Our First Family Ski Trip

While I am on a belated blogging kick, I figured I would write about our first family ski trip of this season. On March 28th we took Jared and Camryn to Mt. Hood Meadows. And to fully celebrate the familial nature of this trip, I didn't take a single picture of the kids. Oops.

Maybe a better description of this ski trip would be, "We tried taking Jared and Camryn skiing in Utah last year and figured we could teach them to ski ourselves just fine. After spending the better part of an evening skiing down the hill with a 6-year-old between my knees I decided that ski school was a fantastic investment." And so Jared and Camryn had an all-day ski lesson. I think it was really helpful for them to have instruction from someone who wasn't "just" mom or dad (Never mind the fact that their dad is a fantastic skiier-- it's still carries more weight coming from someone else.) We skied with them for an hour at the end of the day and they eagerly showed off their newly acquired turning skill. But at that point I apparently had forgotten about my camera, so you will have to take my word for it that Jared and Camryn were actually on that trip.

It was a gorgeous day with blue sky and a fantastic view of Mt. Hood. We had great snow and had a great time.

At the top of my black diamond for the day. Did I mention I've skied a black diamond?

Look at that view! Gorgeous!

Last Day of Skiing

On the last Saturday of April, Dave and I took the two older kids for one last ski trip. Even though that weekend we were in the midst of trying to clean out the junk room (and turn it into a room for something other than junk), I had bought a Groupon for skiing at Mt. Hood Skibowl and it was the last day we could use it before it expired. So we left our unsorted junk piles and skied.

It was the second time we took them skiing this season. They had an all-day lesson the first time and a shorter lesson this time, so by the end of the day they could ski most of the lower bowl. We could actually ski together as a group and have a lot of fun. This was of course a long way from where we started that day.

Jared bombing down the mountain.

Our first run of the day started with some barely downhill could-be-cross-country-skiing paths. As soon as we got to the part of the mountain that was actually downhill, Camryn refused to ski and launched into a tantrum and tears and “Why can’t we ski at the place we skied last time instead?” Apparently the other resort's bunny hill was more bunny and less racer rabbit. I skied with Jared while Dave dealt with the crying and protestations that it was too hard and why couldn't she just get back on the lift and take it back down the mountain. When Jared and I had gotten to the bottom of the mountain, taken the lift back up and caught up to them on our second time down, I told Dave to trade places with me. I spent another 20 minutes trying to convince her that she could get down the mountain in one piece if she would just try and do what I showed her. I'd seen her ski before and she was perfectly capable of doing this hill. She was just scared and looking all the way down the mountain instead of looking to the next turn. Finally after using every technique/imagery/motivational trick in my book I just told her she could have a Slurpee if she did three turns without crying or falling. Apparently sugar is a much more effective short-term motivator than either reminders of past success or promises of future skiing glory. Bribery did its work and we made it to the bottom of the mountain fairly quickly thereafter.

I am sure there is some deep life lesson to be drawn from this... about all the times I figuratively sit on the hill screaming, "I can't go down! It's too hard! I like the other easier hill better!" while meanwhile God is saying, "Just do a turn or two and get started. You'll be fine. I know you can do it." I don't know if God stoops to Slurpee bribery (although if you made it Oregon Ice Works sorbet, I'd be  WAY more tempted) but maybe he does stand next to us on the hill, offering some encouragement, waiting for us to finish our tantrums and just start doing turns again. 

Jared and Camryn during their ski lesson.

During the middle of the day, Jared and Camryn had a one-hour ski lesson. It was supposed to be a two-hour group lesson, but it was just the two of them, so the instructor made it a one-hour semi-private lesson instead. While they got coaching and practice on making turns, Dave and I went to the top of the mountain to tackle a black diamond. Given my fear of heights, I think it is pretty amazing that I have gotten to the point where I can ski a black diamond-- and not just make it down alive, but actually stay in control the entire time. Now if only I can get to the point where I can relax and enjoy it (and not breathe a huge sigh of relief at the bottom that I'm still alive).... But hey, this is my blog so I can toot my own horn and say, "Hooray for me!" if I want to. (This hill looks WAAY steeper in real life. Especially from the top. Just sayin'.)

Me at the bottom of the black diamond.

It was a great day with surprisingly good snow--especially considering it was the end of April. By the end of the day even Camryn admitted that this resort was pretty fun and she would do it again-- a far cry from her earlier attempts to get me to promise that we would never come back to this ski resort. I don't know if I would go that far about my figurative "ski hills," but maybe just getting to the bottom, breathing a sigh of relief and saying, "Hey, I'm still alive!" is good enough too.

Camryn after deciding skiing wasn't so bad after all.

First Day of School

Can you believe it? I am actually posting about something on the day it happened! Hold your applause, please. Okay fine, applaud away. It may not happen again any time soon.

Today was Jared and Camryn's first day of school. Jared is starting 4th grade and Camryn is entering 2nd grade.

After a whole summer of no alarm clocks, it's back to the 6:45 wake-up. I am not a morning person, so this is a bit tortuous for me. Jared and Camryn, however, woke up to their alarms, got dressed and were eating their breakfast when I came down to help them with their lunches.

Then it was out the door to catch the bus.

It's hard to believe that they are growing up so fast. I'm always a bit nervous for the first day of school. Will they have good teachers? Will they make good friends and get along with the other kids? It always worries me as a control freak to have my kids out of my immediate control for such a big chunk of their lives. And I have mixed emotions about school. Part of me is so sad to have the kids gone for such a big part of the day again. But there is just as big (if not bigger) part of me that is jumping for joy at the prospect of having more quiet, fewer mess-makers and less sibling arguing for part of the day as well.

