Plus, I have a tendency to like big ideas in my head, but not so much when it comes to the nitty gritty. (Aaron is constantly teasing me about my ambitious gardening projects that I end up forgetting to water...)

A local university ( in Minnesota, since that is where I'm licensed) has a degree for childhood & young adolescent literature - does THAT sound fun or what?! There are only 3 classes required - if I could somehow manage one a semester, things may not be so dire. (Just try and convince Aaron of that, will you?)

I really need to call MN's department of education and get some advice on how to go about this in the most painless way possible.

Honestly, the part I'm dreading the most is asking my former references to have faith in me again. They were so kind and complimentary before, I'm rather worried that now they'll be all, "THAT girl didn't even have the decency to finish her LAST program? And now she wants to start ANOTHER one? What a looo-ser."

Oh wait, maybe that's just what I'm saying to myself.

Quick, someone tell me about something terrible that happened from not going through the proper paperwork!

Hopefully he'll move out before he's 30.

2010-04-26T21:03:00.002-05:00

Leah was a rather independent kid, right from the start. She loved the idea of the toddler bed, potty trained herself (well, basically), figured out on her own how to manage zip-up pjs in the bathroom at night, and in general took to everything rather quickly.

She was never a cuddler, either - too fidgety.

Now we have my little man Benjamin. He is a wonderful cuddler. The other day he even told me that he wanted to sit on my lap forever. "But me want to play soccer too." Yes, it is hard to play soccer while sitting on your mommy's lap. But I'd be willing to try.

Unfortunately, it seems that another way his affectionate nature is presenting itself is by being as dependent on me as possible. Every step towards independence has involved about 5 mini-steps.

Sleeping in a toddler bed: Partially because of our moving twice in 3 months, he slept in a pack & play until he was about 2 1/2. By then he was almost too big to fit IN the thing. But to get him out, we had to first leave the mattress on the floor in the room with him, then let him choose which he wanted to sleep on, and finally took the pack & play away completely and just forced him to make the switch. It took several months.

Putting on his own jacket: Used the "flipping it over the head" technique, but are actually still working on having him pull the sleeves right side out and/or take it off so that doesn't happen in the first place. I think he's finally getting the hang of it.

Potty-training: Yeah. We had to force him to "practice wearing undies" and "practice going on the potty". The #1 part is going pretty well, but #2 is a whole 'nother issue. One we are ready to give up on until he just gets tired of it.

Brushing his teeth: He does a rather random job, so much so that I prefer not to be in the same room when he does it. And still, I usually put the toothpaste on his brush, and do the job myself once a day, just so I know they're getting really clean. Now, if he (and Leah, for that matter) could just avoid spitting on the faucet and MAYBE make sure all the paste gets washed down the drain.

Putting on his own shoes: Last summer he seemed intent on putting his crocs on the wrong feet every. single. time. With sneaker weather came much whining about having us put them on for him, or to fasten the (velcro!) straps, or that something was wrong (usually the tongue or heel pushed down). Finally it seems that we've convinced him to put down BOTH shoes to tell if they are on the right side. He can get it done, but only if he's calm and in the mood to cooperate.

And here's my top five list of things I'd like for him to get figured out as soon as possible:
1. Poop in the potty. Nuff said.

2. Fix his own blankets at night. This is one of the negatives of having a Type A child - Ben insists on his blankets being arranged JUST SO, and if he wakes up at night and they aren't, well, reinforcements (aka Mommy) must be called in to help. This tapered off, but now that he's waking up at night to go potty, I've been tucking him in after helping him. Guess what I'm stopping immediately? (And I have to admit, this blanket fixation is my own fault - if ONLY I didn't do the same thing every night...apparently my habits make my kids rather OCD.)

3. Go potty at night by himself. This WOULD be number 2, but I'm kindof afraid that he might fall and get a concussion trying to go potty while half-asleep, pjs & undies around his ankles, and standing on a stool. I'm willing to get up with him ONCE, but the second time he's on his own.

4. Learn to blow his nose. Heck, I'd be happy if he'd just WIPE it himself. Our new rule is that if he wants me to wipe it for him, he has to at least TRY to blow. The attempts are the most pathetic ever.

5. Zip his coat. Now I'm really dreaming. But as long as I'm fantasizing, why not go all out?

Do me a favor? Remind me of all this when he buys his own car and doesn't come home until 3am.

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What one accomplishment of your child's made the biggest change in YOUR life? Is potty training the ultimate? Or is something smaller the key to freedom?

With great power comes great responsibility.

2010-04-23T19:24:00.002-05:00

In our family, I am the designated "looker". If something is missing, and anyone else "can't find it", I am the one who then looks for it. And usually I find it, thanks to my near photographic memory for where things are.

Anything.

Random tools of Aaron's. Doll pieces of Leah's. A certain car of Ben's. Doesn't matter what it is or if I am even remotely interested in it myself - it doesn't take me long to locate the hiding object.

(Which is why it drives me craaazy when things really go missing. Like for instance, 2/3 of the pegs for the game Trouble in the Bubble. My theory is, if you lose one piece, the rest is sometimes rendered unusable - you may as well throw it out. But don't despair! All the Bubble pegs have been found - most were hiding in with the blocks. Anyway.)

Of course, if anyone else in the house took the time to think through these steps, they could probably do their own looking - and finding:

1) Where was the last place I put the object?
2) Where was the last place I saw the object?
3) Might the object be in one of those said places, but obscured by another item?
4) Might the object be very NEAR to one of those places?
5) Where SHOULD the object be?

But since these steps seem to not be as automatic to everyone else as they are to me - and also, I have that photographic memory thing going on - I am the first line of defense against rampant loss. I don't mind too much, since I like the feeling of accomplishment and helpfulness. At least if they didn't like the supper I made, they still needed me to find that other shoe.

My patience is tested, however, when I can STAND UP and find the desired object. I've started warning the kids, when they ask me to "help them look": Am I going to see it as soon as I walk into the room?

But the other day, something exception happened. I was blamed for a MISSING item. (Actually, not exceptional - every time I put stuff away I get accused of hiding it.) But get this - it wasn't even MINE. OR Aaron's. It was Ben's (kid-sized, left-handed) golf club.

The other parent in the family called me TWICE while I was at the park (where recess takes place) with Leah & Adam after picking her up from school. Both times he had me replay the last time I had seen the club, which was desperately needed for Ben to have any fun accompanying Aaron golfing...in thirty minutes.

Of course, the last time it was seen by either of us was when I had allowed Ben to hit golf balls in the front yard. People, I SWEAR it was totally safe. I even had him stop and wait whenever anyone came near. Perfectly fine.

Anyway, since I had put the golf club away (in a completely logical, normal spot), and now it wasn't there, it was clear to the OTHER parent in the family that I had misplaced it. Thinking that maybe I had, I threw out some options of where it could be, and finally agreed to come home and check it out.

The guys were gone when I got home, and I made a sweep of the typical hiding spots with no luck.

Four days later, still no golf club. By then, I was very curious. There really aren't THAT many places for a golf club to hide, and by now I'm very certain that I was not the one responsible. I explained to that other parent that although I am the primary caregiver, there are *gasp* pockets of time when the kids are not directly supervised, and either of them could have made off with the club during any one of those times in the past week. But we looked and LOOKED, with still no success.

Tonight, we had some friends over for dinner. During the kids' "go run off some energy" time after supper, Ben came running in with exciting news:

"Me found my goff club! It was buried in the sand box!"

I am so NOT taking the blame for this, AND I will be reminding that other parent of this whenever such a situation occurs again.

Also, the sandbox has been added to the search route.

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What's the oddest spot you've found something in? I know a teacher who put his shoes in the fridge. Yes, he's legally blind, but still - you'd think something would click there.

A Tale of Two Parents

2010-04-22T20:19:00.003-05:00

Today was gymnastics for Leah. All year, Aaron has been taking her, with or without also taking Ben. And let me tell you, it has been awfully nice to have an hour or so of relative quiet in the house while they are all gone. Sometimes I'd scrapbook, or vacuum, and once Adam and I watched the "kid shows" that are part of the afternoon routine...all on our own. Because I know Adam likes them. Yes, I feel a little guilty about that.

