New Year's Resolution Time

First item of business: No more excuses. Time to blog.

Autumn is a firecracker. She makes us laugh. She teases the kids endlessly. She  is wise beyond her years. She is bigger than life and yet teeny tiny. She runs the house and gets her way and it isn't always nice. 

The other night she was being mean to Ivy on purpose. She was pulling her hair and hitting her, all the while smirking about it. She must have felt like being extra mean and told Ivy that she didn't love her anymore and she was no longer part of the family. 

Ivy was devastated. Both big kids came running to find me and through her tears told me what happened. I asked Autumn why she would do that and asked her how she would feel if I said she wasn't part of the family. She looked at me, smiled, nodded her head and said, "that would make me really really ..... Happy". 

This is our life. Everyday. 

Apple Picking!

The problem I have with blogging, and more specifically being behind on blogging, is that I have so much to say and then I never know if I should write about the past or the current.  How can I write about what we did today when I still have to write about last week and last month?  That ends up leaving me with nothing.   Maybe if I start current, something will get on my blog.  I feel terribly guilty about never posting. 

So, apple picking.  We will start here.

Last year for one of our monthly adventures, we found an apple farm in Bellingham that has Honeycrisp apples, one of my most favorite apples of all times.  These apples are terribly expensive at somewhere around 3.99 per pound and sometimes more.  If we are willing to make the drive and pick them ourselves, 3.99 per pound turns into an amazing 1.85 per pound and not only are the apples cheaper, but they are so very delicious straight from the tree.  There is something that makes anything straight from how it grew, wonderfully delicious.  After apples for days last year at a fraction of the price, we knew we would definitely be heading back. 

With summer winding down and Honeycrisp apples in full swing, today was the day.  My sisters and I loaded up the kids, the lunch bags, and the husbands and it was off to Bellingham for Sunday afternoon apple picking. 

The only problem with going up there to get apples is that I am always afraid that I won’t get enough.  Of course, I have no where to put them and  there are fruit flies galore roaming through my house, but seriously… $1.85 per pound!  

It didn’t take long to fill up our bags and boxes and mostly because we were sweating to death, we were ready to go back.  Most of the group cruised away on a train while Owen, Angie, Greg, Wesley, myself, and all of my apples missed it.  We had a choice, we could either stand in the sweltering sun and wait or walk back.  Some of us chose to walk (Angie, me, and my apples) and some of us were forced to walk back (Owen, Greg, and Wesley).  More than a mile walk, carrying what we later learned to be 85 pounds of apples, was NOT easy.  With little complaints from all and a lot of laughing by Angie and me, we joined the others.  I have never been so happy to see that big red barn and not only the barn, but the fact that the train passed us going to the orchard about the time we got back.  It would have been more than hideous to make the trek and then have the train beat us back. 

I spent $155.00 on apples, we melted in the sun, we bought pumpkins we didn’t need, we got in a little exercise, we relaxed, we laughed, we ate and we played.  And with that, we say goodbye to summer and hello to fall!! 

Bellewood Acres…. until 2015!

Sitting around waiting.

Owen had practice for a parade he is in on Sunday night for karate. I did what I do best... Sit around and watch. I feel like I do two things now days, sit at lessons and vacuum fruit flies, luckily not at the same time!!  (Thank heavens when I am at lessons, there are no fruit flies. That would drive me to my breaking point.)

Here we are, passing the time....

Photobombed by an arm! 

And we wake up tomorrow for gymnastics! Time to sit and watch some more!!!

The lessons we are teaching

11:30 and the kids have been asleep for about 20 minutes. We ate soup at 10:00, despite the fact it has been 90 degrees for what feels like forever and the rest of the state is dying. We have zero regrets about our air conditioner, we even say that to each other daily.

