The floor is staring at me

I got so mad this morning that I tried to break a dish and only ended up spilling googly eyes all over the floor. Sometimes, everything about parenting toddlers feels ridiculous.

And now the floor is watching.

Learning in past tense

This is a photo of me and a friend in my Spanish class TWENTY YEARS AGO.

Oh, that I had paid a little more attention to all those irregular verbs, and the present perfect tense, and the pluperfect form, and well – all of it.

A discouraging blow...

My mother is expecting a mission call. She turned in her papers months ago and after being held up in several places, they finally went through. Also, her requested companion got her mission call in the mail. This must be it!

And what luck! I couldn't believe I could fly in to see her on such an important day. How wonderful to be here to celebrate!

And then.

Instead of a mission call in the mail, mom got word of another lawsuit - ANOTHER LAWSUIT - from my crazy dad.

It is awful, appalling, frustrating, disappointing, heart wrenching, distressing, painful and HORRIBLE that this keeps happening again and again.

My sweet mother has been dealing with this since 1986!!!!

I'm so angry and sad, I could just...

No more la la la la Woo-cy

You are starting to pronounce your L's!

Another year of art

I'm calling this Lucy's Garden. It's a montage of artwork done by 3.5-4.5-yr-old Lucy B. I hope you remember her well. She is a magical creature to behold.



This doesn't cover even a small glimpse of the distant view of the tip of the ice berg in terms of what you've created over the past year. We have a whole heck-of-a-lot tacked up around the house, as well as a healthy supply still stashed in my office, and 400+ pieces scanned into the computer. And the last montage still hangs downstairs. But this collection of specials includes some genuine beauties. Most of them which you delivered right into my hands saying "Here mom, I made this just for you!"

Oh Lucy, thank you sweet girl. I do love your creations!

xo,
Mama

Play group

I have been helping with a new play group at the swap shop. It has been a fun place to make friends and share our favorite past-times. I have not managed to take many photos - what with trying to tell stories while keeping Henry from throwing toys and charging down anyone holding a truck (4 pm is not an ideal behavior time for a 2-yr-old) - but we are having fun. You both love puppets. Who knew?!

Backyard fairy houses (of course)

Bird nests out of fabric scraps 

Stuffed animal hospital 

Bandage crafts

Plus stickers,  face paints, fishy fun and several others.

I keep tabs on more of our fun on Pinterest.

In and out of Lucy's closet

Stole: Millie
Crown: Aunt Deb
Pirate belt: Grandma Crow
Nightgown you insist is a dress: Mama

Occasion: Sunday playtime

It's always a surprise to see how you put everything together. With such expressive fashion, I think of it as a window into how you see the world.

Perhaps, part of the reason I find your clothes so amusing is that I reach for the same pair of cords and a plain t-shirt every chance I get. No really - I wore the welts right off my last pair of cords and I'm working on doing the same to this one.

I have exactly one bejeweled cardigan. You dig through my drawers and pull it out frequently, strongly suggesting I wear it. Why, you seem to wonder, would I possibly not?

Well, I usually don't and most of its wear will come from you dragging it around after me, rather than from actual wash and wearings.

Is our difference in fashion due to our ages? To our completely different personalities? Undoubtedly both.

Although, I do remember some chuckles from Pam Smith when I once wore snow pants down to play with Barbara in July. Hm. Perhaps there is a pair of welt-less cords in your distant future after all.

Cultural melange

During the day: Spanish immersion con tu Niñera Cubana

Dinner: Chinese (with mama sneaking in some Mexican)

Evening: Indian night at the community center

Coup de gras (French!): throwing up in the pool and finishing off with a little gym time in jammies

Another day of life packed to the brim!

Solamente en Español por favor

We have a new nanny this week. Karelys is from Cuba and speaks about 50 words of English. These words do not include hot cocoa, nap time, diaper, or pretty much most of the words you depend on - las palabras necesitamos en nuestra casa. The language divide is HUGE.

