+ 0 - 5 | § ¶And thus ends January.
Yesterday Katrina and i went up to visit my friend Karla and her family. Katrina was thrilled to get to spend tons of time playing with her friends, sleep overnight, and then play again all morning and early afternoon. They played outside for only a short time, due to the biting cold, and spent most of the morning running around amusing each other completely. Meanwhile we adults talked and caught up on our lives and cooed at adorable little Soren. Fun!
And now i'm back and my kids are the cutest and i miss them when i'm gone and i think that Zane is getting bigger every second. Not physically, but intellectually. The child is ... a child! He speaks in full sentences and makes jokes and tells me things that are so cute it makes me swoon. I missed Juanito too. He's not growing quite as much, though. And i missed my house and my computer and my cozy bed. I am becoming a recluse.
+ 1 - 4 | § ¶Let the party planning begin
While we were eating dinner tonight, Katrina started getting all worried about the fact that her birthday party is not all planned out. This not helped by the fact that Houston was joining in the worry and suggesting three zillion ridiculous ideas for what she could do, nor by the fact that Katrina absolutely does not understand time. (The other day she asked when we were going somewhere. I told her, "Tomorrow." She immediately asked, "Tonight?!" I said, "No, tomorrow." And then i had to explain that it was "one more sleep." Time here is measured by "sleeps." But even that doesn't help, because she's convinced that her birthday is in the next day or two when it's really two weeks away yet.)
So then, to calm her anxiety, the three of us (Katrina, me, and Houston, our little party planner) all sat down with the internet and started looking up ideas for children's tea parties. And really, the internet is remarkably unhelpful on this subject unless i'm willing to sell a kidney to pay for the party. Except that she DID decide that she wants everyone to wear their dress-up clothes (hats, feather boas, gloves, mom's old dresses, whatever) instead of their pretty dresses, which is what i put on the invitations. So now i have to call everyone and say, "Hey, um, ignore that pretty dresses thing and wear dress-up clothes instead, ok?" On the bright side, this way i can throw on a hat and feather boa and call myself dressed up and not wear the tights and pretty dress that she was trying to convince me to wear.
+ 4 - 1 | § ¶Cheyanne
Cheyanne came over all day today, which was awesome for Katrina. The two of them played and played and played - dolls, dress-up, drawing, board games, inside, outside. Technically i was babysitting Cheyanne, but while she was here, i saw a lot less of MY kids than i usually do. I got things done! It was awesome!
And then Houston came home, and he was all fired up to play with Cheyanne too. So we took lots of very silly pictures (in which Cheyanne blinked in almost every single one), and then the kids all went off to play. And almost immediately there were problems. Houston and Cheyanne wanted to play one thing, but weren't including Katrina. Katrina and Cheyanne wanted to play something, but then Houston was being too wild with it. Zane was in distress over this or that.
So EITHER two and a half kids is fine, but three and a half (Zane being the half) is too many, OR Houston is a troublemaker. Or, possibly, Katrina was reaching her mid-afternoon tired breakdown time and would have become somewhat emotional and weepy no matter what. Or a combination of all three.
Not that i really think Houston is a troublemaker.
+ 2 - 3 | § ¶Ballet
Katrina started her new 6-week-long ballet class today. She has been looking forward to this for weeks. I had actually thought about not signing her up for a class during the winter, but then she was talking and talking about it, and asking when she would have ballet again. She's had her ballet slippers by the door for a week now, just in case she forgets. Not likely.
Tonight we were talking about insects, and i asked Houston, "How long do you think a cockroach can live if you cut off his head?"
He answered, "For the rest of his life."
Wow. That's like, the best answer ever. Even better than the "for a week, until he starves to death" answer i was going to tell him.
+ 3 - 2 | § ¶First haircut
When Houston was about one and a half, his hair was long enough that people started asking us what our daughter's name was, and we finally made the grueling decision that it was time to cut off all his cute little baby curls. Katrina never had her hair cut until she was nearly four and had insanely long hair.
I have a track record of not wanting to cut off my kids' first little baby hair. It's cute. It's baby hair. It's not grown-up little kid hair.
Zane's hair didn't start growing until after he was 2, so i got WAY more time with his little baby hair than i got with Houston's. And Katrina's hair...by the time she was 2 it was already well past shoulder length. But it has finally started reaching lengths where people are teasing and strangers have called him a "her." And so...it was time. Sniff.
Houston's first haircut was given by my mom. Katrina's was given by me. Zane, who has missed out on things like professional pictures and first-hand clothing got to get HIS first haircut from a real place. He did REALLY great. If you are interested, here's a little play-by-play:
1 - Before the haircutting started.
