Midwest Maineac

Effword

2011-11-11T20:32:00.002-06:00

"Let's get the effword out of here" . . . Ethan's exact words as we were standing in the greeting card section of Festival tonight.

"What did you just say?" I gasped . . . taken aback.

"I didn't say the f-word . . . I said effword.

"But Ethan, you implied that you meant the f-word . . . and that's naughty language. You can't say that."

"But I didn't say the word, I said effword."

"But still, it's as if you are saying it, and it's inappropriate to talk that way, so don't even say effword, ok?"

"OK . . . "

Laces

2011-09-03T22:18:00.004-05:00

Shortly after I purchased Lego sneakers for both my boys yesterday, I realized I'd also added another item to my "to do" list: teaching them how to tie their shoes.

Ethan had requested shoes with Velcro closure, but I honestly thought the sneakers at Footlocker with Velcro closure looked dorky, so I encouraged him to get the ones with laces.

He reminded me that he doesn't know how to tie his shoes, so I assured him that I would teach him.

Well, he hasn't yet put on his new sneaks. But Colby has. And Colby asked me to teach him how to tie. So we had a brief lesson yesterday.

Then today, as I was right in the middle of the hardest part of my Jillian Michaels kettle bell workout DVD, Colby decided to put on his new sneakers . . . and of course . . . wanted to learn how to tie.

So, being the workout fanatic that I am, I appointed Quinn to the task.

I casually observed the lesson, and thought it was going well until Colby suddenly lay on the floor, sucking his thumb.

"What just happened?" I asked Quinn.

"I don't know, he's just laying there, not even trying," she said.

"Well, be patient, he's just learning."

"Mom, I showed him once and he can't do it. I knew how to do it after the first try."

"No, I'm sure you needed a few tries."

"No, I didn't. I was doing it after the first time somebody showed me. I remember."

"Quinn, I don't think so. I'm sure you needed practice."

"No, I didn't. I learned after the first try. I was tying my shoes before Colby was even born. I don't know what's taking him so long."

"Quinn, why don't you take a break. I think he's frustrated."

"I'm just saying, I knew how after one try. He should be able to do it now too."

And that's how the lesson went.

More Art

2011-09-03T22:15:00.004-05:00

A few more pics from the art sculpture place we visited today . . .

The boys were fascintated by the tadpoles swimming in this manmade pond . . .

This was interesting - it was called, "Skinscape" or something like that. I told them they were on top of a huge zit. Heeheehee.

Waterfall

2011-09-03T21:47:00.002-05:00

After Franconia, we headed to St. Croix Falls . . . just beautiful, especially after the heavy rain last night.

The kids had a great time splashing around in bare feet in the stream. Colby's brand new Lego sneakers got trashed in the puddles - bummer. He's owned them for 24 hours. I hope once the mud dries I can clean them up for his first day of preschool Tuesday.

We hiked a short trail to the river and the kids tried skipping rocks.

It's so nice to have a great day doing things that are fun --and free. We almost went to Valley Fair today . . . but I honestly think they had a better time doing this.

Tonight Quinn stayed with Bridget for a sleepover and the boys and I had a fun time at home. I just finished reading them books and tucked them into bed. They are so content. I love my little family.

Art

2011-09-03T20:54:00.003-05:00

Enjoyed another lovely day with my children today. First of all, they let me sleep in until nearly 10am . . . the secret being Red Box Wii game rental the night before. They quietly pad out of their beds and head straight downstairs for early morning gaming. So, while I tell myself they are being considerate . . .which they are . . .their motivation is also part sneakiness - hoping I don't hear them tip toeing down the hallway for video games and risking me grumbling "No" or "One hour only!" on their way by my bedroom door.

After breakfast, Colby joined me on the deck outside as I soaked in a little late morning warmth and sun. As I stretched my arms upward and leaned back in my chair for a stretch, he laughed. "Mom, you have hair in your armpits. Just like Daddy."

I glanced at my underarms. "That's stubble."

"Stubble? Well, it's not long like Daddy's. His is like this long (as he demos a lengthy lock of axillary fluff on himself).

Then he looks at my legs and says, "See, you have it here, too."

I glance at my stubbly legs. I can't argue.

"And sometimes, Mommy, when you kiss me, there's something pokey on my chin, coming from your chin."

So I ask him to look at my chin and tell me if he sees anything.

"No, there's nothing there. But sometimes it feels pokey on me."

That would be the 2 stubborn errant hairs that recur every several weeks. What he doesn't know is that I plucked them out on Thursday.

Later on, we joined Bridget and her kids for a visit to Franconia Sculpture Park. I hadn't been in a couple of years and was pleased to see some new art.

Like this:

This one was particularly interesting to me - I know Old Orchard Beach - it's in Maine - and I think I "got" the artistic expression. Let's just say that OOB isn't the most natural of scenes.

This one was called, "Evening".

After touring outdoor sculptures for a couple of hours, we enjoyed a picnic lunch, and then headed to St. Croix Falls for ice cream. I'll post those pictures next.

Foodie

2011-09-01T23:41:00.002-05:00

This burger I made tonight was disgusting. In fact, I might not eat another hamburger for a long time. Even Colby, my Hamburgler, didn't like it. He asked, "What's this?" and I said, "A hamburger." He said, "I don't like ham. I'm not eating it." I couldn't blame him. I don't know what it was . . . but it was just plain yucky.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
These, on the other hand, were deeee-licious. We made these cupcakes for Ms. Becky and the daycare kids last week. She's taken care of us for 5 years . . . in fact, she's had Colby since he was 7 weeks old.

The kids each made a card for her, too.

G'night!

It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's -

2011-08-25T20:00:00.002-05:00

Last night after his bath this little superhero declared a new name for himself . . . .

"Pull-up Man."

Personal Bitch Session

2011-08-23T21:25:00.005-05:00

Ok I don't know what happened between the hours of 6 and 8 pm, but my previously decent day took a steep nosedive tonight. And I need to rant.

The first event occurred in the Target parking lot. I was unloading my cart at the rear of my vehicle. Cars flanked mine . . . no big deal. I had an armful of items that I wanted to place in the front seat, and being that the cart corral was on the passenger side of the vehicle, 2 spots down from mine, I decided to open the passenger door and place my cinnamon sugar pretzel, diet Coke, and the kids treats in the front that way. I opened the door, and it made the usual deep squeak sound it makes. I placed the items in the seat, and as I stepped back and turned to slam the door closed, I noticed a woman in the driver seat of the car parked next to mine, looking at me with a rather ugly expression. I didn't think it was directed at me, but it occurred to me that she maybe wanted to get out of her car and was pissed she had to wait, so I just continued on my way, returned to the rear of my vehicle to get the cart and take it to the corral. As I walked back toward my car, the woman from the car was standing at the rear of mine. I looked up and started to say, "Hi," and nod, when she laid into me.
"YOU NEED TO BE MORE CAREFUL!" she yelled.
"What are you talking about?" I asked.
"YOU NEED TO WATCH WHAT YOU'RE DOING!"
"Um . . .excuse me?" I asked
"YOU SLAMMED YOUR CAR DOOR INTO MINE!"
"I don't think I did."
"YES YOU DID!"
"Im sorry you think that, but I know I didn't."
"YES-----YOU DID!"
"Did it leave a mark? Because if it did I would want take care of it . . ."
"NO! IT DIDN'T LEAVE A MARK! YOU JUST NEED TO BE MORE AWARE! AND BE CAREFUL!"
By now she had me pissed off. And feeling a little aggressive.
"You know what? You need to calm down" I said.
"YOU NEED TO BE CAREFUL!" she hollered.
"You need to be nicer." I said in a raised voice. Yup, that's what I said. That's the best I could do. And with that, I got in my car, turned the key in the ignition, and drove away.

The second event involves negotiating a slight change in parenting schedule to accommodate my mom's visit in September that was slightly more challenging than I'd anticipated. But that's all I'll say about it. It's resolved and that's what matters.

Then we arrive home, and I have a nice chat with my neighbor in the driveway for a few minutes. When I get inside, I flip through my mail. I find a letter from the condo Association:
"Dear Midwest Maineac (name change for confidentiality),
It has come to the attention of the Board of Directors that you have made a modification to your property (blah blah blah)..... "Decorations installed on exterior. Please remove your holiday decorations" . . . In the interest of maintaining the architectural integrity of the Association and the values of all our houses, the Board of Directors requests that you address this issue immediately.
(Then the bylaws are listed) . . . (blah blah blah) if you wish to contest the alleged violation and avoid imposition of fines, you must request a hearing before the Board of Directors in writing, within ten days of the date of this letter . . .(blah blah blah).

WHAT!? Architectural integrity? Alleged violation?? Fines?!?!?!

I have a freakin' single string of summer patio lights on my railing from Target.

Good GOD!

What next? Are there too many weeds in my planters? Are the cushions on my chairs too faded?
I mean really, neighbors. C'mon!

And that concludes my day.

Stay classy, Hugo.

Mom Quiz

2011-08-17T22:19:00.006-05:00

This week I expressed to my therapist that, although I do a lot of activities with my kids, I sometimes wonder how "in the moment" I am with them, and if I'm fulfilling their emotional needs as much as I should be. I don't spent a lot of time fretting about this, but it's just that sometimes, I feel like I'm just going through the motions and could maybe be a bit more in tuned to them.

Prior to my appointment, I shared this information with a dear friend of mine and her response was, "You do so much with your kids. Stop "shoulding" on yourself."

I thought that was pretty funny.

So anyway, my therapist suggested I give each of my kids a sort of "Mom Quiz" as a way to see what their responses would be. She said, for example, that if I asked them, "What is Mommy's favorite thing to do?" and they responded, "Sit on the couch and text on your phone," that maybe it would help clue me in to where they are at with their perspective of my attention and fulfillment of their needs.

So tonight I quizzed each one of my children alone, individually. I was surprised at how enthusiastically and seemingly straightforward they answered the questions. Especially Ethan. Well, actually Ethan didn't surprise me. He's pretty aware and doesn't sugar coat anything. I like that.

Mom Quiz

1. What is something mom always says to you?
Quinn: hi
Ethan: No and I love you
Colby: I love you

2. What makes mom happy?
Quinn: When we don't fight
Ethan: When we be good kids
Colby: Being good

3. What makes mom sad?
Quinn: When animals die
Ethan: When we don't be good kids
Colby: Being naughty

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
Quinn: tickling
Ethan: you never really make me laugh . . . unless you tickle me
Colby: by doing something funny like telling a knock knock joke

5. What was your mom like as a child?
Quinn: I don't know . . . shy?
Ethan: I don't know! A good kid?
Colby: A kid, a girl, she was nice

6. How old is your mom?
Quinn: 38
Ethan: around 30
Colby: 12

7. How tall is your mom?
Quinn: 10 ft 3 inches
Ethan: 38 inches (after measuring me with his fingers)
Colby: 16 feet.

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
Quinn: see us
Ethan: Talk with us
Colby: Doing workouts

9. What does your mom do when you are not home?
Quinn: cleans, eats, takes naps
Ethan: work, have parties with other people
Colby: be sad, she just lays in her bed and does work. she also goes to work.

10. When mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
Quinn: A good job taking care of us
Ethan: Being a nurse or winning the lottery
Colby: Taking good care of us

11. What is your mom really good at?
Quinn: coloring, painting nails
Ethan: being a nurse
Colby: making stuff, helping building legos

12. What is your mom not good at?
Quinn: keeping her bedroom door open
Ethan: I don't know anything you're not good at. Sometimes when we go shopping you forget to get something like bread so we have to go back and get it another day.
Colby: not helping us build legos, she's good at not spanking us

13. What does your mom do for a job?
Quinn: nurse practitioner
Ethan: being a nurse
Colby: works. She has a work where she helps people

14. What is your mom's favorite food?
Quinn: ice cream, sandwiches, because you always make that for work
Ethan: vegetables
Colby: gross stuff, mac and cheese with pork stirred in it, things that looks yummy to grown ups but not to kids, like soups.

15. What makes you proud of your mom?
Quinn: Taking good care of us
Ethan: You make dinner for us, you get us in bed
Colby: Giving me good stuff for my birthday

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
Quinn: Strawberry Shortcake
Ethan: Diary of a Wimpy Kid - the mom
Colby: Dora

17. What do you and your mom do together?
Quinn: play games, go to the playground, sometimes get nails done together
Ethan: go shopping
Colby: play with bubbles, musical chairs

18. How are you and your mom the same?
Quinn: hair color, eyes, ears pierced, we like doing people's hair
Ethan: we both have white skin
Colby: we like being nice

19. How are you and your mom different?
Quinn: you like those sandals and I don't
Ethan: you're a girl, I'm a boy
Colby: you are a girl, I am a boy

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
Quinn: Because she takes care of us, tucks us into bed
Ethan: She kisses us and hugs us
Colby: she likes me. She does good things with us like play with us, gives us a sticker chart

21. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
Quinn: Maine, Florida, Target
Ethan: the park, the alligator place that's far away, Maine
Colby: work, and at home where it is quiet

Hearing their responses offered me some insight to the things that they notice. For one, I am so thankful that they feel loved well-cared for. Not that I was overly doubtful, but to hear all of them say it feels good. Other things that they said, like my bedroom door being shut, or not making Ethan laugh, make me more aware of little things that I could do that might make them feel more whole. Other things, like my favorite foods and Colby saying I like mac and cheese with pork stirred in, seem totally random. In fact, I don't think I've ever - or would ever- eat something of the sort.

Just the same, it was a fun experience, and it was a nice way to spend a few minutes of alone time with each of my little darlings.