Back to the soup... It was a disaster. I started making it too late and had to leave it to go to the park with the kids. When we got back, I tried to pick up where I left it and I started heating it up again only to have it never thicken, boil over all over the stove, and then burn on the bottom. Whatever, I was going to eat it anyway. So at 10:00, we ate soup. It was sort of like a deli soup, one where you wouldn't send it back and you would eat it because it was there, but you wouldn't order it next time. The kids only ate some because they didn't want to go to bed and even then, Owen ate the broth, Ivy ate the carrots, and Autumn ate the broccoli. 

Greg cleaned up the disaster I made from making disaster soup. Bless him for that, cause I really didn't want to and it has been a long day. He is a good egg. 

Well, I thought that anyway until Autumn told me what he has been teaching her. I asked her if she washed her hair in the bath. She said yes, when of course the answer was no. Greg reminded her that she was lying to which she proudly informed me of the following: 

"Daddy says if you want to lie, then just lie."

Greg swears that isn't true, but coming from someone who teaches if you want to lie, then just lie, I am not sure who to believe. 

She looked very convinced. 

Man I am Busy

Once upon a time I didn’t have kids in lessons.  I was going to say that instead, I had a clean house and was a really efficient lawyer, but that would be a lie.  I still got nothing done, but I was home a lot more (I think).  Well now, I am running around like a crazy person and my kids are running around like crazy people and who knows if I should be doing any of it. 

Ivy is in gymnastics, dance, swimming and piano.  Owen is in Tae-Kwon Do, gymnastics, swimming, and piano.  Autumn is in dance and gymnastics and pretends she takes piano.  We started all of these things as a recreational sport, something to do, something to have fun with and then right before my eyes, they started becoming something else.  Suddenly, Ivy is taking gymnastics 7 1/2 hours a week, of which one of those hours includes a mandatory ballet class that I got to add to my monthly tuition.  Suddenly, Owen is in the leadership program at karate and is now required to do two extra classes a week on top of his already recommended 3-4 classes.  And, to top that off, those extra classes don’t even include the random list of parades I was given for him to be in, which all include multiple practices.  We started taking swimming to stay alive, but then once they started learning fabulous things like side breathing, the crawl stroke, the backstroke, and the butterfly stroke, we realized that now we stay in swimming to swim strokes and laps and be amazing.  Autumn started taking gymnastics because she was watching Ivy there and the owner guilted Angie and I into a mom and me class.  Now she is in a preschool class for kids ages 3-5, while she is only 2, and not only that but often more than once a week.  If I let her, she would go everyday.   Oh, and that reminds me, Owen’s gymnastics class is once a week for one hour, but without fail, EVERYTIME he finishes, he reminds me how much he loves it and BEGS to stay for another hour.  We do this song and dance every week.   Then we have piano.  I felt that they recently outgrew their teacher and we found another.  This requires me to take Ivy, come home, take Owen, pick up Ivy, come home, pick up Owen, and come home, all within a very short time period.  They will have new group lessons and competitions to be in and to think, we used to have our teacher come to our house.

Thank heavens we finished baseball and T-ball…. that is until Owen starts back up with Fall Ball. 

We started out to have fun at things but we have now crossed the line over to trying to be amazing at things. 

I think we are still having fun and I know we are spending a lot of money.   In fact, I do hope they become amazing at their things, as they may be their only hope for an education. 

Now, if I can only keep my head on straight and remember to work and take care of life outside of lessons, things will be good. 

Mudder

It has been a long day of fighting, playing, running around, and existing. There was even that one time where I had to get something done for work and it had to be done right then, but Autumn didn't care.  She asked to sit on my lap and started to turn my chair and yell at me when I didn't pick her up. I got mad and moved her away to finish this very small task, but that did not make her happy. She came back over with big tears in her eyes and yelled at me and said desperately, "mom! That wasn't very nice!!!"

She was right. I looked at her and saw these little sad eyes and I picked her up and told her she was exactly right, it wasn't nice at all. 

I apologized and she nicely responded that it was ok and that we are friends. 

Sigh. Who is mean and treats their friends like that? 

I have guilt now. 

It didn't help much when she started calling me Mudder and Greg Fodder all night.  Oh guilt and stress and regret how I hate you. 

