A day for the books

Today...

The last troops left Iraq, bringing a 9-year war to an end.

Kim Jong Il, the dictator of North Korea, died.

And our family survived its first road trip to Utah.

Obviously, those first 2 are a little more significant to the world. But the last one feels like a big milestone for me.

Thank goodness for kids who were much better than I anticipated and Aunt Jennifer who welcomed us with warm beds, dinner, and cousins(!) to play with halfway through.

Now, let's get down to enjoying our Christmas visit, shall we?

xo,

Mama

What a crazy 21 months and 19 days it has been

Today, Henry is exactly as old as Lucy was when Henry was born.

Ooooooo-eeeeeee. No wonder I got shingles this year.

A little early for the F word, don't you think

You said FAT today. As in, you were worried that having babies someday would make you fat.

Say wha-huh-huh?

I tried not to COMPLETELY FREAK OUT as I think it was more of a blip you overheard than an actual concern but MY GOSH - you're only 3 and a half years old!! Aren't you scheduled to worry about this years from now??

In fact, can we can skip the worrying about being fat altogether? That is definitely what I am hoping to help you do.

You have a wonderful body. Please be happy just the way you are.

Lucy made the tribal newspaper!

This is from the December Ta'c Tito'oquan News. It was a sweet day. Papa gave a cultural presentation and there were several Afghani women that couldn't get enough of you. You were very friendly, talked with them and took pictures. When the foreign men in the group asked to take your picture, you weren't quite as willing. Go figure.

As a side note: your dad was the editor for this paper when we first got married.

If I had a dream

If I had a dream that...

My daughter, taking her queue from an Orange Blossom doll, would rub oranges slices all over her hair while I left the room for 2 minutes.

And that I'd be caught using a (possibly dirty) sock to wipe a smear of disgusting boogers off my son's nose.

And that I'd have to stick my hand into a public toilet to retrieve a truck.

...then my dream came true today.

Yay me.

Picture day

Photoshoots are hard on everyone. Will you remember my fits of stress and craziness trying to get you clean, primped and smiling at the camera in unison? Poor crazy mamas all over the world - I feel your picture day pain.

Oh well, you did great and they turned out just fine. Phew.
Online at http://gallery.me.com/mfivecrows#100412

You are thankful for...

I am thankful for...

...family (including cousins who are visiting this weekend, and your dad who cooked the whole dinner while I went to the zoo)

...this girl (fully embracing life's adventures)

...this boy (enjoying equal parts toys and bath water)

...being together (and the feeling that nothing else really matters)

...and life. What a joy it is to be here with you.

I love you both.

Happy thanksgiving,

Mama

Arrrr. This not be boding well for school photos.

Darling Henry,

Your recent "smile-for-the-camera" pose basically makes you look like a crazy, one-eyed pirate.

Let's work on that before school picture day. Okay?

Love,

Mama

A girl in bloom

Oh sweet Lucy, how you have grown!

Three and a half this week!

And charging ahead with more abilities every day.

Look at this picture you drew:

I love it. Will you do more?

Love,

Your oh-so-proud Mama!

One size fits both

We were doing some handprints tonight and I'm shocked to see your hands are now roughly matched.

Several times, your dad has put Henry's clothes on Lucy lately and they fit just fine. Aside from a few inches of height, you seem very close to the same size. I can't tell if this is because Henry is big or because Lucy is small.

Henry's bear paw - looking like a righty

Lucy's dainty hand - definitely a lefty

You are so different in a million ways but your similarities are also apparent. You are on the same sleep schedule right now (BIG deal for Mama!). You both love books, stories, and mama songs. You both think "poopy diaper" can be the funniest words on the planet. And you both seem to love each other like crazy.

Lucy's signature of late - often backward but very recognizable.

Henry's "signature" - AKA Mater tracks.

Sometimes, we play 50 rounds "watch this" with both of you wanting me to have my eyes only on you. Sometimes there is teasing and pushing. Sometimes you seemed determined to out-howl one another. But there are precious moments too: playing together, laughing, running, holding hands.

Be tender. Be loving. Be careful with one another. There isn't anything more important you can do for our family.

xo,

Mama

Trick or treat

Halloween finally culminated tonight with trick-or-treating and a sugar-fueled viewing of Cinderella. The movie pick was Lucy's.

Daddy: That's not really a Halloween show.

Lucy: But it has a pumpkin in it!

I say culminated because it seems like it's been going on all month with parties and pumpkin decorating and spooky crafts wandering in from school. And since one of you wears a costume almost daily, it kind of feels like we've had a whole summer and fall of Halloween.

