Jumping the Gun

We went over to a friend's house on Thursday for a Girl Scout meeting and I saw that she had her Christmas decorations up already.  I started to give her a hard time about it, and then she told me how they are never home for Christmas, they are leaving to see family on the 19th, and that her kids are little and she wants her decorations up as long as possible so they can enjoy them.  That rang home with me.

I thought about it more and more and how it applied to us.  We never put our decorations up before Thanksgiving.  On the years we come home on Saturday we may put them up the Sunday after Thanksgiving, but it's usually the weekend after and it's never long enough.  For the first year in I don't know how long we actually had no plans the weekend before Thanksgiving so we decided to take the plunge.

We put the tree and inside decorations up on Saturday and were going to wait on the lights, but the weather can be unpredictable here (two years ago we never put our outside lights up because it was always freezing and snowy on the weekends and then it was too late) and yesterday was beautiful so yesterday afternoon Charlie, Andy and I took care of the outdoor lights while the girls rode their bikes.  See, unpredictable.

As a result, I have a little less stress and we get ready to leave for Miami for Thanksgiving, and one less thing to worry about when I get back.  I've got my Christmas cards ordered too, now just to write that letter...

Entrepreneurs

On Monday night we got about eight inches of snow.  On Tuesday the kids had their first ever Snow Day.  They've had snow days in Texas before that were really ice days, no snow but you can't get anywhere because it's too icy, but never a true snow day where there was actually snow on the ground and you're stuck at home.

Andy came into my room just after 7a while I was trying to enjoy the fact that I didn't have to get up for anything that morning and asked if he could shovel the driveway for $20.  I immediately said yes, because I didn't want to do it and Charlie was out of town.  I started thinking about it a little more and realized that when I was 12 years old, or now for that matter, my dad would have never given me money to shovel the driveway.  It was just expected, I was told to go out and shovel the driveway and I did.  I grumbled about it, but I did it.  But here's the thing.  Last year at the beginning of the winter when we had our first big snow a kid about Andy's age came to the door and asked if he could shovel our driveway for $20.  Again we did not want to do it so we happily gave that kid $20 to do it.  Andy was a little miffed and we decided that if we are willing to pay someone to do a job for us, why not keep it in the family and let him do it for the same amount?  I'm not sure that jives with the "contributing to the family" thing or whatever we are supposed to be teaching our kids these days, but I think things have changed from when we were kids.

Anyway, the snow was heavy and thick and the job wasn't as easy as he thought it would be.  They don't keep those kids home from school for just anything!  He got about 3-4 rows shoveled and then decided it was too much and came in.  That would have been it for him and I would have seen myself outside shoveling until Sarah decided that she wanted some money and she was going to do it.  Man that kid is growing on me.  So she got on all her gear and went out to shovel which made Andy go back out there which even got Amanda out there for a bit but I'm not sure if she made more of a mess or helped them.

In the end, my driveway did get shoveled and all the of the kids got some money.  A win-win for everybody.

All I Want For Christmas

I've been trying to get the kids to put together their Christmas lists, but they haven't been very interested.  This morning I got an email from my sister-in-law asking what they wanted so I thought I would try a different approach.

Me:  Kids, Aunt Nanci sent me an email today asking what you wanted for Christmas.  What should I tell her?

Amanda:  Candy.

Me:  No.

Amanda:  Money.

Me:  No.

Amanda:  Bounce House.

Me:  No.

Amanda:  Van.

Me:  No.

Amanda:  Unicorn.

Me:  No.

Amanda:  Trampoline.

Me:  No.

Amanda:  Pool.

Me:  No.


Looks like someone will not be getting anything for Christmas unless her list gets a little more realistic.

Kid Quote of the Day

Sarah:  Mommy, Sarah means princess.

Me:  Yep, that's right.

Amanda:  Mommy, Amanda means unicorn.

Me:  Um no, no it doesn't.

Kid Quote of the Day

"I hate my Tooth Fairy, I want a new one!"

- Amanda, after finding out that the Tooth Fairy left glitter on the pillow of one of her classmates.  Way to make it difficult for everybody else Ainsley's mom!

Kid Quote of the Day

The craziness of Halloween is finally over and as we had a slight lull in conversation in the car today, Amanda says to me, "Mommy, how many days until Christmas?"

In case you were wondering, it's 53.  53 days until Christmas, 53 days until we see Grandma and Grandpa and all the cousins from my side of the family.  54 days until she starts asking how many days it is until her birthday.  Please give me patience.

Hallo When?

Amanda:  When is Halloween?

Me:  Saturday.

Amanda:  How many days is that?

Me:  Three.  Today is Wednesday.  Thursday, Friday, Saturday, three days.

Amanda:  I don't get it.

Me:  The day after today is Thursday, the day after that is Friday, the day after that is Saturday.  Three days.

Amanda:  How about if you just tell me on the day.

London

We left for London on Friday afternoon.  The kids and I were flying on miles and the best city for us to fly out of was London, so we decided to make a weekend out of it.  We decided to ride the train instead of fly to avoid some of the hassles of the airport, but leaving the train station was very similar to an airport.  You still had to fill out a customs form, show your passports and go through security and x-ray.

The ride was fun and relaxing and the girls enjoyed getting to sit across from one another with a table in between.  You barely even notice the short period of time that you are actually under water because you are in a tunnel.  Unfortunately for Amanda there were no windows in the tunnel and you could not see the fish as you were whizzing by on the train.

When we arrived in London we couldn't find a cab right away so we decided to try the underground.  Bad idea, at least with kids and luggage in tow.  There were people everywhere walking so fast who had no patience or tolerance for us getting our bearings.  So, back to find the taxi line and we finally were on our way to the hotel.  Charlie found a very cute bed and breakfast for us close to a university. Our room was pretty basic, four small beds jammed into a big room, but it did the trick and we were only staying two nights.  After we dropped off our bags we walked to a local pub for dinner.  We got a few funny looks from the patrons and the kids thought it was a bit interesting, but we were mostly just happy that we could order and communicate with the bartender in our native tongue.

The next morning we got up ready to see London.  We had one day and wanted to show the kids as much as possible.  First we went to the half priced ticket booth and got tickets for that evening for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.  Then we jumped on one of those big hop-on-hop-off buses that takes you all over the city.  Kind of cheesy, but we got to sit and listen about the history of London and we saw the entire city.  We got off at the Tower of London to see the crown jewels.  Andy enjoyed listening to the humor of the Beefeaters giving the tours, but we couldn't keep up because there were at least 50 people trying to listen and the girls were bored and staying in the back where you couldn't hear.

By the end of the day we were bused out and had a quick dinner of cake and ice cream before we headed to the theater.  When we got our tickets our choices were way back in the balcony or for a little more the very front row, so the kids got to sit front and center.  We were so close we could see the little microphones on the actors.  The kids loved the play, especially Sarah who had read the book in second grade so was very familiar with the story.  Our long day in London was an amazing end to a very long trip.

The next day we flew home.  We didn't get home until after 7p on Sunday night and the kids had school on Monday.  It took us several days to get back on schedule, and for me to get caught up on all the laundry, but it was worth it.  The kids have some wonderful memories of the trip and occasionally with throw out something about Paris or Venice or London and it makes me smile.  I love that we have instilled the love of travel in them.

Paris

We woke up really early on Monday morning for our flight to Paris.  Like it's-still-really-dark-out early.  The hotel was right by the train station and we didn't want to mess with a taxi or Uber so early in the morning so we took the train to the airport.  I love European public transportation, it is so incredibly easy.

