We're All One

Been awhile...

2010-09-11T18:14:00.000-07:00

and the tone might change a bit. Right now I'm sitting here while Mike and the kids are over having dinner with friends. I'm going out tonight to help other friends celebrate. I'm not really feeling like celebrating right now.

While I know this is my decision, and I feel it's the right one, and most days I really am okay, tonight I am not. I am worried about finding a job, going to school, finishing my homework this weekend, getting my car fixed...and on and on and on.

Right when I am fitting in, as the mom in a family, knowing other families, ones that include a husband, wife, kids....I go and become single again. I don't think I know any other single women, moms or not. The few unmarried ones have boyfriends...well, the one unmarried one. What'll I do with my free time on weeks I don't have the kids? I see a lot of movies in my future.

Hearing Mike talk about the things he's starting to look forward to solidify my decision, and my feeling that both of us will find bigger happiness apart than together becomes more concrete. I worry so much about how Kaia will react, but I know I need to show my kids that following what's in your heart is the only way to find happiness in this world. Mistakes will be made, and money might not always follow, but if you're following your dreams, you can't go wrong.

I must be true to myself in order to be true to those I love.

in the car, yesterday

2010-01-27T19:02:00.000-08:00

Kaia: "When I grow up, I'm going to pretend to be a boy."
Me: "interesting."
Kaia: "But I won't tell my wife. I won't ever show her my ...you know...that way she'll never know I'm not a boy."
Me: "ummm...huh..."
Kaia: "then when she dies, I'll be a girl again."
Me: ".............."

Little Man

2010-01-26T18:47:00.000-08:00

Ben's cognitive abilities are crazy growing! For the last couple of nights, we've done "best part of the day" at dinner. Here are the things he said:

Last night--

me: "Ben, what was the best part of your day? Something good that happened today?"
Ben: "Armwarmers!" His granny had knitted him some armwarmers, and he had worn them most of the day. I thought it was very cool that he understood the conversation and the point of the topic!

Tonight--

me: "Ben, what was the best part of today for you? What happened that was fun? "
Ben: "Going Katie" We went over to a friend's house, her daughter is also 2, and is named Katie. he loves playing with her!

this is why I am heading to the asylum when Mike gets home

2010-01-04T15:03:00.000-08:00

here is the completely un-exaggerated conversation that happens whenever Kaia is supposed to be doing a chore--and this is the very short, simple one of putting clothes from the washer into the dryer.....

me: "Are your clothes ready to be put into the dryer?"
her: "I don't know." (continues playing)
me: "Check, please."
her: SIGH. wanders toward the garage. gets distracted, starts playing.
me: "clothes, Kaia."
her: "I am!" opens garage door, heads out.
five minutes later...
her: coming out of garage singing to herself. wanders around.
me: "were they ready to be put into the dryer?"
her: "oh! I don't know..." wanders back into the garage.
five minutes later...
her: coming out of garage "I don't know where a laundry basket is"
me: in my room, dump the dirty clothes in front of the washer and use it for the clean ones"
her: dragging the hamper through the living room, gets distracted showing Ben how to take care of his baby.
me: "clothes, Kaia!"
her: "Ben doesn't know how to take care of his baby! I care about babies, don't you!?!!?"
me: " not pretend ones when you are supposed to be doing chores."
her: "MOM!! that's horrible that you don't care about babies!!!"
me: "CLOTHES, KAIA!"
her: "OKAY!" drags hamper into garage
TEN minutes later, comes out of garage
me: "where are the clean ones from the dryer?"
her: "oh, right...." wanders back into garage, comes out dragging a hamper with clean clothes. I hear no dryer sounds.
me: "did you start the dryer?"
her: "no, I haven't put my clothes in yet!"
me: " leave that here, go do so."
her: "okay" wanders back into garage.
a LONG TIME later...she comes back out
her: "can you help me? It's hard."
me: "no, you can do it. NOW GO DO SO!!"
her: "I have a stomach ache"
me: "I'm sorry to hear that. After you put your clothes into the dryer, you can rest."
her: moaning as she goes back in..."you don't even care that I'm sick!"
A VERY LONG TIME later...she comes back out.
her: "THERE. I'm DONE."
me: "remember to take this hamper into my room, please"
her: GROAN, MOAN, WHIMPER "but my TUMMY HURTS!"
me: "just do it"

she takes the hamper in, limping and moaning. coming back out...

her: "am I done now?"
me: "yes, finally"
here: "BEN!! let's play now!!" and runs off.

A Couple Ben-isms (or, As Close to Hard Copy As I'm Realistically Getting, Mom)

2009-12-22T08:34:00.000-08:00

Instead of "Mamma mia! Here I go again!" Ben sings "Mamma mia, here you come again!!"

Instead of "I want up", he says "Can I have a uppie?"

My Day So Far

2009-10-30T12:51:00.000-07:00

7am: silent argument with husband about who gets up with Ben. We both lost.

7:15am: all 3 kids are up (we are watching an adorable and well-behaved 2 year old girl) and wanting breakfast. dogs too.

9am: husband is dressed in Halloween best and leaves for work.

9:30am: all 3 kids are changed, dressed and ready to go start errands. Kaia argues over necessity of wearing a coat. Kaia asks to wear bathrobe instead of a coat. due to bad attitude, she is denied.

9:40am: in the car, I explain The Plan: bank, haircut, groceries. I notice the tank is on empty. New Plan: bank, gas, haircut, groceries.

9:45am: bank trip goes well.

9:50am: at gas station, notice the tank key is missing. drive home, notice extra is missing. call husband, find out he has the extra (and no idea where the first one is, claims innocence).

10am: On E, drive to husband's work, pick up key, return to gas station, fill up.

10:15am: on the way to the haircut, Kaia has second thoughts. claims to no longer want haircut or costume choice. discussion concludes with a return to The Plan. continue on to hair salon.

10:25am: at hair salon, Kaia frowns at me worriedly during her shampoo, and stares suspiciously at the woman cutting her hair. Darling Girl that I am watching sits quietly and plays with the toys. Boyo transforms into a tornado and begins to make multiple attempts at escape.

10:30am: I catch boyo as he races past. He falls to the ground then yells "DON'T THROW ME!" this is then repeated every time I catch him. After the first few times of saying" I am NOT throwing you! YOU FELL ON PURPOSE" I figure it's useless and just stay silent.

10:45am: Kaia's cut is done, she looks adorable. She glowers at me as I pay, seeming to have totally forgotten this was HER idea and she was in no way forced to get her hair cut.

10:50am: in the car, Kaia bursts into tears after realizing that her hair will remain short even AFTER Halloween. I had not considered that this was a necessary fact to state. I was wrong.

11am: I decide NOT to go to the store, as toddlers and child are hungry and tired. I make an executive decision and stop at Taco Bell. Kaia decides she no longer wants her usual, and takes forever to decide what to try. finally at the threat of nothing she orders nachos.

11:05am: on the way home, we spot a Pomeranian loose in the street. Kaia becomes extremely upset thinking about its possible fate, and I pull into a safe spot and get out. Pomeranian looks at me and takes off in the opposite direction.

11:06am: daughter is in tears about the damn dog's Certain Death by Car, so I grab a piece of Taco Bell food and head off after it, calling "here Pommy Pommy!" it stops until I am a few feet from it, then trots off. I look back at Kaia's tear filled face and know I must follow the darn thing. I do, for another block.

11:07am: a cop passes by, then turns around. He parks in the middle of the road and attempts to capture the Dog Twit. he fails, and turns to me. I assure him of my non-ownership, therefore letting him know it was NOT ME who has a loose dog, and we continue to chase the moronic beast. The dog and the cop disappear around the corner.

11:08am: not wanting to lose sight of the car, I turn back, and realize I've gone 4 blocks. CRAP. I start to run, but not being in any shape at all, stop after half a block so I can breathe instead.

11:09am: cop pulls up beside me, tells me the dog ran back into its house through an open door, and he has ascertained its right to be there. He thanks me for my help and drives away.

11:10am: in the car, Kaia cries while relating "what COULD have happened" and I try to console her and remind her of what DID happen--the dog was returned safely home.

11:15am: we return home and I dole out the food. Darling Girl that I am watching decides Taco Bell is not for her. Kaia decides the nachos are too hot, so eats Darling Girl's food. Ben is happy with whatever.

11:20am: after much discussion, mac and cheese are decided upon for Darling Girl. Ben wants some too.

11:40am: I take Ben and put him down for his nap, read him a story and return to kitchen. I send Kaia and Darling Girl to the bedroom for some quiet time.

11:45am: I get a call from Darling Girl's mom. She has missed her flight by 20 seconds and is totally stressing out. I reassure her another night is fine.

11:50am: I spend about 10 minutes in my room, relaxing and getting some stuff done (meaning: I read email and veg out!)

12:00pm: I return to kitchen to discover Ben has dragged a chair out, gotten some sunscreen and is decorating the chair and floor liberally. I clean him up, send him back to bed, and clean up the chair, floor, etc.

12:02pm: I send Ben back to bed.

12:05pm: I send Ben back to bed.

12:06pm: I spend 15 minutes holding Ben's door closed. He tries to get out 3 times.

12:20pm: I put a gate in his doorway and check on Kaia and Darling Girl. They are fine, and working on making an art project.

12:50pm: I get a cat visiting job. :-)

1:40pm: Ben wakes up WAY too early and joins the girls in front of Kipper.

1:45pm: Ben asks for more crackers. I ask Kaia to please get him some. She claims to "not be in the mood". I inform her this is not optional. Ben cries. I intervene.

here is the plan for the rest of the day. guesses on how smoothly it will go?

2pm: attempt to put Darling Girl down for a nap.

3:30m-get Halloween costumes on 3 children, and possibly self.

4:00pm-meet Mike at his work and walk kids around as they get candy.

5 or so-return home, attempt to make some sort of dinner.

5:30pm- Kaia and I are going to a corn maze and hoping to actually find her friends BEFORE entering it.

later- finally go grocery shopping.

even later--SLEEP! (after probably the consuming of alcoholic beverages)

It's Good

2009-09-04T09:37:00.000-07:00

Please excuse the possible meandering that may follow...

When we moved here, I knew no one local. I had a few friends and relatives in nearby towns, but no one HERE. I was extremely lonely, and missed having the kind of friend you can invite over just to hang out.

So I joined a mom's group on meetup.com (highly recommend it!). The first group I joined started well, and I met some women I felt I would like to get to know. I also met a few women at Kaia's school that I really liked.

Some of those friendships worked, some didn't. I found that though I might really like someone, we just might not click, sometimes on my end, sometimes on hers (seemed for a bit to mostly lean the second way) Being a sensitive person emotionally (don't laugh! I am! :-)), I took it personally when someone didn't seem to want to get to know me better.

I had two main wishes. To find some couple friends with kids that we ALL enjoyed hanging out with, and to find some really wonderful women, just a few, that I really felt comfortable with and laughed with.

I have a hard time sometimes focusing on the positive. We met some really nice couples, and happily the women in those couples were awesome. We met some with kids our kids' ages, and some with kids older or younger. (we don't really hang out in circles with kid-less people, which is fine.) For awhile, I kept thinking how I really missed good friends, and still felt that the friends we had weren't our BEST friends. I kept wanting that perfect person who would be my best friend here.

