Jack Feels Left Out

I was really hoping that I could leave spiders in the past – just leave them with yesterday’s blog.

But there was fog this morning.  A fog that settled little tiny droplets of water along each of the delicate lines of spider webs.  And eyes are drawn to these sparkly shapes.

And so the walk to Owen’s school was filled with, “Wow, look at that one!” and “ Woah, do you see the spider on that web?!” and “Ohh, that is a different kind of web; it isn’t a circle.”  and “I’m going to kick that web!” and “AAAhhhh, the spider is still on that one!”

You get the picture…

And in case you don’t…

   

And for good luck, Jack found this red bug after we dropped Owen off.

Jack went even more slowly on the walk back from school.  He wanted to see every web and think about how it was unique.  And despite the fact that I really really didn’t want to look at any more spiders – they were giving me the heebie-jeebies, I got excited with Jack ‘cause this is his time.  I chimed, “You’re right, that is a tiny web!” and “Oh yes, we should count all of the webs…”

Suddenly Jack sat down on the wet ground and began tugging at his boot.  I bent to help him get it off.  He yelled, “There is something in my boot!”  quick breathing  “I think it is a spider!”

I guess he has something he needs to get off his brain too…

Thinking of Something Else

Why is it that when you are trying to get something IN your head you can’t bring it to mind to save your life (Ok, I have never actually had a life-threatening time when I needed to remember something, but I have had times when I really really wanted to remember something and couldn’t.)

On the opposite note, when you want to get something OUT of your mind, it just won’t leave.  Why is that?!?

A few nights ago Owen woke up from a nightmare. (He said Jabba the Hut was trying to catch him and Jack.) Owen has never actually seen the Star Wars movie that has Jaba in it (or he would probably know that that particular baddie was getting nowhere fast…)  Anyway, this dream threw Owen for a loop.  I think it was the first nightmare that he has ever had that he remembers.

Since then Owen has had a hard time falling asleep.  He is really worried about the Wampa Ice Creature  from Hoth getting him. (Here is a photo in case you are not a Star Wars fanatic, dear reader.) Unfortunately, Owen has seen the movie with this creature in it. The few seconds that it is on screen is plenty to get a young mind going.

Eric has suggested that Owen try to think of other things to take his mind off of the creature.  He and Owen have brainstormed many things to think about, but it doesn’t seem to be working.  Several times in the evening Owen comes down saying that the creature returns to his mind even while he is trying to think of other things.

I have re-tucked Owen in, offering more thoughts for his head, suggested he go to the bathroom or get a drink of water.  We have tried turning more lights on.  These ideas have worked for a few minutes, but haven’t really solved much.  Poor thing just finally falls asleep from exhaustion.

Tonight I was looking through my cell photos that I took today, seeing if something hits me for a blog idea.  I came across this photo that I took while in the art supply storage room at Owen’s school today.  I had been kneeling on the ground writing notes to myself and the darned thing ran right towards me!  I quickly stood up and it realized it’s error (opps, NOT a stationary object!) and ran back against the wall.

I am not sure why I took a photo of a spider since I really just wanted to forget it existed.  But now that I have seen it again, I can’t get the darned thing out of my brain.  Every time I feel my hair hit my chin or neck, I imagine the spider there.  My pants just rubbed my toes and I freaked out.  I know that I am going imagine spiders in by bed and that I am going to dream about spiders tonight.  I am not looking forward to sleep!

If anyone out there has any other ideas on how to release mental pictures from one’s head, feel free to pass them along to me and Owen…

PS.  If you have creepy-crawly feelings now, um sorry.

slow

I had hoped to go downtown Seattle to see my mom in her closing ceremonies with the monkeys.  Instead we all sniffled and coughed and complained about sore throats and stayed at home trying to fight colds.

At night the boys’ favorite ritual is to go thought the things we did during the day.  As I lay with Owen I found that I couldn’t remember much to tell him.  He had a difficult time too, “Did I eat breakfast this morning?”  Neither of us could remember.  We did remember Owen reading two books to me, and we remembered eating dinner.  That was about it. 

“Did we really just sit around and do nothing?” I thought to myself after I had put O to bed.

I remember now that I painted sections of three different walls in my bedroom with some paint (that  I THINK  I want to paint in there.)  I did 4 loads of laundry (and threw it all on the dining room floor ‘cause I was too lazy to fold it – don’t worry,  it’s clean in there.)  I made stew for dinner  (which turned out really good with the grass fed beef that our friends have convinced us to try.)  I washed the pink out of all of our hair after I finally came to terms with not being able to go to closing ceremony for the Breast Cancer walk (it took two washes– and some conditioner to get that stuff out!)