This year is a landmark for me too, since fourth grade was the last year that I attended school (until college). I was home-schooled from fourth grade through high school. People who find out that I was home-schooled usually ask me why I don't home-school my own children. It's because I don't want them to grow up to be social outcasts like me. ;) Just kidding. In all seriousness, I really loved being home-schooled and had a great experience. I always planned on home-schooling my kids, right up until Jared was 4 and 3/4 years old. Home-schooling didn't seem like a good option for us at the time, so we decided to give public school a try. We've been very lucky that it has worked well for us so far. The kids have had good teachers, made good friends and made good academic progress. But it took me a long time to get over feeling guilty that I wasn't doing enough for my kids' education or measuring up to what my mother did for me. The conclusion that I finally came to is that parents are the ones who are ultimately responsible for their child's education. They may choose to "farm out" some of the job to schools, tutors, teachers, coaches or others, but the parent is the one who needs to make sure that the child is getting what he or she needs. And I do teach them at home. But I don't think it's a bad thing for them to learn from other people as well. And hopefully if public school ever ends up not working well for them, I will be in tune enough to see this and find another alternative that does work. End of long tangent.

Meanwhile, Jackson and Addy are settling in to having the house to themselves for a while. I think Jackson is adjusting better to having "Jare-Camryn" gone than last year. Having Addy to hang out with certainly helps. Today they spent the morning dumping half a box of wipes.

I guess it's nice to have a sidekick. Especially one who looks up to you who wants to learn all of your tricks.

One of these days I'm going to have to try chucking some diapers across the room to see if it's as much fun as it looks.

Seattle With My Sis

Last Friday as I wrote my last post I was madly throwing stuff in the car to take the kids to Seattle with my sister Alisa. Alisa was out here for a friend's wedding and needed to be at the reception near Seattle on Saturday evening. So we were brave enough (or stupid enough?) to attempt to do Seattle with 4 kids in tow. We drove up Friday night and stayed at the Silver Cloud Inn (where we stayed for spring break a couple years ago). Jared and Camryn were THRILLED. In their eyes, this place might as well be the Four Seasons, even though we didn't get to swim in the slightly chilly pool this time around. Two words for you: breakfast buffet. Anything that includes hot waffles, greasy sausage links and all the sugary cheap pastries that you can eat is a winner in their book.

We took the hotel shuttle to Pike's Market and had a fun time dinking around enjoying the card tricks and balloon creations of the street entertainers amid Jackson's periodic tantrums that would ensue whenever we went someplace where he couldn't see boats (i.e. pretty much anyplace in Pike's Market besides the waterfront overlook). Apparently going to bed at 10:00 pm and being kept up by siblings who are too excited to sleep doesn't agree with Jackson. Go figure.

Jackson's favorite spot overlooking the waterfront and I-5: Cars and Boats! Jared is sulking because he wants to go back to the market instead of watching boats.

Jackson downing one of scores of fruit snack packages....

Between bribery, balloon animals, a copious quantity of fruit snacks and sheer willpower, we managed to see at least a tiny bit of the market with a great deal of screaming and running over of strangers' toes with the double stroller. (The screaming was from Jackson, not the strangers.) Having thus exhausted ourselves, Alisa and I turned to our other main goal of the day: amazing seafood. We headed to Elliott's Oyster House on the waterfront and scored a waterfront table on the patio where Jackson could watch the boats to his heart's delight.

Jackson: Boats! Boats! Dere's a boat! Jared: Will you let me eat my fish and chips already?

The other kids similarly settled in and got comfortable while Alisa and I pondered which of the fresh seafood offerings to enjoy.

Camryn taking a break after our exhausting sight-seeing.

Catching some rays in Seattle- before mom made her sit up and be polite.

Alisa had never had crab, so we settled on fresh steamed Dungeness crab and Alder Planked Fresh Alaskan Sockeye Salmon with a smoked tomato-onion beurre blanc.

Love me some seafood!

The salmon and vegetables were absolutely fantastic, but the crab was, in Alisa's words, "Life-changing. Really, I'm not sure I knew that food could taste that good." I think it was a successful experience for a first-timer. :)

Don't even think about eating my crab!

We managed to get through the amazing meal, kids and all, with only a moderate re-arrangement of kids meals, an additional order of sliced apples and one lost child. Somehow when we were in the process of shuffling kids through the restroom, Camryn climbed over the railing of the restaurant onto the pier to get one of her kids meal crayons. When she came back we had left (each assuming the other one had her), so she wandered off down the street to find us. Someone found her and she gave them Dave's cell phone number so Dave got the surprising call of "Hi! I'm at the Seattle waterfront and I've found your daughter." He called Alisa who found me (who was still in the bathroom, shuffling kids through and/or changing a diaper) and we were reunited with Camryn. (Just in case you are wondering- from my earlier post about reasonable limits for your child to explore- no, exploring the Seattle waterfront as a seven-year-old isn't on my okay list.)

We made one last attempt at Pike's Market, but once we were away from the view of the boats Jackson reverted to his spirited protests of this infringement on his nautical observation. So I bought some flowers and some frozen Beecher's Mac and Cheese to-go and we headed back to the shuttle stop. But not without picking up some cheesecake at "The Confectional" and some amazing chocolates at The Chocolate Box.

I tried bribing the screaming Jackson with some gelato, but to no avail. You know it's bad when he screams, "No ice cream! No ice cream! No chocolate!" So I contented myself by self-medicating with a truffle or two, knowing that he would be perfectly fine once we were back on the shuttle. ("Bus!! Bus!!")

The Ben Hur: Dark Chocolate, Marzipan and Pecans. Super yum!

I didn't get one of these, but the Nemo truffles were so cute I had to take a picture.

For the Record

I rant enough about my less-than-stellar house-cleaning and my children's mess-making abilities that I thought I should put something down for the record. Yesterday I mopped my entire hardwood floor on my hands and knees. (It is a REALLY big floor... it usually takes me two sittings, er, moppings to get to it all.) Although, now that I say that, the fact that me mopping my entire floor is an event of note is rather more incriminating than otherwise.

Dave went to Korea this week and got back around lunch today. I managed to use this as motivation to get Jared and Camryn in action and we were able to clean the entire main floor of the house before Dave got home. Maybe it was just excitement that daddy was coming home, but Jared and Camryn really sprang into action. They helped with the dishes, I wiped counters and swept, Jared vacummed, Camryn picked up toys and Jackson... well, he supervised. :) Actually Jared and Camryn have emptied and loaded the dishwasher every day this entire week. Some prodding was required, it is true, but still, that isn't bad for a seven-year-old and eight-year-old. And at the end of the day, the main floor was still mostly clean. Not too shabby! (Not too typical, either, but hey- we take what we can get.)

