auction addiction?

We went to an auction last night, for a school that none of our kids attend (but several of their friends do) and bought a cake for $155.  Three observations about that:

1. The cake was worth every delicious penny.  It was baked by a friend of ours and our whole table shared it, along with several other friends.  We still have half of it left.  As the baker herself put it, "it's a big ass cake. 
2. 2012 is apparently becoming the year of the desserts for us.
3. I think we go to too many auctions.  Seriously, it might be a diagnosable condition.

reunited, and it feels so good

cousin time!

We get to spend the night with Zinnia tonight, and so far things are going swimmingly.  We had some good playtime at the park and then she ate two servings of dinner without a single complaint, which was such a breath of fresh air after fighting with Cayden and Josie over the very same dinner (and every other dinner for the last three months).  

Z then proceeded to follow Josie around for 90 minutes, copying everything she said and asking "why?" every few seconds.  It was beautiful.  And hysterical because getting a small taste of her own medicine was driving Josie completely nuts.

Next up is bedtime; wish us luck!

political discourse

Avery's social studies teacher is having the class take an in-depth look at the election process for the first part of the school year; as she put it, it's just "way too good an opportunity to pass up."  They're talking a lot about the "marketing" of candidates, what propaganda is and what purpose it serves. 

Since we watch so little news and try to talk about the election as little as possible it's been challenging because Avery isn't as hip to the current state of affairs as many of her classmates undoubtedly are.  But, it's also been a good opportunity for me to look through the assignments with her and explain, as objectively as possible, some of what's been going on (try explaining Romney's comments about airplane windows objectively; it's challenging).

Tonight she had to find a political cartoon and explain what it was trying to say and why it was funny.  Many of the cartoons eluded to the economy or China or taxes or abortion or any assortment of other bigger issues that she wasn't very familiar with, and certainly didn't understand enough about to "get" the humor.  But when she stumbled upon this one, we both agreed that it was perfect:

dangerous question

Inspired by tonight's season premiere of the kids' favorite show, The Middle:

Me, to Avery: "Who's your favorite parent?"

Avery: "There is no way I'm going to answer that."

Me, to Cayden: "How about you?  Who's your favorite?"

Cayden: ...blank stare...

Me: "Nevermind, I already know the answer to that."

Cayden: "Yeah."

overschedulization

Today was a rough day for Avery.  She is starting another dance class next week, so today was the last day of a weekly watercolor class she's been taking all year with several of her grade school friends who are now at the other middle school.  When I picked her up she erupted into tears because that sweet, sensitive girl is totally incapable of holding in any emotion.  It was the full-on "ugly cry" (as Oprah would call it) and I could see how hard this was going to be.

It was inevitable that all of her dance classes would eventually mean something would have to give, but it's still hard to witness.  That class (along with basketball, which might end up being the next casualty) is her last tie to most of those friends and I know she's torn about it, at least on some level. 

She has made it very clear that dance (especially these new classes) is her top priority right now, and she doesn't want to give up on any of the classes--which total 14 hours/week right now, with in-school, after-school, and her separate ballet program.  Ballet will always be an option if she decides she doesn't have time/energy for it right now, but the dance program at school is such an unbelievably special and rare opportunity that other kids are itching to have, and she knows she can't pass that up.

Everyone's tired today, so I suspect that had something to do with her emotional outburst.  Andrew's been gone for work and it's been a long couple of days.  Hopefully she will wake up on the right side of the bed tomorrow and things will seem brighter.

ruby: two months (plus some)

 

Miss Ruby is now well on her way to turning 3 months, and cuter than ever.  Not looking much like her sis did at this age, she is all Mama, no doubt about it.

(Even the yawning because her Mama is pretty tired these days...)

 

little drummer boy

We bit the bullet and bought Cayden an electronic drum set today.  He succeeded at wearing us down by his constant asking and constant drumming on everything around the house to prove the point of how much he really wanted one and how much he would use it.  He can use headphones with it so the whole house doesn't have to be subjected to the noise while he's perfecting his craft. 