Not sure why I felt the need to blog about all of that…

oh, and I wrote my blog – however lame…

41.5 Miles

Today the monkeys and I went to celebrate my mom’s awesome accomplishment of making it 41.5 miles (of her 60 mile walk to raise support for Breast Cancer research – she’ll finish tomorrow.)

My mom was walking in honor of her friend Candie, my Aunt Lynne (who we stayed with in London this summer) who have both fought this disease.  She also walks in honor of her high school friend, my namesake – Julie, who passed away last year.

Eric and I showed up on Friday evening to lend our support  but felt a little under-dressed (so to speak) in our dark blue jeans and black t-shirts.  I am sure my mom, and her friend Candy – who she is walking with- felt the love anyway.

But today, a pit-stop was made at Target for better supplies.

And today’s presentation was much better.

Wait

For

It

…

In Target -

Owen: Why are we in the girls’ section?  You said boys wear pink too. 

Owen: Will people stare at me if I wear a pink shirt?

Mama: No, most people will be wearing pink.  I guess they might stare at your pink hair…

Owen: Are we going to keep these shirts?

Mama: You could give them to Katie and Sarah, or Charlotte and Bridget when you are done with them; if you want.

Owen: Sure, we could do that.

Jack: I am NOT giving my shirt to Katie.  I love my pink shirt.  I am keeping it.

Fortunately for Owen (but not for Jack ) no one recognized them.  Even my mom.   She walked right by us.  (OK, to be fair, I didn’t recognize my mom with her ball cap on…)  But don’t worry, we found each other. 

Also cheering on our Mamau was Amy (my sister) and two of her daughters, Lauren and Hannah.

In the end, I don’t think Owen need to worry about being stared at during the event.  Even the guys on Harley Davidson bikes were decked out head to toe  in pink.

Of course, when we got to Grady’s first birthday party (with no time to change in between), that was quite another story…  We ran into a few raised eyebrows there.  But we did our part to raise awareness of the disease!

Mini Boden

One of my favorite sellers of kids clothes is Mini Boden.  I love that they look different than lots of kids clothes out there; they have big bold designs on their shirts,

And they often use really funky colors and patterns.  

The best thing about the clothes, is the pants are seemingly indestructible.  Owen wore one pair of their pants for two years, and then Jack wore them for a year, and they still looked awesome. (AND  I just sold those same  pants for a good portion of what I paid for them.)

Now, I know that there are many individuals who are aware of my sock-obsession.  I thought my Mini Boden obsession, however, was under wraps.

Apparently that is not the case – as determined by a message I got from my friend Lisa today.

This is a conversation she had with her daughter, Katie.

Katie- Mom, are these Mini Boden skirts?
Lisa- No, they're Old Navy.
          - Why???
Katie-  Oh, cause if they were Mini Boden, I wanted you to take a  picture and send it to Julie.

(Katie and Sarah)

I supposed that if a 5-year-old has me figured out, then I am a litttle more transparent than I originally anticipated…

PS:  The girls are not in Mini Boden, but they DO look adorable! Don’t you think?

Happy Birthday Grady

Today was Grady’s first birthday and his mama brought him over to have lunch and a playdate with Owen and Jack.

Grady spent much of the time following the big boys around, trying to grow up a little faster.

I spent much of time following him around – wanting to hold that one-year-old guy, and remember my monkeys at that little size.

But watching Kris chase Grady around my house and the park steering him in a safe direction, while I could sit an just watch Owen and Jack play, I felt happy leaving that part in the past.

___

Other Events

Owen: Mama, I have something to tell you and you are going to be delighted when you hear it!  I am the teacher’s helper! (a classroom assigned  “job” in his kindergarten.)

End of an Era

Don’t worry, it’s not the end of the Sock Era – notice Jack’s socks are brown (like his pants) with light blue heels and toes (to match the shirt.)  All is well in the sock realm.

But, it is the end of the Rice Era. 

The Rice Era was one of great joy in our household.   This little box of rice was a favorite toy; one that we got out many, many, many times.  It was such a hit in our household, that we decided to make Owen’s 2nd birthday a Rice Party.  One small pool, and 4 bags of rice from Costco, made for one hit of a party.  We never moved on to the other activities that I had planned.

