I left cayden alone in car toys for two minutes

author's response

This uber-enthusiastic girl of mine has a new favorite thing in her life: Ivy + Bean.  Cayden was nice enough to buy her three books at his last day of school auction in June, and she has now read all eight of the books.  We discovered that Book 9 is due out on her first day of kindergarten, which got Josie wondering about the possibility of a Book 10 (impatience runs in the family; she can't help it).  She decided to write to the author, Annie Barrows, to find out. I could only find an email address for Annie so I sent along a photo of the note:

 Thanks to the wonders of technology, Annie wrote back less than 12 hours later:

Dear Josie,

 

I'm glad that you like Ivy and Bean.  I like them a lot myself.  About Book 10... here's a secret: I already wrote it! Shh, don't tell anyone! I am just about to fix it up for my editor, and then we argue for a while about the title, and then Sophie has to make the pictures, and then it has to be designed and printed.  I'm sorry to say you're going to have to wait until next fall to get it, but it IS coming.

 

In the meantime, have fun with Ivy and Bean Make the Rules.

 

Annie

good day

• donated five bikes we no longer use (down to 6 in the garage)
• bought one new bike--the only size we didn't already have, and of course the one size we needed (back up to 7)
• weeded and mulched the entire backyard
• solo lunch & errands with Avery
• grilled salmon and corn for dinner

seems like we must have squeezed a lot more in based on the complete lack of any down time but that weeding and mulching took a long time

gorge hike

fisheye: cabin creek falls

180mm: cabin creek falls

28mm: avery halfway up cabin creek falls

panoramic: columbia river gorge

a, j, c in front of hole in the wall falls

josie-jo at hole in the wall

avery, doing what she does

cayden's favorite day ever

hood river

We're just back from a whirlwind day of hiking and sightseeing in the Gorge.  We went on this easy hike through Starvation Creek, and we weren't the least bit intimidated by the name.  We spent over an hour (twice--on the way in and the way back) at the Hole in the Wall Falls, definitely the best (and newest) falls of all.  Once we were thoroughly exhausted from all that hiking and splish-splashing, we headed 10 miles farther into Hood River for some completely delicious Mexican food, walked around the Port which was crowded with windsurfers, found some ice cream and headed home. Whew.

We've already had requests to go back tomorrow or next weekend, so I think it was a hit!

the two-car experiment

While others might be trying out a car-free experiment this summer, we decided to buck the trend and experiment with two cars.  Actually, it was much more coincidental than that--our good friends were leaving for about six weeks and kindly asked if we wanted the keys to their minivan while they were gone, I'm sure never expecting that we would actually say yes. 

The first two weeks, the van just sat there, exactly like it would have done at their house, so it felt rather silly.  But then Avery's birthday party arrived and it was a lifesaver.  Seriously, I will consider renting a second car the next time we host a birthday party because having two vehicles to pick up supplies and run last-second errands was a huge help.  A couple weeks later we had one crazy day where Josie needed to be at the pool from 5:45-6:15, Avery had ballet from 5-6:30 and Cayden had a basketball game from 6-7.  Having two cars didn't exactly make it a walk in the park, but it was certainly much more manageable than it would've been otherwise.

Aside from a few other random trips that we took to keep the battery from dying, I think that's all that we used the van.  The kids decided they liked it better than our car (especially the A/C vents in the ceiling) so they asked to use it all the time, but I'm pretty sure we put about 20 miles on it total.

The biggest lesson I learned was that more than a second car, we need to devise a way to allow each of us to be in more than one place at once.  Assuming that is still a long way's off, I'm thinking we'll stick with one car until Avery starts driving.

headbands

We were introduced to a super fun game at a dinner party this weekend--Headbands.  It's a kiddie-version of a game with which I'm sure you're all familiar, where one person displays the name of a person or object so that everyone else can see it, and then asks questions to try and guess who/what it is.