Sorry, we didn't get better photos. The charger for the camera is missing. You two wouldn't know anything about that would you?

The language of Henry

Oh Henry,

You're personality is shining through in your words. I love it so much I have to "schiss" and hug you every chance I get. Here is a peak of the treasures coming out of your mouth:

Hug = a favorite Henry activity and common request; good for people, animals, cars, branches, crackers, etc.

Schiss = kiss, see "hug"

Dansh = gotta shout this and wiggle anytime you hear music - yes!

Woohoo = mission accomplished, also "all right!"

Skelketon = skeleton, usually followed by open-mouth staring; I think you are impressed

Punkin patch = currently your favorite place in the world; see also, "Idaho"

Idaho? = anything resembling a farm; said as a question, as if, can we go there?

Gushting = disgusting, used in reference to pumpkin guts

Two = any letters or numbers spotted in writing

Un, two, eaven, eight = counting

Pink = used in reference to any color, see "prinshess"

Prinshess = you know exactly who they are, someone has had an influence on you

Uppa = star, just like Lucy *melt*

Yesh = agreement, see also "super nod"

Super nod = like a regular nod only WAY cuter and more definitive *love*

Meatballs = grab the ketchup and shout this until mom gives you some

Watchashow? = one word request for TV, sometimes more specific as in "Whatchashow Thomas?"

Monshter truck = possibly the coolest thing on the planet, always on the lookout for these

Boo boo bee boo = robot sighting alert; shouted every time we go into the Belmont Library because it has a robot poster

Fire truck = preferred spoon sounds during food delivery; also tractor, helicopter, race car, and rocket

Appy = happy; what you are most of the time

Ungry = hungry; what you are most of the time (seriously, you can eat kid!)

Mommy, wan hug? = Mama's favorite sentence in the whole world

"Appy" Henry at the "punkin patch"

Kinda missing the point here

Cracked and broken, but still dearly loved

Your precious binkies were missing last night at bedtime. When I finally found them (in the basement, in the fort, under a blanket, mixed in with a pile of 3-inch princesses) I delivered them to your room where you were howling into the crack under your door.

Mama: "Lucy, I'm not going on any more binky hunts. You are old enough to sleep without them. If you want to keep them, you need to take care of them and keep them safe. Do you understand?"

Lucy: "Ok mama, I promise. I won't let any coyotes get them."

Hm.

Dinner in a pumpkin

Jack-o-lanterns are lighting up the street. "Skelketons," goblins, and witches are out and about. It's just about time to make our annual Dinner in a Pumpkin. Boo!

Dinner in a Pumpkin Recipe

1 small to med pumpkin
2 T oil
2 T soy sauce
1 4 oz can mushrooms (or some fresh cooked)
1 can sliced water chestnuts (drained)
1 onion chopped
1.5 - 2 lbs ground beef
1 T brown sugar
1 can cream-of-chicken soup
1.5 C cooked rice

Cut off pumpkin top and thoroughly clean out seeds and pulp. Paint an appropriate face on the front with a permanent marking pen or acrylic paint. Preheat oven to 350. In a large skillet, sauté onions in oil until tender. Add meat and brown. Drain drippings from skillet. Add soy sauce, brown sugar, mushrooms and soup. Simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add cooked rice and water chestnuts. Spoon mixture into the pumpkin. Replace pumpkin top and place entire pumpkin with filling on a baking sheet. Bake 1 hour or until filling is hot and pumpkin meat is tender. Put pumpkin on a plate. Remove pumpkin lid and serve filling. For your vegetable, scoop out cooked pumpkin and serve. Serves 6.

Note: we usually precook the pumpkin in the oven for 30-60 minutes depending on size. I also like to add extra cooked veggies like peas, or green beans before baking.

Intervention!

Uh oh. My office has gotten totally out of control. Totally. Out of control. My inner hoarder has been amassing "stuff" and it is getting away of work and life.

I'm staging my own intervention. I'm posting here so I will feel the need to follow up. If you never hear about this again, you'll know I failed miserably and decided to keep everything in the scramble that it is, or simply start a fire and run away.

Both of those options are seriously tempting. We're fighting genetics here and the pull is more intense than I want to admit.

But the stakes are high. My dad has "lived" in a house with pathways to and from the kitchen and bathroom for decades. His addiction to stuff has cost him several marriages and most other relationships as well. For example, he has spent thousands of hours in the DI and maybe 5 hours with the two of you.

So... here is the sign I'm putting on the wall today

The "Before"

And some inspiration

Wish me some serious luck.