Expo-zay

2011-07-11T00:39:00.008-05:00

If you can learn something about a person based on what she's reading, then I must look like one desperate woman in need of a lot of help. These are the books that were on or near my nightstand tonight:

I mean, really -

1. Mars and Venus on a Date: A Guide for Navigating the 5 Stages of Dating to Create a Loving and Lasting Relationship . . .ok I guess this is understandable for a recent divorcee . . .
2. A Mirthful Spirit: Embracing Laughter for Wellness . . .ok, she understands the role of humor and happiness . . .that's healthy.
3. Just Tell Me What to Say: Sensible Tips and Scripts for Perplexed Parents . . . Uh-oh, perplexed? No words? . . .eeks.
4. The Self-Aware Parent. . . .ok, she's trying . . .
5. Insightful Parenting . . . ok, she's really trying . . .
6. The Five Love Languages of Children . . .not so bad here, seems kinda normal . . .
7. Why Men Love Bitches . . . WHAT?
8. Lost in the Wild . . .um, a metaphor for her life, perhaps?
9. How to Talk to Kids will Listen & Listen so Kids Will Talk . . . she obviously doesn't feel heard or know how to make herself clear. There seems to be a pattern here.
And finally:
10. Half Broke Horses . . .um, another metaphor? Am I that horse? I just looked up how to break a horse. The first steps in breaking a horse are to "Catch the horse. Carry your halter, and slowly approach the horse. Talk to the horse in a low voice while gently rubbing her neck. Then, slowly put the lead around her neck so she can't get away . . ." Oh my . . .Good grief!

So that's my life, defined, in the land of self-help and metaphorical fiction these days.

Kid Talk

2011-07-11T00:24:00.002-05:00

Ethan: "Mom, if you git sprayed by a skunk you have to take a bath in potato soup."

Me: "Uhhh . . . (slow to process) . . . Oh! I think you mean tomato juice" then I chuckle at his word scramble.

Quinn: "That's so gross. What if it gets in your eyes?"

Me: "It would probably sting. So you'd want to be careful."

Ethan: "How long do you stink like a skunk if you git sprayed?"

Me: "That's a good question . . .maybe a few days . . . but I don't really know. You have to scrub really hard with the tomato juice."

Ethan: "What if you smelled like that for a year?"

Me: "You wouldn't have many friends."

Colby: "What if I get sprayed?"

Me: "I'd keep you in your room and only let you out to pee."

Colby: (Laughing). "What if I had to poop?"

Me: "Ok, you could come out to poop too."

Quinn, Ethan, Colby: LAUGHING. "What if a dog gits sprayed?"

Me: "Same thing as us. Tomato juice bath."

Them: "Eeeeeewwwww."

Jamberry

2011-07-11T00:00:00.003-05:00

Mmmm . . . the red raspberry jam might be my best one yet. This was just a tiny left over that was not enough to justify a jar of its own. So, the kids and I sampled it right away.

Just look at that! Beautiful red, seeds evenly distributed throughout!

Here's the strawberry jam, not as striking, but hopefully just as good. Anything should taste decent with 7 cups of sugar, right?

I deviated this year and used natural, unrefined turbinado sugar instead of the old standby white sugar. We'll see how the jam sets. I expect it'll be just fine.

Voila! The final products. Strawberry jam in front, raspberry toward the back. Last summer I made enough, including giving some away, to last the year. Hopefully this will last as long.

Random thought: This post reminds me of one of my favorite books I read to the kids when they were toddlers, called Jamberry by Bruce Degen. I should go dig it out of the bookcase just for fun, but I have a couple of the rhymes in my head . . . like, "Under the bridge and over the dam, looking for berries, berries for jam," and "Strawberry ponies strawberry lambs, dancing in meadows of strawberry jam," and my personal favorite line, "raspberry jazzberry razzamatazzberry."

It was a Jamberry weekend for sure.

Berry Good Weekend

2011-07-10T23:29:00.005-05:00

Just check it out:

That's what 3 willing children and a hopeful mother can accomplish in just under 2 hours at the Berry Patch.

This is Quinn reminding me that I promised "no more pictures," but I couldn't help it. She was strikingly beautiful yesterday. As her mother am I supposed to say that? Oh well, I can't help it. I couldn't take my eyes off her.

And then there's Ethan clowning around as always, of course. At least he didn't duck away from my camera like he usually does.

Colby held up the rear of our group, mostly because he was trying to walk and eat fresh raspberries from his "green bak-set" at the same time.

The posed and prompted group shot:

The real sentiments: "How much longer?" "I'm sooooo thirsty." "It's soooo hot it's making me dizzy" . . . to name a few.

Ethan held up this beauty and exclaimed, "This is so money!"

Quinn was so beautiful, so natural, and sooooo helpful in the field.

The boys, figuring out where the better strawberries might be . . .

And then we came home and prepared the berries for jam. I'll post more on that later.

Strawberries 'n Cream

2011-07-06T22:16:00.004-05:00

It's that time of year again . . .

Fresh strawberries, sliced

Paired with these . . .
A close up:

and . . .

. . . results in this:

Mmmmmmm. . . . almost as good as Mom used to make. But not quite.

It left my kids blank and speechless.

Chicken Sandwich

2011-06-29T22:41:00.003-05:00

Mmmm. Just take a looksie at this creation we had for dinner. I grilled some basil pesto chicken, while it was still hot I topped it with a slice of dill Havarti cheese, added a handful of arugula, and then wrapped it in a generous slice of grilled garlic Na an. The kids did without the arugula and cheese, by the way.

Talk about deeeee--licious!

Lost and Found Hound

2011-06-28T22:20:00.003-05:00

While driving home this evening, we spotted this little pooch wandering in the middle of the road - a busy, winding, rural road (with lots of speeding cars and big pick ups). I slowed my vehicle to make sure not to scare (or hit) the little guy. I kept going, glancing in my rear view for a far back as I could see. About a mile later, I said to the kids, "You know, we should probably go back and get that dog so he doesn't get hit by a car."

"YAY!! Let's go get him Mommy!"

"But what if he bites?" asked Quinn

"Well, I'll approach him carefully. If he seems like he is unfriendly, I'll just let him be."

So, I made a u-turn and drove back to fetch him.

He was still there, meandering near the center yellow line . . . oblivious to his danger.

I pulled over my car, got out, and approached him. He cowered, then rolled on his back and appeared to play dead.

I didn't dare to grab him, but instead I coaxed him into my car. He jumped right in and made himself comfortable in the front seat. I saw that he had a tag with a phone number on it, and that his name was Rocky.
We brought him home, gave him water, and I called his owner and left a message. She called back about 1/2 hour later, and said that where we'd found him was about 2 miles from her house, and that she'd be right over to get him.

So, we got to babysit this cute little pooch for the evening. Glad he made it home safely.

Grillin'

2011-06-26T19:42:00.002-05:00

I was taking orders tonight for the grill.

2 hot dogs
1 hamburger
1 cheeseburger . . .

and for myself, a Trader Joe's veggie burger.

I'm addicted. These things taste awesome. I enhance with dill havarti cheese, tomato, avocado, pickle, and arugula. Except for the 480mg of sodium, they're good for you, too. Bon Appetit!

Change

2011-06-26T10:58:00.002-05:00

I have my Ethan back.

He's smiling often. Laughing easily. He's more affectionate. He's content. He's peaceful. He's just light and happy.

Without going into much detail, I just want to share that I am humbled and grateful for being taught such valuable knowledge, understanding, and effective alternative parenting approaches - things I could not come up with on my own. Things that seem so obvious and basic, but I just couldn't see it.

There are still ups and downs, of course . . . but they feel like the normal ebbs and flows of a life with children . . .not the extreme peaks and troughs that we were encountering before.

Ethan will come to me now when something has upset him. He can tell me what happened in a generally calm manner; he'll usually speak quietly in my ear and explain what happened and why he feels it was wrong. I am amazed at his ability to identify and recognize that he is having strong emotions and knows he can and should tell me. It's like he trusts that I will hear him and help. I love that feeling, and I love that he feels like I will help him.
I love this child so very, very much.

Valleyfair

2011-06-24T22:05:00.004-05:00

I've had in the back of my mind that once school was over, as a way to kick off summer, I'd take the kids to Valleyfair.

Except, we've had nothing but cold and rain since school ended earlier this month.

But this morning, after a solid night's rest after working a busy week, I awoke to sunlight filtering in through my window.

Perfect day for the pool . . . except wait . . . it was 59 degrees at 7am.

The decision was easy. Today would be Valleyfair day.

So, I quick got on my computer and purchased online tickets with the hefty discount from work.

Then, I went downstairs to work out, totally energized and excited to share the surprise with my darlings when the woke up.

When they were up and sitting at the island having breakfast, I shared the exciting news. I was so giddy.

Their response? A long pause. Barely a glance up from their respective bowls of cereal. Then a question. "Well . . . is it a long drive in the car?"

My bubble burst. "Yah. I mean, no. It's like an hour."

Quinn sighed. Ethan said he really didn't want to go. He wanted to go to Target and buy a watergun. Colby didn't say much.

But once we were in the car, they seemed a little more interested.

And once we pulled into the Valleyfair parking lot and they saw the Wild Thing rollercoaster, among other huge amusements, they acted as if I had just driven them to Florida and we were pulling into Disneyworld.

Quinn commented later in the day, "This is way better than I thought it would be. Can we come back?"

Ethan said it was his best day ever.

Colby just smiled all day.

And now I think I'm off the hook for Storyland when we travel to Maine next month.

I love these days with my kids.

Hair

2011-06-21T23:06:00.002-05:00

My mom sent these photos to me after finding them stashed away in a box somewhere for 20 years.

I took pictures of the pictures, and then uploaded them to my computer. Let me just say that my children did a double take when they saw them.

Their exact words:

"Mom! Who's that with you?" (gesturing toward the lad in the black tux . . . so obviously they recognized me, even as a 16 year old!)

"Mom, your hair is big." -Colby, age 4

"Mom, you have a lot of hair." -Ethan, age 7

And my personal favorite: "I don't want my hair like that. I'd be embarrassed." -Quinn, age 9

Belated Father's Day Post

2011-06-21T22:56:00.003-05:00

Circa 1991
Just want my Dad to know how much he is loved, appreciated, and respected. And for me, this is a time for renewed awareness of just how fast life goes by, and how important it is to let those you love know that you love them. Even though we live miles apart, I think of you every day, Dad. I love you!

I would also like to say Happy Father's Day to my Father-in-Law, who is also very special to me, and I am so glad to have him in my life. Love you, Jim!

So Very, Very Tired

2011-06-06T21:37:00.001-05:00

Last Friday morning, I awoke so very, very tired. It had been a long, busy week, and I didn't sleep well the night before.

Apparently, I wasn't the only one suffering. Here's Ethan at the breakfast bar.

The Entrepreneur

2011-05-27T19:29:00.004-05:00

The Background Story
Ethan has been back on another Lego kick lately. A couple of weekends ago I ordered him a few mini figures because, well, it had been awhile since I'd given him anything . . . and I guess I just plain appreciated how he asked for them. Pleasantly. Nicely. Politely. Anyhoo, fast forward to this week. He has his mind set - and I mean MIND SET - on this Boba Fett Star Wars Legos fighter jet thing. And he doesn't hold back about letting me know how badly he wants it. All day long. Over and over. So much that I've had to say, "Ethan, you have to stop talking about the Boba Fett stuff. You can't say Boba Fett one more time today or else (fill in the consequence)." Things like that.

And oh, did I mention that it costs $79.99?

So, rather than say, "wait for your birthday, or that's too expensive," I decided to help him make a plan for saving his money so that he can buy it for himself. At first it was all, "I'm NEVER going to have enough money for that. I NEVER would EVER have that much money. EVER."

I replied, "You just went to Disney World and had money for that. How much did you take?"

"Eighty eight dollars."

"How did you get it?"

"I know Mom, but I'll NEVER get enough for the Boba Fett jet. I NEVER WILL."

"Ethan, if you keep that attitude about it, you're right. You'll never get it. Think positive and think of ways you can earn money, and before you know it you'll be able to buy it. It might seem like awhile, but you can do it."

"Like how?"

"Chores. Good manners. Good listening. Positive attitudes. Being helpful. For all these things, you can put a sticker on your chart, and that's an excellent way to earn more money."

I also made a deal with him. I told him if he saves up $50, I'll chip in the remaining $30. He thought this sounded fair and seemed to be motivated by the offer.

So, that little lad has been making his bed, brushing his teeth, getting dressed, listening, using manners, being kind . . . . you name it. Perfection. All week long.

The Story
So we get home from school this afternoon, and as Ethan is getting out of the back of the car, I notice a wad of bills in his hand. This is unusual. I do not allow cash at school.

So, calmly, I inquire, "Hey bud, where'd you get all that money?"

He looks at me, a very funny expression upon his face. Sort of like a smirk, sort of like guilt, sort of proud. "I made it."

"You made it? How?"

"At lunch. I gave massages. I charged $2 each."

"You what? Gave massages? To who? Where did you give massages?"

"To my friends. I gave face massages and neck massages. Whatever one they wanted. Then they paid me."

I asked him for a demo on his sister, and this is what he did:

I'd conclude with an explanation for how I handled this one, but then I got to thinking, it's more fun to just let you wonder.

Dance Performance

2011-05-22T23:07:00.003-05:00

It's been another crazy weekend for Quinn. Yesterday was her Chinese dance performance, today was her violin recital.

Her teacher, Ying.

Recital Photos

2011-05-22T16:28:00.008-05:00

I love this photo. Looks like Grandpa Brian is calming the pre-performance jitters.
We were grateful to have so many family members there . . .

