Playing Mommy

We went to the park yesterday after I got home from work just so that I could get some much needed fresh air. The kids played for a while and were really enjoying themselves when the CHF decided that she was the mommy. This is a role I really enjoy watching her play. It's fun for me to be the kid and it's also a good way for me to find out what I'm modeling as a parent.
She was doing a great job as the mom as she was climbing up a steep rail that resembles a balance beam and insisting that "Mommy's o.k., you don't need to hold on to me" as I tried my best not to hold on to her at the peak of the ascent. So I had to tell her that we had to go home becasue it was getting dark and being the young girl I was, I was getting scared. She said we had to stay longer at the park because she was the mom and she wanted to. So, I decided to throw a fit (it was fun but I did get some weird looks from people walking their dogs). In the midst of my fit she informed me that I was going to be in big trouble and that she was going to take away some of my toys. I whined and jumped up and down for dramatic effect while telling her I was going to behave.
She looked me straight in the eye and said "Don't tell me, show me". Monkeyboy and I almost peed our pants laughing. I guess I use that line quite a bit.

I'm lazy today so

follow this link to the blog I was going to post:
http://www.ergobabycarrier.com/testimonials/2008/11/we-love-being-together-huh-mom.html#more

Womanizer

There are few things that I should really be embarrassed about at this point in my life. We all know the story of me walking into a double parking meter, the story of my landing flat on my back after dismounting from the uneven parallel bars in the middle of a gymnastics meet, the story of me falling in love with a skydiver and my all time favorite, the story of me peeing in the dresser drawer. It's out in the open, we all laugh, I feel no shame.
I do however feel embarrased by my affection for top 40 music. I sometimes find myself amongst intellectuals and this part of me has to remain a carefully guarded secret. However you, my family, my friends can go ahead and laugh at me for it. You can poke fun of me as I find myself singing happily to the many ridiculous lyrics I hear on the radio particularly while driving and listening to the music at a volume that should have made me deaf ages ago. When I stop at a light I wonderif I should turn my music down for fear of looking like the closing in on 40 woman who's trying to look like I still fit in. Why am I sharing this you ask?
Well, as children are exposed to many things that are out of their parents control, there's a lot that they get from us. My children currently will sing unabashedly right along with me and one of Erin's favorite things to say while we are all in the car together is "Turn it up mom, I like it really loud". Part of me feels great about that because as we all know my children look nothing like me but if I can find something in them that resembles me, I get to add that to the genetic scorecard that I keep (I started this only because all I ever hear is how much the kids look like each other and just like Dan). The other part of me thinks that someone will call CPS because of what I'm exposing my children to.
So, long story even longer (I'm bored again at work), the ever lovely Brittney Spears has just released the single "Womanizer". Despite the fact that I don't really enjoy listening to her voice and I feel very sorry for her and all the trouble she's had in her life, she does come out with some pretty catchy tunes, so I listen and sing. So do the kids. While listening to the song the other day, Monkey asked me what a Womanizer was. My weak attempt at an explanation went something like this:
Monkey: Mom, What's a womanizer
Mom: Well, it's a man that likes to hug and kiss a lot of women.
Monkey: Is that wrong?
Mom: It is when at least one of those women expects that the man will only be hugging and kissing her.

That seemed to satisfy him until the next day when he posed this question to me:

Monkey: Mom, is a Womanizer like a job?
Mom: For some it is.

Let's hope he doesn't make a career of it.

BTW-The picture posted here is of a girl that has pursued him relentlessly. She told her mom this a.m. that they'd be getting married, but not for a long time because they still had a lot to do.

Lockdown

It was an exciting day in our city yesterday. While I was at work I received an email with the following message:

It is currently 11:30 a.m. The Pleasanton Police Department has requested that Alisal Elementary School go into lockdown mode due to police activity north of the school. It is believed that the incident is isolated to one home in the area. Gingerbread Preschool is also locked down, but PD did not feel it would be necessary for Amador Valley or Walnut Grove to do so.
More information will be sent as it becomes available.

That's not something you really want to read, especially because your kid is inside the school and you actually live north of the school. It all turned out fine, it's just the typical story of a heroine addict who's grandmother lives in your neighborhood robbing the branch of the bank located in the grocery store, fleeing on foot hoping to get a grilled cheese sandwich and soup and perhaps a cookie or two at grandma's house before heading off to get your next score. Unfortunately, grandma must have been out of white bread and American cheese so Mr. Hopped Up, became Mr. Hopping Backyard Fences until the K-9 unit got him.