And it officially takes up 105% of the space in his room. 

super random quote of the day

Josie (completely out of the blue): "Mom, does anyone actually live in Idaho?"

picture day

Josie's first elementary school photos... and Cayden's last.

 

art room, 3 months later

I knew it wouldn't stay looking like this forever, but come on...

north carolina wedding, part two

Just past midnight on Friday, September 17th, reality was setting in that we would spend the night in the Raleigh-Durham Airport with a toddler and a preschooler.  To be fair, it was only five hours until we could get our rental car and start the two-hour drive to Lexington.  Everyone gathered their belongings and settled in.

I got Avery into pajamas of her own and strapped both kiddos into their car seats, thinking perhaps they might sleep.  No such luck.  Although the airport was deserted (no flights in or out til morning), the fluorescent lights were kept on and the air conditioning was on high.  It was bright and freezing.  Joe was the only one who slept at all, sprawled out over several uncomfortable seats, using extra clothes as a makeshift blanket.  The kids were doing cartwheels in the halls by 1:00, and were deliriously playing tag by 3:00.  Truthfully, those five hours were unexpectedly pleasant (except for the part about it being freezing).  We had nowhere to be and nothing to do, so we just sat.

At 4:59:59am, we were at the door of the rental car agency, ready to get someone fired (okay, not literally, but we were all pretty ticked).  We filled out the paperwork, filed a couple of complaints, and were on our way.  Dan, Colleen & Joe made plans to stop for breakfast in Raleigh but we had no intentions of stopping anywhere before Lexington.  Ken & Sue had driven the four hours from South Carolina the day before, and were meeting us for brunch at 10:00, so if we drove quickly, that would give us two hours to sleep and one hour to get ready and get to the restaurant.

I don't remember bad weather during the drive, but by the time we woke from our luxurious 120 minutes of slumber, it was raining harder than I'd ever seen in my life, thanks to Ivan.  Several roads were closed and we had to wade through the water in the parking lot of the restaurant.  We had a great visit with Ken & Sue, despite the fact that all four of us were utterly exhausted.  We sailed back to the hotel after brunch for a bit more sleep before the rehearsal & dinner.

By the time we woke up from those naps, I could tell I was sick.  I'd been fighting a cold all week but by Friday afternoon it was obvious that I had a sinus infection and by Friday evening I was debating if I should skip the rehearsal to find an urgent care.  Trying to find a good compromise, I stocked up on lots of cold/pain meds and went to the rehearsal.  Which was great, as far as I remember (which isn't much).

As much as we wanted to hang around and visit after the rehearsal & dinner, there was no question that we absolutely had to get back to our hotel and get some good sleep.  I'm guessing the four of us were in bed, sound asleep by 9pm.

What felt like five minutes later (but was really 2:00 in the morning), all the fire alarms in the hotel were blaring, strobe lights flashing, the whole shebang.  The kids didn't even wake up until we dragged them out of bed and carried them down to the lobby, and then were ushered outside by the hotel staff.  It must have been at least 75 degrees out there, and the rain hadn't let up at all the whole day.  There were several small lakes in the parking lot.  The hotel was at capacity because of the hurricane, which meant there were hundreds of people trying to cram under the outdoor awnings, all in their pajamas.

Once we were given the all-clear, we hobbled back up to our rooms and slept until morning... wedding day!

The groom, groomsmen, flower girl & ring bearer (refusing to cooperate for pics)

Thankfully, Saturday the 18th was by far the most uneventful day of our trip.  Cayden refused to wear the bottom half of his cute little toddler tuxedo and instead walked down the aisle in gray sweatpants, but all things considered, that seemed like a small hiccup.  The wedding was beautiful, and Ivan had successfully moved through so the monsoon conditions were over.  By the end of the day, we were packing up to head home already.

Ring Bearer Cayden, age 2, in sweatpants

Flower Girl Avery, age 4

On the way back to Raleigh-Durham Airport, the shuttle bus driver informed all of us that many signs were damaged by the 79mph (!!!) wind gusts on Friday.  Still a little shell-shocked by the whirlwind weekend we'd just had, we were happy to be heading home.  But the return trip couldn't go off without one little hitch.