Quinn and fancy white shoes. A fetish since toddlerhood.

Performing her song . . . I love this photo, too. Cousins. Best friends. Total opposite styles.

The patient siblings and cousins . . .

Quinn and Grandpa . . .

. . . and with Grandpa Brian and Grandma Daryl

We are so grateful for the patience and creative teaching from her instructor, Clarice.

Practicing at home before the recital

Another picture I love . . .proud Daddy.

Quinn's Violin Recital 2011

2011-05-22T16:26:00.003-05:00

Pesky Little Brothers

2011-05-15T22:41:00.002-05:00

Quinn is in a violin recital next week and has (for a change) been diligently practicing her song. Oh, the concentration!

Here's the alone version:

Circus Coloring

2011-05-15T21:50:00.006-05:00

We went to the circus this afternoon. In preparation, there were coloring pages for the kids to do ahead of time. If they brought them to the circus, their work would be entered into a coloring contest.

Apparently, my children take contests very seriously. All three went straight to work. Colby even asked me to turn down the music so he could concentrate.

During intermission, the ring master called out the winners by age group. Guess who won?

That's right. My little girl.

Mother's Day

2011-05-08T18:22:00.005-05:00

To kick off Mother's Day this morning, I was given handmade cards (one of which was written in 100% Chinese and I needed a translator), and then was treated to an old-fashioned scavenger hunt. Each of my three darlings had a note for me (scribed by Quinn, of course). The first note read,

"Seashores and flowers await you on your special day. To start you journey, follow your littlest love to where he wants to go."

-What ---are you flying me to Maine?-- Just kidding.

Colby was supposed to lead me toward the next note, but was too shy. So we played "hot/cold" instead, and I eventually tracked down my next note. This one, from Ethan, read,

"Your artist and Jedi Master is ready to serve his queen. Do as he does and you'll be well on your way."

So, I did as he did and picked my nose.

The third and final clue, from Quinn, read,

"A princess in your own liking is at your hand. She is your first, but now your last."

Then the trio led me outside, where, as we approached a small wooded area Colby exclaimed with giddy excitement, "MOM!!! YOUR PRESENT IS RIGHT THERE BEHIND THE TREE! IT'S RIGHT THERE SEE?!?!!?"

And there, behind a small fir tree, sat my home made Mother's Day gift. A glass vase, adorned with beautiful colored jewels and sparkle letters, filled with seashells and daisies. I loved it. And, it goes without saying that my ex-husband deserves a lot of credit for this.

While it was wonderful to feel so special and receive such a sweet gift and attention, it was humbling to think about all the blessings in my life.

I also want to wish a very Happy Mother's Day to my own mother . . . who I never get to see on this occasion anymore. Mother's Day was always a big holiday in my family. It was practically a family reunion because it was near Nana Emerson's birthday, and we would all get together - parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents. Mother's Day and Thanksgiving . . . those were the two big ones in my family. I love you, Mom!

However, despite missing my own Mom, I was grateful for Daryl's invitation for a brunch celebration. She is also someone I am blessed to have in my life. Even though circumstances have shifted around a bit in the past year and a half, she will always be my mother-in-law.

So . . . Happy Mother's Day to all . . . and thank you to my wonderful Quinn, Ethan, and Colby for making the day so special.

Baby Jackson and Company

2011-05-01T10:30:00.002-05:00

Does it get any cuter than this?

We had a fun evening with our friends Maria and Jackson, and Bridget, Brianna, and Alex last night.

Brianna is 12 and a "certified" baby sitter now, so she and Quinn attempted to rollerblade to the park. But, it was about 39 degrees outside so they aborted their plan and cut the trip short.

Jackson, all 19 months of him, wanted so badly to go with the girls. He even took off running down the sidewalk, trying to catch up with them. His rain boots held him back, though.

Later on, while the boys played Mario Brothers on Wii, the girls retreated to Quinn's room and gave each other makeovers.

Meanwhile, the grown-ups caught up on gossip and watched a little Napoleon Dynamite. Yes, again. Every time I see that flick, I find something new that I didn't remember from before. My latest favorite line is when Napoleon says to the poultry farmer, "Do the chickens have large talons?"

The farmer replies, "Do they have WHAT?"

"Large talons."

And the farmer says, "I don't understand a word you just said."

Watch it here.

Good times.

Real Lice

2011-04-27T21:41:00.006-05:00

My iPhone has 200-some-odd songs on it . . . many are my picks, but many are the requests of my brood . . . like Hannah Montana and Big Time Rush. Every morning on the way to daycare or school, we take turns with song requests. Lately Quinn wants to hear "Steven Tyler" . . . Ethan likes Black Eyed Peas "The song where the girl sings" aka "Just Can't Get Enough." Colby, over time, has started to have his favorites as well. Elton John's "Rocket Man" was his fave for awhile. However, I was slightly puzzled this morning when he asked me to play "Real Lice."

It went a little something like this:

"Mommy? Can you play the Real Lice song today?"

Me: Ummm . . . real lice? Can you tell me how it goes?

"If you jus real lice like I jus real lice . . .it's a girl singing."

Note: We are no strangers to lice. Remember this and this?

Anyway, he went on to say, "You played it yesterday Mommy. Real lice."

Me: Uhhhhhhh . . . . (I was racking my brain).

Then it hit me!

Take time to Real Lice . . .

He knew what he was talking about.

Make-up

2011-04-17T22:06:00.004-05:00

To make up for the 8 cookies I ate yesterday (and 2 today), I decided to fix myself this somewhat healthy dinner. I had some gorgeous organic heirloom plum tomatoes (orange, yellow, red, purple) in my fridge that were a week old, so I sliced them in half lengthwise, and added a little salt and pepper. Next, I chopped up some fresh organic basil, and sliced up a little fresh mozzarella. Ok, a lotta fresh mozzarella. Next, I whisked together some olive oil and pear balsamic vinegar, added a squirt of horseradish mustard, and seasoned with more salt and pepper. I spooned this over the salad. To make things right, I added a couple of slices of ancient grain take and bake bread. And yes, it was delicious. And yes, I still had a cookie for dessert. And no, the kids didn't eat this. They had fish sticks and fries (their pick not mine). I didn't even bother to try on this one.

Oops I Did It Again

2011-04-17T07:57:00.003-05:00

I woke up feeling a little thick around my midsection this morning, and here's the reason why. These damn Heath Bar cookies that Quinn and I made last night. Since Ethan and Colby were having fun playing with Ethan's friend Max from school, I figured making cookies would be something fun to do with Quinn.

I had limited ingredients (like, no all-purpose flour, no chocolate chips), so I googled "heath bar whole wheat flour cookies" (because all I had was a 1/2 bag of wheat) and this recipe popped up.

Dang, these cookies were good. And so was the dough. At the time, I was telling myself that dough didn't equal a cookie. So I'd gobble down a mouthful here and there. But this morning, I'm here to tell you that dough equals cookies -- lots of cookies. Like, I'd estimate that the amount of dough I ate equaled about 5 cookies. Then, fresh out of the oven I ate 3 more. So that really means I ate 8 cookies last night.

Why do I do this to myself . . . .

Last month it was the Almost-Better-Than-Crack-Brownies . . .

Nature Center

2011-04-17T07:37:00.003-05:00

Last Friday Colby and I went to another preschool day at the nature center. The topic was turtles, and the teacher brought out Flash, the class pet turtle. Ha ha - Flash - what a funny name for a turtle. Anyway, Colby laughed so hard at the way the turtle "chased" the teacher. She said Flash has a thing for shoes. We also watched Flash devour 2 grubs. After classroom time, we went outside for a scavenger hunt and then to play on the nature playground. I just love these nature centers because they create a complete play areas made from hollow, downed trees, shelters made of sticks and branches, climbing trees, rope swings, and even a wood xylophone, that the kids just love. I think Colby would have stayed and played all day.

Chop Shop

2011-04-17T07:20:00.003-05:00

The other day I noticed just how long (and kind of shaggy) Quinn's hair is getting, and the only thing she can really do with it is keep it in a pony tail . . .so I casually asked her, "Hey, Quinn, would you want to get your hair cut?" "Yah, but not a lot." So, on Friday morning I asked her if she wanted to go get it cut after school. Her eyes lit up. "YES! Can we go RIGHT AFTER?" No problem. In fact, there's a salon within 3 blocks of school, and that's just where we went. The stylist was kind and let me take pictures. This was a big moment for me (and Quinn). You see, that there's about 6 years of growth. I had the same feelings about this cut as the first cut when she was about 1. I don't know what it is about daughters and haircuts - I mean, it's not like it's not going to grow back or something.

Ok, so not a huge change . . . but even still, she chopped 3.5 inches. And Quinn is very happy with her new 'do.

Chronological Excitement

2011-04-16T07:23:00.004-05:00

Watch Catherine's reaction to Quinn's birthday gift . . . (p.s. I made up the commentary). "Ummm. . .looks like paper." "Gasp!! . . . you got tickets to something . . ." "O-M-G--- YOU JUST GOT TAYLOR SWIFT CONCERT TICKETS !" "O-M-G . . .LET ME JUST SAY THAT AGAIN . . . O-M-G . . . .TAYLOR SWIFT CONCERT TICKETS! I might have to sit down." "Ok I'm back. I'm calm. I'm composed. Let me look again."

"Oh Quinn this is so awesome. Take me with you?"

Happy Birthday to Quinn

2011-04-11T10:56:00.005-05:00

Dear Quinn, Happy 9th Birthday my sweet girl! Oh how I can't believe you are 9 . . .already . . . so soon. You are growing up so fast yet you continue to be a sweet, naive, innocent child. Except around your brother. Ha ha. Hmmm . . . let's think about the past year. You are a third grader and continue to be a hard-working, conscientious student. You enjoy school and are diligent about your homework and following "the rules." Yesterday morning it was particularly cold. After a week of wearing just a fleece jacket, I suggested you wear your winter jacket to school. "But it's dirty . . . I'll be embarrassed," you said. It's one of the first times I've noticed that you are aware of things like this. Chinese Dance has been your main interest and focus this year. And, wow -- are you flexible! You do this thing where you sit with your knees bent, on the floor. Then, you lean back until your head touches the floor. Without any help, you then raise yourself back to a sitting position. Amazing - the flexibility and strength you have! You also do handstands, kartwheels, and splits constantly in the living room. You are quite a little gymnast/dancer/athlete! You eat just about anything except bananas. You're also not a big fan of pancakes or waffles drenched in syrup. You like it on the side. Chocolate is your favorite treat - just plain - like a Hershey's bar. Your favorite meal this year is lemon pork. It's something you had at Catherine's house. It took me about 4 tries with other recipes before I finally asked Robin for hers. You'd politely say to me, "Mom, Robin's pork has a sauce over it," or, "Mom, Robin's pork is more flat than this," or "Mom, Robin's pork doesn't have chunks in it," . . . so I finally got it right and you really do love this meal. You are asking for braces. One day soon I will take you to the orthodontist, as your dentist has suggested. You seem so young, but thinking back, I had braces in 4th grade. I guess it's time. Your spend hours with your whiteboard. You pull out old homework and create problems for yourself to solve. Or, you copy Chinese characters. Lately, you've been practicing your cursive writing. You also play with your American Girl dolls Sarah, Josephina, and Ivy . . . mostly when you have a friend over. Your closest pals are Emily, Catherine, Naomi, Makayla, and Caiden this year. You love to organize and sort. In fact, just last night, you asked me if there was anything you could do. So I said, "Fold my laundry?" and you laughed and said, "Not like that. I want to organize something," so you organized my necklaces.

You often ask if you can sleep with me. I know this won't be a forever request, so I embrace it. If you had any idea how much I look at you when you're sleeping and feel how much love I have for you. I give you kisses on your cheek and forehead when you are snuggled there beside me.

Something fun that we've been doing this year is pizza nights with Robin, Catherine, and Caroline. Every time, you girls take my iPod, practice a dance, and then perform it for Robin and me. You try to incorporate Ethan and Colby, but it usually ends up being just you girls. You also have fun taking "orders" from Robin and me, and then serving us imaginary food. You seem to be developing a sense of awareness of others. For example, when I picked you up from Daddy's this week, as we were driving away, you asked, "How was your day at work?". I thought that was so thoughtful of you. I don't know if I ever asked my mother that when I was 9. Words I would use to describe you would be determined, smart, quiet, cautious, thoughtful, giggly, honest, pretty, sneaky (with all things related to your brother), rule follower, active, conscientious, easy going, happy . . . just to name a few things. Sometimes I think about what you will do when you grow up. When asked, you say doctor or nurse practitioner . . . but I could also see you as a teacher. You also like to sort and organize, so maybe something that involves those skills, too. So happy birthday my sweet, precious girl. You are everything to me. I am so proud to be your mom and I love you so very much. Love, Mommy XOXO

Dogs

2011-03-25T10:50:00.005-05:00

Awww . . . the guilty dog. As I was scanning the news this morning, I came across this and was reminded of my beloved Baxter. Except, he lacked the pearly grin when he'd done wrong. Check it out:

I miss you ol' boy.

This one was pretty funny too:

Hello, Flo-ree-dah!

2011-03-17T21:16:00.005-05:00

Funny how when you live in this:

But then you do this:

That within 3 hours you're doing this:

This little rascal decided to fling water at me and my new camera (hence the dazed hue)

So I got him back:

"Just say no to crack" . . .

. . . and, "Hey, Colby, I see our racy k." Now spell the sounds and you'll have it.

They swam, jumped waves, ran, built sand castles, collected shells, had a picnic . . . and played for hours. This is the most fun they've had in months.

And we haven't even left for Disney World yet.