An average day in P-town, where despite the economic crisis and falling home prices, the median home price remains over 800K. Admittedly, we do live in the "below the median" neighborhood so I guess it was bound to happen.

I volunteer in the classroom on Thursday afternoons so I was there right after the lockdown was no longer in force. Monkey described his feelings to me "It was scary but also really exciting. I was so scared I hugged Jack and my heart was pounding".

Walking

Anyone that has had to go anywhere with the CHF knows that she's very, how do I put this in a kind way....Princess like. She loves to be carried. This may be a chicken/egg debate but I'm not sure if she's just this way or we've created her love of being carried because she's small and often it was just faster to get to where we were going by carrying her. She's always preferred to be carried over being in a stroller or actually, GOD FORBID using her own legs to transport herself from one location to the next.

Around the CHF's 4th birthday, we did the unthinkable....we got rid of the strollers (mind you we did not do the unimaginable and get rid of the Ergo the most amazing child carrier on the face of the earth....www.ergobaby.com). One stroller had been in our possession since Monkey was 6 months old. The tires were free of any semblance of tread, the canvas was very weathered, the 2X4 piece of fabric formerly known as the arm strap hung sadly from the side of the handle and the straps to secure the child inside slowly disintegrated over time and the microscopic bits can be found somewhere between our house and Main Street (no that's not Main Street that the Presidential candidates are so fond of referring to when trying to connect with the middle class, it's literal, I live in a town with a Main Street). The other stroller was a purchase that I'd made when the CHF was still in an infant car seat and it allowed me to remove the infant seat from the car and snap it into the stroller without disturbing her highness. We never really liked that stroller but every now and then the princess would request transportation in said vehicle (I think just for the sheer pleasure of watching us struggle to get it on and off sidewalks). Although not as old, it too was weathered and not worthy of passing on to another family, we dumped them both.

I discussed with the CHF that she was now 4 which qualified her as a big girl (despite still being <30lbs). I went further to tell her that 4 year olds are big enough to walk to school and that I would no longer carry her to school, hers or her brother's, in the a.m. We were very optimistic that first morning as we set out to walk Monkey to school. The optimism was gone by the time we got 5 postage stamp sized houses from ours, that's when the whining began. Now, admittedly it could be because the 5th house from ours belongs to MZ, the best cook/baker on the street and perhaps in our city. Usually walking by her house elicits a Pavlovian response in both children and they are both suddenly hungry so whining occassionally happens in that location anyway. An arguement between the CHF and I ensued and it went something like this:

Me: "CHF dear you have to walk to school, it's not far and you're a big girl now"
CHF: "I'm tired, my legs hurt, my legs are chilly, I'm tripping because my legs are tired, I'm going to fall...." (at that point I tuned out)
Me: "Get up now or you will be left behind"
CHF: "ok, I'll wait right here for you"
Me (to myself): "SH*t, she'll will too"

As it turns out, I'm far more interested in getting Monkey to school on time than proving a point to the CHF. She won, I carried her. Over the past month, I've been working on getting her to walk to Monkey's school and then to her own school. I've had to listen to the whining and complaining on most days but I've been fairly successful in getting her to walk most of the way. Today I had the luxury of going in to work early, dear hubby took the kids to school.

I got a call 6 minutes after Monkey started school. I picked up the phone to hear dear hubby laughing a full belly laugh. After he was able to catch his breath for a moment or two, he shared the following with me...

After carrying the CHF to Monkey's school on his shoulders (he does this all the time for her, she just has to use her really cute voice and she's hoisted up like the princess she is). He indicated to her that it was time for her to walk and put her down. Of course she clung to him like a booger does to a child's finger right before they eat it. He tried to pry her off of him but said that it was as though rigor mortis had set in. He looked down at her and said something to the effect of "Your not going to walk are you", she looked at him with her big brown eyes and crazy curly hair and said with a perfected warble in her voice "i'm not really in a walkin' mood today, daddy!"

Rhythmic Gymnastics

I'm wondering if she's a candidate for the above mentioned "sport". I'm not a fan of the "sport" myself but I think the CHF adds a new flair by choosing Pink's new song titled "So What" as her background music. I think it speaks volumes for who she believes she is. Enjoy the show.

Taking one for the team

Today at Monkey's soccer game he got the opportunity to play goalie. This is not a position that he's ever played before and being the competitive, perfectionist that he is, I was a bit nervous about his abilities to maintain his composure if the ball was able to get past him. A few balls got past him and he seemed to be just fine, getting right back into the game and paying attention which is difficult for most 7 year olds, Monkey being no exception.