2 - After the first few snips, he suddenly got his cute little extremely sad look for about 30 seconds, and then was fine again.
3 - The hair-cutter-lady (what's she called?) started cutting his hair in a surfer do. (Before the cutting started, she asked what we wanted. I didn't know how to explain it...not a fade, not spiked, not too grown-up looking, not a bowl cut. Just a little boy haircut.) At the time, i couldn't understand WHY she would think that we'd want her to give him a surfer haircut. After i got home and started processing, though, i realized that i was there with Juanito, who has dreads, and Katrina, whose hair was all wild and coming out of her ponytail from the running around, and Houston, who had his hood up the whole time. Apparently we looked like hippies or something.
4 - Shorter and shorter. I kept stealing little locks of hair off his apron, to keep for his scrapbook.
5 - Finished! Aw. He looks so old. And cute. And now i'll stop boring you with the haircut story.
I have been letting Katrina pick out her own outfits lately, mostly because if i pick out her clothes she always rejects them and either picks out her own right away or just changes into something else at her earliest convenience. Most days she does a good job of picking out acceptably matching clothes - as good as Juanito would pick out, anyhow. But today.... We had a little talk about stripes.
I got my new (but the exact same as before, so ... weird) camera today. Here are the first and second pictures. And i started reading the instruction manual, so i already know more about this one than i did about the other one. Hurrah, i guess.
+ 1 - 4 | § ¶Nothing. No, really.
I don't actually have a working camera right now, so i didn't bother taking pictures today.Well, technically, i DO have Beth's camera sitting here on my desk, because i borrowed it to take pictures when we got Zane's hair cut the other day, except then we didn't get his hair cut because i am an idiot and went to the entirely wrong side of town because i THOUGHT i knew where the place was, only to realize after we got there that it wasn't the place i was thinking about at all, and since it was already getting late we just gave up and came home instead. And i was supposed to give the camera back to her yesterday, but i didn't because then she got sick and didn't need it anyhow, so now i'm hoping to get Zane's hair cut tomorrow and maybe use the camera then, assuming that Beth doesn't want her camera tomorrow morning. Which i doubt she will.
Wow. When i have nothing to say, i really manage to babble about absolutely nothing.
+ 1 - 4 | § ¶I am SO going to use these pictures when they get married
Houston and Katrina amused themselves for quite some time today by getting all dressed up in silly clothes and then coming down to put on a "show" for me. The shows were not exactly what i would call "good," but i took numerous pictures that i will totally be able to use in later years to embarrass them. Especially Houston. Poor kid. He's going to hate me in about 10 years. Maybe less.
I'd like to say that Zane got in on the act, but unfortunately we actually dressed him in a pink pajama last night, and then hours before the shows started, he came down with a floppy white hat. He might end up hating me too.
+ 1 - 6 | § ¶A return to normalcy
Katrina believes that she is allowed to just make up language.
She'll ask for some salt, and i'll tell her that that stuff she's pointing at is sugar, and she'll say, "Well, i just call it salt." Or, alternatively, she'll just make up a word altogether and declare it to mean something. "I just saw a flamopod," for example. And after i ask what a flamopod IS, and determine what it's actually called and tell her, she'll say, "Well, i just call it a flamopod."
No amount of telling her that, "Yes, well, that's FINE and all, but no one will understand you if you call it that, because that is NOT the name for it" will convince her that just making up words is not, in fact, allowed.
But really, if Roosevelt can make up words like "normalcy," i guess Katrina can make up words too. Except not until she's president. Which, she has informed me, she intends to be.
+ 1 - 4 | § ¶Next time i'm going to look more carefully, i assure you.
This afternoon, Zane was sitting on my lap while i read him a book. I was concentrating on the book, so when he held up a finger to me, i playfully pretended to eat it. And then i realized that there was something on his finger.
You know that move that people do when they walk through a spiderweb and totally freak out and do everything possible to get the web off of them? I did a get-this-booger-out-of-my-mouth version of that.
And then i wiped the booger on a kleenex and finished freaking out a little bit. And when i was finished, Zane looked at me all sad and vaguely annoyed and said, "Eat! My! Booger!" I assured him that i had NOT actually eaten his booger, and that his booger was, in fact, in that kleenex RIGHT THERE, and that maybe i would appreciate it if he didn't try to feed me any boogers in the future thankyouverymuch.
After a bit, though, i realized that Zane was not sad because i had just had a gross booger in my mouth. He was upset that HE had not gotten to eat his booger.
To recap: My two-year-old feeds me a booger, and the only problem he has with that is that he didn't get to eat it himself. Ew.