Backpack Treasures

2011-02-27T21:02:00.005-06:00

Last weekend I was emptying out Ethan's backpack. His snowpants, mittens, and hat were damp so I hung them on the rack to dry. I found a few crumpled papers in the bottom of his backpack, things like math worksheets and notices about strep and lice at school. Then I found this piece of artwork all crumpled in a ball.

Ethan said he sketched the picture in pencil, painted it, then outlined the flowers in black marker. I just love it. So, Friday, I went right out to Michael's and bought a frame for yet another notable artpiece by my very own first grader.

I blurted out to him, "Ethan, if I saw this in a store, I would pay money for it . . . it's really good!"

His response? "Dad's trying to get money for his cabinet in the upstairs living room . . ."

Embracing Our Climate

2011-02-27T08:27:00.007-06:00

I've grown tired of complaining and avoiding winter. After our enjoyable evening outside looking for owls last weekend, I've had a slight change of heart. No more staying in and caving to the cold weather. I can't beat it. So I'm going to join it.

I mean, for a solid 5 months out of the year, it's always cold and usually snowy here. So . . . why sit inside and avoid it? There are so many things that we can do in the cold months that we can't do in the summer. Things like skiing. Snowshoeing. Sledding. Making snowmen. Looking for animal tracks in the snow. Making snow angels. Appreciating the luminary-lit snowy paths through the prairie. Having snowball fights.

So yesterday, three, nearly four, months into winter, I said, "enough is enough" and went snow shoeing.

It was invigorating and lovely. It was cold, but with my parka, snow pants, hat, scarf, thick mittens, and insulated boots, I was just fine. Toasty, actually.

After I crossed the lake, I even found some small knolls to climb.

These looked like deer tracks to me.

I even made a friend out there.

Just kidding. I got a little bored so I took a picture of myself to see if my hair looked as frosty as it felt. It didn't.

So, no more giving in to the cold Minnesota weather. It's time to just get out there and embrace it.

But you won't hear me complaining when I'm on that plane headed for Florida in 17 days.

And, as if the cold were trying to say to me, 'hang in there," I stumbled upon this small sailboat wedged into the frozen lake . . . ironically named "Minnie Mouse."

Rewards

2011-02-21T19:52:00.003-06:00

Through school, Pizza Hut offers a reading incentive program called Book It. Quinn read enough books and earned a coupon for a free personal pan pizza . . . and has been eager to go use it. Finally this weekend we did.

The waitress was very enthusiastic, congratulated Quinn and encouraged more reading.

While Quinn enjoyed her individual pizza, the boys and I shared a medium. Since Colby wanted cheese, and Ethan wanted pepperoni, we ordered a 1/2 cheese, 1/2 pepperoni pie.

I don't think I can accurately explain Colby's excitement as the waitress placed the 1/2 and 1/2 pizza on our table. He exclaimed with total enthusiasm, "Mommy, look! Our pizza has SOME cheese and SOME pepperoni! They can DO that?!!!"

There were also some $0.25 trinket machines by the door that the kids spotted right away as we entered the restaurant. Of course, the bribe was if they were perfect at the restaurant, they could get something out of the machine on the way out.

This one, in particular exhibited stellar behavior. Throughout the meal, he would lean over and whisper to me, "Am I being perfect, Mom?"

And with delight, I would answer, "Yes. You're perfect."

It seemed that he was eating his pizza rather slowly, so I asked Is it too hot? Do you feel ok? Do you want it cut up?

He looked at me and explained, "No, it's fine. I'm eating it really slow because I want to have something to do. If I get done first, it will be hard for me to be good because I won't have anything to do."

Wow. This little lad is starting to understand himself quite well.

It was a very pleasurable outing.

Owl Night II

2011-02-21T19:49:00.002-06:00

The kind naturalist, Diane, snapped this photo of us at the park on owl night. The kids were excited but a little shy to pose with Woodsy the Horned Owl. So, at the urging of Diane, I jumped in, too, and she snapped this photo. She emailed it to me yesterday.

Owl Night

2011-02-20T11:00:00.005-06:00

Last night the state park near us offered a really cool educational event about owls. There was a speaker/caretaker with 2 injured live owls - a barn and a horned - inside the visitor center. After that, guests were invited to sip hot chocolate and roast marshmallows over the huge bonfire outside. Later, we went on a guided hike along a prairie path lit with luminaries that bordered the forest. Quinn and Ethan did just fine on the hike, and Colby enjoyed a leisurely ride behind me in a sled. The group ahead of us actually saw and heard a barred owl, but by the time we had a turn, it was gone. Nonetheless, it was a really fun evening. The kids were disappointed that they missed out on the outside owl(s), but just the same, they had fun. And what a great way to spend a mid-winter Saturday evening with your children.

The luminary-lit path . . .

Roasting marshmallows. Or as Colby says, "Mushmellows."

Here's Ethan, asking if we can make more.

Nope. Two marshmallows are more than enough sugar for you, little man.

I borrowed this clip from You Tube . . . this is the type of owl that the earlier group saw and heard in the park. Our naturalist explained that the sound a barred owl makes follows a cadence like, "Who cooks, who cooks, who cooks for you all?" I'm actually quite certain I heard this call as we arrived at the park and were walking in.

The kids were all ramped up to go again tonight, but once I explained that there would be no candlelit path, no guide, and no marshmallows, their enthusiasm dwindled.

Just the same, they have been keenly interested in googling "owls" this morning and listening to all their different sounds.

More Dancing

2011-02-20T10:42:00.002-06:00

Quinn was in another dance production last weekend. This one was not expected; rather, a few classes from her dance theater were invited to perform in a Chinese New Year celebration at the University of Minnesota. Yet again, she spent nearly an entire weekend dancing. She had class and rehearsals for nearly 6 hours on Saturday, and then on Sunday, the day of the performance, she was at the auditorium from 4pm-10:30. It was kind of crazy, but she seemed to be ok with everything. And, the experience she is getting, plus performing in front of a large audience (I think there were about 800 at this one), is really cool.

As I scanned the audience, I realized that Brock and I accounted for 2 of the total of 3 Caucasians there. Ok, I'm exaggerating. But, as we were sitting there, a very friendly Asian man leaned over to me and asked, "So . . . why are you here?"

I asked Quinn if she still likes it. She said, "Yah, I only like the performances. I'm not scared to go on."

Future Hiking Partner

2011-02-20T10:19:00.005-06:00

I was correcting Quinn's English homework this week, and I did a double-pump with my right arm and fist and exclaimed, "Yes!!" when I read line 3:

Yes! She likes to clib mountains with her mom! Katahdin, HERE WE COME! (Obviously, she keeps her enthusiasm to herself because I had no idea).

Art Genes

2011-02-20T10:00:00.004-06:00

It's been clear and obvious that Ethan's art talent comes from Grandma. I wish I had more of her work to share here.

But it's now become evident that art genes don't skip a generation the way, say, bald genes do.

Nope, those art genes have not skipped Daddy, that's for sure. It seems that Ethan's art passion has spawned a similar, renewed, passion within his father.

Featured Artist

2011-02-20T09:44:00.004-06:00

This is Ethan's version of a Modigliani-style drawing that he learned in art class. Since enrollment was down at school, he's been taking art from the same instructor, Larry, on Saturdays instead. Ethan really enjoys it. When we received an informational email about enrolling for additional classes at the studio, Ethan's art was featured in the message:

Apparently, this artist's signature is elongated faces.

The real Modigliani:

And then as I googled Modigliani, I found other... styles, as well . . .

Nice. But maybe in a few years, lol!

Pen Pals

2011-02-20T09:33:00.002-06:00

This is one of the cutest things ever.

Quinn is pen pals with Mya, the daughter of one of my best friends, Kerrin.

Kerrin and I became fast friends in college when we were lab partners in chemistry.

Although we live miles apart, and maybe we don't talk as often as we'd like, the friendship remains strong.

Kerrin's oldest daughter, Mya, is the same age as Quinn. Our other children are similar in age as well. Max and Ethan are 1 grade apart, and Kyra and Colby are as well.

In past summers when we return to Maine, we have spent a little time with Kerrin's family. This past summer when our flight was canceled and we were stranded in Boston for a night, Kerrin came to the rescue. She dropped everything and came to get us at the airport. We stayed the night at her house, and then she returned us to the airport at 4 am the next day.

That's a true friend.

So, you can only imagine the delight that we share as our daughters exchange letters every month or so.

This is Mya's latest letter to Quinn. So adorable.

Quinn is working on her response letter to Mya as I write.

Culprit

2011-02-20T09:20:00.003-06:00

I work out 5 days per week.
I think I eat right.
So this week when my pants seemed to be snug, I told myself, "You have to stop putting your pants in the dryer. Start hanging them on the shower curtain rod."
And then I got honest with myself.
I never put my pants in the dryer.
So I weighed myself instead.
That explained it.

But that didn't stop me from making brownies this weekend. In fact, these aren't regular brownies. They're almost-better-than-crack brownies.

I don't smoke illegal substances, but if I did, I'd have to guess that these brownies compete for a similar sense of euphoria.

Almost From Scratch

2011-02-20T09:04:00.002-06:00

There is something so gratifying about watching my children eat meals that are 100% not pre-made. Modern conveniences and busy lives lead me to gravitate toward frozen or boxed breakfast choices all too often. Frozen French toast sticks, frozen pancakes, cold cereal . . . it's fine, I suppose. After all, the kids like it . . . but there's nothing that makes me feel like I'm doing anything good for them when those foods are the breakfast fare.

So, this week as I observed all three of them enjoying homemade whole wheat banana bread and fruit smoothies as they contentedly sat at the island and watched cartoons before school, I was happy.

Ok, so they also REALLY liked the store-bought applesauce made with apples (first ingredient) high fructose corn syrup (second ingredient), and corn syrup (third ingredient - and p.s. had I read the label while I was shopping it wouldn't have made it into my cart).....we'll have to see how much they really like applesauce when I buy un-altered applesauce next time.

But since 2/3 of the meal was made by me with none of that garbage, I let it slide.

I couldn't help but notice how tired they look in these pictures, either. Guess we're going to have to work on more sleep, too!

Valentines

2011-02-13T09:43:00.004-06:00

Friday was just crazy. I made 3 trips to Minneapolis (dropped kids off at school, went back to get Ethan later for an appointment, took him to Stillwater for the appointment, then had to return Minneapolis to pick up the rest of the kids after school). In addition to all of that, Colby and I went to the nature center. Then, somewhere in there Colby and I managed to also go to Target and McDonald's.

Needless to say, I had a plan for Valentine's Day, and I wasn't sure how I was going to pull it off. I needed some extra time, so I asked Brock if he could come 1/2 hour later to pick up the kids for his weekend, and he obliged.

Oh, and somewhere in the day I also managed to pick up Heart Pizzas from Papa Murphy's, because the kids had been asking for it.

And somewhere else, I found the time to look for and find my favorite string of heart lights, and I arranged them on the mantle.

When we arrived home from school, we got straight to work. Since I won't see my kids on Valentine's Day, I wanted to do a little something special for them before they left for the weekend with Brock. I also wanted to have them do something meaningful for their dad, so we put our heads together and decided we'd make him chocolate-covered strawberries.

Colby did a great job writing out his own words on Brock's card. He wrote everything himself. All I did was verbally tell him how to spell LOVE.

And as always, Ethan takes these things very seriously. He became frustrated that the heart on this card didn't look right, so he ended up doing it over and made another one.

Quinn wrote Brock a long message in her card . . .

And we all had fun dipping strawberries in two kinds of chocolate, and then decorating them with Valentine's themed sprinkles.

Ethan was much more satisfied with version 2 of his card. He drew a great big strawberry instead of a heart and wrote, "Dad ILOVEYOU".

Then we packaged up the strawberries to make them look all fancy and professional!

And when Brock arrived, we all ate heart-shaped pizza!

All the while, Ethan hovered over the gifts I had wrapped for the kids and stacked on the chair, just waiting for my word that it was time to open presents.

Happy Valentine's Day, guys! I love you so much!

Nature Center Friday

2011-02-13T09:35:00.002-06:00

Friday, Colby and I attended another preschool event at the nature center. He's starting to really enjoy these visits. This time, he painted with ice cube "paint brushes," played with plastic winter animals that were frozen in ice, played with play dough, and his favorite of all . . . sprayed colored water onto the snow.

His favorite was blue.

Despite it being about 4 degrees out there, it was fun. Later in the day, a warm front came through and we made it 32! Woo-hoo!

Another fun activity was capturing snowflakes on a black laminated paper, and observing the shape through a magnifying glass. Colby spent quite a long time doing this.

And then of course, we had our typical McD's lunch date!

Mini Dinners

2011-02-13T09:20:00.004-06:00

A few weeks ago I decided that it was time to break up the monotony our dinner meals. It seemed that we were eating the same things over and over again . . . and I had fallen victim to the pre-made, frozen, packaged meals. Things like P.F. Changs Sweet and Sour Chicken and Beef and Broccoli.

So I said to myself, "You're trying one new recipe each week."

This week, I became obsessed with meals in ramekins. I thought the kids would have fun with individual servings in their own little casserole dish. Turns out I got quite a kick out of it, too.

We had individual meat loaves one night.

This is just the celery, onion, thyme, salt, and pepper browning up and carmelizing. It was so fragrant.

Then you mix it up with the ground beef (I used good meat from a local farm that's cattle are grass-fed. Except, what do they do this time of year? I wonder.) If you mix with your hand, and don't pack it tight in the ramekin, it's better. The meat is less dense and less dry this way.

We also had homemade individual chicken pot pies.

