news

4!

 

my little man turns 4 today. FOUR!!

he's so tall. i can barely sketch out my "baby" when i look at him. he has lots of ideas. which he ponders periously. sometimes our conversations about his 'ideas' span over 2days - 2 weeks. a few of his favorite subjects are: space & astronauts, dragons & dinosaurs, manufacturing factories, and art. all kinds.

he is still very sensitive to emotions - his and other people's. especially piper's. he tells me regularly what she thinks and needs. he asks me often if he's doing a "great job" at being a big brother. he cuddles on demand. every time. how long can that last??

he can swim on his own. write his first and last name. and, excluding the numbers 17 & 18, count to 20.

he also is infuriatingly slow. it is, literally, impossible to get levi to do anything fast. even his soccer game is at a leisurely pace. he firmly believes there are monsters in his room. and that his bed isn't "comfy"....like mine is. he ends up in my bed by 4am every morning. he refuses to go to bed before 10pm. he's trying to get out of taking naps.

once he knows he can do something, he doesn't want to do it anymore. 98% of the time he doesn't respond when spoken to. even by people he knows. sometimes because he's deep in imagination, sometimes because he just doesn't feel like it. and it's eerily hard to tell the two apart. one of our regular conversations is:

"hey buddy, when people talk to you, you need to talk back to them"
"... ... ..."
"so, when grandpa says, 'hi levi! how you doing tonite?', you say, 'i'm doing well, thanks'"
".... ... ..."
"say, 'ok mommy'"
"ok mommy"
we're working on it.

 

Birthday-Day Interview:
how old are you turning?: 4
what's exciting about turning 4?: now i can do lots of things. like i can draw a heart, ride bikes down hills, and eat gum. but i don't put it in my tummy.
what do you---: mommy? now i'm 4 i can be a daddy now?
not yet little man, what do you want for your birthday dinner?: watermelon, mangos, squash & broccoli.
what's your favorite thing to do?: swinging and drawing.
what's your favorite color?: black
what is your favorite show?: polar express when the boy is trying to catch up to the train. and star wars.
what is your favorite treat?: chocolate.
what do you want to be when you grow up?: hooooowwww aboooouuut.....a chicken.
what kind of a job does a chicken get?: OH! i thought you meant what i was going to be next halloween! i want my job to be a ark-tek. (architect)
who is your best friend?: everybody. i like everybody.

thanksgiving eve

 

 

it's the night before thanksgiving.

i'm busy cooking & baking.

piper is sitting (quietly) by the fire trying to string buses.

levi is (quietly) "helping" me cook.

my life, unconventional as it is, is, decidely, perfect.

and for that, i'm thankful.

grand canyon

 
we woke up sorta bright and only a little bit early.

we decided that NO ONE drives 40miles from the grand canyon entrance and doesn't go in.  the laws of logic required we go.

we were sharing a room with gracie & heidi and gracie is a notorious 5am riser, so that was something to look forward to. but the magic of hotel curtains bought us an extra 1h45m!!

logan and kenady were beside themselves about the hotel pool, and pretty much let it be known on the 5-hour drive the day before that we were NOT going to leave arizona without swimming in the hotel pool.

while the forrests were swimming, heidi & i took that time to lecture, and i do mean lecture, gracie and levi about staying RIGHT NEXT to us the entire time. no running, no pushing, no climbing trees. we walked that fine line of scaring-your-kid-so-bad-they-don't-wander-off-and-fall-in-the-grand-canyon-but-still-make-it-seem-like-a-super-fun-experience.

 somewhere in the 3-hours of lecture-questions-lecture-questions, we got to calling the canyon the "big hole", and had successfully acheived the perfect balance of fear & excitement. and then that all fell apart.

because our kids are 3. and so we tread lightly. but robyn and courtney's kids are 8-13. so they're allowed to pull out the big guns. words like "die" and "kill".