Tomorrow we try again.  

I love this

No matter how stressful the day is, finding pictures on my phone or iPad like this makes everything better again. 

The day she rode her bike

Today was the day Ivy rode on two wheels. She started the other day and was doing great, a little wild, but if her dad got her started she could do the rest.

We didn't really have a time line to learn... Until today. Her cousin Evan took his wheels off today and just got the whole bike riding thing. This made Ivy crazy. I picked her up from school and told her the wonderful news. She painted on a smile and informed me that she probably rode further than him. Because she didn't, I said no.  

"Well, I can do it too and I have a lose tooth."

It is true, her tooth will come out any day but honestly that had nothing to do with anything, but it was all she had. She was devastated. 

Not to be out done by cuzzy, she came home from school, ate lunch, watched a show, and suited up to ride. We discussed balancing and moving without pedaling. After our small discussion and a few tries on her own, she was off by herself. And she could not have been more pleased. 

If I were in her head, I would have heard it saying...... Phew ! That was a close one!!!

A month shy of turning 5, she can ride her bike and her tooth should be out any day now, both of which make her seem terribly old. 

May 28th, the day she rode her bike....also known as the day a bird pooped on my head.  

Autumn

I said my next post would be about Ivy. Autumn is hijacking that. 

1. Yesterday she asked me to hold her ball. I said I couldn't because my hands were dirty. She responded by saying, "well, in that case, I will set it down". 

2. Today I didn't have any appointments at work and decided to wear jeans and a t-shirt. I told her I was going to work and Kiki was coming to watch her. She looked at me and said, "wait, that is your work outfit??". 

3. As I was carrying her to the car today she said you have a big tummy just like Kiki. I said I do? She pointed to my ever small chest and said, "yes, right here". I told her that wasn't my tummy and showed her where that was. She asked what the other was called and I said, breasts. Then her 2 year old self said, "you and Kiki have breasts". That was weird. 

4. She has been wearing her leotard since Tuesday. It is Monday. Literally. To bed. After her bath. All day. One day she pretended she was changing and then put something on the top. 

5. She wears a 12 mo hat everywhere and would wear it to bed if it would stay on her head.  I have got to find another. 

She gets more hilarious by the day! 

Note: most of her pictures have a messy face. She HATES her face and hair washed. 

I have no idea why I don't have a picture of the favorite leotard!?!?

Updates of the Forgotten Life

April has come and gone and here I sit with nothing documented for my future.  It is seriously so very depressing. 

First things first, we made it through the no washer period of our life. 

I look back now and I wonder how that is possible.  How in the world did I manage with 3 kids to not have a washer for 2 1/2 weeks?  Well, let me think.  We made our way to the laundromat on one occasion.  Being there was horrible.  My kids were insane and thought it was one fantastic day.  I was stressed after I realized I only had enough cash for 2 loads (I mean seriously, no credit cards still?) and I had no concept of how many clothes fit into those big machines and people were staring at me.  I panicked and just tried to wash the most important things and get out of there.  People were just sitting there watching us, people who regularly do their laundry there and I could feel their judging eyes as I probably did a laughable small amount of laundry.  We hauled in all of our baskets and then when I realized I didn’t have enough money, I had Owen haul them all back outside as quickly as possible.  There was also the amazing part where Autumn was standing in front of the washer, screaming that she needed to go potty.  I was hoping to at least get our loads going, but as the crying escalated, so did my sweat and I took her.  The best part was the time I realized that I STILL HAD A WORKING DRYER at home! Considering that 1. I had no more money with me and 2. I just really wanted to be done, this was fabulous.  We loaded up all of our wet clothes and went home to dry. 

So, we did that once and then I was too traumatized to go back.  The time we loaded up our clothes and washed at Emilee’s house was much more amazing. 

All in all, we survived but I am so happy that is over.

That was fun.

Next up, Ivy. 

April 2nd??!?!