In the last few weeks, we've met even more families that we really click with. We've decided to make an effort to invite someone over for dinner every weekend. The weekends we don't, or even the ones we do, but on other nights, we go to friends' for dinner. I've realized that EVERY weekend we have one OR MORE social things planned.

Even more surprisingly, I've realized I have been more picky with who I choose for friends now. I simply don't HAVE TIME for a lot more. I have found a few women I adore, and feel really comfortable with. Mike gets along really well with them, and more importantly, their husbands. Our kids get along, and their kids aren't brats. We have to actually DISCUSS who we should invite over this weekend for dinner, and often have to decline invites because we are already booked!

We have become SOCIAL. We have made FRIENDS. I am a bit taken by surprise that my goals have been more than reached. I am really happy in our social life, and so lucky in the friends I have found. I can let the hurts go for the ones that don't want to get closer, because really? I don't need them. It's a good feeling.

I am happy. truly content with my life here, and it's only getting better.

an update

2009-08-19T10:31:00.000-07:00

since I haven't posted in forever...a post to try to at least get some things down before I forget them.

Ben says "are you?" instead of "where are you?" I love the existentialist quirkiness of it.
Kaia has been taking excellent care of her friend Ben's rats for the past week. They are cute, but MY GOD THE STINK!
Ben has been saying "up! down!" and "1!2!" and "lay down!" and all sorts of other concept type things. He also loves "GO AWAY!"
Kaia is moving out of the constantly morose phase! She is frequently cheerful, and has even said "yes, mom" and not argued a few times!
Ben is in a hitting phase. I have not found a punishment that does not make his laugh.
Kaia lost 3/4 of the stuff in her room. Though I said I would slowly give it back, she has not seemed to miss any of it, except her art stuff, and her room has stayed looking like a room, rather than a tornado site.
Ben is doing awesome in his mattress-on-the-floor bed. Even when he protests sleeping, he stays in bed.
Kaia just got her first legos. (damn, they're expensive!) She has spent several hours already building things, and they are a toy I will happily spend money on in the future.
Both kids slept with us last night to take advantage of our one fan. I love having my whole family in the same room, all snuggily together. Our king size bed helps make it a happy thing, and not a get-your-elbow-out-of-my-ribs thing.
Mike has next week off, and we are staying home! We will be going to parks and such, but mostly relaxing and spending time together. I am going to try to talk him into severely cutting our computer time that week.
Kaia's reading skills are through the roof. Except for an occasionally mispronounced word, you'd never know she was only 8 if you heard her read. There are adults who consider themselves educated who can't read as well.
Ben also loves to read. We'll sit in the car waiting for Mike after work, and we'll all be looking at books. I love it.
Kaia starts school in a few weeks with her new teacher. She's unhappy about it, and I hope that her new teacher is better than anticipated.
Ben knows his colors if you have him show you "red", etc, but not if you say "what color is this?" He can show you red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple (sometimes). He still thinks anything other than "one" is "two".
Kaia learned how to do the "twist" the other day, as well as the arm motions for "YMCA". She's very proud, and will do them for you if you ask. or even if you don't!

Sowwy

2009-07-19T08:04:00.000-07:00

Teaching a toddler to say sorry is an uncertain endeavor. Sure, you can tell them, "say sorry!" and they do, smiling sweetly at whoever they just hit/kicked/bit. But do they know that they are expressing anything other than a two syllable word? Not really. But you hope to at least instill the habit so that when they do figure it out, they know when to say it.

Early this morning, at about 4:30am, Ben woke up, as usual, and wanted to get into bed with us. Usually he falls right back to sleep and we cuddle until a decent waking hour. This morning, he was mad. He didn't want to go back to sleep, he wanted "UP!" and..."EAT!" He yelled and cried and slapped Mike on the chest as hard as he could, then collapsed against my side, crying. After a few minutes, he calmed down, and lay there for a moment. Then he rolled over, and without being asked said "sowwy" to his daddy. It was one of the sweetest things ever.

Lazy Bullet Update

2009-06-01T15:15:00.000-07:00

My tallest pea plants are almost as tall as me and have blossoms!
We start Phase One of Making My House NOT Look Like I'm Twenty And Just Moved Out on Saturday!!!
This school quarter is almost over! Then I only have three more...until I enter the two year ultrasound tech program...
My other plants are doing well, if a bit sporadic in their sprouting.
I met my brother's baby's mom this past weekend. From the little time I had with her, I like her okay. We didn't click well enough that I'm disappointed they aren't together, but enough to be okay with her being the mother of my niece (like I have a choice, of course!)
there isn't a whole lot more in my life that is exciting, so I think I'll end this post!

what education does...

2009-05-28T14:58:00.000-07:00

Last Monday, our family all lounged about on the back deck. Kaia and Ben ran around the yard while Mike and I watched. At one point Kaia started running around with a stick, pointing it at imaginary bears and saying "Pow! Pow! Kill!! Kill! Die!"
I asked her to refrain from pretending to kill things. She said... (ready? you're not)

"But we're farmers! We grow all our own fruits and vegetables, but if I don't go hunting, my family won't have protein!"

game, set, match.

The most I could do at this point was request that the words "die" and "kill" not be used, and that she better use the WHOLE bear.

An Afternoon in Seattle

2009-05-02T20:26:00.000-07:00

So these pictures are out of order, but I want to show some of the pictures from our Ride The Ducks. The "ducks" are vehicles in Seattle that are tour bus type things that take you around Seattle then into the water and around the water a bit. Pretty cool. So here we go. and by the way, I have no idea why all my words are underlined.
That (oh. hmm..the line is gone. how odd.) anyway. That tree is made from metal. Cool from a sculpture point of view.
This one of the girls was taken on the way back. The rain and wind had been coming in for over an hour, and they were getting cold.

"the girls" are Kaia and her friend A, both very strong willed girls who seem to want to be best friends while arguing about EVERYTHING they do.

Ben and I in the "duck" while still on land. He was really well behaved considering the ride was during naptime.

The anatomically correct statue in the middle of a fountain downtown.

Our driver, Captain Who-Ha. He was awesome, very friendly, extremely knowledgeable, and all around cool.

Ben with his Quacker, very cook toys that make quacking sounds. I bought 3. one for each kid, and one for me!

The girls at the beginning of the ride, with quackers of their own. yes, the quackers became annoying. but they are still marvelous.

multi-tasking!

2009-04-27T13:27:00.000-07:00

Playing the piano kept Ben occupied long enough to actually produce something in the potty. He thought it was the coolest thing, to poop and play piano at the same time!!

big boy!

2009-04-26T07:55:00.000-07:00

Ben pooped in the potty!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He sat on the potty playing his toy piano for several minutes, then got up really excited. He stood looking down at it saying "Pooop!!! poop!!" He was really thrilled with himself!

perhaps the sippy days are done with?

2009-03-27T09:21:00.000-07:00

I just gave Ben a sippy cup with water in it. He promptly opened it, carefully poured half of it onto the floor for the dog, drank the rest, closed it, handed it to me, and said "more!"

Ben's Words!

2009-03-12T06:37:00.000-07:00

Go - go
ow- outside
wa - water, walk
no - no, no, NO
mo - more
ma ma - mom, sometimes dad
dur - dirt
gack - either duck or quack, but meaning the same thing
gat - cat
gog - dog
dow - put me down, put that down
coh - coat
shoo - shoe
boo!!!!- boots
eh-woh - hello, phone
baa baa - bye bye
cack - cracker
joo - juice

he knows more, but that's all I can think of right now. Yesterday he said his first 2 word sentence - "mo wa!" - more water.

a "poem"

2009-03-09T13:09:00.000-07:00

the snow
is so pretty
falling
from the sky

and even prettier
melting
on the green grass
not sticking

I wish for World Peas

2009-03-07T18:27:00.000-08:00

Tonight I set up my pea planters!! I have two kinds, both pole type, meaning they will climb to about 6 feet. One of them is the edible pod sort, the other not. I planted some tonight, and then will plant more in 3 weeks, then again 3 weeks after that, to extend the time we have tasty peas to eat!

I went to the local nursery to get more bamboo and planters, and got some wonderful advice! I will definitely be going back.

My first peas should be able to be harvested in about 2 months! Wish me luck.

You Know You're A Mom When...

2009-03-06T21:05:00.000-08:00

...while chatting with a friend, you don't notice for several minutes that your toddler, who is sitting on your shoulders, has been sticking his fingers up your nostrils and digging around.

*sigh*

Monday Afternoon

2009-03-03T11:04:00.000-08:00

I stand in my backyard, look around. In one corner, by the garden shed, there is a patch of tatty ivy around a still-dormant tree. Under the ivy leaves, not hidden well yet, as the ivy hasn’t had its spring growth spurt, are several broken cement pavers. In other places, I spot what looks like pieces of black electrical cord, and that’s what decides me. I pull on my gloves, and pick up the clippers, already grinning with the idea of cutting the ivy, clearing the space, cleaning up the wire, incongruous in the organic hodgepodge of sticks and leaves and pinecones.

I start to chop and pull at the vines, throwing them behind me to put in the yard waste bin later (next week, really, after it’s emptied. Probably should’ve waited…) I move slowly into the middle of the sprawl of leaves, getting closer to the fence with each step. Then I am at the tree, its many spindly trunks growing thinner as they grow taller, sending out multiple branches. I have no knowledge of the rules or art of pruning. I have no idea what sort of tree this even is. I pause for only a moment, then start clipping away, guided only by feeling: this branch is growing in a strange direction, this one hangs over into the neighbor’s yard (and it’s only good manners not the let that happen, right?), this one….looks wrong. I enjoy the…simplification of pruning the tree. I glare at the higher branches, irritated for a moment that I can’t reach them, then settle for simply cutting them off lower down, and then, grasping the cut end, turning around and yanking it out of the tree top an inch at a time, staggering forward as the branch pulls its way through the topmost parts of the tree.

I switch back to the ground, and pick up a piece of black electrical cord, only then realizing it isn’t cord at all, but a black stem from a leaf, long decomposed, leaving the dried stems scattered about. I look more closely at the other “cords” and discover that my quest to clean out the area of non-organic material, carried out by ruthlessly ripping out all the ivy, was based on false assumptions. I stand and think for only a minute, then continue my scourge. It was only an excuse anyway. I wish for a rake, to sweep smooth the several square feet I have de-ivied. Then I see it.

A small green shoot, visible only now that the darker more prominent green of the ivy is gone, reaches up toward the sky. Others jump out at me, and suddenly I realize the whole area I have just uncovered, recklessly stepping here and there while pulling at vines, is filled with some unidentified spring flower shoots.

Well, of course it is. That was my goal all along, you know….clear out the ivy so that the …daffodils…umm..tulips?...I mean crocuses??....can grow. Yep, that was the mission the entire time.

Around 6pm

2009-03-01T18:16:00.000-08:00

Tonight I stand in the kitchen, sneaking a bit of reading in between checking the chicken and corn cooking on the stove. In the living room, I hear my family….my daughter sitting at the computer, silent except for the occasional, “Daddy, look! I drew a girl with glasses…” My son running around, his little feet making a slapping sound, louder than his size would suggest him capable of. He drags his toy vacuum around, then momentarily drops it to pick up the dog’s ball and ineptly throw it for her, giggling as it lands about 6 inches in front of him, then rolls away. Our dog, still a puppy in her exuberance, snatches it up, glances doubtfully at him, then carries over to my husband, who she is well aware can throw it further. He obliges, and with a “good dog!” tosses it down the hall. Tail wagging, she chases after.

