Fairy Elisemother
Elise, waving her wand in my direction: Bibbidy-bobbidy-boo! Turn you into a mom that’s beautiful!
Me: Hey!
Elise: I said beautiful.
Me: So you’re saying I’m not already beautiful?
Elise: No, I’m pretending you’re an animal.
Me: Like in Cinderella when the fairy godmother turns the mice into coachmen?
Elise: Yeah.
Me: What kind of animal am I?
Elise: An elephant.
Hey!
Family togetherness
Kids overhear Nate and I discussing an article from the paper about a man beating his wife to death. (I know, terrible!)
Elise: I’m never going to beat up my husband. Dad, would you beat up Mom?
Dad: No, she beats me up.
Me: No, I don’t! When have I ever beat you up?
McKenzie: Do you beat him up with your words?
Tyler, snickering: Mom verbally abuses Dad.
Me: What?!
What?!
More family togetherness
Tyler: You can roast beef, but you can’t pea soup.
Elise: Tyler is the grossest person in this family.
McKenzie: He was adopted.
Tyler: Yeah, you were adopted.
Me: He wants to be adopted.
Nate: He’s from a hobo family.
Me: They dropped him off on our doorstep.
Nate: That’s why he’s obsessed with hobos.
Me: It’s in his blood.
Tyler: Yeah, it’s in my blood. Hobo instincts.
That’s my boy.
Bedtime.
Sydney, rubbing my arm: You have skin, Mom.
Me: Mm-hmm.
Sydney, pulling up her sleeve: Look, I have skin, too. See?
Me: Yep. Do you like skin?
Sydney: Yeah, I like skin. And chocolate milk.
Me too. I wouldn’t put them in my top 5 or anything, but hey.
Watching the playback of her Singstar session.
Elise: How is my voice that cute?
It is pretty cute.
McKenzie, belching in close proximity to my face.
Me: McKenzie!
McKenzie: It’s your fault. You borned me.
Oh yeah? Well, how’d ya like to be unborned?
Debating with Tyler.
Me: There’s no way you could ever get an entire fish taco lodged in your brain. How could you inhale a fish taco whole?
Tyler: Hey, I haven’t hit my growth spurt yet. Maybe I’ll have some kind of nostril disorder.
It’s my fault. I borned him.
Friday, November 7, 2008
Halloween 2008
So another Halloween has come and gone. I wasn't going to post about Halloween until I had at least caught up with our summer trip to Seaside back in August and Tyler's birthday in September and McKenzie's birthday in October. But let's face it, if I don't post anything new until all the old stuff is done, pretty soon it will all be old stuff. So here I am posting out of order (gasp!). Deal with it. I have.
For some reason, this year my kids have all developed this strange affection for all things hobo. So naturally, the plan for Halloween costumes revolved around the hobo. Originally, Tyler and McKenzie were going to both be hobos, but when McKenzie started referring to them as the "Hobo Bros", Tyler decided he didn't want to be part of a set. He wanted to express his individuality with this:
In case you're unsure, he's a garden gnome. A garden gnome with style.
It was his vision entirely. I have no idea where he comes up with this stuff, but I think he looks great.
McKenzie decided to stick with the hobo plan.
She got a lot of compliments on her costume. When she went trick-or-treating, a guy at one of the houses cracked up and said it was the best costume he had seen all night. I think the sign makes the ensemble.
Elise's original plan was to be Cinderella. She was Cinderella a couple of years ago and I was pretty sure the dress would still fit. Mom loves the recycling of the costumes. Saves money and effort. But once Elise heard all of the hobo talk from her older siblings, she was conflicted. Nate very helpfully suggested she be hobo Cinderella. Although, his idea for achieving this look involved the tearing to shreds of the original Cinderella princess dress. That idea did not so much appeal to me.
Instead we came up with this:
The pre-princess Cinderella, or as Elise likes to say "Hobo Cinderella". It turned out great, and the best part was we already had all of the clothes in the girls' closet. I only had to make the apron, head scarf and mice. The bestest part was Elise was tickled to have been granted her Hobo Cinderella wish.
Sydney had been set on her costume for quite awhile now. She told me several weeks ago that she wanted to be a pig, quickly adding that she did not want to be all muddy. We did the pig sans mud.
Again, we already had the clothes and the hat. I just turned the hat inside out and added the ears, eyes and snout. And, of course, what's a piggy without a little curly tail?
Syd liked to draw attention to hers with a little booty shakin'.
It was really difficult getting Syd to stand still long enough for a group shot, and naturally the best one turned out kind of blurry. But you get the picture. (No pun intended.)
Oh, and I almost forgot to mention the jack-o-lanterns.
That's Syd's on the far left, drawn by Elise according to Syd's specifications, and carved by Elise and Nate. Tyler's has the big, toothy grin, which fits his personality completely. McKenzie did the ghost, designed and carved almost exclusively by her. Elise chose the stencil on the end--Mom got to do the carving honors.
I don't usually look forward to the carving of the pumpkins with the mess and the cleaning and all that other gunk it entails, but it's tradition, and I'm always pleased with the results.
Another fun Halloween. Hope you all enjoyed yours!
For some reason, this year my kids have all developed this strange affection for all things hobo. So naturally, the plan for Halloween costumes revolved around the hobo. Originally, Tyler and McKenzie were going to both be hobos, but when McKenzie started referring to them as the "Hobo Bros", Tyler decided he didn't want to be part of a set. He wanted to express his individuality with this:
In case you're unsure, he's a garden gnome. A garden gnome with style.
It was his vision entirely. I have no idea where he comes up with this stuff, but I think he looks great.