+ 1 - 4 | § ¶Ballet and Snow
This morning i went on a field trip with Houston and his class to see a symphony and ballet. It was totally geared toward kids, and the kids all loved it. I got to drive four boys (including Houston), which is SUCH a change from what i usually drive. I've never had four little boys trapped in one spot before (in a non-creepy way) (not that i've had them trapped in a creepy way either. Moving on....), and it was fun to watch them all interact and hear what they talk about. One of the boys was named "Dallas." Houston has mentioned Dallas before, and has put him on the list of possibilities for who to have sleep over for his birthday. So in the car, Houston and Dallas were in the middle seat and the other two boys were in the back seat. Houston and Dallas talked about what kinds of food they liked and random silly subjects and their teacher and how old they are. The other two boys talked a lot about video games and how they spend all their time playing video games and eating candy, "But they are still growing!" (Psssh. Proves all of US adults wrong, huh!) And i decided that maybe i approve, once again, of Houston's choice in friends. (Dallas. Not the other two. I don't think he's really friends with the other two.)
Have i mentioned that we've had tons and tons of snow here? We have. It's awesome snow - the big fluffy pretty kind. But this weekend and most of last week was really cold - cold enough that i couldn't really want to send my kids outside to play. Today, however, was awesome. And so, all three kids headed out to play. Zane wasn't out for very long - i think that he got too cold and just wasn't enjoying himself enough. But Katrina and Houston played and played and played. A few times i looked out the window at them to see them carefully pushing their faces into the snow. I remember doing that. Apparently kids are wired to be insane or something. But they totally had fun. Despite a couple of minor skirmishes over who threw snow at whom.
And then tonight i helped Beth bring her car to the shop and then she came over and we threw the kids in bed and watched the Season Premier of Lost. Woohoo!
+ 1 - 3 | § ¶And the craptastic day just keeps on sucking.
So hey! Remember how yesterday we were robbed? And that sucked and everything?
Right. So this morning i talked to the detective, and he said that the fingerprint that they did manage to find was not viable, so unless the guy actually confesses, there's no way we can prove he did it. And then Juanito called because he had a flat tire that he couldn't fix because the bolt holding the spare tire on was all rusty, so we had to go pick him up and bring him home. And then Graham pooped diarrhea on our carpet. And now? Now my good camera is broken.
At first i blamed Zumba, and held that exercise is clearly bad because if not for working out, our house would have remained blissfully un-robbed. And then Juanito tried to blame Bush, because once Obama was president, clearly everything would be great. But now that theory is out, because the camera definitely broke AFTER the inauguration. And then i was all, "Gee, i'm crabby." And Juanito said, "Well, maybe it's that time of month?" And i was all, "Yeah, THAT'S it. It couldn't be the fact that we got robbed and have a flat tire and poop all over our carpet and a broken camera. Geez." And THEN, to top it all off? I totally lost this post when it was almost finished and had to start all over. Grrrrrrrr.
But HEY! Did you hear that we have a new president? It's been on the news a little bit.
Juanito and i dragged Katrina and Zane into the front room to watch the inauguration with us. We cheered. We smiled a lot. We took pictures (me with my now-broken camera). We did the happy dance and stood when he was sworn in and clapped. And when i say "we," i mean Juanito and me. The kids were more interested in getting some food. Or having us read books. For some reason, they just didn't grasp the awesome, historic nature of the hour.
(For the record, i AM really happy about Obama being president now. I'm just trying to remember that i'm happy, especially when i look at my forlorn little camera.)
+ 3 - 4 | § ¶Sad. And also mad.
We came home from the YMCA tonight (after Zumba!), took off coats and shoes, and started to get ready to start homework. And then Juanito walked into the kitchen and said, "Whaaaaa?" The back door was broken. I turned to the kids and asked, "Did one of you accidentally break the door when you were letting Graham out?" (Because, DUH. Like THEY could actually pull hard enough on the door to pull the door jam OFF THE WALL.) They both shook their heads and did their best to look innocent. I dialed 911, and in another brilliant moment started off the conversation by saying, "So...i'm not sure if this is an emergency, but our house just got robbed...." I think the dispatcher was trying not to laugh at me.
Juanito and i looked around the house to see what might be missing. Our laptop was the first thing we noticed. And then our cameras. The camera i got for Christmas, the camera Juanito got for Christmas, and my little old Nikon with the swivel-y bit, all gone.
I'm 99% sure i know who was responsible for robbing us. Three neighborhood guys came over just before we left and asked Juanito to burn a CD for him. They were here for about 5 minutes, and then we shooed them out because we were leaving for the Y. So they knew we were all leaving. They knew we'd be gone a while. And they knew exactly what was in that room.
