Princess Tea Party

 For Pickle's Princess Tea Party I got out our china cups and saucers which I discovered I had not used in the 13 years we've been married. The kids learn "tea time" at school so they are very well-versed in how to serve tea and offer cream, sugar, and treats and I knew they would be gentle with the "good stuff." They had a grand time trying on different outfits and posing for pictures. Cake and Tiaras courtesy of Cee-Cee!

Is 5 the Magic Number?

Dear Darling Daughter #1,
Yesterday was your birthday and if that one day is a predictor of things to come then I would say that we are putting Frustrating Four behind us and moving into Fabulous Five! You are a girl who knows what she wants and you are not pleased when things do not go your way. Dad and I are working hard to practice patience with you and allowing you to be your own person but it is a tenuous process as you can turn on us quickly as frustration makes you angry. You are strong-willed and do not like to ask for help but I know this independent streak will make you a strong woman one day; I just hope you don't forget that we are here to love you and help you no matter how old you are.

This past year has been a very big one for you. You learned to ski and started playing soccer; you spent time in Florida and loved playing in the big waves; and you took tennis lessons and performed in your first dance recital. In school you have learned to read, write, and can do dynamic addition. I even got to watch you have a multiplication lesson and this is just kindergarten! You are a very smart young lady and your academic world is moving quickly. You love school and schoolwork and beg for homework, and you still love crafts of any kind but singing and dancing are your favorite things to do.

You have a very interesting sense of style which causes lots of friction between me and you. I am trying to let go of wanting to pick out your clothes and have you match perfectly, but you have your own ideas of what looks good and what is pretty. (Funny thing about looking pretty . . . you never want to have your hair brushed!) You are not a fan of pants and want to wear dresses or skirts every day and you love tights and fun socks. Your current favorite pair of shoes are the cowboy boots I bought you to wear for the International Festival and you wear them with everything - even your Tinkerbell costume on Halloween!

All of these things make you a very unique and special little girl and when you want to turn on the charm you are very engaging. You are beginning to enjoy playing with your sister more now that she is older and your brother is inviting you to play with him more and more as you are maturing. I am very excited about what this next year holds for you and cannot wait to see what new things you learn and start to love.

Much love,
Mom

914 days

 914 days doesn't really sound like too much but in the case of New Kid that encompasses her entire post womb existence. Two and a half years really isn't too big a deal - she doesn't have a well visit or get any new shots. The half birthday is a random, and often forgotten, day on the calendar. But New Kid's half birthday this year saw her get to do something to which she has looked forward for as long as she can remember. This morning when we went to the little Montessori school down the street to drop Pickle off, New Kid got out! She stayed too . . . not as a try out or just for fun but as a student. Today was New Kid's first day of preschool.

After we dropped her off Christi was a bit emotional but the mid morning phone call from the teacher let us know that everything was fine and New Kid had assimilated into the routine like she had been there forever. She sang the songs on the line in the morning and although she was half a beat behind everyone else she belted out most of the words without any hesitation. We went to pick her up at noon because it will be awhile until she is an all day kid as they are known around our house and she looked to be having a great time. We got a further update as to how the rest of her morning went and it sounded great. I'm a bit disappointed that she can neither read nor count past 4 yet but I will try to be a bit more patient with this last little one.

Halloween 2012

Another year another round of chaos!

Our little Halloween gathering is becoming something of a tradition and certainly an annual event. This is the 3rd year we have hosted our friends and their children for dinner and trick-or-treating and the group just keeps growing. This year we invited one of Pickle's friends from school so she would have someone to play with since the usual group of boys tend to be exclusive and a tad violent. I figured putting the boys in super hero costumes and some with "guns" that the violence would be etched up a notch . . . and it was!

Our three - Tinkerbell, Jingo Fett, and Pumpkin:

I am particularly fond of Tinkerbell's choice of footwear!

Friday's School Commute

Last Friday saw a family bike ride over to Pickle's school. She and New Kid got to ride in the trailer and The Boy had to travel under his own power. Everyone enjoyed it immensely! We even dragged The Boy out for another 4 miles afterwards which on his little bike can't be too easy.

Soccer

Pickle is playing soccer. She started an eight-week Kinder Kicks program and after 6 weeks she is finally starting to warm up and really play. At the first "practice" she adopted this very odd (for her) shy demeanor and kept running off the field in tears. She still starts each session with hands-in-her-mouth nervousness but now quickly gets into it and tends to shine by the time the scrimmage starts. I actually think she is pretty good and she gets really excited when she scores a goal . . . big grins and thumbs up every time! I am hoping she wants to stick with it because she has a great natural athletic ability that - if she listens to coaches - she could really hone into something.