McKenzie decided to stick with the hobo plan.
She got a lot of compliments on her costume. When she went trick-or-treating, a guy at one of the houses cracked up and said it was the best costume he had seen all night. I think the sign makes the ensemble.
Elise's original plan was to be Cinderella. She was Cinderella a couple of years ago and I was pretty sure the dress would still fit. Mom loves the recycling of the costumes. Saves money and effort. But once Elise heard all of the hobo talk from her older siblings, she was conflicted. Nate very helpfully suggested she be hobo Cinderella. Although, his idea for achieving this look involved the tearing to shreds of the original Cinderella princess dress. That idea did not so much appeal to me.
Instead we came up with this:
The pre-princess Cinderella, or as Elise likes to say "Hobo Cinderella". It turned out great, and the best part was we already had all of the clothes in the girls' closet. I only had to make the apron, head scarf and mice. The bestest part was Elise was tickled to have been granted her Hobo Cinderella wish.
Sydney had been set on her costume for quite awhile now. She told me several weeks ago that she wanted to be a pig, quickly adding that she did not want to be all muddy. We did the pig sans mud.
Again, we already had the clothes and the hat. I just turned the hat inside out and added the ears, eyes and snout. And, of course, what's a piggy without a little curly tail?
Syd liked to draw attention to hers with a little booty shakin'.
It was really difficult getting Syd to stand still long enough for a group shot, and naturally the best one turned out kind of blurry. But you get the picture. (No pun intended.)
Oh, and I almost forgot to mention the jack-o-lanterns.
That's Syd's on the far left, drawn by Elise according to Syd's specifications, and carved by Elise and Nate. Tyler's has the big, toothy grin, which fits his personality completely. McKenzie did the ghost, designed and carved almost exclusively by her. Elise chose the stencil on the end--Mom got to do the carving honors.
I don't usually look forward to the carving of the pumpkins with the mess and the cleaning and all that other gunk it entails, but it's tradition, and I'm always pleased with the results.
Another fun Halloween. Hope you all enjoyed yours!
Monday, September 29, 2008
Sydney is three!
So Sydney turned three this past summer. (It was July 31--two months ago--but better late than never, eh?)
Here's something I wrote for her on her birthday:
There goes my baby
Sydney is three today! My baby isn’t really a baby anymore, and I’m not sure how I feel about that. It’s been such a joy to watch her grow and become her own little person with her own likes and dislikes, joys and disappointments, ideas and opinions (believe me, she’s got some opinions). I’ve loved watching her experience all of her firsts—her first step, first taste of chocolate, first feel of grass under her toes, first trip to the beach, first time seeing a real live elephant (that was exciting!)—and I’m looking forward to all of her firsts still to come. But I’m also realizing that all of her firsts are my lasts, the last times I’ll ever watch a child of mine experience her firsts. Bittersweet. Sigh. Bittersweet.
We started the day out with Syd's first trip to Build-a-Bear where she chose an elephant.
She stuffed her...
and did the little routine with the heart that goes inside to make sure her animal is extra fun and loveable...
The kids all had a great time.
Here's something I wrote for her on her birthday:
There goes my baby
Sydney is three today! My baby isn’t really a baby anymore, and I’m not sure how I feel about that. It’s been such a joy to watch her grow and become her own little person with her own likes and dislikes, joys and disappointments, ideas and opinions (believe me, she’s got some opinions). I’ve loved watching her experience all of her firsts—her first step, first taste of chocolate, first feel of grass under her toes, first trip to the beach, first time seeing a real live elephant (that was exciting!)—and I’m looking forward to all of her firsts still to come. But I’m also realizing that all of her firsts are my lasts, the last times I’ll ever watch a child of mine experience her firsts. Bittersweet. Sigh. Bittersweet.
We started the day out with Syd's first trip to Build-a-Bear where she chose an elephant.
She stuffed her...
and did the little routine with the heart that goes inside to make sure her animal is extra fun and loveable...
and air-bathed and brushed her...
and dressed her.
The kids all had a great time.
Later she opened presents with a little help from Elise.
She brought in a pretty good haul...
and had fun trying them out.
Then it was time for birthday wishes...
and blowing out the candles...
and, of course, digging in. She requested the chock-wit cake.
Nate was out of town on business, so we had to celebrate without him. He felt bad, but I assured him Syd wouldn't really notice, and was at least too young to hold it against him. (Now if she were a few years older, that would be a different story. Nate was in Italy for McKenzie's sixth birthday and she still brings it up, even at non-related birthday times.)
It was a really good birthday. Now if I could just get her potty-trained.
Portland '08, part II
Back to the Portland trip. (Just scroll down if you missed part I. For those of you who are actually reading this. If there are any. Does anyone read this?)
So after the zoo, we headed over to the Jensen's house to see my sister Rebecca and her husband Jake and their four children, Mary, Eric, Scott and Laura. Jake manned the BBQ and made us a great dinner. I think it was pork loin or something? It was definitely pork, but I am not an officianado on the different cuts of meat, so just imagine something good and tasty.
After dinner, Rebecca and I left the menfolk to tend the children while we headed over to see my Aunt Betty and cousin Barbara. I hadn't seen Betty since my grandmother's funeral in 1999, so I was excited for the chance to visit with her for awhile. We had a nice visit--got to hear some good Betty stories and were entertained by the exchanges between Betty and Barbara. They're a fun pair.
Here's Betty and Barbara.
Check her out.
That's Mary, Eric, McKenzie, Elise and Tyler. If only my children had listening capabilities of this proportion.
We also spent a good deal of our time in the ball room.