Also, today we finally got a good-sized bike for Jared. We've had too small and too big. This one is just right. He's been able to ride for a while but was still a little uncertain in his abilities. He got some good practice in with dad racing around the block to that point that he feels really confident. Then we took the training wheels off of Camryn's bike (Yes, my children are late bloomers when it comes to bike-riding-- rack up another point in the "No, she's certainly not super-mom" category.) and before the end of the day she was riding around the block by herself.

Meanwhile Addy watched the proceedings from her Exersaucer while Jackson spent the whole afternoon outside on his trike with a huge grin on his face, trying to keep up with Jared on his bike. I don't know if I have ever seen someone happier than that little boy conquering the world on his Big Wheel.

Last Day and Leopards

Today was the last day of school. I celebrated by trying to clean up the boatloads of papers and school supplies that the kids brought home and dumped on the floor yesterday. Camryn and Jared celebrated by having a massive 6-hour-long argument-and-teasing-fest, interrupted only by the 45 minutes that Camryn was in her dance class. The end of school simultaneously filled me with relief and dismay: no more mornings of trying to cram cereal down kids while combing crazy bed-heads in a sleepy haze, but if they fight like this the rest of the summer I may have to resort to covering their mouths with duct tape. Let's hope that today was just a transition day and that they will start settling into a summer routine soon!

In honor of the last day of school, I wanted to share a page from Jared's animal report on Leopards. We are not super-talented visual artists in our house, but I thought the report was really cute and the page entitled "About the Author" was classic.

Here is a quote from the page "About the Author":

Jared, age 8, grew up in [town we live in now-- I love how it is past tense.]. His birthday is [date]... 9:00 p.m. One book that he wrote that he remembers is "Two Cool Kids" based on the story by Spencer Adams. In his family, he has two sisters age 6 and 4 months. He also has a baby brother, age 2/3. His favorite pet he ever had was a female hamster. He's also had a praying mantis and a ladybug. And maybe trying to catch a bee wasn't such a good idea. [Wow, he almost makes it sound like his parents are pet-lovers!] His favorite school subject is Math. He just loves stacked addition. During his free time, he likes to make comic books. He likes making "Super Diaper Man." He also likes r.c. He wants to be an engineer when he grows up. he thinks his speciality is Humor. Too bad he couldn't add any in this book...

He finishes at the end of the report by saying, "Well, I guess it's time to wrap up. So, my three favorite facts were..." and then adds "Be sure to read my other books!" [He's learning self-promotion already....]

More on "Some Days"

So my day wasn't really over yet with that last post, I was just tired of writing in present-tense. (It gets annoying really fast.)

After re-realizing yet again why it is that I don't usually attempt arduous tasks like folding laundry, I piled Addy and Jackson into the car to run errands. When Camryn came down this morning she said, "Mom, I need $16.69 or I don't get a class party." It turns out what she really meant was that she couldn't find her library book and unless she returned it or brought replacement money they wouldn't get a class party. I asked if she'd looked for it and she said, "Yes. I've looked everywhere." So I told her to eat her breakfast and I raced around the house, looking behind Camryn's bed and in the toy bins, but to no avail. Two minutes after Camryn had left for the bus, I saw her lunch sitting on the counter and I looked in a pile of papers on the paper-stacker where we put homework. Book found. Lovely. So basically that was a really long way of explaining why my first errand was to the school.

At this point Jackson was hungry, so I drove through Taco Bell and got him a cheese roll-up to eat while I sat in the parking lot preparing a bank deposit. When I checked to see how much he'd eaten, I saw a small stump of cheese roll-up by his feet and the rest was gone. Upon further examination I found that he had fed most of his cheese roll-up to Addy, who looked like she had enjoyed it immensely. After I drove through the bank, I pulled into a parking space to take a break to nurse Addy, who was starting to fuss. She had a stinky diaper... which had leaked onto her clothes. Which wouldn't be a problem except that I had 6 Jackson-sized diapers in the diaper bag and not a single one for Addy. After some creative folding, I got her changed and nursed her in the scenic parking lot.

Meanwhile, Jackson started to get fussy. He seemed hungry-- maybe that was because he fed his lunch to his 8-month-old sister. Baby back in seat, drive back to house, dump dirty clothes and diaper, get correct-sized diapers for Addy and milk cup for Jackson and off again.

In our family we wait to take baby pictures until the baby can sit up by herself. But Addy has been able to sit for a while now and is now 8 months old --and I still haven't gotten a studio picture of her taken. Even though it's been at the top of my list for over a week it still hasn't happened, so today, I determined, would be the day. We drove off to Babies'R'Us because they have a KiddieKandids that doesn't require an appointment. (I used to go to JCPenney but after enough experiences of waiting for an hour after my appointment before we got our pictures taken I just gave up.)

I got to Babies'R'Us and dinked around for a few minutes to see if they had an outfit there that was cuter than the one I brought. Jackson was still hungry (shocker, after how much of his lunch he fed to Addy) and was starting to whine for snacks, so I went to the back of the store and got a bag of baby cookies so he had something to snack on. Hopefully this would bribe Jackson to stay in the cart long enough to get Adelyn's picture taken.

I finally got up to the Kiddie Kandids desk and asked when their next appointment was. The lady cheerfully replied, "We have one at 3:00 pm." It was 1:42.... When I asked if there was anything earlier, she said, "I'm taking this customer at 1:45 and then we close for lunch from 2-3." Really... that's intuitive. I'm sure glad that wasn't posted on their website when I checked. The reasonable part of me realized that this was my fault. I should have called and made an appointment. I should have gotten an "appointment" as soon as I walked in the store. Honestly, I had been there before and never required an appointment or had them close from 2-3. But the unreasonable part of my was spitting mad. Did they realize that I drove 20 minutes through construction with a two-year-old and a baby just to come get her picture taken, not to mention wrestling Jackson through the store, trying to keep him in the cart? And I had to be home by 2:30 for the older kids to get home from school?