On the bright side, they DIDN'T take my really good camera, which was hiding under my desk, or my engagement ring, which was hiding in a very safe place, or anything else that wasn't in plain view. Nor did they steal our actual computers, which would have been heartbreaking, since we have yet to back up our stuff onto an external hard drive and bring it to my parents' house, which means that if it were stolen, EVERY SINGLE PICTURE that i've taken of my kids would be gone forever. Nor did they take our TV or VCR or DVD player or any DVDs or the big jar of change that i have sitting on my desk.
The policeman who came to our house to try to find the bad guys was a little bit odd. I'm sure he's a perfectly fine policeman, but he had absolutely no affect. I'd expect someone whose job it is to regularly talk to people who are emotional to be able to show some kind of sympathy. He was extremely matter-of-fact and had no hint of emotion ever. It was distracting, kind of. And made me feel dumb and responsible somehow. Sigh. And why couldn't we be robbed and have the police come to our house when it's all perfectly neat and respectable instead of kind of messy?
The thing that makes me mad about being robbed (besides the fact that my things were stolen) is that i was trying to be NICE to these guys. I shook their hands and smiled at them and tried to be friendly. And as soon as we were gone, they broke our door and stole our stuff. Jerks.
But at least i don't have that feeling of not knowing who it was and being all freaked out and nervous all the time.
I'm going to go veg out in front of the TV we still have and watch the movies that i borrowed from Beth that were also (thankfully) not stolen. And from now on, whenever we can't find something, we have an excuse. "Where's the dustpan? Oh, they probably stole it."
+ 1 - 3 | § ¶Happy
On Friday, Houston's teacher sent home a note saying, "Mr. and Mrs. Lastname, You have such a generous son. He often plans his rewards so he can share with his siblings."
That note has been making me happy all weekend.
Also, it's my brother Jim's birthday today. Happy birthday, Jim!
+ 4 - 1 | § ¶These are a few of my (least) favorite things
That picture is my kids making themselves peanut butter crackers. As far as THEY are concerned, putting their own peanut butter on their own crackers is the coolest thing EVER. And that's all good for me, because that means that i don't have to sit and do it for them. Happiness all around!
Speaking of ... um ... nothing having to do with this, i was reading a blog the other day, where she was talking about how much she hates wooden spoons and how touching or even just seeing a wooden spoon completely freaks her out. And i was all, "Wow. People are kind of weird. I'm glad that i don't have any 'things' that wig me out for no good reason." And then i started talking with Juanito about it, and i realized that, um, yeah. I totally do.
For example: If my nails scratch ANYTHING - no, seriously, anything - even remotely scratchy, it totally freaks me out. If i accidentally scritch a piece of paper funny with my fingernail, i have to actually put the paper down and leave the room sometimes so that i can stop wringing my hands and wincing. Obviously fingernails on a chalkboard is the worst, but there are many, many contenders for the "nearly as bad" position.
If someone is using a pencil eraser, it freaks me out a little because i'm afraid that they won't be careful and then maybe they'll accidentally let the eraser get down far enough that the metal bit will scratch the paper and make that horrible, horrible sound that makes me have to cover my ears and cringe and ... what's the word for not actually screaming but kind of making a quietish "Eeeeaahhh!" sound? I do that.
Speaking of horrible noises; when someone uses a metal spoon (or other utensil) to get stuff out of a metal bowl? And they scrape the bottom of the bowl with the metal spoon? That sound is Awful. Horrible. Similar to when people cut their food really hard and make the knife scrape on the plate, which is also an awful, awful noise. It makes me totally cringe. For a long time.
Really, anything that makes that dry, scritchy sound is enough to make me get all "bleeeeahch"-y. Dry markers being scratched across paper? Ick. It's why i immediately just throw away markers that i find lying around without their caps. I can't actually bring myself to try them to see if they're still ok, because if i try them and they're not, then i have to freak out for a couple of minutes before i can continue living a normal life.
Yup. I'm a weirdo.
+ 2 - 3 | § ¶Play World AGAIN
Houston has been begging to go to Play World for ... months? A year? A long, long time, anyhow. But Play World is not free, and many, many other playing-type places ARE free - the mall, McDonald's play areas, the park (when it's warm). So we kept putting him off. But then he started to do really good in school and at home and started suddenly chilling out and didn't need to be told to just calm down, already, and hasn't been pestering his siblings, and has just been making us really happy and proud of him in general. In most of these areas, there's no way to measure exactly how well he's doing, except to say, "Good job not making anyone crazy today!" But at school...well. At school he has a whole charted system.
There's the system the entire class has, of course - a warning and then a check if you are misbehaving, a sticker at the end of the day if you get no checks all day. But then there's the Houston system as well - a total of 10 yes or no checks he gets during the day. 4 checks for following directions, 4 for "being a good friend" (AKA not being rough with people), and 2 for doing well during recesses. For the past 2 weeks, Houston has gotten almost entirely "yes" checks. And THAT is cause for some rewarding.