I put down my book and stir the chicken, the smell of the coconut oil I am cooking it in spilling into the air around me. From the living room come the happy shrieks of a boy who’s just been swept off of his feet by his daddy, and flung into the hair. I flinch at the same time that I smile. The dog bites her ball several times, causing it to squeak maniacally. My daughter says something about what she’s drawing on the computer, and in the chaos, I hear a crash….In the silence , I call “Is everything all right out there?”

There is a pause, then my husband – “Oh yes!” I hear the smile in his voice. The chaos resumes, giggles and feet and a squeaky ball.

“Dinner’s ready!”

returning

2009-02-02T13:58:00.000-08:00

sigh...I'm back on Facebook ,for now...

A General Update

2009-01-15T20:06:00.000-08:00

I guess I need to post an update for those couple of people that read this!

We're settling in well in our house, though there's still a lot to be unpacked. Weekend by weekend it's coming along...

The big news, of course, is that we adopted a dog! I'd post a picture, but my camera is...well, packed. Daisy's a spaniel/lab mix, white with a few big black areas and black spots on the rest of her. She's full of energy and not exactly what you'd call trained, but she's full of love. Kaia and I are going to take her to obedience classes starting on the 28th. Look for many pictures in the future!

I started classes again, so I'm pretty busy. We found a wonderful woman to watch Ben for 2 hours each day so I can take one class during the day and one at night. She brings her 19 month old son with her, and he and Ben get along marvelously. She and I have very similar philosophies on life, which help when sippy-cup sharing (no big deal) and illness (it happens. again, no big deal) come up. Ben adores her, and she bought a double stroller to take both boys on outings to the nearby park!

Kaia is back in school, and doing fabulously. We got her mid-year report, which is very different from a public school report card. It said many wonderful things, and very nicely wrote about her efforts to become less bossy (I'll believe that when I see it!) She has a real best friend (she used to call everyone she met her best friend) and still loves her teacher. Her room is a study in chaos since the move, and this Saturday my goal is to finally tame it (with fire, if need be!)

Ben isn't talking much, but getting into everything. He understands everything you say to him, and babbles happily back. He's getting over a stomach bug (we all had it, but he was the worst) and is happily devouring everything in sight again. Unlike Kaia, he is unsure about the dog, but getting used to her.

Ok, reading back over that, it sounds like a Christmas letter...so Merry Christmas! and I hope you all have a wonderful 2009! My posts will be sporadic, as I am limiting my futzing about on the computer time.

Hair-editary Trait

2009-01-02T09:35:00.000-08:00

Both my husband and my daughter have a loose-hair phobia. Maybe not technically a phobia since they are not frightened of loose hair...they are disgusted by it.

I first noticed this in Mike when I had long hair. If I had a loose hair on my shirt, I would pick it off and drop it on the floor. Mike would freak out, get up, search until he found the hair, and throw it in the garbage. I thought it odd, but funny. (Is it just coincidence he finds short hair sexier than long hair?!)

Ever since Kaia was a toddler, and before she could even really talk, she would freak out if hair was in her food or on her person. She would hold out the piece of food, or her finger, and act as if there was a dead tarantula there that I must remove IMMEDIATELY or chaos would ensue. She could find the most tiny pieces of hair ever. If there was any sort of fuzz on her food or self, she'd find it. She is still that way. She hates to find loose hairs anywhere and will demand their instant removal, preferably to be burned or sent out to space, so she will never have to encounter them again.

I have seen both of them actually gag at the discovery of loose hairs in an unexpected place. They cringe when I drop it on the floor, where they could accidentally STEP on it, or worse, pick it up with their socks.

I am constantly surprised by what we pass on to our kids.

Christmas 2008

2008-12-25T10:00:00.000-08:00

Yes, I'm posting on Christmas. Ben is asleep, Mike is recovering from eating cheesecake for breakfast -- our new Christmas morning tradition. If he needed proof he should not be eating sugar, this is it. He feels really horrible.

On to happier things. Kaia is using canned frosting to decorate a paper plate (my sneaky way of using it all up, she's not allowed to eat it) She was surprisingly fine with Santa leaving presents at my mom's house. She and Ben loved their gifts. Her favorites include a Bolt coloring book, new markers, and an art supply set from her aunt and uncle, and Ben's favorites include a broom and a jack-in-the-box. Mini boxes of cereal in their stocking also went over well with both of them!

It's the quietest Christmas I've ever had this year. We have no tree, no lights. A few gifts for each kid. The plan for the day is the same as the last few--packing, and more packing. We are getting close to done. The house looks a mess though, and it's hard to tell how much we've done until you go into the bedrooms or open the cupboards.

Mike and I went to bed at about 11:15 or so last night. About 15-30 minutes later, Kaia came running out of her room giggling hysterically -- she'd already ransacked her stocking (and the new stocking for the as-yet-ungotten dog). We sleepily told her she had to bring it all out to us so she wouldn't get distracted and GO BACK TO SLEEP. Luckily, she did pretty quickly. At 5am she climbed into bed with us and we all listened to Ben fuss for another 40 minutes. He slept fitfully, and I brought him out at 5:40--and our day began!

The cheesecake for breakfast was a big hit. Kaia was thrilled, though she was surprised how quickly she started to feel sick, and wasn't even able to finish her first piece, much less her anticipated second. Ben carefully tasted the new edible before grabbing handfuls and filling his mouth. He also got eggs for breakfast, but the unusual amount of sugar got to him and he went down for a nap early.

Granny and Grumpy will be coming up Saturday, bringing more gifts. Kaia's thrilled about her "second Christmas" and the visit. We also move on Saturday, wish us luck in this snow!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, or whichever holiday you celebrate, or not. Merry December 25th!

p.s. I'd post pictures, but since my laptop is on the fritz, I cannot upload any now. I do have some, and will share them when possible!

reality, hello!

2008-12-22T12:31:00.001-08:00

okay, I've calmed down. I do realize how very lucky we are. Kaia will have a perfectly good Christmas, and I will chill the fuck out and enjoy it too.

Want to know how to ruin Christmas for your kid?

2008-12-22T09:24:00.000-08:00

Step One: Have the great idea to go out of town to the grandparents ON Christmas Eve.

Step Two: Decide to have Grandma buy the gift from Santa, so that your kid doesn't see it packed in the car.

Step Three: Have the wonderful tradition of having grandma also get all the stocking stuffers. It saves you money, and she picks really cool things.

Step Four: Live in an area that never gets snow.

Step Five: Watch as a blizzard hits, making roads completely undrive-able.

Step Six: Wonder how to explain to child how Santa didn't know where you'd be, so he left all the presents at Grandma and Grandpa's.

Step Seven: Think about watching child wake up Christmas morning to no bike from Santa, and no stocking.

Step Eight: Cry, even though it's a totally materialistic thing to worry about, and there are millions of kids out there with no FOOD on Christmas, much less presents and stockings waiting at Grandma and Grandpas. Yes I KNOW it's a stupid thing to be upset about. BUT I AM.

In Hopes She Will Always Talk With Me

2008-12-16T17:13:00.000-08:00

Sitting on the couch today:

Kaia: I hurt my elbow! It hurts like hell!
Me: (stifling a giggle) That's a word you don't use in public, okay?
Kaia: Okay...what about the other word?
Me: What other word?
Kaia: It's a bad word....
Me: It's okay, you can say it right now.
Kaia: Heck.
Me: Well, actually, that's a better word than hell to use in public.
Kaia: Oh...what about the "B" word?
Me: B1tch?
Kaia: What does bitch mean?
Me: Well, two things, really, (I explain the two meanings)
Kaia: Do you know what the "F" word is? (she is excited to be discussing verboten things)
Me: F*ck?
Kaia: Yes! and this means it too! (she flips me off)
Me: That means f*ck you.
Kaia: Fckyoo?
Me: ......Yes.
Kaia: (eyes sparkling) I know the "h" word!
Me: (thinking we'd already gone over this one) What?
Kaia: Hate! and I know the "S" word!
Me: Oh yes?
Kaia: Stupid!
Me: Yeah, those aren't very nice words.
Kaia: Dumb isn't either.
Me: Very true.

and yes, we talked about when and where these words shouldn't be said.

who thought up this ridiculous redsuited person, anyway?!

2008-12-13T09:07:00.000-08:00

Over the years, I've waffled about what I want to tell my kids about Santa. Originally, I didn't really want to buy into the whole thing, didn't want to lie to my kids about a jolly (though mall santas are rarely jolly) bearded man breaking into our house through our chimney (which we don't have) and leaving presents, presents we are allowed to open and eat if they are candy, despite ALSO telling them that eating candy from strangers is ABSOLUTELY NOT OKAY, NO NOT EVER.

Anyway. But as my daughter began talking, I realized that if I didn't tell her Santa exists, I have to tell her he doesn't, since talk of Santa in any group of children is rampant near Christmas. And if you know your average 3 and 4 year old, you know what THAT would mean..."MY mom says Santa isn't real!" So that option was out.

Then I adopted a "less said the better" attitude. I didn't deny Santa his gift bringing myths, I just downplayed them. We didn't go see Santa at the mall (easier to do in Pullman, a small town with no malls. There is a mall in the nearby town, but it was easily avoided.) When questioned, I briefly mentioned how Santa brought stockings that he laid on the ends of childrens' beds at night. For the first couple of years this worked. Santa was in charge of the stockings, the presents under the tree were from mom, dad, and The Grandmas.

Then the year Kaia was 5, it all unravelled on me. We had gone to my mom's house for Christmas. All the presents were wrapped, under the tree, and had been intimately scrutinized by one very precocious 5 year old. As I tucked her into bed, it happened. "Mom," she said. "I can't wait to see what Santa brings me."

"Remember, Sweetie?" I told her, then kissed her forehead. "Santa will bring your stocking, all filled with fun things, and put it on your bed for you to find in the morning!"

"Yes," She said, and grinned. "But Elizabeth at school said Santa ALSO brings the BEST presents and puts them under the tree! I can't WAIT to see what he puts under the tree for me!"

I managed a weak smile. "Okay dear, see you in the morning! I love you, good night."

Shit. What was I supposed to do?! Tell her, well, yes, Santa brings ELIZABETH the best present under the tree AND her stocking, but for you? Just a stocking. Santa must not love you as much as he loves Elizabeth. At that moment, I couldn't think of anything good. So into my mom's room I ran. "Mom! Quick, is there anything you have that we could wrap up for Santa to give Kaia? She's already seen all the presents under the tree, so I can't change a label!" I related then story of Elizabeth and her materialistic Santa (no, I wasn't irritated at all) and she sprung to action, like she always has when I need help. She searched her closet for any little things she had put away for possible gifts later. She came up with a coffee mug that had an Indian horse on it, a matching book, and a chunk of amethyst. "Perfect!" I said. We wrapped them all up in different paper than any of the gifts already displayed, and put them under the tree, proudly displaying their "For Kaia! From Santa!" labels.

It worked. For Kaia at age 5, a mug, a book, and a purple rock could equal "the BESTEST presents" under the tree. She was thrilled with Santa and his strange habits.

