Milk and Tea

Our Valentine’s weekend started out with a BANG: Adelaide spilled an entire carton of milk all over our couch and carpet. Yeah. Lakes of milk. (And I hadn’t had my coffee yet.)

Madeline had gotten it out to put a little in her oatmeal and I’m not sure how it happened, but probably Adelaide just bumped it. Anyway, I was very glad it was almond milk and not cow’s. Our living room now smells a little vanilla-y.

(And yes, I do allow them to eat at the coffee table. Bringing a whole carton of milk in there? Not so much.)

I must admit it wasn’t my proudest moment discovering my living room doused in milk. Drew and Madeline were crying but Adelaide (this is SO Adelaide) huffed and goes, “why you not bein’ my best friend?!” I bust out laughing. Leave it to her to provide the comic relief.

I was also very glad Andy was willing to finish cleaning it up. We were trying to get ready to make it to a tea party.

Which was very fun and very girl-y.

Phase 2, Complete

(Tap, tap, tap.  Is this thing on?)

The drywaller finished up on Saturday morning, and the kitchen is all primed and ready for paint! I haven’t pulled it down from the attic yet; still crossing my fingers it hasn’t dried out. (I’m using leftover paint from when my mom and I stripped the wallpaper in the dining room four-ish years ago.) But still, getting closer!!!

I ran some errands with the kids in the freezing cold on Saturday and then Sarah had us over for supper and playtime after naps. It sort of felt like a daycare, what with the eight (EIGHT!) kids between the two of us. It was a busy and fun day but our house is still trashed, and here it is Monday.

I also made two dresses for Adelaide this weekend (SO CUTE!), and a skirt for Madeline with the extras. I still need a few things for finishing touches and then I’ll post some photos.

On a totally un-related note (except for the fact that she’ll wear one of the dresses to the Valentine’s Tea we’re invited to on Saturday), what are some fun things you like to do with your kids for Valentine’s Day?

This n’ that

So last night the aforementioned Sarah, Jenny, and I had ourselves a girls’ (and babies) night and had dinner at one of our favorite spots. (I’ll restrain myself from going on and on about friendship; suffice it to say, friendships: you need them.)

I also realized something about me last night through our stream of conversation, but I’ll have to think about it more and blog the discovery later.

For now, I wanted to share these photos I took last Sunday. I put them on my facebook but I thought it’d be fun to also put them here.

Arianna in the first one cracks. me. up.  (”Hey, guys?”)

Farewell, fruit

(Why do I do these things to myself?)

As you can see, I ripped out over half of one wall of wallpaper once the kids were in bed last night. Thankfully it’s the kind that comes off very easily when wet.

I’m not sure why most of it was olive green and then there’s that patch of mint above the sink. I should have known that wallpaper in an old house is most surely hiding SOMEthing.

********

My sweet sister-in-law gave us a new membership to the children’s museum that she got from work (they don’t have kids yet). We met my friend Sarah and her kids there yesterday morning. Andy came along for crowd control – between the two of us we have eight kids, six and under.

He was even kind enough to paint their faces:

Maybe “paint” is too generous a term. ;)

DPP Day 24: Christmas Eve

Making candy necklaces (thanks, Mom!):

You may or may not know these people, but they’re some of our favorites:

Improvising:

Thankful

For electricity, for a borrowed car, for friends that bring

flowers and meals and bread.

Various and Sundry

(My brain? Anybody seen it?)

So… the last time I posted I was waiting for an appointment with my midwife. (I was 4 cm, 70-80%… and so it begins.) I rushed home, kept Nicky’s boys during her class, finished up the laundry, and then headed out with the ladies to the retreat.

(My sisters came over first; I did not leave my kids home alone.)

(Just so we’re clear.)

Nicky ended up being able to go, despite her husband’s inadvertent attempts at sabotage. ;)  It was a lovely drive up, made especially so with a cup o’ Starbucks that Sarah had brought each of us.  We checked in, ate dinner, listened to the first session, hung out and talked and had snacks until pretty late, and then tried to get some sleep.

I finally got up and dug the sound machine out of my bag.  The hotel room was just WAY too quiet.  Does anyone sleep on retreats?  I think probably not.  Plus breakfast was at 6:30.  (So, a bit ironic that we all came home from a retreat exhausted.  But that’s neither here nor there.)

