Easter Sunday

Easter Sunday morning -like many Sunday mornings- is usually a test of mom and dad's patience. More than any other time of the week on Sunday there is the greatest chance of me losing it and I feel like I am always thisclose to unleashing a tirade of expletives I haven't used since middle school out of just sheer exasperation. Nathan and I have learned that to have a smooth Sunday morning you really have to prepare the night before. Doing this has helped immensely. However this Easter Sunday morning I was solo since Nathan is out of town and even with preparation the odds were not in my favor. All morning we did a maddening 1-step-forward-2-steps-back-dance with a grand finale of Kennedy and Kohen messing up their hair and clothes wrestling while I was dressing Aly! #%!*!!! Overall I thought the pictures represented the morning well (eyes closed or shoes on the wrong feet etc). I especially love the picture of Kohen because it reminds me so much of Justin when he was little. Anyway, by the time we got to church I had taken a few deep breaths and was able to actually enjoy the meetings. As I sat in Sacrament I chided myself for letting new dresses, ties and tidy hair distract my sensibilities. Soon our tumultuous morning was all but forgotten and the importance of Easter came into focus. Especially after hearing this quote in class, "The three most important words in the English language are, 'He is risen'." Happy Easter!

"Dying" Eggs

Kennedy was so excited to color eggs this year. The confusion started when I said we were about ready to "dye the eggs". Kennedy got this worried look and asked, "What happens to the eggs when we "die" them?" Still oblivious to her real worry I answered, "We will put them back into the carton." To which she replied, "Yeah, but are they dead?!" After a lengthy explanation by me she still looked concerned so Nathan took over and in one sentence had clarified things for Kennedy...Just another reminder that Nathan is doing all the talking when we have to have the 'birds and the bees' talk with our kids- he is such a better communicator than I am! But I digress...us poor communicators do a lot of that! The coloring of the eggs went beautifully. It was fun for the children because they were able to be creative, and there were no spills- which was the definition of success to me! It went egg-sactly as I hoped it would!...sorry couldn't resist!

Christina Aguilera Concert

For my birthday Nathan surprised me with Christina Aguilera tickets! The sweetest part is that he bought them clear back in January and kept it a secret. I wanted to see this concert because I think that Christina has one of the best voices of my generation. Highlights of the evening: Nathan and I ate at a yummy little cafe' and then Nathan ran to go put some more coins in the meter (there's a highlight right there- $20 parking garages vs. $4 metered parking spot! woo hoo!) and while he was gone some 50 year old rich guy -I assume this because of his clothes and the pimped out Navigator he dropped his kids off in- totally hit on me. What!? This was a mini highlight because even though he was old and out of his ever-loving mind - I appreciate his...fortitude. And Nathan and I had a great laugh about it. Anyway, as you might guess the concert was amazing. We had great seats and could see really well. Christina (I feel weird calling her by her first name like we are friends or something, but what else do I call her?) belted out song after song- I can't believe she does that each night and still has a voice! Another highlight of the evening was people watching...too much to tell in a blog. The last picture is of this man who sat in front of us who was there with his son. His son looked about 3. He was not wearing ear plugs. What kind of a parent brings their 3 year old to a Christina Aguilera concert to have their innocent little ears permanently damaged roughly 3 hours after he should already be in bed?!!! Well, Nathan heard the guy proudly talking on the radio the next morning about taking his kid to the concert. We had suspected he was a d.j. because he had a radio station on his jacket but still- that is no excuse! Anyway- great night, thank you Nathan!!!!

Kite Festival on the Mall

On this day of the Cherry Blossom Festival there was a Kite Flying Festival. It was a perfect day for that since it was overcast and a little windy. We enjoyed the scenery while we shared a snack on the grass by the Monument. These pictures do not capture nearly as many kites as you could see with the naked eye- it was spectacular against the already powerful backdrop of our Nations Capitol. I had a rare moment where I thought, "This is amazing. They have nothing like this in Boise."....then I slapped myself hard and pulled it together! It was still a fabulous experience I was grateful to share with our children.