The only thing we had planned for Paris that day was to get there and get checked in to the apartment that Charlie had rented on AirB&B.  We didn't want to schedule anything and then miss it because our flight was delayed or cancelled, and that worked out pretty well since we were arriving to our third city of the trip.  The place Charlie found to stay was amazing.  It was a two bedroom apartment with a room for us and a room for the girls and a double futon in the living room for Andy.  It had two showers and one toilet room, although one of the showers was tiny (according to Andy it was too small for him), and a full kitchen with a good-sized refrigerator (for Europe) and a dish washer.  The best part was the view from the huge living room window of the top half of the Eiffel Tower.  Unfortunately I didn't really get any good pictures.  I took one of Charlie the day we arrived and then remembered I need to take more the night before we left but the next morning it was so foggy you couldn't see the top of the tower.

I don't want to give you a day by day run down of what we did because that's kind of boring, but I will say we did a lot considering we were only there for about four days and we had three kids in tow.  I also spend about two of those days by myself with the kids, which went very well but by the end I was tired.  Tired of walking, tired of the weather and tired of being in a place where English was not the first language.  Mentally and physically tired.

Don't worry, we took the kids to all the hot spots.  We did a fantastic Eiffel Tower tour and even Charlie and I learned new things about the tower and the surrounding area.  We spend a lovely afternoon on the hill of Sacre Coeur, saw Notre Dame and the Arc De Triomphe.  The kids and I went to the palace of Versailles, which they really like but by the end decided they had seen enough palaces for one vacation, and I took them to the courtyard of the Louvre to see the pyramids.  We didn't go inside because they would have been bored.  Heck, the last time I went in I was bored.  We tried to go to the Musee D'Orsay, one of my favorite museums in Paris, but it was our last day and the line was so long we wouldn't have gotten to see much.

I did sneak in a fun kid day while Charlie was at his conference and took the kids to EuroDisney, or as they like to call it Disneyland Paris.  There were a few things that were different than the park in California, like the hours and the fireworks show, but a lot of it was the same.  It was a fun day of doing something totally for the kids and not making them learn anything.

The only bummer about our time in Paris was the weather.  The first day we got there it was sunny and warm and we hoped that it would last the whole week, but we weren't that lucky.  We got a little sun on Tuesday for our Eiffel Tower tour and then it got overcast and windy for the rest of the week.  The day we went to Disneyland it was so cold I finally bought a second sweatshirt for the girls and myself to wear over the sweatshirts we brought and I bought gloves for all of the kids and myself.  That made a huge difference, but I was still cold.

So, Paris was awesome minus the weather.  The kids got to eat crepes, Andy ate an entire baguette in one sitting (minus about one inch of it), Andy mastered the Paris metro system and we spent so much money on vending machine candy you wouldn't even believe it.  I know where I get that from, my dad.  Except he hoards it and keeps it forever and the kids and I ate that stuff right up!  It was kind of bad because if I had coin Euros in my pocket, even if they were the equivalent of $1 or $2, we would drop them into the vending machines like they were dimes or nickels.  We rode all over the city on the Metro and there were vending machines at all the Metro stops so you can see where we might have spent a lot of money on all the amazing, delicious, different and new candies.

However by Friday I was done.  Worn down and cold and tired of trying to speak my horrible 25 year old French.  The fog rolled in and it started to rain and we were all just done.  I was more than ready to head to London for the last full day of our trip and then on home.

Fish Are Friends, Not Food

Amanda:  What are we having for dinner?

Me:  Fish.

Amanda:  Fish is for babies.

Me:  No, fish is for big girls.  You know what's for babies?

Amanda:  What?

Me:  Whining about what's for dinner.

Amanda:  No, whining is for big girls.


Ugh, I really hate the whining stage.  Unfortunately it's the longest one of all.  Amanda is full swing and Sarah is almost out of it.  Just a few more years...

Frankfurt and Vienna

We left on Wednesday after school for Frankfurt.  The kids had Friday off and it was the end of the term for Andy, so they only missed one, relatively unimportant, day of school for our trip.  Plus, all the teachers thought it was pretty cool that we were taking the kids to Europe so were more than accommodating.  We got very little sleep on the plane and landed in Frankfurt mid-morning.  Before we left Amanda was really nervous about having to sleep on the plane and was convinced we were going to crash and die.  When we got off the plane she had decided that she wanted to live on an airplane.  Tired and all I would declare that a success.

Charlie had a meeting at 1:30p so we got a room at the airport hotel so we could shower and change, but we were flying on to Vienna that night so we didn't get too comfortable.  After he left for his meeting, I took the kids into town.  Frankfurt was tough.  We were so tired and the only words I know in German are Thank You and You're Welcome, which doesn't get you far.  Plus, the trains were not as easy as in other countries like Paris or London.  But, we finally figured it out, although Andy (who knows everything) was convinced I was an idiot, and hopped on a train for a few stops to the nearby town.  We were looking for a certain restaurant that the concierge had recommended, but as we were walking by a different restaurant the waiter sort of made us come in to eat and I was way too tired to fight.  So, our first and only meal in Germany was at an Italian restaurant, but none of us cared too much.

We only had a few hours so we walked around the cute little town, got ice cream, bought candy - you know, the important stuff.  We were all back to the hotel by 7p and then to the airport to head to Vienna.  The next morning Charlie left again for more meetings and the kids and I were on our own.  We found a cute little pastry shop and then a park where we ran into a lady who was from Boulder (crazy!) and a group of school children that all spoke English (turns out the owner was from California and started an English Kindergarten - which there was ages 3-6).  Not at all what I was expecting but kind of cool.

When Charlie got back we had dinner and then went to a music museum that was supposed to be awesome but I didn't think was that interesting.  Oh well, at least we can say we've been there.  On Saturday we went to a palace and then on Sunday went to a little amusement park with a thing like a Ferris Wheel where you went around and could see the whole city.  This is the part that was different about traveling with the kids.  You can't take them to all the stuff you want to do and expect them to be quite and good and interested.  They are interested to a point, but you just have to do some stupid, fun, kid stuff too.  So when people ask me "Did you have the best time?", we had a great time but it was different from every other time I have been to Europe because we had to make it more kid focused.

I was happy to leave Vienna on Monday morning for Paris for multiple reasons, but we sure did enjoy the nice big breakfast at the hotel and the candies at the front desk.

Fall Break

A few months ago Charlie realized that he had to attend a conference in Paris over the kids' fall break.  Our solution?  Bring the kids!  Charlie would have to be in meetings here and there, but would get to spend both weekends and a few weekdays with us.  It would be better than being home all week with nothing to do and having him gone.  So after weeks of planning, he put it all together and we spent last week, and a couple days from the previous week, in Europe.

Overall it was a great trip, but this is just the teaser.  We got home on Sunday night so we are still jet lagged and I have spent most of the last two days doing laundry so the story will have to wait another day.  I will say I am so blessed that this trip worked out and we were able to go, it is just amazing to share the world and our love of travel with our kids.

Fifty Shades of Inappropriate

Yesterday I was having a conversation with the girls while I was driving.  We have some of the best, funniest conversations in the car.  I think they are just extra silly when they are sitting next to each other, strapped into the car without the possibility of escape.  Amanda was asking me what's my favorite shade of blue.  She's not satisfied that my favorite color is blue, she needs to know what shade of blue.  Then Sarah joined the conversation.

Sarah:  There's a book called "Fifty Shades of Gray".