So over the next couple of years, Santa put things under the tree. I still didn't mention him if I could help it, and we never went to a mall.

This year, Kaia is 7. And she is full of certain knowledges of what Santa can do. Which is anything he wants to. So this year? She asked for a Bolt bike. Bolt is the new animated movie from Disney, it came out on Thanksgiving, though we won tickets to an advance showing. And guess what? It's not in any way an important enough movie for them to design bicycles with a Bolt theme. There's a few shirts out there, and overpriced plush toys. I told her Santa may not be able to find a Bolt bike, if they haven't made them. She scornfully told me Santa is magic, and can do anything he wants, which most certainly includes the simple task of designing and bringing her a Bolt bike. (I mean, sheesh, her friend Liam? Believes wholeheartedly that Santa is bringing him a room-cleaning robot. Next to that, what's a Bolt bike or two?)

I have assured her that even if Santa does not bring a Bolt bike, he will find the very best bike for her. She remains unconvinced. Andrea (Liam's mom), suggested buying a plain bike and Bolt decals and decorating it myself. Excellent idea!!! Saved!! Or...not. No Bolt decals available.

Then we went to the mall to make gingerbread houses. And guess who was there? yep. In all his redsuited whitebearded glory. And since he had no idea what Kaia meant when she said "I want a bolt bike, okay? thanks!" he simply smiled, nodded, and looked for the next child. She was ecstatic. Santa confirmed her belief! I sighed, took her hand, and reiterated that though I was sure Santa would look high and low, IF he couldn't find a Bolt bike, he would bring her a wonderful bike nonetheless.

Thursday we went to another mall to ride the quarter rides while we waited to go pick up Mike before our doctor appointments. I breathed a sigh of relief as we walked by the empty set-up where Santa would later sit. Kaia wasn't worried, she'd already sat in the fat man's lap and been absentmindedly promised her dream bike.

Then a bit later, we walked by it again. And lo and behold, Santa was JUST THEN sitting down for his evening shift. There were no other kids in sight. The costumed man, at the beginning of his shift, was still jolly. I hadn't even noticed him, but Kaia of course stopped dead in the middle of the hall and grinned at him. Earlier she had found a fake poinsettia blossom on the floor, and was carrying it lovingly with her, grand plans of room decoration in mind. Santa twinkled at her, and crooked his finger... come here! She looked at me for permission (good girl!) and ran to him, the only child around, except for Ben, and plopped herself down. Santa had time to chat. "Have you been a good girl?"

She nodded enthusiastically. "Yep!" Then she had an idea. "Here, Santa, this is for you!" She handed him the bedraggled poinsettia flower.

Santa looked surprised. "Thank you!"

Kaia grinned at him. And he asked the Question. Her answer was the same. He looked a little perplexed, not knowing what a "boltbike" might be. I saw my chance. "I'm sure that Santa will bring you a wonderful bike, even if it's not a Disney's Bolt bike!" I smiled encouragingly at Santa. Being a bit more awake than the previous one, he smiled back. "That's right" he said, not really understanding but realizing I need help, and handed her a candy cane. Ben had climbed up onto the stage and stood about 2 feet from Santa, staring transfixed. Santa handed him a candy cane too, winning Ben over for life.

We walked away, the kids eating their canes, and Kaia talked about how much nicer this Santa was than the other one. The idea of multiple Santas is fine with her. Then I found out why.

"Now I'm getting TWO BOLT BIKES!!!!" She said, skipping happily toward the door. "I told TWO Santas!"

I quickly nixed that whole idea by explaining that Santas talked to each other through email, so ONE bike POSSIBLY NOT BOLT, would be waiting under the tree.

She is still firmly convinced she will get a Bolt bike. I hope this doesn't ruin Christmas for her. Since we're not religious, Christmas is, unfortunately, still about presents to her. Yes, she's excited to see family. Yes, she's excited to GIVE gifts. But, mostly? She's excited about her Bolt bike.

Santa? God? Flying Spaghetti Monster? Any deity or mythical characters out there want to help? There's cookies and milk in it for you....

Day 3

2008-12-12T19:43:00.001-08:00

1. Mike finally making it home.
2. taco salad for dinner...yum!
3. Ben being such a hug-monster!
4. agave nectar - sweetened yumminess, here I come.
5. IT'S FLIPPIN' FRIDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!

Evil Mom Gets Back At Bratty Child

2008-12-12T17:35:00.000-08:00

Kaia threw a fit when I went to pick her up. A monster fit. A WAY bigger fit than any 7 year old should throw, EVER. So big that to relate it would just piss me off. So I retaliated. While buckling in Ben, as Kaia screamed in the seat next to him, I said, "Well, Ben, I guess we aren't doing that super-fun thing we had planned."

She paused in her wails. "What?! What super fun thing?" I didn't even look at her. "I'm not going to talk about it." I shut Ben's door and walked to mine. After I got in, the new fit started. "Give me a second CHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANCE, I'll beHAAAAAAAAAAAAVE!!" I ignored her. Finally she calmed down. "Mom? Can I have another chance? I didn't know we were going to do something fun."

"No," I said. "You don't behave because you get to do fun things. You behave well because you are supposed to. And you are certainly not rewarded for acting the way you are."

She begged me to tell her what the fun thing was. I said no. I said maybe next week, or the week after, we would do it. I said if she bothered me about it, that would add days onto the wait. I said we'd see how she behaved when I pick her up from school, and that I would THINK about MAYBE taking her in a week or two.

Now I just have to think of a fun thing. I had nothing planned at all.

2008-12-10T17:55:00.000-08:00

Ben wanted to vacuum again today, he drug out the vacuum and was quite adamant about his desire. Who am I to argue with him?!! Kaia took a turn too. Slave Labor!! WH00T!

365 Days of Grace Day 2

2008-12-10T10:42:00.000-08:00

1. possibly finding the perfect daily babysitter for my son
2. salted sunflower seeds
3. hearing the dishwasher running and knowing that in 30 minutes or so I'll have clean bowls!
4. heat on a cold day. standing in front of the heater getting roasted
5. being able to IM my husband at work!

starting...now! Day 1

2008-12-09T12:32:00.000-08:00

1. the yummy smell of the gingerbread house on my table
2. watching my son giggle while vacuuming
3. my husband bringing my son to be fed in the morning so I don't have to get out of bed for 5 more minutes
4. my daughter finally getting ready on time this morning
5. today being the last day of the school quarter, and not having to do anything in class tonight

drat! cuteness deferred

2008-12-09T11:20:00.000-08:00

darn it! I got the cutest video of Ben vacuuming, but it's too big to upload, and I have no idea how to make it smaller!

when did this transition happen?

2008-12-05T22:24:00.000-08:00

I am old. I went to the mall. Got totally overwhelmed by all the lights, the noise and the sheer consumerism. I actually got lost. Twice. I did find some of the most awesome mascara ever though. So I don't need to go back anytime soon.

This happens EVERY DAY

2008-12-05T11:47:00.001-08:00

Yesterday, around 4pm:

Kaia: Mom, is there a full moon tonight?
Me: I'm not sure, I haven't paid attention to it.
Kaia: Dad, is there a full moon tonight?
Mike: I'm not sure either...can you see the moon?
Kaia: Yes, it's right up there.
Mike: Well, is it full?
Kaia: No, not yet.
Me: Well, whatever the moon looks like right now, it will look like tonight.
Kaia: How do you know?
Me: Umm..I just do. That's how the moon works. Whatever it looks like in the afternoon, it will look like that at night.
Kaia: You never know, Mom. It could fill up more by tonight, and be full.
Me: No, that's not how it works. If it's not full now, it won't be full tonight.
Kaia: You don't know that Mom, it might change!
Me: *SIGH*

This morning, on the way to school:

Kaia: We should go in that car wash sometime, Mom.
Me: Sounds fun, we will soon.
Kaia: It's right there, next to that store....eleven...seven!
Me: 7-eleven.
Kaia: It could be a eleven-seven.
Me: No, it's a 7-Eleven.
Kaia: How do you know that? You aren't the owner, whoever owns it might have named it eleven-seven.
Me: No, there are lots of 7-elevens around. I do know that it's 7-11, not 11-7.
Kaia: You never know Mom, maybe THAT store is a 11-7!
Me: NO, I DO know, that's not an 11-7, it's a 7-11. All 7-11 stores have the same sign.
Kaia: But HOW do you know?
Me: Well, you know that 2 plus 2 is 4, right? What if someone said they thought 2 plus 2 is 5? You would just KNOW that's it's not, it's 4, right?
Kaia: (grudgingly) yes...
Me: Well, you just have to realize that I have a bit more life experience than you, and I KNOW that is a 7-11, not an 11-7.
Kaia: Maybe it is...we don't know.
Me: *SIGH*

I can only hope this incessant questioning and disbelief will help her become a world famous scientist who discovers amazing things because she NEVER accepts someone else's answer for her truth.

Everything you want to know about the kinds of friends I choose, this will tell you....

2008-11-24T10:57:00.000-08:00

I asked one of my best friends, John, for his recipe for Green Bean Casserole for Thanksgiving this year. Instead of emailing me the recipe, which would be WAY too easy, he posted a blog about it. Here it is, in its entirety:

Enjoy

My friend Della wanted me to tell her my green bean casserole recipe and since I don't cook by recipe, I decided to do a virtual walk through of how I make green bean casserole.

First, try to figure out how many cans of green beans you will need. And yes, they have to be canned green beans. Frozen or fresh won't work for a number of reasons. I think a can of green beans will feed 2 people. I also smoke crack.

Next, go to the store and get green beans, durkee french fried onions in a can (usually near the green beans), milk, butter, check and see if they have any new beers, go through the international foods section to look for new ideas, check and see what new kinds of Ice Creams Dryers, Ben & Jerry's, and the rest have come up with. I like to browse around a lot when shopping. Don't forget to check the lottery totals when you check out, because what's a buck for a chance at anything over 100 million bucks? DO NOT look at any scratch tickets if they have them. Those things are freaking evil. So enticing and playful looking, but all they do is take your money and don't clean up afterwards, kind of like Bush/Cheney. Man, I hope that McCain can help clean up the Republican party. They should first perform an exorcism, which will hopefully get rid of Karl Rove and his acolytes. If the exorcism doesn't work, and big can of raid might just do the trick.

But, as usual, I digress...

Now that you have the ingredients (plus some lottery scratch tickets because GOD DAMMIT those marketing people for the lottery are good), let's get a cooking. First, if you are a woman, you need to start by taking off your clothes, put on an apron, take a very revealing picture, and then email it to me. Once you have that VERY IMPORTANT step completed, I'll email you the rest of this recipe.

I wasn't kidding...

All right, I was kidding.

I am in my head making a green bean casserole for 4-6 people, with hopefully some leftovers. First I take 3-4 tablespoons of better and melt it in a 12 inch or so skillet on medium heat. Once the butter starts to darken a bit, add in enough flour to make a wet paste of flour and butter. In my imaginary reconstruction, that is a couple of tablespoons of flour. The amounts aren't a big deal, the consistency of it is, and we are going for really wet paste. Now crank up the heat to medium high, and with a whisk, whisk it often to keep it from burning and or forming lumps.

This by the way is a roux, and is a basis for a lot of things, the most important is white sauce which is what we are making here for the green bean casserole.