However, the last several weeks I have started the task of driving Leah to class, and waiting in the balcony for the duration. Why? Because her friend E is ALSO in the class, and I happen to really enjoy chatting with E's mom Laurie. And since she also has 3 kids, E being the youngest, rarely do our paths cross, and then usually just briefly. The chance to visit for an hour once a week? Yeah, I'll volunteer for that!

Today Leah, Adam and I arrived a tish early. Like, 15 minutes early. I guess I forgot how close we live to the gymnastics arena - or how much faster I move without having to unbuckle Ben and wait for his lollygagging. Regardless.

We went back to the changing area and spent a few seconds absorbing how peaceful and quiet it was. AFTER, that is, we passed a crazed mom and two boys. Here is a synopsis of their "conversation":

Mom: Come on, Blaze! Let's go! You need to listen! Blaze, if you don't get going....well, I guess Ashton and I will have ice cream and you won't get any!
Blaze: But I'm hungry!
Mom: You just had a cookie! Now let's go!

By this time, I've already heard this kid's name way more than I really want to. And there is more to come.

I deposited Leah at her class, after a teacher showed up, and then the baby and I headed up to the balcony. And guess who was waiting there? Yep, Crazed Mom. And her two LOVELY boys. Here's some more of what I was put through, all from the Mom this time:

Blaze, sit down! Don't touch that (the railing)! I said sit DOWN! Sit down now! Blaze, if you don't sit down, you're not going to get that ice cream. Blaze, stop it. Stop it now! Blaze, I have had it with this! Sit down! Ashton, don't fall (through the railing...and since when does a kid fall on purpose?) You're going to get stuck...again! Be careful! Blaze, be quiet! Ashton, sit down. (By now, Ashton is sitting with his legs through the railings, dangling his legs over the trampoline below. But Blaze can't TOUCH the railing, or at least he couldn't five minutes previous.) Blaze, I will take you OUT of here. You can wait in the car. (I think she realized this was probably a bad threat to make in public. My ears perked up, probably visibly, and I started thinking about calling Social Services.)

Then I called Laurie. Thankfully, she was on her way upstairs, because there was no WAY I could sit through an hour of listening to that woman's parenting. I usually try to be understanding of a parent's situation, but this one went on for so LOOOONG, and she was talking so MUUUUCH, if I didn't have someone else to distract me, I was planning to go home and just come pick Leah up when she was done. I mean, the boys were squirlly, but they weren't being overly naughty, that I had noticed. Just how much do you expect of kids ages 2 and 4? When they are waiting for an older sibling, with nothing to entertain them? Seems like a stressed mommy waiting to happen.

Anyway, Laurie arrived and things improved greatly. Then she got a phone call from one of HER boys. Apparently there was some brotherly dispute going on, and one kid had locked the other out of the house, and it sounded like bodily harm might be inflicted. This is roughly what I heard from HER end:

Okay, M, what I need you to do is go to your room, by yourself, and stay there until I get home. Give the phone to C. M, give the phone to C. M, go upstairs and sit on the couch until I get home, and I don't want the tv on. If I get home and find out that you've disobeyed me, there will be consequences. Now give the phone to C. I want to talk to C. M, that's One. ...That's Two. ....That's Three.

And then M hung up on his mom, and her expression said that things would NOT be happy for M once she got home. What I admired is that her tone stayed even throughout the entire conversation! There was no sign of the screaming and battling going on at the other end (she just told me about it!) She was clear and direct. And yes, the boys were still naughty, but I had a feeling that if she had been there in person, the situation would have been resolved rather promptly.

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Have you ever just been flat out irritated by another parent's "methods"? And let me clarify AGAIN, I usually give the parent the benefit of the doubt in similar circumstances - kids throwing fits at stores, leaving playdates, etc. But this time it really seemed like the MOM was misbehaving more than the children.

To what extent will you change your schedule just to visit with a friend? Most extreme example, please?:)

Also, driving with the windows down. Willingly.

2010-04-21T15:18:00.004-05:00

One of my favorite things about the change in seasons (besides the novelty which makes it easier to get my kids outside) is the new wardrobe that comes with it. And I'm not talking about the wardrobe that has come straight from the mall.

I'm talking about the one that comes from the back of your closet. Yesss, we get to pull out the frilly t-shirts, not just the ones to layer under sweaters. Cropped pants (cause it has to be REALLY hot for this mama to wear shorts). Sandals and flip-flops.

And it's just a bonus if you spent the previous summer pregnant and/or nursing. That opens up a whole segment of your wardrobe that hasn't seen the light of day for almost 2 years: closer fitting button-down tops (I know those should be nursing-friendly, but it's much easier to pull up than unbutton). White shirts (baby spitup? leaking boobs?). All bottoms that didn't fit (either too big OR too small, depending...). And the biggy? DRESSES. After several family weddings, I have a good supply of them, but they are decidedly NOT nursing-friendly, unless I want to put the thing over my head. Which I don't.

I love me some pretty skirts, and have many, but I've taken my opportunities to wear dresses for the last four dressy events I've attended (and those would be, just so you don't think I'm attending black-tie events: Easter Sunday church, school banquet, and two nights of the dinner theater I directed.) Dresses that require special undergarment considerations - and I'm not talking nursing bras. REAL dresses.

And to prepare, I even planned ahead. About a week or so before the first dress event, Easter, I started on my crusty heels. I thought I'd end up heading to a salon for a pedicure (Oh, the TORTURE), but instead I just used my pumice stone in the shower. Within a few days, the skin looked new. Not, of course, baby-new, but at least nearly-middle-age new.

I also started making my legs look less like they'd spent the winter buried under denim, being shaved once a week (on average). My favorite tactic for this is Jergens Natural Glow body lotion. From past experiences, though, I have learned to put regular lotion on my knees, tops of my feet, and shin bone first, before applying the tanning lotion. Otherwise that thinner? skin absorbs more color and it looks very UN-natural.

Of course, painting my toenails was a must before the first breaking-out of the sandals. One of the rewarding parts of having little people around is that they are much closer to your toes, and therefore oooh and ahhh very satisfactorily over any improvement in the view. There's nothing like a kid appreciating your purple toenails to make the day a little brighter!

I do tend to go shopping for a few new items each spring - especially solid color t-shirts, which are my uniform of choice. I have one in almost every color, but wear them so often they DO need replacing, although Aaron has yet to be convinced of that. (The replacing part. The every-shade-of-the-rainbow part he's in complete agreement with.)

In summary, (this is a tip of the hat to my 8th grade writing instruction) spring to me means wearing almost-forgotten clothes - especially dresses - , shaving & coloring my legs, and painting my toenails. All this comes before planting my gardens...which are in the process of being built. More on that soon!

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A non-nature sign of spring for you?

Which type of clothing do you most look forward to wearing when the season changes? From winter to spring, OR summer to fall....

They haven't been to a circus, either.

2010-04-20T16:10:00.003-05:00

This last weekend, the show "Walking with the Dinosaurs" (life-size dino puppets with a human narrator/host) came to town. And it seemed that everyone was going...especially if their kids love dinos. I felt like a negligent parent by refusing to take mine.

Truthfully, there were a lot of other events in town scheduled for the same weekend, but since I knew I'd be busy with the dinner theater production (which I was directing), I pretty much ignored anything that conflicted with those dates. I felt guilty for not making more of an effort to get Leah and Ben there, even though they went to the dinner theater at our church with me both Friday & Saturday AND Leah went to a birthday party Saturday afternoon. Clearly they weren't sitting around bored.

ALSO, tickets were $25 or so at the cheapest.

IN ADDITION, my kids are wusses. Ben will beg and BEG to watch Aaron play Mario on Wii, or Guitar Hero, and then spend half the time hiding around the corner, watching from the other room. (In his defense, the Wii is set up on the projector screen, so the characters are practically bigger than he is.) Leah gets really emotionally involved and will cry out of sympathy for the characters, as she did when we watched Wall-E.

