Our Nightmare Before Christmas

so... um... do you think we may have watched that movie one too many times? Seth brought this home from preschool today.

Appropriately Chloe

Kate looked so cute all bundled up after we got back from the bus stop this morning...her cheeks all flushed, and her nose so red...so I hurried and took some pictures before I put her down for her nap. When I uploaded the pictures, I noticed that in some of them she looked so much like little Chloe. Which is so appropriate, because today is Chloe's birthday. Happy Birthday sweet Chloe!

These top two pictures were the ones that most reminded me of Chloe!

Katy just wanted to give Chloe a big thumbs up for turning ONE today!

There's just something about a baby in a hat....ooooh, so cute!

days late and a few brain cells short, but hey, Happy Thanksgiving!

so....our internet has been out for more than a week now, so that's why I'm so behind the times. We had a great thanksgiving. It's always nice to have family in town, and to have Rick home, and not at work. We spent Thanksgiving day at Rick's parents. Mmmmm, so yummy, and the kids loved going bike riding and Seth learned to long board (don't you dare tell him that's not proper long boarding form...he was so proud!) I know the pictures are a little heavy on the Seth side, but when you've got one who cooperates...you do what you can. Here's our Thanksgiving weekend in a nut shell.

10 little...9 little...

1 little indian boy!

Future Rock Star...seriously, he needs a t-shirt that says that...if you find one, send me the link!

long boarding...may he always have the good sense to wear a helmet...

she's teething, can you tell?
a thanksgiving art project...in its early stages...it ended up with a princess, a bomb, and a fire breathing dragon...gotta love collaborative projects!
I asked the kids what they were thankful for this thanksgiving.

Hannah: art stuff, and my family! (awwww, she loves us, almost as much as a good set of markers!)

Seth: trucks (which, coincidentally was also his response to what he wants for Christmas)

Katy: stuff to teethe on (OK, so she didn't actually say it, but it was sort of obvious!)

a road, some pie, and a farewell to soccer

So I'm on random a bit tonight. Here's just a sampling of what's been going on in our little world. Rick has been working so hard on a major project. His first MAJOR design project that he has seen from start to finish. It is a new road, and was paved last week. He was so very relieved and excited. Heather and Chrissy were awesome to make this cake to congratulate Rick on this accomplishment, and also to congratulate Brandon on a new job. They did such a cute job on the cake, and it really touched us both that they were excited for Rick, too. So thanks guys!


Katy is thinking "six months of my life, and I've had not one piece of cake. hmpf."


Now, while we are on the subject of engineering...I had a little design project of my own, in the area of domestic engineering. I have one of those moms who really take Thanksgiving on their shoulders completely. I mean, she *technically* delegates, but I am serious when I say that one thanksgiving I was in charge of bringing marshmallows. Are you kidding me? But I digress. At any rate, she somehow makes homemade stuffing, cooks a beautiful turkey, all the fixings, homemade rolls, and about a dozen pies every thanksgiving. So I thought I might try my hand at a few pies, and maybe I could take that load off or something. However, I did not want to make lab rats out of my entire family, so I decided to start small and just make a couple of pies at home first. Heck, the kids are used to being guinea pigs, right? So, I made pies. Four to be exact. Two pumpkin, an apple, and a cherry. And while I was able to get the pie dough to what I thought was the right consistency, something would happen between the rolled out dough on the counter, and the pie plate itself. Every single time. I couldn't keep it together. (in more ways than one). So, while my husband and children insisted that the taste was good...I definitely do not think that I will be taking over the roll of Pie Queen any time soon. Here are two of my somewhat miserable failures. Yummy, but not pretty.

And then there's soccer. Two and half months ago I thought it was going to be a long season. And now that it is over it seems like it flew by. Don't get me wrong, I will love taking my Saturdays back, but it has been a good experience. I will never forget the look on Hannah's face when the ball slipped right between her legs, or when she made her goal. (the looks were surprisingly similar...complete surprise!) I will never forget Seth running up the sidelines slapping high five to anyone who would offer it, while yelling "tell me I'm a rock star, Mom, tell me I'm a rock star!" And years from now, I will remember that this is where Seth learned the ever so manly practice of slapping other guys on the bottom and belly bumping. It was a great learning experience for my kids, and I can't wait for next season. OK, I can wait, but I'm sure I will be excited again by then!

Some parting shots of the kiddos on their last day...

The Blue Sharks, and their super patient, really fun coach! He was even understanding during the game that Seth insisted on slapping coach on the bottom after every play. What are we going to do with that boy? And next year, hopefully he won't be the little guy!
Trophy time. Seth was given the award for being the most dedicated. He didn't miss a single game or practice, and was always so excited to be there. That's my boy!