We made our own version here at home with some notecards and clothespins, and Cayden, Josie and I played a single round this afternoon that, I kid you not, took 20 minutes.  Cayden and I guessed our objects (caterpillar and basketball, respectively) in about 2.3 minutes, but Josie's turn was painful.  Here is a taste of how it went:

Am I an animal?  No

Am I a food?  No

Am I an object?  Yes

Am I inside?  No

Am I outside?  Uhh... yes 

Do I have feet?  No

Do I have hair?  No

Am I bigger than myself?  Yes

Am I bigger than a grown-up?  Yes

Am I a sunflower?  No 

Am I see-saw?  No

Am I bigger than Avery?  Yes 

Are you sure I'm not a see-saw?  YES

Am I at a park?  Sometimes, but you also move around

How do I move if I don't have feet?  ???

[this is where we gave her a hint that she has wheels]

Am I a car?  No, you're bigger than a car

Am I a bicycle?  No, remember you're bigger than a grown-up and a car

Am I a wagon?  Grr

Truck!  You're a truck, goddammit, and I am never playing this game with anyone under the age of 10 again.


Making memories, people, we're making memories.

wordless wednesday: tree

In in the interest of full disclosure, this is Cayden's photo but he took it with my phone and I love it and I have nothing else to blog so I'm using it.

dog days

I'm sure if I took the time and wasn't too mortified to think what I would discover, I could find almost this exact same post from every summer that I've had this humble little blog.  We're about halfway through summer break and I'm loving/hating it, depending on the hour.  My brain is completely foggy because I'm spending 18+ hours a day with children and it's sunny and we're on the go every second of every day.  It's amazingly fun and exhausting and I never want it to end/can't wait for school to start in September.

We spent the afternoon at a fountain downtown with Christie & Henry (along with Avery and Grace) and there were even Voodoo Doughnuts.  With the smell of sunscreen in the air, the kids had a blast and the mothers were doing okay until some important keys got lost and a certain brother & sister pair wouldn't stop arguing in the car.  Days like today make me think I have the best job in the world/seriously need to look for out-of-the-house employment.  Either way, for good or/and bad, days like today make me tired.

can vs. should

I've been thinking about what took place in Aurora, Colorado almost non-stop since Friday, as has everyone else in the country, I'm sure.  While I have tried to avoid media coverage of the actual event (computer-animated reenactment of the massacre? no, thank you) or of the suspect himself, I have been trying to learn a bit more about the victims.  It's just beyond unbearable to think about the sudden loss that each of their families are feeling and I can't begin to imagine what the past four days have been like for them.

The whole event and the endless media coverage since strikes at the core of everything I don't like about this country and living & trying to raise a family in 2012.  The way we fixate on things--horrible news stories, unhealthy foods, violence on TV/movies, spending money--and then can't figure out how to deal with the consequences that come from each of them.  Why am I afraid to leave my house or let my kids play outside?  Why am I so fat?  Why are my kids so violent at school?  Why are my credit card bills so high?

To me, a lot of it boils down to the notion of "can vs. should."  Just because we can buy semi-automatic weapons and 6,000 rounds of ammunition online legally, does that mean that we should (or should be allowed to)?  Just because we can get every meal from a drive-thru and eat alone in our cars, does that mean that we should?  Just because we can keep making video games that are more violent and gorier than ever, does that mean that we should?  Just because we can bring kids to PG-13 and R-rated movies, does that mean that we should?  And just because I can charge twice my annual income on a credit card with a 25% APR, does that mean that I should?

Don't get me wrong; if I was able to rationally stop doing all the things that I knew I should stop doing, my world would be a very different place so I'm by no means claiming that it's as simple as knowing "right" from "wrong."  I just feel like we can get so hung up on having the freedom to do basically anything we want to do, that we think we're missing out on something if we're not pushing everything to the limit.  There doesn't seem to be much moderation--it's just all (the most, the biggest, the scariest, the most intense, the most expensive, the funnest, the best) or nothing.  And nothing feels like we're cheating ourselves out of everything.