When the ad played in between PBS show, Ben asked about it. I said we weren't going because we were going to the dinner theater, and all he said was, "Oh." Easy enough! Leah said she'd like to see the show, "but only if our seats are way in the back!"

Knowing this about my kids, was I willing to gamble $75 on tickets? No. Because even if I DID have the time/opportunity, and they WEREN'T freaked, what are the chances that they wouldn't have nightmares?

Slim to none, my friends.

But that didn't stop the guilt. Inadvertently, from my dad, who called to say that, "Some friends of mine took their kids and they really enjoyed it." I was kindof bratty on the phone to him (sorry, Dad!) but at the time, the sarcastic voice in my head said,"Yep. I'm just trying to keep them from enjoyment. They will be scrubbing the floor while all other kids in town are busy being happy." But instead I pointed out how I was busy both evenings and Aaron was working. Dad volunteered to take them, and then I proceeded with my previous argument about $$$ and nightmares. I won.

And then Friday night the local news had a little feature piece about the show, and reported from online commenters how awesome it was. The anchor said something like, "One viewer said she took her three year old, and that they weren't a bit scared."

Well, great for you, lady. But for me, this is not a blanket issue. This is PURELY a case of knowing your kids well enough to judge what is best for THEM, not other people's kids.

Part of me wishes we had been able to go, or maybe that I had tried a bit harder to be able to get them there.

But then I saw that one of the opening scenes involved a newly-hatched baby being "eaten" by another adult dino...and that it ends with all the dinos dying...and I think Leah would be a little upset by that.

And maybe I'm okay with my decision. Isn't that one of the tougher things about being a parent? Saying NO to something you think your kid might enjoy in favor of their greater good?

Right?
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Any help here, folks? Like, know of a little kid who WAS scared of the dinosaur show? Back me up here.

Have you ever nixed something fun (circus, fair, etc) because it just wasn't right for your family, although it MIGHT have been okay?

That's one engagement broken, I believe.

2010-04-15T13:18:00.003-05:00

During lunch today, I was reading the digest section of the newspaper - you know, that section where all the REALLY interesting/depressing occurrences are described in horrifying detail. It's soo conducive to digestion.

And today was no different. I came across a description of an incident, commented on it to Aaron - something to the extent of, "Wow. That was really rude and disgusting, and I'm not going to say anything more...because it's not something for kids to hear." Especially considering the status of potty-training in our house. "Also, if you are in a dispute, and someone starts making a 911 call, it's best not to interfere, since that is a separate charge." I know this from one of my THREE experiences with jury duty.

Which of course made Leah insanely curious. I told Aaron I'd tell him about it later, but he was very curious also, and asked if maybe there weren't some grown-up words I could use to describe it?

Ok, honey. Sure. I'll try.

Me: It involves ...excrement.
Aaron: Hopefully outside.
Me: No.
A: (puzzled look)
Me: It involves an engaged couple...
A: (more puzzlement)
Me: ...the gentleman (using the term loosely) was sitting on the...commode...and they were having a ...disagreement...about...finances...
Me: (seeing that Aaron is getting the picture but needing a few more details...) (motions to wiping my face, behind a magazine blocking Leah's line of vision)
A: Gross!

Yes. So it seems that an engaged couple were having a fight about money while the guy was on the toilet. He did the only LOGICAL thing, which was to reach behind him, grab some...excrement...and wipe it on his beloved's face. And then when her 12 yr old son tried to call 911 (wouldn't you love to be THAT dispatcher?) the guy interfered.

I think the wedding is off. Wonder what the cards announcing the situation will say? Elegant and minimalistic: "We realized that there are some unresolved issues we need to work on." Or simple and direct: "He wiped POOP on my FACE!" Maybe no formal announcement is necessary. You could just make a bunch of photocopies of the article, and write "US" in the margin. 'Nough said.

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Do you remember the biggest "Why is this in the news?" story you've heard?

Hope your day is going better than that poor couple - and the lady's son!

Even more crazy than usual.

2010-04-14T16:14:00.004-05:00

That's how I would describe this week. For me, at least. The kids have had life much as usual except for that Daddy is tucking them into bed instead of Mommy.

The play I'm directing at church goes public for the first time tonight when we perform for the youth group. Then Friday and Saturday evenings is the official event, the big youth group fundraiser, the annual dinner theater. Our church is not exactly designed for hosting a 3 course meal, silent auction, and full-length drama, so there are a lot of people and many, MANY volunteer hours involved with its success.

Our first rehearsal with a set was Monday night. And that went oh so well that the students begged for another rehearsal the next night. One terrified student said that if I couldn't come, they'd just have a "captain's practice". Not sure who was going to be the captain - but I was available. Of course, that also meant that I volunteered Aaron for yet another single-parenting night.

(Now, moms, I know that we all do "single-parenting" fairly often - I've had my share of solo nights. But I'm USED to it. Its always harder to do something that's out of the norm, and especially when that involves a 10 month old baby who still nurses before bed...you can understand Aaron's nervousness.)

Monday night I was gone from 6:15-9:15. Tuesday was a little easier for Daddy, since we didn't start until 7pm - I helped bathe the kids and put Adam to bed before heading out. Tonight I probably won't be home until around 9pm. Friday we will ALL be gone from 5-9ish, and Saturday will be the same for at least me - Aaron is working, and I'm trying to find someone to stay at home with the kids, so at least they get to bed at a normal time THAT night.

All these late nights mean that I've been in overdrive during the day. Washing dishes, tidying the kitchen, vacuuming the kitchen...these are all things I usually do after dinner. And I REALLY don't want to come home to that mess later on...I'd much rather crash on the couch and surf the Internet.

Plus, there's all the extra errands & appointments, like the first swimming lesson Monday afternoon (which went great! Ben got in the water, and even admitted to having fun!), renting a bunny costume, a Target run, etcetera, etcetera.

I haven't made it to the grocery store this week yet, and I have Leah's birthday invitations to print and mail this week...and a birthday party, and an art show, and possibly a visit from my grandpa...gah.

This is basically one long excuse for not posting more this week. But honestly, my priority is my family and my sanity. Hopefully next week things will be back to normal and I'll have all sorts of humorous and/or intelligent things to say. But tonight? I'm going to go cuddle with Aaron on the couch.

See you later!

Next year, it's monster trucks. Gah.

2010-04-11T21:23:00.011-05:00

Four years is perfect for a dinosaur birthday party. Ben is interested in every dinos, and I get to hear him tell us that his favorite is the "dynosauraus rex".

This is the one and only time he wore the hat, although his father attempted to wear three in imitation of a triceratops!

These same boys (the girls are all big sisters who tagged along) were at Ben's Thomas the Train birthday party last year. LAST year, I had some games ready to play, but ditched all but one in favor of letting the boys just play with trains. THIS year, it was obvious that some of the boys are in preschool, and that all of them are a year older. They sat so nicely and listened to the directions, raised their hands for turns, and followed the rules. Even if they didn't really get the point of the game, they had fun and played nicely.

Moms, if you'd like a few minutes of peace & quiet (and let's face it, we ALL do), here's the game: Don't Wake the Dino (or whatever). One kid is the dinosaur, and they curl up on a towel (as the nest) with plastic eggs around them. The other kids try to steal an egg, one at a time, without the dinosaur hearing them and waking up. If they ARE caught, they are the next dino.

The hilarious thing about our version is that NONE of the dinosaurs woke up! And the egg-snatchers were stealthy, but not THAT stealthy. Next time, I may put a bell in each egg or something. As it was, it was basically one kid being really quiet and still, while the other kids were really quiet and stealing eggs. Definitely a low-energy game.

Instead of a cake this year, I put my dinosaur cookie cutters (and my mom) to work.

Aren't they adorable?

The big activity was excavating dinosaurs. Two nights before, Aaron was nice enough to mix up a big batch of plaster of paris for me. We filled large plastic cups & buried a plastic dino in each one. My mistake was not removing the plastic cup the next morning, because they still weren't totally dry when the kids cracked them open. By the way, are you in awe of our bravery? Seven little boys, all armed with hammers. And then the plaster started flying. Thanks to the dampness, it also stuck - to hair, jackets, pants, and our sidewalk. Oopsie.