And here's Hannah, who went from making mud balls to really getting involved in the game. She was still a little timid, but came a long way from the head on her hands, laying on the ground pictures from her first game. She is on the far left.

And here she is doing a throw-in. She was an expert at this particular drill.

Thanks for a great season Purple Princesses! And isn't that coach just super handsome? He was such a great coach. I loved watching him with those girls. They really got lucky to have him as their coach!

Well, till next time..and I promise next time I won't be so wordy!

a sad day

it's been coming for a while now. Katy has been refusing to nurse. Now for those of you who have never lactated, that may mean nothing. You can stop reading and find something more interesting to do. But for those of you who know, it's a tough situation. Hannah was such a good nurser. Seth too, but with some associated problems. Mastitis 7 times in 6 months. 'nuf said. Kate, however, has never been a good nurser. Any of you who happened to be within a four block radius of her nursing probably could hear her. She was a slurper! I hope it's not a sign of things to come. Her roommates will hate her...her husband have to leave the room while she eats...you get the idea? She was LOUD! Obviously something was not working correctly. But, you couldn't argue with results. She was healthy, and...well...chunking right up, to put it mildly. That really made the bleeding cracks and constant pain worth it. And I only had mastitis four times in six months, so that's good news right? About a month ago, things took a turn for the worse...she would fuss, throw her head back, and act starving right after I nursed her. I would always nurse her first, but had to start using formula. It's a cycle that is hard to control. The more bottles she got, the more she wanted bottles, and the less she wanted to nurse. So I decided to only nurse her morning and night, and use foods and bottles during the day. That lasted less than a week. This morning and then again tonight she simply refused althogether. She is a very efficient squirmer. I thought that I would be relieved. But I'm not. I'm emotional. I wanted the last time that I nursed her to be a quiet, sweet moment, always one to treasure. I can promise you this...it was NOT. It was a fight. And one that I did not win. I feel like a failure, although I know in my heart that I did what I could. I fought with her for a month! But somehow, I'm still not ready to let go. So here I sit. Mourning the loss of the slurpy baby moments. And NOT looking forward to the next couple of days of discomfort.

Sigh.

OK, pity party over. Back to your regularly scheduled programming.

the perils of love

Approximately a week ago, Hannah came home from Kindergarten with an announcement.

"Mom, I need to tell you something. I have a boyfriend."
Me: "Oh, really, what is his name?"
Hannah: "I don't actually know his name, but he's so sweet. Most of the boys chase me at recess, but he is sweet to me, and I am sweet to him."
Me: "But you don't know his name?"
Hannah: "No, but I'm going to ask him next recess."

Flash forward three days to Monday morning.

Hannah: "Mom, I'm going to wear a dress to school today, and could you curl my hair so it flips out like this?" (and gestures extravagant curls)
Me: "Hannah, I don't like you wearing dresses to school."
Hannah: "Why not a skirt then, oooh, with tights underneath. Can I wear a skirt with tights underneath?"
Me: (sigh) "I guess so, if you wear shorts underneath."
She gets dressed.
Hannah: "Oh, I look so beautiful. I think when he sees me he will tell me how beautiful I am."
Me: "Don't expect too much, Hannah, sometimes boys are shy about telling girls how beautiful they are. It doesn't mean that you aren't beautiful, but sometimes boys are stinky like that."
Hannah: "Oh, not him, mom, he's sweet."
We do her hair, and wait for time to head to the bus stop. She is working feverishly at the table on a piece of art work. As we get ready to leave, she slyly folds up the paper, and sticks it in the front pocket of her backpack.

Me: "Hannah, can I see your picture?"
Hannah: "OK, but don't rip it, it's for my boyfriend."
I unfold the paper, and see the following:

a large heart with an arrow through it
smaller hearts surrounding it
the words: I like you

and on the other side:

To: you
From: Hannah

oh boy. are you serious? She's five!!

So she wears her carefully chosen outfit, sporting her carefully styled hair-do, carrying her love letter, and climbs on the bus with all the confidence in the world.

and three and a half hours later...

She climbs off the bus, looking like this:



Note the bandages. Apparently, her efforts made quite an impression. Her version of the story goes something like this:

"I was walking into school from the bus, and I thought I saw him, so I started running, and then I fell and I scraped my knees. The other Kindergarten teacher took me in her room and gave me the band-aids. It was Mrs. Barrett. That's his teacher. And he was in there. And when I left to go to my class, I asked him what his name was, and he said 'Collin'. He's very sweet. You know how I know? Because he whispered it."