The media--specifically TV, movies & video games--aspect of this is controversial for sure and I know I'm in the minority with my opinion (lord knows we've been having the debate in this house for over a dozen years) but I just don't think it's healthy.  Sure, the majority of people can watch these uber-violent movies & TV shows and play these video games and can separate them from reality but a freakishly (and arguably, an increasingly) large chunk of people can't.  I will never be convinced that someone who's exposed to all that violence from a young age (or even a medium age) is not inherently changed because of it.  But the idea of removing it from our movie theaters or TV screens is appalling... because we'd be missing out on so much without it?  Because now that we've been totally desensitized to watching people get murdered on screen, our lives just wouldn't be the same if we no longer witnessed such violence?

In my mind, it's similar to the huge uproar that was caused by Mayor Bloomberg when he suggested that NYC should ban Big Gulp-sized (16 oz +) sodas.  People were up in arms that they should have to give up their extra-large servings just because others can't control their soda intake.  We live in a free society and people should be free to drink all the soda they can drink, all day every day.

While I'm certainly not arguing that the government should start controlling what we can or can't drink, eat or watch on TV, I just wish we could put a little more thought into all of it.  All of these things that we get fixated on as a nation do have consequences.  Was the shooting in Aurora spurred by the suspect playing violent video games?  I have no clue.  But he was without question raised in a society that is obsessed with violence and with talking about violence and I would not be the least bit surprised if that played some part in what happened on Friday morning.


Horribly unpatriotic and hippy-dippy of me to say, I know...

abroad

Airline Ticket: CHECK

Passport Renewal: CHECK

Now that all the logistics have been seen to, Avery's itinerary for her trip to Britain over Christmas break is coming together. I am officially jealous.

Several days in St. Andrews with Great Aunt Carolyn

A weekend in London visiting my cousins and seeing the sights

Back to Edinburgh at the end of the trip to see the start of the Hogmanay festivities

If only it was called Blog4-5days/week instead of Blog 365. 

I'd be in much better shape if that was case.

full circle

It seriously feels like just yesterday that I was having to retrieve Toddler Josie from this pool slide over and over and over again during that summer of '08.  But wouldn't you know, that was actually 4 years ago and today Big Kid Josie got to go down the slide for the first time (the "deep end" kids get to go down on the last day of the class, and although she's always been way too scared to think about it before, she didn't even question it today).

She went down twice and can't wait until next time!

"now I look like someone from the 1940's!"

Okay. ???

summer

A friend of mine posted this on Facebook the other day: It's a sad state of affairs when a one hour solo trip to Fred Meyer (in the quiet of the morning) feels like a five star vacation. Summer: I love you, but you're kind of kicking my ass. 

That last line is really resonating with me this week.

horrible baby names

There is an epidemic of horrible baby names stretching across the country right now.  Of course, no one I know personally has chosen a horrible name for their baby, but I've heard of many and frankly I think it's getting out of hand.  I stumbled across this article that hilariously examined this phenomenon of horrible baby names, and I couldn't resist their list of the "worst offenders."   Please don't be offended if you happen to see you own child's name on the list; I'm pretty sure at least one of mine would qualify.


(Warning: some of the language is not kid-friendly)