Me:  Yes, but that book isn't really appropriate for kids.

Sarah:   Why is it inappropriate for kids?  It sounds boring.


As I was trying to decide how and if I was going to answer that question, Amanda came to the rescue.


Amanda:  I'm going to write a book called "1000 Shades of Blue".  Then I will tell everybody to read that instead of "Fifty Shades of Inappropriate".

Smart A**

Last week were Andy's parent/teacher conferences.  In our district they do "student led" conferences, which means your student comes and tells you what they've been working on and then you spend a few minutes with the teacher and they tell you a little about your kid.  I'm not going to sugar coat it, I think student led parent/teacher conferences are stupid.  I don't understand them.  I want to go to the conference and talk openly about my kid and find out if he is being good or bad or respectful or not and I don't feel that the teacher can honestly answer that question with my kid sitting right there starting at them and waiting for an answer.  I could be wrong, but I don't think I am.  I think this new way of conferences is being dictated by helicopter parents such as the one my neighbor overhead in one of her daughter's 8th grade conferences who asked the teacher to make sure her kid drank his water when he got to her class because by sixth period he was a little dehydrated.  Yeah, like the teacher has nothing better to do in a class of 13 year olds than to make sure one of them is drinking enough water.

Anyway, Andy was fully aware how I feel about these conferences because I may have gone off about them at the dinner table on more than one instance last week.  That was because a) I hate them and b) he was supposed to be babysitting the girls while I went to them but since I had to bring him I had to make other arrangements and ask another favor of one of my friends to watch the girls yet again.  Luckily I have nice friends.  Prior to the conferences, each of the teachers had the kids fill out a personal evaluation as to what they have learned so far this year, how they think the school year is going, if they are struggling with anything...you get the idea.  Then when we got to the conferences they were supposed to share the evaluation with the parents, show them a few things they have been working on so far, and then we got a few minutes with the teacher.

Knowing my frustration with the situation, Andy decided that he didn't need to take the evaluations overly serious.  His answers were not disrespectful, but some were a little sarcastic.  One of the statements from his math evaluation was my favorite by far.

 Statement:  This is what I have learned this year from having to collaborate with classmates:

Andy's response:  Be a good colorer, or you can't help.


Man, I love that kid and I sure hope he is learning something besides the fact that his coloring skills are lacking.  By the way, his conferences went fine, it wasn't as bad as I thought, he is being respectful to his teachers and fellow students and is currently rocking straight As.

My Little Giant

When I was a kid, about once a year my mom would make me try on everything in my dresser and closet to determine what still fit and what I needed for the year to come.  The process was torture and I hated it.  I'm pretty sure, especially now that I am a mom, that she hated it as well.  It took forever and was boring and I moaned and groaned through the entire process.

A couple weeks ago Andy informed me that he had outgrown his pants and needed some new ones.  Except he didn't do it nicely, because that's not always how he operates these days.  Instead he just barked at me, "Buy me pants".  I fought to ignore his statement, went upstairs and counted to ten, and then came back and told him that I would be happy to purchase new pants for him after we went through his closet and dresser to determine what he had that actually fit.  What's the saying?  Paybacks are hell.

One day after school this week we holed ourselves in his room and went through all his clothes.  I'm pretty sure that we've only done this one other time in the past three years we've lived here because it is so unenjoyable.  We found multiple things that still had the tags on them that probably haven't fit in two years and other things that fit up until a month ago.  The kid is growing like crazy and will be taller than Charlie and me by Christmas.

By the time we finished, we had two good sized bags of clothes to give to two of the neighbor kids that are a couple years younger than Andy, and another bag that will be donated.  He can close he dresser drawers once again because now he only has four pairs of jeans that I bought him in the spring, two long sleeve shirts and a short stack of t-shirts and shorts (that will not fit past this fall).  As soon as Old Navy has a good sale, or we have no choice because it starts to get really cold, we are going on a serious shopping spree.

He can't fit into kids' sizes anymore and now is wearing men's small.  Which means the price of his clothes just doubled but he's still growing out of them as fast as a kid.  I really don't see him slowing down anytime soon.

Despite his size, he still likes to be tucked in at night and read with us and even snuggle and hold our hands once in a while.  But I don't see that lasting much longer.  The other day he said he couldn't believe he was going to be in high school in two years and then said, "Where did the years go?".  Funny, I thought that was my line.

Where indeed my little man.

Concert Bound

About a year ago Charlie and I bought tickets to the Taylor Swift 1989 concert.  Yes, they went on sale almost 12 months in advance.  Luckily we were on top of it.  We bought enough for our family and a few extras which allowed us to invite a few friends.

My friend, Larisa, and her daughter, Natalie, flew in for Labor Day weekend to hang out and go to the concert with us.  On Sunday we took them to Garden of the Gods, our favorite place to take out of town guests since we've been there more places than anywhere else, and then came home and headed out to the concert.  We had dinner first and were forced to sit at the bar because we didn't know we needed reservations.  While there Sarah said, "Mommy, it's so much fun to sit at the bar."  Man are we going to be in so much trouble with her some day.

Sarah and Andy got to go to the Taylor Swift Concert in Miami in November of 2011, but this was Amanda and Natalie's first concert.  Amanda was so excited when it started and kept screaming, "I love you Taylor, I'm your biggest fan, I want to marry you" but about an hour in she was ready to go home.  Sarah and I had a blast and because we listen to the album a ridiculous amount in the car knew (almost) all the words and sang along to it all.  Charlie and Andy didn't sit with us because we couldn't get that many seats together, but I heard that Andy knew all the words too.

Overall we had a great time and were so glad our friends could come visit and share in the fun!


The girls in their concert shirts before the show.  Natalie is only a year older than Sarah, but she is on the tall side and Sarah and Amanda are on the short side.

Sarah waiting for the concert to start.

Amanda waiting for the concert to start.

Babysitter In Training

Last week Charlie was out of town and I needed to be somewhere.  Usually if Andy is gone I will ask the girl across the street to come over for a few hours and watch the Sarah and Amanda, but Andy was home and she is the same age as Andy so that was a no go.  When he is home I usually get one of our teenage babysitters to watch all of them - play with the girls and leave Andy alone only telling him when it's time for him to go to bed.

This time I thought I would try something different.  Andy knows how much I pay our babysitters and knows I pay them well.  You always pay your babysitters well because a) then they are almost always available for you and b) because they are taking care of your kids.  So I decided to ask Andy if he wanted to babysit the girls, but first I had to lay down some ground rules.  He was required to pay attention to them (that sounds easy but with him you never know) and play with them (what they wanted to play, as any babysitter would do).  He also had to put them to bed.

He wasn't completely excited about it but he's in a money making mode so agreed.  I also was going to be less than a mile from the house so if anything really happened I could be home in less than five minutes.  The girls weren't thrilled because they love all of their female babysitters, but they didn't get a lot of say.  Honestly, I love our babysitters too but I also like the idea of keeping the money in the family.

So I left for two hours and when I came home the house was still standing.  There were no broken bones, everything was in order and the girls were in bed.  They were still awake and when I checked on them they said they were scared, but they couldn't really tell me what they were scared of.  Nobody was traumatized and we just might be able to do it again.

With the amount of traveling that Charlie has been doing lately, I see this as a win-win.  I won't do it often, but I know that it's always an option.