But they had fun. After they mini-archaeologists found their fossils, they played some dino-tag (T-rex tries to catch the herbivores!) and then dug in the sandbox, hit some golf balls, or played on the swingset for awhile.

Goodie bags were genius this year: a bag of dino fruit snacks, a packet of Dinosaur Egg instant oatmeal, and a booklet of dino stickers.

After the official party, Grandpa & Grandma came over for lunch, and so did my cousin K, her hubs B, and the baby, little B. Little B and Adam are about 3 months apart in age, and we are predicting that they will become close buddies. Have you ever seen two babies more snarfle-able? Me neither.

So there it is. I obviously like low-key parties - there was no decorations, except a balloon bouquet. There was no craft, no project that took me all week to complete. I didn't even sweat over the cake for 2 hours the night before!

All in all, an awesome party.

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What the most outrageous party element you've ever PERSONALLY witnessed?

Ben in Review

2010-04-09T13:50:00.019-05:00

Four years in review, anyway. And I sure hope some of you enjoy these photos, since they've taken me 2 1/2 days to get uploaded & arranged properly. Gah!

Contractions started at 4pm on April 8th. After about 20 minutes, I couldn't walk across the room without doubling over. That should have been my first clue that they were "real" contractions, but no. I had to go check my birthing book and match the description. Silly me.

We got to the hospital, I got my lovely, perfect, wonderful epidural, the doctor broke my water AND THEN WENT HOME. He said that if he stayed, it would probably take me five hours. We called him back about an hour or so later, and actually had to wait for him to arrive for me to start pushing! After only 16 minutes, Benjamin Aaron sprang into the world at 9:08pm. He weighed 7 pounds, 12.9 ounces.

We have almost the exact photo from Leah's birth, but the other photo was taken after we were up all night and I'd been pushing for 5 hours. I love how awesome I look for Ben's first family photo!

Just before leaving the hospital as a family of four. Look at those two cute little buggers!

Just a few weeks old, and already so handsome.

These two still crack each other up! We are so blessed by their friendship.

Is this baby starting to look familiar? Everyone wonders who Adam looks like, but I think the boys have some resemblance!

On his first birthday, taking his first life-threatening steps on Grandpa's hearth!

About 18 months. I would like to point out those luscious curls, the bruised forehead, and the outfit that Adam has already worn. Also, that he is headed for the steps.

2nd birthday. Looks like he got beat up, but I'm pretty sure that's a casualty of being a two year old boy.

Two and a half. Multitasking. Thatta boy!

3rd birthday. Never saw a group of 3 year old boys so intent on the same thing - and not being destructive.

About 3 and a half. LOVING the bike. Finally figured out how to stop by pedaling backwards instead of just dragging a foot and then bailing.

My goofy four year old. He's an obstinant, debating, non-stop talking, constant-running, almost- totally-potty-trained bundle of energy. And although he may try to negotiate every single request from mommy & daddy ("Eat your dinner." "How many bites? One?") he is also the first to come and want to cuddle, sit on my lap, or request to be carried upstairs for bed. Kisses still make owies go away, and he looks to hold my hand whenever we are out shopping. He's my baby. And always will be, even when he's a big stinky teenager. Happy birthday, Ben-O.

60 days to a new family!

2010-04-06T20:49:00.004-05:00

Who invented this Google Reader thing? They owe me BIG time, for all the time I just lost - right after I get done saying THANK YOU for making it soo much easier for me to catch up on my blog reading. Which is essential to life, as you well know.

I have a few big things going coming up soon, and because I tend to double-book myself when things happen back-to-back like this, I'm going to write it all out here, and maybe that will help me make sense of it all.

April 8th - Ben turns FOUR! We are heading somewhere fun (his choosing, so McDonald's?) for lunch, and then having family over for cake and some birthday quiz.

10th - Ben's dinosaur birthday party at 9:30am! In the works is dinos in plaster of paris for the little guys to "excavate". Also, dino cookies to decorate and put on top of cupcakes. Enough sugar for ya?

Oh yeah, the 10th's not done. That evening is the yearly banquet for Leah's school, including both a silent & live auction. Each class put together a themed "basket" for the live auction, and ours contains $750 worth of scrapbooking/card-making materials, including a Cricut - the big one. I am so excited to see how much we can raise for the school!

12th - Swimming lessons start for Leah and Ben! Ben, of course, is refusing to look forward to them, but I addressed it briefly today and there was no outright rebellion, just a bit of crabbiness, so I'm getting hopeful.

16th & 17th - Dinner Theater at church - it's the youth group's major fundraiser of the year, and guess who they have directing that drama production? Um, me. For the second year. Who's crazier, them or me?! Regardless, I will have a LOT less on my mind after next weekend. Those kids better get their lines memorized, or I won't be responsible for what happens next.

24th - Ben's first soccer game! Whoo hooo! And I get to go to book club that evening. WHOO HOOO!

30th - MOMS Club showcase, where Mom and I are selling her jackets & my booties. We'll see how it goes.

May 3rd - Leah's 6th birthday! Lunch at a place of her choice - probably Chuck E. Cheese. Hope I remember to bring that cup of tokens from our last excursion...exactly a year ago.

6th - Yearly doctor visit for Leah & Ben. Not really a big deal, unless Ben is still pooping in his undies, and then maybe I'll be asking for a referral to a psychologist for him, and probably a psychiatrist for me. (For the record, Aaron thinks I'm overreacting. Who, ME?) By the way, I am proud of myself for not freaking out when he pooped in his pants today. He can do it for years, as long as he cleans it up himself. Which he is - even rinsing out the pants. At some point, he'll get tired of it. Eventually. Right?

8th - Leah's Ruff Ruffman birthday party. The invite list is at 21, including 4 older girls as helpers. This is her big shebang - she may not get another one like it until her Sweet 16, so I hope she enjoys it. I even emailed the show asking for a copyright release for Ruff's image. Geesh. What am I, some sort of suburban soccer helicopter mom?....Well? Am I?

27th - Leah's kindergarten graduation. How cute is that? I'll post photos, I promise.

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Okay, so what's on your agenda for April/May? These months are classic for big events... I mean, maybe you don't have the humongous occaision of a kindergarten graduation, but maybe you have some other kind of something coming up?

Now all I need is the Farmer's Market...

2010-04-05T20:07:00.008-05:00

I think it's officially spring. Of course, we could still get a blizzard, but I'm starting to think that's less and less likely. But not impossible.

Here's my evidence in favor of Spring:

* Aaron bought both the kids baseball mits & balls. Leah's is pink.

* I've signed the kids up for swimming lessons, soccer (Ben), tennis (Leah), and a couple of art classes (Leah)

* Adam has had his first taste of pea gravel from the swingset - by his own hand, NOT falling.

* I broke out the flip-flops. Who cares if my feet are a bit chilly! Socks feel confining.

* Aaron has started lawn care - raking the front yard.

* Also, he's getting to the root of why our yard takes longer to turn green than the neighbors' does.

* Next project: Building garden beds! Too bad we decided not to use the treated timbers Aaron bought extra of last summer, in order to avoid getting cancer.

* The Easter bunny DID make it to our house, in the form of Auntie Korina. She brought sand shovels & pails for the kids, artwork for the mom & dad, and candy for everyone!

* First family bike ride of the year! Adam rode in the trailer like a little man. Grandpa's head was too big for my helmet, so he took a risk. Kids, wear your helmets!

* My mom was back to work making an Easter dress for Leah. She loooved it.

* I'm starting to think the kids need baths more than 3 times a week.

* Washing hands before eating is now mandatory, not an afterthought. (Bad mommy!)

* The kids smell like fresh air.

* Ben has finally stopped asking if he needs to wear a hat & mittens before heading out.

* The thought of switching Adam to a new carseat isn't quite so terrifying. But I'm holding onto that infant seat for his naps at playgroup & church. Thank goodness for minivans!

* Check it out! All of us in our Easter duds, and nobody's freezing!

Hope you are all enjoying it also!