$576

The Boy's school partnered with an organization called Apex Fun Run for their fall fundraiser. It is a multifaceted project and included not only the run and the fundraising aspect but the Apex "Athletes" were at the school all week providing lessons on SUPER: Selfless, Uplifting, Patience, Extra Mile, and Reliable. The event kicked off last week with a Pep Rally and the children were tasked with obtaining pledges for each mile they planned to run (between 26 and 36 laps). There were prize milestones as they reached dollar levels per lap and the Athletes would stop by the classrooms each day to hand out prizes and energize the kids. Our runner set a goal of $15 - to get the UFO Hovercraft - and he exceeded that by raising $16 per lap! He made all of the calls himself and was very, very pleased with results.

The run was held this past Thursday and two small "tracks" were set up in the school field with blow up tunnels for the kids to run through. The team played music and there was plenty of cheering and excitement and water stops to keep them going. The result? The Boy ran 36 laps for a grand fundraising total of $576. Many thanks to our family and friends for contributing to the fundraiser!

 

Slowpoke - A Book Review

This little girl has always done things on her own time and at her own pace which is something that can be incredibly frustrating to those around her . . . particularly me. I have little patience - it's true - and have to work VERY hard to allow the kids to do things themselves like strap their car seats or put on their own shoes. I feel like I am always in a hurry and never have enough time and I know it will all happen faster if I just do it myself! So without a doubt Pickle often tests my patience whether it is stopping what she is doing to come to dinner, picking out a book to read, or finding her shoes . . . it doesn't matter; she is going to take her time doing it.

But last night I was taught a lesson - an unexpected and completely unintentional lesson by this little girl. We read a book that Pickle had picked out at the library. (The library is the one place she moves fast - darting from shelf to shelf stuffing her bag with as many books as she can fit before I start hustling her to checkout.) The book is called SLOWPOKE and is by an author named Emily Smith Pearce.

In this book Fiona "likes to take her time. She takes so much time that her toes wrinkle in the bathtub and her dog falls asleep waiting to be fed." Her mother eats her dinner in one bite and her father watches TV in fast-forward and her brother does two things at once. Can you figure out who Fiona is in our family?
Well, this is me:

Fiona's mom has little patience for "pokiness" and sends her off to "Speed School." In Speed School Fiona learns how to do 3 things at once and "eat an ice-cream cone before you could say 'lickety-split.'" She is tops in her class! "But Fiona could not taste her ice cream. She could not enjoy a soak in the tub." She decides to put her family through "Slow School" and makes them do things like take off their watches, walk down the street, and eat their dinner one bite at a time. Her mother notices the flowers and her father comments on how tasty the food is. Everyone learns something!

I highly recommend this book to the many adults out there who are in "Speed School" mode like myself. Is it so bad that it takes her 5 minutes to pick out just the right book to read or that she wants to tie her own shoes or that she wants to stop and wash her hands right after getting out of the shower? Maybe not and maybe I need to stop, slow down, and taste my food. Cheers to pokiness and Cheers to Pickleness!

Goodbye September, Hello October!

We've been missing. I wish I had some clever comments or funny stories to share to explain why we skipped an entire month of blogging but the truth of the matter is we just didn't have the time - or want to spend the time. When the day begins or the day is done I have to make sure we are spending time on the most important things - ourselves and the children - and sitting at the computer can not always be on the list. Oh, and there was that 3-week period in September when the computer took a vacation with the Geek Squad at Best Buy.

The Family had an interesting summer and I hope I can find some time to record some of the adventures and tribulations on the blog. We then rolled into the school year - as you saw in our only August posts - and I think we are still trying to get into a rhythm of homework that exponentially grew this year. We have also experienced the trials of growing up, making bad choices, and having the school Principal call us several days in a row. To say that I am glad September is over would be putting it mildly.

September is never my favorite month around here because I am always fooled by the weather. You would think after eleven previous Phoenix Septembers I would be prepared but unfortunately I still take it as a personal attack that the temperature chooses to stay above 100 degrees. It is already getting better though as we have the doors and windows open this morning enjoying a cool 70 degrees. We have also gotten the fall and Halloween decorations out which always brings a smile to everyone's face!