The Ian from the other team (we really thought we were picking an unpopular name) who proved to be a good soccer player did what I've seen our Ian do only once, he drilled the ball towards the net with all his might. Our Ian being focused as the goalie attempted to block the ball, unfortunately his face stopped the ball before his hands did. I got that feeling that every mother whose watched their child get hurt gets...that awful sinking in the pit of my stomach as I heard the ball hit his face and watched his head recoil from the impact. Both coaches and I ran over to him. I must say I was proud that the rules of the league were running through my mind at the time and telling me to let the coaches handle it. With every fiber of my being, I stood nearby but did not go to him. I gave him the thumbs up with a big pretend smile on my face when he was able to pull his buried head from the coaches abdomen. Meanwhile, I was choking back the tears thinking that if he saw me crying he'd completely lose it. He wiped his tears after a minute or two and continued to play for the rest of the game. Luckily his tenure has goalie lasted only until the end of that quarter...phew.

I did notice that during the rest of the game, his hands seemed to involuntarily fly up to his face any time he got anywhere near the ball, even if he was kicking it. After watching that and looking at him playing on the field afterwards, I said to Dan and I swear this to be true, "He looks older".

Tea Party

This morning the CHF invited me to a tea party at her house. She was in her "Souka" character. Generally she invents her own names but this name in particular also belongs to the large finned star at 6 Flags Discovery Kingdome (Formerly known as Marine World or Marine World Africa USA depending on how far you go back with the history of that particular amusement park). So she called me on her pretend-0-phone and invited me over. She told me she set up the tea party already and that her mom, Tancine said it would be fine if I came over. I asked what her Dad's name was and she said Vishkwishy (pronounced Fish Squishy) and that he was little bit fat.
When I asked her what kind of tea she was serving she indicated that Blueberry was the flavor of the day. After I delished on it some, I told her it was the best tea I'd ever had. She told me she added a bit of hot cocoa. So I was thinking that it was interesting that she would add chocolate to blueberry and thought she was brilliant. She then went on to tell me that she'd also added raw eggs but that I wouldn't get sick.

Mom, I know you're going to think about and bring up the cinnamon meatloaf I made one time and how weird it tasted but at least you can take comfort in the fact that I cooked the food thoroughly and no one got sick.

The CHF will not be cooking for the family any time soon....

2 genes

Even though she looks nothing like me, I caught her reading one of my favorite books.

Or, it could be that she thought the Darwin award was a worthwhile pursuit seeing one of her favorite phrases is "I won". She doesn't care that no one else is racing, she just loves the feeling of getting her there first. I'm glad to see I passed on at least 2 genes.

Jasper heard that I posted Hanna's picture on this site and was feeling a bit miffed, so in order to be fair to both canine members of the family, here's a picture of one of the sweetest, most needy dogs in the world. He's the creature on the right.

What a week

The week started off great with the celebration of the CHF's 4th birthday. We had 16 kids, who knows how many adults, a waterslide, pizza, cake and ice cream and then everyone had junk food toxicity so I sent them all home. Of course I had to deal with Monkey and CHF but they did fairly well afterwards so it was o.k.

Ian took away my leverage and wanted to get his hair cut because it's been >100F and he's determined that it's too hot to have long hair. So now, he's got the threat that if he gets any behavioral notices at school, he gets all Titanic paraphernalia removed from his room, including his Legos because he uses those to build the ship. You can enjoy his singing below

We also had a remarkable event in the backyard a few days ago. Who knew that an almost 11 year old dog could still catch a squirrel. We suspect that she felt bad after she killed it because she laid down next to it and licked it's face over and over again. Dan said she's conflicted because she's still got instincts but she's domesticated. We let her carry it around and be proud for about 2 minutes and then Dan got out the shovel and disposed of it. Thank God today was garbage day!

Mrs. Lewinson

During our visit to Amy's house Erin fell in love with her cat Charlie. Erin decided at one point that Charlie's name should be Mrs. Lewinson. She was very sad to leave Charlie when we left so Amy was very thoughtful and sent a replacement Mrs. Lewinson to Erin. She hasn't put her down since we openend her.

Mrs. Lewinson became very sleepy due to all of the activity so Erin was kind enough to sing her a lullabye.

She also received a card from Aunt Kim today wiht little stickers that she could put on her earlobes to pretend she had earrings, she absolutely loved that. You can see the stickers in the video.