Only have eyeballs for you

We got a great invitation in the mail for Will and Deb's halloween party. It's been the talk of the kitchen.

Lucy is on the verbose end with endless questions - all beginning with but: "But where are the people who had those eyeballs?" "But how did they get in there?" "But why is it a joke?""But do they smell?"

Henry's conversations are much simpler and he seems to get the joke. "Eyeballs! Ha ha ha!" "Woohoo! Eyeballs!"

One thing that you see eye to eye on (ha!): Halloween and Aunt Deb are the best!

Homesick, right on schedule

Every fall, I get crazy homesick - longing for my mountains and my family.

Today, my heart is here:

And more specifically here:

This is after living in Oregon for 13 years!

Will you feel this way about Portland someday? I find that so strange.

Grandma just moved to Heber and we have not seen her new place. I can't picture the view out her windows. I don't know where she keeps her cups or the giant bag of sugar free chocolate. I don't how her furniture is situated or where to find "Fred" the blanket. I feel out of touch and sad.

Time to go go hunt up some plane tickets...

Mama gets a night out!

My stress therapy? Interpretive dance and karaoke. 


Amazing friends required.

Wig optional.

Daily Inspiration: Integrity

Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

~ Steve Jobs
1955 - 2011

Wipeable surfaces only, please

I love you baby. But please don't throw up in the car. It's just too darn gross for both of us.

Becoming yourself while dressing up like everybody else

Age: 40 months

Current obsessions: dress-ups, independence, candy!

Afraid of: coyotes (why?), seemingly nothing else

Said recently: "Mama, I don't need you anymore. I only need myself."

Might be seen wearing: Mary Poppins Hat, Thomas the Train boots, just about any costume on the body parts in between with lots AND lots of accessories

Wants to be when she grows up: A mama with a baby in her tummy, a princess

Will do almost anything for: candy, to watch a show

Especially likes: playing at the park with friends, Greek myths, beading, cousins and grandparents

Mmm. Tastes like crazy.

Hi guys. It's been a while.

Airplanes over the berry patch

Yeah, well. I've been busy, ya know, SURVIVING!

My children, inexplicably drawn toward mud

Oh my, I really with that wasn't the truth. But alas - it really is.

Usually on the go and about 3 steps from full-on insanity

Life is straight-to-the-brim full of toddlers and toys and books and laundry and mealtimes and bedtimes and slobbery kisses and working and playing and laughing and crying. It's like three lives got compressed together, somehow stacking everything I need to be doing (and feeling) into one - and I'm swimming in the mess.

Lucy, In the throes of royal mischief

That doesn't really make any sense. But being in the middle of it doesn't either. I'm telling you - all day it is swimming to survive and gulping air above the froth every chance I get.

Henry, talking tractors and growing teeth

INTENSITY: the word I'm living and breathing all of the time.

PEACE: the word I cling to when I find a moment of it.

Mama love

In the 5 miles of chaotic space between is me - the full-on basket case - screaming into a pillow one minute and crying sentimental tears the next.

My swimsuit cowgirl

I'm scrambling along because that's all I can do. I am no where near in charge.

Summery ice cream goodness

I never knew it would be this hard.

Adventurous duo

And I never knew I could love anything so much.

Rolling right into fall

It is all a wild ride.

More photos from our mad summer here.

No small MIRACLE!

Could it be?

Could he finally be sleeping through the night?

OHMYGODYESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

And holy moly - it's about time!!

Middle age - the new black?

Your father is 40 this year - and so beautiful. He thinks it is flattery when I say so but it isn't. His body is lean and balanced. The salt and pepper creeping into his hair suits him perfectly. And his smile is so quick and easy.

Happiness, health, confidence - still the perfect recipe for good looks.

Men are so lucky that they come into themselves again at this age. I can't see the age lines on my face as a bonus. But, somehow, his make him look more finished.

I feel so lucky to have such a wonderful and good looking husband.

And now, we have you two. How did I ever get to be so lucky?

Life is round and full of happiness and light. Certainly busier than I can handle some days but packed to the brim with meaning too.

Middle age - right in the center of all things. And I'm moving toward it pretty darn quick.

So far, not nearly as bad as it once sounded. Although, menopause still scares the s%@$ out of me. I guess we'll see.

What weening trip?

Daddy was supposed to take you along to Idaho for your weening trip today. We are down to just a couple of feedings per day and have been counting on this business trip with family support as a way to finish things up.

But oops - I totally chickened out - last minute (crying at the drop off curb, no less).

So daddy got on the plane and you are still here.

We are weening soon, Henry, soon. But not today.

"Mommy. Uh-up."