Once you cook the roux to a golden/toasty/beige-ish brown, crank up the heat again to high for a minute, then start pouring in milk. I don't know if it matters what kind of milk you put in, but I'm guessing that like most things, the higher the fat content, the better the taste. I use skim because that's all we get and it still tastes good.

Anywho, this part is kind of tricky. You don't want the pan to cool down too much, so pour in a cup or two of milk then whisk everything around for 30-60 seconds. At first the roux will immediately soak up the milk and turn into a hard paste. Never fear my friends, it is not a radical religious extremist trap, it is the correct and natural process in transforming the roux into a white sauce. So pour in some milk, whisk for a bit, wait for things to heat back up, then repeat. Do this until you have a thin sauce. I kind of look for a consistency of malt-o-meal/cream of wheat. And like those two fine breakfast products, the sauce will set thicker as it cools.

That's the hard part of the green bean casserole. The biggest thing I have had to learn over the years with making it is "don't be a pussy with the heat". Most mistakes are made by not heating the pan enough at the end, or not keeping everything nice and hot, or not browning the roux sufficiently.

Now you have some room timing wise for how you put this together and what not. I usually layer in some green beans, then white sauce, then Durkee fried onions. Do that again, and if you are near the top of the pan stop just before you put the last layer of fried onions. You want to put that last layer of fried onion on right before you heat it up to serve. So, if you are doing this the next day, you would pop the casserole in the fridge till the next day. Then pop it out again when you are ready to heat it up, put on the fired onions, and throw it in the oven forceful so the casserole knows who exactly is boss. Then cook it (covered if possible, but it's not that big of a deal) at any temperature above 300 degrees, but less than 600 degrees. Keep checking it until it is warm in the center. If you were cooking it covered, uncover it and finish it off until the fried onions on top start to brown a bit.

And there you go, green bean casserole. So, some variations are to crisp up some bacon in the skillet and use the bacon grease instead of butter for the roux. This tastes good, but is really heavy. And I find that my taste buds overload on bacon pretty fast nowadays.

Another variation that I haven't tried, but I think would be awesome is to brown some onion in butter before you add the flour to the roux. That way you would get some more infusion of onion into the casserole and that can't be a bad thing right? I'm totally doing that this year.

See every year I have two dishes to make for Thanksgiving. Green bean casserole and pecan pie. Well, the last two years I've made Macadamia nut pie which is pecan pie with macadamia nuts instead of pecans.

Oh! I thought of another dish for my restaurant that I'll never open. Spaghetti and meat balls. I'll probably do something like ziti and meat balls, but you get the idea. I got a menu going now.

(John wanted me to add that if you feel inclined to send pictures in thanks for the recipe, please send them here: jadler23@msn.com. And yes, he's serious. and kidding. but serious.)

Ben's First Haircut

2008-11-21T14:11:00.000-08:00

Okay, so blogger is doing some strange thing where it puts your photos in the opposite order in which you picked them....but ok. Here is Ben! He had his first haircut today! The top one is the "after" though admittedly not a great one, but it does show the difference on the sides. Ben was awesome, though below you can see how he felt about wearing the apron, so we took it off. He got a balloon at the end, and carried it proudly with him for hours afterward.

Ben signed his first word!!!

2008-11-16T16:38:00.000-08:00

Ben just signed "more"!!!!! He was eating corn puffs, and after he finished he looked over and put his fingertips together!!!! He repeated it several times after finishing more puffs. This is so cool!!!!!

Poems someone else wrote

2008-11-12T17:06:00.000-08:00

These are some of the best parenting poems EVER.

http://www.sundrymourning.com/2008/11/12/re-run-parenting-poetry/

sorry it's not in pretty hyperlink form. I had a kidney stone this morning and I am tired. But do go read the poems.

Ben's Impersonation of Andy Warhol

2008-11-10T17:10:00.000-08:00

keep watch for when he PATS the candy in his hand

2008-10-31T20:21:00.000-07:00

Yoda and Luke Take Over The Hallways at Daddy's Work

2008-10-31T20:02:00.000-07:00

This picture was taken late in The Great Candy Gather of 2008, so both Luke and Yoda are a bit worse for the wear.

Yoda, by the way, discovered a Great Love of Nestle's Crunch bars when his guardians mistakenly let him hold an unopened one. It took him about 3 minutes to chew through the wrapper and discover the Yummy Goodness Of Heavenly Chocolate Crunchiness, and his rage when it was removed from his Iron Grasp of Desperation was epic. He screeched, he yelled, he GROWLED, he sobbed. He was soon mollified with a chicken nugget, but his now-much-wiser guardians watched carefully for the rest of the night to make sure no candy stayed in his grasp long enough to be in any danger.

Luke wore her mask on the top of her head most of the night, to no surprise of her mother, who had repeatedly told her masks were unnecessary and just got in the way. Luke, with much determination and purpose, took very little time to plow down the Hallways of Free Treats, until her bag was quite heavy.

Her hand looks strangely fake here. It freaks me out a bit.
Both kids had a great time, though Yoda took a dive into a table and bumped the bridge of his nose, and yes, there was a bit of blood. He's fine now. Some candy was consumed, some laughter heard, some tears shed - by both kids. Halloween is fun, but I am happy to be done for this year. Except for the next few days of course....more candy to be eaten, argued about, and gleefully sorted through over and over...and over.

Have I mentioned how utterly awesome I think my daughter is?

2008-10-30T21:56:00.000-07:00

Last week we went to a local art museum where they were having a crafts day - Halloween themed, of course. Wrote about it earlier...

So at the front desk, they had a plastic witch's cauldron with a sign that read "Reach in if you dare!" It took Kaia several minutes and many promises on my part before she reached in....and took out a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. She was delighted with the whole idea.

This morning she told me her plan. She wanted to make her own container of candy, with the same sign, and carry it with her while she went trick-or-treating. She decided that she wanted the people who were giving out candy to reach in (if they dared!) and get a treat of their own! So this Halloween, she'll be walking around trading treats with everyone. The candy she chose for her scary bucket is gummy body parts - fingers, toes, tongues, and other such horrible things. Perfect for a Reach In If You Dare bucket!

Irreverence at its best

2008-10-30T09:20:00.000-07:00

Kaia has a new saying. As far as I can tell, it's a mixture of "What in the world?" and "For heaven's sakes" But she uses it to mean "For heaven's sakes" (shouldn't that be for heaven's sake, not sakes? but that doesn't sound right..oh well, moving on)

So at times she will say "Oh for the world of heaven's snakes, dude!" yes, snakes, not sakes. I love it. It cracks me up every time I hear it. Sometimes I'll remember, and say it too. Cracks me up then, too.

Also, the other day she came out with "Oh, for the love of god!" I know I should probably teach her that out of respect for others' beliefs she shouldn't say it...but I didn't say anything. I'll have to confess it on Sunday.

How To Force Your Mother To Bathe You At A Time Other Than Planned

2008-10-29T11:03:00.000-07:00

1. Refuse to eat any of the normal foods you like, causing your mother to resort to sharing her broccoli and cheese quiche with you, despite the fact that it's not even big enough for her.

2. Eat as much of the first bits she gives you as you can, encouraging her to give you more. This fills you up, and gives you ammunition at the same time.

3. Don't forget to drop several choice bits on the floor for a snack later.

4. Grab as much egg, broccoli, and cheese quiche in each hand as you can possible hold. Don't worry if some squishes out, this allows for more fun later on.

5. With each hand, grab a handful of hair. Slowly pull upwards, as if you are combing your hair with the egg mixture.

6. You may want to do this a few times, as there will be enough egg mixture stuck to your hands to last, and you don't want to waste any.

7. Remember the stuff that squished out? If you have been allowed to stay in your highchair instead of shrieked at and pulled out (as I am the second child, my mother's opinion is that if it's entertaining me, she's okay with it for a few more minutes), place your hands flat on top of the food. Briskly brush them from side to side, making sure to go off at least one table edge, allowing the food to cover your hands, then fall to the floor (see step 3) and your lap.

8. Step 7 is easier if you are able to drip your milk on the table first, making the food more slippery, and therefore more likely fall off the table rather than stick to the edge.

9. Enjoy your bath, and be sure to read "How To Avoid Getting Re-Dressed After An Impromptu Bath", coming soon!

Vote NO on 8!

2008-10-26T10:01:00.000-07:00

"Daddy! Come look! See the house I designed? The family is in the living room. Here is the mother, and this girl is her wife. Here are their three kids!"

If you live in California, please vote NO on Proposition 8. There's enough hate in this world. Let's help there be more love.

A Ghost, 3 Bellydancers, and Yoda

2008-10-24T19:31:00.000-07:00

We went to the art museum today, they had a Halloween crafts day. The kids wore their costumes, people were quite amused by Ben's portrayal of Yoda.

Kaia made a paper ghost, and played pass-the-witch's-hat which was eerily similar to hot potato! She also made a couple of Halloween cards. A couple of kids she knows from my moms' group were there, so she had fun socializing with them.

At one point, there was a belly dancing show. Kaia asked if she could go sit and watch. I told her yes, but couldn't go with her at that moment. About 5 minutes later I walked over and looked for her in the group of people sitting in folding chairs. At first I couldn't see her, then I noticed her in the second to the front row, sitting with a family, chatting happily with the daughter and mom.

I let her know I was there, then stood Ben on a chair a little further back so he could see the dancers. He LOVED them! After each act, he would join everyone in clapping, then started clapping during the acts. After it was over, we wandered away to watch Kaia work on her cards. He ran back to the stage, clapped and laughed, then watched the empty stage expectantly. When nothing happened, he indicated he wanted up on a chair, where he repeated his clapping and gazing, as if to say "Okay! You have an audience now, you can come dance!" It was so cute!

Andrea and John sent the kids' birthday gifts. (Before you say "wait, their birthdays are long past!" be aware I still haven't sent her kids their gifts either!) They gave Kaia a Star Wars version of Monopoly, which made her almost giddy with excitement when she saw. She of course has claimed Luke Skywalker as her own. She and Mike are in the middle of their first game. Ben got one of those little ducks on a stick with flappy feet. This one has a clown hat and a bell. We've unoriginally named it "Ducky" and he has spent VERY little time without it. Sometimes Ducky is out in front, sometimes he trails behind, but almost all day, if Ben came in to the room, Ducky was with him!

The Simple Things

2008-10-21T10:37:00.000-07:00

This morning I bought 3 packs of baby wipes. I set them on the table, all of them still unopened. Ben was ecstatic when he realized they were within his reach. The fact that they were unopened, and therefore he could not joyfully and chaotically fill the house with wipes was a momentary setback, but after he took all three of them down he had a blast playing with them. For 10 minutes! Then he carefully put all of them back on the table and grinned at me.

2008-10-20T13:42:00.000-07:00

wow. I am exhausted. I drove down to Vancouver Friday night to see Tania, Chloe, and Kathy. Because I had a school function to go to first, I didn't get there until 1:15am. In the morning I had meant to sleep until 8:30, but woke up at 7:30!! Very strange. I visited with my mom for a bit, then headed down to Tania's. It was awesome having all three of us together again. (the last time was right after Ben was born, and I was too tired to really remember much!)