Archeological dig.

2010-04-02T21:22:00.003-05:00

This afternoon, Aaron continued working on replacing the basement's ceiling tiles. But first, he primed, and then painted white, the metal frames that the tiles sit in. Finally, a few of the new white tiles were put in to see the effect, and it looks awesome, people! The final touch will be cleaning the light fixtures. Then we get to pick a new paint color for the paneled walls (currently painted puke-pink beige) and then decide what to do with the floor (anticipate water damage at some point or go for the full carpet with padding?)

And believe it or not, I actually helped. Aaron insisted that I finally do something with all the junk that has been gathering in the basement. Which of course meant that I had to start by shuffling some things in my craft room...

...which lead to going through a file of memorabilia...and finally finding the lock of hair from Ben's first haircut!.....and lots of other cards & birthday quizzes.

...which lead to messing around with the kids' "baby" boxes. And THAT required digging out Leah's coming-home-from-the-hospital outfit to include in her box...and of course I had to get sappy about how teeny it is, and how she swam in it! Those three boxes, plus one of wedding trinkets, are destined for shelves in our closet.

Here are some other things I came across in the excavation process:

- a yoga mat, used once. We decided to keep it, as a pad for camping or something. I don't know. It'll come in handy sometime.
- four of my old 4-H trophies. Against advice from someone, I decided to keep them. What if someday I want to make a trophy for a game for the kids? Or they are needed for a theater production? Come on. You can't get rid of a little collection of iconic trophies - besides, they are the only ones I ever earned. I'm NOT getting rid of them.
- an entire set of stoneware dishes, waiting to be sold on Craigslist
- Six boxes containing all of my teaching materials. Someone said that if I'm not using it, I should get rid of it. But again, I'm NOT getting rid of that stuff. I know that when I finally get back to the classroom, I'll probably have to relearn a ton, and every district uses different programs to teach writing and grammar. But those boxes hold all of my reminders of what I USED to do. Looking through it all, even though I may not remember how to use it, makes me remember the me that DID.
- Two boxes of Aaron's college textbooks. TWO. Yes, he brought that up several times.
- Two boxes of a combination of Christian books & materials and theater books. Yeah. Not sure how that happened, but I separated those topics into one box of each.
- At least five Bibles. Those got put upstairs, so that when we host Bible study again, we won't be embarrassed by the lack of them.
- At least five anthologies from undergrad. Those are being donated - not sure exactly who's going to want them (English Lit, parts 1 & 2, American Lit, parts 1 & 2, African-Am lit, etc...) but they'll be at the Boys' Ranch soon! Couldn't part with my Mythology & Drama anthols, though. Maybe in another 10 years.
- Another pillow form, used to fill out that box of anthologies.
- A collection of figurines that Mom gave me over a few years. Hoping to display them in Leah's room someday.

Now pretty much all that's left is the huge pile of empty boxes, and stuff to sell at a garage sale this summer. Oh, and a few cases of audiotapes, and a bunch of empty picture frames, and a kids' easel, and a ping-pong table...

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What's hiding in YOUR basement (or other storage area)? What remnants of a past life are you unwilling to part with? Am I the only one with trophies taking up space?

A return policy might be good, too.

2010-03-31T16:09:00.004-05:00

Today is it! Leave a comment at this post telling me your favorite scrapbook received OR your fav that you've made. You can do the same thing on my Facebook fanpage (Modern-Day Jane) after you've become a fan, or on Twitter after following me (@mdjane). That's 3 chances to enter the drawing! If you haven't seen how awesome this 7x7 album is, go check it out! Giveaway ends at midnight tonight.
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When you take out a loan, you get a disclosure statement, with all the terms of the loan. You also get one when you buy a house, to let you know of any issues that have existed and may or may not crop up again. This site defines a disclosure statement as: a statment written in plain language which is easy to understand. The statement provides disclosures of information which may be relevant or important.

It is obvious that in a situation involving a lot of money or investment, it would be necessary to know EXACTLY what you are getting into, in order to forestall any problems in the future.

Now, can you tell me why a disclosure statement is not required for having kids?(Other than the completely irrational requirement of only having the appropriate body parts, I mean.) Can you THINK of anything more valuable or costly?!

There are obvious qualities that can easily be attributed to a parent without much fuss or issues when the babe is fairly young. Dimples, facial features, hair color, even height. Later on, special talents crop up: reading, music, sports, etc. For instance, Aaron and I are just biding our time until the kids all end up in corrective eye wear, since not only both of us got glasses around 4th-5th grade, but also because almost all of our siblings also have correction!

But what about all the little things in between? Here are a few of Ben's traits that I wish Aaron had disclosed about his own childhood a bit earlier:

1) potty training. You knew this had to be at the top of the list, right? Aaron just mentioned the other day that he was a late- potty-trainer, and YES, even had issues with #2. THIS may have been useful for me to know when I was oh so innocently expecting Ben to be ready to wear undies at age 3.

2) alphabet issues. Ben isn't the show-off that Leah is, so we haven't been sure exactly how many of the letters he could identify. But I spent about an hour with him the other day, and it's amazing how much he's willing to do when cuddling with mom! He gets them all - except "S", which he consistently called "C". Turns out, Aaron does the same thing.

3) color issues. Whenever Ben mis-identifies a color, (usually purple/blue or green/orange) Aaron says, "I used to do that too!" And to take my own blame, both of my brothers are color-blind, so I'm on the watch for that to crop up sometime.

4) wearing sweatpants in public. I have never had many clothing issues with the kids. But Ben has said a few times that he likes "pants", not jeans. I have complied by focusing my spending power on sweatpants & other similar types. I guess it's a good thing that Aaron has worn me down in this area. I just wasn't expecting it to be genetic.

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What odd traits showed themselves in your children? Who's to blame? Alternately, which of YOUR traits are you afraid will show up?

What kind of legal form or requirement would be most instrumental in the revolutionizing of parenting?

Egg-cellent!

2010-03-30T16:01:00.006-05:00

Only one day left of the album giveaway! If you are a scrapbooker, you'll love this little guy. And if you are NOT a scrapbooker...it would make a great gift! Go check it out - there are 3 ways to enter!
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I love dyeing eggs. And I rather enjoy the magazine Martha Stewart Living. This time of year, the two come together to give me a handful of new techniques for making beautiful reminders of new life.

I also love to host parties, so of course I usually try to have some family over for the occasion. This year, I added some friends and dessert. Just realized that I didn't take a photo of my beautiful green gingham platter filled with luscious red strawberries, to top the angel food cake and homemade whipped cream. You'll just have to imagine.

We tried Martha's stenciled eggs this year. The directions required adhesive vinyl, which you then punch into shapes. Well, I have MANY shape punches, purchased from Creative Memories for scrapbooking, and thought that they would be perfect. They probably would have been, too, if my substitution of contact paper (shelf liner) instead of the vinyl hadn't failed so miserably. The only adhesive vinyl I could find was in large rolls, to put through a Cricut die cut machine. And of course I'm way too cheap to order the correct stuff online. Oh well -live and learn!

But what DID work? Electrical tape, cut into strips and then wrapped around the eggs, or cut into squares. The trick is to pat the eggs dry between colors. The steps I followed for a few of the eggs below:

1. Cut tape & place on egg.
2. Put egg in dye.
3. Pull egg out and pat dry with paper towels.
4. Remove tape, and place new tape, slightly overlapping the still-white areas.
5. Put in another color.
6. Remove, pat dry, remove tape.
7. Ooh and ahh.

What's so awesome about this process is that there's pretty much no way to mess it up. Which makes it PERFECT for doing with kids. Leah and her pal C loved it, and Leah even dreamt about egg dyeing last night, reportedly. The girls are the artists behind the dramatic egg second from the right in the photo below.

For the blue "cracked" egg on the far right, I cut the electrical tape into a jagged line, wrapped it around the egg, and put more tape around the straight edge. Aaron had the fabulous idea to make a looped "handle" and stick a spoon through it to suspend the egg in the dye cup, so that it would stay straight. Smart, huh?