Since AJ hadn't flown with us on the way out, he had forfeited his return trip ticket, and there was no flight available for him until Monday (good lesson here; if it's cheaper to get a round-trip ticket even though you're only flying one way, make sure it's the return leg of the trip that you don't show up for).  He would have to stay in a hotel, on top of having to pay for an additional ticket, and wouldn't be coming home with us after all.

A handful of us adults & children had good cries at the airport.  Some of us cried because AJ missing his flight was the straw that finally broke the camel's back.  Some of us cried because Avery made a horribly inappropriate (and absolutely hilarious) observation at just the right moment.  And others cried because they were completely wiped out from the roller coaster adventure of the last few days.  Whatever the reason, it was a good stress relief for some very weary travelers.


And the kids wonder why we haven't flown anywhere as a family in so long...

north carolina wedding, part one

Eight years ago, on September 18, 2004, Andrew's brother Isaac got married to Stacy in her hometown of Lexington, North Carolina.  Naturally, the whole family made plans to be there--Andrew and me with 4yo Avery and 2yo Cayden, my in-laws Dan & Colleen, my other brothers-in-law Joe & AJ, and Colleen's sister Anne.  Anne is unable to fly long distances, so she and AJ opted to take a train eastward.  AJ would fly back with the rest of the clan while Anne took an extended train trip through several southern states.

As the date got closer, I became more and more excited.  The trip would be the perfect opportunity for me to meet my Uncle Ken and Aunt Sue, relatives from South Carolina whom I had never met before, and for our kids to spend more time with their new cousins, Stacy's 5yo daughter Brianna and her 2yo son Jacob. It was the first time we had ever traveled that far with both kids though, so there was definitely some apprehension as well.

Avery & Cayden on their first cross-country flight

It all started out on Thursday as most cross-country treks do: early.  Our flight from Portland to Chicago left in the wee hours of the morning, but was otherwise uneventful.  We arrived in Chicago with plenty of time to make our connection to Raleigh-Durham.  And that is where things got interesting.

Our original flight was supposed to leave at 2:00 (central time) and get in at 5:00 (eastern time), giving us just enough time to get our rental cars, drive the two hours to Lexington, and meet Isaac, Stacy and the kids for dinner.  But that flight kept getting delayed and we quickly determined we wouldn't have time for dinner.  No problem, we'd grab something in Raleigh.

A couple hours later, it became obvious that we'd need to eat in Chicago before we ever got on the second plane.  A few more hours after that, we were getting concerned that we wouldn't make it in time to get the rental car.  We called the agency just before take-off, letting them know that we would be getting into Raleigh-Durham within minutes of their midnight closing time.  The associate assured us that he would wait for us.

We boarded the flight from Chicago about seven hours after it was originally due to take off.  We had two very tired children on our hands, neither of whom had napped all day.  About 30 minutes into the flight, newly-potty-trained Cayden needed to go to the bathroom.  He had peed in the airplane bathroom on the way to Chicago with no problems, but this time was different--he didn't need to pee.  He absolutely refused to sit on the toilet because he was scared of the metal bowl and because he was probably more tired than he'd ever been in his life.  Quick-thinking me realized I had some diapers packed in my carry-on just in case so I got him all settled in a diaper, put him in some pajamas and sat back down in our seats, hoping he would go to sleep.  Which he did, immediately after he pooped through the diaper, through his pajamas, and all over my lap.  It took me a few minutes to realize what had happened, at which point he was sound asleep, and we were buckled in 15 rows from the bathroom.  Without Andrew nearby to help, I decided to just let him sleep and figure out what to do once we landed.

We got to Raleigh-Durham about five minutes before midnight and Colleen immediately called the rental car agency to let them know we would be there momentarily.  Oddly, nobody answered and the after-hours voicemail came on.  Just a fluke, we thought (hoped!) so we gathered our luggage and all pitched in to clean up Cayden's mess.  He and I changed into clean clothes, threw away the old ones, and made our way to the rental car desk.  Nobody was to be found at the agency that held our reservation or any other company.  No representatives, no shuttle buses; we were not getting a rental car that night.  The agency opened at 5am on Friday morning.