Not Law School Bound

Yesterday Ian looks straight at me and says "I have 1 reason why I should have a cell phone and 1 reason why I shouldn't have a cell phone". As I sat there for that split second thinking I can't believe he's talking to me about this at the tender age of 7 I brace myself for the pro/con argument he's about to deliver. He goes on to say "My reason for having a cell phone is in case I get lost. If I do, I just call you or Daddy and tell you where I am. My reason for not having a cell phone is, I don't really have anyone to call".

Do you think he realizes his con argument is far stronger than his pro argument?

Never say Never

Before I became a mom to the CHF, I used to look at women who wore the same dresses as their daughters and thought it was rather corny. I mean come on, a grown woman dressing up like a little girl or a little girl dressing up like a woman, either way I thought it was just plain weird. Well, like all other things that you think you've got a handle on before you become a parent, I found myself suddenly understanding those other women. The CHF and I were getting ready for a party and I told her I was going to wear my pink dress ($6.48 purchase at Target, yes in the girls section). The CHF wanted to wear her pink dress too, unfortunately for me, it's the same style. But seriously, how could I look into her sweet face (she's been in an uncharacteristically great mood all day) and tell her that she had to wear something else because I didn't want to look like one of those women I used to wonder about? Seeing the party was right next door and I wouldn't be in the company of people I did not know, I told her I thought it was a great idea.

Straight Haired Fairy?

It doesn't have the ring that CHF has but we tried to straighted her hair the other night. Emphasize tried. It seems as though she's still only got about 150 hairs on her head and it's so incredibly fine and the curl is so tight it was a very difficult challenge. Add the fact that the CHF wanted to look at herself in the mirror from all sides while I was trying to blow dry her hair and this was the final result.

Target's new marketing campaign

This has nothing to do with either of my children, however I thought it was well worth sharing. I capitalized on a deal that Target had the other day when I went to buy supplies for that beloved "Time of the Month".

Lila

As mentioned previously, Ian's love Nora was not at the farm this year. Her younger sister did however accompany her parents to the farm. I think her younger sister is adorable and thought she was a bit more in Ian's age range (10 as opposed to 16) so I asked Ian if he thought she was pretty.

Being very concerned with people's feelings and politically correct as possible, he looked at me and said, "I don't want to say she's pretty but she takes good care of herself".

Do most 7 year olds talk like this? I don't have that much experience with 7 year old boys currently and cannot remember Clayton expressing himself much about girls at that age. What does that even mean anyway?

The Dam Burst

Yesterday while DadDude (phrase coined by the Curly Haired Fairy) was trying to get the CHF to put on her bathing suit she indicated that she did not want to wear the green one because it was too itchy. Now, everyone who knows the CHF understands that "It's too itchy" is her standard response to any article of clothing that she doesn't care to put against her perfect carmel skin, even if it's crafted from the finest plush cotton/silk/chenille/or fleece known to man, if she doesn't like it, it's too itchy. This was the case for the green bathing suit yesterday. The bathing suit that she formerly thought the best suit she'd ever seen and worn.

She wanted to wear the suit that Amelia had given to her. After a struggle between Daddude and CHF, the stronger of the two won. As she proceeded to take her suit off to change, sweet darling CHF said to DadDude...."OK, I'll get this off my damn, damn body".

Farm Fun

Well, we are reluctantly back from the farm. I took fewer pics this year because I tried to be more "in the moment". I also have the luxury of getting pics from other photographers at the farm. The best shots can be seen at the following website: http://bagelturf.smugmug.com/gallery/5671273_aFPU7/1/349317558_wCykk#P-1-20

Of note this year:

Ian's love Nora wasn't there but he managed to survive anyway. Erin developed a crush on Patrick a 14 year old boy who allowed her to hang on him every time she was around him. He even went out of his way to have dinner with us one evening to appease her. Clayton was able to join us for 3 nights so we managed to see him just a bit this summer. Swing dancing was a huge hit again (see me doing the funky chicken above), I also played horseshoes for the first time ever and discovered I'm actually pretty good. I ended on a win by teaming up with a generous young lad who was willing to take me on as a partner and by Thursday we managed to beat the old men who named themselves "Old age and treachery". I'm also the reigning limbo champ beating out the young girls for the third year in a row. My back still hurts but I had to represent for the old folks :0)!!!

Despite the lack of pics, Dan really was there. We both managed to get colds while we were there but becuse of my relative youth and amazing immune system, I recovered much more quickly than he did so he wasn't featured in the pics.

Erin cried as we were leaving because she wanted to stay and Ian got a bit emotional as well. It's always hard to return to reality after having had all meals cooked for you and no dishes to wash for a week.... We'll get the hang of it again eventually.