I'm Becoming My Mother

We've gotten to a really nice place in the morning.  I get up at 6a with Andy and make lunch for all the kids, send him off and then have about 15 minutes to myself before Amanda wanders downstairs, often buck naked, to ask me what she should wear to school and if I will please help her get dressed.  She doesn't really want me to physically help her get dressed, but pick out the clothes or sometimes just be there for moral support.  The girls have been awesome about showering in the morning, brushing their hair and getting their breakfast.  Sometimes they need help, like today Sarah had a hard time cutting her mini bagel and getting it out of the toaster, but otherwise things have been moving smoothly.

Occasionally I take those uneventful mornings for granted and don't check the girls over as carefully as I should.  Maybe their hair is still wet or a little knotty or they are a bit disheveled.  I'm sure their teachers have seen it all, so I don't worry about it too much, plus I really don't want to argue with them about their appearance in the morning, so I usually let it go.  This morning, however, after we had dropped Sarah off in her line up and were walking up the sidewalk to Amanda's drop off point, I noticed she had cream cheese all over her mouth.  So I did the thing my mother always did to me that I swore I would not do to my kids.  I licked my thumb and rubbed it off her face.

She let me do it, but looked at me and said, "You're gross."  Yes, kiddo, I am.

Breakfast In Bed

Last week Sarah and Amanda kept telling Charlie that they wanted to make him breakfast in bed.  He was a little worried about that prospect so asked them what they wanted to make him and then instructed them, just to be sure they were clear, on how to use the toaster.  He also told them that they should wait until Saturday morning so it didn't disrupt our school morning routine and they could not bring it in before 8:45 a.m.  Very spontaneous.

So yesterday morning, a little before 9 a.m., the girls came in with two plastic plates with toast on them.  I wasn't really supposed to be included in the whole thing, but I guess since I sleep in the same bed as their dad they felt they had to bring it for me too.  It could have been worse, they could have left me out of it completely.

Amanda handed me a plate with a piece of bread that they said had been toasted but wasn't at all that was covered with cherry jelly, my favorite.  It had been cut in four pieces, but there were only three on the plate.  I asked what happened to the other piece, thinking she would say that it fell on the floor or counter and she had to throw it away or that they had split the pieces between Charlie and me and so it was on his plate.  Not so much.  Her response?  "I ate it."  When I asked why she said, "Because I was hungry."  Duh, mom.  I guess you can only expect so much from a six-yr-old who always claims to be hungry.

Picture of the Day

A horrible picture (taken at a distance on Charlie's iPhone) of Andy on the Alpine Slide:

After our visit to the First Aid center:

A Quick Trip to the Mountains

On Friday Charlie mentioned that he wanted to go to the mountains over the weekend.  I thought about for a minute and realized that due to commitments over the next several weekend, if we didn't go this weekend we wouldn't be able to go until sometime in September.  Realistically if we put it off we probably wouldn't go.  So we waited until after Andy's football weigh-in, picked Sarah up from a birthday party and headed out of town.

We spent the night in Keystone at a cute little two bedroom ski condo that had a nice big porch and living room and a full kitchen - of course we didn't use any of it.  There was a small lake in the back where we fed the ducks and geese and we realized that the girls have an unnatural fear of geese.  But who doesn't, they are extremely aggressive.  Oh wait, now I know where they get it from.  The kids played on the playground and we avoided the rain and had dinner in the little village.

The next morning we had a yummy breakfast that included a bacon infused Bloody Mary (Charlie and I split it, because we had to try it) and then drove another 30 minutes to Breckenridge.  There they have all kinds of fun stuff for the kids to do including a mini roller coaster (where you have a brake and self-regulate your speed), an alpine slide (which is kind of like a luge where you ride a little sled with rollers and again have your own brake), a bungee trampoline, a timed maze, a ropes course, zip lines, panning for gold and a few other things.

The kids had a blast until we took our last (well, not planned last but ultimately last) trip down the alpine slide.  I didn't see it happen because I was on a different track (there are three), but Sarah fell off her slide on her way down and then Charlie and Amanda who were behind her but riding together on the same track almost flipped their sled and kind of crashed against the side to right themselves.  As a result we all ended up in the First Aid room getting the three of them cleaned up and trying to make sure there weren't any fiberglass remnants from the slides stuck in their skin.  There were no major injuries, just a few bumps and scrapes, but it put the girls in a bad mood so they wanted to go home.

I was worried they wouldn't want to go back anytime soon, but Amanda summed it up this morning when she said, "I don't want to ever go down the Alpine Slide again.  No, I don't want to ever go down the Alpine Slide with Daddy again."  Guess I win the companion award.  Regardless, I'm so glad we got out of town and did something fun and took advantage of the amazing place that we live.  Hopefully we will find time to do it (safely) again!

The First Week

It was an interesting and relatively uneventful first week of school for all of us.  Andy realized today, after five days of being at school, that he was in the wrong Language Arts class.  We received a letter in the spring saying that he would be in Advance Language Arts and today it finally clicked, based on what was being taught and other students that were in the class, that Andy was not in the correct one.  We probably could have figured it out last week if we had looked more carefully at his schedule, but I (stupidly) assumed that they know what they are doing and put him in the correct classes and didn't even check his schedule.  Apparently he didn't check it very carefully either.  His teacher said she would look into it and verify his MAP scores.  His MAP scores from last spring were the highest his elementary school English teacher had ever seen so I don't think it's going to be an issue.  Other than that, he's adjusting and seems to like middle school.

Sarah is doing fantastic.  She loves school, she loves her teacher, everything is good.  She did say the following to me yesterday:  "Mommy, there's a lot of boys in my class this year, and they're those manly, manly boys who think that they're so awesome and everybody falls in love with them.  But I'm not going to!".  She really isn't interested in boys at all yet, at least not in a romantic way, but it will be interesting to see how the year progresses. We've already talked a lot about "mean girls" and "drama" and how it would be a good idea to stay away from both.  We'll see how that goes.

Amanda has had the most roller coaster week of all three kids.  She didn't want to go to Kindergarten but she absolutely loves her teacher but she gets mad at the other kids because they don't behave and listen and she thinks that they think she's bossy for telling them to shape up.  This afternoon she was so sad that tomorrow was Saturday and there was no school, but a few hours later she said she hated Kindergarten.  So I don't know exactly what to tell you about her, other than she's happy when I drop her off and happy when I pick her up and tells me a ton about her day so I think she's doing just fine.

As for me, I think I'm going to like having everybody gone all day, but it's a little weird.  I haven't had that much free time this week, I've been running errands and taking care of things, but I wonder if I'm always going to be that busy and then I wonder more if I really care.  I think it's an adjustment for all of us, a new normal, but sooner or later it's all we're going to know and it's all going to be fine.  If not, you'll hear about it!

Picture of the Day

One final shot of Amanda being silly and showing me her butt!

First Day of School Part II

Today was the first day of school for Sarah and Amanda.  Amanda was pretty excited about Kindergarten a while ago, but lately not so much.  Regardless, they were up early.  By 7a Sarah was already in the shower.  We decided fourth grade was the year that she was going to shower every day.  Not that she smells, but that the day that she consistently will is coming sooner than later so I thought it would be good for her to get in the habit of showering in preparation for school.  Both girls were dressed and just messing with their hair by 7:30a.  Nice.

We took some pictures before we left for school and then we were on our way.  The placement of their lines (they wait outside until the bell rings unless it is less than 30 degrees or it is raining) worked out pretty well because we have to walk past Sarah's class to get to Amanda's.  So we dropped her with her class and teacher and then headed up the the Kindergarten classroom.  At this point Amanda was not so happy and as I gave her one last hug before she went into her room she started to cry and had to wipe her tears as she walked away from me.  I felt a little sorry for her but knew she was going to have a great day.