And so we all went to Play World today. All afternoon. The kids loved it. Zane dove right in, not hesitating for a second before climbing into everything there. Houston and Katrina played together beautifully. We didn't have to scold anyone (except Zane, once, for not coming off the slide when there were too many people on it).
Hurrah for rewards! Hurrah for kids who make me incredibly proud of them! My "favorite" kid shuffles around amongst the three of them, depending on the day, and lately, they've all three been doing a really good job of trying to claim that spot. It's lovely.
+ 3 - 2 | § ¶Zane
Tonight Houston had Cub Scouts, which he went to with his Uncle Todd, and Juanito had Young Life and decided to bring Katrina with him, and that left me and Zane home alone. I never have time with only Zane and me. Zane and Katrina and me? Yes. All the time. Katrina and me while Zane is sleeping? Yup. Me and Houston? Occasionally. But just me and Zane is an almost-never-occurring occasion.
We played a interminable game of Candyland. His choice. You know how Candyland is already a never-ending type of game? Playing it with a 2-year-old who is determined to figure out for himself where his guy is supposed to go just adds to the fun. Eventually even HE got bored and tossed all the pieces into the box. So then we ran around for a bit, played some finger rhyme thingies, and read a whole bunch of books. And really, i am just constantly amazed at how completely adorable this child really is. Occasionally stubborn, and he changes his mind fast enough to give you whiplash, but completely and utterly adorable.
+ 2 - 2 | § ¶Here's what's happening in our neck of the woods.
The kids had their bi-annual dentist appointments today. Houston has a little cavity between two of his teeth, which he needs to get filled. Aw. Katrina has no cavities, which is kind of weird, because last time he said that she had a little cavity on one of her teeth but we could just leave it alone for now. Apparently that has disappeared?
Katrina doesn't really like the dentist. Not in a "he scares me because he's all rooting around in my mouth" kind of way, but because he tells her that she shouldn't suck her thumb. She found out yesterday that she was going to the dentist today. Since then, she's asked me at least a dozen times, "May i suck my thumb?" At first i was all, "Well, the dentist tells you know, but Dr. H says you may, but you should try to not suck your thumb unless you need to, because it does make your teeth kind of crooked." And then she was all, "Well, but if my teeth are crooked, then what will happen?" So i explained braces, and i could see her weighing in her mind whether having braces in the future was worse than not sucking her thumb right now. (I'm pretty sure the future Katrina's pain lost to the current Katrina's desire for thumb-suckage.) As we were leaving the dentist's office, Katrina looked at me all teary-eyed and said, "But, Mama. I really want to suck my thumb."
Because Houston has been doing awesome in school, and the kids both did awesome at the dentist's office and it's a Tuesday, i brought the kids to McD's for dinner. As we were eating, Houston commented that they were smart for putting netting all around the playground, because then people could not climb on it. The kids then had to discuss what, exactly, the rules are. And let me tell, you...my kids get their rule-following-ness from me. Without having the sign anywhere near them, they quickly listed off all of the rules. No shoes, need socks, no climbing, no running, no going up the slide, no food or drinks inside, no toys inside.... They got them all. And most of the time, they really do a good job of following those rules. Poor Katrina totally crashed heads with a boy who was climbing UP the slide as she was sliding down it, and i think she was equal parts hurt and upset that he had broken that rule.
Speaking of rules, Zane is at that very concrete stage where he knows the rules and insists on following them exactly every time. Even if it's not really a rule. Even if it's just kind of habit or routine, it needs to be followed exactly or he gets his diapers in a bunch. And if i mention, in passing, that something needs to be done pretty soon, he hears the part about something needing to be done and completely skips over the whole "pretty soon" thing. When it's something like, "in a couple of minutes you need to turn the computer off," and Zane immediately runs over and switches off the monitor, you can just imagine how much that thrills Houston and Katrina.
Speaking of Zane, yesterday i noticed that he had something in his hair. Closer inspection revealed it to be little flakes from cradle cap. Nothing shocking, since he's had cradle cap numerous times, being prone to any kind of skin issues. (We tried valiantly to diaper him with cloth, and had to give up because he had constant diaper rashes bad enough to leave his bum bleeding almost daily.) So i leaned over and pulled one of the little flakes out gently, only to have a clump of hair come out with it. I looked again, and realized that he had a bald spot right there on the top of his head. I immediately got all panic-stricken and quietly obsessed all day about the fact that he had some kind of deadly disease that was causing his hair to fall out in clumps. Until i mentioned it to Juanito, and he informed me that, uh, well, when he washed Zane's hair on Saturday he scrubbed it rather vigorously in that spot and may have rubbed to hard. Poor little boy. It's kind of sad when i'm relieved that my son's bald spot is caused by my husband's rough treatment.