I have been saying for ages that I needed a new washer. First it started leaking water and I thought it was a goner. However, thanks to You Tube, Greg was able to fix it and postpone the inevitable. 

Second, the tub somehow got off balance and shifted to the side, causing the washer to shake vigorously, making me wonder if it was going to shake out the door. Greg did not fix this. 

Third, I went to change the load yesterday and the clothes were very wet and simply lying there on the bottom rather than the side. They looked suspiciously like they missed their spin cycle.  I started it again on rinse only. On our way out the door for school, I passed by the laundry room and it smelled of burning wires and a dying motor. The clothes were resting in a tub of water and the washer was silent. 

I was able to get the clothes to drain and there is even a chance it may work again, but the smell of burning wires makes me hesitate.  I really don't want to burn my house down and always look back and say, I knew the washer was dying. 

So, I bought a new one. The only problem..... the delivery date of April 2nd of course! That is right, I have no washer for 2 weeks. I barely have time to think, much less gather my three kids and all their clothes and head to the laundromat.  

I have a solution, we already have eat everything in the house week, and now I will be adding to that the "wear everything in your drawer week and once you have done that, pick them up off the floor and wear them again." 

It is the only way. 

The most expensive farmer's market yet

Up until last summer, I hadn't had a steak in about 4 years.  I was at the farmer's market looking for a local pasture-raised chicken and ended up buying an organic, 100% grass-fed Kobe beef steak. It was expensive but oh so delicious. 

We don't eat a lot of steak, but decided it was time for some more. While I was teaching yoga one Saturday morning, I sent Greg and the kids to the market. 

That was my first mistake. 

My second mistake was not being more specific about what Greg should buy. 

The last time Greg bought the steak, they were out of the Kobe beef so he bought the Angus beef. He had no idea how much the other kind was. 

He and the kids unloaded and located the booth of the local ranch. He studied the beef, minus the price, and picked out 4 fabulous Kobe beef steaks. He took them to check out and handed the girl his card. She rang him up and gave him the receipt and his card, while calmly letting him know that his 4 steaks just cost him $165.00. He panicked for all the obvious reasons. I am sure he considered his options, he could grab his card and just run away, he could pretend the kids picked out more steaks than he wanted, he could act cool and tell her to throw in one more, or just smile and say thank you. The last option won, although he really wanted to put one or two or three back. Too bad that wasn't an option without looking like a total loser for a) not knowing Kobe beef was $45.00 per pound or for b) failing to look at the price.  

We have eaten one of our steaks because clearly the rest are for special occasions only. Of the one we did eat, I actually think the little girls ate more than both of us. It about killed us to share. The delicious costly steak was practically wasted on little mouths with no ability to appreciate what they were eating. 

When I googled Kobe beef just now, I found something that said Kobe beef is one of the most highly coveted beefs in the culinary world. 

Greg now knows this. 

I am afraid of her teeth

Greg usually brushes the kids' teeth, but the other night they asked me to.  As I was brushing Autumn's teeth, I asked her to put her teeth together and smile so I could brush the front teeth. She did that, yet, her teeth weren't even close to touching in the front! Um, small child, can you do that again? She did and much to my dismay, the teeth matched up the same as three seconds before. 

This was one of those moments when you panic on the inside and yet try to look calm on the outside while you smile and say things like, "your teeth are amazing" and "I love when you put your teeth together like that". I couldn't let her see me panic, all the while I am secretly freaking out on the inside, wondering what this means and trying to decide which professional should be helping me. 

After studying these strange teeth while she sleeps, I am still not sure if the front top teeth need to be pushed back or if her bottom jaw should be shifted forward. Now, I haven't completely panicked yet because she still has a binky. The space in the teeth is definitely where the binky sits and there is a good chance things will move around when it is gone.  I am not in 100% panic mode yet. Soon, but not yet. 

Here she is with her teeth closed. 

Poor problem teeth child. She already had two bottom teeth grow in as one and now this. Now she is miniature with a mullet and weird teeth. Poor little thing. 