I wandered through the store, ready to punch somebody or at least put a two-year-old up for sale. At this point Jackson was trying to climb out of the cart seat and into the basket. He was putting a cookie in his mouth just long enough to get slobber on it and then spitting it out into the cart, where it was landing on the cute dress that I brought for Addy to wear in her picture. I don't believe in corporal punishment, but I had an overwhelming urge to smack that kid until he sat down in that cart and did what I said, but self-control prevailed at least in part and I contented my self with growling threats through clenched teeth. I got the handful of other things I needed and went to check out. By this time both children were upset and fussy. I imagine I didn't look very friendly. The checker asked, "Rough day?" Yeah. You could say that.

I wish I could say it got better. I got home and Camryn was a pill. We did her piano lesson and she had checked the box on her assignment sheet twice for a worksheet that she never did at all. During Jared's lesson we had weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth because I had the gall to ask him to play the right hand alone, "forte" like it was marked. And I asked him to practice slow!!!!!!! (Sob! The indignity of it all! The tragic, tragic horrible-ness....) "Mom," he explained in a cross between a growl and a sob, "how am I supposed to play it fast when I've practiced it slow?" "Jared," I responded in what was just plain a growl, "which one of us studied piano for 20 years (including studying just piano in college) and has taken lessons with famous teachers who are experts in the field just so she could know the best way to practice? I don't think it was you. So why are you trying to tell me the best way to do it?" (It turns out he was just expecting to pass off his piece right away and once he passed off one of his pieces on the first try he was happy as a lark.)

Grand illusions of cooking a beautiful, nutritious meal for dinner evolved into a plan to cook the corn on the cob before it went bad to supplement leftover mac and cheese. I sat Jackson up to eat, but he ate a few bites and then started chucking his food to the floor. I took away his high chair tray but then made multiple attempts to get him to eat more, to no avail. After dinner, the kids started building a fort out of chair cushions and Jackson's slide and a few minutes later Camryn erupted into a cacophony of savage screams, "Jared ruined my invention before I even got to try it!" By this point I had had enough. I sent Camryn and Jared to bed for the night at 7:00 pm followed by putting Jackson to bed. At this point, Jackson realized he was hungry. But I was not in the mood to be merciful, having spent 20 minutes trying to get him to eat that only resulted in him throwing food on my newly-mopped floor. So his sobs of, "My milk! My milk!" (as if maybe his milk would show compassion on him, now that his horrible mother wouldn't) fell on deaf ears. Sorry buddy, if you won't eat every time I sit you up, you feed all of your lunch to your sister and you've already had 5 cups of milk today that's what you're going to get.

Such was my day. The mother with the "lovely smile" who "cooks watermelon" that Camryn immortalized in her Mother's Day poem had turned into the wicked, evil stepmother. I guess I'll go buy a broom.

Trading Spaces-- Reflections from Laurel (my mom)

My mom recently came to watch my kids while Dave and I went out of town for the weekend. During that time she not only found time to keep my four kids happy but also found time to write about it. So here is a guest post from my mom, Laurel:

I am not a blogger.  Blogging is a time sink. I have never felt a compelling need to do an emotional core dump on paper—until yesterday. But yesterday my life was different. I woke up at my daughter, Karen’s house, instead of mine. I woke up to her life instead of mine—to four children instead of my normal, quiet, simple existence. …and I woke up to a new understanding of why Karen blogs. Blogging isn’t just a time sink. Blogging is therapeutic. It is an amazingly effective way of making order out of a world that feels completely out of order and chaotic.

I vaguely remember that having six children of my own, ages ten and under, was chaotic. But the memory is very vague indeed…sort of like the way we forget about the reality of childbirth until labor actually starts the next time. I remember that the house got messed up more easily, that more laundry needed doing, that the noise level was quite a bit higher, that there were more places to go and more food I had to cook.  But, other than those sort of things, having children wasn’t much different than the life to which I have become accustomed in recent years. Wrong.

Day 1 at Karen’s: We get home from the airport just before the two older kids get off the school bus and back home. Chaos doubles. Jared hurries to get ready for cub scouts while Camryn discovers that Jackson has opened the hamster’s cage and allowed Fredricka to escape. Not a big deal. One little hamster against four of us in pursuit. The hunt would be easier were it not for the fact that they have a three story house. 

Karen runs Jared to cubs—Camryn and I are the search party. A half hour later Karen comes back to get Camryn for her dance class. I make up the search party. A little while after that Karen drops Jared back off to join me in the search and goes back to pick up Camryn from dance. The hamster was no where to be found in the music room where he and his cage reside on the main floor…or the living room or family room or kitchen or dining area. We knew this after probing under the stove and through the closets with the end of a broom. Likewise, the hamster was nowhere to be found upstairs in any of the bedrooms. Camryn, however, was sure she was on to something later that evening when she announced, “We have a clue!”  I asked her what the clue was.  She opened the fridge and said, “Hamster pee in the fridge.” I looked, and although the substance at the bottom of the fridge was highly suspicious, I doubted that even a hamster as smart as Fredricka could manage to get in there. So I called Jared in for a second opinion. He opened the fridge and said matter-of-factly, “Yep….definitely hamster pee.” In reality, the fridge clue didn’t aid in finding the missing pet. It turned out that Fredricka had managed to find her way downstairs into a bathroom closet and had happily made a nest in a pile of shredded toilet paper. Jared returned the mini-beast to its cage and life was happy again in Porterville. On a happy note, Karen later determined that the clue in the fridge was actually some spilled canned milk. All is well—I can eat again without feeling queasy.

Jackson, on the other hand, definitely requires more than four people to keep track of. He wanted some juice with his lunch, so Karen poured him a small cup. He was happily occupied eating at the bar while Karen was sitting at the kitchen table busily engaged getting some work done on her computer for Cantico and I was not-quite-so-happily searching for some superior interest rate on homes. Both of us were within 10 feet of Jackson the entire time—so much for my theory that Jackson does what he does because he is running wild downstairs while Karen hibernates upstairs in her office. To make a long story short, Jackson invented a new taste sensation:  ½ half bottle of apple juice, to which you add all your left over mash potatoes and generous handfuls of Chex cereal. Top the concoction off with a steak knife dropped into the murky substance for good measure. My frustration when I glanced up to see the disgusting mess was mitigated by my admiration for the dexterity he was using to add additional Chex mix through the little bottle opening. All of a sudden Karen’s stories of finding the phone in the cereal box or dish cupboard made much more sense.