as we pulled up to the visitor center, courtney turned around in the van and let her kids have the "lecture"....older kid style.  and as we were getting out of the van and getting bundled up for our freezing day outside at the "big hole", robyn let her kids have the "lecture"...older kid style.

so as we started to walk, levi was holding my hand and said,
"mommy, if i fall in the big hole will we never see eachother again?"
again, with the "tell the truth" dilemna...
"umm.....no. no, we wouldn't. that's why i want you to always hold my hand, ok?"

and 2 minutes later my poor little man had, what i can only assume was, a panic-attack. he started dry-heaving, couldn't walk, shaking, and begging for water. i sat down with him on a bench and he clung to me. i tried to talk him off the wall. told him i would never take him somewhere that was too dangerous. that if he would just keep going, he would have a lot of fun. 

in the end, he only agreed to move if heidi piggybacked him. and she did. what a nice aunt.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

i went to the grand canyon about 10 years ago, and remember it being really overwhelming. it was this time too. you can't describe the grand canyon to someone. it's just literally impossible to adequately articulate the actual "grand-ness" of the canyon.

to add to the adventure, they had a "junior ranger" program the kids could complete. we picked up the books with the requirements, based on age, to be sworn in as a junior ranger. they ranged everywhere from nature bingo, to writing essays, drawing pictures, hiking, and answering historical & geographical questions. 

despite it being bitter, bitter, cold, we had A LOT of fun. we only spent a total of 4-5 hours there, but we really knocked it out:
1.all the kids got ranger-ized.
2.levi learned to love the big hole.
3. 2 unexpected bonuses from robyn:
        a) she honked the horn of our huge, red, 15-passenger van @ about....30 men who were standing in a parking spot that she wanted. what made it even more priceless is that there were about...100 other parking spots nearby, but....apparently that one was calling her name.
        b) after leaving the canyon, we decided to get some pizza before getting on the road. we had pulled in the parking lot and had just put the car in park when a HUGE tour bus pulled in next to us. robyn's eyes got huge, she yelled OH! and jumped out of the van, and began running, sweater flying behind her, 5 of our boys trying to catch up her, across the parking lot. you gotta see it someday.

 
 

 

 

 

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

that's always a good sign of a day well spent...right?

polar express

 

 

last christmas we wanted to go on the polar express. but we didn't know we wanted to until 4 weeks before christmas. so it just didn't happen. so this year we thought we were super-on-the-ball by planning it in september. but when we went to buy tickets, we found out that 4 months STILL isn't early enough!!

the ONLY weekend polar express had left was nov.19.  yeah, a week before thanksgiving even came! we took it. and since nothing screams "take-me-with-you!!" like my sister's in-law's 15-passenger van, we loaded it up....to the gills.  7 kids, 3 car seats, 4ipods, and 4 adults.  and about 30,176 snacks.  i wish i could say it was us worrying about the kids on a 5-hour road trip....but, let's be honest. we actually took the time to seperate out the for-mass-consumption-snacks, from "moms only" snacks. you know it's important.

levi watches polar express pretty much year round. and he has every minute detail memorized. so he was extremely excited.  which made me extremely worried. because i doubted it was going to be an exact recreation. but i was wrong....they did a REALLY good job!

 

 

The train station was all decked out in lights. There was a cute historic hotel with a huge christmas tree and a big fire blazing. THAT was hard to leave - it was freeeeeeezing!!  Mrs. Claus had a workshop where you could do some crafts, and write a letter to santa.

once we were on the train, levi was beyond reach: he had actually left this world and become the actual boy in the polar express. he wouldn't stop gripping his ticket with both hands because he knew it was going to blow outside. and...since he could see the wolves eyes out there funning alongside the train, he wanted to make sure they didn't get the ticket. he kept asking me where the boy is who needs to run to get on the train.

and here is where began what i didn't know would be a month-long conflict with myself.  this is my first year as a parent where i'm facing the "lies" of the christmas season. i'm pretty wierd about not giving levi pat answers, or blow-off explanations. we don't make up funny nicknames for bodyparts. i don't hide the real motives or reactions for adults from him. i don't decide he's too young to deserve to hear words that mickey mouse doesn't say. i'm sure i'm not the only parent to feel this way. but i just feel that with the life we have, that he has, he has to believe that i always tell the truth. ....so how does that work with the whole "santa" issue??? i'm not sure. hence, the month-long struggle.

we drank hot chocolate and ate cookies. we read the polar express story. we went to the north pole and saw santa and his elves. we sang christmas carols.  and then .... santa came on the train, and gave every kid their own silver bell. i thought levi's head would explode.