And the kids were not the only ones to be enamored with the rice.  I certainly didn’t mind pulling out the rice whenever Owen wanted, and there was one point at Owen’s party where there were only adults playing with the rice in the pool. It’s kind of addicting.  Oh look, there is Charlotte and Bridget’s daddy, Mat, playing with the kids at Jack Birthday Rice Party when Jack turned three.

In addition, many a play date has been made special by bringing out the rice box. (Jack and Bridget)

And today was one of them.

The rice was everywhere by the end of the hour that Jack and Bridget played with it.   The mess probably added 30 minutes to my clean-up, but it didn’t bother me at all.  I swept and vacuumed the rug, under the rug, under the couches, across the room, in-between the the cushions of the couches, and the few errant pieces that hid in the closet by sneaking under the door.  And I simply smiled at the thought of the fun that my boys and our friends have had with this simple toy.  In truth,it was a little sad that it was the last time to clean it up.  (But don’t worry Eric-and air vents-and nooks and crannies of the house, it WAS the last time – that rice is in the compost bin.)

The Rice Era has ended, but fear not little tiny objects that take over the house, your reign has not ended.  It has simply morphed into the Lego Era…

What Do You See?

I used to have a version of this in my house when I was younger.  My mom brought it home one day.  A sort of cross-stitch thing on a plastic backing that was the fad at the time.  I stared at it, wondering what it was.  My mom told me and I thought it was some weird ancient language. I remember the day my mom completely explained it to me, and I could never NOT see what it was after that.  My eyes just couldn’t go back to whatever I saw before.

This one is much easier to go back and forth on.

While reading through some magazines lately,  I have occasionally come across a very strange new icon for a popular food item.  The icon was driving me crazy, because it just didn’t seem like the kind of thing that the company would want me to picture when I thought of  their product.  I have just come to realize that the icon probably is not at all what I originally thought it was.  I realized what it is supposed to be, and it made me laugh at the absurdity of my error.  I wonder if there is anyone else who sees what I am seeing, or if the company has been more successful in their new campaign than I originally thought.

This is the icon that I have been seeing…

…what does it look like to you?

Want to venture a guess on what I saw?

Happy Birthday

I am the gift person for our family.  Birthdays, Christmas, Weddings, Showers – the job usually falls to me.  Eric and I often talk about ideas and sometimes Eric buys something special, but the majority of the work is done by me.

However, there is one occasion that Eric always takes sole responsibility for.  Dock’s birthday. 

Eric remembers the date, picks and buys the gift, and {most surprisingly} wraps the gift  himself.  The gift is invariably some type of tool or instrument used for the garage.

Today our Dock turned 40.  Here is his gift.

In case you can’t tell, this gift was “wrapped” in Duct Tape and decorated with electrical tape.  The ribbon is made of some other type of non-sticky tape that someone like myself, who does not find the garage to be the most sacred room in the house, is not privy to.

I am not sure if the gift-giving job ended up in my hands because of these types of efforts…or despite them.

Happy Birthday Dock; we love you!

Using a Shopping Cart

We have had many journeys in these Target carts.  When Jack was an infant, he would ride in his carseat in the large back part while Owen rode up front.  As Jack got bigger he would sit in the front while Owen sat in the back.  Sometimes they switched places.  Sometimes the boys both sat in the back. Somehow, the majority of the cart was already occupied the minute we entered the store.  And because of this arrangement, most of our purchases end up on the lower section of the cart.

I never really thought much about this until today when Jack and I went to Target by ourselves.  Jack was chatting away, walking beside me, making random unnecessary stops(because he can now),  and helping me by putting things in the cart.

When we got up to the counter to pay, I looked in the cart, and there were only a few things there.  All of the other items had been shoved under the cart in one big form-fitting pile.  Of course, that is where Jack thinks they go.  Wouldn’t you after almost four years of “training”?

Lunch Notes

Owen loved the notes that I included with his snack the first few days of school, and asked if I would keep doing it.  “I don’t eat one bite of snack before I read my note,” he told me.  What a sweet compliment!

Unfortunately, it is a little more difficult than I originally anticipated.   While Owen is working on reading lots of words, and is quite successful, I feel that it is safer to stay with words that I am confident he knows.  I certainly don’t want reading one of my notes to be frustrating to him while he is so motivated to read.

This limits my notes to words with short vowels and a few sight-words that he has memorized.  So it gets tricky trying to come up with something interesting to say while choosing from a select group of words.

Thus his notes have gone from “I love you.” and “You make me happy.” straight to “This snack is yum-yum for the tum-tum.” and “Do NOT get bigger!” Luckily Owen finds it all entertaining…

Yesterday, while picking Owen up from school, I vaguely remembered that I had written a word in his note that I thought he might not be able to read.