+ 2 - 3 | § ¶Birthday party!
Today was Cheyanne's birthday, and for her birthday she wanted to go to Play World with some friends. Katrina was one of those friends. Hurrah! And so off to Play World we went. (I felt a little guilty, because Houston has been begging to go to Play World for the past YEAR, but he was in school when we went today.)
Katrina and the other girls immediately ran off and started playing and sliding and jumping and generally running all over having fun. And since there was almost no one else there, we could let them run off without any fear of losing them. It was great.
I tried to interest Zane in the various fun things, and his response was invariably, "Don't want it!" Houston was always a bit timid when first encountering a new environment or situation, but after the first few minutes, he just runs straight at whatever it is with no fear. Katrina heads straight into the whatever without hesitation, but then proceeds carefully. Zane simply refuses to try anything new until it has been proven to him to be both safe and fun.
For a while i let him just play on all the toys he could easily play on for free in the nursery at church or the Y, but eventually i started encouraging him to try new things. And by "encourage," i mean that i put him into the bouncy place and wouldn't let him out for several minutes until he finally stood up and realized that...Hey! This is fun! And then he loved it. And then i convinced him to try climbing through some of the other equipment, which he initially rejected, until he FINALLY tried it and loved it. (I felt like one of those parents who was all, "You WILL stay there and you WILL have fun!" And i guess i kind of was, except that i was RIGHT. Sigh.) And THEN i went and asked the lady behind the counter if i could go into the big blow-up toys with him so that he would try it, even though they said, "No adults allowed" on the sign. She gave me her blessing, and so i accompanied him in, and he loved those as well. And after that, he was willing to at least TRY to go on them by himself. The one thingy was too hard, but he went on the slide a number of times before losing interest. (And after i got permission for adults to go on the slide, my sisters were quick to follow.) Finally, 10 minutes before we left, i tossed Zane into the ball pit (where he had been wanting to go, but had been afraid to try every time he got near it), and his response, "No! Don't...Fun!
In other, sadder news, Rick and Ashley and Ben and Evey left today. They're off to Ohio to visit Ashley's family, and then back to Washington. Rick deploys to Iraq sometime this summer, and hopefully we will get to see them all again before that. We're sad to see them go.
+ 4 - 2 | § ¶Sunday with the family
Almost every single day of his entire life, Zane has been either the first to wake up or within half an hour of the first to wake up. And almost always, that waking up occurs well before 8:30. Today, he was the very last one awake. The last one by more than an hour. He slept until 10:00. Ten. O'Clock. I was on the verge of going upstairs and checking on him just to make sure that he was still alive. It's amazing how much a couple of very late nights paired with completely skipping naps can turn my morning child into a ... well, not a night owl, but at least a late sleeper for a day.
This afternoon we went to my parents' house, along with all of my siblings (except Jim and Alisha - they were excused) and the relatives that were in town for the wedding. Baby Evey was passed from one person to another. (Poor Ashley never gets to hold her new baby.) We talked about everything from politics and religion to farting and staying up all night. There was a lot of laughing. The kids played in the basement almost all day, except when they came up to beg for food. (Brownies and such - not the healthy kinds of food. Of course.)
I love it that i could spend almost 9 hours just talking and talking with my family and never get bored or annoyed. Awesome.
+ 2 - 3 | § ¶Jim and Alisha got married!
My little brother got married today! I'm really so incredibly happy for them. It struck me, as people were walking up the aisle, that Jim was actually GETTING MARRIED, and then Alisha came up the aisle crying, and there was no possibility that i was not going to cry.
Katrina was the flower girl (or one of the two flower girls), and was completely excited to have that job. She asked all morning, "But when do i get to walk up the aisle and drop the flowers?" And then, after the wedding, she asked, "But when do we get to DANCE?" But during the wedding, she did an awesome job of walking up the aisle, dropping flower petals every step or two, looking cute (as per the job description). And then she stood at the front of the church and picked up the dropped petals nearby, put the basket on her head, tried to look through the basket to see everyone, and generally amused anyone who wasn't already completely focused on Jim and Alisha.
Houston's job was to pass out programs. He and Wyatt and Kelly got to stand by the doors with a basket full of programs, giving one to everyone who wanted one. He was very eager to do the job. Every time i came within striking distance of the doors, he practically attacked me with, "Do you want a program????"