I have observed even in the few days that I have been here that Karen is not one to be easily defeated or even outsmarted. If keeping track of Jackson is critical to one’s success as a parent and Jackson excels at escaping—especially now that he is so dexterous at climbing out of his crib—there must be a solution.  I was dumbfounded when I went to put Jackson to bed and saw he had a “crib tent”….a very stylish version of what amounts to a “toddler cage.” It is made of heavy-duty white netting and curved supports—kind of like a dome tent—and attaches firmly to the crib. Once the intended creature is “in the cage” you zip it closed (from the outside of course) and said baby is confined until such time as you deem it appropriate to release them. Magical! Crib tents are the boon to bedtime that car seats were to car travel. The amazing thing is that she has Jackson convinced he likes it. I rocked him and read him four stories at bedtime—okay, I read “Are You My Mother” three times until I couldn’t handle it another time and finished off with a different story, said prayers with him and put him down in his crib. I covered him up and he pointed up and said, “Zip it, Zip it!” No problem, Jackson. Your wish is my command! Silence in the house until the next morning when Jackson is perfectly capable of making it clear that he is ready to be let out. I don’t know why the heck I didn’t have such a thing when my kids were little. Maybe I would have had a few more.

Speaking of baby accessories…I was never really into the baby-food thing as a mom. I sort of went from “nursing baby” to “sit-in-the-high-chair-and-stuff-finger-food-in-yourself” stage. However, that isn’t an option here since Addy is a nursing baby whose mom left for four days. Enter in an invention second only to the Crib-tent. Its called a Bumbo and I don’t know exactly how to describe how wonderful it is to someone who has never seen it. It is basically a cleverly molded plastic seat that is miraculously shaped in such a way to support a baby as soon as they are strong enough to hold their head up. No flopping from side to side or slumping over. It sits on the counter or table in front of you and holds the baby in the perfect position and angle to stick little spoonfuls of food in. In fact, if you picture a little baby bird with its beak open ready for dinner you can picture what Addy looks like in the Bumbo. It's quite adorable and almost makes it enjoyable to deal with the whole rice-cereal-mushed-fruit-and-veggie stuff. Combine the Bumbo with the Baby Bjorn, the ExerSaucer, the Jumperoo, the Floor Gym, the Motorized Swing, the Bouncy Seat, The Co-Sleeper, Latch-System Car Seat (which is a huge improvement on my generation of car seats), the single stroller, the double stroller, etc, etc, and I’ve got this kid covered! Ignore the fact that it took hours of training to know who to use them all.

Yesterday morning Camryn woke up to find that the Hamster had gone AWOL yet again. This time Jackson was safely locked in his crib tent so we realized that after eight months the hamster had figured out how to let himself out of his cage when we weren’t looking. A frantic search ensued before school, but to no avail. The children left for school totally distraught with grief. I on the other hand, had a much more pragmatic outlook. One escape constitutes a crisis. A second escape constitutes stupidity on the part of the rodent and elicits very little compassion for the creature from me. The search after school was equally unproductive. By bedtime Jared had come to grips with the fact that his pet hamster might be permanently gone. It seemed to me the situation had only a few very stinky alternatives:  1) The hamster would die somewhere in the house…a stinky alternative, or  2) The hamster would NOT die somewhere in the house, but would continue to run freely around doing what hamsters do best…making yet another very stinky mess all over the house. Neither alternative looked particularly attractive when we headed to bed last night with the hamster still missing in action.

This morning Jared woke up bright and early, went downstairs and looked for the hamster. Apparently the hamster liked the familiarity of the downstairs bathroom closet because during the night he had returned to his previous nesting haunt. This was much happier alternative, but definitely not a stink-free scenario. Now Jared has to come home and not only do a thorough cleaning of the hamster’s cage (way overdue, by the way) but he has a good collection of “hamster souvenirs” to clean up all over the downstairs. All this reminds me that however superior hamsters are to mice, rats, etc, a rodent is still a rodent!

Jared shouldn’t feel too bad. While he is cleaning up after the hamster, Camryn and I can clean up after Jackson. The boy has a fun pastime… he takes every toy he can find and hucks it over the top balcony three floors down to the back lawn. The mystery is that no one seems to see him do it, but the evidence down on the ground is undisputable…the only thing Jackson loves more than Curious George is hucking things!

Well, I will give up this blogging pastime for the time being and get back to the more pertinent realities of life like cooking lunch, changing diapers, putting in laundry, doing dishes, sweeping up the floors…  Gosh…maybe I should change places with Karen permenantly!

It's a Hard-Knock Life

Last Saturday... where to begin. I was trying to steer this blog away from being a series of child-related disaster stories. But since I'm still trying to keep this blog in the "non-fiction" category, yet another child-related disaster is coming your way. Consider yourself forewarned.

Saturday was the first day of April General Conference. In case any of my 5 blog readers aren't members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, twice a year we cancel regular three-hour Sunday meetings and spend a whole weekend watching General Conference: eight hours of satellite broadcasts to the whole church (make that ten if you're a guy) over a two-day period. And you thought three hours was a lot of church, huh? :) Joking aside, I love General Conference. The prophet, the 12 apostles and other church leaders (including the leaders of the women's and Young Women's organizations) speak to us about what they feel is relevant for us to hear right now. It's also a nice chance to spend the weekend at home with the family.

We have a couple of Conference traditions: we print out a Conference activity book for the kids and we make "Monkey Bread": a caramel-y concoction of canned refrigerator biscuits, melted butter, brown sugar and cinnamon. (I know a lot of people who make homemade Cinnamon Rolls for their special "Conference treat" but after my last post I'm not comparing any more, okay? Besides, I baked it in a fancy bundt pan this year. That's totally as good as homemade.)