Me:  Did you read your note today?

Owen: (Ferociously) I DID read it!  And it IS true!  And we ARE doing it!

Yikes!  Then I remembered that the word was actually words: Katie and Sarah. 

I was taking a risk using names other than Jack, Mama, or Charlotte.  But I should have known that reading Katie and Sarah’s names would not be a problem.

The note, and the promise were a hit.  Owen immediately took the note from his schoolbag and read it to our friend Gail.  Jack commandeered  the note at that point sensing that it had some kind of magic power. In the car, he tried to make the magic note work like he had seen Owen do.  Unfortunately for Jack, the magic only belonged to Owen.  None of Jack’s readings came true.  No various “poopie” objects, nor cookies, nor a cat appeared…

By the way, Owen DID read the note, and it WAS true, and we DID have lunch with Katie and Sarah at Qdoba.  We even let Jack join in on the magic.

Narcolepsy

When I was a young teen, I took many plane rides by myself.  It was a thrilling experience for me. I loved it.  I would get giddy with the anticipation of the ride itself and of the new destination – and then there was the excitement of being independent – I felt so grown up! 

Now this was way back in the olden days, when everyone could still walk all the way to the gate, even if they were not going on the plane with you. I remember chatting incessantly to my mom, or my dad, or my aunt, or my sister- even occasionally thinking to myself that I was a little over-excited. (Actually, with my sister dropping me off, I was usually just running through the airport rather than chatting – but that’s another blog…)

Each time I finally boarded the plane I immediately fell asleep.  I was out cold – missing almost all of the take-offs during that period in my life.  I never really understood what was going on.  I thought it was so strange.  I hadn’t felt tired 5 minutes before I fell asleep!?

But this mystery illness has now struck my entire family.  Jack goes to his “quiet time” in the afternoon and falls asleep immediately despite his strong desire to play with his toys.  He easily goes to bed an hour early, yet wakes up about the same time as he used to.  Even Own can sleep at the drop of a hat.  The other night he put himself to bed at 6PM and slept all the way until morning (except for 20 minutes at about 7:30 when he ate a bowl of oatmeal and then stumbled back to bed.)  Owen has also  taken several naps in the last few week despite a hiatus for a year or more.

Of course now I understand that emotional build-up can take a physical toll on your body.  But, that knowledge does not seem to impact my ability to control the phenomenon… I too can fall asleep at the drop of a hat – often napping when the monkeys are napping(or I put on Curious George to entertain the monkeys while I take one.)

After my teenage years, I no longer felt that giddy build up before a plane ride, and thus was awake for far more take-offs.

I hope that the three of us will also get through the excitement and newness of school, and can stay awake  for more of the day this school year…I just hope it takes less time than it did in my teenage years.

Update: I won…

 

But before you think I am a mean mom…

Jack: I look so fancy.  I am not going to take this sweater off today.

Mama: You might want to take it off in school when you get hot.

Jack: The school will be cold today.

Mama: Well, maybe if you paint.

Jack: You can wash it.

 

Fleece

Even though I really like to see my boys in jeans, they aren’t super practical for school for Jack.  He can’t always do the button up by himself.  Yesterday I gritted my teeth and bought some fleece pants for him at Old Navy.  I have heard other kids who refuse to wear any other type of pants – and I don’t relish that thought.  I had Jack try the pants on before bed, and he yelled, “I LOVE these.  I want to wear these for the rest of my life!!”  Great.

When I suggested he put his pajama pants on he cried and grabbed the waistband as though his life depended on the pants remaining on his body.  He wore them to bed.

He wore this pair today.

He only took them off to switch to this.

All of the fleece is now in the dirty-clothes hamper.  I wonder how that will go over in the morning?

Baby Book

Baby Carlisle’s arrival is an highly anticipated event in our house. Jack and Owen are happy to have Nana pregnant still…(that is pretty fun to impersonate)

…but I want to hold that little guy – and am so excited to watch him grow!

Today was Nana’s baby shower and I was excited to give her the scrapbook that I have been making for that little baby for his first year of life.

My friend Ali made a book like this for me when Owen was born, and I loved it.  I have tried to make a new one every year for each of my boys.    I wanted to remember some of the layouts to use on Owen and Jack’s book later this year.  The photos aren’t great, but I am really proud of the way they look (in real life). 

       

Happy first year Baby Carlisle!