Blog for Ivy’s School–Elderberries

I blog for Ivy’s school and realized I those posts should be here as well. so here is one of them…...

In my quest to heal my family and stay healthy using natural remedies, I discovered the ELDERBERRY.  Cooked elderberries (raw, unripe elderberries can be poisonous) have been used for medicine for hundreds of years.  It is believed that elderberries can help with the flu, alleviate allergies, and boost overall respiratory health. (source)  Elderberries are an excellent source of Vitamins A and C and a good source of calcium, iron, and Vitamin B6.  (source) I came across one study showed that “symptoms of the flu were relieved on average, four days earlier and the use of rescue medication was significantly less in those receiving elderberry extract compared with placebo." (source)

So, how do you incorporate elderberries in your medicine cabinet? One of the most common ways to take elderberries is by making an elderberry syrup.  You can purchase the syrup already made, however….. making your own is so easy!  I used this recipe.  There are a few out there, but they only seem to differ with the measurement of ingredients.  

Making your own syrup:

Ingredients:

2/3 cup elderberries (I buy my elderberries here) which you can order here:
3 ½ cups water,
2 T fresh or dried ginger root,
1 tsp cinnamon powder,
½ tsp cloves or clove powder,
1 cup raw honey.  (I use raw local honey from the house down the street from the school.  Local honey has all kinds of extra benefits, plus I love supporting local businesses - and it is delicious!)

Directions

Pour water, eldberries, ginger, cinnamon, and cloves into a medium saucepan
Bring to a boil and then cover and reduce to a simmer for 45 minutes to an hour.  The amount of liquid in the plan will be reduced by about half.
Remove from the heat and let the mixture cool.
Pour through a strainer into a glass bowl.
Discard the berries.  Let the liquid cool to lukewarm and then add the honey and stir.
The standard dose is ½ tsp to 1 tsp for kids and ½ TBS- 1 TBS for adults per day.  When you feel any flu symptoms coming on, you can increase the amount by taking the same dosage but taking it 2-3 times per day. 

I have come across some information says you shouldn’t take elderberries for more than 5 days at a time, while I know that others take elderberries every day to prevent the flu during the entire flu season.  You just need to do what feels right for you.  We take it about once a week and my kids LOVE it, which is always a bonus.

Facebook

I have a confession - I check Facebook way too much. I have a busy brain and it is the perfect busy mindless task to take up time and space in my head. Let me explain how this works....When I have entirely too much to do and I don't know where to start... Check Facebook. When I am in the middle of something hard for work... Suddenly stop and check Facebook.  Look at the messy kitchen...check Facebook. Quite honestly, I don't know what I go there for. I mostly follow pages rather than people. The people post a link to something, I follow the link, that link goes somewhere else, and before I know it, I have a head spinning with information and got nothing done. 

I am addicted to information and Facebook is nothing good for an information junkie. 

In an effort to break the cycle, Emilee and I went cold turkey. We signed off until April with a rule: each time we sign on during the next month we have to put $1.00 in a jar and at the end of the month Angie gets all the money. Horrible, right? Now if that isn't a deterrent, I don't know what is.

It has been a little over a week and I cannot lie, it has been hard. I have even considered paying my $1.00 a time or two. I can't respond to a friend request, I can't reply to a message, I can't see what Food Babe has does recently, I can't look at my boot camp group page which tells me who is coming to my yoga class, and I don't know the latest home remedy that I could be using. It is amazing that I am still alive actually.  

So as we move into April, I am curious what happens. I am over checking it all day long, just because. But, can an information junkie with a jumpy brain check it once a day or once every few days?

I have a feeling the Facebook money jar will be around for awhile.  Not wanting to give Angie the money may be my only hope and works like a charm. (Especially after seeing her joy in the prospect of so much money... I must prevail!!)

These funny little people of mine

I had to get something done for work tonight, so I asked the kids to go lie down. Autumn had fallen asleep earlier and was already in bed. I was almost done and came up to check on them. 