Although, I did not make the crust. Instead, I plopped a big flaky Pillsbury biscuit on top. My bad. But they sure are tasty!

Content Play

2011-02-13T09:03:00.003-06:00

Last weekend was really enjoyable with the kids. Saturdays have become very hectic. By Saturday evening, Quinn asked me, "Mom, do we have to go ANYWHERE tomorrow? Can we just stay home and not drive ANYWHERE?"

She had a point. They spend so much time in the care Monday through Friday going to school and back, going to Brock's house, then mine, and then Saturdays driving to basketball, art, then dance, and back . . . .well they deserve to go nowhere sometimes!

So, with the exception to a fun trip to Famous Dave's (for ribs - they requested it!), we stayed home all day Sunday.

They were so content.

They played contentedly at the island. Colby with play home made play dough from Ms. Becky's, Ethan with paper airplanes, and Quinn with her stamps. She wasn't stamping, she was just sorting. To her, it's play.

And then we all played another favorite, "Store." They all took turns being cashier. Well, except for Ethan. He wanted to be the bag boy. And then after I tipped him for carrying my bags to my "car,", there was no chance he was doing anything else. He started requesting tips from other customers, even though I explained that tips are optional, and not something to be demanded.

It was a lovely family day at home.

Ladies Man

2011-02-09T21:52:00.004-06:00

When we arrived home last night, I did the usual winter trick - drove right up to the mail box. Because walking the 50 feet from my garage would be just too cold. As is typical, Ethan started chanting from the third row back seat (as I fumbled with the key to unlock the mailbox), "Please be a Zoobook, please be a Zoobook, please be a Zoobook . . . " ("Zoobooks" is a monthly educational animal magazine for kids, and really looks forward to it).

Needless to say, no Zoobook. However, Ethan did have a piece of mail addressed to him. Surprised and excited, he opened it, and immediately exclaimed it was a birthday party invite (he's not reading English yet, but surmised as much due to the birthday cake die-cut style of the envelope contents).

He handed it to me, and I read to him that it was for Kaitlyn's birthday party. "Who's that, Ethan?" I asked.

"Kaitlyn? She's just a girl at my school. She's little," he commented.

"Is she in your class?"

"No . . . well I mean yes. She goes to my school, but she's not IN my class."

"Is she a first-grader like you?"

"Yes."

"Well, she must really like you, since she invited you to her party."

And in the most matter-of-fact, nonchalant, couldn't-care-less-tone, he told me:

"She does. She likes me. She always chases me down. Like every day. And tries to kiss me."

"Do you want to go to her party?"

"Yah."

The End.

Tatts

2011-02-06T12:48:00.003-06:00

The owner of this:

Mailed supplies so that my children could do this:

and this:

Thanks, Jidgy!

Boot Loots

2011-02-06T11:30:00.005-06:00

What is it about a mom's high heeled footwear that is so appealing to her children?

So often, I'll find the higher-heeled boots and shoes removed from the boxes in my closet and left in a pile in my bedroom . . . evidence of use. And not by me.

Friday night, I went out for awhile with Colleen, and when I came home I removed my high-heeled boots in the living room. I forgot to put them away. So, yesterday, I looked down at Quinn as she played with her white board, and laughed when I saw her feet curled up beneath her.

This is nothing new. Last year, Colby was drawn to another pair of my fashion footwear. Just look here.

They don't wear my slippers. They don't wear my sneakers. They don't wear my winter snow boots. They don't wear my nice work comfort shoes.

For some reason, boy or girl, they only seem to wear my high heeled boots.

Colby's been caught. Quinn's been caught . . . just waiting on Ethan now.

Saturday Play

2011-02-06T11:19:00.002-06:00

Saturdays have become so hectic with basketball, drawing class, and dance. It was nice to get home yesterday afternoon to a relatively clean house, and just sit on the couch and watch my darlings play and perform. Quinn asked me to critique her kartwheels. Then she tried to flip herself up to standing from a bridge position. She's still working on that one. Then Ethan and Quinn did a short dance performance. And then they played wheelbarrow, making laps around the kitchen island. The two of them had leg wrestling matches. No Wii. No video games. No DS. No Leapster. No whining. No crying. Just pure, healthy living room fun. As long as I sat and watched, the happy play continued.

Perfect.

Say Cheese!

2011-02-06T11:03:00.004-06:00

I think my kids need to go to the dentist . . . whaddaya think?

Quinn got a full set of braces

I had some work done, too:

BEFORE

AFTER

I was so pleased with the results, I immediately had to tell my ex-husband. He went, too.

BEFORE

AFTER

Aw . . . the joy of free iPhone apps!

Field Trip to Shanghai

2011-02-06T10:00:00.004-06:00

I thought it would be fun to take the kids to a Chinese grocery store .... to see how much they can read, and test their language skills. Knowing my children are shy, I knew the conversations would be minimal. However, I pulled out my bribery card and told them that if they spoke in Chinese to the cashier, they could get a treat.

I found a market, not too far from Quinn's dance studio, so after we picked her up from class, we went to Shanghai. And for the next 25 minutes or so, it was easy to think we'd taken the 18 hour flight to China; from the moment we stepped through the door it was 100% Chinese. The employees, the customers, and the language. No English. No white people. No American food, except for one tiny cooler in the front corner of the store that contained a sparse few 1/2 gallons of milk, and assorted 6-packs of Bud, Miller, and O'Doul's. Everything else was in Chinese packaging, and even the produce was unique. Bok choy, tons of varieties of mushrooms, tons of soybean products, sea weed, tons of fish-related foods and smelly fish pastes, lotus flower parts, duck eggs . . . it was quite an experience.

Quinn could read a few packaging labels and could get a general sense of the contents, but couldn't really more than 50% of what each item was. But I thought about it, and realized that if were were at Cub or Festival, or Rainbow, it might not be that much different. After all .... she's only 8 years old.

But my favorite moment was at the check-out. We paid for our items, and as the cashier gave me my change, I asked her, "Do you speak Mandarin?" She looked puzzled, and so I said, "Oh. Cantonese?" She said, "No, I only speak Chinese."

Not wanting to lose this opportunity, I said (as I gestured to my kids), "These guys can speak some Chinese. Will you talk to them?"

The cashier still looked confused, so I told Quinn, "Start talking."

So, Quinn said, "Ni Hao,"...

The cashier responded the same, her face brightened, and then she directed a question at Quinn (this is where I get lost).

Quinn responded. Then the cashier asked another question. Quinn responded in a full Chinese sentence. By now another employee overheard the conversation and with a huge smile on her face, came over to join in. She asked Quinn more questions, and Quinn answered, in sentences. I could tell many of the questions were about the boys, I think their names, their ages. They also were gesturing and saying things about Colby sucking his thumb. I wish Ethan hadn't been sulking about not getting what he wanted, because I think he would have been able to participate, too.

It was the coolest thing!

My little 3rd grader can have a regular conversation . . . in Chinese!

These were the few grocery items we purchased:

Juice boxes - flavor was "sour plum"

These were like Saltines

These were little packages of shortbread cookies

And strawberry-filled bear cookies. But these were in labeled in English.

Right now as I am writing, Ethan just looked over my shoulder and said something to me in Chinese. I asked him what he said. He translated, "I liked eating those good snacks."

Welcoming the Year of the Rabbit

2011-02-03T21:23:00.005-06:00

Today was performance day at school to celebrate Chinese New Year. Each class performed a skit or choreographed dance as a way to welcome the Year of the Rabbit.

Quinn's 3rd grade class performed The Mouse Bride, a traditional Chinese tale.

Quinn was "the wind," along with 2 classmates.

The stage was so colorful - created by the 6th graders. You can see the mural in the background; the rabbit chasing the tiger (2010 was the year of the tiger).

Ethan's 1st grade class did a Kung Fu performance. To our surprise, he was really into it!

This is Caroline, our carpool friend. Such a cutie!

Some of the costumes were amazing. I think this was a 2nd grade class.

And 4th graders (I think)...

And of course, the lion (not a dragon), comes out for the grand finale!

Dinner Tonight

2011-02-02T21:22:00.004-06:00

Not that dinner tonight was anything spectacular, but I just happened to be in the mood to photograph the process . . . sort of a play-by-play, if you will.

I'm on a try a new recipe most midweek nights kick, so this was tonight's new recipe: sweet and sour pork lo mein.

Again, nothing fancy .... I might make this again, but it was nothing special.

You start by browning sliced pork loin in a skillet. I threw in a little garlic and green onion for flavor.

Then you add a bag of frozen veggies - these were from a meal-starter kit, so there was sweet and sour sauce included. Not that I want to point this out, but look what happened to my sesame seeds in the background (compared to the previous picture). Oops. I've never been a good multi-tasker.

Meanwhile, you boil up some egg noodles.

And eventually mix it all together. (minus the burnt sesame seeds).

I thought it turned out pretty decent. Fairly healthy; low fat, meat and veggies in one dish, pretty quick and simple recipe.

On the other hand, this would explain how other members of my clan felt about it:

He was actually dry-heaving here.

Funny how his nausea and wretching ceased once I pulled out the Little Debbie frosted Valentine brownies for his brother and sister.

Hey, if bribery is what it takes for a little clean your plate motivation . . .

I'm just sayin'...

Chinese Dance Theater

2011-01-30T22:00:00.002-06:00

Here's Quinn backstage last weekend before her Saturday night performance. She did a great job, as did all of the dancers.

Photography was prohibited during the show, but I did manage to snap a few pictures with my phone. You can't really make anything out, but I thought I'd share what I had anyway. You can get the general idea . . . very colorful, bright, costumes and sets.

It was a fantastic show, and already I can't wait for next year.

We also just found out that Quinn's group has been invited to dance in another show in a couple of weeks at a Chinese cultural celebration at the University of Minnesota. Yay!

Birthday Pics

2011-01-30T21:50:00.004-06:00

Here are a few photos from Ethan's Birthday last weekend . . .

I just love the look on his little face as he winds up to blow out his candles . . .

Ethan and his school buddies Kyle and Luke, all suited up for laser tag

The whole birthday gang all ready to go: Colby, Emily, Quinn (gotta love the make-up; she was pre-show and got to play laser tag for about 5 minutes before we left to take her to the theater), Kyle, Ethan, and Luke. Matthew was there, too, but didn't make it into this picture.

Ethan's very awesome snowboard birthday cake.

Happy 7th Birthday, Big Boy!!

Flowers

2011-01-30T21:46:00.002-06:00

I picked these beautiful red flowers out of my garden this morning.

I wish!

Actually, I stood in my kitchen and made them out of tissue paper this morning. This is my volunteer contribution to the kids' annual Chinese New Year Performance at school this week. While other kids do Holiday performances around Christmas, our kids do a big performance this time of year, the first week of February, in celebration of the Chinese New Year.

I can't wait!

Happy Birthday

2011-01-23T21:33:00.003-06:00

I'll post more pics later this week (hopefully), but just wanted to share what I have so far. I want to wish Happy Birthday to my boys: Ethan and Dad. Yes, they continue to share the same birthday. Funny thing is, the older they get, the more they seem have in common; for example, discounts. I'm serious! Ethan usually enjoys admission to most events at a child rate . . . a discount. Now that Dad is 65, he too, will be able to enjoy discounts on admission to most of his favorite events. I do believe he's officially a Senior Citizen now. Love you , Dad! Hey, I wonder if Seniors eat free on Tuesday nights anywhere? Haha!

This was a whirlwind weekend to say the least. Because my batteries are running low, I'll just offer a quick recap of the weekend. Let's start with Ethan's birthday meal. Since Quinn had to be at dance all day yesterday and her first performance was last evening, I told Ethan he could have a special dinner, and early Birthday Dinner, if you will. "You can have anything you want, Sweetie. I'll make you anything, I'll take you anywhere . . . you choose."

We happened to be in Target during this conversation.

"Ok, I know what I want. It's here, I'll show you."

He directed me toward the frozen foods aisle.

This is what he chose.

There was no talking him out of it.

"Ethan, those are nasty . . . like . . . really nasty. Not good for you at all."

"But it's what I really want. Please? Please? Pretty please? I really want this."

"But Honey, I'll take you anywhere. I'll make you anything you want."

"But you said I could have anything. This is what I pick."

By now, Colby was in on the debate as well. They both wanted the one with fish sticks and gummy worms.

To my dismay, I put 2 in the cart. I couldn't believe it.

But I have to say, that's the happiest I've see those two during dinner in a long time. They were soooooo into their meals.

So that was Ethan's birthday dinner. Kid Cuisine. Fish sticks and gummy worms. Nuked for 2 minutes in the microwave. Happy 7th, my boy!

Now, let me compose my annual Birthday letter:

Dear Ethan,

Wow, how ever did you turn 7 years old? I still remember the morning you were born like it was yesterday. I remember driving in the car, so far to the hospital. I remember holding you moments after you were pulled from me, and thinking about what a cute, round, turtlish face you had.

You were always so wiggly, and still are. Even as a baby, it took 2 of us to change you or dress you. I don't remember you being much of a cuddler, yet you always wanted to be rocked to sleep. You've never been overly affectionate, and even when I approach you to hug or kiss you, you seem to just stand there, stiff. However, I noticed that this week, when you were home sick, you jumped up so I could hold you, and when I did, you placed your head against my shoulder and rested it in the crook of my neck. I loved that so much. I savored every moment, and I told you how much I love you. If that's how I can give you affection, I will. I'll hold you like that as long as I can.

You are a quiet boy - at school and around other parents, anyway -your teacher tells us she barely knows your voice because you barely speak in class. At home, you're not quiet one bit. You aren't afraid to tell Quinn or Colby your thoughts. Or me, for that matter. I often find myself telling you to be quiet. Maybe there's somehow we can find a happy medium between home and anywhere but home.