So after the zoo, we headed over to the Jensen's house to see my sister Rebecca and her husband Jake and their four children, Mary, Eric, Scott and Laura. Jake manned the BBQ and made us a great dinner. I think it was pork loin or something? It was definitely pork, but I am not an officianado on the different cuts of meat, so just imagine something good and tasty.
After dinner, Rebecca and I left the menfolk to tend the children while we headed over to see my Aunt Betty and cousin Barbara. I hadn't seen Betty since my grandmother's funeral in 1999, so I was excited for the chance to visit with her for awhile. We had a nice visit--got to hear some good Betty stories and were entertained by the exchanges between Betty and Barbara. They're a fun pair.
Here's Betty and Barbara.
The next day we met up with Jensen's and went to OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry). I was born in OR and spent the first 8 years or so of my life there, so I had been to OMSI before, but not for many years. OMSI has changed locations since I was a child—they have a new fancy shmancy building, but at least one of the exhibits was the same, and it happened to be the exhibit that I had told my family about before our trip. It was...
The Invisible Woman! Duhn, duhn, duhn!
Check her out.
As a child, I always thought she was incredibly creepy. I still do. But my kids thought she was cool because she has a panel in front of her with buttons corresponding to her different parts and when you push the button that part of her body lights up. My kids especially enjoyed flashing the “headlights” on and off. Being from out of town, I didn’t bother to get embarrassed.
Also in this "body" exhibit:
That's Mary, Eric, McKenzie, Elise and Tyler. If only my children had listening capabilities of this proportion.
We also spent a good deal of our time in the ball room.
There's Eric, Scotty, Tyler, McKenzie, Elise and Nate with the camera.
Tyler and Mary at the launching table. The balls are sitting in this stretchy sack that you pull down and then let go to launch all the balls. It works considerably better with less balls.
We had a hard time coaxing the kids out of this room, especially Syd.
We also saw some dinosaurs.
Elise, McKenzie and Mary at the mercy of the ferocious Eric and Tyler.
And here's Scotty and Laura in the dinosaur dig pit. The "dirt" was little rubber-like gravelly pellet pieces. They did more dirt chucking than dirt digging, but they were having fun.
Tyler thought it would be fun to try to make an imprint of his face in the "dirt". He ended up accidentally inhaling while his face was down and got a few pellets in his nose. I told him he needed to be careful about inhaling that kind of stuff--he wouldn't want to snort it into his brain. That was not wise teasing on my part as Tyler spent much of the rest of the afternoon with a headache and a deep concern that he did, indeed, have dino pit pellets lodged in his brain.
Here's Eric, Sydney, Tyler and Elise.
But in the end, a good time was had by all. We hope to not let too much time pass before our next trek out to Jensen territory. Thanks for playing, Jensens!
How to fix a washing machine
OK, so a couple of weeks ago our washing machine went on the fritz. We ordered a part for it, and when it came I called Nate at work to let him know , so he could hopefully come home a little early to repair it because he had other appointments later that evening, and we were getting into a serious crisis of underpants. He came home about an hour early and installed our new timer in less than 30 minutes. We decided to run it through a super short cycle with no clothes just to make sure it was working properly before we through a bunch of clothes in there only to end up with a big sopping wet mess of half-clean duds.
Anywho, we ran it through a cycle and it kind of had this extra long pause before the rinse cycle, which is where it was totally stopping before we had installed the new part. It had been agitating through the wash cycle and then would just stop dead, not draining or rinsing or spinning. There were a couple of times that I was able to coax it into the other part of the cycle with some creative knob-turning (or so I thought—a little foreshadowing for you there), so we assumed it must be the timer. We had had to replace the timer about 5 years ago, and at the time when I complained to the repair man about the washer being less than two years old and shouldn’t the dang timer last longer than that, he replied, “You never know about timers. They could last 30 minutes or 30 years. You just never know.”
But while we were running our post-repair test cycle it seemed like a really loooong pause, so we were worried it wasn’t fixed after all and I was about ready to cry. I had already sorted 7 loads of laundry and I was ready to go! I leaned forward onto the washer to hang my head in my hands in despair, and the rinse cycle kicked in. We thought, huh, maybe we just don’t have an accurate idea of how long each part of the cycle takes. I mean, it’s not like we ever sit in the laundry room and watch the washer. I don’t even have one of those cool front loaders with the glass doors so that you can see the clothes swishing around. I suppose if I did, that might be a tempting pasttime. So with a great deal of relief I went about my merry way cooking dinner while the washer finished washing all of my underwear. Success!
With one load of victory under my belt, I decided to tackle the rest of my mountain, and threw in another load. Well, I went upstairs to tend to this and that, and when I came back downstairs, I noticed that the machine had paused again after the agitating part of the cycle. I stood there for a full five minutes waiting for it to kick in. I knew something was wrong. Terribly, terribly wrong. Some drama ensued, which included some loud and emotional muttering on my part. I leaned forward on the washer, putting my weight on the lid while I peered over the back to see if there was something weird going on with the drain pipe or some other washing machine ailment that would miraculously make itself known to me and that I would then know what to do about, and the washer kicked back on again. Startled, I jumped back a little and it stopped. I pushed back down on the lid and it started. I eased back and it stopped. Push, on. Pull back, stop. Hmmmm. Push, on. Pull back, on. Hmmmmmmmmmm.
I figured it must have something to do with the little sensor thingy under the lid that lets it know if the lid is open or not. Our washing machine will continue to agitate when the lid is open (I always thought this was strange as our last washing machine always stopped whatever it was doing when we opened the lid), but will stop spinning, rinsing, etc. I let the washer finish its cycle, because hey, it was working, so better not to interrupt its workingness—I had a load of colors at stake here, including the shirt Tyler was supposed to be wearing for school pictures the next day.