My kids have been on fall break this week, so Monday was pretty lazy and we took a picnic lunch to the park.  It was the most gorgeous sky.

Yesterday I went to the mothers’ fellowship group at church in the morning and then ran a few errands while I was out.  I went back out later to grocery shop while the kids were napping and unfortunately my van started acting up.  Not good timing (really, ever, but especially) with a baby so clearly on her way.  I’m staying home from church tonight because I don’t want to risk breaking down with the kids in tow.

I did make it home safely though yesterday and my sisters watched the kids after supper so Andy and I could go to Nicky’s choral concert, which was really fun.  She had a solo, and if you’ve ever heard her sing you know what a treat that is.  We thought about going to a movie but ended up getting apple cider at a coffee shop instead.

And finally, this morning Sarah and her kids came over to play.  I was also watching another little girl, so Sarah’s girls brought some extra dress-ups and accessories and they generally had a sparkly good time.  (And we mommies obviously had a good time chatting over coffee and scones. That should be a once-a-week priority for sure.)

Andy took Drew and Madeline on a little nature walk this afternoon.  They came back with a turtle, which Madeline wasted no time claiming as her own.  Unfortunately, it climbed out of the flower pot during her nap and made its escape.  She cried.  She is definitely my sensitive animal-lover child.

We love us some friends

This has certainly been the week for playdates! I already mentioned going to Tiff’s house, and then Nicky had Adelaide and I over for tea on Thursday. We stuffed ourselves full of blueberry muffins.

(If you can help it at all, make sure you have friends that know how to bake. I’m just sayin’.)

Also? Can I just show you this? Nicky MADE this dress for Arianna:

Yeah. Amazing, I know.

And then on Friday, Kristin and her two kids were in town and came over for the morning. (Complete with dress-ups and snacks, of course.)

Since it was Friday I had Nicky’s boys here afterward for her music class.  Clearly my kids are being friend-spoiled.  (And I wouldn’t have it any other way.) 

Carrissa came over during naptime so I could get groceries and pick up Madeline’s portraits BY MYSELF.  I came home, made dinner, and promptly fell asleep on the couch.  (The kids watched a movie.  It was Friday night, after all.)

And while I’m wrapping up this friend post, I’ve been meaning to include a thank you to virtual friend Tabitha for these little lovelies:

Truly we are friend-blessed.

An Observer

About once a month there is a children’s sermon at our church and all the kids are invited to walk down to the front steps and participate. Yesterday was the day. (Also, Adelaide’s first time since we started having her in the service with us.)

I was also signed up for infant nursery duty. I had sat in there for about a half an hour with two other ladies, and no babies came, so I ended up going back to the sanctuary. Andy and the kids had sat up in the balcony, him being alone with the three kids. (There’s an iffy situation if I ever saw one.)

By the time I sat down, he had walked the girls down to the front of the church. (Drew was using the bathroom and missed it.)

So I got to be a helpless observer for Adelaide’s, um, performance. She initially sat down, but then jumped up and started heading up the choir stairs. Madeline, ever the big sister, tried to grab her hand and pull her back to her seat.

Adelaide snatched her hand away and sat back down, only to jump and run up the stairs again.

Rinse and repeat about six times with an increasing amount of drama.

Finally Andy had to walk down and sit in the front pew so she wouldn’t be tempted to continue her self-endorsed playtime.

But the thought struck me as I sat there and watched; I could do nothing. I couldn’t control her, especially at such a distance. I was obliged to simply be an observer.

Sure, yes, we can train and teach and try to mold our kids and lead them in the way they should go. But ultimately, it IS the Holy Spirit who works in our kids’ lives and hearts. We do nothing but watch.

Busy. Fun. Tired.

We’re coming off a whirlwind weekend of visiting out-of-town friends, watching other friends’ kids, school supply shopping, and a very fun birthday pool party. I’ve also been crafting a bit and dying my hair red.

(Variety is the spice of life, you know.)

Tonight is a church ladies get-together and I swapped babysitting with my friend Nicky last week so that I could go. That really is the best idea ever. Being close neighbors is just the icing.

The other item worth mentioning is Miss Adelaide decided she’s big enough for big girl panties. (With no accidents thus far.) And yes, she’s eaten her fair share of chocolate chips.