More Kite Festival

The last picture gives you an idea of how many people were out flying (or trying to fly) kites. There were also some really huge kites that had 20+ strings that had to be managed. I wonder if I had started to sing, "Ooh let's go fly a kite! Up to a the highest height!..." if this huge crush of people would all have joined in singing and dancing in unison; just like how it works in musicals...I guess we will never know!

Popcorn Popping

This past Saturday we we took the children and went downtown with Bonnie, Norm and Rosie to see the 2007 Cherry Blossom Festival in D.C. The children have been very excited as the trees have begun to bloom near our home. Everytime Kohen sees one he gets all amped pointing to the trees and saying "popcorn popping! popcorn popping!" over and over. He is quoting from a favorite Sunday School song about popcorn popping on the apricot trees in spring. So when we got down on the mall where there are literally thousands of trees in blossom he was beside himself. Kennedy was insistent on bringing a little purse to gather the blossoms, and I had to make sure she understood that though it looked like popcorn it was actually flowers. She seemed a little disapointed but quickly got over it probably because gathering flowers seems like something a princess might do. The scenery did seem a little like something straight out of a fairytale. You would have to be heartless not to feel a little romantic when you are standing under what looks like a canopy of pure white butterfly wings fluttering in the wind... well, heartless or else just asleep. Alyssa was all tucked in her new favorite form of travel- the backpack carrier- and was asleep as soon as we walked into the trees. With such beautiful surroundings she must have had sweet dreams.

How are Aly and a Geisha alike?

Anybody ever read Memoirs of a Geisha? In the book there is a little girl nicknamed "Pumpkin" because she constantly curls up her tongue in a way that looks like the curly vine at the top of a pumpkin. At the time when I read that I really couldn't picture exactly what the author was describing. Then about a month ago Alyssa started to stick out her tongue in this odd, pointy curled way and immediately I thought of 'Pumpkin'. The fact that I already call Aly 'Pumpkin Pie' is a coincidence- and this little quirk is now one more reason the nickname fits. In related news, it took me forever to get a shot of her with her tongue out. I seriously took dozens of pictures over several days trying to catch her doing it. She actually does it an awful lot, especially when she is working at something and concentrating. The problem is that she rarely sticks her tongue out and holds it there and by the time I could snap the picture she would be done! It was so frustrating! So hopefully the 3 pictures show at least the progression of what she does. This girl moves too quick for me!!

Shadow Boxing

This afternoon we walked over to Tom and Rosie's house with the children. They were excited to get to see more of their Gma and Gpa Bonnie and Norm who are visiting. It is the first time that we put Alyssa in the backpack carrier and she was loving it! She was all smiley and laying her head down on Nathan's back. I love the picture of Nathan with the kids because everyone is all posed and then you see Aly sticking her little head up like, "Hello! Don't forget me!" But as usual this afternoon Kohen was providing the comic relief. We recently purchased the movie Peter Pan and so there has definitely been an increase in swash-buckling around our home. Along with the pirate-play there have been several questions and conversations about shadows. In the last picture get this; Kohen was actually trying to fight his shadow...I am not kidding. I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried! But I think the main problem with fighting your own shadow is- much like a dog chasing it's tail- I am not sure you can actually win. Oh well, ignorance is bliss...and quite entertaining to watch!

Houston; We Have A Problem

Can you believe this is how I find Alyssa sleeping about half of the time? Every time I lay her down she promptly pulls her favorite pink and white blanket right up over her face and goes to sleep. It is a most distressing habit- no mother likes to check on her baby and find her completely still with a blanket covering her entire face. Many a night I have snuck in after she is asleep to try and surgically remove or at least reposition the blanket. The less successful missions end with me dropping to the floor when her eyes pop open. Houston; we have a problem. Sometimes she will just close her eyes and go back to sleep. But if she starts crying I usually wave a hand slowly in front of her as I try the Jedi Mind trick: "I was never here...you are still sleeping...your blanket is still over your face...". In our worst case scenario she won't settle back down and she ends up scoring a comfort feeding. But these are the risks we mothers must take when our children's self-soothing methods include smothering oneself.