Three days in, we are all still struggling a bit. My high school Spanish is coming back in bits and pieces, filling in the gaps with Spanglish. Often, I've asked ¿No son palabras? - "Those aren't words?" and she laughs and nods yes. And I keep adding Spanish words into English conversations plus the odd Norwegian word appearing out of nowhere in both. Clearly my brain is working overtime trying to sort things out.

Hopefully your young, pliant brains will be adapting faster than my old, crusty one.

Why Spanish? ¿Por qué, este desafío?

Everywhere we go – literally Every Where We Go – people are speaking Spanish. The co-op. The library. Stores. Restaurants. Parks. It is a beautiful language and tied to some rich cultures I'd like our family to be a part of.

Will this work?  No sé. I don't know

Is this crazy?  Probablemente. Probably.

I guess we will see in another week or so. Que será, será as they say. 

Te amo, mis hijos. Muchos & muchos.

The opposite of stagnant

Henry, your little brain is working all the time. Lately you LOVE worksheets. You ask "Can I do a worksheet?" at least 3 times a day. So we all sit in the kitchen and go through this book that Grandma got Lucy. She can do the worksheets on her own and you do remarkably well with a little extra explanation and help.

Yesterday, we got to the section on opposite questions and you knew all of them. I, on the other hand, was having a tough time answering your "office-it" (opposite) questions.

"What's the office-it of shoot?"

"What's the office-it of car?"

Oh dear, not easy to explain, especially when I'm the opposite of energetic and thinking clearly.

Love you Mr. Smartypants FiveCrows.

For your 4 and a half birthday? A broken TV.

Hey Lucy lou,

It's been a tough month with you. You have not been liking me very much. Those limits we set: not your friends. That rigid schedule we live by: not so fun. Those boring tasks we have to do every day: torture. Those groceries we buy instead of toys: lousy. Why oh why can't we just give you everything you want all of the time? Life could be eating candy, shopping for barbies, and watching TV all the time, right?

Well, wrong. Even though you glimpse that possibility, it's just not going to happen. And that makes you MAD. At me. Because apparently I am the one standing in the way of a life of bliss.

See this dynamic. It is awful.

I don't know if it's like this for other 4 and a half year olds? Do they all see so clearly the possibilities? Do they all blame mom?

We had to change something. It just can't be me in your way anymore.

So, we started with the TV. And it has been "Broken" for 2 weeks now. You immediately asked questions about using the iPad, phone, etc so we are just barely getting away with this. But it is helping. A bit. More changes are probably coming as we sort this out.

I love you so much. I even love your hedonistic, embrace the joys of the world, side. But I am not the bank of resources and pleasures you think I am. I am not the best friend. I am definitely not the all-knowing, powerful master of your fate.

I'm just your mom.

Who loves you very much.

So much that I want to encourage your personal growth and friendships and intelligence and service and all the sides of your dynamic and developing self.

Loving you means encouraging the best in you. And making sure you brush your teeth. And setting limits on TV and candy.

Your love for me requires some trust that I really do have your best interests at heart.

I really hope we figure this out before you are 5. And definitely before you are 15.

Waking up laughing

I close my eyes to remember

mornings when I have woken up laughing.

Utter lightness and joy

eager to roll over and fill you in on the joke.

Today's yin and yang

On the plus side, new phone! Your dad is usually the one with THE Latest and Best Gadget. It's kind of fun to have my own coolest ting this time.

On the down side (no pun intended), diarrhea. I'm spending a lot more time with this lever than any of my fancy new buttons.

Hooray! And not so much. Such is life.

Wish me luck keeping BOTH of these things away from you two!

xo, blech,
Mama

Mom smells

Jeremy always thinks of his mother when he smells this:

I always think of my  mom when I smell this:

And my smell. Well, I've got Chanel N°5 on the dresser. And I do wear it occasionally.

But if you ever really miss me, just put your face into a jar of this and you will surely think of me. It's either on my breath or smeared on my clothes at least 90% of the time. Mmmm.

Gah!

The last month has been a daze.

We've been house hunting for homes with gigantic price tags while trying on neighborhoods and reading school reviews. (A lot of first dates but we haven't fallen in love with anything yet.)