Though I give Kathy a hard time about still living where she does, I do understand her (many!) reasons. But it would be so cool to see her more often, and more so, to have all four kids grow up together.

I left there at 7:30 or so, and stopped by the store to get coffee and snacks, then headed out of town. I got home at 10:30pm, and headed to bed. As usual, Ben woke up before 5, then again before 6. I think I may miss class tonight, since it goes until 10, and she is reviewing things I know. Going to bed early would be so marvelous.

I decided to keep up with the 3 days a week work out, and not worry about increasing yet. There is a class that does weights, step, and yoga on Mondays and Wednesdays (which I've done twice. yes, it is brutal), then a spinning class on Fridays (which I have not tried yet. I am sure it, too, is brutal). Ben is getting used to child care there, and likes all but one of the girls who watch over them. He doesn't dislike the one, but she's not as snuggly as the others, so he doesn't calm down as fast (though it still only takes a few minutes).

I am really cold too. We can't have the heat on in the living room during the day because of the type of heater it is (it's on the wall and gets VERY hot). I turn it on at night, but it's definitely getting colder as winter nears.

All right. That's enough mindless chatter for now. I think coffee is in order, both for the exhaustion and the cold.

bits 'n pieces

2008-10-13T15:00:00.000-07:00

Ben got his 7th tooth 2 days ago.

Kaia's still working on her joke telling skills:
Kaia: What do you have if you have 3 pairs of shoes?
Me: umm...what?
Kaia: EIGHT SHOES!!! HA HA HA!!! Get it?!!?
Me: ummm...honestly, no...
Kaia: Because, you have 3 pairs, so you have 6 shoes, but then someone comes and secretly puts two more shoes there! So you have eight shoes now! Get it?!!?

Ben slept last night from 7:30pm to 5:10am!! From what I can remember, this is the FIRST TIME EVER!!!! WHOO HOOO!!!! (do it again tonight Ben!)

We ordered the kids' costumes today. Yoda for Ben, and Luke Skywalker for Kaia. Spent more than I really should have for costumes, but I really don't have the energy to make a Luke Skywalker costume.

I have worked out 3 days a week for the last 2 weeks. Not a long time, I know, but a very good start!

long overdue post

2008-10-04T16:15:00.000-07:00

Wow. So life has gotten busy in the last couple of weeks! Here's a breakdown of my week -

On Sundays I work at the hospital for 4 hours.
On Mondays and Wednesdays I have Math class.
On Tuesdays and Thursdays I have Spanish.
On Wednesdays I go to the farm to get veggies. (only 4 more weeks of that I think)
Three to five days a week I go work out at the gym.
When I can, I do homework.
Monday through Friday I take Kaia to school, then pick her up in the afternoon.
Monday through Friday mornings I take Mike to work.
Tuesdays and Thursdays I pick Mike up from work after picking up Kaia from school.
Every night I cook dinner, usually from scratch.
I make bread 2-4 times a week (sometime I make the dough in the bread machine).
I try to do at least one mom's group event a week, though it usually works out to about two a month.
Add to this cleaning the house, cooking other meals, grocery shopping, and taking care of Ben every day!

We also just got our new really cool health insurance, so I am busily making and going to chiropractor, doctor, and dentist appointments for all four of us.

Now, I am by no means saying I am busier than most people. On the contrary, I know I am not. However, I am much busier than I used to be! And you know what I found out?! I like it! I am happier and far more content now than I was just a few weeks ago! I am looking forward to changes in the next year, but I am okay (for the first time in years) with exactly where I am now. This pleases me.

What plans, you ask? I'll tell you! (even if you didn't ask!)

This January our lease will be up. We are all looking forward to renting a house closer to Kaia's school and Mike's work. Here are our requirements in a house -

4 bedrooms, or 3 bedrooms and a close-off-able den/office
I'd prefer only one story, but it's not necessary
A big back yard!! Room for: a garden, a kids' play area, AND!! fully fenced, because...we are going to get a dog! We're going to search the shelters until we find the perfect one - small or medium-ish, good with kids, young enough to grow up with the kids, good with cats, and hopefully not too yappy.

Over the next year or so we will also be saving up for a down payment for when we are ready to buy a house, and continuing to pay off debt.

I will continue with school, and will be ready to apply for the Ultrasound Tech program starting in the fall of 2010. Mike is working with a couple different people on games. Kaia is still LOVING school, her teacher, and her friends. Ben is getting bigger and more interactive every day!

Life is good.

This makes me love Natalie Portman even more...

2008-09-26T07:08:00.000-07:00

even though it's KRA-RAY-ZEE strange.

excuses, excuses

2008-09-22T06:55:00.000-07:00

I really wish I could send you over to John's blog, because he cracks me up with his insane meanderings! Sadly, he uses MySpace, and on MySpace, he has chosen to make his blog private, so only his "friends" can read it! So you miss out on a wonderful entry about Cub Scouts, pubic vs. public, beer, discussions of gourds, confessions about crooked toes and sex, and more! All in the same post.

He also requested I blog more. I know I haven't written much, I have just been really busy, and I'm about to get much more so. School starts again this week (for me) and so any time I have will be dedicated to family or homework. With an occasional frenzy of house cleaning. I do apologize to the 5 readers I have. I will try to at least post a picture or two from time to time.

be back when I can.

7 year old logic sometimes actually makes a scary sort of sense.

2008-09-17T16:38:00.000-07:00

today in the car. this is only part of her monologue-

"I think there must be a god. If not, how was the first person made? Because the first person couldn't have been BORN, or the MOTHER would have been the first person! I think the first person ever must have been a woman, because if it was a man there wouldn't be as many people that exist today, 'cause men can't have babies!"

a small post at least

2008-09-08T12:05:00.000-07:00

I've been sadly neglecting blogging, I know! I've been really busy! let's see if I can recap some....

Kaia started school, so that means 2 trips a day into Bellevue for me. She ADORES her teacher, LOVES school ("More than anything, mom, even....Star Wars!!") and begged to be able to stay for Aftercare, which is free this year only, so she is there from 8:15 to 3:15, except on Thursdays, when it's 8:15-2:30
We remembered the tags on my car have been expired, and it had to be taken through emissions, so I did that. It failed. Bad catalytic converter!! nasty, but at least we had Mike's unused vacation pay from his last job, which just covered it!
I am working on Tania's pregnancy scrapbook nightly....she is due TOMORROW!!!! and will be going in to be induced tonight if she doesn't go into labor today.
Ben is walking everywhere. He's getting his balance, which means he can walk FAST. Keeping up with him takes up most of my day! I'm putting him into a play group at a kids' gym - they have a big ball pit, and swings, and lots of balls, which he loves!
I start my second semester of school in a week. I am taking math and Spanish.
I began volunteering at the hospital on Sunday mornings. I work in the emergency department, and it's going really well. Not only will it help when I apply for the ultrasound tech program, but it really is helping to make a difference, and I need that weekly dose of reality!

I will try to post some pictures soon.....

Our New Couch!!!!

2008-08-28T18:40:00.000-07:00

Isn't it just BEAUTIFUL!!?!?!?!

the strange things on the top are pieces of tape so the cats don't lay on it and push the cushions down...wish us luck....

really, soon...

2008-08-26T09:24:00.003-07:00

I will be posting about my vacation, which was wonderful, at some point, but no time at the moment.

Ridin' the Gator!

2008-08-26T09:10:00.000-07:00

My Boys

2008-08-17T07:19:00.000-07:00

Daddy's Shoes

2008-08-13T16:32:00.000-07:00

Kaia's Story

2008-08-08T09:34:00.000-07:00

(click to make big enough to read. Video of Kaia reading it is below)

Hairdresser Extraordinaire!

2008-08-07T15:15:00.000-07:00

Check out my new 'do! Kaia did my hair for me today!

Too cool!

2008-08-06T17:57:00.001-07:00

Ben took his first steps tonight!!!!! Will post more later, gotta go to book club.

Here's to seventy seven more.

2008-08-04T06:48:00.000-07:00

Last week we all took a walk down to the park. Kaia has been doing all sorts of things by herself lately (taking the rent check to the office!) and so Mike and I were watching her go into the bathroom at the park to wash her hands. She came back out, grinned at us, took a drink at the water fountain, and started back up the hill. This summer she has grown so much. She's tall and thin and full of energetic movement.

"Look how long she's getting...." I say in awe as she strides up the hill.

"Yeah...." Mike answers. "Seven years old!"

I grin at him.

"How did we know?" He asks me. "How did we know after so little time together 7 years ago what we wanted so definitely?" He's referring to how I got pregnant (planned) only 3 months after we met again. (We knew each other in high school, met again 7 years after graduation)

"Cause we're that damn smart," I say flippantly. He grins at me.

All self-professed intelligence aside, how did we know? How could we be so confident in our brand new relationship that we were so willing to bring a child into it? That we immediately started planning our wedding and life together?

I have no clue. But what I DO know is that now, 8 years later, with two kids, two cats, a few dreams come true and lots of dreams as yet unrealized, is that there is no one I would rather be with. Mike, you bring out the best in me, and you balance out the worst. You love me unreservedly. You are the best Da Da ever. I love this life we've made.

I love you. Hugely, loudly, unreservedly. Happy, happy, happy 7th Anniversary, darlin'. I'll get the steak and 'tots, you download the movie! ;-)

Big Changes

2008-08-01T06:49:00.001-07:00

Mike has a new job! He'll be working for a huge IT company here in the NW, and making over 20 grand more a year than he does now. This means so much for us. We sat down together last night and went over everything we want to do over the next year or so. Some of our goals are:

-pay off debt! We owe to credit cards, relatives, car loan....
-401k! This company matches 50% for up to 6% of his salary...so that means that we'll be putting about $400 a month into it, and they'll put $200. Adds up fast.
-birthdays, holidays, just because days. We are going to be able to buy things for other people now!
-buy land, and build a house, or buy a house on land. We finally decided that an acre or two is the right size for us, and we want a small-ish, one story 4 bedroom house. Since most 4 bedroom houses are big, we will probably be building. I found the plans online for one that I love that is less than 2000 sq feet. After we pay off all our debt we can start seriously looking into this.
-after we buy the land and build the house, I can get a new car! I am really loving the Mazda5. We are waiting until after buying the house so that can be our financial priority.

okay, I guess those plans encompass more than a year...more like 2 or 3. Also, in January, we are going to move to a different apartment closer to Kaia's school to save on gas money. Mike's new job has its own bus system, and they will pick Mike up, and he gets a free bus pass, so we still aren't going to get a second car for awhile. If we can find an apartment close enough to her school, I can walk her to and from school every day!

Another HUGE benefit to this new job is their medical benefits. We pay NOTHING. No paycheck deduction, no co-pay, no percentage. ALL our medical comes at no cost to us!! I'm sure you know how awesome that is without me having to go into details.

Add in a year raise, yearly bonus, discounts on more things than I can imagine, and you get one happy Michael, and one happy me!

Stay Tuned....

2008-07-30T18:54:00.000-07:00

Good news is on the way!!!

Hours of Fun

2008-07-27T19:20:00.000-07:00

Mike and I taught Kaia how to play Monopoly today. Mike and Kaia played while I occasionally coached Kaia. We have the .com Special Edition, so instead of streets there are internet businesses like Yahoo! and such. Oh...not all of them are internet based, I guess...the railroads are replaced with Communications...something...Sprint, Nokia, AT&T, and ...one other one...