Alisha looked gorgeous. Jim looked handsome. Everything was beautiful, down to the last little detail. There was dancing, where lots and lots of people danced. My kids are dancers. They were out there dancing as much as they could. There was a bar, where Zane went up to get drinks from the bartender without asking us. Hopefully non-alcoholic drinks. Our kids amazed me by being completely happy and awake for hours and hours, despite the fact that no naps were taken. Katrina finally started fading at about 10:30, and shortly thereafter tragedy struck when she spilled lemonade on her dress and was both devastated and "so, so cold." And so we left shortly before 11:00.
Congratulations, Jim and Alisha! We love you!
+ 4 - 0 | § ¶Questions of race
Houston's has been learning about Martin Luther King Jr. in school lately, and this has lead to some very interesting conversations. We've been talking about slavery and the whole "separate but equal" thing and racism. Houston's been asking some really deep questions, and i keep being impressed that he actually seems to keep up with the answers. He's really interested in the whole history of racism, it seems, and is actually remembering quite a few names and details.
I have three favorite moments from our conversations. The first: Houston said that he likes King's speech, but he doesn't like it that he says, "I HAVE a dream" instead of "I HAD a dream." Because in Houston's mind, he was imagining that King was talking about a dream that he had while he was sleeping. In which case the verb tense is totally wrong.
The second: We were talking about if people are really different just because they have different colored skin. Houston's response? "Of course not! Corbyn (our next-door neighbor) is JUST as silly as i am!"
The third: We were talking about segregation, and how people with brown skin couldn't eat in the same places as people with light skin. Houston's question: "So...did they have to have two different tables in their house sometimes? Because if two parents with light skin had a baby with brown skin, would he have to eat at a different table?" I told him that two parents with light skin would always have a baby with light skin. "But...how does the mommy's tummy KNOW what color skin the parents have?"
+ 2 - 3 | § ¶Visiting and Rehearsing.
This morning we went to my parents' house to see Rick and Ashley and their two adorable children. Zane and Ben initially eyed each other suspiciously, but when the cars came out, they started playing together, and proceeded to play together really sweetly and quietly for a good long time. So cute. Meanwhile i got to hold baby Evey, who is tiny and adorable. AND i got to visit with the grownups a bit too. Hurrah!
Tonight we had the rehearsal for Jim and Alisha's wedding, which is in just TWO DAYS! Katrina has been talking and hypothesizing about being the flower girl for weeks now (months, really), and was eager (albeit a bit nervous as well) to learn what she would actually be doing. I was a wee bit nervous too, especially because the rehearsal was in the evening, which is usually when Katrina hits her, "I'm to tired to LIVE!" stage. Thankfully, she and Cheyanne both did a fabulous little job and seem like they will be ready and willing come the actual ceremony. Fingers crossed!
+ 5 - 0 | § ¶Several random, unconnected things
I asked Katrina and Houston a few questions today, even though it's Wednesday instead of Tuesday. What with having missed the past two gazillion Tuesdays. I love the complete randomness of Katrina's answers. She has never had eggplant. Ever.
Me: Name six animals
Katrina: Ostrich, Zebra, Camel, Dog, Lion, Eagle.
Houston: Elephant, Giraffe, Tiger, Lion, Dog, Cat
Me: Name six foods.
Katrina: Eggplant, Eggs, Bread, Macaroni, Potato, Peanut Butter
Houston: Hamburger, Watermelon, Chicken, Turkey, Smoothie, Water
Tonight we had a little surprise bridal shower for my soon-to-be-sister-in-law, otherwise known as Alisha. It was very fun and i got to briefly meet my new little niece (except that she slept the whole time and never came out of her chair, but i'll get to see her more tomorrow i'm sure).
Also, Zane likes to sing "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star." It's hilarious. You can see why after the link, as long as you promise not to mock MY singing too terribly much. I don't normally sing where people can hear me.
i'm still talking...
+ 4 - 0 | § ¶Zane
I've been bad at taking pictures this week. Pictures just aren't as much fun to take when you're inside. And saying, "Hey! Come here and smile," just doesn't do it for me. Sorry.I've mentioned before that Zane used to HATE baths. He now loves baths. Splashes around, happy as a clam. Good, right? Seems to indicate that his hatred of water is a thing of the past?
Except not. I keep hoping that, when i bring the kids to the pool at the Y, Zane will decide that it's fun to walk and sit and splash in the very shallow edge of the pool. So far, no luck. We stepped into the pool today and the older two kids ran right in and started splashing and swimming all over the place. Zane clung to me, whimpering and shivering, refusing to let me even slightly loosen my grip on him. Initially he was completely distraught, full-out crying. When i said, "It's ok, sweetie. Mama has you," he said, in an adorable, panicked, trying-to-be-calm voice, "OKAY!" After about 45 minutes, his teeth were chattering and he was still whimpering. As soon as we got out of the pool, he stood wrapped up in his towel, happily calling to the other two kids to "Come ON, guys!!!"