 
 
 
the kids all loved it. i think all the moms were pleasantly surprised. for sure we're going next year. my fantasy is that we gather enough people that we have our whole own car!!.....you in??

 

 

 

 

 

nursery

the time has come....

PICKLES GOES TO NURSERY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

if there was ever a little mama who needed to be in nursery, it was/is this one. i'll have to find some way to replace my usual "sunday calorie-burn", and maybe after a few weeks of actually listening to sunday school lessons i might miss our hallway-gym-foyer-gym-foyer-hallway-clerk's-office-make-a-break-for-the-sacrament-table relay races, but, for now, i celebrate.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

i tried to get a picture of piper for her "1st day of nursery" scrapbook page, but...she wasn't cooperating. at all. she would not stay in one spot. or even really look my way. even though i did some extraordinary dog "barking" in an attempt to gain her interest.

i actually wish i had a video of me following my daughter around in my church clothes looking through a camera and barking at the top of my lungs. while she pretended not to notice. cause it would be some good bob saget material.

but since church was starting in 5 minutes, and we live 15 minutes from the builiding, i gave up and made levi "hold" her on the piano bench.  notice the tight grip around her fist. and her left leg already making the move. and her "outta here" facial expression.  that's the best i could get in the 2 seconds it took to move away from the bench and squat down.  so....there you have it pickles. hope you like your scrapbook.

 

"fansome"

 

levi just added a new word to our family vocabulary.

"fansome"

it's to do with fashion. and combining the ever-desirability of being "fancy" with also looking "handsome".

fansome. fansome.

he said it to me the other day from within a 7-piece suit. "but mommy? do i look fansome?"

WHAT?? you've never heard of a 7-piece suit?

WELL! i don't know what fashion rock you've been under, but here on double oak street they are an everyday occurence,  or, er, everyday that i don't feel like fighting about it, that is.

7-piece suits include, but are not limited to, at LEAST 2 shirts, sometimes 3, a sweater, a tie, and a blazer. heaven forbid he leaves the house without a belt.

he plays in the backyard in leather wingtips. he climbs the tree in our front yard in $80, wool, lined, cuffed, pants. "those are your CHURCH pants!!" does not register with him. he puts on a tie to go to food shopping at walmart.

and while he does still allow me to "do" his hair, he definitly has opinions about which style hair goes with certain clothes. he checks with me several times while i'm doing the hair to make sure i'm doing the right hair.

i see him run through dirt, and jump in mud. i see him fall off his bike, and chop at trees and dragons and bad knights. i see him climb the rock wall, swing on his stomach. make rock castles and forts with our outside-towels. he's a whilrwind with glue sticks and scissors. but...amazingly....mysteriously...i never see him get dirty. he looks fresh from the drycleaner 99% of the time.

he's only had 1 scab "incident" in his life.

he doesn't drip food or drinks.

he got a 2 cenimeter orange marker line on his shirt at school. one time.

he asks me if he smells good.

he changes his underwear right before bed.

i know what you're thinking. and it's a valid thought. but, i say, nah. the rest of the dots just don't connect. he just REALLY likes....being.....fansome.

i organized his dresser with a "play clothes" drawer, and a "school clothes" drawer, and explained the difference to him. and that worked. for awhile.

but somewhere along the line he figured out that all the stuff he really wants needs to wear was hanging in his closet. that when I chose his clothes, i got them from the closet. that the closet was a goldmine of fancy-wear. and it was goodbye to the dresser clothes.