I wasn't sad at all today because I have been waiting for this day for a very long time.  The day when all three of my kids are in school full day.  But then I read an article that changed my mood.  I realized that I've been so worried about Andy and his first day of middle school and how he's growing up so quickly and Amanda and how little she still is (or thinks she is) and how she would rather be home with me, that I kind of haven't been thinking about Sarah.  Sarah, who got up this morning without an alarm and took a shower and got dressed and brushed her hair and only asked me for help when she was deciding what shoes to wear.  She did it all on her own.  Somewhere while I was busy worrying about the other two she matured and stepped up and took care of herself.  Wow.  And how funny that it coincides with National Middle Child Day, a totally made up holiday but whatever it was all over my newsfeed, which she thought was pretty cool when I mentioned it to her.

I picked up the girls after school and they couldn't wait to tell me about their days.  They both loved their teachers and really enjoyed school, which I knew they would.  Amanda had so much to talk about I couldn't get her to stop.  One of the benefits of having a girl, because boys don't tell you much.

At dinner tonight I asked Amanda if she was going to cry again.  She said yes.  I asked her when it was going to stop.  She replied, "when I get to middle school".  This should be a very interesting year!

Anglophiles

When Andy was little we, I mean he, used to watch this adorable show on Disney Jr. called Charlie and Lola.  I have no idea if it's even on the air anymore, but it was a show about a brother and sister and how the mature older brother dealt with the craziness of his little sister.  The characters are British, which makes the show even cuter because it's two little British kids talking to each other about the craziest thing.

We've had a Charlie and Lola book for a while, but Amanda just recently started to enjoy reading it before bed.  I forgot how much I loved their little stories so I bought about four more of the books, which both girls also enjoyed.  I'm not exactly sure how, but one day I started reading them in a British accent which the girls thought was hilarious.  It made me kind of sad that they had never seen the show because while I was reading I could hear little Lola and Charlie's voices.  Of course the books have more book titles on the inside cover and we also discovered there are DVDs.  So, for Amanda's birthday we got her the complete first and second season DVD set of Charlie and Lola.  The girls love watching it and I like it too because Charlie is oh so patient to his little sister's craziness and it is fun to see how he handles everything.

Unfortunately, the girls love them a little too much.  They have taken to speaking in horrible British accents, not just repeating lines from the DVDs but also saying everything.  This evening it was my turn to drive car pool to Andy's football practice.  We had to leave the house around 4:40 to pick the other boys up and get them to their 5:30 practice on time.  The crazy Colorado football post will be saved for another day.  Then he had a two-hour practice and then I had to drive them all home.  Usually I wouldn't wait at the practice field for the entire practice but tonight the weather was horrible and it could have rained with lightening at any time so we stuck around in case practice ended early.  I had to listen to the girls speak in those completely incorrect accents for three and a half hours.  Nonstop.  By the time we got home I was done.

Needless to say they went straight to bed when we arrived and we did not read any Charlie and Lola books this evening.

First Day of School

Yesterday was the last day of summer, which means that today was the first day of school.  Well, for some anyway.  Andy and I started our dance of getting up at 6a, this year I moved it back to 6:10a, and him ignoring me while he eats breakfast and plays on his iPad and I make his lunch and do whatever else.  Last year I just played on my iPad too, this year I'm going to actually try to engage him in conversation and leave my iPad alone until he leaves for the bus.  Then I'll have about 15-30 minutes before the girls come down and my day really begins.

So Andy was off for school by 7a and then the girls needed to get haircuts and go to school for picture day and teacher evaluations.  I love that they do pictures when I am right there to "help" the photographer and they don't mess up their nice clothes on the playground.  So much easier.  Sarah met her new teacher (she is only 24, I could totally be her mom) who is super nice and helped take care of her first day worries and Amanda is back to not being so sure about Kindergarten.  I can't hold her back another year (or can I - but I won't) so she's just going to have to figure it out.

I think Andy had a little rougher day than he expected.  He's not in the same math class with the two guys he drove over with last year and "it's hard to make friends".  Yes, buddy, that's the story of our last three years here.  But he is going to do fine, just a long, tiring day.

I am mandated by life to take a going back to school picture, so here it is.  April from New Jersey asked if he actually went to school with his hair like that and maybe was still working on it, but what you see is what you get.  Keep in mind, he's only 12 and he's not quite that worried about his looks just yet.  He basically told me that you can go to school with just showered wet hair and nobody cares, but you can't go to school with bed head.  As far as he sees it those are the two choices.  Man, if everybody viewed the world the same way he does life would be so much simpler.

Happy Birthday Amanda!

Today was Amanda's 6th birthday.  Holy cow!  It's hard to believe she's been around for six years but even harder to remember what our lives were like without her.  She drives me crazy, but she is also the most snuggly mama's girl I've ever known.  This family would never be the same without her.

In celebration of her big day and because it is next to impossible to throw a summer birthday party, the whole family went to Water World today in her honor.  The girls and I went about a week ago for a Girl Scout event, but Charlie and Andy had never been.  We rode huge rides in big, family-sized inner tubes and we all had a blast.  We're hoping to have a real party for her in about a month (after she makes some friends at school), but if not I think she would still say her birthday was a success.

Happy Birthday baby girl!

The Last Day of Summer

Friday was the last day of summer.  Okay, technically today was the last day of summer.  Well, if you want to really get technical, September 20 (or so) is the last day of summer, but not in the kid-parent-teacher calendar.  Andy goes back tomorrow.  The girls have teacher assessments tomorrow and go back Wednesday.  We will finally be back on a schedule, the kids will be gone all day, ahh.

I hate to do recaps, but I haven't been on here in over six weeks.  If and when the kids and I go back and read this blog, they are going to wonder what the heck we did this summer.  It's mostly the usually stuff, family and friends and camps and such, but what exactly happened this year?

This was the summer where:
1.  Sarah went to Girl Scout day camp with Julia and they were the first two girls in the troop to earn a badge as Juniors.
2.  Andy did his second year at CCO (sleep away camp in Winter Park) and the girls and I had a great adventure of spending the night in a hotel and then playing on the mountain (alpine slide, the maze, bungee jumping) before picking him up.
3.  We went to Chicago and saw Aunt Kathy's new addition, went to Shedd Aquarium, spent some time with Jack during his last summer before college and left right before they got a new puppy!
4.  Continued on to Aunt Nanci's for the first Fourth of July party at her new house.  The kids met Jason and Jack (we have yet to meet Joey), and we even got to spent the weekend with Tudor.
5.  Spent the last leg of our trip in New Jersey where April was eight months pregnant and a total trouper.  Charlie came on the entire trip which was a big plus and fun for everyone.
6.  Sarah went to horseback riding camp and may have finally, by the last day, gotten over the fear of getting thrown of a horse so many months ago.  She was a different person by the end of the week.
7.  Tried out a new house in Destin because we outgrew the old one and we really liked it.  We realized as the kids get older that the trip morphs a little bit each year - we are excited and nervous to find out exactly what that means.
8.  Sarah and I went to a Parent/Daughter Girl Scout weekend, camping in tents and everything.  It was way over scheduled and a little much for her but we survived.
9.  Andy went to Michigan to visit my parents all by himself.  They went to movies, the zoo, and just hung out ignoring each other a little bit as well.