So Hello October . . . a busy one for sure as weeknights and weekends are already full of soccer, baseball, and bike races. It's time to contemplate once, twice, and three more times what we want to be for Halloween. It's time to open the doors in the morning and practice "Atmosphere Management" to keep the house cool throughout the day. It's time to enjoy the backyard and play at the park. Oh, and it's time for this:

Pickle hits Kindergarten

Not all first days are the same. Today was one of the unique ones. The girl known affectionately as Pickle joined the legions of legitimate schoolers by entering kindergarten. She has looked forward to this day all summer long and it was met with a great deal of enthusiasm. since the school age children had different start dates this year they were granted the freedom to choose the meals around their respective start dates. Pickle wanted tacos the night before, mini blueberry muffins for breakfast, and a dinner of pancakes after the first day.

Dance Recital

In June after we returned from Florida Pickle participated in her first dance recital. She has been excitedly talking about it since January when the teacher started prepping them for being on the stage. After weekly classes, costume fittings, and pictures; the big day finally arrived. The performance turned out as you would expect from five 4-year-olds on stage but they all looked adorable. It was a very proud moment for me but most importantly I just loved her enthusiasm for the experience.

 

 

3rd Grade

If it is August then it is time for the yearly back to school pictures. The Boy picked out his clothes last night but as I look back at last year's post I see that he has not branched out too much. He moves into another year but with a familiar teacher and many familiar faces from previous years. This is the first year he gets to ride his bike to school but he didn't hit out on it today. I broke down and drove him because of the usual bag of supplies. The parking lot was a zoo and I am glad it is not something that we have to navigate every morning.

Room Re-Organization

 

Most of our spare time this summer has been spent re-organizing all of the rooms and shifting kids around. It started in early June while The Boy stayed a week in Louisiana enjoying one-on-one time with all of his grandparents. We cleared out Pickle's room, painted it (twice to get the right color blue) and moved in all of his furniture, toys, clothes, and BOOKS! The room looks awesome and he has been really happy with it. I have enjoyed the project as it has motivated me to really clean out many items that I had been hanging onto for sentimental reasons and the result has been cleaner closets and more space.

Before

 

After

Before

After

We plan to build him a desk under the top bunk (while we're at it we need to get a mattress for that top bunk). The next step in the process was to paint his old room for the girls. It turned out great and both girls have moved in and are officially sharing a room! We still need to hang some pictures in there to bring it all together so once that is completed I will post pictures of their room.

Just Hanging Out

The summer has not been just about sitting around and hanging out . . . many blog posts will be forthcoming to show you what we've been up to the last couple of months. Today we are wrapping up a weekend of "resort living" here in Phoenix. We packed up and drove 10 minutes south to stay at The Legacy where we didn't have to use our air conditioning and could swim and possibly play tennis. As luck would have it the weather did not cooperate and our swimming was cut short by a thunder storm that left the courts unwelcoming as well. Oh well, I certainly enjoyed the rare rainstorm!

Father's Day

It's Father's Day and the Father of the house is not here . . . pretty standard Sunday schedule. JP spends 1/2 the day on his bike while the kids and I lounge about watching PBS and Food Network, reading the paper, or just playing. Why should Father's Day be any different? Of all the Sundays in the year he should certainly be allowed to do what he wants on this one. The kids wanted to make him jalapeno biscuits and serve him breakfast in bed but this was the last thing he wanted. He is usually the first one up and would rather be drinking coffee and watching cycling in the den than waiting in bed for breakfast. (He made an omelet.)

He also did not receive any gifts . . . at least nothing purchased. The kids did give him a picture frame that they made with Cee-Cee a few months ago and I printed a "Father's Day Mad Lib" that they each completed and were pretty funny. Giving him gifts is pretty useless as he doesn't want anything and we don't need more stuff. Instead of gifts we are going to go out to his favorite restaurant so he can have pizza and wings. I am also making lemon squares. Consumable gifts and ones that can be shared are the best kinds of presents and ones I know he will like . . . no guessing needed.

Happy Father's Day! We love you.

New Kid Turns 2!

Two already? How can it be? Still a petite little girl you eat all the time but very little at meals. You love to "nack" all day long; particularly whatever someone else is eating. Sleep is still your favorite thing; getting 11-12 hours each night and napping 3-4 hours every afternoon. I think this is what has kept you so healthy and so happy for your first 2 years. You had your first trip to the doctor - outside of routine checkups - this past December and it turned out to be nothing. Dr. A remarked how impressed he was that you hadn't been in to see him.