It's Gorgeous!

This a.m. when I was quickly getting ready for work (I slept in until 6:45... heaven) the Curly Haired Fairy woke up right before I finished drying my hair. In her sleepy half naked state, she came to the bathroom to ask me to start her morning ritual which consists of me carrying her out to the kitchen (on my shoulders, back or in the front whatever floats her boat for the day) and making her coveted hot cocoa. Because I have slightly wavy hair, I have a very brief window in the morning where my hair is in what I like to refer to as optimally aired dried where I can work with my hair and show up to work looking somewhat human. I was at that point. I begged Her Highness to go wrap up in my bed until I was done, she complied.....briefly. Pushing my luck I decided to try to apply a bit of make-up, again attempting to appear human. The Queen entered the bathrooom for a third time and noticed I was applying eye shadow. She, being very girlie, wanted to try. I handed her the make up brush and with freakishly expert strokes, she applied the tiniest bit of eye shadow remnants to her eyelids. As she was holding the mirror she shreiked "Holy Moly......It's Gorgeous".

Again, I'm confident she acquired that gene from Dan's side of the family or it's a recessive gene I only carry.

Dancing Fool

This always makes the whole family laugh, we hope you enjoy it too.

Trying to get adult humor

Ian, Dan and I were watching Evan Almighty last night. At one point early in the movie Steve Carell passes a movie theater marquee which read "The 40 Year Old Virgin Mary". Dan, Ian and I all laughed out loud and Ian stated "Oh I get it". While we were all still laughing I asked Ian "What do you get about it?", his laughter abruptly stopped and he said "Actually I don't". That statement obviously resulted in more laughter from Dan and I while Ian sat there trying to figure out what was so darn funny.

Note to accident prone child

Erin....things to heed

In light of the recent cut above your head requiring skin glue, and the face plant from the stroller resulting in serious road rash on your face, you might want to consider that when you jump backwards off the ottoman, you should try your best to remain upright as you free fall because you're not that tall and when you fall forward you may smack your mouth on the side of the ottoman and end up with this

Nice Shoes

Those of you who know me well, (I'm not sure how anyone else would be on this blog but stranger things have happened) know and understand that fashion is really not my forte. The curly haired fairy, however was blessed to acquire that gene, likely from Dan's side of the family. This morning my darling daughter did the female version of sizing me up. She looked me up and down from head to toe to assess my outfit. She wasn't even subtle about it which I'm sure either comes with age or she'll need to learn it from my friend Diana or my little sister Kimberly. Now, I thought I was looking fairly decent in that I have on a new pair of capris that I got an amazing deal on ($140 retail, I got for $39.99!), a 3 year old orange shirt that I also got a great deal on and some shoes that I'm so fond of I think I actually paid the retail price for, but felt like I got a deal because I got free shipping.

After she did the once over, she exclaimed with absolute excitement, NICE SHOES!

That, she got from me.

What's the evolutionary benefit to loving shoes? It's pretty universal for women, however I'm still stumped at my absolute love for them. I used to think it was because I wear a size 6 and I can pretty much go into any store, grab the display shoe, put it on my foot and it'll fit. I came to realize though, that I even enjoy looking at shoes on any shoe website. I wouldn't call it an addiction, but I have noticed significant amounts of time have passed after I've gotten on a shoe website to look for a pair of sandals, flats, sneakers etc. and my virtual shopping cart will be loaded with enough shoes to make me ashamed of my love for them. If anyone can explain this to me from an evolutionary perspective, I would sincerely appreciate it!

Cleverly titled #1

This morning while the curly haired fairy was still sleeping, I was enjoying some 1 on 1 time with Ian. We were listening to an adult contemporary radio station (that's right I've said it, I've reached that age) and Jesse's Girl came on. Now I was just a wee bit older than Ian is now (7) when that song was popular and I remember lipsyncing with Kimberly, my little sister into our brushes in our messy bedroom while I watched her dream of some day meeting the man that covered the walls of her side of the bedroom. Anyway, my back was turned to Ian when we were about to hear the "Where can I find a woman like that" part of the song and he said "Hey Mom". I turned to see him lipsyncing into his cereal spoon, and as I watched the milk drip from the spoon onto his lap or the floor (I never did check to see which one it was) he sang into his spoon "I can't afford a woman like that".

Time for him to get a job as this is the same boy who told me about a year ago that he was going to marry a pregnant woman so that she didn't have to be alone to raise the baby. Oh yeah, he also likes the name Saturn.

So, we now know that he's got more learning to do in terms of finances and baby name choices.