After that load was done, I threw in another, and when it stopped this time, I opened the lid and fiddled with the little sensor button thing. (By this time everyone was in bed, so I was left to my own devices.) When I pushed it down the washer came back on, but I also noticed that it had quite a bit of give to it. It was loose, so when the lid was shut, the little pointy thing that was supposed to push on the sensor to indicate the lid was closed was just pushing the whole piece down and thus not making the right connections. I tried tightening the screws to keep it in position, but the screws just kind of spun. So I did the next best thing to actually repairing something, and pulled out the duct tape. My washing machine lid sensory doohickey thing is now being held securely in place with the cure all of home improvement and repair. The cycle, of course, finished. And when I threw in another load, it ran all the way through without incident. I fixed my not really broken washing machine all by myself with a roll of duct tape!
So the moral of the story is threefold:
1. Don’t call a washer repairman to look at your “broken” washing machine because even though the thing you thought was wrong with it, wasn’t actually and you spent $150 (with shipping) on a part you didn’t need, you have 90 days to return said part, and while you’ll lose the $15 shipping charge (and whatever it will cost you to ship it back, which I assure you was not any $15), you will still end up paying considerably less than a $60+ whatever bogus work/part they’d tell you you’d need service call.
2. Sometimes when it ain’t broke, you still have to fix it.
3. Never underestimate the power of duct tape.
Nate offered to look into replacing the sensor, but I’m thinking it’s not that it’s broken, it just doesn’t want to stay put, and since I’ve already remedied that with the duct tape, what would be the point? And I do apologize to all of you who may feel I’ve betrayed our sex with the employment of the infamous duct tape for a home repair project. But I’m really having a hard time feeling too badly about it, sitting here in my soft as a summer’s breeze and fresh as the morning dew unmentionables.
Anywho, we ran it through a cycle and it kind of had this extra long pause before the rinse cycle, which is where it was totally stopping before we had installed the new part. It had been agitating through the wash cycle and then would just stop dead, not draining or rinsing or spinning. There were a couple of times that I was able to coax it into the other part of the cycle with some creative knob-turning (or so I thought—a little foreshadowing for you there), so we assumed it must be the timer. We had had to replace the timer about 5 years ago, and at the time when I complained to the repair man about the washer being less than two years old and shouldn’t the dang timer last longer than that, he replied, “You never know about timers. They could last 30 minutes or 30 years. You just never know.”
But while we were running our post-repair test cycle it seemed like a really loooong pause, so we were worried it wasn’t fixed after all and I was about ready to cry. I had already sorted 7 loads of laundry and I was ready to go! I leaned forward onto the washer to hang my head in my hands in despair, and the rinse cycle kicked in. We thought, huh, maybe we just don’t have an accurate idea of how long each part of the cycle takes. I mean, it’s not like we ever sit in the laundry room and watch the washer. I don’t even have one of those cool front loaders with the glass doors so that you can see the clothes swishing around. I suppose if I did, that might be a tempting pasttime. So with a great deal of relief I went about my merry way cooking dinner while the washer finished washing all of my underwear. Success!
With one load of victory under my belt, I decided to tackle the rest of my mountain, and threw in another load. Well, I went upstairs to tend to this and that, and when I came back downstairs, I noticed that the machine had paused again after the agitating part of the cycle. I stood there for a full five minutes waiting for it to kick in. I knew something was wrong. Terribly, terribly wrong. Some drama ensued, which included some loud and emotional muttering on my part. I leaned forward on the washer, putting my weight on the lid while I peered over the back to see if there was something weird going on with the drain pipe or some other washing machine ailment that would miraculously make itself known to me and that I would then know what to do about, and the washer kicked back on again. Startled, I jumped back a little and it stopped. I pushed back down on the lid and it started. I eased back and it stopped. Push, on. Pull back, stop. Hmmmm. Push, on. Pull back, on. Hmmmmmmmmmm.
I figured it must have something to do with the little sensor thingy under the lid that lets it know if the lid is open or not. Our washing machine will continue to agitate when the lid is open (I always thought this was strange as our last washing machine always stopped whatever it was doing when we opened the lid), but will stop spinning, rinsing, etc. I let the washer finish its cycle, because hey, it was working, so better not to interrupt its workingness—I had a load of colors at stake here, including the shirt Tyler was supposed to be wearing for school pictures the next day.
After that load was done, I threw in another, and when it stopped this time, I opened the lid and fiddled with the little sensor button thing. (By this time everyone was in bed, so I was left to my own devices.) When I pushed it down the washer came back on, but I also noticed that it had quite a bit of give to it. It was loose, so when the lid was shut, the little pointy thing that was supposed to push on the sensor to indicate the lid was closed was just pushing the whole piece down and thus not making the right connections. I tried tightening the screws to keep it in position, but the screws just kind of spun. So I did the next best thing to actually repairing something, and pulled out the duct tape. My washing machine lid sensory doohickey thing is now being held securely in place with the cure all of home improvement and repair. The cycle, of course, finished. And when I threw in another load, it ran all the way through without incident. I fixed my not really broken washing machine all by myself with a roll of duct tape!
So the moral of the story is threefold:
1. Don’t call a washer repairman to look at your “broken” washing machine because even though the thing you thought was wrong with it, wasn’t actually and you spent $150 (with shipping) on a part you didn’t need, you have 90 days to return said part, and while you’ll lose the $15 shipping charge (and whatever it will cost you to ship it back, which I assure you was not any $15), you will still end up paying considerably less than a $60+ whatever bogus work/part they’d tell you you’d need service call.