Having kids running around makes it a little bit harder to focus on the talks --and even with our best efforts we only made it through two of the four sessions over the actual weekend. (Hooray for DVRs!) But so far my favorite talks were Elder Uchdorf's talk on how we need to show more love and kindness to those around us-- even to people who are different than we are-- and judge others less. I also enjoyed the talks about mothers and daughters and the importance of a mother;s teaching in the home. But now I digress....

On Saturday afternoon, Dave left to go to the Priesthood session of Conference (for all the men 12 and up) and then had to go in to work after that. Not wanting to be stuck at home by myself with all of the kids on a Saturday, I decided to go out and kill some time hanging out at the local toy store and picking up a few things for the kids' Easter baskets. Except that by the time I figured out what I wanted and got it up to the counter to check out, the kids decided that the toys on display near the front were the most interesting and I had to casually wait for another 20 minutes before I could slyly get the presents paid for and to the car without them noticing.

I had plans to take Jared and Camryn to see a community production of "Annie" that night, so we drove through Taco Bell and then raced Jackson and Addy to the friend who was going to watch them for us. I must have been really hungry (I think I skipped lunch) because on the way back to go to the play, I impulsively decided that I absolutely HAD to have another Gordita to be able to make it through the play. So I drove through Taco Bell again (yes, the lady in the drive-through recognized me... that was kinda embarrassing), got my Gordita and we were off to the play with a whole three minutes to spare. So imagine how irked I was when I pulled out my Gordita and found a Chalupa in its place! Instead of soft yummy flatbread goodness (okay, 'flatbread goodness' is a little bit strong for Taco Bell, but remember-- I skipped lunch so I was STARVING), I found super-fried grease-o-rama. I didn't have time (or gall) enough to drive through the drive-through a third time. I took two bites and gave up.

Because of my drive-through shenanigans, we got to "Annie" one minute before it started. We parked and set off at a run for the entrance, inciting piercing shrieks from Camryn of "I can't run, Mom! It makes my stomach hurt!" (Don't you love six-year-olds?) We did manage to slip into some seats on the end of a row just as the overture started and I even got Jared to run to concessions to get some Junior Mints and Skittles to tide me over through the play.

The play was really cute and having learned my lesson after chasing Jackson around the back of "The Music Man" last summer before giving up at the end of the first act, I was really enjoying the play in Jackson's absence. But after the first act Camryn started to get really tired and cranky. I tried to get her to lay her head on my lap to go to sleep, but she didn't want to. She ended up curling up toward the back of her chair, so I went back to watching the show.

Then suddenly there was a noise-- like something spilling-- some people on the row behind us startled and a girl behind us reached for something by her shoe. In the dark it took me a few seconds to connect all the dots; I thought maybe Camryn had spilled a box of candy or something. So it wasn't until there was another burst of the "spilling" sound from Camryn's direction a second later that I realized it was not a box of Junior Mints but throw-up that was landing on the shoes of the poor couple behind us. Dots now connected, I snapped into action, grabbed Camryn and tried to furtively head for the back towards the bathroom. Our attempt at a quiet escape down the exit aisle was thwarted by a loud burst of projectile vomit that spectacularly sprayed in every direction from Camryn's lips. So much for trying to be subtle.

This probably sounds horrible, but I had to try really hard not to laugh. You know how in movies they have those stupid fake special-effects where barf sprays everywhere, totally unrealistically? That is exactly what it looked like, except it was real. (And if I thought too hard about the poor people behind us trying to wipe barf off of their shoes I would probably have burst into tears, so best not to go there for now). After a few remarkable bursts of barf, we made it safely to the bathroom, only to have Camryn let loose another spray all over the toilet stall. I'll spare you the remaining gory details of cleanup (although I have never been more annoyed with those stupid hands-free paper-towel dispensers that only give you 5 inches of paper towel at a time) and how the staff had to set up cones down most of the aisle to keep people from stepping in the mess/cleanup attempts and close down the entire bathroom (I have to hand it to the staff- they were incredibly gracious given the mess that we made).

The play was almost over at this point, so Cam and I decided to hang out and watch from the back by the bathroom door so Jared could finish the whole thing. (She felt much better at this point- who could blame her?). She turned to me and said, "Mom, I guess I probably ruined everything for you, huh?""Of course not, honey. Things like this just happen sometimes." And so they do.

The good news is that Camryn felt better after that and didn't throw up again. Nobody else in the whole house got sick or threw up. (Honestly, I wasn't trying to take a sick child to a community event to spread germs around.) Maybe it was just too many Skittles in one sitting. I'll never know. But I know we had one performance that we'll never forget.

Carnival Pictures

So here are the pictures from the school carnival:

 

Addy: "Wow! I've never been to a carnival before!"

Jackson: "Uggghh, I think I overdosed on kettle corn."

Hanging out in the "wild west."

Camryn is one to come prepared, steed and all.

Jared was extraordinarily proud of the root beer he won in the ring toss. He made sure I understood in no uncertain terms that Dave and I were not allowed to drink any of it while we had our late-night TV parties after the kids are in bed. Dangit.

Plum tuckered out. Eating massive amounts of kettle corn can do that to you.

But Camryn is still going strong- the night is young!

What better way to finish the night than by getting your face painted?

Jared getting his face painted- with Harry Potter's lightning-shaped scar, of course!

The Carnival

Jared and Camryn came home from school yesterday and after practicing piano spent the afternoon playing Wii, keeping Jackson engrossed in watching their game. Jared made a point of reminding me that we needed to leave precisely at 6:00 to go to the school carnival, and then immediately went back to his Wii game. I responded in kind by actually starting dinner early before going back to blogging.

At about 10 minutes to 6:00, Jared suddenly emerged from his video-game-induced trance and realized that it was almost time to leave for the carnival. "Mom," he said, "we need to eat dinner! It's time to go to the school carnival soon!" So I told Jared and Camryn to set the table while I answered an email. Apparently, I was neither speedy nor earnest enough in my work for Jared's taste, because he soon interrupted, "MOM! From how you are acting, you would think you didn't care about going to the carnival AT ALL!" (Really? Whatever could have given him that impression? I don't know if there is anything I look forward to more than corralling 4 kids through crowds of hundreds of people by myself.) Regardless of any false impression I may have given, we quickly finished our dinner so we could leave.