In the last several months your vocabulary has blossomed and you typically communicate in complete sentences. Your favorite word is "too" as in "I do that too." You want to do everything your brother and sister do and you want to tell us about it. Following directions is another positive attribute that I really hope continues into your third year and you love to be helpful. You do so many nice things for others without being asked. For example your sister was throwing a tantrum about wanting water and you just ran off to her room, retrieved her water bottle, and brought it to her. Such a sweet girl . . . .

Sweet yet willing to fight back when you want something and it is usually with your teeth. This seems to be tapering off and we all hope to see that phase come to an end. You are determined and anxious to grow up quickly. I know this new year will be a momentous one for you as you master potty training, probably transition to a big-girl bed, and start school with your big sister. These are things that are still ahead of us but knowing how quickly you have grown and matured, I predict I will be documenting these milestones one year from now.

Don't grow up too quickly precious one. Happy Birthday and Much Love, Mom

Trainee

Thirty-seven years and 3 kids have made me – how shall I put it – MUSHY; or perhaps a more polite way to phrase it would be weak. Society would label me skinny and I do agree that due to exceptional genes and a moderate amount of running and hiking I’ve been able to stay pretty slim even after gaining obscene amounts of weight during each of my three pregnancies. I’d even go as far to say as I don’t look so bad . . . with clothes on.

Alas I live in the desert and wearing jeans and sweaters is not really feasible year round and soon I am going to be forced to put on a swimsuit so I have taken the inevitable leap of hiring a trainer. As I mentioned above I do enjoy hiking and running and have been known to occasionally ride my bike. I also “play” at the weights when I go to the gym and I am pretty dedicated to my weekly kickboxing class but I am not very hardcore particularly when it comes to strength training. Boy was I in for a very rude awakening!

I scheduled my first session with the trainer for this past Saturday which was unfortunate considering I had to travel last week to Atlanta for work. This meant I did not exercise in any form for 4 days, got WAY less sleep than I normally would, and ate and drank like I was back in college. (Okay, maybe that is stretching it because I certainly did not eat filet mignon in college and drank a bit more and it wasn’t nice red wine). 

So on Saturday I attended my weekly kickboxing class, ate a protein bar, and rolled into the gym with my friend (and partner on this adventure) Kris ready to kick some butt. Three minutes in and I was ready to throw up like the weaklings on Biggest Loser. I found out quickly just how weak my muscles have gotten particularly my abs (did I mention 3 large pregnancies). I did my best to power through by chugging water at every available moment and willing myself to try as hard as possible and reminding myself that I was paying for this torture.

It will be a bumpy ride but if my current soreness is any indication it will be well worth it. No pain, no gain – right? I’ll keep you posted.

Normal

JP: "Can you just be normal for one minute?"

Pickle: "I don't even know what normal means!"

Birthday Boy

Happy Birthday to my First Born who turned 8 on March 30^th! If only I was as organized as I was when you were born 8 years ago, I would have completed this blog post on or before your actual birthday. A lot has changed in 8 years . . . we didn’t even have a blog 8 years ago. I may have been organized when you came along but I was not calm or confident in my parenting skills. I clearly remember my amazement when we drove away from the hospital (after nearly squeezing you to death with the car seat straps) thinking that they just let us take you. We didn’t have to pass a test or get certified in parenting or anything. You were ours to do with as we wished. And what did we do? We stared at you – a lot. You loved sleeping in your car seat and we could just set you down in the bucket and watch your sweet little peaceful face.

You were not an easy baby. Was this you or us? Looking back, it may have been us as we were so worried about messing you up that we might have been overbearing causing your unhappiness. Our biggest challenge was getting you to sleep. For the first two nights we had to hold you to sleep and then we figured out that you would sleep in your car seat and with Dr. Alexander’s permission we went that route for many more nights then I want to admit. First kids bring so many concerns and fears particularly regarding feeding and sleeping. There is so much societal pressure to give only breast milk and for 6 weeks we did only that but I know that what I had to offer was not sufficient. I know now that your unhappiness and unwillingness to sleep was because you were hungry. It was a little too obvious that once we started you on formula, you started sleeping much better. 

Dad was very concerned that your brain would not grow because you were not sleeping. We kept thinking we were going to “ruin” you by letting you cry. Well, we are 8 years in and I would say you are not ruined and your brain is bigger than the average kid. I guess breast milk is not the golden path to brain growth and those few nights we let you “cry it out” didn’t do any permanent damage. You are such a smart kid storing so many facts in that brain that I am constantly amazed at what comes out of your mouth. You know more at 8 then I know at 37 . . . so much like your Dad. It is very hard to put into words how proud I am of you. I know we are entering some tricky years as you are no longer a little boy. It is going to get harder to shelter you from the scary things in the world but I believe you are smart enough to handle them. You are such a sensitive and caring kid that I want to continue to hold you in close and keep the “real” world at bay, but I know it is time to push you out of the nest every so often for more learning opportunities.