Oh no he didn't!

We were sitting down to dinner the other night, and Kennedy was proudly wearing her brand new shirt. The Clam Chowder was steaming in the bowls and as we were getting seated Kennedy somehow spilled the hot soup on her shirt, pants and all over the floor. Both Nathan and I rushed over to help a panicked Kennedy who was crying that it was hot. Nathan had her shirt away from her skin in a flash and we got her settled down and the shirt off. I tended to Kennedy (who was not harmed in the making of this blog) while Nathan hit the floor to start cleaning up. As the crisis came under control I look down to see how things are coming with the mess on the floor and what do I see? My dear sweet husband wiping up the puddle of soup with Kennedy's new shirt!!!!!!! I had this completely ghetto moment in my mind thinking, "Oh no he didn't!" But yes; yes he did. I had to put my fingers in my ears so he wouldn't see the smoke coming out of them as I asked him why?! And would he please use something else? His defense? "Well...it was already dirty." True- but just because you might get a little ding in your bumper doesn't mean you should go and total the whole car!!! His penance? I made him pose for the picture...and don't fall for the 'how was I to know?' look! Ah geez...I still love this guy!

Smore please!

Tonight for Family Home Evening treats we made Smores. Under normal circumstances smores are fun and yummy but this time we had them out on our deck using a little Sterno for the heating source. Kennedy and Kohen loved it and Kennedy said she wanted to go 'camping' for every FHE...if this was all there was to camping I would have to agree. Even Alyssa got to enjoy some graham crackers. It wasn't actually cold out even though every one seems bundled up, it was a beautiful and fun evening!

Resting

When we finally got home after Nathan's race Kohen and Alyssa were happy to see us. Somehow we all kind of congregated in mom and dad's room which isn't the place we typically hang out as a family! I think it had to do with the fact that mom and dad were wiped out. I think most kids are this way, if you are feeling weak they can sense it! They couldn't get either of us off of our bed and it was a rare "if you can't beat 'em join 'em" moment and just like that scene from The Sound of Music- one by one our children ended up in our bedroom with us (though there was no singing about our favorite things...I will have to remember that for next time.) It was only late afternoon and so we turned on the boob tube for a half and hour and just rested. The sweetest thing was the way that Kohen laid his head on Nathan's chest while he watched the show- as I have said before- Kohen sitting still for any period of time is rare and to be appreciated. He just stayed there resting with his dad while the girls and I snuggled up on the other side. A side note: I have turned into a complete blog freak. I will do anything for a good shot. For this shot I was such a freak show, I could hardly believe I was doing it! I slowly set Aly to my side so as not to disturb her play, then I slithered off of the bed to the floor and then army crawled to the door where I tip-toed down the stairs to retrieve the camera. I did all of this again but in reverse order to get back in the room and obtain the picture without disturbing Kohen!!! I think I need a hobby...er, wait...uh-oh.

Nathan's 3rd Marathon

This Saturday we all headed downtown to D.C. to cheer on Nathan as he ran his 3rd Marathon. We took the metros around to see he and another friend Jen as they passed different mile markers. I was so proud of Jen and Nathan because let's face it, no matter how you cut it 26.2 miles is a long way to run! This time Nathan had another amazing 'sub 4' race (meaning under 4 hours, that's right- they run for 4 hours straight! I can't sit and watch a movie that long!) with his exact time being 3 hours and 49 minutes. It rained and misted all morning off and on but we still had a great time cheering them on. The last picture is all of us (except our friend April who was kind enough to take the picture~) who came to down to cheer on Jen and Nathan. Nathan and Jen- you did an AWESOME job!!!