Okay. So, the big question. Did she give him the note? When I asked her, she said,

"No, someone took it on the bus, and they crumpled it up and threw it in the garbage, and I couldn't give him a crumpled up letter, so I am going to have to make him another one."

And since then, I have never heard his name again. Not once. Ah, young love.

Dressing Up

Hannah had a friend over yesterday, and their favorite thing to do together is play dress-up. They were princesses, then they were ballerinas, then they were fairies, and Hannah was even a pilgram briefly (come on, bonnet, or tiara, is it really even a contest?) Deep in the recesses of the dress-up box they found a teeny-tiny princess dress. They couldn't wait for MaKaty to wake up and try the dress on. Luckily Kate was in a jovial mood and cooperated quite nicely for them. So cute. Funny thing is, if fifteen years ago you would have told me that I would be fastening pink dress-ups for the fiftieth time, helping to find the perfect accessories for an outfit, or ooh-ing and ah-ing over certain beauty in the mirror every five minutes, I would have probably gagged. Alas, what has the world come to?

half a year

is how long it takes to become this cute!

Some of my favorite things about MaKaty at six months are: Her squeals and babbles. How she thinks Seth's laugh is the funniest thing ever. Her love for the robot voice on my cell phone. How she snuggles her blanket up to her face. Her shy smile, complete with burying her face in my shoulder. Her blue blue eyes. Her soft fuzzy hair. How she touches my face while she eats. Watching her play the raspberry game with her siblings. The way she learned to reach her hands up to me when she wants me to pick her up. How she is sleeping through the night again. (thank goodness) How she inspires me to want to be a better mom, wife, person, and friend. Oh, how we love you, katydid!

Sweet Success

Soccer. The never ending saga. The mud ball. The laying down on the field. The getting tangled up in the goal net. The kickoff that went straight between her legs. The walking around with the jersey pulled over her face and her arms out like a zombie. Crazy hair day. This soccer season with Hannah has been nothing if not entertaining. We have tried to be good parents. We have tried to encourage effort, and not results. We have cheered for her when she got one kick in, in the entire game, because it was better than the two games prior. We have cheered when the ball hit her, rather than the other way around. We have congratulated her for putting in her best effort, and actually following the ball. We have tried not to focus on the fact that she had never scored. It didn't really matter. She had made a huge improvement in the season thus far. But on Saturday, her increased effort paid off. She was in the right place, at the right time, and she kicked that ball for all she was worth, and it hit the back of that net, and GOOOOOAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLL!!! Oh, how we cheered! All of us. Her family. The families of her teammates. And of course, Hannah herself. She beamed. She waved to her grandmas at the sidelines. She ran to Coach Daddy and he picked her up in a big hug. And she played hard the rest of the game. And as we were leaving the field, she said, "You know what mom, I made that goal because of team work. I helped my team." If I was proud before, it was nothing compared to that moment. She gets it. She really gets it. First season of soccer...sweet success!

to serve and protect

and not to rear end...

so I was returning home after taking the kiddos to McDonald's today...(gotta let them expend that extra Halloween sugar energy somehow, right?) and I stop at a stop light waiting to get on the freeway. Next thing I know there's a bang, and my head flies back and forth, and it registers...I just got rear ended. So I look in the rear view mirror and what do I see? A highway patrol vehicle. You have got to be kiddin me! So I throw it in park and check to make sure the kids are OK. Hannah and Katy are crying, and Hannah is holding the back of her head. I am starting to feel it in my neck by this point. Good grief. Mr. Highway Patrol (who, to be fair was very nice and super apologetic) asks if the kids are alright and does a once over of the vehicle to make sure that we were all wearing our seatbelts. Well, to make a long story short, Mr. Highway Patrol had to call Mr. Local Policeman and Mr. Highway Patrols Boss to come and inspect everything, and paramedics had to be called to insure that Hannah's and my injuries were mild. My car was completely unscathed, not so for the cop's. He retells his story to his supervisor, using the words "driving with my head up my bum" and they tell us that we are free to go. He leaves us with, "Drive safely, and I promise I will drive MORE safely." Sheesh. The irony! In all seriousness, though, I am so grateful that we were all safely belted. It was a VERY low speed crash, but I am seriously feeling it in my back and neck. I can't imagine what it might have done to Hannah, had she not been belted. So, people, buckle your kids. Give them extra hugs and kisses. And be aware, there might be more than one reason to fear seeing that highway patrolman in your rear view mirror!

Note the Junior Trooper badge Hannah got from Mr. Highway Patrolman.