Your favorite friends are Luke, Noah, Kyle, and Kai. You continue to love your cousins, and especially look up to Tristan, and love Zach, Brock, Matthew, Emily, and Evan so much. They are always first on your birthday list.

Your true talent is art, especially drawing. You have such focus, and I notice you breathing changes to a slow, steady, deep cadence when you are at work. People around you are starting to notice your gift. I hope you continue to find satisfaction with your work . . . I think it is very good for you.

You were introduced to soccer and basketball this year, and so far, have very little interest in sports. Just yesterday, you put up the biggest fuss about going to basketball clinic for 45 minutes. And I mean a big fuss. It seems that your interests evolve around art and drawing, creating things with Legos, flying remote control helicopters, and anything spy-related.

I was watching you with your friends at you birthday party today, and it convinced me that we have to start getting you together with your buddies more. You are a very attentive, patient friend, and very focused on your fun. I can tell that your school friends like you a lot, and your demeanor was so much more relaxed, enjoyable, and content than I've seen in a long time. Watching you made me want to be them; if I were 7, I'd definitely want to be in your circle of friends. I think you're loyal, intelligent, and a good buddy.

You and Quinn continue to be huge rivals. Serious rivals. Barely a day - I mean NEVER a day- goes by that you two don't yell or fight about something. The tattling, pushing, teasing is never ending. She's as much an instigator as you, and you both react in a hyperstimulated way. I'm thinking you'll both outgrow this at some point, and eventually become close friends, but hoo-boy . . . you two try me, that's for sure.

But Ethan, please know how proud of you I am, and how much I love you. I love you so deeply you probably will never know how much. I think you are a deep thinker, I think you are a good little person with a genuine little heart, you are so smart, and so talented with your art and building skills. If I had to predict, I would guess you will go to a good college and major in something that combines engineering and art. Maybe architecture, but that sounds too cliche right now. Oh, I forgot to mention your new interest and talent with Origami. Honey, you can fold ANYTHING! You have spent hours memorizing the folds from books, and then you just started creating things on your own. For instance, the other day you said, "Mom, ask me to make something," so I said, "Ok, make me a swan." No sooner had I turned around to walk away and you presented me with a long-neck swan, sitting there beautifully in the palm of your little hand. You seem to see things from an abstract perspective. More than I ever could, that's for sure.

I love you, Ethan. Happy 7th Birthday!

Love,

Mommy

***********************************************************

I would also like to wish my Dad a very happy 65th Birthday.

Being 65 means you get to do new things like . . . I dunno . . . spend most of the winter in FLORIDA? But he's a spry 65, and still working, not ready to hand over the reigns of his small business. So he'll be traveling between FL and ME throughout the next few months. What a life! But, he deserves it, and it's about time he takes a little time for R&R. He's worked hard his entire life, from digging worms and clams as a teen to save money for a car and college, to working his way up from service man to VP for an oil company, to eventually owning his own successful business.

I love you, Dad! Have a very Happy Birthday!

F-ing Friday

2011-01-22T07:05:00.004-06:00

I know what you're thinking. You just read the title of this post and assumed I've used an expletive to describe my day. Now, before you go get your panties in a bunch, hear me out. It was an F-ing Friday, that's for sure, but it was for these reasons:

1. I felt Fatigued
2. I had Flu-like symptoms (of the stomach sort)
3. My rear passenger tire was Flat
4. The air temperature was Frigid
5. It Flurried

The cumulative feeling of all of these Factors certainly (at times) made me feel like my Friday was F-ed, but the reality of it is that all adjectives describing the day begin with the letter F.

F-ing Friday began around 2am when abdominal cramping and intestinal noises not unlike a faucet running on wide open, awoke me from my sleep. Between the hours of 2am and 7am, there were approximately 16 visits to the toilet, and approximately 1.5 gallons lost . . . if you know what I mean. Around 6:30am, just as I was about to peel myself off my mattress and arouse the children, I was overcome with nausea. This allowed me to relieve myself of an entire night's dinner and snack. That was pleasant, observing everything that I had eaten the night before (13 hours ago), practically untouched, floating in the toilet bowl. As if once wasn't enough, my body decided that it needed to repeat this action 4 more times.

Feeling cleansed, I was ready to start the day. Now with a headache, I roused the kids from peaceful slumber. While they were getting dressed, I went downstairs to prepare their breakfast. It's difficult to explain, but just imagine how cinnamon french toast sticks, hot and fresh out of the microwave, topped with sweet maple syrup, smell first thing in the morning. After a night of bodily cleansing from both ends. I'm here to tell you it's... not pleasant.

Next we drive to get the carpool friends and head to school. I expected cold, but what my car thermometer read was worthy of a photo:

Moments after we pull out of the driveway:

At the first stoplight:

About a mile away from home:

The final reading once we really got going:

In case you're questioning yourself, or my temperature gauge, you read it right. -22 degrees. No joke.

Shortly after we picked up the carpool friends, a lady driving a white sedan gestured for me to pull over. She shared with me that my passenger rear tire was slack. I got out an looked; sure enough, she was right. Frickin' A!

I pulled over at the first gas station I could find with air that worked (2 tries), and in the -22 degree frigid air, I put air in my tire. My fingertips became firm and brittle and lost some color, but thanks to some boxer-glove type LL Bean mittens I have, once I was back in the warmth of my vehicle, the fingers normalized rather quickly.

Colby and I returned home and I immediately collapsed on the couch. After a visit to the toilet. I turned on a movie and warned him that Mommy was tired, and needed a little nap. The sweet boy quietly played, and although I shouldn't admit this, I slept for 3 hours. When I woke up, he was also sleeping, with a pillow and covered in a blanket, on the hardwood floor.

Shortly thereafter, it was time to head back to get the siblings from school. After a trip to the toilet. Knowing Ethan's birthday is coming, and that I will have little opportunity to shop for him without him present, I decided I needed to go to Target on the way to school to get his presents. Thank God for shopping carts. I put Colby in the front, and then used the cart like a walker as I navigated my way to the toy section. I had a headache, I had forehead sweats (the kind that are prickly), and by now I was getting lightheaded.

We found what we needed and made our way back to the car and off to school.

We dropped off the carpool kids and went back home. Except, the idea of preparing dinner, even a frozen pizza, was overwhelming to me. So, we pulled through McDonald's drive through and that was dinner.

Now it's Friday evening and I have 3 hyper children on my hands (no recess or outside play because of the frigid weather). I was supine on the couch, still with my down jacket on, and under a sherpa fleece blanket because I was cold. Or probably feverish. Quinn needed to be at the theater for a dress rehearsal for her upcoming weekend shows. The kids were wrestling, the house was trashed, the table littered with dinner leftovers, the sink full of dirty dishes. I was feeling overwhelmed. I ended up sending 2 of my brood to their rooms for not listening (and I was deeply offended that they seemed that they couldn't have cared less about my condition), and then I pulled myself from the couch to try to attempt to organize the house before we left again. After a few minutes I called for the kids to come out of time out and give me a hand. I was quite stern, which triggered another episode of nausea, which led me to another trip to the toilet.

Once I emerged, I figured this must have scared the shit out of them, because all 3 were hard at work, picking up toys, folding blankets, putting away markers, pencils, and loose paper. I thought to myself, "Is that what it takes around here to make things happen? Hearing your mother bent over the toilet, wretching and puking?" I mean, really people. But, I may have to remember this tactic for the future, if I'm ever in a pinch and need the living room picked up in a jiffy.

We piled into the car and drove to the theater. I think it was the quietest ride ever; none of them made a peep. This was a good thing, as it had begun to flurry, and at 2 degrees, the roads were slick. The sanding/salting trucks were out. I saw 2 cars off the road.

Luckily it was a rather short rehearsal, and we were home by 9. It was the fastest bedtime round up ever and I think all were in pj's within 10 minutes. I announced that I was going to bed, that they were to stay in their rooms and get some sleep.

Quinn did just fine; straight to bed, no word from her again. They boys were wrestling and came in and out of my room and my bathroom several times. I had to get out of bed twice to reprimand, the last of which I took away their movie (playing on a portable DVD), instructed Ethan to get in his own bed, flicked off their light and slammed their door shut. Then I retreated back to my own room and slammed my door shut.

I love days with Fairytale endings.

And that concludes my F-ing Friday.

Dental Notes

2011-01-14T20:28:00.004-06:00

I was chillaxing, eyes closed, in my hot bubble bath in my great big tub last evening when I heard a little scurrying come and go in my bathroom. I sat up, glanced around, but found nothing but this small pink note beside me:

It read (and I'm transcribing verbatim here):

"Hi Mom,

I am exited to go to the dentist.

Are you going to get you teeth checkt?

Love, Quinn

P.S. Write back on the back and do one knok on my door and I'll read it."

Like I said, I was chillaxing in my tub . . . so I didn't rush to write back. A few minutes passed, and I heard more scurrying. I looked up to find this note:

It was from Quinn again, and read:

"Are you going to write back?

Circle, then put on my door.

From, Quinn

YES NO"

I circled YES and put the green post it on her door.

Then I retreated to my own room and wrote back to her.

I wrote:
"Hi Quinn,

I'm glad you're excited; going to the dentist is important!

No, I'm not going to have my teeth cleaned this time, but I should!

Now, get some sleep!

Love,

Mom"

We had the dentist appointment this morning.

Colby: perfect (big surprise?)

Ethan: cavity that needs a filling (at least it's a baby tooth)

Quinn: needs to come back for sealant and needs a consult with the orthodontist for an underbite.

So, now we have 2 more appointments to go back. I suspect the excitement will begin to wear off soon.

Shoe-Snowing

2011-01-14T20:14:00.003-06:00

Earlier this week I explained to Colby that we would be snowshoeing at the nature center on Friday.

"But, what's that?" he inquisitively asked.

I did my best to explain.

After a few moments of ponder, Colby announced, "I don't think I can go. I don't have shoesnows."

But the nature center had plenty to share.

Turns out he loved it. He got the hang of it right away. The nature center also had old- fashioned kick sleds that we rode down a small hill. A kick sled is sort of like a dog sled, but mommy is the dog. And pushes from the rear. I wish I'd taken a picture of that.

He spent a lot of time making snow angels today, too.

And then of course, we had our weekly lunch date at McDonald's.

I love him so much.

Payout

2011-01-14T19:55:00.003-06:00

Last week I started a new incentive program for my employees.

No wait a minute . . . what I meant to say was, "Last week I started a new motivational chart for my children."

It involves a plain piece of white paper and a pack of stickers. The deal? For every chore they do, they get a sticker, and each sticker is worth $0.25.

At their young(ish) ages, "chores" mean just about anything.

For example:

getting up and dressed without fussing. brushing teeth the first time I remind them. taking dishes to the sink after each meal. doing homework without whining. practicing violin without whining. wording requests with respect and manners (for example, "Mommy, may I please have a fork?" instead of, "I NEED A FORK!"). taking the trash and recycling down to the garage.

Payday was last evening. This first chart included a little more than a week's work; from here on out we're going weekly, with payday happening on Thursday nights. But just the same, I think the amounts earned this first time were reasonable and appropriate for their respective ages. Quinn, competitive as she is with her brothers, cashed in at $8.50. Ethan was right behind her with $6.75. Colby held up the rear with $1.25.

The newest chore that has been done, and to my amazement, even without prompting, no less?

Bed-making.

Well, if you call it that. Beggars can't be choosers, so the munchkins get credit. The bed with the blue comforter is mine. Ethan slept with me last night, so you can imagine my astonishment when he announced as he descended the stairs, "Mom, I made your bed since I slept in it last night."

What a sweetheart.

And later as we were driving off toward the dentist's this morning, I thanked them for all they had done this week, and thanked them for a relatively smooth morning. And then Ethan had offer a reflection from the rear seat of the car, "HEY,I-DIDN'T-EVEN-GET-YELLED-AT-TODAY. . .YET."

So for now, I'm liking the allowance earning structure. They like it, and behavior has modified. It can't get any better than that.

All Downhill

2011-01-11T22:14:00.003-06:00

I referenced our sledding adventure this past weekend in an earlier post about my little Clark Griswold.

What I failed to mention was how it was all downhill from the moment we parked the car.

And I'm not talking about slope.

Let me just say one thing first - I'm pleased that so far this winter, my kids have played outside more times than I can keep track of. This is a huge improvement over last winter when they played outside, oh, three times total?

Even still, with all the effort involved in outdoor winter play, you want to make it worth it. Like, at least 45 minutes.

We hadn't been at the sledding hill 10 minutes when one of my children exclaimed he/she had a poop in his/her butt. Within 3 minutes another of my children stated that he/she was embarrassed because he/she thought he/she had to toot, but instead poop came out.

Both of them insisted we leave and go home "right now" for new underwear and a toilet.

I could not (expletive) believe it. Here we were, a nice family sledding outing and 2/3 of my brood had shit their pants. It wasn't even this one:

Lucky for them I am reading a parenting book about making each moment count. I'm not sure what that moment counted as . . . but I was proud at myself for not completely losing it. I mean really. Shitting our pants at the sledding park? C'mon. I tried to see the bright side. I didn't really find it, but I kept my cool and that worked for all of us.

Later as we were driving along, I couldn't help myself. I had to pull my car over and snap this photo of all the ice fishermen and their houses out on one of the nearby lakes. After the poopfest at the sledding hill, I felt like joining them for a beer.