2. Sometimes when it ain’t broke, you still have to fix it.
3. Never underestimate the power of duct tape.
Nate offered to look into replacing the sensor, but I’m thinking it’s not that it’s broken, it just doesn’t want to stay put, and since I’ve already remedied that with the duct tape, what would be the point? And I do apologize to all of you who may feel I’ve betrayed our sex with the employment of the infamous duct tape for a home repair project. But I’m really having a hard time feeling too badly about it, sitting here in my soft as a summer’s breeze and fresh as the morning dew unmentionables.
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Random conversations or Our kids are weird
I can’t remember the context for this even though it just happened.
Sydney, to a sibling: Sucks to be you!
I must be trying to block it out.
In the car.
Elise: I wish I was borned cross-eyed.
Me: Why?
Elise: Because it’s not normal and I don’t like to be normal.
I don’t think you need to worry about that.
One of those so-excited-to-tell-you-I-can-hardly-stand-it stories.
McKenzie: I told my friends about how we saw a real live hobo on our vacation with the long hair and the beard and the shorts and the crazy shoes and socks (or was he barefoot?) and he was like digging through the garbage can, and they said, “You’re sooo lucky!”
Me: Why?
McKenzie: Because hobos are awesome!
Am I just old or something? I don't get it.
Bedtime.
Tyler: I’m going to go to the bathroom James Bond style!
Does a diving roll towards the bathroom and hits the wall.
Tyler, laying on the floor in the middle of the hall: Ow.
I just walked away.
In the car.
Elise: I feel like I have an extra toe.
Me: What?
Elise: It feels like there’s an extra toe on my foot.
Me: What are you talking about?
Elise: You know how your hand has a finger that comes out the side? I feel like there’s a toe like that on my foot.
A phantom thumb toe. No wonder she has a hard time with shoes and socks.
After dinner.
McKenzie: Can girls be hobos?
Me: Yeah.
McKenzie: Yes! I wanna be a hobo when I grow up!
Elise: I want to be a hobo when I grow up.
McKenzie: Why do you always have to copy people?
Again with the hobos. And the copying.
Any time.
Sydney: I need some chocolate milk to watch Tom & Jerry.
That’s pretty much all she says lately.
After a spaz-attack by one of the girls.
Tyler: Was I adopted?
Me: No.
Tyler: I had to have been adopted.
Me: Hey, if you were adopted that means you wouldn’t be related to me. Harumph.
Tyler: Well, then was everyone else adopted?
Me: Totally.
I tell them all the same thing—whatever they need to hear.
Bedtime again.
Tyler: Double-O Seven! Dive-rolls out of the family room.
Tyler, walking towards his bedroom: One time I OO7′d it into the bathroom, only I missed the door and hit the wall.
Me: That was last night. I was there.
Tyler: Oh yeah.
I’m not sure where this ”OO7′d it” phrase came from, but I’m kind of liking it.
Just random conversation.
Tyler: If they had an invention that would permanently take out wedgies, I would totally buy it.
Me: What?
Tyler: I’m serious. I’ve been getting a lot of wedgies lately. I don’t know what’s going on.
I don’t know what to say.
Sydney, to a sibling: Sucks to be you!
I must be trying to block it out.
In the car.
Elise: I wish I was borned cross-eyed.
Me: Why?
Elise: Because it’s not normal and I don’t like to be normal.
I don’t think you need to worry about that.
One of those so-excited-to-tell-you-I-can-hardly-stand-it stories.
McKenzie: I told my friends about how we saw a real live hobo on our vacation with the long hair and the beard and the shorts and the crazy shoes and socks (or was he barefoot?) and he was like digging through the garbage can, and they said, “You’re sooo lucky!”
Me: Why?
McKenzie: Because hobos are awesome!
Am I just old or something? I don't get it.
Bedtime.
Tyler: I’m going to go to the bathroom James Bond style!
Does a diving roll towards the bathroom and hits the wall.
Tyler, laying on the floor in the middle of the hall: Ow.
I just walked away.
In the car.
Elise: I feel like I have an extra toe.
Me: What?
Elise: It feels like there’s an extra toe on my foot.
Me: What are you talking about?
Elise: You know how your hand has a finger that comes out the side? I feel like there’s a toe like that on my foot.
A phantom thumb toe. No wonder she has a hard time with shoes and socks.
After dinner.
McKenzie: Can girls be hobos?
Me: Yeah.
McKenzie: Yes! I wanna be a hobo when I grow up!
Elise: I want to be a hobo when I grow up.
McKenzie: Why do you always have to copy people?
Again with the hobos. And the copying.
Any time.
Sydney: I need some chocolate milk to watch Tom & Jerry.
That’s pretty much all she says lately.
After a spaz-attack by one of the girls.
Tyler: Was I adopted?
Me: No.
Tyler: I had to have been adopted.
Me: Hey, if you were adopted that means you wouldn’t be related to me. Harumph.
Tyler: Well, then was everyone else adopted?
Me: Totally.
I tell them all the same thing—whatever they need to hear.
Bedtime again.
Tyler: Double-O Seven! Dive-rolls out of the family room.
Tyler, walking towards his bedroom: One time I OO7′d it into the bathroom, only I missed the door and hit the wall.
Me: That was last night. I was there.
Tyler: Oh yeah.
I’m not sure where this ”OO7′d it” phrase came from, but I’m kind of liking it.
Just random conversation.
Tyler: If they had an invention that would permanently take out wedgies, I would totally buy it.
Me: What?
Tyler: I’m serious. I’ve been getting a lot of wedgies lately. I don’t know what’s going on.
I don’t know what to say.