Of course I didn't go out and buy real vinyl letters - I used what we had, which was letter stickers for your mailbox & such. We had to cut the letters out of the white background, and as you can see, they didn't stick too well, but it's kind of a cool effect anyway. We like to make an egg for each member of the family.

Aaron made those striped eggs in the photo above, and Ben did some wax doodling on the other blue egg in front. I like the abstract look.

If you are curious what else Martha has come up with for the simple, amazing egg, here's a link for you. These are all so fun, I'm tempted to try blowing out some eggs next year, so we can actually display them and add to our collection year after year. Wouldn't that be cool?

As it is, we now have 18 hard-boiled eggs in the fridge. Frankly, I think that's awesome. Leah and I both love them, and Ben will eat the whites quite happily. Maybe I'll even try egg-salad sandwiches one of these days?

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Any favorite egg-dyeing memories or techniques? What do you do with them after they are all pretty?

In the WIN column:

2010-03-26T17:00:00.004-05:00

Don't forget about my mini-scrapbook giveaway! Three ways to enter!

- Last night, had uninterrupted sleep. No baby crying. No pre-schooler whining. No kindergartner with bad dreams.

- Woke up feeling...what is this strange experience....refreshed.

- Did my hair a little differently, put some extra time into getting dressed, and was rewarded by a friend saying I looked cute.

- Listened to memory verses for Leah's class. Knew the verse myself, and got to hear Leah rattle it off, then tell another mom that she "knew it like the back of her hand!"

- Picked up breakfast for myself at McD's - egg mcmuffin, yogurt parfait, mocha. Thank YOU, couponing, for the lack of guilt!

- At playgroup, got to meet one great new mom, and talk to another one more.

- Adam took a little nap!

- NO FIGHTS at playgroup. Not even between the kids. (haha!)

- Leah went home with a friend for a playdate, so I didn't have to rush to pick her up.

- Mom pulled into the driveway just as I was unloading the kids, and stayed to have lunch & entertain Ben.

- Aaron came home for lunch, and appreciated that I remembered to borrow the last 2 Twilight books for him. (Oops - did I just out him? He read the books before I did!)

- Adam took an almost 2 hr nap. His afternoon naps have become reliably longer, which is a blessing since a couple months ago they were more like 1 hr tops.

- Adam has also belched - loudly- several times today. This just cracks me up! He's belched since the day after he was born. Good thing I am as mature as a seventh grader.

- Got 2 bathrooms cleaned & the downstairs vacuumed. Also, made homemade pizza dough for a dinner of pizza rollups.

- Ben pooped on the potty! Not a ton, but he gets an A for effort, and also a new car. (Every time I say that, I think it should sound like Bob Barker: "And behind this door....A NEW CAR!") Of course, it took him 2 pairs of undies, but we're being positive here.

- Adam munched his way through dinner, so we were spared the incessant whining and demanding to be on our laps wreaking havoc with everything in arm's reach.

- Leah & Ben are currently playing happily with a combination of 4 different Little People sets. I KNEW those were a good idea.

- Got in the mail a gift from Etsy for a friend's birthday...and it's so awesome I'm putting it on my own wishlist. If I can wait that long. (I'd link to the store or something, but that would kindasorta give away the surprise...)

- Now it's time to start getting the baby to bed, and then those big kids...and then Aaron will be home!

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Hope you all are also having a lovely Friday! Enjoy the weekend!

Also, Adam is eating pork. KABAM!

2010-03-25T19:33:00.002-05:00

Go enter my mini-scrapbook giveaway!
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Ben seems to have no clue when he has to poop, and this has lead to multiple pairs of undies in a day - like, five. This rapidly depletes the supply, as I currently do laundry one day a week. We had to go to training undies last week out of desperation.

Leah drew on the kids' art table with marker. AGAIN. This has become an issue, and the last time it happened, it (along with numerous caps left marker-free) pushed me over the edge and I said that the next time, the markers would be put away for awhile. So they were, and Leah tried to clean up the mess. Washable markers, but not ALL the dye comes off.

Adam managed not to destroy anything.
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Has anyone ever rented a motorhome? Aaron has a dream of our family taking one on a cross-country trek someday, since a family of five is rather hard on a host. Unfortunately, we live in the middle of nowhere, and the only websites are for rentals out of Minneapolis.

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Trying to get swimming lessons set up for the kids, against Ben's will. Not that he has ANYTHING to base his refusal on - he likes the water and has never had lessons. Too bad, said Mom. This isn't something he gets a choice in- it's a matter of safety. Besides he will enjoy it. But he was born to say NO.

Anyway, it looks like I'm going to try to get them in the spring session - once a week for 9 weeks. Lucky for me, their classes meet at the same time, and it is after Adam's nap time. Should work out perfectly?

Swimming lessons are one thing that Aaron and I are in agreement about. I took them for years, as did all my siblings. Aaron, however, since he has so MANY more sibs than I do, missed out. I think he still regrets not learning, and we really feel that it is a life skill that's pretty much necessary for kids to learn.

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I have been getting up early to do a "quiet time" with God. I am always convicted about my lack of prayer life, and now am finally doing something about it. I am telling you this not to brag, but so that you can hold me accountable. It's not easy to get up when the house is quiet and dark, but it's also not easy to concentrate with random nap schedules and reliable whining in the background. In order to actually be consistent, an entirely new time of day was required.

Of course, the biggest problem with getting up early is that means I have to also go to sleep earlier, and that is just not how I am hardwired. Nighttime has always been a great time of day for me to hang out, but now with three little people running/being carried around, it's also the time of day that I don't have to worry about other people's bodily functions. It will be hard to give that up, and I just may end up being more tired for a while until I get it figured out.

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That's what's going on around here! What's new for you guys?

Remember the fall?

2010-03-24T21:34:00.005-05:00

Remember that perfect time of year? When the sun starts setting earlier, and air turns crisp, and leaves are falling?

Whaaat? You mean it's almost spring? Oh well. I love fall.

This little album is perfect for those lovely days, whether you are remembering them or planning a trip for this year. It is 7x7, and includes 12 pages.

If you'd like to add this little guy to your collection, you can enter my giveaway this week! Just leave a comment and tell me about the favorite scrapbook that you've made or received.

Also, if you want to increase your odds of winning, become a Facebook fan (search for Modern-Day Jane) and leave a comment on the page. AND, you can get another entry by following me on Twitter and sending me a tweet @mdjane. My kids will randomly choose a winner next Thursday morning - the contest ends Wednesday at midnight.

Even if you are not a scrapbooker, this would make a lovely gift for someone, since it isn't available anymore. If you'd like a Creative Memories consultant to help you track down the page protectors to go with it, you can contact my lovely consultant Jen B.

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Okay. Enough of that "business" stuff. I have to tell you about my son Ben and how he has some mad negotiation skillz. Today we went grocery shopping and I had promised that we would buy "gourmet" muffins at the bakery for snack. There were about 8 types to choose from. I'd say, "You can have THIS cranberry one, or THIS blueberry one, or THIS lemon poppyseed one. Which would you like?" And he'd silently point to the turtle muffin - chocolate with carmel topping.

Repeat the scene, but this time pointing to another type piled high with frosting.

Repeat again. And again. FINALLY I caught on and threatened to just pick one for him myself, and he finally went with the cranberry.

Good choice, my son. Good choice.

This is why I don't crochet.

2010-03-23T15:34:00.003-05:00

For me, scrapbooking is not so much a hobby as a compulsion. I need to scrapbook, but not as an artistic outlet, like an artist MUST paint. No, it's more because I am trying to prevent the past from slipping away.

When I first realized that this was my motivation to scrapbook (or make memory albums, or photo albums, whatever you want to call them) I first rationalized that it was because of my rather rotten middle & high school experience. Whenever I went to a camp or retreat where I had a blast, I'd keep a notebook with people's addresses, notes from them, and then make a list of all the fun things we did and things we laughed over. I used this as a reminder later on that not everything sucked.

Cheery, huh? A lot of those friends I kept in touch with the old-fashioned way: by writing letters. And mailing them, not emailing. Like my sister pointed out, I missed the digital age by thismuch, but I was a kid who would have been glued to Facebook. Oh wait.