I wish I had written more in depth about all of these things, but I didn't.  I wish I could tell you that I was so busy making memories that I didn't have time to write, but that really wasn't the case.  I hope I can get back on track and start writing more because I know at least my parents love to read what the kids are up to and I know several of my friends do too.  I don't really have any excuses now that I have three kids in school all day long, hopefully I can stick with it.

I Will Run For Fro-Yo

On Sunday the whole family did a 5k.  The kids have been saying that they want to do a race since I do three or four a year, so I found one that they couldn't resist.  The Fro-Yo 5k.  They run a 5k, and at the end they get frozen yogurt.  How hard could that be?

We started out all together, but Andy got bored with how slow we were going.  We were moving pretty slowly, he was walking while the girls were running and he was still ahead of them.  So even before the first mile we told him he could go on by himself and just wait for us at the finish.  After about 1.5 miles Sarah was widening the gap between her and Amanda, so the two of us went on and Charlie stayed with Amanda.  He said it was touch and go for a bit and Amanda almost just stopped and sat in the middle of the sidewalk, but they did end up finishing about 10 minutes after Sarah and me and we were there to cheer them on for the last tenth of a mile.

Overall, Sarah did great.  I kept her pace so when she wanted to run, I ran.  When she wanted to walk, I walked.  She never gave up and even though her feet hurt and it was really, really hard for her, she kept trying to run and she finished without complaining.  I was so proud of her and she was so proud of her medal!  I don't know that the girls are going to want to run another race anytime soon (they would prefer the next one not be over one mile), but Andy claims that he wants to run the Hot Chocolate 15k with me in October and also a 10k some time in late August or September to prep for the Hot Chocolate.  I don't know how well that's going to go and this time we really need to train, but I would love to instill the love of running in my kids because although it's something that I found later in life, it is amazing exercise and you can do it anywhere.

Here's a picture of the family before the race started (yes, Andy is ALMOST as tall as Charlie):

Make A Wish

I was driving in the car with all three kids last week and Sarah noticed that the digital clock read 3:33.  So I started one of my "when I was a kid" stories, which they actually like right now instead of roll their eyes at, and told them how I used to make a wish when all the numbers on the clock were the same but if you looked back before it turned to the next minute, say 3:34, that your wish didn't come true.  They asked me a ton of questions and then we discussed all the technicalities and how 10:10 and 12:12 didn't count because they weren't all the same digit but 11:11 did.

A few days later I was driving Sarah and her friend, Julia, home from Girl Scout camp.  Somehow they got on the subject of the clock and wish making and Sarah started explaining it to Julia just as I had explained it to her.  Andy and Amanda were in the car as well, piping in to give clarifications on the "rules".  Since Andy is now 5'3" and over 130 pounds (crazy, right?) he was in the front seat next to me.  As we're listening to Sarah explain to Julia that 12:12 doesn't count, Andy tells me how that morning he looked at the clock at 5:55 and it was really hard not to look back for an entire minute.

I looked at him and asked if he made a wish.  His response?  "Of course I did!"  Man, how I love to pass on these stupid, little, crazy things to my kids and see them embrace them wholeheartedly.  It put a huge smile on my face.

Picture of the Day

It wouldn't be the end of school without the "last day of school" pictures.

 
Amanda already had her last day but she wanted to get in on the action.

Summertime

The last two weeks of school flew.  Like a blur.  Like so much going on that I thought of trying to write it all down and it just gave me tired head.  So here I am, finally writing it down a few days after everything is over and we are already into our first week of spring break.

The weekend before school got out we took a fun trip to Dallas for a party that some friends of our have talked about throwing for about 20 years.  Pretty since we met them.  We got to catch up with so many people at the party and the day before, it was almost as if we hadn't moved.  Except, well...

We got delayed out of Dallas and the kids didn't get to bed until after midnight which wasn't that big of a deal because it was the last week of school and everybody knows that not much happens the last week of school, except that Monday was Field Day.  Yippee!  So we sent our overtired older two to school to run around and do crazy stunts and I brought the overtired younger one to watch.  Luckily Sarah was in the morning and Andy was in the afternoon so I could watch each one and not have the share my time (lucky for them but a long day for mom and baby sister), except the clouds and lightning rolled in while Andy's class was in their second event.  They sent everybody inside, started a movie and even though the sun came out about 30 minutes later they never finished Field Day.  Kind of a bummer when it's your last one.

The rest of the week was field trips and park visits and Outdoor Ed for Andy, and a stomach virus for Sarah that kept her from fun and school and made my last few days of freedom not so free.  I took the two girls to Target the day before school got out and they were crazy.  Amanda actually said to Sarah, "We're supposed to be annoying, stick to the program", which did not give me warm and fuzzies for how the summer is going to go.  I think in nine weeks I am really going to enjoy sending her to Kindergarten.

Andy had Continuation (for some reason they don't call it Graduation, probably because they are just continuing to 7th grade at the middle school) on Thursday morning, but as soon as they called his name and he "crossed the stage" they pulled me out to get Sarah because her stomach hurt again.  So I missed the Clap Out that they do for the 6th grades where all the kids in the school line up outside the classrooms and the 6th graders parade around the whole school while all the kids clap for them.  The 6th grade parents get to stand and clap in the main hallway which is the last place they go before they leave the building.  Supposedly it's super cool, I guess I'll have to wait another three years to see it.

After Continuation Andy had about 10 kids come over for a Summer Kick-Off Party.  We had food, cake, a bounce house, water balloons and a pinata.  It seemed like everybody enjoyed themselves, I know Andy had a good time.  Then a few hours later I invited a bunch of my mom friends and their kids to stop by and get a few bounces in a finish all the cake and food the older kids didn't eat.  It worked out quite well and we were all exhausted by the end of the day.

A great way to end the school year and to start the summer.  Hopefully the fun continues!

The Firsts of the Lasts

Amanda had two, yes two, preschool graduations this week.  At the same time Andy had his last day of math at the middle school.  He still has two more weeks of elementary school, but his foray into the middle school is over for the year.  One part of me is freaking out that we only have six years left with Andy and he's been in school for more years than he has remaining (at home anyway, he plans to go to college and then grad school so he has lots of school left).  The other part of me is incredulous that we still have thirteen years with Amanda and her school journey really hasn't even begun.  I'm sure it will seem to go just as quickly, but right now it seems like forever until she will graduate.  So many mixed emotions.

Anyway, here are a few pictures from the week:

 Andy's last day of math.  He left that umbrella at the middle school so technically it wasn't his last day of math because he has to go back and pick it up.

Amanda's last day of preschool.  This is the only one I have with her eyes open.  She was being extra goofy that morning.

Amanda's first graduation.

Doesn't everybody use their "diploma" as a telescope?

Amanda's second graduation.

Kindergarten Here We Come

Today was Kindergarten roundup for Amanda.  Andy and Sarah never did Kindergarten roundup because they did Kindergarten at the same school where they had preschool, which was a tiny Spanish school, and then went straight to first grade.  I think I was more excited than she was.  I suppose every once in a while you get to do a first with your third child.

It was basically a tour of the school which she didn't care about because she has been in the school multiple times, and then they got to check out the two Kindergarten classrooms.  She wanted to spend the entire time in the classrooms which was fine by me.  One of them is like an ADHD over the top room with decorations hanging from the ceiling and stuff everywhere, and the other one has a bearded dragon.  She is so torn, lol.  The best part is that I have heard wonderful things about both of the teachers so she is going to have a fabulous year no matter which teacher she gets.