I laughed as I saw Autumn lying there in what she calls her ballet dress. She insisted on taking off her jammies and putting on her dress. In fact, earlier I had walked away only to return to find her with her jammies off and her dress over her head with one arm in. 

I laughed as I looked at Ivy fully engrossed in an art project on the bed. (At 9:30 nonetheless) She was sitting there surrounded by crayons, markers, and scissors, with a lovely paper placed gently on my pillow as she dabbed a bit of glue on her project.  I saw her little feet sitting there covered with tights which are on under her pajama pants. This because she was convinced putting on her tights now would help her get ready for tomorrow. 

I also laughed as I looked over at Owen with his iPad on his legs blasting his new song- Party in the USA by Miley Cyrus. We had made a deal earlier in the night that I would buy him the song if he worked really hard on his homework and stopped complaining. With homework done, he was lying next to nighttime art project girl singing his heart out with his song on repeat.  As I walked in he smiled and kept singing.  He was not happy when I asked him to turn it down. 

The best part about all of this is the fact that none of this is out of the ordinary. Try as I might, I seriously have to wonder what a normal bedtime routine looks like.  

The rascally one

Autumn.

She is a character.  In fact, Angie and I even call her character.  She is teeny tiny, hardly has any hair, talks up a storm, and is full of sass, even at 2 and almost a 1/2. 

Last night we were lying in bed with the other two kids.  They had fallen asleep a few minutes earlier and I was sooo tired.  I kept begging her to lie down and go to sleep.  She on the other hand, kept turning my lamp on and off, on and off.  At one point I said, “Autumn, turn the light off, I don’t want it on”.  To which she replied, “Well, I do” and turned it on again.  I tried to stay stern but her little sassy words made me laugh.  I kept falling asleep and would wake up to click, click, click.  When I didn’t respond I heard a little voice and could hear the smile on her face as she said slowly, “Look what I am doing”.  Click Click Click. 

And it isn’t just me she loves to torture.

The other day Owen was holding something that was clearly his and she wanted it.  She was following him around the house crying, with Ivy by her side.  He started crying, cause she is so big and mean of course, saying that it was his and she was trying to take it.  He stopped in the kitchen to tell me what was going on and while we were talking, her small sleuth like self snatched the toy out of Owen’s hand and then she raced over to Ivy with a look of sheer joy on her face and proudly said, “Ivy, I got it!”.  Ivy looked so pleased with her.  I turned back and looked at Owen, crying, empty-handed.  It all happened so suddenly.  Owen causes them grief, but I am beginning to realize that one day (maybe a day not so far away), he will need as much protection from them as they do from him (and maybe more, those girls as a team may be serious trouble).

 

Rules to Live By

The kids were all going outside to play the other day.  As I was helping Ivy get ready to go out, I said, “Be careful outside and have fun, and don’t get lost”.  She turned to me and said back, “I know not to get lost”.  And with a small pause she finished by saying, “And, if a dog walks by, run in the house.”  Yep, that is right.  Be careful, have fun, don’t get lost, and if a dog walks by, run inside.  I think she has thought this through before.  

A Light Dusting–(This post was written in part in 2013 and in part today and yesterday)

THIS IS A SCATTERED POST!

That is all it really takes to cancel school around here.  I have been begging for the day to come when we had a break from school and I made it down to the last day… that is until they canceled school.  Doesn’t the school district realize that for the first time in my life we had teacher gifts ready to go to school today?  Homemade teacher gifts of lip balm and vanilla, complete with handmade cards by the kids that will now sit in little bags until January 6th.  I also wish the district would know how excited I was that we completed optional homework and it was packed up and ready to go in Owen’s backpack.  It was packed up the night before, this is big news around here.  We made it to the last day before winter break and we were ahead of the game… and now we are home.  I am cursing this day enough now and rest assured, when the end of June comes and we add that extra make-up day, I will curse it more. 

