What Did This Damage?

This is a fruit roll up given to Jack.  One is meant to peel the roll-up off of the plastic before one eats it.  Unfortunately, I did not explain this to Jack before I gave it to him and the fruit snacks that he has had before are actual dehydrated fruit.  And now I am feeling quite glad in my choice of never buying this item before – because apparently there is little difference between the taste of the plastic and the “fake” fruit that is attached to it.  Poor guy looked quite perplexed when I noticed him struggling with the treat.  We had to laugh at his mistake (and replace it with a new one.) 

Made Me Smile

How did I know Jack had been in my room?

he left his favorite little guy

and since Eric is on a business trip, I will have to be happy with Jill’s company tonight.

One Full Week

Today when Owen’s teacher brought him out to the car, she said that he had spoken some words in French during class.  “So soon!” she raised her eyebrows, smiled and gave a thumbs up.   

When I asked Owen if he remembered any words that he had said in French, he couldn’t really remember, but finally came up with, “well, I said, ‘twa-let’ cause that means ‘bathroom’ and I had to go.”  My practical little man.

Eric and I had told Owen that he could pick something fun for after school today to celebrate sticking with 5 full days. 

Owen decided to pick out some ice-cream and toppings and have a sundae bar at home.  So we stopped at Target on the way home.

After a dinner of soup and fishy crackers (Owen’s pick) we laid out all of the goodies.  The monkeys chose M&Ms, Sweedish Fish, KitKat and Twix. The last two they cut up with their special knives.

Then they decorated their ice-cream with their candies,

caramel sauce and chocolate sauce,

and a great quantity of sprinkles.

They both enjoyed their sundae very much though they could not finish them. 

Love Notes

This morning I woke to the sound of the monkeys talking with Eric.  They are always so excited if they get up early enough to see Eric before he heads to the office- usually before 6:30.

Eric had given Owen a pen and paper and was saying goodbye.  Owen turned to Jack saying that he would write a note that Jack dictated to him.  Then they went to hide in my bedroom, “Because this is secret, Mama.”

I am also happy if I get to talk with Eric before he leaves in the morning, so I was glad to have him to myself for a few minutes…

After Eric left, Jack came out of the room and handed me this note: “I like you, Mom.  I think you look pretty.  Love, Jack”

A few minutes later, Owen handed me his own note:

“I love you, Mom.  I will miss you when I am at school.  I hope you have fun.  Love, Owen.”

That is a perfect morning with all of my men!

French Toast

One awesome benefit of having Owen be in school for the full day is that Jack and I get a real amount of uninterrupted time together.  It is such a different experience to be relaxed enough to get the things done that need to be done during the day and still have time to just hang out and be with Jack.

Today after some exciting dish cleaning, kitchen spiffing, vacuuming, and laundry folding, Jack and I played a game on the computer.  This game had Jack click on the foods in a kitchen to help a little boy and his grandma prepare a meal.  After making French Toast in the online game, you could print out a real recipe.  So we did, and I decided that I would let Jack make it all by himself…(This is the type of things I did all the time with Owen, but have rarely done with Jack)

I set up the correct measuring utensils, and let him go with just verbal directions. (don’t mind his gymnastics shirt)

Crack an egg.  (I may have had to rescue a shell)

I love how he poured the milk out of the side of the carton.  I really really wanted to “fix” his method, but refrained.  Sometimes I have to remind myself to just step back and see how things go…

One tablespoon of powdered sugar… (apparently Jack thought they meant a heaping tablespoon!)

Vanilla lid is too tight.

Mixing with a fork and keeping it in the bowl!

Here comes the messy part…

He’s a pro.

Mama did the cooking part. 

Jack: Look Mama, there are two for you or two for me! Hmmm  Do you really want two?  I have an idea!  You cut one of yours in half and I will share that one with you…

Add powdered sugar and syrup - Yum!

That was lunch!

Talk Talk

Eric and I have been focused on Owen and his school, and helping him to transition smoothly. 

We have wanted to make sure that we talk through likely events and schedules as that seems to comfort Owen and make transitions easier.  We have also loved hearing the details of his days in his new class.

I have also been greatly interested in the goings-on of Owen’s classroom as I am sure things are different in the French system.  I also feel a little blind as I won’t be able to help out in the classroom at this school.

Maybe we have been doing a little too much talking though.

Today, while making dinner, Eric and I were asking Owen about his day today.  After hearing a little about the events in Owen’s classroom, I turned to Jack and asked him something about his school.

He replied in the voice he uses when he thinks I am being silly.  “You don’t need to ask me about that Mom!  I just LLOOOVE going to my school.”

Monday

Owen had a very hard parting at his school today.  It was quite different than any of the days last week.  Today he hugged me and held me tightly and cried and asked me to stay.  I hate to see him upset, but I reminded myself that he had the same reaction to the first few weeks of school for three years in a row.  So, I know it isn’t something I should be overly worried about, but I still hate to see him upset. 

He was happy after school, said the day loooooong  but was great and that PE was the “best PE class I have ever been to in my whole life!”