To cement the fact that this really happening, tomorrow is her last day of pre-k, they are actually having a "graduation", at one of her schools and Friday is the last day at the other.  Then I will be with her 24/7 until the second week in August.  For some reason I put Andy and Sarah in a few camps this summer but neglected to do the same for Amanda.  I asked her about one or two but she kept saying no and I was too tapped out to deal with it.  So by the beginning of August I will be really anxious for school to start.

I was all excited about not having to pay for school again until Andy went to college, but Colorado is stupid and backwards and only provides half day Kindergarten and you have to pay for full day.  Annoying, but we weren't going to let that stop us.  She goes to school 21 hours a week this year, how could we lower that to 15 next year?  Plus, she would go crazy if she was home that long everyday.  Oh yeah, so would I.

It's strange because both of my nephews and a niece are all graduating this year.  Our siblings and their kids are just finishing their journey and we are so behind and just starting (April, you are even farther behind!).  But that's okay, we are going to enjoy our bubbly, spirited mama's girl as much as we can and enjoy the years to come.

Picture of the Day

It's very rare that I get a picture of them together, especially hugging and smiling.

Happy Birthday Big Girl!

Today is Sarah's 9th birthday.  Nine.  It only makes sense since Andy turned 12 in February, but it just goes so amazingly fast.  She is turning into such an amazing person and is becoming more reasonable and understanding and funny and empathetic and apologetic and worldly everyday.  She is also such a beautiful person inside and out and a wonderful friend.  There are still things about her that drive me crazy, but I don't think that will ever change.

A few weeks ago we were in the bathroom at the airport and she pointed at a Tampax machine and asked me what it was.  I used to say that it was something for women but she didn't need to know about it for a long time and she would learn then.  This time I told her that I would tell her later and it was something she needed to know about, but the airport wasn't exactly the right place.  I can't believe I'm at that point where I need to tell my sweet, little, princess loving girl about the birds and the bees and her changing body.  Hopefully she is will be a little behind her friends, but it is going to come sooner than later.

In the meantime I will enjoy the sweet little girl I have and enjoy the time we still have before she doesn't want anything to do with us anymore!

Happy Mother's Day

When Charlie and I first got married, we made an agreement that we would each take care of our own mothers for Mother's Day and their birthdays.  It's not that I didn't want to get his mom presents, it's that I wanted him to get his mom presents.  I wanted him to think about it and put care into it and not just pass it off and add it to the list of things that I take care of in our family and relationship.  His mom deserves a loving gift from her baby boy.  So almost 15 years later  I wonder if that was always the best decision and whether or not it put me in the hot seat every once in awhile, but still stick to my guns that she deserves to be recognized by him.

In the same respect, when it comes to gifts for me I don't get much from Charlie.  He says that he hates May because it's Mother's Day and Sarah's birthday and my birthday (as well as a crazy month for the kids at school because of all the end of the year activities that we need to go to), but he really only has to worry about my birthday.  Since I'm not his mom he sees no reason to get a gift for me.  I understand that and don't have a problem with it because what he does do is help the kids if they need to get something for me.  If they wanted to make me breakfast in bed he would be right there showing them how to do it or if they wanted to get me a present he would take them to the store.  He makes it happen for them and honestly that is a gift in itself.  It's also a gift for the kids, although they don't really know it, because what is better for a child than knowing how much their Daddy loves their Mommy?

This year I got the best gift for Mother's Day.  I got to fly to California for the weekend and meet up with my friends, April and John, and run a 10k and half marathon and go to Disneyland.  I got to spend my Mother's Day away from my kids rejuvenating and doing something for me so that I will be better at doing things for them.  My kids get to see that I am a person too and sometimes get to do things that are just for me.  And occasionally those things are healthy and good for me and will, hopefully, help me live a much longer life.

I got home this evening after they all went to bed, so tomorrow they get to give me my presents.  How did I get so lucky?

Let's Talk Lunch

When we lived in Texas, the kids were not allowed to share food at school due to food allergies.  This is not the case where we live now.  Yesterday morning I found some Goldfish chocolate samoas, which are basically chocolate fish cookies with mini marshmallows mixed it.  If you though Goldfish crackers were remotely healthy, these definitely do not fall in that category.

As I was unpacking Andy's lunchbox last night we had the following conversation:

Me:  Did you enjoy the Goldfish crackers?

Andy:  Yes, but I didn't eat that many.  My friends ate most of them.

Me:  The same friends that always eat your lunch?  The ones who's mothers don't pack them anything good to eat?

Andy:  This is the exact conversation Aunt Mary Ann had with Allie this weekend!

Andy quoting Mary Ann:  Do I need to pack more food for your friends?

Andy quoting Allie:  Mom, no!


We're 1000 miles apart from each other and we are having the same conversation with our kids who are two years apart.  I have an idea about what we'll still be talking about two years from now.

Beavertails

When I was a kid I was very responsible and organized.  I know, hard to believe, but my mother will back me up.  I was the kid who came home from school and told my mom that two weeks from Tuesday I needed something for a class project.  I did my homework on Friday nights instead of waiting until Sunday and I didn't wait until the last minute to do anything.  That might have changed a little bit in college, but before that I was on top of things.

Which is why it kills me when I get things like this from Andy:

The recipe was for Beavertails Ontario (because he is giving a presentation on Ontario, Canada tomorrow in Social Studies).  In case you don't know what beavertails are, because I didn't, the are basically fried dough covered in sugar and cinnamon.  Luckily I happened to check my email this morning and had time to run by the grocery store.  I looked over the ingredients he needed and we had all of them except for yeast.  Then I texted a friend to ask how, exactly, do you get the oil hot enough to fry to beavertails and she thankfully had a deep fryer in her garage that she was happy to lend me.

We started this project right after school.  I made Andy do as much as possible but when you are working with 375 degree cooking oil I am not giving the reigns to a 12 year old.  So, we mixed the dough together, he rolled it out and after putting the girls to bed Charlie also got involved and did the frying while I did the rolling in sugar/cinnamon.  Amazingly it didn't turn out to be the long night I expected and we finished before 9p.

Charlie claims that he wasn't a last minute kid either.  So where did Andy get it from?  That's anybody's guess but he does have a few aunts and uncles that have the same characteristics.  He got an earful during dinner and I would hope at this point he is clear on our disdain for waiting until the last minute to work on a school project.  This isn't the first time this year this has happened, but it always seems to work out in his favor.  Charlie thinks that next time we shouldn't be so willing to help and see if that teaches him a lesson, I'm inclined to agree.

Regardless of our stance, the finished product turned out pretty good.  They may not look as good as they should, but we were pretty excited.

Late Night Squeeze

Last night before I went to bed I went into Andy's room to make sure he had turned his alarm clock on.  I don't do this every night, but I at least try to do in on Sundays after I know he's had his alarm off for the weekend.  He had been asleep for a couple of hours so I thought he'd sleep right through it, but when he stirred I didn't want him to freak out and think I was an intruder (he has a bit of a fear of that) so I quietly asked him if he remembered to set his alarm.

He acknowledged that he had and then asked if he could have a hug.  Of course!  I leaned down and gave him a big hug and stayed with him for a few second, told him I loved him and left the room with a little smile on my face.  No matter what, he'll always be my little man.

Passing the Buck

Last week Amanda needed to get her blood drawn at the pediatrician's office.  Don't worry grandmas, she's fine, they were just worried because she's a little on the chunky side (as her mother was at that age).  I like our doctor's office, but sometimes I think they are a little too concerned about my kids and wonder if we were still in Texas if they would even think twice.  Stupid healthy Colorado.