BOYS
• Adler
• Attyson
• Bastian
• Blayde The extra Y in there makes it 10 percent sharper. And don't fuck with Blayde's brother, Nyfe.
• Chesney
• Draven Please note that if you name your baby Draven, you must dress him up like the Crow at all times.
• Diesel
• Izander "I'd like my son to sound like a shirt. Can you do that?"
• Jaydien That's right. JaydIen. Don't forget that I. That I is what sets young Jaydien apart from the mere Jaydens of the world. Now don't you people who named your kid Jayden feel behind the times? You bought the beta version of that name. It's like buying an iPad too early. Six years from now, the name will have morphed into Jayydizzosoian, and then you'll really feel like a sucker.
• Kierson Straight from the "Invented Irish name for Boston-area steakheads" file
• Ryker
• Sincere
• Sketch If you name your child Sketch, you should be arrested. At that point, you're just basically looking around the delivery room, coming up with nouns as names. "Oh, fuck it. Call him Monitor."
• Tulsa If you're gonna name your kid after a place, at least have the common courtesy to name him after a legitimate tourist destination. No one wants to hang out with a kid named Tulsa, or a kid named Kalamazoo. Ol' Kal. Always gettin' in trouble.
• Tyce Fuck you.
• Zaiden Of course Zaiden is here. It takes Jayden and throws a Z in front, which makes it SO STRONG. God, I just wanna slap a loincloth on little Zaiden and club dragons with him. Be on the lookout for Drayden, Fayden, Waiden, Strayden, and Klayden coming to your hood.
• Zebulon Classic hillbilly, with the bonus of sounding like a cartoon alien planet.
Those are the boys. For the girls... God, I'm so sorry for you, little princesses. Here is what your meth-addled mothers cooked up for you:

GIRLS
• Annyston Joined by brother Schwymmir
• Brook'Lynn The abuse of apostrophes in names has to end. A reasonable person should be able to know, by looking at a name, when one syllable ends and another begins. But no, dumbfucks all over the country have to be like "I'll name him Raw'Bert." You stop that. Give me some credit for being able to read even if you can't.
• Brylee Isn't this an ice cream brand? It should be an ice cream brand.
• Copelia It's a ballet about a mechanical love doll, only spelled wrong.
• Cortlyn
• Fallyn "I'd like my daughter to sound like a dystopian young adult novel, please."
• Harvest You know what people will Harvest from your daughter? Her V-card.
• Jerrika You know what comes next, right? You guessed it: ZERRIKA. You will meet a Zerrika one day, and then you won't know what to do with yourself.
• Joplyn
• Julissa Classic hybrid name. It joins the likes of Emichelle, Eliza'Betty, and Jessikate.
• Luxx Why not add that third x and fulfill her destiny? That's what you want, right? You want little Luxx to grow up, move to the Valley and earn $60 a week getting jet spraykakke'd for a series of Brazzers short films, yes? There's no other reason to name your child Luxx.
• Mahayla
• Midnight
• Sharpay This is a character from High School Musical. It's also a breed of dog. Why stop there? Name your child Dobyrman.
• Tayzia
• Tybee Seriously, fuck you. Unless you want your kid to grow up to become a made-for-TV cooking product, piss off with Tybee.
• Xylethia
• Yankee And... the final insult.

comedic timing

I can't for the life of me remember what we were watching or why, but there was some scene in TV last night where a man got down on one knee to ask a woman to marry him.  Unfortunately for him, the woman said no.

After about 5 seconds of silence, Josie piped up with, "Aw-kwaaard."

ruby frances

I posted several of these on Facebook, but there was no way I could avoid posting them here as well.  Ruby has changed so much since that first night; I was totally blown away when we saw her Thursday, Friday and especially today.  As I told Julia, she's lost some of her new-new-newborn-ness already.  Sheesh.

 

 

My in-laws with their seventh grandchild

july is treating us well

I don't want to turn into one of those people who talks about the weather, but our weather has been unbelievable so far this summer.  I feel the need to document it just so I can look back when everyone invariably starts complaining about what a crappy summer we had.  It hasn't reached 90 yet (I probably just jinxed it) but it's been sunny and 80+ for almost the whole month, with just the tiniest touch of rain at the very beginning.  I'm actually looking forward to a slight cool down tomorrow (72) before heading back up into the low-ish 80s for the week. 

Nothing beats the Pacific Northwest in the summertime, just nothing.

this one time... at dance camp...

Avery was in a ballet camp this week with her all-time favorite teacher at my all-time favorite Portland park.  The camp was designed to be a "ballet intensive" for ages 7-16, but it ended up being a beginning/intermediate class for a gaggle of 7-year-olds with two 12-year-olds thrown in for good measure.  Regardless, Avery had a fabulous time and was very excited to be front and center in the end performance.

dessert of the month número cinco

Unfortunately, I missed out on the chance to photograph dessert of the month número cuatro (i.e. a large group of children ate it too fast) but trust me, it was a good one.  Strawberry sheet cake with a really light, creamy, deliciously pink strawberry frosting.  Mmm.