Friday, September 26, 2008
Portland '08, part I
In July, we decided it was time to see our Jensen cousins, who live in Portland. With all of Nate's business trips, he has accumulated quite a few hotel points, so we had free lodging. We also have zoo and science center passes for our local area, which are also good for Portland, so we had free entertainment. The only real cost to us was gas to get down there (yikes!) and listening to a car full of kids ask if we were there yet every five minutes or so. By the way, with all the traveling we did this summer--the Utah trip, the Portland trip and the Seaside trip--we discovered that the length of the car ride really has no bearing on the number of times a child will ask "Are we almost there?" You can hear just as many in a 3 hour ride as a 10 hour ride.
So we headed down to Portland Thursday, July 24 after Nate got off work. We arrived pretty much just in time to crash in our hotel room. The next day we went to load up the car to take everyone to breakfast only to discover that our battery was dead. Apparently, we had left the interior lights on all night. Woops. After getting a jump from the hotel maintenance guy, we hit Elmer's for breakfast. I have many a fond memory of meals with my Grandma Tenny at Elmer's (we also frequented VIP's and Sambo's--I doubt Sambo's is still around). The kids enjoyed their meals and voted that Elmer's beats Denny's hands down. I'd have to agree.
After breakfast we went to the zoo. The Oregon Zoo is a lovely zoo. If you’re ever in Portland, I can recommend it. They have a great variety of animals in lovely living environments (well, the primate houses leave something to be desired, but they’re apparently remodeling those) and there’s plenty of shade and easy walking trails.
The kids really had a great time except after awhile they found the walking tiresome. It was pretty hot, so I couldn't blame them.
We started out with the mountain goats.
We saw some real live ones, too, which was nice because it's rare that we catch any at our local Woodland Park Zoo.
Posing with statues is apparently the highlight of the zoo experience for my children.
Syd on a snail, I think.
Elise riding an elephant.
McKenzie hamming it up with a ram.
Tyler and mouse.
My favorite picture with real live animals.
My favorite picture of the day.
I wonder what she's thinking about.
After the zoo, we headed over to the Jensen's for dinner, but we'll talk about that in part II. It's after midnight and I'm tuckered out.
So we headed down to Portland Thursday, July 24 after Nate got off work. We arrived pretty much just in time to crash in our hotel room. The next day we went to load up the car to take everyone to breakfast only to discover that our battery was dead. Apparently, we had left the interior lights on all night. Woops. After getting a jump from the hotel maintenance guy, we hit Elmer's for breakfast. I have many a fond memory of meals with my Grandma Tenny at Elmer's (we also frequented VIP's and Sambo's--I doubt Sambo's is still around). The kids enjoyed their meals and voted that Elmer's beats Denny's hands down. I'd have to agree.
After breakfast we went to the zoo. The Oregon Zoo is a lovely zoo. If you’re ever in Portland, I can recommend it. They have a great variety of animals in lovely living environments (well, the primate houses leave something to be desired, but they’re apparently remodeling those) and there’s plenty of shade and easy walking trails.
The kids really had a great time except after awhile they found the walking tiresome. It was pretty hot, so I couldn't blame them.
We started out with the mountain goats.
We saw some real live ones, too, which was nice because it's rare that we catch any at our local Woodland Park Zoo.
Posing with statues is apparently the highlight of the zoo experience for my children.
Syd on a snail, I think.
Elise riding an elephant.
McKenzie hamming it up with a ram.
Tyler and mouse.
My favorite picture with real live animals.
My favorite picture of the day.
I wonder what she's thinking about.
After the zoo, we headed over to the Jensen's for dinner, but we'll talk about that in part II. It's after midnight and I'm tuckered out.
Monday, September 8, 2008
Attainable goals and our first week of September
Since starting this blog in June, I have posted a whopping eight times, five of those occurring in June. I've decided to make a goal to post at least six times in September, which would nearly double my existing entries. How hard could it be? After I'm done with this one, I'll only have five more entries to go. Totally doable, right? Totally. Snort.
The kids seem to be settling into school just fine with only a few minor hiccups. McKenzie loves her 3rd grade teacher, Mrs. VanDuren, and I've certainly been impressed with what I've seen so far. Her first assignment was to decorate a composition book that would become her writer's notebook. She was to use magazine cut-outs or pictures or anything flat that could be pasted on the cover and that represented something about her or something that was important to her. I'm making a mental note to take a picture of it. She did an awesome job, and it looks great. Being at a new school, she does not have the instant set of friends from the previous year that she is accustomed to having. This has been a difficult adjustment for McKenzie, but she is such a nice girl and so fun to be around, I can't imagine it will take too long for someone to realize it.
Due to a ridiculous amount of last minute registrations, our elementary school found itself short a few teachers. Elise had to start off her first grade year with a substitute. Mrs. Martin is a very nice woman and seems to be a great teacher, but being temporary makes it difficult to get the kids into a routine for the year. They are supposed to be getting their permanent teacher by the end of the week. Elise doesn't seem to be too concerned about this, but her real complaint is having to walk to and from school everyday. It's only a few blocks and a short 10 minute walk, but apparently after the demands of a full day of 1st grade, it's a lot to ask of a little girl. She seemed to make a full recovery in time for gymnastics class. She has moved up from her pre-school class to the 6-7 year old "hot shots". Tonight was her first class, and she did great. She has a particular talent for the balance beam and is greatly improving her handstands and backward rolls.