I always take the kids to the doctor and I get the brunt of it when they get shots or medicine or even when Sarah had to do an in-office breathing treatment when she had pneumonia.  They get mad at me and they cry and then they cry some more.  Sometimes I think that they cry so much just because I'm the one that takes them.  Daddy is the fun one and he never has to do the dirty work, so this time I made him take Amanda.

It started out by him asking me where the doctor's office was (see, he never takes them and he's even been to the office for a flu shot before) but he went without complaining.  He agreed that my thought process had some merit and was willing to try it.  However, Amanda cried regardless.  She cried and struggled and made the whole situation worse because she was flailing while she had a needle in her arm.  I guess with some things it doesn't really matter who takes them.

It turns out that there was nothing to worry about.  Our fluffy little girls doesn't have a thyroid problem or diabetes and everything came back normal.  Her cholesterol levels were slightly elevated (probably because we accidentally had waffles for dinner the evening before the blood test, not the smartest idea) but nothing to be concerned about.  Except they said they want to recheck it at her well-visit in August.  I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to take her to that one.

Kid Quote of the Day

The girls can be pretty lazy, so often they will ask Siri to open an app on their iPads for them.  It doesn't always go so well.

Amanda:  Siri, open any app.

Siri:  I don't see an app called "any".  What app do you want me to open?

Amanda:  I don't care.

Siri:  I don't see an app called "I don't care".

Amanda:  Siri, I hate you.

Kid Quote of the Day

Amanda:  When I grow up I'm going to live next to you.

Me:  Great, then I can babysit your kids and sugar them up and give them back to you.

Amanda:  What does that mean?

Me:  That means I can give them lots of candy and make them crazy and then send them home to you.

Amanda:  No thank you!!!

Spring Break

I cannot believe how fast this year has gone by.  Spring break already.  In fact, it's the second week of spring break.  In this household that is the week of recovery.  Last week we spent five glorious days in Riviera Maya, Mexico, at a wonderful all-inclusive resort.  Even better, my brother and sister-in-law and nieces and nephew spent three of those days with us so we got in lots of good family time.  It was nice because most of the family was sick over Christmas and didn't make it to the family gathering so we still got to see them, only a few months late and it much better surroundings.

We got home Sunday night and about an hour after we got to the house Charlie left again for a week-long conference in California.  So I'm here trying to do load and loads of laundry (even the clean stuff we brought home had that moldy humid hotel smell so had to be washed) and keep the littles occupied.  Luckily it was a beautiful day today and the girls got to spend some time riding their bikes outside before the (shh!) snow hits on Thursday and Friday morning.

Then next week it's back to school for two months and summer once again.  I can't decide if I'm looking forward to summer or not.  Of course I'm looking forward to all the travel, but whenever the kids are home for multiple days I question whether I will be able to live through the next break, and the next one is a doozy.

For now I'm just going to get the house ready for guests this weekend (yippee!) and the arrival of the Easter Bunny.  We've got a few more things to do before I can think about summer break.

Not So Different After All

I am constantly saying how I have a hard time connecting with Sarah because we are so different.  She is so dramatic and I am not (except thinking about it now my mom will probably tell you I was a pretty dramatic teenager).  She is so closed and unwilling to share or tell us what is wrong or bothering her and I'll tell the grocery cashier what's driving me crazy today.  She is very artsy and I am more mathematical.  There's so much more I can't explain or put my finger on.  However, this weekend my perspective changed a little bit.

Charlie was out of town so I took the kids to the movies to see Cinderella.  It was wonderfully done, and is the same basic story that we know and love, but has a few very sad parts.  I sat in my seat silently wiping the tears from my cheeks.  Amanda sat next to me and Sarah was on the other side of her, bawling.  Not just crying a little bit, sobbing.  So much so that the lady in front of her kept turning around to see if she was okay.  At one point I leaned over and said, "you know how this story ends, why are you crying?", to which she replied, "it's so sad".

It was sad, and it warranted a cry.  Maybe not a sobbing, blubbering cry, but a cry nonetheless.  And that's when I looked at her and thought maybe we aren't so different after all.  We may show our anger or frustrations a little differently and may express ourselves in unique ways, but deep down we are both sentimental softies.  I see it in Andy sometimes too.

Of all the qualities I have, I'm glad that's one of the ones they got from me.  Not the anger or the craziness or the horrible sense of direction, but the ability to empathize and show some compassion for another human being who is hurting.

She may just turn out okay.

Kid Quote of the Day

Amanda:  Mommy, what should I be when I grow up?

Me:  You can be whatever want.  You should be something that makes you happy.

Amanda:  A unicorn!

The Four Day Cake

A day or two before Andy's birthday he asked me if he could help make his cake this year.  I though that would be cool and fun.  How many kids want to do that with their moms?  I asked him what kind of cake he wanted and he said white cake with white frosting and a jelly filling.  Yeah, he's kind of boring and doesn't really like chocolate cake or frosting, but the jelly filling was a nice touch.  Except I've never made jelly filling before.  So, in my procrastinating, lazy kind of way I waited until the morning of his birthday to find a recipe for jelly filling.  I very un-carefully read the directions and realized that once we made the filling we would have to chill it for eight hours.  That did not leave time for us to make it together.

I went to the grocery store and got all the ingredients but also picked up a little cake.  A delicious strawberry shortcake to be exact.  When I picked him up from school I explained that we would have to chill the filling for too long to be able to eat it that day, his birthday, but that we could finish it the next day and have it with Charlie, who was out of town.  Plus he would get cake two days in a row because I had bought the other one.  He was actually cool with it and thought it was a great solution.  Whew!

Remember when I told you that I didn't read the directions very carefully?  Well the next day we went to finish making the cake and found that after you put the jelly between the layers you had to chill the cake for another several hours.  Not enough hours in the day to do that.  So, no cake on day two.  He was still good with it.  On day three we were supposed to frost the cake and then chill it for another two hours.  I kid you not.  We got busy and forgot to frost the cake and therefore did not chill it and so one more day went by and we did not eat his cake.

Fear not!  On day four I finally got my shit together and frosted and chilled the cake on time for dinner.  It was fabulous, everyone was happy, and Andy even thought it was cool that we celebrated his birthday for four days.  The benefit of having a (mostly) laid back twelve year old.  As it turned out, the cake was delicious and we had a ton of filling left over and have been using it on pancakes and waffles for the last two weeks.  I see that as a major win win for everybody!


The finished cake before we cut into it:

What it looked like inside:

The First But Not The Last

A few days ago Amanda showed me that she had a loose tooth.  She was so excited.  She has seen Sarah and Andy go through the process of finding out their teeth were loose, wiggling them for weeks or just days, losing them and being rewarded by the tooth fairy for them.  She has been waiting and waiting for her turn.

On Saturday morning I went off to do something with a couple of friends and Charlie took her to soccer and then took both girls to swimming.  When we are reconvened at the house she had lost a tooth!  But it wasn't even the one she had told me about, it was the one next to it.  That means she has a second one close behind and will be visited by the tooth fairy again very soon.

She wanted to leave the tooth under her pillow by itself, but we finally convinced her to put it in the little tooth pillow that I had made for her (Sarah has one too, but by the time I found out about them and had them made Andy was a little old for one).  That makes it much easier for the tooth fairy.

Here's a picture of the happy girl.  Ignore the crazy hair, it was post swimming craziness.