Kennedy's 1st Metro Ride

Kennedy waits anxiously for her first Metro

The Metro blows into the station

Kennedy with Grandma Bonnie just enjoying the ride

Maybe Kennedy wasn't the only one excited about the Metro ride; it was actually my first Metro ride too. However, I was able to sleep the night before whereas Kennedy woke up 4 or 5 times during the night just hoping it was time to get up and go ride the train. She was almost as excited to go and cheer on her dad for his race. Nathan was actually the one who painted the magical picture of the 'underground train' for her so I suppose he has only himself to blame if his race took 2nd place on her priority list. Down on the platform Kennedy waited, listening for the Metro with a quiet enthusiasm that reminded me of how I used to lay in bed straining to hear Santa's sleigh on Christmas Eve. Even with all of the anticipation she was openly thrilled when the train finally roared into the station. I found myself struggling to appear unaffected as I marveled at the size of the underground Metro Station and the speed with which the trains flew in and out. I am sure it was glaringly obvious I wasn't a seasoned city slicker, especially since I was taking pictures! As with most forms of transportation it didn't take long before the newness wore off for me- though Kennedy remained eager for each new leg to our destination. It was a fun 'adventure' and a good reminder to me to enjoy the little things in life...

Play Date Success

I was serious when I said that I needed to schedule more play dates for my cabin feverish children. So we planned for Kennedy's little friend Sophie to come over and play this morning. It was so nice to have them entertaining each other! They played pretend and were princesses- notice in the top picture how they are each holding a side of the magical band- and there was a lot of distressing story lines- my personal favorite of the day " Oh, no! My baby is stuck in the geyser!" Geyser?! Where did Kennedy come up with that? I shouldn't be surprised, Kenna has all sorts of imaginative story lines. When she is playing she is also a huge fan of crying out "Come back your hind-is!" Which always gets Nathan and I laughing. One of my favorite things about Kennedy's pretend play is the names she comes up with. She doesn't just adopt names that already exist like 'anne' or 'jane'. No, no- she likes to create her own. Just a few of our favorites are (spelled like how they sound) : Fragaga, Try-ca, Trianna, Tornicka, Coh-ba, and her all time favorite name for herself is Shelly-ensa. I love and envy her creativity! Anyway, I think I could get used to more of these play dates! ps- Kohen may look a little bit uncomfortable in that headlock of love, but believe you me, he was loving it!

Still Got It

When my little brother was little I would make him lunches that were faces as a special treat. He really loved it and I remember thinking at the time "Man, I am really good at this!" - though really, how would I know? I'm the one who made it up! Anyway, the other day I did a huge mommy no-no. I got my three amigos in the car and excited about a church lunch group that does monthly play dates. We pull up to our destination and I suddenly realized that I had in fact read my planner wrong and the play date was not for today but next week. Luckily I figured out my mistake before we got out of the car- unluckily the children were NOT happy with the change in plans. Everyone was in tears. Kennedy was crying "I wanted to have a play date!", Kohen was crying "friends!...friends!" and Alyssa started crying because everyone else was crying. I was in the dog house for sure. So besides committing myself to schedule more play dates for my socially deprived children, I thought I would do something special for them for lunch. The 'funny face' lunch popped into my mind and so I gave it a try. Soon Kennedy and Kohen were happily eating their lunches, trying out all the different foods...I took that as their forgiveness. It has been a while since I have done a 'funny face' lunch and I am a bit out of practice but overall...I think I still got it.

Behind

Watch closely, you may actually see the clutter multiplying!