Anyway, back to scrapbooking. Instead of the drive coming from misery, I realized later on that it instead came from genetics. Both of my living grandparents, Grandpa Henry (maternal grandpa) and Grandme GiGi (paternal grandmother) have oodles of photo albums with photos neatly organized, labeled and dated. I knew none of this.

But I did get a big hint from Grandma GiGi. She gave me a scrapbook after our trip to Chicago when I was in middle school, and it. was. awesome. She kept all kinds of stuff - brochures, ticket stubs, little maps with our route highlighted, and of course photos - and then said that I should keep going with it. And I did.

One fateful summer, a few years after Aaron and I got married, we went to visit his sister Stephanie in Montana. At the time, she was a Creative Memories consultant, and be the end of our visit I had sold myself on their products by reading her magazines and catalogs. I signed up to be a consultant, and started just as we moved to a new town. That summer, since I was unemployed and didn't have any friends, and Aaron was busy working, I completed two scrapbooks, redoing some of high school and early college books, and then "caught up" with our family life.

NOW, however, is another matter all together. Funny how having three kids will get you behind on your scrapbooking. I maintain a family album, one for each year (so far), in addition to a baby album for each kid. I just recently finished Leah's 1-2yr album, and THIS WEEKEND started Ben's 1-2 yr album - and did 22 pages in it! Sounds great, right? Yeah, until I tell you that was four months worth. I have a ways to go.

In addition to those 22 pages, I also worked some on our family album, which has been languishing back in August. Now September is done, but that took another 10 pages. I'm very happy with my progress, but I'd love to get caught up to at least January. When? Hopefully before August, when I'm supposed to start the NEXT family album.

The great thing about my albums is that they STAY DONE. Unlike laundry, dishes, meals, toy mess, and just about everything else in life, once I complete a page, it is something I never have to worry about again. And actually, I don't even have to remember it anymore! Because it's right there, waiting to remind me of how chubby my babies were, or how young Aaron and I looked when we first got married.

I know that those pages are going to contribute to my kids' childhood memories, also. (I mean, how many of us "remember" events purely from seeing the photos so many times?) This just adds to the pressure to stay up to date - I woudn't want them to miss out on any precious moments. This is a tish obsessive, I think. But nonetheless, I am compelled to preserve time and experiences. Someday when my kids are big stinky teenagers, I can look back and remember how sweet they were - are- right now.

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Do you have the same kind of compulsion? Does it present itself in the same form, or do you have a different method to your madness?

ps - Giving away a mini-scrapbook starting tomorrow!

Let's talk about...sports. NOT the weather.

2010-03-19T11:33:00.005-05:00

So, there is some craziness going on around here the last couple of days. And for us, none of that has to do with this big flood people are talking about AGAIN. As last year, we have remained selfishly uninvolved with the flood fight. Last year I had the convenient excuse of being 7 months pregnant. Now my excuse is that I have three little kids. Also, I just don't feel like sandbagging. Is that terrible or what?

Thankfully, there are lots and LOTS of other folks who are generously willing to help out, so things are under control. Helping the general atmosphere quite a bit is the lack of double blizzards at the same time as the flood crest. That was really terrible.

Anyway. One of my biggest (and most selfish, inconsiderate) complaints about the whole flood business is how it preoccupies everyone's lives. You can't go anywhere without people talking about it, and every conversation is obligated to talk it over at least once. Events are rescheduled or cancelled, and in general, anything fun is considered an indulgence. (Disclaimer: Of COURSE saving your house takes precidence over pretty much everything. I imagine that if my house was at risk, I'd be much more involved and preoccupied with the whole thing myself. Like I said, I'm being completely selfish here.)

In that spirit, here's what we've been doing, with NO MENTION of the flood:

- Leah has had school off Thursday & Friday, and Aaron took those days as vacation
- So of course the house has had toys and mess all over, since there has been way more playing going on
- Even with Leah being at a playdate yesterday morning
- And especially because of a playdate here this morning (although those boys & their mom did a great job of picking up!)

And you know that if Aaron has more than 2 days off he starts a project...
- Which this time is removing all the old ceiling tiles in the basement
- And discovering that the previous owners had a cat that spent large quantities of time inside the basement ceiling, according to the piles of cat hair, and oh, some cat poop also, in addition to lots & lots of dust. (Aaron IS wearing a face mask. Now.)

Me? I've just been relaxing, putting my feet up, drinking tea...yeah right.
- I finished 3 pairs of baby booties for our Etsy store
- then cut out and sewed together 6 more pairs, 4 in a smaller size for Lizzy Maye, and 2 for Adam
- Also, I am hosting some friends tonight for scrapbooking into the wee hours
- so in anticipation, have been choosing about 100 photos to have printed for our family album
- in addition to the 20 or so pages I have ready to work on for Ben's toddler (1-2yr) album.
- also, earlier in the week, I finished the other valance for the kitchen and we got it up.
- then I bought 7 yards of curtain lining fabric, so I'm ready to start the next set of curtains. Sometime when I'm ready to look at that sewing machine again.

Of course, hosting tonight requires some picking up and cleaning, much needed, thanks to my twin tornadoes and their hurricane father. I, of course, am the picture of neatness and cleanliness. Just ignore those piles...I know EXACTLY what's in them! They don't count!

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Fargoans, what are you doing to keep your mind off the impending disaster of the Red River? Or, are you totally ticked off that I'm blogging at all and not out there hoisting sandbags?

If you are NOT in Fargo...well, what are YOU doing this weekend? March Madness? Spring cleaning? What?

Something else random...are you an avid couponer? I'm considering adding this to my arsenal of things to preoccupy my mind instead of the weather.

Mischief Managed

2010-03-17T14:24:00.004-05:00

A naughty leprechaun visited our house today while we were picking up Leah from school. Here is evidence of the destruction:

That silly guy threw the contents of a grocery bag AND a Target bag all over the floor, and also tipped over several chairs. He made a trail of clovers where he went - a quick trip, since he was obviously late - from the front door to the garage door. In all his business, he also forgot a few of his things, which I told the kids it was okay if they kept - a couple hats, and a couple shamrock necklaces.

Since I've never had a run-in with a leprechaun before, I had to think quickly to answer Leah's questions:

"Is there anything up on the counter?"

- "No - I think leprechauns are kid-sized."

"How did he get in?"

- "Oh, they are kind of like the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, and fairies - magical." (This was also my clue to her that the green guys aren't real, but she chooses to believe in fairies BIG TIME.)

"No leprechauns came last year..."

- "I think they only visit if ALL the kids in the house are wearing green." (I'm especially proud of this one!)

"The leprechauns made all this mess, and now we have to pick it up?"

- "That's probably why they left the gold chocolate coins, to pay you for helping them."

"Why chocolate coins? Don't they have any real gold?"

- "They probably figured that kids would like chocolate better."

Leah ate all this up, and took the mess as proof that leprechauns are real. Thankfully, I added the caveat that they ONLY visit - from Ireland- on St. Patrick's Day.

Now the kids and I are immersed in a recipe for white & green striped gelatin treat. I know, I know - we skip Santa, the Easter Bunny, Halloween, and haven't figured out what to do with the Tooth Fairy yet...why leprechauns, of all things?!

Well, I feel like my kids are missing out of some of the magic and surprise of those holidays, not to mention the opportunity of a family tradition. St. Patrick's Day, although there are some religious aspects to it (like the "Saint" part) isn't a religious holiday. Therefore, this secular celebration isn't taking our attention away from our faith.

Also, it's kind of fun to trick your kids, and I have always liked a good no-injury prank. I'm already thinking up variations for future years - maybe the leprechaun will visit different rooms each year? Visit at different times of the day? I like the idea of the unexpected. (This year, I decided that our mornings have ENOUGH distractions.)

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Any Irish celebrations at your house today? Any leprechaun lore that I should be aware of? (I did NO research, obviously.) Particular pranks that I can include next year?