We needed a couple of hotel rooms desperately, but there was one problem with that plan: Hurricane Ivan was making his way north and all the hotel rooms in the area were booked by folks fleeing from farther south.  It took a minute for it to hit us that we were going to have to spend the night in the Raleigh-Durham Airport.

More to come tomorrow...

Today we got official word about something that had been suspected most of last week: Josie's teacher has cancer.  She clearly wasn't herself on the first day of school and we saw her leave immediately after the bell rang, looking quite determined/concerned.  The next day there was a substitute who is a good friend of ours (and of the teacher's), and the look on her face was telling.  Wednesday, Teacher M was there for just half the day, calling in the same sub after lunch.  Friday we were told to expect a letter today, and we saw her leaving school with a small box of odds & ends.

I wasn't expecting to see her at school today; I assumed she was already gone on medical leave, but she was there and it turns out that she probably won't need to leave for an extended period of time until after Winter Break.  She will miss at least two days every other week for chemo treatments, then plan for surgery in December or January.

My heart is just aching for her.  She has been at the school for six years, so everyone who's been there for any period of time knows and loves her, Josie and her classmates included.  The school will rally when word starts to spread, and I have no doubt that anyone & everyone will step up to offer any help she will accept.  It's just such a tricky balancing act of completely wanting to honor her privacy, but also wanting to know all the details and what could possibly be done to help.

* * * * *

All that I told Josie for now is that she will definitely be having more substitute days, to which she didn't blink an eye.  I hope the kiddos will handle the whole situation well.

artist's rendering of the circus

the girl in the "huler-hoop" and the elephant

today

Soccer
Ballet
Circus
Birthday party
Wedding

I tell you, we all look forward to the weekends for some down time and then they arrive and they look like today and they're more exhausting than the work/school days. More fun, but also more exhausting.

tgif

My alarm is set for 6:15, but I haven't slept past 5:30 in two weeks. Which is fine, because it gives me more time to work on the endless number of things it takes to get out the door each day, just annoying.

I found the solution for that dilemma this morning though. You just wake up to pee at 4:45. Lie there, wide awake, for 30-45 minutes. Fall back asleep. By 6:15, you'll be sound asleep dreaming of something fabulous, the alarm will go off and you'll feel like death warmed over. Ugh.

TGIF.

the end of bear as we know it?

Anyone who has read this blog for any period of time undoubtedly knows all about Josie's Bear.  Based on the "bear" search on this blog and this blog, it looks like her love of him started around her first birthday and has grown every day since then.  There was a long period of time where Bear when everywhere she went, then it was decided that he needed to stay in the car while we were out and about.  Eventually he didn't leave the house, and we've been building up to the start of kindergarten and the new rule that Bear only stays in Josie's bed. 

If it was just Bear, I wouldn't have a big problem with it (seriously, he is pretty flippin' cute) but Josie absolutely in no uncertain terms associates him with sucking her thumb, and if that's something we can gently stop her from doing, that's definitely not a bad thing.  As of this week, she can go to her bed anytime she wants to see Bear and suck her thumb, but she cannot have Bear while she's watching TV or anywhere out of her bed.

We're four days in at this point, and Operation Bear Stays in Bed is going really well.  There have only been a few moments after school when Josie has wanted Bear while she was watching TV or playing, but she's been quite rational about it and has decided each time to continue what she's doing.  In fact, I haven't seen her suck her thumb since Sunday, even as she was falling asleep last night.

Part of me is slightly broken-hearted about this, especially after seeing some of those old pictures of Josie with Bear.  He's been her tried-and-true BFF for 4+ years now.

But then again, he's a stuffed animal and he promotes a bad habit and she's five and braces cost a lot of money.

day three

Josie has adjusted to kindergarten about as well as I could have hoped.  She absolutely loves it (granted, just three days in).  That said, the time commitment has been a bit of an adjustment for her, coming from a three hour a day/three day a week preschool.  She woke up this morning and exclaimed, "Wow, I have to go to school again today?!"