Anyway. It was a LONG game, but Kaia had fun - and she won! She did have help, but she played well. The hotels - I mean, the offices - you see below are hers, and the one right before Free Parking is the one that helped her win. Mike landed on it and didn't have the $950 to pay her rent, so he went bankrupt (almost all of his properties were already mortgaged).

The Teeth Just Keep Fallin'....

2008-07-25T18:35:00.000-07:00

Adventures In Cooking

2008-07-25T13:31:00.000-07:00

Kaia and I started a blog together! We'll both be posting in it, and it'll detail our adventures while I'm teaching Kaia how to cook. We are cooking dinners together on Saturday nights, and whenever we get a chance (hard with Ben when Mike's not home!)

The first recipe will be made tomorrow night, when we attempt home made tortillas for our burritos! Posts will include recipes, pictures, and a little bit from each of us about the experience and meal. We're both really excited to both be cooking together, and writing about it together! Stop by and tell us what you think!

www.cookingwithkaia.blogspot.com

How to Be a Perfect Hostess. Or Not.

2008-07-20T16:47:00.000-07:00

Kaia and I sit on the floor with her pretend food and play.....

Kaia: I'm calling you on the phone...
Me: Okay. Hello?
Kaia: Hello! Would you like to come over for a visit tomorrow?
Me: Sure! What time?
Kaia: Umm....how about....4 in the morning.
Me: That's a little early for me.
Kaia: Okay, how about 4:30?
Me: I'm still asleep then! How about 9?
Kaia: Come over at 10.
Me: Okay. Can I bring anything?
Kaia: Bring whatever you like!
Me: Okay!
Kaia: I will tell you what I am allergic to.
Me: Oh...okay.
Kaia: Ummm...I am allergic to.....seeds...and nuts.
Me: Okay, I will not bring any seeds or nuts.
Kaia: And I should tell you, I am allergic to sugar carrots too. It says on the package if they are sugar carrots.
Me: Got it. No sugar carrots.
.
.
.
intermission while Kaia gathers up various foods to be cookies and I gather up a few fruits to bring.
.
.
.
Me: Okay, I am coming over!
Kaia: We haven't even gone to bed yet!
Me: I am so tired! I'm going to bed so I can be wide awake to visit Kaia tomorrow!
.
.
Me: Yawn! I slept well! Now I'll get ready to visit Kaia!
Kaia: Ring Ring!
Me: Hello?
Kaia: It'a a party now, not just a visit!
Me: Oh, okay! I'm coming over now!
Kaia: Okay.
.
.
Me: Hello! I am here for the party!
Kaia: Oh! Hello!
Me: I brought a watermelon, a peach, and a banana.
Kaia: What else?
Me: Nothing else...
Kaia: hmmm....(said quite disapprovingly)
Kaia: My son has wrecked the floor. Why don't we clean up before the party?
Me: Oh, okay.
Kaia: Or wait, why don't you leave and come back later. Come back at....umm....2!
Me: Oh, okay....I'll just leave the fruit I brought here then.
Kaia: Yeah, that's what I was thinking.

Boy With Drumstick

2008-07-18T19:17:00.000-07:00

Rabbit!

2008-07-18T07:29:00.000-07:00

There is the cutest little rabbit living right outside our house. He's tiny! He likes my flowers...I'm okay with that as long as he stays away from the berries!

Had too much fun to take many pictures.....

2008-07-16T10:25:00.000-07:00

I didn't take very many pictures while Andrea and her kids were here....in fact, I only took pictures while we were at the water spray park. We had a wonderful visit, and I can't wait to be able to head over there for another visit!

Here they all are, hanging out under the tree. It's hard to see Katia, but she's there!

it's comedy at its finest....

2008-07-09T06:44:00.000-07:00

OH MY GOD. I was going to put a link, but I couldn't decide which video to link to. So go, go now, go to www.youtube.com and look up the Flight of the Conchords. Listen to "It's Business Time" and "The Humans Are Dead"...and "Albi (The Racist Dragon)" and more....

They are HILARIOUS.

garden update

2008-07-08T16:21:00.000-07:00

The picture above was taken a few days ago. The strawberry just beginning to turn red is the one below...I let Kaia pick it today before she left with her grandparents for a 3 night visit. It's our first ripe strawberry of the season! It tasted divine.

My blueberries are still growing...no blue ones yet, but there are several promising bunches...here's the one that has the biggest berries so far....

The Anti-Plan

2008-07-04T09:55:00.000-07:00

Wanna know our plans for this weekend? Are we gathering up things to take to a park and gaze upon the beautiful bursts of color tonight? Are we simply purchasing a few sparklers and ground fireworks to watch from our back porch? Are we headed a friend's house, a friend who just might be insane, a friend who wanted to order a kit online which promised the ability to build your own 12 inch mortar? (like we did last year, and the year before)

Nope. Nope. and sadly, Nope.

We aren't doing anything. We are enjoying our family time, gonna hang out together doing nothing, spending no money, taking no trips.

Mike has the day off today, and we have decided to make this weekend a weekend of no plans. No commitments, no hurry-and-get-ready moments.

Yep. We are planning to be supremely lazy. All four of us, all weekend.

I am so looking forward to it!

however, if we ever get a Wii.....

2008-07-01T13:13:00.000-07:00

Yesterday at the park it once again came up that we don't have a TV. Kids shows were being talked about and when I looked blank at one character's name, one mother seems surprised I didn't know about him. (the character is Diego's brother. or sister. or someone. I DO know who Diego is.)

I said that we didn't have a TV, so I am not caught up on current kids' shows. There was a minute of silence, then all three women said some variation of "I couldn't do that! I'd go crazy!"

The truth is, I never miss TV. In the beginning, it wasn't our idea not to watch TV. In Pullman, where we used to live, you had to pay for cable to even get basic channels, and we couldn't afford that. So our TV sat in the living room and waited for us to occasionally watch movies on it. I realized that without even the option of vegging on the couch in front of the TV, I didn't miss it. I was pretty busy anyway, with working full time and taking care of my family. If I had had the TV to watch, I would have stayed up way too late anyway, and not for anything worthwhile.

However, Mike and I watched movies and, every once in a while a TV show (Heroes!), online. And after a trip to the school Kaia goes to now, we talked about getting rid of the TV itself. We'd already made the rule of no movies on weekdays, simply because I didn't want to have the homework vs. TV arguments later. After very little discussion, we decided to remove the TV. Kaia could watch her weekend movies on the laptop. The amount of room the TV took up wasn't worth the small amount of use it got.

So out it went. And again, we didn't miss it. We had a lot more room in the living room, and it actually felt much more peaceful without the looming gray screen.

After we moved, we didn't get a TV even though we'd have access to local channels now. We can watch any shows we want to online, though that's rare.

After dinner, we put Ben to bed, then Mike and Kaia spend time together, or we all three do something together. I don't have to listen to my daughter whine about wanting to watch one more show, nor do I have to hear about what new toys she wants, after watching one inane commercial after another. I never think "I wish I could watch TV, I am so bored."

In the spirit of being truthful, if I am at someone's house, and they have the TV on, I am just as likely as the next guy to get lost in it. But I am amazed when commercials come on and I see what advertising people actually expect us to believe. I am shocked at what is considered normal for kids to watch. And when I see Kaia's glazed eyes, and know the same look is in mine when I watch the screen, I thank the stars above we don't have a TV. I'd go crazy!

Rockin'

2008-07-01T10:14:00.000-07:00

I think I saw a puddy tat! I did! I did!

2008-06-29T09:53:00.000-07:00

For a little while now, we've been thinking Ben can say "cat", but weren't sure because a lot of what he babbles fits the situation he's in. "Out!" when he was struggling to get out of his car seat. "I want that!" when reaching for something the other day. But stuff he's not really saying, of course.

But this morning, he looked up, saw Suzie, grinned and yelled "CAT!" Then after we got all excited, he started saying "kitty cat! kitty cat!" over and over. Mike calls the cats "kitties" when talking to Ben, I call them "cats".

So he is now up to three words. "Mama", "Da Da", and "Kitty Cat". Or four, depending how you look at it!

The Party

2008-06-28T19:59:00.000-07:00

We had 11 kids plus Kaia come to her party. We held it at the same park she and her class used to go to on Fridays. The picnic tables were in the shade, and there was a nice wind, so as long as I stayed there, I didn't get too hot. The kids ran wild for the first hour or so, then sat down for ice cream cakes in little planters. I put crushed oreos on top with gummi worms and bugs. They all seemed to enjoy them, and ran off again after eating. A few of the other women helped me get them all rinsed and ready for planting, then we sat down to open presents. However, in a repeat performance from last year, Kaia took a brief moment to head out to the field to throw up. With the combination of sugar and excitement, she was just undone. Natasha came to the rescue with homeopathics and aromatherapy face spray, and Kaia, feeling much better, commenced the gift-opening. She got some excellent loot, and is currently playing with her fairy garden, occasionally looking over at her bag of other goodies and grinning.

Not sure when exactly this was taken, but here are three of her friends walking with her up the hill. She is holding the Star Wars card Mike and I got for her. When it's opened, it loudly plays the Star Wars theme song.

Ben had a great time watching everyone, but got tired pretty quickly. It was a lot to take in for such a little man!

We planted flowers in the pots after gift opening. Went pretty fast, really. Not the best craft for a party if you're looking to take up time....but the kids who took part seemed to have fun.

Ben crashed in his daddy's arms and slept for a bit. After he woke up and spent some time playing in the grass, and playing a game called "how many times can I get this stick in my mouth and how many times will my parents pull it out?"

The kids all played on the playground equipment for awhile, then slowly trickled home. Overall, I think everyone had a good time.

After we got home, we were all hot and sweaty, so we got into bathing suits and went to the pool. It made all four of us feel much better. Kaia swam over 5 laps lengthwise!! I don't know where she got the energy! We came home after an hour or so, put Ben to bed, and are now just relaxing a bit.

21st Century Girl

2008-06-28T11:32:00.000-07:00

.
.
.

Kaia: Where did you find it?
Me: Online.
Kaia: What dot com?
.
.
.

Reading with Uncle Mick

2008-06-28T10:34:00.000-07:00

Two Top Teeth

2008-06-27T14:32:00.000-07:00

and now, for the close up! He doesn't usually like to show off his top teeth, so I was happy to get a shot of this smile!

Birthday Week

2008-06-27T08:06:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Kaia's 7th birthday. My parents and my brother came up and celebrated with us. It was a really good day. Kaia and her grandparents went swimming at our apartment's pool, and Kaia got tons of gifts. She'll be getting more on Saturday when she has her party with friends, which makes me want to edit her room again. I think that in a week or two when she goes down to spend the weekend with my parents I will edit and reorganize her room.

She got a few more starts to book series - Mrs. Piggle Wiggle, The Boxcar Children, Ramona Quimby. She also got some more books for younger kids, which she still enjoys and can be easier to read.

Tomorrow should be a blast. I have to go get all the supplies -planters, flowers, cake, ice cream, etc. - tonight when Mike gets home. The party is in the afternoon so I'll have plenty of time to prepare...thinking about it, I should maybe get the flowers tomorrow morning....

Will post pictures from today a little later, and several from tomorrow I'm sure. This morning we're off to a park play date with my mom's group.