July's dessert is a marionberry slump, which is similar to (but different than) a cobbler and a crisp and a buckle and a grunt.  I'm still slightly unclear about the nuances between them but that's beside the point.

As if the slump (baked in eight individual ramekins) wasn't enough, Christie also brought some homemade vanilla ice cream that melts all over the top for supreme deliciousness.

It was all delivered while we were out celebrating our anniversary and visiting the baby for the first time, and it was such a nice treat to return to.  Five months in, I'm already dreading the day our monthly desserts stop showing up at the doorstep.

nieces, plural

The extended family grew by one today with the arrival of the Baby Temporarily Known as Zinnia's Sister.  BTKZS was born at home and is healthy as can be.  And gorgeous.  And she has the longest fingernails I have ever seen on a newborn.

If Day One as a big sister is any indication, Zinnia is going to do quite well in her new role.  She was cracking jokes... and showing a renewed interest in nursing.  Hmn.

Love these girlies...

 

Edit, July 13: Ruby Frances!

in preparation for tomorrow's big day

The traditional material for the 14th anniversary is ivory, but please only ever buy products that are made using imitation ivory. Never purchase real ivory because that would support an illegal and brutal elephant poaching industry. Better yet, make a donation to the elephant rescue charity in Tennessee. They provide forever homes for elephants who have been mistreated in circuses or found living in inadequate and cramped zoo conditions. It is truly a gift from the heart!

polar bears represent

Josie had her first "polar bear" swim lesson today, and as a special treat* she got to bring her precious Bear (who is a polar bear himself) along to observe.

She was so overjoyed to see him on the pool deck, I couldn't help but smile.  I have no doubt that she loves Bear more than any other member of the family.  Is that wrong?

 

*Once Josie reached her second year of preschool, Bear stopped leaving the house (except on overnight trips since she can't doesn't sleep without him).  Once she starts kindergarten, the plan is for Bear to stay in her bed all the time.  I suspect that will be a challenge.

time needs to slooooow down

 

 

 

 

great wolf

We're back, completely exhausted and waterlogged.  I feel like I got way too much sun, which is odd since we barely saw the light of day in the ~30 hours we were gone.  I'm guessing we were only (only? is that the right word here?) in the pools for nine hours over the two days we were at the lodge, but it felt like 4x that long.  We're all looking forward to an early bedtime tonight.

The big kids had a blast of course, but it was Josie who surprised me the most.  I haven't been in the water with her since she's overcome any last miniscule fear of water that she might have ever had.  She was all over the place, doing handstands in the water, swimming from one end of the pool to the other.  It was so nice not to have to stay within an arm's length or to have to keep such a close eye on her.  And it eased my mind tremendously as she's about to start her first set of "deep end" swim lessons this week.  I was having cold-sweat-inducing nightmares about it last week but I have zero concern anymore.

To clarify, the other 3 knew where we were headed... only Avery was in the dark

 Avery's birthday was great.  She had no clue where we were going, at first believing that we were leaving the house for the mall, then thinking we might be going camping.  It wasn't until we entered the parking lot of Great Wolf that she had any idea at all.  At dinner she randomly asked what time it was, wondering if she was officially twelve yet.  As luck would have it, it was 7:20 on the dot, so I was able to get my annual (minus a couple years here & there) photo of her at the exact time of her birth.

annual birthday theme park trip

happy birthday avery!

For the past few years, we've coincidentally ended up at a theme park on Avery's birthday--Six Flags in 2010, Seven Peaks in 2011, and for 2012 we're heading to Gr-Eight Wolf Lodge (yes, I know it's a stretch). 

Avery doesn't know we're going, and I'm not planning on telling her until we're about halfway there.  Josie knows about it though, so I'm doubtful the secret will be kept that long!

oaks park goodness