So what now? Well, I can’t be awake at 6:00 for nothing, so my blog at least deserved a post, especially considering I only have 11 days to remember 2013 as something other than the worst blogging year of my life.  I find with each child I have less room in my head to remember anything.  As new tasks and memories enter my head, old ones leave.  It is sort of like my head is full and something has to leave to make room for something else.  So thank you snow day for making me write stuff down…

Things worth remembering:

* Autumn loves eating “ficken” and “feese” and I adore making her say both.  Chicken and cheese sound so much better when they start with an f.

* Some words are cute when they start with an f, other words are a tad more dangerous.  For example: Chocolate Milk.  Out of Autumn’s mouth, it sounds a little like – fockit milk.  And yes, if you say that out loud, it sounds like you think it might.

* Owen made me mad this week last week and I lost all ability to parent nicely.  He was mean to me and wouldn’t practice piano.  He told me it was too hard and that we give up when things are hard.  It was late, I was tired. I transferred $60.00 out of his account into mine to pay for his lesson.  Sometimes you have to do what you have to do.

* Ivy is so competitive and loves to be perfect.  Evan did soccer this summer and after watching his first game, Ivy announced “You did good Evan, but you didn’t score any goals”.  And then there was the time Lyla couldn’t wait to tell Ivy that she learned how to buckle herself in her car seat.  Ivy looked at her and said very seriously, “Good Lyla, but can you unbuckle yourself?”.  She has good intentions, she just has has a heart of gold with high expectations.  Her poor little cousins.  She is taking gymnastics, swimming, piano, dance, and can’t wait for T-ball. 

* Greg is probably started a new job in Seattle.  I was very scared about the commute, but it is turning out ok.  He has to leave about an hour earlier than he used to and he rides the bus, which he says he actually doesn’t mind.  His work will reimburse him for the bus pass each month, which makes the commute almost free.  Greg seems happy at the new job and I am pleased to say we are settling in to the changes. 

* It is time to dust off the yoga mat…. teaching yoga starts started again on January 4th.  I cannot lie, it has been harder than I thought.  Having your own life with kids is not the easiest of tasks.  In fact, after we started teaching, Ivy moved to a two day a week gymnastics class that ends at the same time yoga starts.  Greg started working in Seattle instead of down the street.  We signed up Evan, Ivy, and Owen for T-ball and baseball and I signed up Greg to coach both of my kids’ teams and truth be told,  we have no idea how that will work! Everyday is a work in progress and thought. 

* Autumn needs a stylist.  Her clothes are awful and most days they are jammies.  The night before last she picked out yellow pajama pants with frogs on it, pink work out type shorts over the top, a blue shirt with a monkey on it, topped with a little pink hooded vest.  She wore that to bed, for her clothes yesterday, and last night.  We are hoping she gets dressed today, but really, that is up to her.  I don’t force the issue, I have places to go and trust me, we would not go if I intervened with her dressing plans. 

* Every single pair of Ivy’s pants has a hole in the knee, even the same knee. 

* Ivy and I got our hair trimmed the other day (Autumn invited herself in for a haircut as well and I am pretty sure she cut nothing off…it is hard to cut nothing off nothing) and Ivy is obsessed with it. 

* The kids are all still sleeping in my bed. (Owen comes and goes…comes when I let him, goes when he is in trouble)

* The kids love to “hip hip hooray” for things.  For example, “Mom, I earned a Frog Pride at school, we should give me 5 hip hip hoorays”.  And then we do that.  Autumn is my favorite…”Mom, my coughs are gone, let’s hip hip hooray for me”.  And then she throws her arms in the air, jumps up and down and cheers, hip hip hooray. 

* Owen wanted one thing more for Christmas than anything else…a suit.  My dad gave him a three piece suit complete with a pocket watch. 

* And finally, the kids went to the dentist the other day and had no cavities.  In fact, the older two have places we were watching and then dentist said the trouble spots were gone.  I almost died a little. 

And for the sake of finally posting.. the end. 

Long overdue pictures (and not enough)

Tea Party

Crazy Hair Day!

New Year's Eve!

A group of babies asleep on the stairs

Mystery phone selfies