In more notaboutme news!!!

2008-06-24T07:34:00.000-07:00

She's having a girl!!!!!!

Reality Check

2008-06-24T07:24:00.001-07:00

Two things. First, a funny thing my daughter said. Second, how I realized I needed to have it be said to ME.

So yesterday we're in the car on the way home. Ben is fussy because he's tired, and Kaia is grumpy because she had to leave her friend's house.

Kaia: Mom, Ben calms down when I pay attention to him. I think he just wants attention. (said in an exasperated tone)

Me: Okay, well, you could sing him a little song.

Kaia: I don't want to.

Me: Okay, you don't have to entertain him.

Kaia: (after a pause) Mom, can I tell him it's not all about HIM?

So, as I said in my whiny post, it could just be me taking things personally. And after a VERY nice email from the friend in question here is my conclusion.

I am extremely self-absorbed. Not all the time of course, but in situations like this. Because in the email she mentioned all the reasons -and almost all of them I was already aware of -that she has been busy: she's pregnant, has a 5 year old, her husband has been almost living at work (not willingly), she has a big over-seas trip coming up, she's had to plan and go to multiple doctor appointments for her and her family and her pets, and, not mentioned in her email, she has been helping out a neighbor whose back went out.

Yeah. Am I taking things too personally much? sheesh. Sometimes, I really just need to ask my daughter to tell me...

"Mom! It's not all about YOU!"

Student At Large

2008-06-23T19:03:00.000-07:00

So since we moved here I've been planning to go back to school in the fall of this year. I hadn't looked at the classes I was planning to take for over a year, so forgot that I had added in a bunch just to take for fun....so when I looked at it last week, I realized that if I took out all those, I would be ready to apply for the Ultrasound Tech program at the beginning of 2010, meaning I would start - if accepted - Fall Quarter of 2010!!!

That's only taking 2 classes per quarter, which is awesome, since I need to take night classes until I am in the program. Night classes are either Monday and Wednesday, or Tuesday and Thursday, meaning if I work it right I can be taking a class all four days. I'm starting with only one class though, since it's Summer quarter, meaning less time to do the same amount of work, and to get back into the School Groove.

Of course, I decided this last Friday, and today was the beginning of the quarter - though the class I signed up for doesn't start until tomorrow night. I signed up for Algebra 097, a class I've taken before, but ten years ago, so I don't remember much. Since Math is my weak point, I don't want to take any chances about keeping my GPA high, so I'd rather start fresh and keep up. I only have to take 3 math classes for the program - 097, 098, and 099. I'll write another post later about the other classes I'll be taking, as well as the volunteering I need, and want, to do.

I'm really excited to start, despite the fact it's math. I am confident I'll do fine in the class since it's all just reminders, and Mike is super supportive and excited about me going to school too.

Strawberries

2008-06-21T18:58:00.000-07:00

Picnic at the park

2008-06-21T16:28:00.000-07:00

My mom's group had a huge picnic today at the park! It was awesome weather, not cold at all, but not glaring down sun. We had a wonderful time hanging out with other families, and Kaia had a blast running all over the place. Ben likes being out and about, so was perfectly behaved. He spent some time on the grass, which he loves, and also in a baby swing, which he also enjoyed quite a bit.

I asked someone to take a picture of all of us, something you rarely see, since I am usually the one with the camera! I also gave it to Mike so that I could be in some, and so I could spend some time with Kaia.

I used to love the swings, but now they make me sick after a few minutes on them....

I think Ben would have been happy for a lot longer in his swing. At one point I let it slow down, then stop, and he kicked his feet like "hey!! push me!!"

He also had fun swinging with Mike and I. We decided we really want to go to a park or somewhere outside every weekend this summer, weather allowing.

Next month we are going to be in a parade, so the kids decorated the banner with their handprints.

after the coffee

2008-06-20T19:12:00.000-07:00

Happy post! We have some fun things planned for this weekend. Tomorrow we're going to a picnic with about 100 people in my mother's group. Then Kaia's friend Ben is coming over for dinner and we're watching him for a couple hours. Sunday we have no definite plans, but it'll be nice to just spend some time together.

I want to go over to the east side of the state for several days to visit Andrea and her family, but I think I need to wait until Ben more used to sleeping in his crib, that way transitioning back to it when we return will be easier.

Then next weekend is Kaia's birthday party on Saturday, and the Strawberry Festival on Sunday! Oh! and before that, on Thursday, her actual birthday, my parents and possibly my brother are coming up!

I attempted to make english muffins today, but messed up on converting the flour from grams to cups, so didn't put in enough. They tasted good though, so I will definitely be trying again. Mike said I have a talent for making things that turn out fabulous. gotta love that man.

Talked to Shane today, and we both agreed our families need to get together more. Then of course we went over our calendars ... "can't do that weekend...can that one..oh, you can't? hm...how about...no...hmm..." but we both decided to make something happen at some point!

Also got to talk to Kathy today. Now that she's working again we don't talk on the phone as often, so it was awesome to hear from her. I miss that woman. She said she will most likely now be coming for Thanksgiving, so we're back to having both her family and Tania's!!! My first big Thanksgiving dinner! Well, not counting the one a couple years ago...that was a bit of a fiasco, so I am having a do-over.

When I am not feeling all sorry for myself, I recognize how lucky I am. I have a wonderful husband, marvelous children, and fabulous friends. Just because I haven't yet made some here doesn't mean I won't. I should have learned by now that the most special things come in their own time and are so worth it when they do. Somewhere out there are some fantastic women who I will someday get to know. Maybe I've met them, or some of them, already. All I can do is go out into this world with a smile on my face and an open heart. and I can do that.

Yes, I WOULD like some cheese with my whine. thank you.

2008-06-20T08:15:00.000-07:00

I want to whine. I can't stand whining. My daughter whines and it's one of the only things that makes me want to slap her. I don't, of course, but if I were the sort to slap? Whining would be the reason.

I want to whine about not having any friends. but wait...I do have friends, both elsewhere and here. The elsewhere ones are better friends, simply because I've known them longer. Which is, of course, the only remedy for having better friends here. and yes, I KNOW I've whined about this before. But then I read a blog written by a friend of a friend - who I'd like to get to know better, she's quite nice - talking about what a good friend the mutual friend is (got that?) and I get all mopey and whiny. Because that particular mutual friend I sometimes don't understand. While we are together she is so nice, and seems to genuinely want to be my friend too. But she doesn't call me, and lately hasn't seemed to want to get together, though she says she does. however, disclaimer, she is pregnant, and while I was pregnant, I had a hard time making an effort to be social too. a very hard time, for reasons I don't understand. so she could be like me. or she could just be not wanting to hurt my feelings? or I could be taking all this WAY TOO PERSONALLY like usual?!?! I don't want to talk to her about it, because I don't want to be whiny and all self-centered like I am being now.
She lives about 40 minutes away, which I don't mind driving, but is too far to call her up and reasonably expect to be able to say "hey, come hang out a bit" and I don't want to invite myself over there, we haven't reached that part of friendship yet. I miss that part of living in Pullman, where I could call Andrea and be all "yeah, so I'm coming over, okay? thought I'd hang out at your house all day" and that would be totally fine with her and I would know it was totally fine with her.
I would have to say this is the ONLY THING I am not liking about living here. Mike loves his job, Kaia loves her school, my family is very happy. I love having my husband available in the evenings to be with his family, I love being with my kids and not having to worry about rushing off to work. I enjoy being able to take the time to cook healthy yummy meals for us, and my marriage is joyful.
But I need other wimminfolk! I want to have friends who can bring their kids over and hang out, we can make lunch together and chat about nothing and everything. and I want it now. I know, I KNOW. good friendships don't happen right away, they grow. but one, just one, good friend would be good to have right now. one that lives close by, one that I can call up and go grocery shopping with.

okay, whine over.

sleeping woes, continued

2008-06-19T08:47:00.000-07:00

not good. I've set us back a bit in our efforts to help Ben go to sleep at night and at nap times.

First, last night I let him fall asleep on me for about 10 minutes. Before we put him to bed we woke him up and got him into jammies, but the damage was done. He had remembered how nice sleeping on Mama is, so he was FURIOUS when we put him in his crib. He cried for over an hour.

Then in the middle of the night sometime (no idea when, I wasn't coherent, or it wouldn't have even happened) he woke up and instead of letting him go back to sleep in his crib, out of old habit I got him out and fed him. Then he fell back asleep in our bed, so of course woke up a few times and wanted to eat again. At that point I knew it would be hopeless to put him back in his crib, so he spent the rest of the night with us. Which meant he ate a few times at night, instead of waiting until morning.

So now it is naptime again. He isn't pleased that we've gone back to the evils of solitary crib sleeping. I have to be diligent about not letting him sleep on or with me, even though now that it's not ALL THE FREAKIN' TIME it's sweet again. Last night when he fell asleep on me it was just so wonderful to cuddle with him again while he was asleep. I am sure I'll be able to do that again, after he's fully used to sleeping on his own. I really hope so, because the idea of NOT being able to is very sad. I like sleeping with my boyo, just not 24/7.

Right now, however, it's an all or nothing thing, or he gets confused. I can't wait for this transition to be over.

Sweet Pea

2008-06-18T18:25:00.000-07:00

Here is Kaia enjoying our pea shoots we got at the farm! We also got baby bok choy (I've never tried it, I'm excited!) spinach, salad greens, and green onions.

He's learning faster than I'd like

2008-06-18T11:03:00.000-07:00

Holy Crap. He's learning how to move things around to help himself. He took Kaia's sink out of her kitchen, then dropped it on the ground. At some point he figured out that if he turned it upside down and stood on it he might be able to reach the things under the sink. He couldn't, quite, but still! He moved it where he needed it and stood on it! I'm in trouble.

and another one gone...

2008-06-17T10:39:00.000-07:00

2008-06-16T18:47:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I went up to Canada to surprise Tania at her baby shower. I got a passport several weeks ago, and bought a train ticket for going up, and a bus ticket for coming back. (the train doesn't come down in the morning)

She was really surprised, and it was wonderful to be able to be at her shower. Mike stayed home with both kids! The train ride up was fun, I sat next to a guy who talked a lot, but about really interesting things. Right after getting into Canada, we went past a beach that had about 50 bald eagles! I saw more bald eagles in that 3 minutes than in my entire life. It was awesome.

I won the clothes pin game (will actually be posting a pic about that later) and brought my prize, a little soft bear, home to Kaia. At the station before leaving Canada, I also got her a bookmark, a pair of socks that say "Canada" and a roll the shape and size of a roll of Mentos but is actually 10 pressed-into-tablet towels! She was excited with all of her presents. I bought Ben a hat for next winter that is a raccoon face. It's wool, and will be very toasty! If he keeps in on, of course...that boy HATES hats!

I got TONS of pictures for Tania's scrapbook and I really want to work on it, but it will have to wait until this weekend so I'm not constantly having to get up to get Ben out of things.

I cannot wait to meet Tania's little girl!!!

I'm voting......

2008-06-16T08:19:00.000-07:00

Weekend Plans

2008-06-13T14:05:00.000-07:00

work on Tania's scrapbook
organize scrapbook shelf (before working on scrapbook)
organize patio
go swimming
celebrate Father's Day in some currently unplanned way
sleep