Dance Theater

2011-01-11T21:54:00.002-06:00

We were honored and excited when Quinn was invited to join the Chinese Dance Theater. She's been taking Chinese Dance since last year and has really enjoyed it. I think her favorite things are doing "the splits" and a bridge. Anyway, following her mini-recital at school just before Christmas, her teacher pulled us aside and asked if Quinn would join her class that meets on Saturdays. I think I was proud because she was invited because of her personality and disposition, and not necessarily her talent.

This past Saturday was her first day.

I was expecting the two-hour class . . . but when I arrived at 2:00 to pick her up afterward, her teacher brought me to a poster on the wall and said, "Now, she needs to be at this address tonight at 5:30, and then again tomorrow at 3:15. Then, same thing next weekend."

Uh . . . wait a minute?

She was talking about the rehearsals for the big annual production that occurs 2 weeks, of which I'd assumed Quinn would not partake in . . . this year at least.

But she's in it.

So, after the 2 hour class, we went to another 2-3 hour rehearsal Saturday night. And then another 4 hours on Sunday.

Whoo boy. That's a lot of rehearsing. And a lot of time spent diverting my boys from mayhem in a church basement 30 miles from home.

But, Quinn caught right on and I was so proud of her focus and enthusiasm. She was so focused that, as we drove home (at 7:30 no less), and I reminded her that she still had homework waiting for her, she said, "Oh Mom . . . my brain is tired of thinking."

After a long weekend of dancing, I treated Quinn and the boys to dinner and dessert at Applebee's . . . their choice. Turns out we didn't get home until after 9pm!

I can't wait for the show!

My Little Clark Griswold

2011-01-09T23:23:00.005-06:00

One of the best movie scenes ever is from "Christmas Vacation" when Chevy Chase, aka, "Clark Griswold" takes the family sledding with newly greased flying saucers. This afternoon, as we were sledding at a nearby park, I couldn't help but chuckle at the resemblance:

Clark Griswold:

Ethan:

Clark Griswold:

Ethan:

Clark Griswold:

Ethan:

Like a Dude

2011-01-09T23:01:00.002-06:00

This weekend has been chock-full of all things dude-like.

Starting on Friday, when I filled up my own windshield wiper fluid tank. I was rather impressed with my ability to pop my hood, instantly find the lever to unlock it (just north of the grill), and after a few moments of scanning the underlying contents, find the windshield wash compartment. Not that I haven't done it before, but, in the past, I would have preferred to have left this task to the man of the house.

Except, I don't have one of those anymore. Well, I take that back. I have 2, but they're far too young to be asking that much of yet. Why, I'm still wiping their asses for crying out loud.

Then, I repaired a broken belt in my vacuum cleaner. That's right: laid the vac on its back, snapped open the whatever part that housed the belt, removed the broken one, and installed a brand new one, just like that. I've NEVER done that before.

Then today, I even installed curtain rods in my boys' bedroom. With my brother-in-law's power drill in hand, I stood on a chair and drilled. Only, his drill was weak. So, instead, I installed those brackets with my own bare hands and a phillips screwdriver. That's right, my own power. Now, that's manly.

Not too bad, right?

I'm a force to be reckoned with.

Later, I decided to chase down this coyote (or fat fox, I'm not so sure which it was; but I am certain it was not domestic). If you squint and look directly center, you'll see it, mostly the tail, behind the reeds. This was just outside my house.

And as I chased it down, I spotted this frightened little hare, just quivering with fear. I thought it was afraid of the coyote-fox, but with all I've accomplished this weekend, maybe it was scared of me:

And just to make it an all-dude weekend, I came back inside and plucked a couple coarse black hairs from my upper lip.

But I didn't take a picture of that.

Emotions

2011-01-06T21:48:00.003-06:00

Quinn made this, and I just liked her art. I especially like the one in the lower left corner. Maybe she's feeling "scard" because her nose is gone!

The Magic of Christmas

2011-01-06T21:37:00.007-06:00

For as long as we've lived in Minnesota, Santa has left pajamas on the doorstep on Christmas Eve. I think he started doing this about 5 years ago, when he knew he needed the kids in bed, fast asleep, at a reasonable hour, so that he could get straight to work unloading his toys and assembling things like Barbie houses and tool benches.

Interesting how traditions evolve. This year was no different. Like always, as the kids were taking their baths (and they asked to because they wanted Santa to come), he left gifts on the front door step. It started out years ago as his "signal" that he was in the neighborhood . . . a little hint, so to speak, to hurry up and get to bed.

Over the years, the pajama gifts have become magical. Literally. The kids have come to believe that the pajamas are, in fact, sprinkled with sleeping magic. Pajamas go on . . . and instant fatigue.

If you don't believe me, just watch ... they drop like flies:

The MAGIC of Christmas, I tell you . . . it's unbelievable!

Christmas

2011-01-06T21:02:00.006-06:00

Christmas 2010 has come and gone.

It's funny how there's so much anticipation, preparation, and waiting . . . and then just like that, it's over.

We were so happy to have Mom, Dad, and Jill here with us. Pictures tell a thousand words . . . so here we go:

Quinn enjoyed some pampering with Mami's mani and pedi.

The Heath Bar Coffee Cake was a hit (especially with Ethan) and will definitely make the Christmas menu next year!

Did I mention that I like to cook?

Papa and the boys . . .

Merry Christmas!!!

Lit

2010-12-12T19:29:00.002-06:00

It's Sunday night, and I'm LIT!
***************************

With Christmas lights, of course . . .

We went with the left over Walmart white artificial tree this year. After having to call Maria and Aaron last year after an unsuccessful attempt with Becky to get my real tree standing in the tree stand (and trying to cut the base with my child-like hack saw), I figured I would just go fake this year. And, after browsing the fake pre-lits pre-season, and feeling shocked at the prices, I decided I'd wait until after Christmas and buy at mark-down.

Once the tree was up, I looked around my house and thought,

"Wow! We're LIT this year!"

Artists

2010-12-12T15:50:00.002-06:00

Ethan continues to take drawing classes after school, and he continues to love it. This polar bear is his most recent, and perhaps, my most favorite yet:

And we've known that his talent has come from Grandma. However, Brock sent me a photo text last night of this and wanted me to show Ethan:

So now I would say that the talent is 3-generational.

Ethan drew this picture as a return response last night and asked me to send it to Daddy (I love the little "heart Daddy Ethan" in the upper left corner).

More Cookies

2010-12-12T15:38:00.003-06:00

Well, even though we've made Christmas sugar cookies for two nights in a row, I have only eaten two.

Because even though these photos depict children hard at work, decorating . . . they were eating them equally as fast. Cookie 10 minutes in the oven, pause for a few moments to cool, a few minutes to decorate, a few seconds to devour.

But I'm ok with that.

Jack Frost Nipping at Your . . .

2010-12-12T15:29:00.002-06:00

. . . cookies!

Remember what I said in the earlier post about how many cookies would be remaining by morning?

Um . . . yah. Not very many.

The kids came racing up the stairs early in the morning, excitedly reporting that, "ETHAN SAW JACK FROST! HE REALLY DID! HE WAS ON THE DECK!"

"Really?" I forced out of my groggy mouth.

"YES! HE SAW HIM!"

"Well . . . what did he look like?" I inquired.

"He had icicle hair, and a nose like this, and lips like this . . ."

"Why don't you draw me a picture of how he looked, Ethan."

And then they all added, "And Jack Frost ate our cookies! And he also got blue marker on the couch!"

"Um . . . Jack Frost did all that? Or did you?"

"NO, IT WAS JACK FROST! HE DID IT ALL!"

So this is the artist interpretation of the alleged cookie thief and couch wrecker:

Hmmm . . . I'll be on the look out for sure.

Cookie Time

2010-12-10T22:55:00.004-06:00

While we were riding home from school this afternoon, Quinn and Catherine decided that they wanted a sleep over. I couldn't find a reason not to, and actually thought it would be a nice opportunity for the girls, so I said it would be fine as long as it was ok with Catherine's mom. It was, so we enjoyed having Catherine over for the evening.

The girls played very nicely with Ethan and Colby; the 4 of them made winter scenes with some foam and glitter stickers I bought at Target today. They played school. They played castle house, or some game like that where they removed most cushions from the couch, and brought every single dining chair into the living room. Maria stopped by with Baby Jackson for a short while, and everyone was having a good time. We had dinner, and following that Quinn and Catherine played duets on their new recorders and also a violin/recorder duet. By 8:00 they were bored, and spotted the Christmas cookie supplies I had on the counter top. These were intended for tomorrow night's sleepover with Emily and Matthew, but I thought, what the heck, we can do cookies 2 nights in a row- and so we made cookies. The kids stayed occupied for the longest time, and were so content; polite to each other, shared supplies, complimented each other on a job well done. Ethan got the vote for Best Cookies. He deserved it. But all 4 kids did a great job, and made some very creative cookies. And before I knew it they'd eaten ALMOST ALL OF THEM.

And the best part of all? I just happened to open this early Christmas gift from Daryl - a beautiful glass holiday serving tray . . . . perfect to display the 6 remaining cookies (which will probably be gone before I get out of bed in the morning).

Snowflakes

2010-12-05T09:51:00.003-06:00

On Friday, I needed to come up with something for Colby and I to do together. I'd been grading a few papers, and could sense his dissatisfaction with the lack of attention. And, Fridays have become a very special day that the two of us share together. At least a couple of times per week now, he'll ask,"Mommy, is the next day wif you or wif Becky?". And to see the way his little face lights up, his genuine smile, when I tell him that tomorrow (the next day) is with me, it's indescribable.

I'd reminded him the night before as I tucked him into bed that we had music class tomorrow. He said, "Aw, I don't want to go to music class tomorrow, Mommy." I said it was the last day, and that it would be fun. His response took me by surprise. "Aw, I don't feel like going tomorrow. But ask me again. And then ask me again a little bit after that and I'll probably say yes. Because sometimes I say no but then I say yes."

Turns out, I got so caught up in correcting papers, I forgot about it altogether.

So, back to needing something to do together. It occurred to me that old-fashioned paper snowflake making would be an excellent project for the two of us to share. He watched with giddy anticipation as I readied the supplies, and he tried to guess what we would be doing with the paper, the scissors, the circular measuring cup and pen.

As I traced circle shapes, cut them out, and then folded the circle three times, he watched intently. I offered for him to make the first cut, but he said, "No, Mommy, you should do it. I might cut myself wif the scnissors." (I'm working on his new version 'scissors', something he picked up from a friend at daycare). So I made a few cuts, and then handed the paper to him for the magic of unfolding and discovering the unique pattern.

He gasped in awe as he unfolded each individual snowflake, each with its own geometric pattern.

When Quinn and Ethan came home from school, they were equally enthusiastic, and made about a dozen more snowflakes themselves.

Ethan's Homework

2010-12-04T17:04:00.007-06:00

This a typical evening at our house. We get home from school, and Quinn gets right to business and has her homework done before dinner, usually. Ethan just can't do it right away, so he will play for a little bit (lately it's making paper airplanes, or drawing something), and then after dinner he is able to sit down and do it.

It struck me one night this week how different their homework must be from how it would be had they remained in a "regular" school. I've become so used to the Chinese, I forget that it probably looks strange to anyone else. So, I clicked some pictures and video . . . well, just because . . . no particular reason. And Ethan was so content, singing Christmas carols (making up his own lyrics to Rudolph) and doing his Chinese that I just had to get it on film.

Still Sorting

2010-12-04T17:01:00.002-06:00

For as long as I can remember, my little girl has been a sorter and organizer. As I was cleaning up from dinner and glanced over at her one night this week, I realized she hasn't changed.

Wishbone

2010-12-04T16:54:00.003-06:00

We bought a rotisserie chicken at the grocery store last weekend for the soup I made in the slow cooker. As I was picking away the meat, the kids asked about the drumsticks and wishbone. Meaning, they wanted to eat the drumsticks and play with the wishbone. After a couple of days drying on the sink, the wishbone was ready.

I braced myself. I knew who the winner had to be.

They took hold

Just look at the determination. I was stalling them (actually bracing myself for the backlash from the loser), saying, "Do you have your wish ready in your head? ... are you sure?" ...

and they pulled!

and thank goodness . . .

... my wish for the winner came true!!

New Method

2010-12-01T21:02:00.002-06:00

Some days I feel like I'm at my wits end when it comes to disciplining my children. What tactics seem to work for awhile, don't anymore. And lately, once again, their behavior is getting difficult for me to manage, tolerate, accept, put up with . . . whatever you want to call it.

Between Quinn's constant whining and challenging my every decision, to Ethan's not listening and then mimicking/making fun of me when I try to discipline him, well . . . it gets my blood boiling some times. I can't even take them into stores without a major problem these days.

It's wearing on me so much that I think I need a parenting - or patience - refresher.

During my lunch hour today, I did a little research and came up with some fresh, new ideas. I even ordered me a book, yes I did. Ironically, it's by a local author who appears to live about 8 miles down the road from me. Maybe he makes house calls.

Anyway, one of the things I found on a parenting website that I liked was how to handle some of my aforementioned difficulties - the whining, the challenging. To almost everything they do that you don't like (in terms of challenging you), you respond, "I love you too much to argue."

I was astounded to see this work. Now, during dinner we had a family meeting, and I let them know that they would be noticing some changes in how I responded to their behavior, mostly that I no longer wanted to yell or raise my voice, and secondly that I was tired of making threats about the wooden spoon and I didn't really want to have to resort to that anymore because it makes me sad. Yes that's right. Lately, I have been pushed to the point of making threats of punishment by means of the standard old fashioned kitchen utensil. It would go like this: I give give instructions. They don't listen. I command the behavior to stop. It doesn't. I say go to your room. They won't. I say I'm counting to 10 and you better be in your room. They don't move. So I walk to the kitchen utensil drawer, open it, act like I am picking up the spoon, and suddenly, you hear screams and scrambling footsteps clambering up the stairs, escaping from me. I don't like that feeling. And, I don't think it really helps the long term, so I knew I needed to come up with something more likely to provoke actual behavioral change in these little sweethearts.