This is Tyler's second year in middle school, so it's really old hat for him. He is learning that he needs to be more responsible. Gone are the days when his teacher asked for assignments to be turned in. Now he's given an assignment and a due date and nothing is mentioned again. He has no problem remembering to complete the assignments, but doesn't always remember to turn them in, which kind of makes the whole completing them thing moot. We're working on ways to make sure that's not a reccurring problem. He has a few classes with his friend two doors down (who is actually a grade below him), and also is able to walk to and from school with him. Neighborhood friends are great. Oh, and I almost forgot! Tyler turned 12 last week (darn--another birthday to post about!) and was ordained a deacon in church on Sunday. How is it possible that a child of mine is now old enough to pass the sacrament? Man, I feel old. I'm very proud of him, but sometimes I wish he'd give this growing up thing a rest.
Sydney had her first play date today. Well, technically I was babysitting, but it was for a girl Sydney's age, and for her it may as well have been a play date. She was in heaven. I was pleasantly surprised at how great the girls got along. I was fully anticipating at least a few minor scuffles over toys, but both were fully committed to the sharing and friendshipping. Sydney was able to play and interact with a child her own age and didn't ask for her sippy cup or to watch Tom & Jerry once all morning. It was a miracle! Sydney lives on a steady diet of chocolate milk and Tom & Jerry, so this was quite a milestone for her. She is already asking when her friend will be back. I'll have to see if I can schedule something before she forgets what friends are. I was all over the scheduling of the play dates with Tyler since he had no siblings to be his default friends. I've gotten a lot lazier over the years, plus McKenzie and Elise have been lucky to live next door to girls there own ages. Sisters and next-door neighbors are very convenient friends. Sydney does have sisters, but they are quite a bit older and there are no children her age in our neighborhood, which means I actually have to make an effort in the friend department. And I think we're all starting to get the idea of my position on this whole "effort" thing. Sigh. But she was so happy today, it must be done!
Last week we had my brother visiting from Maryland. He spent almost the entire week with his girlfriend who lives here (as it should be), but was able to spend Saturday with us. The kids loved playing games with him and his girlfriend. They miss him so much when he leaves. Just tonight Sydney asked about Sam (which was only about the dozenth time she's done so since he left). "Where's Sam?" she'll ask. I'll tell her he's gone home and her response is always the same, "Ohhhh. I miss him. I don't want him to go." Me too, Syd. Me too.
Tyler, McKenzie and Elise giving Sam a farewell group hug:
That's all I've got for now. Of course, there's still our Portland trip and our Seaside trip and Syd's birthday and a trip to Spokane to see my aunt and uncle and a couple of cousins and now Tyler's birthday, which, what do you know, just happens to be five things, and I need to post five more times to meet my goal for the month. Hmmm...I might just do it after all!
Friday, August 22, 2008
Oh yeah, we have a blog
You know, I started this blog thinking it would be an easier way to journal our family's life together. I pretty much stink at traditional journaling. I'm not sure I've written in mine more than once since McKenzie was born, which means anyone discovering my journal years from now wouldn't even know I had two more children, which is just kind of wrong. But what I'm discovering is that I just stink at journaling period. Having a different media only helps ever so slightly. I suppose half a dozen entries in three months is still a marked improvement over no entries in eight years.
I think what's holding me back with this blog is thinking that I need to include pictures with every post. As I mentioned before, that's very time consuming and also a big fat pain in my backside. So, as with all things that require more than a little effort on my part, I put it off as long as possible. I do have a lot of great photos to share of our weekend trip to Portland at the end of last month and our most recent trip to Seaside that we just returned from earlier this week, but I'm not going to do that today.
Today I'm going to tell you that summer is winding down, and while we had a great time and were able to make lots of fun trips and do lots of things together, I think everyone is ready for the routine of the school year again. My kids complain of being bored from 15 minutes after they get up in the morning all the way to 10:30 pm at night sometimes. You're bored at 10:30 pm? Hel-lo! I've got the cure for that--it's called bedtime! The most popular form of daytime entertainment seems to be annoying siblings and picking fights and tattling to Mom and throwing big tantrums (those tantrums would include Mom, by the way).
So I'm ready to say farewell to summer and hello to fall. Sure, we won't be able to sleep in or stay up late or eat lunch at 3 pm, but I'm counting on the 6 hours a day of no bickering and hoping for at least another few minutes here and there after everyone's home. Only 11 more days!
We went out yesterday to shop for school supplies for the girls. It was a looong list. I'm guessing that has something to do with the fact they'll be attending a brand new (as in just built) school this fall. (Grove Elementary is just three blocks away. It's a beautiful school--at least from what I can see from the outside. The girls were excited to see they're putting in the playground equipment this week.) The elementary school they had been attending up until now just asked for a check for $15 for each student, so that the teachers could buy supplies to be shared by the whole class. The supply list we received for the new school also noted that these supplies would be shared by the whole class, so we shouldn't bother putting names on anything. Some people used to complain about the $15 check, thinking that with the right sales they could probably find everything needed for less that $15. After yesterday's shopping trip, I'm convinced that's not true. I spent $45 between my two girls with just about everything being on sale. Ah well. Can you put a price on a good elementary school education? Forty-five dollars sounds like a bargain to me!
We haven't even begun to do the school clothes shopping. Everyone at my house refuses to stop growing (unfortunately, at times that includes Mom), so we'll be needing at least shoes and pants all around. I can't imagine I'll be able to get everything on that list for $45. Sigh.
Tyler's going to be in 7th grade this year, McKenzie in 3rd and Elise in 1st. Where does the time go? At least I'll still have one "baby" left at home. Although, Syd's not much of a baby anymore. She turned three last month. We had been hyping up this third birthday as a stepping stone into big-girldom complete with nights spent in her own bed and days spent wearing big girl underwear and using the toilet. We're three weeks past and have made little progress with the bed thing and zero progress with the underwear thing. It's always a bad sign when you're child starts screaming the moment you stick them on the potty. Now everyday I just ask if she'd like to try using the potty today. Her response is always the same, "No, thank you." At least she's polite about it.