Which is a very small price to pay.

And summer marches on…

Talk about jumping right back into the busy summer life! Since we got back Tuesday night, we’ve gone swimming twice and met two different sets of friends at the park for two different picnic lunch dates. It’s hard to believe Madeline starts preschool in less than a month! (Drew doesn’t start K until Sept. 10. I’m not sure how I feel about that.)

Yesterday we met with our shepherding group at church for lunch and then enjoyed a really quiet, relaxing afternoon here with everyone napping until 6 pm. I love lazy Sunday afternoons. Andy watched the kids and put them to bed for me so I could go catch up with some girlfriends. I SO needed that. Nicky and I ended up hanging out at our friend Jenny’s place until well after midnight.

Sleep is overrated anyway.

Because vacation is supposed to be fun.

Last year when I came to visit my folks, I got to meet Mer (Life at 7000 Feet) in real life for lunch one day. So as soon as I started planning this trip, I knew we HAD to meet up for lunch again. And yesterday was the day.

My kids have been in VBS every morning this week, so my mom took Adelaide for me and I drove up to meet Mer at a tea house. It was a gorgeous day and we ate outside:

But then we decided that wasn’t enough time together so I ended up going back to her house, we took her daughter Sarah over to her little friend’s house, and then sat in her kitchen for two more hours and had leftover ice cream cake.

(Mer- thank you so much for lunch, for being honest and real, and being such a good friend!)

Right before I left my mom called saying my van wouldn’t start.

OH THAT’S JUST LOVELY.

Remember when it wouldn’t start before and we had it towed to the shop and it ended up being nothing but us trying to use the wrong key? Well, my mom had stopped at Walmart yesterday and had two spare keys made. Problem is they weren’t the dealer keys with the programmed computer chip. Which meant they also wouldn’t start my car.

She didn’t know that.

She called back later to tell me she had gotten it to start again, and then mentioned about the new keys, and it all clicked into place. I’m surprised Walmart didn’t tell her those keys wouldn’t drive the car, but whatever. I explained it wouldn’t start for her before only because she was using one of those new non-chip keys. I WAS SO RELIEVED. Car repairs on vacation are never any fun.

Also at Walmart, she picked up Razor scooters for Drew and Madeline. My grandparents’ neighbor’s kids have them and Drew had found his new love. Problem is he only got to ride it once and has been talking about it ever since.

Enter grandma and the problem is solved! I’m just praying they don’t kill themselves because have I mentioned that Madeline is clumsy?

And then to round out the day, Andy and I went to see The Proposal after dinner. He thought it was just as funny as I did.

Which is convenient.

Fun Friday with another side of drama

Yesterday morning Andy took Drew and Madeline to an amusement park to ride the rides with some friends. I opted not to go because of the ticket price AND the heat. Seemed like a good daddy-event.

They had a blast. Drew was very particular about which rides he would and wouldn’t go on regardless of peer pressure (I was more daring but likewise have always known my own mind).

I don’t have any pictures because I didn’t want to bog Andy down with a camera. (Sometimes I think men really do need a purse-equivalent. Keys, wallet, phone, sunglasses…camera.)

Meanwhile, I bathed Adelaide and decided to attempt getting her two-year-old portraits taken. (You know, since she turned two in March.) Problem is, I walked out the front door without remembering to grab Andy’s keys. Locked out without car keys and holding a heavy toddler and her portrait dress. Smooth.

I stood there, contemplating what to do, and suddenly remembered I maybe had a spare key to Andy’s car down in the recesses of my purse. I dug around and found it! I felt like I had won the lottery. So we were able to leave after all, and I just decided to take my time and wander stores until Andy got home to let us all back in.

First up, the portrait studio. I didn’t actually have an appointment; every time I called I got an answering machine and they never called me back. So I was crossing my fingers they would squeeze us in, and they did. We didn’t even have to wait ten minutes!

ADELAIDE. WAS. A. PILL.

I even thought about buying the shot of her with the poutiest of faces just so I’d remember what a stinker she’d been. (That and it was a darn cute photo.) Finally I got her to smile and we got some great shots, usually by sternly saying “Adelaide! DO NOT SMILE!!!” with a fake-mean look on my face. The feather tickler did wonders, too.