We've looked our house up and down, making lists of little fixes and polishings to get it ready to put on the market. Lots of finding/hiring of powerwashers and painters and general fixers and such. And the yard work and the housework and the garden to tend to.

This is the busy season with the Swap Shop too so I've been giving tours and helping with open houses and street fairs.

Oh yeah, and then our regular jobs.

And also taking care of those 2 little kids.

And finding all the stuff that I keep losing: phone, iPad, keys, sunglasses. After losing none of those for years, I seem to be losing at least one every day!

So, I'd say it's been pretty busy.

And now...

We are going to Florida. Tomorrow. Which means packing and arranging and canceling and returning and running to the store before some more packing.

And the painters are coming while we are gone so I'm supposed to have everything ready to go for them too.

Gah!!

There's a lot of this going on...

And not quite enough of this...

Thank goodness we will be seeing a little of this very soon...

Overheard at our house

Lucy

Our budding feminist

Mama: "Maybe Mr. Fixit can come fix that."
Lucy: "Or maybe Mrs. Fixit."

One-word responses the exact intonation of a teenager (where did you hear these?)

"Fine!"
"Whatever!" 

In better moments.

"Thanks mom so so so so so much. I LOVE it."

Apparently comfortable with death

Jeremy: "When Harry is 20, Lucy will be 22."
Lucy: "Yeah, and you'll be dead!" 

Henry 

After listening to Halloween music

Daddy singing: "Who ya gonna call?"
Henry: "Ghost mustard! "

A new kind of familiarization to everything we see

"I'm the baby dragon and you're the mama dragon."

Not always so flattering...

"I'm the baby swamp. And you're the mama swamp."

Rolling roll-play

Henry: "Can you come pway wid me?"
Mama: "Sure."
Henry: "You brum that and I'll talk to you. (to the cars) What's your name? Want to drive to Mexico?"

At mealtime and when we come home

"How was your day, Daddy?"

Typical Henry dream

"Cars and trucks. And tractors and trains. And a helicopter!"

Not so fond of shoes or clothes

"I don't like some shoes. I want bare feet."

Heard less and less frequently

"Can I have some miwky miwks?"

And since there isn't milky milk to be had...

"How about we put some more miwk in dere."

Too cute for words

"That's the biggest tree I eeeeeeeever seen."

I ♥ fairy houses

What started with this book by Tracy Kane,

Has become an ongoing theme for our summer.

Something we do at home and everywhere we go.

Something to teach friends about at the park.

Something to leave behind for little explorers to find.

Something to save your clam shells from dinner for.

Something to make Mama smile every time she's in the yard.

xo,

Margaret

Out and about

On the count of three, "Hi Grandma!"

 

Why oh why can't summer just last forever.

A haircut for Henry

Henry's pre-haircut mop - tada!

The moment where I almost got a photo of kids post haircuts.

Nope, life is moving too fast. 

Getting a photo of you holding still will have to wait.

Daybreak

This morning, my curly haired girl climbed into my bed with her grinchy and her binkies.  Suck suck,  snuggle, roll and hug. "I love you mom," very sweet but too quickly followed with "Is that money mine?" pulling out a twenty from under the covers.  Making me laugh.

When I went to get little Henry, you breathily whispered "Is today Rose Festival? Can we go to the fair? I want to ride the bumper cars." After I took off your sleep sack and set you on your sleep-wobbily feet, you took two steps and then turned around to put lipless kisses on my cheeks, chin, and eyes. "I love you Mama."

I love you too, sweet kids. I don't know if you have any idea how much.

Suggestions on life from Lucy

Suggested recipe: sprinkle sandwich

Suggested activity: making fairy houses, with or without feet coated in pitch

Suggested attire: wedding shoes and tennis shoes means ready for anything

Another blow to my nerves

Today you climbed out the window, shimmied down the roof and ran around on the awning top until dad could clamber out after you and bring you back inside.

Your dad handled it well and even stopped to put on pants before chasing out after you. I, on the other hand (only hearing about this after the fact), am still panicking.

I don't have any grey hairs yet but I think I will name my first one "2-yr-old on the roof."