Well, it's about time to pick up the oldest two from piano, so that's all I've got for now. Sometime in the next six months, look for a Sydney birthday post, a Portland trip recap and a Seaside vacation wrap up. But don't hold your breath.
I think what's holding me back with this blog is thinking that I need to include pictures with every post. As I mentioned before, that's very time consuming and also a big fat pain in my backside. So, as with all things that require more than a little effort on my part, I put it off as long as possible. I do have a lot of great photos to share of our weekend trip to Portland at the end of last month and our most recent trip to Seaside that we just returned from earlier this week, but I'm not going to do that today.
Today I'm going to tell you that summer is winding down, and while we had a great time and were able to make lots of fun trips and do lots of things together, I think everyone is ready for the routine of the school year again. My kids complain of being bored from 15 minutes after they get up in the morning all the way to 10:30 pm at night sometimes. You're bored at 10:30 pm? Hel-lo! I've got the cure for that--it's called bedtime! The most popular form of daytime entertainment seems to be annoying siblings and picking fights and tattling to Mom and throwing big tantrums (those tantrums would include Mom, by the way).
So I'm ready to say farewell to summer and hello to fall. Sure, we won't be able to sleep in or stay up late or eat lunch at 3 pm, but I'm counting on the 6 hours a day of no bickering and hoping for at least another few minutes here and there after everyone's home. Only 11 more days!
We went out yesterday to shop for school supplies for the girls. It was a looong list. I'm guessing that has something to do with the fact they'll be attending a brand new (as in just built) school this fall. (Grove Elementary is just three blocks away. It's a beautiful school--at least from what I can see from the outside. The girls were excited to see they're putting in the playground equipment this week.) The elementary school they had been attending up until now just asked for a check for $15 for each student, so that the teachers could buy supplies to be shared by the whole class. The supply list we received for the new school also noted that these supplies would be shared by the whole class, so we shouldn't bother putting names on anything. Some people used to complain about the $15 check, thinking that with the right sales they could probably find everything needed for less that $15. After yesterday's shopping trip, I'm convinced that's not true. I spent $45 between my two girls with just about everything being on sale. Ah well. Can you put a price on a good elementary school education? Forty-five dollars sounds like a bargain to me!
We haven't even begun to do the school clothes shopping. Everyone at my house refuses to stop growing (unfortunately, at times that includes Mom), so we'll be needing at least shoes and pants all around. I can't imagine I'll be able to get everything on that list for $45. Sigh.
Tyler's going to be in 7th grade this year, McKenzie in 3rd and Elise in 1st. Where does the time go? At least I'll still have one "baby" left at home. Although, Syd's not much of a baby anymore. She turned three last month. We had been hyping up this third birthday as a stepping stone into big-girldom complete with nights spent in her own bed and days spent wearing big girl underwear and using the toilet. We're three weeks past and have made little progress with the bed thing and zero progress with the underwear thing. It's always a bad sign when you're child starts screaming the moment you stick them on the potty. Now everyday I just ask if she'd like to try using the potty today. Her response is always the same, "No, thank you." At least she's polite about it.
Well, it's about time to pick up the oldest two from piano, so that's all I've got for now. Sometime in the next six months, look for a Sydney birthday post, a Portland trip recap and a Seaside vacation wrap up. But don't hold your breath.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
More fun with our ID cousins!
For those of you who don't blog, trust me, it's extremely time consuming. Yesterday's post was exhausting (hopefully just to write, not to read!), so I didn't quite finish with our trip.
Our kids had a great time with their ID cousins. They spent a lot of time playing outside in the water and on the trampoline.
This pool may be small, but it's quite a beast to inflate! Jason & Adria's foot pump was all wonky, so I tried to switch to lung power. Holy headache! I think by the time we were done 6 different people had participated in the inflating of the pool. It turned out to be worth it, especially for Syd. She had a blast.
Our kids had a great time with their ID cousins. They spent a lot of time playing outside in the water and on the trampoline.
This pool may be small, but it's quite a beast to inflate! Jason & Adria's foot pump was all wonky, so I tried to switch to lung power. Holy headache! I think by the time we were done 6 different people had participated in the inflating of the pool. It turned out to be worth it, especially for Syd. She had a blast.
And it was worth it to me just to see Ethan hammin' it up! Goggles in 6 inches of water? Why not?
The trampoline is always a favorite. Here's McKenzie flying high:
And doing her Spiderman:
Tyler, Elise and Ryan catching some air:
And all the kids together, striking a pose:
Their other favorite pastime was the video games, of course. Tyler tried to help the boys out by beating some levels and unlocking some characters.
And you didn't have to wait long before you came across a few DS players. A word to the wise, 7 children and 6 DS games do not make for 7 happy campers. But they managed to work it out.
Natalie, Ashlyn and McKenzie probably playing Bust-a-Move or Cooking Mama 2:
Ethan and Elise with a borrowed DS (thanks for sharing!):
We also had a great time playing Apples to Apples. That's always a fun game to play with kids, who usually seem to go for the biggest laugh rather than what makes the most sense. I think Adria ultimately came out on top.
Outdoor games like baseball and various forms of tag were also a big hit. And Adria is still a master tagger! I had a hard time keeping up, and probably spent more time watching than I should have. But it was a lot of fun when I finally sucked it up and joined in!
We had such a great time and always look forward to our visits. We hope we get to see at least some of you before next summer!
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