Mamau was in Issaquah to run an errand, so we met her at Starbucks for a little while after Owen’s school got out.  We celebrated the beginning of a full week at school with some hot chocolate (oh- and a donut – how is it that grandmas are always conned by their grandkids, but were  stingy with treats when you were their kid???  Hmmm…I guess treat-giving skips a generation…)

Jack and I bonded while Owen was at school.  I wanted to clean and vacuum my car, so I talked up the exciting features of playing in the very back of the car.  Jack was intrigued, and spent quite a bit of time building and rebuilding  a small Lego ship detailing the steps to me– and then he began protecting the car from invisible bad-guys (don’t worry, he is very good at this – we are fine despite the high number of attacks!).  When the novelty of sitting in the far back of the car wore off, I impressed Jack with the marvelous magic trick of folding up the back seats.  I conveniently vacuumed around them, then put the car seats back in.    The car was cleaned before 9:30 in the morning and I was so proud of myself.  Unfortunately, the day was sucked away by some unknown alien force because I didn’t seem to accomplish much else…

Traveling With Baby

We have been to Whistler with  Dock and Nana twice before with babies.  Once with just Owen, and once with just Jack.  This time the baby was Tyler.  I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect during this trip.  Things would definitely be different -Tyler is only three months and our boys were eight or nine months when they went.  Our boys were on a fairly stable schedule, but Tyler is too little for that.  And there are lots of other differences…  But honestly, I didn’t  put too much thought into the trip apart from being really excited about it.  Traveling with babies is what it is.  You have to roll with how baby is doing and enjoy what you can.  I was up for lots of  easy walking with Tyler in the stroller – stopping for feedings or changings.  But I would have also been fine with lots of hotel room  rocking/ singing/calming a baby that wasn’t happy about a change of venue.  Either way, Nana and I would get to spend lots of time chatting   What I was not prepared for was how I actually felt when we were there…

I was not prepared for how utterly easy it is to NOT be the mother of the baby on the trip.  I did not have to pack for two, worry about clean bottles, sleeping issues,or crying bothering anyone.  Nothing!  I actually felt a little guilty for having it so easy!  I did help out as much as I could – setting up the pack and play, holding, dressing, feeding, changing diapers – even blow outs.  But the mental release of worry about the big picture for the baby was astonishingly freeing. There was simply no “mental extras” for me – I didn’t worry if we would run out of diapers/outfits-  I just helped out in the small ways I could.

In the evening we would be sitting around talking, and when we decided to call it an evening, Nana would pop up readying the items needed for the nighttime nursing/pumping/bottle feeding/diaper changing that would be done that night.  I would notice her bustling about and notice the quiet in my own mind.  I just had no mental check-list for this baby. I even tried to conjure up the thoughts I had with my boys, but they simply would not come.  My brain knew  I was not going to have to anticipate Tyler’s nighttime needs and it didn’t see the point of kicking on.

When I curled up in bed each night my brain was soothingly empty; I knew I was going to get a full night of sleep. That knowledge was awesome and the vacation ended up being much more relaxing than I ever anticipated. 

The added bonus is that I think it was also relaxing for Nana.

Whistler Heaven

Dock and Eric spent the day on Saturday doing this:

here:

Hi, baby!

Nana and I lazed around drinking coffee, looking through stores, and eating crepes.  Tyler lazed around in his comfy stroller, napping, people watching, and initiating his Mama into the world of diaper blow-outs. 

The evening was spent eating an amazing!! steak dinner, walking around in the crisp cold with enough warm clothes to enjoy ourselves,  looking at the beautiful lights and decorations of Whistler.

The Road

We had a great ride up to Whistler.  After an unnerving error message given to us by Nana’s car, and a quick trip to the dealer to make sure everything was ok (false alarm luckily) we were on our way. 

Tyler was a trooper, no one forgot their passports, and the redone roads in honor of last year’s Winter Olympics  made the drive much smoother.

I am greatly looking forward to the day tomorrow!  Whistler is one of my favorite places to be.  The only bummer is that wi-fi isn’t going to work out, so posts will have to be uploaded after our return…

Off to Whistler

When Owen was a 9 months, we took a  trip with Nana and Dock to Whistler to snowboard. (Well, the men went snowboarding, the woman went walking and shopping and drinking coffee.)

When Jack was about eight months old, we wanted to go with Nana and Dock to Whistler again.  This time we left Owen with grandma and took Jack with us.

Now Tyler is a few months old, and following tradition, we are heading up to Whistler this weekend.  Owen and Jack are home with Grandma on their own mini-vacation.

I am looking forward to our little adventure tomorrow!

Blankie Power

Poor Jack had a hard morning.  He woke up upset with Owen for not waiting to walk down together.   By the time we got to Owen’s school, Jack had been frustrated by many things – clothes that were too small, Mama wouldn’t allow him to eat cookies for breakfast, that type of thing… I felt bad for him.  But, no matter how I tried to comfort him, everything seemed too hard for him to deal with without tears and protests.   