And when we were getting ready to leave the house, she said, "I really do want to go to school today but I'm not sure I'm feeling well enough."  She put up absolutely no fight when I assured her she felt fine, and had another fabulous day, then went on to her MW soccer class with no complaints of fatigue or not feeling well.

As for me, I'm having no problem filling up the time.  I have already volunteered at Josie & Cayden's school more than I probably did the whole of last year (which isn't saying much, sadly) and I have signed on to help with a few small-ish (eh, medium-ish) projects at both schools coming up.  Two schools is definitely going to be more manageable than three, I can tell already.

obsessing

Cayden has always been an "all or nothing" kind of guy.  He loves it or he hates it, no in between.  When he loves something, it's all he can think or talk (and talk and talk and talk) about.  If I didn't find it so amusing, it would annoy the hell out of me.  Okay, I find it amusing and it still annoys the hell out of me.  Right now, he is absolutely in love with the following:

• instagram :: if you follow him @nedyac he will be your best friend because he's on a quest to double the number of followers I have
• shoes :: the right pair of shoes make all the difference (okay, no argument there)
• dunking :: if he uses the right-sized ball (with the right shoes of course) on the right hoop, he can officially dunk and he couldn't be happier about it
• mustangs :: his newest, and most perplexing, interest
• nba 2k12 :: his favorite video game that didn't get a lot of airtime over the summer... but it's back on his list of faves this week

pictures on the porch

Now that Josie has officially embarked on her journey of formal education, I can post all of the "first day" porch photos here.  Avery & Cayden started last Wednesday, half-begrudgingly.

Josie started this morning, with no lack of enthusiasm. She's half-blinking in this next one, but that smile is just too cute not to share.  Egad.

7th grade homework

Those of you who hung in there with me through last school year may recall how frustrating the homework level was at times.  Well, apparently things have changed a bit* because what you're seeing below was Avery's homework assignment for the weekend.  She had to personify a potato.  Yes, a potato.  Clothes, name, occupation, the whole shebang.

With a little help from her sister's stash of doll clothes and a hot glue gun, it is my honor to present to you Ms. Kate-r Tot Middleton.



*I am not delusional enough to believe that anything has really changed

the tooth fairy came!

Thanks to Ashleigh for the reminder that I had this ready to go, but never got around to posting.  The tooth fairy did indeed come last night, leaving Josie with a few treasures.   Oddly, she did not take the note that Josie left under her pillow.  I explained that it was very dark and perhaps the TF did not see it.  Or maybe she read it (magically, since the envelope was still sealed) and decided to leave it since it was too big for her to carry.

 

Each of our children has been "assigned" to a different TFs, and each of them have had different traditions.  All of them have delivered a special tooth box upon the loss of the very first tooth, so the kiddos can keep their teeth through the years.  Josie also received a special tooth charm to add to her charm necklace, and a gold dollar coin*, which will be the standard treasure from here on out (or so we're assuming). 

Avery & Cayden's TFs were each a little more varied in their treasure delivery (sometimes s/he would bring $1, sometimes $5 if s/he didn't have change... and sometimes s/he forgot entirely) but we're pretty sure Josie's TF is more reliable, and perhaps already has twenty of the gold coins stashed away for when they're needed.



*gold dollar coin idea blatantly stolen from my friend Mara's kids' TFs

big (huge!) day

today, 8:30am

today, 4:00pm

Heard from the backseat this evening: 

"I just can't stop smiling."  

"Sometimes I feel like today is a dream."

ready, set...

Josie is insanely excited and ready to go to school. Avery & Cayden both started yesterday (although they would each kill for an extra few days) but J has to wait until Monday.

She did get to go in this morning to spend a bit of one-on-one time with her teacher and to have a kindergarten-readiness assessment done. I sat back and observed, and had to chuckle as she struggled to stop chatting up the teacher.