As we were finishing dinner, I heard a very loud squirting sound coming from the vicinity of Jackson's diaper. This did not bode well for our estimated departure time. I took Jackson out of his high chair to change his diaper and he'd had a blowout that leaked all the way down his legs. I threw Jackson into the bath to clean him up and miraculously, he didn't throw a fit, but was happy to grab his bucket and fill it with water. But, alas for Jackson, this was not fated to be a leisurely bath. As soon as I turned off the water, he said, "No! Want bucket!!" and turned the water back on himself, sticking his bucket under the faucet. Finally, I turned off the water and grabbed Jackson from the water in one swift motion. Then the tantrum started. Screaming, yelling, wet flailing arms and legs. Luckily, two-year-olds --even tall ones like Jackson-- are still not quite a match for a full-grown adult, so Jackson's diaper and clothes were put back on, much to Jackson's chagrin. Jared did his best to help, telling Jackson hopefully, "Party! Party! Treat!" But Jackson's tantrum didn't subside until we were actually driving away in the car, armed with a sippy cup of milk. (I suppose now wouldn't be a great time to comment that sometimes I am very thankful for car seats with straps.)

Once we were driving away, Jackson decided going in the car was fun. Until we turned in a direction that wasn't the way towards Ranell's house. Then another tantrum started, "Yell's house! Yell's house!" But we went to the carnival, undeterred by Jackson's protestations. Once we got to the school, Jackson figured out this might be okay. It took about 10 minutes in the pouring rain to unload both smaller kids into the double stroller (meanwhile the diaper bag fell out of the car into a puddle) but we finally made it in. We bought tickets and I let Jared and Camryn loose. As I repeatedly jammed the stroller by accident into random people I realized that there were way too many people crammed into that gym to have any hope of being able to navigate with a double stroller in any way that could remotely keep up with them.

So I took Jackson and Addy around. We waited in a 15-minute line so Jackson could play a fishing game. He won a tiny fish and an "Atomic Warheads" sour candy. There really isn't any way to explain to a two-year-old that he won't like the shiny-green-wrapped candy he won, so after a half-hearted attempt I gave it to him. He tried it three different times just to make sure it wasn't some kind of mistake before he decided that yes, the candy really was sour instead of sweet, and chucked it across the room. So Jackson and I bought some kettle corn and chilled while I fed Addy and Jared and Cam spent their tickets. After a while we went to play the cake walk, stroller and all, and we won a Krispy Kreme doughnut! I leaned over to check on Jackson and he was clonked out, fast asleep, oblivious to our fantastic stroke of luck.

I spent the last little while at the carnival dinking around, taking some pictures. While I am not a fantastic photographer, I enjoy the chance to step out and observe life from behind a lens. I grabbed a few shots of poor exhausted Jackson, asleep in the stroller. As I took pictures of Jared and Camryn enjoying the carnival, I noticed how much they were enjoying themselves. Rather than their typical "paste-on-a-smile-because-mom-is-taking-a-picture-and-I-have-to" looks, their faces beamed with the sheer delight and genuine enjoyment of childhood. This really was a big deal to them and they were having a fantastic time. It made me glad that I hadn't followed my first (or second) impulse to skip out because of how much work it was going to be to drag four kids out in the rain. So, once again, my kids stood in the way of my plans to become a crochety old lady who never goes anywhere. Who needs Disneyland anyway when you have the school carnival? [Pictures will be forthcoming.]

Book Club

After having a fantastic couple of weeks, this past week has been a little bit tough. Less sleep, more baby fussing, bad work hours for Dave, you know the drill. I haven't been wanting to post about it because I'm trying to keep from only using my blog as a venting place. I really do enjoy and appreciate my life... just sometimes more so than others.

Jared/Camryn spent the afternoon teasing/whining about being teased. They both didn't turn off the Wii when I asked and got Wii privileges taken away for the rest of the day. This prompted a 20-minute conversation with Camryn where she repeatedly tried to explain how it was not her fault, it was really JARED'S fault that the Wii didn't get turned off and how she really wanted to turn off the Wii and obey and I just wasn't getting her point. This resulted in getting Wii privileges getting taken away for Wednesday and Thursday too. After I pointed out to Camryn that if she really had wanted to obey she could have set down her Wii remote and walked away or maybe asked Jared to turn it off, Camryn finally admitted (through tragic tears), "The problem is that the Wii is just too fun. I couldn't make myself go in the middle of a level."

Jackson was a stinker during dinner time and Addy was fussy. By the time dinner was over I was more than ready for sleep and/or kid-less time. It was book club tonight, but frankly the thought of a warm comforter pulled over my head was sounding more appealing than driving out in the rain to someone's house. But I eventually decided to "just go for a little bit" so I could get out of the house. I was going to leave Addy, but Dave pointed out that it would be "easier for both of us" if I took Addy with me (since I can just "plug her in") so she went. And so I went to book club, rainy night, baby and all.

And you know what? I'm really glad I did. I had fun just chatting with other women, getting out of the house and choosing our books for the next year. Our conversation jumped from a book from last year's reading list to "24" to Bell's Palsy to favorite bakeries (all in the course of a few minutes). I stayed for "just a little bit"- until midnight. (And then decided to blog about it afterward.) So while I will probably wish I'd had a little more sleep when my feet hit the ground tomorrow, I feel refreshed and glad to be reminded that I have good friends who can say "I've been there" or "I'm there with you."

Happiness is...

My sister and I have a saying that (for us at least) "Happiness is productivity." We both thrive on having a big project to bite off that we can just conquer. I have always been inclined to measure my self-worth and base my happiness and fulfillment in life, at least to some extent, on what (or how much) I get done.

The problem is that as a mom the whole concept of "productivity" becomes a lot trickier. If I were to measure productivity in typical terms of net output (i.e. how much laundry gets folded) I would probably have a net negative -especially since I have a two-year-old that loves to sit in laundry piles, unfold them and dump them over the stair railing. It is difficult to be productive when the odds are stacked against you, four mess-makers vs. one cleaner-upper. As a mom, even if you manage to be productive, whatever you produce, be it changed diaper, clean house, fed baby or clean dishes, is usually undone within hours or even minutes. This is problematic for a person with my personality. How do you feel happy and fulfilled when it is hard to have something to show for what you do all day?