We finally made it to Owen’s school and were about to get out, but Jack didn’t want to put socks on, nor did he want to wear boots by themselves (too cold without socks).  He also didn’t want to be carried or to walk with no shoes.  Unfortunately we were out of options as I won’t leave him in the car alone…

So, I carried him to the front of Owen’s school while he announced our arrival by screaming, “You are mean.  Put me down!” (putting him down ended with him standing stubbornly in the middle of the parking lot which doesn’t work either (I know, I am such an unreasonable mom sometimes…))

The director came out and suggested that she could stay outside in the entryway with Jack while I took Owen in.  Jack suddenly felt the need to be very quiet and wanted to be carried  (gotta love the turn-around of 4-year-olds).

By the time we got home, Jack was tired from all of his troubles of the morning.  He had his friend Madigan coming over in a half-hour, and I wanted him to feel better so he could enjoy playing with her.  I put his blanket in the dryer to warm up and cuddled with him for awhile.  He worked wonders – he completely relaxed, rested for 15 or 20 minutes, and was much happier afterwards.  His little sweet self was back with random kisses and smiles.

I guess four-year-olds can wake up on the wrong side of the bed too.  I will have to remember the warm relaxing trick from this morning.  Maybe I will even use it on myself sometime…

Big Day

Today was Jack’s “Line Leader Day”, Owen’s first day at his new school, and my birthday.

Jack was over the moon that he got to bring Cheese-It Snack Mix for snack to share with his class  - apparently I have been depriving him of this snack for his entire life… Luckily, I made it up to him by buying it for snack, fffew!

Owen slyly asked me to make Star Wars pancakes for him as today was “a lot like the first day of school, right mom?”  How could I not make them?  He was a little nervous about school, and I also got a little nervous as we drove past Grand Ridge in the morning and he sighed, “I really miss my school already.”  But, when we got to his new school, it only took about two minutes for him to warm up to the classroom, take the teacher’s hand and walk away from me.  After school he was all smiles.  He had a “great” day and said he wants to go back.  As he put his coat on, he yelled, “oh!” and handed me a tooth!  It has been loose for exactly two days.  That made him an instant celebrity, of course.

He was non-stop talk after he requested lunch with his dad.  “I like the school.  The have the loooongest recess ever and guess what was for snack??  Orange juice and crackers.  I had 14.  14 is like a 10 plus a 4.  You put them together and you get 14, get it?  We went to the library and I checked out TWO books! [Only one was allowed at Grand Ridge for Kindergartners]  Now, I didn’t raise my hand at all today because I wasn’t actually sure what they were saying.  But I asked the teacher something and she said, “oui” and I knew what that meant, so that was good.  And also, the kids all said ‘Je m’appelle, Victor’ like that; and then I said, ‘Je m’appelle, Owen’  And they have one big sink, but they make two lines and TWO kids can use it at the same time…” 

He is going for half-days this week, but the school only offers full-day kindergarten (or as we call it –“Days where you get out at the same time as Katie and Sarah”)  So he starts that next week.  But when I suggested that he try to stay on Thursday, he said, “Yeah sure, that would be great!”

That was a great birthday present.  My little guy being so relaxed and happy in a new environment. 

Other great birthday moments – Eric singing me awake, eating breakfast with my whole family, coffee with Lisa, lots of well-wishes from friends and lots of family, hearing that my birthday breakfast from last year will be a tradition,  flowers on the porch from Nana and Dock and Tyler, my Mama stopping by to wish me Happy Birthday in person, sharing my birthday with my Grandma and brother.

Lazy Day

We spent the day sleeping, watching TV, listening to audio books, playing games together and just relaxing (except when Jack and Owen were running around like crazy boys playing army.)  It was a nice change of pace from the last few weeks.   

Birthday

For Grandma’s birthday I decorated the rooms with huge tissue “flowers” and tissue covered glass vases filled with candles.  It was so happy looking!  I also put out 15 photos mounted in frames from when my grandma 4 kids were still young.  These photos and frames were my grandma’s birthday gift from my mom.  She will hang them on a wall in my grandparents house.  

I laughed so hard when I first saw this photo.  I was trying to be artistic and take some food photos and my mom stuck her face in the way.  I actually really like the picture.  You’re so cute, Mama! 

The most exciting part of the party was that all of grandma’s kids were there with her at her party.  One lives here in Washington (my Mama), Uncle Steve flew in from New York, Uncle Paul flew in from Minnesota, and John “arrived” via our Kinect game and a laptop in London. 

Aren’t my grandparents so so sweet?  I LOVE them!________

My adorable sister gathered all of the poms at the end of the party.  She is going to use them  to decorate her office.  The bright colors fit her personality and it makes me happy to think of the little bursts of color hanging from her ceiling.  (Don’t worry Lisa, we will go pom crazy for your party next month!)

_______

My mom’s gift photos:

Grandma and Grandpa in their 30’s

Grandpa and Uncle Paul

Grandma

Kathy (my Mama), John, Steve, Paul

Kathy

Uncle Steve

Uncle Paul

John

Paul and Steve

Grandma, Kathy, Steve, Paul

Grandma and Paul

Grandma and (I think Steve but maybe Paul…)

Grandpa

The gang again

Steve, Kathy, Paul