On blackberry time

We went back to the Frank Estate apartment complex to pick blackberries this weekend. We lived there in 1998 when we first moved to Portland – and now, the grounds are our go-to place for quiet blackberry picking. Plus, there is a fun park nearby with this funny alligator ride.

It was fun to be there and talk to you about our memories. And I realized, it's the only place I've ever lived where I never learned the location of the closest library. I guess we were busy being newlyweds!

Today's treasure find

A heart gem
On top of a heart
On top of wings
On top of the stuffed hedgehog
On top of a hankie
Wrapped around a box
Covered in pink silk
Holding 7 beads and a nickel.

The playroom

This is where we build lots of forts/trains/towers/roads and play lots of legos/trains/dolls/waffle window. 

Rub a dub dub

Rub a dub dub,
Three friends in our wagon
And who do you think they be?
A blue fairy, Shan Yu
And a finger puppet boo
Such a trio is surely Lucy B's.

Home again, home again riggity jig jig

We had another wonderful trip to Utah. The drive was long but oh so much better with you both plugged into idevices and busy with apps and movies. Oh, how I do love technology.

On the way down, we stopped at B and Bonna's for a few hours. It was a short but sweet visit. You both played with THE bucket of toys while we chatted. I don't know how many hours you've spent playing with the same 10 cars, snoopy figurines and rubber anenomes, but has got to be dozens. Afterward Lucy said "B is kind of boring but I love her sooo much."

Our plan was to go down to Angela's and visit the farm for a day or two. But after the long drive to Midway, we lost all motivation to go anywhere and ended up mostly staying put for the week. Anna and Thomas were around and out of school so we got to play with them several times. And we all got lots of much needed grandma time. Pancakes every morning. Swimming every day. A couple of trips to Dairy Keen (The Train Place). Lots of visiting and sweet adventures. Ahh....

Jeremy and I went to Salt Lake to celebrate OUR 15TH ANNIVERSARY! Will we drive 800 miles for a date night? The answer is apparently yes. Was it worth it? Absolutely YES.

We also took you on some adventures to the Hogle Zoo, The Utah Museum of Natural History, and to the Kangaroo Zoo. What a blast. I enjoyed the bouncy castles as much as you did. And, much to your dad's relief, none of us got SARS.

Uncle Will turned 40 this year and threw a big party. We all took a hike (our crew only made it up the trail about 20 yards to throw rocks into a ditch) and then had lunch and games in the park. I'll give you both a B- for the hike, but an A+ for the candy hunt in the sawdust filled kiddie pool. I entered the watermelon eating contest but didn't come close to winning. Oh well. Way to go team FiveCrows!

Eight days later, we are home again to a very hot Portland. Summer is in full swing and the whole city seems to be outside enjoying it. Parks are full. Bikes everywhere. Lots of friends wanting to play.

And so our summer adventures will continue.

Thank you both for being such good travelers. For being open to random schedules and new experiences. For getting along and enjoying your parents so much of the time. And for loving my mom and family as much as I do.

Epic summer, currently underway

(sung to the William Tell Overture)

Drive to Idaho and back 

Summer reading big book stack 

Swimming lessons to and fro 

Through the neighborhood we go

Hike and swim and jump and run

Going to the park for fun

Picking berries, to the beach

How to read, we'll try to teach

A, B C, D E F G and H...

Brm brm brm, brm the cars

Lay down flat and look for stars

Pile in friends for wagon ride

All picnic on the lawn outside

Hood River's really fun

Spend a day in real hot sun

Summer concerts, chores to do

Build a fairy house or two

It's fun, it's fun, its fun for everyone...

Splash pads are really neat

Popsicles our favorite treat

Run the hose for hours and hours

No you cannot pick the flowers

Gardening is fun to do

Horsebackriding, to the zoo

To fireworks and fairs we go

If you're good we'll watch a show

Now please nap, and nap, and nap some more...

Play the iPad, eat some dirt

Fish with Papa, guns to squirt

Dress as queen, and batman too

Paint a picture, add some glue

On the tramp, we jump and jump

Loads of sand, we dig and dump

Grandma hugs, and pony hair

Beads and glitter everywhere

On and on, we go and go and go...

Photos online here