I really struggled with this when I first became a mom and even fought depression for a while. It still is hard for me at times, but I feel like I have become better at it. I have had to learn to find happiness in other things and (since you can't totally circumvent the personality which which you were born) to redefine "productivity." If you measure my productivity in terms of hours Adelyn has been nursed or the times I have saved Jackson from certain disaster, then I am among the most productive people around. ;)

I have found happiness (and productivity) in a baby who has happily drifted off to sleep while drooling milk at the end of a nursing. I have found happiness (and productivity) in Jackson excitedly asking at the end of reading a book for the fourth time, "Again!" I have found happiness in hearing Jared's elaborate plans to host a circus at our house on Thanksgiving or hearing Camryn say proudly, "Mom, listen to me play 'Whole Note March' on the piano!" But even better, I think I have learned to see myself as more than a sum of the stuff that I get done, awards that I have earned, how clean my house is, the grades that I earn or the amount that I get paid.

But getting a good project done here and there certainly doesn't hurt. ;)

The World's Stupidest Post (or how to pontificate about a breakfast food)

As I've been writing every day for NaBloPoMo, I've realized that it's a bit trickier to blog every single day. Not that I run out of things to say, I just run out of things that I think people will actually want to read. =] I mean, there are only so many times you want to read about Jackson climbing on the counters and getting into stuff.

So I'm going to write about something totally random: Oatmeal. I spent a lot of time thinking that oatmeal was a sort of lower life form where breakfast foods are concerned. I remember my grandma making really yummy, creamy oatmeal on the stove, but it never seemed to turn out the same when I made it myself. Just gooey, tasteless, pasty mush.... Sure, it will keep you alive if you have to live off your food storage, but if you have a choice whether to eat it? Um, no. Keep some on hand for oatmeal cookies and call it good.

When I was an intern during the summers between college I discovered the beauty of instant oatmeal: if I kept packets of it in my desk I could use the hot water dispenser to make some when I got to work. It was ready instantly and I could eat it while I worked at my desk and not have to eat breakfast before I left, saving whole minutes of my life! Score! But while it worked fine for sustenance, it still was more of a low-tier, survival sort of food and dropped out of my diet once I returned to school and didn't have a hot water dispenser.

Oatmeal again entered my life when I tried to lose weight after I had Camryn. I discovered an easy Weight Watchers recipe that was an easy, filling perfect breakfast: Applesauce Cinnamon Walnut Oatmeal. It was a total of 4 points and filled me up so I ate it literally almost every day for more than a year. (The recipe, by the way, is really easy: You microwave 1/2 cup of quick-cooking oatmeal with 1 cup of water. Add 1 tsp. brown sugar, 1/2 cup applesauce and sprinkle it with cinnamon and 5 walnut halves, broken up. Mix together and voila! Incidentally, my kids love this recipe and it is the only way they will eat oatmeal.) But all good things must come to an end and eventually I tired of my applesauce oatmeal kick and moved on to other breakfast foods.

When I first moved here to the Northwest, I went to an Enrichment meeting on nutrition. The lady giving it talked about how you to be REALLY nutritious you don't want to eat horrible, inferior quick-cooking oatmeal: you have to cook the old-fashioned slow cooking kind. And if you REALLY want to be nutritious, then you need to cook steel-cut oats (which take 20 minutes to cook!). I was irritated that anyone could dis my once-beloved quick-cooking oatmeal. But my curiosity was piqued and I decided I had to try it. I went to Safeway and looked but couldn't even find steel-cut oats. I finally went to a specialty grain store and bought some. I made a truly life-changing discovery. Steel-cut oats truly take oatmeal to a new level. No longer do you have tasteless, mushy paste for your breakfast. It is creamy but chewy with a real oat-y flavor to it. If you add sliced bananas or Craisins with walnuts and evaporated milk, then you have a truly delectable breakfast experience, fit to drive off the damp chill of a Northwest winter morning.

But being the lazy person that I am, I am not about to wait for 20 minutes every morning for my oatmeal to boil (actually it's only 15 but that is still way too long). So I cook a big pot on Monday morning and then microwave a little each morning for my breakfast. I always have canned milk, brown sugar, cinnamon and walnuts, but I vary the fruit.

Of course I eventually get tired of it and move on to some other breakfast food kick, but when the chilly, damp November mornings hit, inevitably I get hit with an oatmeal craving. Yum!


P.S. Today was the Primary program at church. All of the kids from age 4-12 do the entire church program, singing songs and speaking lines. I have been the music leader for the primary program four times and I know how much work goes into it. The kids did a fantastic job (not to mention the leaders who put it all together).Great job, Jared and Camryn!!

P.P.S I can't believe I really wrote an entire post about oatmeal. OK. It's time to get my scanner working again so I can scan some old pictures and write about something more interesting.

Harvest Festival Pictures

The weekend before Halloween Jared talked Dave and I into taking the kids to a Harvest Festival fundraiser at the local middle school.

The kids ate donuts on a string first.

We bought Jared and Camryn some tickets and they went wild with all of the games.

We were going to go in the spook alley. I was worried that it might be too scary, but the clincher was that it was 6 tickets to go in. Maybe next year...

The kids bought some cotton candy instead.

Jackson was thrilled for the chance to run around.

 See you later, alligator!

Summer-y Summary Part VI: The Best of the Rest

Here are some other summer highlights.... Jackson's shopping cart (gotten for free from a friend). Jackson spent days diligently pushing this cart the house. Jared got the idea of using it to push Jackson (worked great for about 5 minutes- then Jackson tipped over).

We didn't get a chance to do an all-out blackberry picking trip (my huge belly and pregnancy fatigue finally caught up with me). We didn't even make a single batch of blackberry freezer jam. But we managed to pick some berries at a friend's house and from the berry patch down the street.

But before we knew it, school was starting again. Here are the pictures of Jared and Camryn on their first day of 3rd grade and 1st grade.