"Can you tell me what letter this is?"

"Yeah, but first, did you know that...?"

At the end of the assessment, the teacher asked if she had any other questions or anything else she wanted to say before she went home (dangerous question). Josie thought for a minute and replied, "I've been wanting you for my teacher for a long time." I had to laugh out loud at that one--she's mastered the art of kissing up to the teacher already!  

two down, one more to go

The school year has started with a serious vengeance and it feels like it never ended in June. So much paperwork! So many emails! So many places to be with not quite enough time to get there!

All that being said, Avery and Cayden had reasonably good first days, as best I could tell. They were both completely exhausted and crabby immediately after school but they came around with some ice cream and told me all about all their new teachers (seriously, between them I think there are five new teachers).

Josie starts on Monday and I am very much looking forward to spending a few days getting the house in order (the suitcases from Spokane are still in the dining room) and enjoying some quiet.

And now it's 9:42 and I think I'll go to bed. You wouldn't think it would be so exhausting to send the kids back to school. ???

value of a dollar

Josie fell in love with a stuffed horse at a toy store in Spokane, but she was $5 short.  She decided to ask her dad (definitely not the parent to approach in this type of situation) if he would give her the rest of the money so he hooked her up with a chore plan to earn it. 

She was very unclear how the whole process of us paying up front would work--she wanted the horse now and didn't want to have to wait until she had done all the chores--and how she would actually pay the money back.  I still don't think she's super clear on that last part because it sounds like she is expecting to get $5 at the end.  We'll cross that disappointing bridge when we come to it.

This morning she unloaded the dishwasher (well, about 90% of it), reloaded it with the dirty dishes, and swept the floors in the kitchen and dining room. 

She thinks these are very easy & fun tasks, and now wants to know if she can do them for $5 every week. 

I'd think about it if it didn't actually end up making more work for me to supervise.

top 10 reasons I'm thankful we only have cable on vacation

1. spongebob squarepants
2. storage wars
3. victorious
4. keeping up with the kardashians
5. cnn
6. hoarders: buried alive
7. married to jonas 
8. snapped
9. fairly odd-parents
10. say yes to the dress

spokane & coeur d'alene

I think we would all agree that we're surprised how much fun this trip has been so far.  No one quite knew what to expect from Spokane, but it is quite lovely.  The city is much larger than I thought (skyscrapers, even!) and our hotel is just a short walk across the river from a huge park that's having a massive food cart fair this whole weekend (think The Bite at Waterfront Park).  We haven't ventured far so I'm sure we've missed a ton, but we also haven't needed to use the car at all, which is certainly nice.

 

We did need the car for our trip to Coeur d'Alene on Saturday, but it was definitely worth the 40 minute trip.  I'd never given the city a second thought, but upon hearing so many glowing recommendations, we knew we had to go.

We decided to be complete tourists and take a horse-drawn carriage ride through the downtown.  Total hit--I'm doing this to every new city I visit now.

 We also walked along the world's longest floating boardwalk:

 

Back in Spokane, we braved the Skyride today, not really knowing exactly how high it went.  Poor Avery was scared for her life, but she kept a brave face and made it through the whole 20-minute ride (as if she had any choice)--notice how she's clutching the seat behind Josie:

These photos were taken after the ride, and you can see the gondolas/trams in the distance:

We'll be sad to leave Spokane tomorrow, but everyone is getting antsy/excited/nervous for you-know-what on Wednesday!

school tote, the second

I was shocked to see that I got this project done in July of last year.  None of that nonsense this year; instead I was losing sleep about having to cram it in between two family trips, less than a week before the start of school.  But hey, it's done and school hasn't started yet, so I consider that a success.

This year's bag is much like last year's bag (zebra-lined interior) but it is significantly bigger and it only has one strap (quite a bit longer than last year, as per Avery's request) instead of four that tie together.  We'll see if that makes it easier or harder to use.

I am not at all pleased with the way the bottom turned out because I am a complete moron who is incapable of figuring out how to sew a dart.  Seriously, does it all have to be so complicated??