Speaking of Zane.... One of the cute things i love about Zane that i want to remember: Every time he sneezes, he immediately says, "Bless you me!" Totally cute.
+ 0 - 5 | § ¶Hyperdash - Fun for the kids, life lessons for me
Zane got this new game for Christmas called hyperdash (i put that link for you, Karla!), and he loves it, but i really got it for all the kids to play. Zane plays it on a very non-competitive level, simply trying to do the right colors, meandering from one to the next. It usually takes him 2 minutes for one round. Playing with him is kind of a lesson in patience.
I played hyperdash with Katrina today, and while she runs and tries to hurry and does everything just as it should be, she doesn't quite understand the scoring system. I was player 1. She was player 2. The score is announced after player 2 is finished. And so every round, the announcer would say something like, "Player 1 - 18 seconds. Player 2 - 39 seconds. Player 1 wins!" And then Katrina would jump and down and declare "I won! I won i won i won! I have won FIVE TIMES in a row! Why don't you ever win, Mama?" Because they're announcing the winner after she finishes, see. She doesn't actually listen to WHO the winner is. Playing with her is kind of a lesson in keeping my mouth shut and letting my four-year-old be happy.
(Speaking of Katrina being happy.... She generally is, you know. She is a lovely, sweet, generous, loving little girl. Except that when she is tired, she is completely irrational and somewhat inconsolable. Poor thing. Except that when she's doing it, i tend to think more, "Stop WHINING! Please, stop the WHINING!" I'm such a great mom. Sigh.)
+ 3 - 3 | § ¶No picture today.
This morning we did all the normal morning things, started to leave the house for church, and then realized that the world was covered in a sheet of ice. It was less treacherous to slide down the sidewalk than to try to walk down it. The children were safely escorted to the car, the car was scraped, and we started driving to church. At the first stop sign, Juanito stopped. And then the entire car slid sideways off the road. Awesome. (For the record, the rest of the trip had salted roads and was much more reasonable to drive on. Katrina remained terrified of walking outside all day, though.)And then this afternoon, after my parents came over and finally saw our tree, i went through the house and took down all of the Christmas decorations except for the lights. I want to leave the lights up for a while. Katrina "helped" by standing near me for much of the time, wimpering in her sadness that the Christmas stuff was all going away. I kind of understand.
+ 1 - 4 | § ¶The Saturday before Christmas break is over
This is the last weekend before Houston goes back to school. Aw. I wish that he could be home much longer!
Since he will soon be cooped up back at school, i was trying to decide whether we should go out and do lots of stuff to make it fun, or if we should stay home and let the kids PLAY and hang out and do whatever they felt like doing. I went with option 2. And so the kids bounced on the couch, and we colored, and they ran around playing random weird made-up games with ever-changing rules, and made a mess in Katrina's room, and we had "family drawing time," and generally just hung out doing a little of everything and nothing.
Oh. And also, we did hilarious and sometimes really unflattering pictures taken by shaking your head really fast or blowing your lips weird in a dark room while using a flash. Because THAT is how we amuse ourselves. (Hey, it's free.)
+ 4 - 1 | § ¶New Year's Cookies
We made New Year's cookies today. And when i say "today," i mean all day today.
We actually made the dough yesterday, and were planning to start the baking, but then we couldn't find the rolling pin anywhere, and so we had to postpone it to this morning. So this morning we rolled and cut (and cut and cut and cut) and carefully placed and squashed (in Zane's case) and baked the cookies.
This afternoon we frosted and decorated the cookies. Everyone did, until Juanito left for the store and the kids all got bored and quit, and then i finished frosting the rest of them.
And then, tonight we ate the cookies. While watching "Horton Hears a Who" - the new version, which is completely hilarious and awesome.
+ 3 - 1 | § ¶What my kids apparently think of me.
Me: "What should my New Year's Resolution be?"
Houston: "To play with your kids more. Because you only play with us once a week."
Me: "Um...ok. That's not actually true. Remember today we played Uno and Old Maid and colored and made cookie dough and read books?"
Houston: "Well, yes. But those don't count. Except the coloring."
Juanito's mom and brothers left for home today. We tried to get a picture of her with her grandkids, and this is the best we could do. Zane was so upset by our forcing him to sit by his grandma for a picture that he buried his head in my shoulder and refused to peek out again, mumbling "Bye N-teeny, Bye Siah" into my shirt, and stayed there until they had driven away. It's especially sad because moments BEFORE that picture, he was being all cute and affectionate.