he started out by asking me to get him things from the closet. but there was much tussling and arguing in that route. now i regularly find the little stool from his bathroom in his closet.

 i smile at his resourcefulness. and i close my eyes and deep sigh at all the little hangers and suits and ties and sweaters spread around his bed in his search for the perfect combination.

last saturday my dad was at working in my garage and yard. levi was helping in one his 7-piece suits. my dad, watching levi climbing the tree and riding his bike and exploring the back of his truck, tried to explain to him that HE was wearing jeans for doing his saturday work. he suggested levi go change.

levi agreed, and came back out in a different church pants, shirt and tie. sans the blazer. i went back inside with him, and after much negotiation, we agreed on some jeans with a long sleeve, linen, button down shirt for his yard work.

when he was dressed for the third time i said "hey, you know what? you look great!" he gave me the "yeah, right" look. i said, "this is good levi. this is 'medium-fancy'. medium-fancy is good sometimes." he smiled.

this morning he followed me into piper's room to get her dressed.
"is she going to be 'fancy' or 'medium fancy' today?"
"she...is going to be....'medium fancy'"
"oh...ok. but i think she wants her hair curly today...."

great.

 

 

eating v. projects

we love chores at our house.

seriously.

the only thing i hate about chores is that i don't have enough time to do them.

but there is something very satisfying and rewarding about cleaning up.

as i've already discussed, levi loves to swiffer and vacuum. i was even heard bribing him into his nap by saying, "if you don't get out of bed, when you wake up you can swiffer."

and piper can put garbage in the garbage can like no one's business. unfortunately she's not super-good at discerning garbage from non-garbage, so i have to remember to check the bags. she even threw my visiting teacher's keys away. i bet when they thought, "let's run do our VT "real fast" they weren't factoring pickles in to the equation.... 

recently i decided to add a new chore to levi's list: set the dinner table.

when i first presented the idea to him he was excited. "yeah! i can do it!" and he ran to the dishwasher to gather his supplies. "i should have done this MONTHS ago!" i thought, and went about cooking.

i must have been making one of my gourmet meals, a-hem, because by the time i noticed he had set our place settings on the table in front of the tv.

"oh! hey buddy, you did a great job getting all the settings, but we need to get them on our dinner table!"
"i did. see? right there."
"but....our dinner table is over here...."
"no.  THAT'S our 'project table'. THIS is our dinner table."
... ... ...
... ... ...
... ... ...
"well said, son. well said."

our "dinner" table

 

 i love how not only am i having my 6-hour-old drink with my dinner, but that levi and i are sitting together and pickles is sitting alone. i love the subtleties of children.

our "project" table

maaaaaaaaa-ma!!

 

at piper's 1-year check up her doctor asked me how many words she knew. which caught me off guard. "um.....none."
"none?"
"nope"
"no words?"
"nope.are we at that time already?"
"does she say say 'mama'?"
-head shake-
"does she say 'daddy'?"
-emphatic head shake-
"no, really, she doesn't say anything!"

i guess it hadn't occurred to me that she was even old enough to be trying out words.  she's just my little baby pickles.  he told me to bring her back in two months to check.

14 months, still no words. not even mommy.  he tells me to read books with her (doi) and come back in 2 months.

16 months, we have a "ma-ma", but it's not used for just me. it's for any girl cousin/aunt/grandma AND grandpa & stewart. and.....that's about it.  he asks a few questions about comprehension & other activities, and decides we will wait another 2 months before something more drastic. gulp.

come on pickles!! say something! mommy doesn't have time for extra trips across town for speech therapy a few times a week.  yeah, i'm selfish that way.