So, tonight my lines were, "I love you too much to argue," and "This is using so much of my energy. I was going to use my energy to pick up the living room and fold the laundry. Now I don't have the energy, so you're going to have to do those things for me."

It was amazing that these tactics seemed to work. At least for tonight, anyway.

Eventually, both Quinn and Ethan ended up in their rooms for fighting - they were wrestling, wouldn't stop, she pulled his ear, so he bit her knee. So to their rooms they went. 5 minutes later, a paper airplane comes flying down the stairs toward me (and this went on back and forth for about 5 trips), and here's an example of the messages and this happens to be the last one in flight (In case it's not obvious, Quinn's is the marker, mine is the pencil):

So, in a way, it was a more peaceful night. The message exchange via paper airplanes not only made it quiet, but also shifted focus. They stayed upstairs, but it wasn't a totally stressful, me against them type deal.

So, sometimes we can create our own discipline if we roll with it, I guess.

However, I still can't wait for my new book to arrive. I imagine my 2 new phrases will just about be worn out by then.

Lazy Sunday

2010-11-28T20:42:00.002-06:00

Not much to say about today. It seems that we're on the go so much, it's been nice not going anywhere for the past 2 days. Well, almost. The kids wanted to put Christmas lights outside today after our "Nightwalk" last evening at 8:45 pm. You see, the kids were getting feisty, and while they should have been winding down, they were getting wound. So, I glanced outside, saw a few Christmas lights on the neighbors' houses, and declared, "Hey, let's go on a Nightwalk!" They looked at me like I'd just said the most exciting thing they'd ever heard, and exclaimed in unison, "Yeah!!! Let's go! . . . but . . . can we bring a flashlight?"

So today I dragged the three of them to Walmart because I thought it would be cheaper than anywhere else. It was cheap alright. One set of snowflake lights didn't even work when I got home. I changed out the bulbs, changed out the fuses, but no luck. I was so mad, but I gathered the kids back up, piled them into the car, and returned to the store to exchange for a new set. Having the balls that I do, after I made my purchase I said to the cashier, "May I use that outlet over there to make sure this set works? I was here earlier and the previous set did not." She said it would be fine, so I marched right over to the nearest outlet, opened the box with my new set of lights, plugged them right in, and sure enough, this set worked.

Once the lights were set with garland and a wreath on my balcony, we finished up homework. Quinn is so diligent about her work. Careless sometimes, and messy, but she'll sit right there and do it until it's done, no fuss. Ethan did well with his tonight, too.

Quinn had a ton of math. She had about 11 problems to correct.

This is the chicken and barley soup I made in the slow cooker for dinner.

It was pretty good! (And will feed us through mid-week, I presume).

Friendship

2010-11-27T20:30:00.003-06:00

The pictures say it all. Quinn talks about her friend Mya quite a bit, and even though she lives in Massachusetts (she's the daughter of one of my very best friends from college, Kerrin), the girls have been exchanging letters since the summer.

We were at the mall yesterday, and a lady was selling friendship bracelets for $1. Quinn had money with her (she earned an allowance for cleaning her room and picking up the living room) and decided that she would buy 3 bracelets: one for Mya, one for Emily, and one for herself (all matching, of course).

She came right home and wrote a letter to Mya. Then she made a card for Emily.

And she's wearing her friendship bracelet faithfully on her little wrist.

Can I get a Picture?

2010-11-27T20:15:00.006-06:00

It was one day past Thanksgiving and the energy was overwhelming. All I wanted was to snap a quick photo to text to my sister. And now I've decided we are having mandatory outside playtime EVERY DAY this year, unless it's 20 below or colder. I'm serious. Call me short-tempered, but by 4:00 yesterday afternoon, I'd had it. Um, I think you can hear it in my sarcastic tone. Obviously not a very effective tactic, as you'll see, as they barely acknowledge me. Which seems to be characteristic of their behavior lately.

And today, even though we're short on snow, I spotted a snowbank that I can view from my sliding glass doors. This afternoon, when the energy levels rose, and as Colby napped, I declared it was outside time, and made Quinn and Ethan take sleds out and play on the "hill." It made a subtle, but worthwhile, difference.

Mark my words. It's going to be a loooonnnng winter.

Last Christmas . . .

2010-11-27T20:03:00.003-06:00

Well, I know you've heard the song because ALL radio stations play this 80's classic Christmas song by Wham. But, for some reason, my little Colby has it stuck in his head. He sings it ALL day long. I even had to buy it from iTunes and now we have it whenever we want it. And at at the end when the lyrics go, "This year, to save me from tears, I'll give it to someone special (special) . . ." he leans over and plants a big kiss on my lips.

It doesn't get any better than this.

By the way, here's how the real George Michael version sounds:

Christmas Spirit

2010-11-27T19:31:00.006-06:00

Last night while Quinn was having a sleepover at Emily's, I needed to find some fun for the boys. We first went to the YMCA to check it out - I thought we might get a winter membership there. But, as we walked in you could see the pool, and the first thing the boys said was, "It's too busy, it's too small, and they don't even have a slide." So, we sat down for a moment, I thought about it, and then we stood up and walked right out. If that was their first impression, and on a weekend evening (when we would probably be going there any) it was that busy, I guess it wouldn't be a really exciting for them. For me maybe . . . an opportunity to exercise for up to 2 hours while they played in the child care room . . .but I really wanted something they would be excited about. And it didn't happen.

So, off we drove, and decided to eat at Perkins. While we were there, we started talking about Christmas. They wanted to go look at decorations. I had a Home Depot gift card, and figured I might buy a pre-lit tree, or a wreath and garland for my balcony. But when we got there, they had a Christmas village set up, and Ethan was taken. He begged and begged, and was fascinated as he looked into each little house, or shop, or church, lit with a small bulb in the back. I didn't particularly like the one at Home Depot, but promised him we'd look elsewhere. So went to Target but had no luck. By now he was really disappointed so I thought hard. Then as we were pulling out of Target, I remembered seeing a Christmas village at Fleet Farm. So we went there, and thank goodness my memory had served me well. Not only did they have it, but it was way better than the others. It was a fishing village. He chose 3 buildings and then trees and a few accessories to go with it, plus snow. I don't think he has been more excited over something in a long while. He scoured the shelves, making sure his decision was the best. He started a little dance, and then grabbed his crotch. "Ethan, do you have to pee?" I asked. "No, I just want to look at the houses. So he did, and then his dance stance and energy was escalating. He suddenly looked at me and whispered in my ear as he was jumping, "I have to piss."

"You have to WHAT!?" I gasped.

"I have to peeeesssss. I have to peessss sssssooo . . . bad."

I still don't know if he really swore or just had to go so bad his words ran together, but I didn't bother with the lecture. We dashed toward the bathroom, he did his thing, then returned to the Christmas village aisle.

By now, an obese gentleman, maybe 320, a little older than myself, with 3 missing front teeth, wearing a green and black plaid flannel jacket and dungarees was there too, leaning on his shopping cart. He made it a point to tell us he was divorced, asked how many people the houses in my cart were for (one for each member our family? the 3 of you? (meaning, Ethan, Colby and me)). He said he'd been setting these up for years, and gave us a few pointers, all the while glancing at my exposed left hand, and mentioned by the way he was single because he was divorced, in case I didn't hear him the first time I guess. As he started in with with the girl stocking the shelf behind us, we slowly backed away.

Call me a bitc$, but I'm sorry I just don't like that. Let's all of us just shop, get what we need, and go home. If I'm shopping, especially at Fleet Farm, with my children, I can assure you, I'm probably not looking for a date.

As we pulled into the garage at home and got out of the car, Ethan met me at the back and said, "Pile me up, Mom, I can carry a lot in for you." So I loaded him up. As he walked away, weighted down with an almost entire Christmas village, he asked, "Do I get a sticker for carrying all this stuff?"

And then he got right to work, with Colby's help.

And this little village has started the holiday nostalgia that I remember as a child. The kids have layed on their tummies throughout the day, just looking and thinking, and asking each other, "What do you think is going on in that window?" or "What do you think that person in there is doing?" and then they will straighten a tree, or reposition a bird (Ethan chose a pack of birds to accessorize his village).

I love to watch their excitement.

Cousins

2010-11-27T19:29:00.000-06:00

There they are . . . all 9 of them.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Pen Holder

2010-11-27T19:24:00.003-06:00

Colby said to me, "Mommy, I found a great place to keep my ohwinje pen."

And so he did . . . for 2 days straight.

Still Believing

2010-11-20T20:36:00.002-06:00

Quinn (3rd grade and age 8) announced to me yesterday afternoon, "On Christmas Eve I am taking a bath."

"Why?" I asked. (I knew, but played dumb).

"Because I want a new pair of pajamas. If we take a bath on Christmas Eve, Santa comes early and leaves pajamas for us on the front steps."

OMG, YES!! She still believes.

You see, this is a ritual that was started by yours truly about 5 years ago, in an attempt to facilitate bedtime and early sleep on Christmas Eve . . . Santa would make a stealthy "announcement" that he was in the neighborhood by depositing gifts on the front step . . . thereby enabling adequate time and a reasonable hour for toy assembly, present arrangement, stocking filling, etc.

Funny how traditions get started.

Ok, these pics are about a month old, but just wanted to post them. See how warm, and snow-less we were 4 weeks ago? Today it's about 19 degrees out, and the ground is covered in snow.

A New Twist: Mist!

2010-11-18T20:57:00.002-06:00

Today was the dreaded trip to the clinic for the kids' flu shots. It's funny how I've done the same routine for a few years, but didn't really realize it until I just read through an old post here.

I took them to Culver's for dinner, then while we were eating, casually mentioned that we would be stopping by the flu shot clinic on our way home. Quinn nearly choked on her grilled cheese when she heard this. Now that she's 8, she just sat there across from me in the booth, glaring into space with a total pissed off look on her face. Ethan dropped his corn dog and started chanting "Nonononononono" while shaking his head back and forth rapidly. And Colby said nothing but disappeared beneath the table. Occasionally Quinn would ask for pain comparisons, like: "Will it hurt the way a strep throat test hurts?"
Me: "No, not nearly as bad."
Her: "Will it feel like last year?"
Me: "No, not nearly as bad."
Her: "Did your flu shot hurt this year."
Me: "No, not nearly as bad."
Her: "What?"
Me: "Oh. No. It didn't. I hardly felt a thing."

Once we were done eating, we drove to the clinic for our 6:00 appointment. Amazingly, we rode in complete and utter silence.

When I parked and turned off the car, they did not move. Then, they remembered the revolving door at the entrance to the clinic, so luckily, this lured them in.

Once we were checked in, we followed the signs to the flu clinic and took our seats in line. Moments later, a little boy, probably age 5, emerged with his father. He looked happy, no signs of distress, and my children noticed. "Mom, he's not even crying," they remarked.

"I know. So see? It's not that bad. Do you think you guys could do as well as he did?"

"No, not if it hurts," said Ethan.

Then the nurse called for us. She looked at me and said, "Shot or mist?"

I heard the Hallelujah song playing in my head. You see, our clinic has never before offered the mist.

I ordered the obvious.

It was bliss.

Not surprisingly, Quinn, being the oldest, refused to go first. She even backed herself into the corner of the room. But, after witnessing her 2 younger brothers' survival, she stepped forward. Just as the nurse was about to squirt, Ethan muttered, "Quinn, it actually does hurt a little bit."

What a little turd.

But, what a difference. No screams. No tears. No restraints.

We love mist.

The Cards

2010-11-18T20:41:00.004-06:00

One of the things that made my birthday so special on Sunday was the fact that the kids -on their own- remembered my birthday, and even got up early before I was out of bed and made cards for me. Life doesn't get any more precious than walking down your stairs and finding your children hard at work creating homemade birthday cards for you on a weekend morning.

Now, I know they had some coaching from their dad for this, but . . . they were still able to remember 5 days later that it was my birthday. That's special.

This was Quinn's card

And this was Ethan's

Add to this a huge balloon and bouquet of flowers from my ex-husband, an afternoon of laser tag and arcade games (um, ok, kids being happy was my birthday gift), dinner at Olive Garden, and then cake and ice cream at home . . . plus numerous phone calls, cards, and text messages . . . it was a very nice birthday indeed.

First Snow

2010-11-14T09:36:00.002-06:00

Had our first snowfall of the year yesterday. It was a good one, even lingered through today. We played at our friend Jen's house and the kids made snowmen and rode a family size toboggan down their 10-foot long hill in the back yard. Just kidding, the hill was longer than that, but not by much. The kids didn't seem to mind or notice at all, though. When they came back inside, we had chili and chicken noodle soup. Perfect!!

So far so good with the outdoor winter play. My goal is to have outside time with them every weekend throughout the winter Trying to get a little better with each year.

Friday Lunch Dates

2010-11-12T18:51:00.003-06:00

"Mommy, can you take me to Mc-Don-noh's today?" asked Colby.

So of course ... I did. I really love my lunch dates with him. As he sits across from me in the booth, he is so smiley, so happy, rocking back and forth as he eats and plays with his new toy, so in his little 4 year-old world, and so precious. Today, in between bites of chicken nugget, actually in the midst of chewing a chicken nugget, he looked at me and said, "I love you Mommy."

I am doing my best to cherish these days alone with my youngest and remind myself to never take anything for granted. They grow up so fast.