Below: our only defenses against Rota virus

Here is a little riddle for you. This week at our house: we are this because of this. Answer: BEHIND!!! Turns out that we are passing a nasty strain of the Rota virus around our humble abode, and man is it terrible. It is no respecter of age, race, male or female- it mattereth not! I believe I can trace the outbreak back to the hours we spent in urgent care last Mon. and Aly came down with the tell-tale fever 24 hours later. Alyssa went through literally every stitch of clothing that she has, and because of the high number of baths all have taken plus how I keep rotating the hand towels to try and keep this from spreading - I have piles of laundry everywhere and in different stages of getting cleaned and put away. Now, if I am being honest there is nothing new about the laundry being piled up and everywhere. What is different is the sheer amount of laundry coupled with the rapid deterioration of the rest of the home when it isn't constantly being kept in check. And I can't get anything done because I don't feel well. And even with the whole entire house and all of it's contents stacked against me, what actually has me stressing is that Nathan's parents Bonnie and Norm are coming for a visit on Fri. We are so thrilled for them to come, and I know Bonnie especially would never want us to stress or worry on their account, but let's face it- I am a woman and this is what we do! You may be wondering if I have so much to do, why then am I wasting time on my blog? Well, I feel best if I just sit and rest. And as it turns out, that is all you have to do when blogging!

The Best Gift Ever

I am fully aware that this may be a gift that only a mother would love, but there is more to this gift than meets the eye. Kennedy does things in her own time, always has. So when many children her age started drawing their first versions of people (a circle with sticks coming out of it) I wondered when she would decide she wanted to give it a try. Occasionally when we were coloring I would ask her if she wanted to draw a person, like mom or dad, and she would refuse even if I offered to help. So I have left it alone. I have never seen her try to draw even a hint of a person. She has always stuck to coloring in coloring books...until yesterday. I was shocked when Kennedy handed me the pictures she had colored while she had a babysitter the night before. For the first time ever Kennedy had drawn a person!! The drawings are so good for literally her first try ever- I questioned whether or not the babysitter had helped her- but she had not. I mean, they have hands, hair, pupils, and even eyebrows (gotta look real close for those, in the top picture they are both over the right eye)! So, they will be forever precious to me because when Kennedy finally decided to draw people, she did it for me on my birthday and she did an awesome job. Ten years ago I don't think I would have believed you if you would have told me that a 4 yr old's scribblings that look like a hairy bean would be such a precious gift...my how times have changed!

Twenty Seven

Today I turned 27. Even writing it it doesn't seem right...or possible. Getting older is a strange, strange feeling...but I think I like it. After church we had dinner and then the Bell's came over and had Maggie Moo's ice cream cake with us (luckily Nathan took the hint two months ago when I said, "I am only going to mention this once. I want a Maggie Moo's Ice Cream Cake for my Birthday." You see, my 'hints' have to be worded strongly or I have learned that my dear husband will miss them, sweet boy!). I just had to put in the progression of these pictures around the cake- my children, ah man- they make me laugh! All three of them were trying to get a taste of the cake while we were trying to get a quick picture! Kennedy looks the least guilty but she actually just waited until Alyssa got some frosting on her hand and as you can see in picture #2 she is holding Alyssa's hand and as soon as the picture was taken Kenna stole Aly's hard earned loot! Kohen cracks me up, you can see him trying to be all sneaky going for a taste- next shot he is looking around to see if he is going to get caught- last shot, SUCCESS! I was just trying to hold his casted hand down to keep it from getting dirty! And perhaps the most clever is the one we underestimate the most. In the last shot as we all pose for the picture Aly J. makes her move! Anyway, my first birthday away from Boise turned out fine, thanks everyone for your Birthday wishes!......27......I think I can do 27... I mean really- what is the alternative?

Temperamental Weather

Last week on Wednesday Loudoun County schools were closed for a snow day- exactly one week later? We hit over 80 degrees!!! I can't believe how temperamental this weather is being. But we enjoyed the weather all day, the children played out on the deck and down on the trampoline. When Nathan got home everyone sat with Dad on the porch swing for a bit- which is saying something since Kohen doesn't sit anywhere for more than 2 seconds unless there is food in front of him! The next day was also nice, 70 something- and Kennedy and Kohen were out on the deck playing together with their bikes and I called out the back door that it was time for naps. I heard whispers and rustling and this is what I found when I went out to get them. And they actually stayed 'hidden' long enough for me to grab the camera! Kohen...not quite as adept at hiding!
p.s.- today we had a 40 degree drop and tomorrow there is snow in the forecast!!!!!!!