After pictures I wandered stroller-less (forgotten in the back of my van, which Andy took) around the mall, stopped in Gymboree (only because they had a blinking 60% off sign outside the front of the store), and then took her to Chick-Fil-A for a quick bite to eat. It was kind of fun being on a little date with just her and she was so good other than the refusing-to-smile-for-pictures thing.

On our way home we stopped in at Walmart, a different one than the evening before. I could not believe my eyes when another, older man walked out right in front of me with a 24-pack of beer and the Walmart employees running after him asking for a receipt. What are the chances this would happen twice in a row, right under my nose?

(God? I’m really not planning on stealing any beer. From Walmart or anywhere else.)

This time, the man just kept walking, absently waving towards the check-out lanes, “that lady checked me out over there…” Never stopped, never showed a receipt. A manager ran out after him and I did see him show his receipt in the end, but the whole thing was really rather fishy.

Oooh, and the best part of the day, Andy had worked his day off so he was off yesterday — so we got a babysitter and went out on a date! This time I won’t bore you with the details of our meal, but we had a great time.

After we had finished, some friends from church came over to say hi and ended up hanging out with us for a while. The restaurant staff even brought over an extra dessert for us to taste.

I’m tellin’ ya, it pays to know the manager.

My Fearless Daughter

Look what Adelaide discovered yesterday:

Y’all.  She’s TWO.

(Like mother, like daughter… did you know I dove in high school?)

We spent Father’s Day afternoon with several other families at the pool.  Great fun, food, and fellowship. I wore a tee-shirt since my shoulders are still beet red. Clearly one IS more susceptible to sunburn while pregnant. (Thanks, Gretchen & Mer!  Who knew?!)  Although, I haven’t peeled yet, so that’s something.

Adelaide was HILARIOUS jumping off the diving board. She didn’t even hesitate. I didn’t manage to get a mid-air photo because of the digital delay (plus I didn’t try very hard). I think we should start saving for diving lessons. (Anyone know where the 2030 Olympics are going to be held? I’m sure I could use a nice vacation by then.)

I couldn’t wake Andy, Drew, and Adelaide up later to go to the VBS program so just Madeline and I went. It was so cute to watch her with her class doing her hand motions with the verses and songs. Little kid performances always crack me up.

Other Father’s Day fun – our church sponsored a fishing day for the dads & kids on Saturday. Andy only took Drew because Madeline with a fishing rod seemed a little risky. He (meaning Andy) even caught a bunch of fish!

And lucky for me, it was catch & release.

Friday night with the girls

So last night was the kids’ last evening at VBS.  My last night of having only one child around – which, after three, is sort of like a vacation.  What to do with this kind of freedom?!

I called my friend Jenny at the very last minute and she was able to meet Adelaide and me at Andy’s restaurant for dinner.  I mean hey, why not?!  She’s easy to convince.

We had the tomato/cannellini bean bruschetta (did you know it’s actually pronounced “bru-sketta”?) because it is truly amazing.  I don’t usually like bruschetta.  But there it’s one of my favorite things on the menu.

(The pancetta-wrapped dates are to die for as well, but there were only 2 ½ of us after all.  We didn’t want to go overboard.)

I ordered the pepperoni pizza (which is actually chorizo).  I thought Adelaide might eat it and I didn’t want to get two entrees AND I wasn’t about to eat more pasta.  I’ve had pasta the last two times we’ve gone and needed something different.  She ate maybe two bites.  (Of course.)  They also just added silverqueen corn on the summer menu so I got that, too.  (She didn’t touch it.)

Somehow we, meaning Jenny and I, managed to have a real conversation even though Adelaide was determined to be the center of attention.  She did fine for the first ¾ of our meal and then she decided she wanted to be a circus clown.

We were in a booth (which are raised off the floor; too high for “high” chairs, oddly enough).  Now I know in the future she MUST be buckled down into a high chair at a regular table, preferably sitting by her father.

Otherwise the aisle-dancing gets a little crazy.

At least she’s cute.

Worth the chaos

Either we’re really brave or really stupid, but my friend Sarah and I took our kids (minus one of hers) to eat at a (nicer) restaurant last night. 

I thought Adelaide would be my biggest challenge, but she was overshadowed in that designation by none other than Drew.  It must have been the fact that he was the only male.