I hope you continue to be my sweet little boy. Much love my son.

First Family Camping Trip

Before kids JP and I camped quite often . . . . we went for a long weekend in the Chiricahua Mountains or a week to Zion or just one night on our way to Colorado. Once The Boy came along we had big ideas of taking him in the tent and heading out on many adventures but we were just never sure of the right time or right age to start. Then Pickle arrived and things got crazier and then came New Kid and the thought of 5 of us in a tent was just plain scary. I would often lament our fear of family camping when talking with other parents and finally met my match in our friends Dave and Donnie. She would not stand for my tales of woe and kept gently pushing until we agreed on a weekend and then they booked the campsite and we were locked in for this adventure! They are well-practiced campers and integrated their boys right into the process so we were being led by masters of family camping.

So Easter weekend found us at Dead Horse State Campground in Cottonwood, AZ; a "high desert" environment with lots sand and scrub brush where the days were hot and the nights cold. We borrowed a 10-person tent that was nearly big enough for JP to stand. It was definitely large enough for the pack 'n' play which I think was key to getting New Kid to stay put at bedtime. The Boy decided he wanted to sleep in his own tent so he would not be bothered so he had our smaller two-man tent all to himself. Of course it was him that disturbed the rest of us including at 1:45am when he asked if he could get out of his tent. Me, "Um, no it is the middle of the night; please go back to sleep." He was also the first one up on Saturday morning dressed and unzipping his tent at 5:30am only to realize it was bitterly could outside of his sleeping bag.
Overall it was a very successful adventure! We now know it can be done and everyone had a good time and can't wait to do it again.

Wolf Pups

Vacation is ending and we are heading home tomorrow. Everyone is happily exhausted from so many days at the mountain. We have many stories to tell that I will have to share once I am home and rested. In the meantime check out these adorable Wolf Pups!

Poor Baby

Vacation took a little twist yesterday throwing us a curve ball that we could not have anticipated. New Kid got sick and it is a sickness we have not had to deal with in the nearly 8 years we have been parents. On Sunday night she woke up about 10:30 having thrown up in her Pack 'n' Play. Thank goodness she was sleeping in our room because she did not cry and I was still awake and heard what was happening. When I leaned over to check on her she was all smiles. We got her out and cleaned her up and she went back to sleep as if nothing had happened.

Yesterday we took the girls to an area in-home daycare where they had stayed last year when we were here to snowboard. Everything was going fine until we got a text (while we were on our way to pick them up) that New Kid had had a huge diaper blow out and then barfed up her snack. Clearly something was amiss. We pumped her full of liquid and gave her some plain pasta for dinner and off to bed she went tired but happy. She awoke crying around 12:30am and I quickly scooped her up just in time for her to blow chunks in my hand. I got her to the sink and then to the toilet where she got a bit more out of her system.

I share this story mainly for one reason and that is to always remember how adorable she looked standing over the toilet calmly throwing up and then pretending to spit into the bowl. Did you know that the height of the toilet is perfect for a toddler to stand and vomit. We went through this exercise 3 times between 12:30 and 1:00am. Each time she would throw up and then look up at us with her most pleasing smile. We would clean her up and put her back in bed where she would quietly drift off to sleep.

We strung together about 3 hours of sleep only to be awakened at 4:00am to more crying. This time it was her diaper that needed changing and she was not as happy to have her PJs removed in the cold of night as she was to stand over the toilet pretending to spit. So here I sit in the condo with a sleeping toddler and an overactive four-year-old . . . it is going to be a long day.

There are many aspects to this story that amaze me but the biggest one is that this was our first (but I doubt not our last) experience with an "up-in-the-night" type sickness like this. Luckily our children have proved resilient and have rarely let illnesses keep them up at night. Outside of car trips (and the time The Boy ate a tube of toothpaste) we have had only one other time where one of our kids has thrown up and that was actually last month. On President's Day when the kids were out of school The Boy complained of being cold and nauseous around 10:00am and then projectile vomited in his bed about an hour later. He ran a fever, took a nap, sat comatose on the couch for a few hours, and then was good as new and able to eat a normal dinner by 6:00pm.

Parenting is about rolling with it and we sure are rolling this week!