18months, "ma-ma", still pretty much for a variety of people, but now we also have "E-I" (levi), and "no". an awesome linguistic collection, no doubt.

i tell the dr. that i feel a little ok about it because i know she understands language - she knows exactly what everyone is saying, and responds appropriately. (just ask levi. "mooooommmmeeee! piper says all the toys are hers!!)  he says that's NOT such good news.

that if she understands language and responds to it, but in a non-verbal manner, it may be because she is unable to speak. especially because she doesn't do a lot of "babbling". there was some technical terms, and a name of some diagnosis that doesn't allow the brain to transmit to the tongue, and....it all became charli-brown talk after that.

so, here we are, on our "last" 2 month break before he decides on those more drastic things. wish my little brown-eyed pickles good luck. cause i KNOW she has a lot to say....

parkapalooza

 
 
geographically we live in a place of extremes. tempatures, that is. for 9.5 months of each year we are shunned indoors for 88% of the day.  driven there by either blistering heat, or knock-you-down winds. so the other 2.5 months REALLY have to count. enter parkapalozza.

 
these are my cohorts, minus heidi.  who somehow managed to not be in ONE of the 247 pictures we took that day. i made a list of an ambitious 8 parks, packed an ice chest of sandwiches, drinks and snacks, and pawned pickles off on my dad.

i told the kids that we would spend 10 minutes at each park, so they better play-it-out good and hard upon arriving, listen for the parkapalooza train whistle to blow, and boogie back to the "train" before it pulled out of the station.

they each had a list taped to the window by their seat of 10 tasks they needed to accomplish somewhere in the 8 parks in order to win their prize, so they better budget their time well.

heidi and i started off so optimistic. i put piper to sleep and told my dad that she usually sleeps 3 hours, so we should be back by the time she got up, or shortly after.  i even wondered if i had enough parks.  yeah, i did. because parkapalooza lasted a sweet SIX HOURS!!

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

some of my favorite parts of the day are:
1. all of the kids were too shy to ask a new kid their name....except gracie. so they all took her with them to complete that task. made her do the dirty work. dirty work being saying, 'hi, what's your name?'

2. logan wondering what kind of park was going to have a wheelbarrow so he could complete the task of "have a wheelbarrow race".

3. the actual wheelbarrow race.

4. levi & gracie trying to give eachother a "high-5" on the swings

5. levi's shirt going mysteriously missing around hour 3 and spending the last 3 hours with him shirtless around town.

6. listening to kenady and logan in the very back plotting out the next park.

7. humiliating myself in front of other adults by blowing a train whistle after 10minutes and yelling, "ALL ABOOOAARRRD!!" in my best conductor voice.

8. around hour 4 heidi turning to me and saying, "hey, remember when we got up at 5am to have a yard sale and then spent the rest of the day working out at the park?"

9. around hour 4.5 me saying, "i wish so bad kenady and logan couldn't read....they know how many stops we're still supposed to do...."

10. pulling up to park #7 and the kids have been worrying since park #3 that there aren't any dogs for them to pet, so i point to the grassy area and yell, "there's a dog!", run to the grass and bust out my best dog imitation. apparently the "dog" side of my personality is a little hyper and somewhat bi-polar. happy and agressive. maybe i'm a pit bull.

...also apparently, lots of embarrassing myself that day, but hey, my "how to raise an extraordinary man" book says that if i want to REALLY know what my son wants/needs, i have to let go of my adult ego and act like a child. ***chick-chik*** sound of me crossing that off my "to-do" list...."

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 at the end of 8 parks not only had everyone completed all their tasks, but everyone could barely walk. our "prize" was supposed to be going to dairy queen, but....we had found out that piper had actually taken a 1 hour nap, and that grandma had taken over the babysitting gig somewhere around hour 4, so...we opted for the $1 store. quicker and closer. and...most importanly, they let 3 year olds without shirts shop there.

logan chose a horse painting kit, kenady a bag of candycorn (you're welcome robyn), levi a skelton lantern that he thought was darth vadar, and gracie a pumpkin lantern. levi was asleep 5minutes after we dropped everyone off...at 6:30pm. call us crazy, but i bet we'll do it again.