Whenever you take little kids out, you just have to prepare yourself that you’ll be eating fast and trying to get out of there before the meltdown begins. But even so, it was fun, VERY good food, and hey! WE DIDN’T HAVE TO COOK!

A very full Sunday

Yesterday was a very big day for Adelaide since it was the children’s Promotion Sunday at church. She went to her very first Sunday School class! (Screamed a tiny bit when I left but then did she fine.)

She was very proud of her paper (which had one lonely streak of coloring on it). But the first thing she said when I picked her up was “I ate goldfish.”

We’re all about priorities.

A few more of my favorites:

Yes, I have a weakness for little girls in white dresses. And big floppy hairbows.

We had lunch with our shepherding group after church. BBQ: a perfect way to kick off the summer. The weather was perfect and we had a GREAT time. Thanks, W’s!

After naps and a light supper, the kids and I met Nicky and Steve at the park down by the riverfront for the evening. Andy worked 14+ hour days all last week because another manager was on vacation – so he was in bed sound asleep. But we had a great time anyway.

Nicky brought spaghetti, and my girls helped themselves:

Drew spent the ENTIRE time running and kicking the soccer ball.

Needless to say, he needed another sponge bath when we got home.

Mr. Steve bought the kids ice cream to share:

And, not surprisingly, Madeline made a new friend:

A good, fun-filled, beautiful Sunday.

Memorial Day 2009 – One for the history books

I had a mental lapse yesterday morning and agreed to go hiking with Andy and the kids.  It ended up being the hike from, well, you know where.

For one thing, everything was wet; wet leaves, wet dirt, wet rocks.  Which meant that everything was slick.  And there are parts that if you were to slip off the side of the trail, you’d fall about 40 feet.  (We made the kids hold our hands during those lengths, obviously.)  So I was a little on edge to begin with.

We all did mostly fine getting up to the falls, and when it got kind of rocky, I started carrying Adelaide.  We were at a fairly level spot of just big rocks to step on or around, when I slipped on one and fell.  Cut my elbow and scraped/bruised a patch on each leg.  (Adelaide was fine since she landed cradled in my elbow.)

After that we decided to call it a day and head back down.  The kids got distracted by another family splashing in this little water pool we passed and we had a hard time getting them to focus on being careful with their steps downward.  And our puppy was just altogether a nuisance.

Both girls cried pretty much the whole way back to the car.  Madeline wanted to ride Andy’s shoulders but her jeans were sopping and muddy and Adelaide wouldn’t let me put her down even though my arm felt like it was going to fall off.  I was also bleeding and my legs were sore – I SO just wanted to snap my fingers and be home!

We had a very low-key afternoon consisting of lunch and naps.  We put the kids down early because we needed to leave in enough time to pick up fruit and chips and get to some friends’ house for a Memorial Day cook-out with several other families (mostly from church).

(Side note: of course it would start pouring the very minute I was getting out of the van to run into the store.  Goodbye, smooth hair.)

We managed to make it through the meal and ice cream treats without incident…unless you count Adelaide covering herself head-to-toe in fudgesicle:

And then Drew came in with a scraped and bloody knee.  We cleaned it up and applied a band-aid and he ran back outside to play.

It wasn’t three minutes later one of the kids said Drew had fallen.  There was a little confusion because at first we thought they were referring to the first time.  But then one of the guys carried him in, blood streaming down his leg.  I’ll spare you the details but he basically split his knee open and Andy ended up taking him to the ER.  The girls and I stayed for a while and then got a ride home.

He said it was an entirely miserable experience.  First Andy was directed to clean the wound, (something about kids taking pain from parents better?  Don’t ask me) and then he and two nurses had to hold Drew down for the numbing Novocain shots.   The little guy got so worked up he couldn’t breathe (he sounded a little wheezy yesterday for some reason) so they also gave him two steroid shots in the rear to get the swelling in his neck down.

The doctor had a very poor bedside manner and Andy said for that reason alone he was glad I wasn’t there.  (Hmph.)  Drew got 9 stitches and almost as many stickers (which are now stuck to my living room wall).  They had given him Tylenol with Codeine for the pain and so of course Andy had to tell him to stop running in the parking lot.

And also?  The ER ain’t cheap.

So I think for today we’ll be staying inside, trying to avoid further catastrophe.