Toy Story

2010-03-16T16:17:00.003-05:00

We have this wooden peg puzzle by Melissa & Doug. When you put the piece in the correct spot, it makes the animal's sound (or a kind of approximation of it). A few days after this puzzle entered our house, we were sitting at the table eating lunch. The puzzle was in the middle of the living room floor, and all of a sudden an animal sound went off. Twice. Did I mention that we were ALL at the table?!

We decided that the sensor on the puzzle must be heat or light activated, and the sun coming in the window and shining on the puzzle had set it off. It happened every time the sun went behind a cloud. This has happened since then also, and it startles me every time. Probably because the animals all sound like they are being devoured.

As surprising as those noises are, they are nothing compared to what I experienced one night when Adam was sick. We were in the living room around 4am, trying to catch some sleep between Adam's bouts of crying. He had just dozed off, and I was swiftly following, until I was startled by an spastic electronic alarm.

You know that jolt when you wake up with a shot of adrenaline? Adrenaline that comes from trying to quiet a noise so as to prevent a sick child from being woken up?

I quickly tracked the noise to a toy box in another room, where somehow a button on a firetruck had been pressed. This particular firetruck has a learning system, so the voice was stuttering, "Wh-wh-wh-wh-which shape is it?" That truck may have made it's last squawk in my house.

Also, a few times I've heard a crash, gone into the EMPTY room, and found a tub of toys dumped over - like it had been hanging from it's rack by just a hair, when gravity took over.

Weirdness.

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Any possessed stuff at your house? Or creepy toys? Or stuff you are or have thrown out just 'cause it's more annoying than it's worth?

Also, any plans for St. Patrick's Day? I'm anticipating a leprechaun visit while we are picking up Leah from school - will have photographic evidence for you doubters.:)

"Doesn't Your Spouse Look Good Now?" Or, "Ethan Frome".

2010-03-15T15:37:00.003-05:00

The Salem Book Club met Saturday evening to discuss the pint-sized classic, Edith Wharton's Ethan Frome. The length was a major factor in the choosing, since our last classic choices have been Middlemarch (George Eliot) and David Copperfield (Charles Dickens), and both are what I call doorstoppers, at over 700 pages. Let's just say that the discussion of those two were somewhat limited by the number of members who actually finished them.

Five of us were present, thanks to weather and school activities taking away the others. Following are the major points of our discussion concerning the novel:

- Are there any sympathetic characters in this novel? Most of us thought that Mattie & Ethan were, but they also had their own responsibilities...
- And just who is to blame for the whole mess? Zeena suffered as well, so she can't be ENTIRELY at fault, as tempting as it is to load her with guilt.
- Ethan is just too passive. Instead of turning his back on his marriage to Zeena, why didn't they just get into a rousing argument?
- Some of Wharton's personal thoughts seem to be: "duty is suffering" and "marriage is bleak"
- G is quoted as saying, "dreams are worthless". To clarify: This was in regards to my summary of Wharton's OTHER novel, Age of Innocence. She meant, "Stop dreaming and take some action! Be a man!"
- infidelity can be emotional, and is probably more painful than a purely physical relationship (if there IS such a thing)
- Also, do NOT lose a locket around C. You've been warned.

Other points of discussion:
- HOW on earth to keep busy middle schoolers busy for the summer? Answer: drama camp!
- Quote from one disgruntled former drama camper: "All they do all day is SING and DANCE!"
- Extra cash for bus service is sooo worth it.
- Sew curtains NOW instead of four years later.
- Don't dare to look back at your younger days and be critical.
- People moving really stinks. For them, and for the rest of us who are still unresigned & crabby.

Future selections:
April - JV selection, Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins - book exchange at this meeting!
May - Christian selection, The Great Divorce by CS Lewis

We will need to choose books for the following genres: contemporary, historical fiction, and non-fiction. Bring your ideas to the next meeting!

Now go give your spouse a kiss.

The snowflakes will be retired soon, also.

2010-03-12T16:34:00.009-06:00

I mentioned in a few previous posts that I was busy torturing my mother by having her help me make a set of valances for the kitchen. Or, you know, do everything but actually sew it together. We'll go with help.

The old valance was pretty evil, but not so much that I felt compelled to rip them down immediately. There were more pressing matters to deal with - like, the vomit colored paint covering 75% of the house. Also, there are some pretty-ish tiles in the backsplash of the buffet, and it is obvious that the valance fabric was chosen to match. So I left the watercolor-floral ruffly things, until I had a chance to pick out fabric I liked better and figure out what to do with it.

Of course, I forgot to take a true "before" photo, so this one from Ben's 3rd birthday will have to do. Please note my lovely pregnant belly - 7 months, suckas!

Here is where I would have all the step-by-step photos of the process of making the new valance. However, I have NO CLUE how we made it, so there are no photos. You'd have to ask my mom, and I doubt even SHE could explain it.

Anyway, here is Aaron disassembling the old valance. I don't know how many yards of fabric was used here, but they crammed as much of it on there as they could.

I got to use my staple gun! Or rather, Aaron did, while I made sure that the fabric was lined up properly on the mounting board.

And here it is! Hmm...maybe this isn't the best photo...

...but this one isn't, either, is it? The lighting is a bit off. But we decided that the yellow peeking through the pleats is a better look.

This style is called an "box-pleat valance" and the directions are from a Better Homes & Garden magazine publication called "Window Treatments". There are lots of ideas and instructions in the mag, and I've used it previously for other windows.

So, I'm not completely sold on this new look yet, but I think it's because it's so different from the old one. That one was all flowery feminine ruffles, and this one is is masculine boxy stripes. I DO like that it brings more green into my kitchen, since that seems to be the direction I'm leaning towards. I also like that it doesn't remind me of the 80's.

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What do you think? Is it an improvement? Or just another variety of evil? Any adventures with window treatments? In general, do you prefer stripes or flowers?

Just another project!

2010-03-10T16:39:00.002-06:00

My mom is an amazing seamstress - I believe I have already established this fact. In fact, quilting, sewing dresses for Leah, and helping me with my projects just weren't enough for her - she had to go start her own enterprise.

About a year ago she came across this adorable baby jacket pattern, sewed up a small pile, and had my pal Crystal sell them at the Downtown Street Fair. Thanks to the incredibly cool temps, she sold almost all of them in the three days. This was all the encouragement Mom needed. She delved into the world of designer flannel and pretty chenilles & corduroys with joy.

After putting together another dozen or so, I finally convinced her to let me open an Etsy store for her. Another 6 months or so of nagging later, I finally got it all put together. Friend Tara is helping us out with some photography and programming (banner, business cards to match) and thankfully is happy to be paid in chenille & flannel, in form of a jacket for the youngest of her sons.

So the store is open! After MUCH deliberation over the name, we decided on Lizzy Maye. This seems completely self-serving, but hey. If Mom wants to name the store after her daughter, who am I to argue? I was pushing for Lizzy KAY, which is Mom's middle name, but that was already taken, and Mom kept calling it Lizzy Maye anyway. Apparently she and her girlfriends in grade school would tack "May" onto their names as a pet name.

Want to see how cute these jackets are? Check THIS out:

The buttons are firetrucks and a Dalmatian. I love them!

Now, if you are familiar with Etsy, you know all about "favorites". Right now, LizzyMaye is the favorite of 2 people - my SIL artist Kate, and Kate's mom. I am so, so grateful for their support - won't more of you join them? I think this would really help the credibility of our little endeavor. If you've never heard of Etsy, let me tell you - if you appreciate handmade items of ANY kind, you are going to love it. It is super easy to create a login for Etsy, and I'm sure you'll find lots of pretty, fun, or interesting items to attract your attention. It's a wonderful place to find a special gift, too.

We have sold our first jacket! And I'm hoping that as the weather gets warmer, more moms will be looking for the perfect level of warmth for their little ones. If you know someone looking, or need a baby gift, check us out! I am listing new ones every day, both for girls and boys, from infants to 2t. I'm even thinking about adding some smaller items of my own - baby booties, trimmed burp cloths, and some baby rattles. You know, in all of my spare time.

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Any entrepreneurs out there? Any fans of Etsy? If so, link your favorite store - I'd love to check it out.