How We Are Planning This Summer

This summer, with two vacations to work around, we ended up not having the kids join a swim team or do any summer camps like they have in previous summers. (Mollie is doing tennis camp, but it is much less time-consuming than the other camps they have taken.)  With so much free time, it became increasingly obvious to me that we were going to need to actually plan out our days so we didn't just fritter them away.

Enter in the chart.  (I should come up with a better name for it ... it certainly deserves it.)  I started out making paper slips with different activities on them.  (I later on "laminated" them with packing tape to increase their durability.)

Then I pulled out a dry erase sleeve I had purchased years before - when trying to make another check list of sorts - and a piece of dry erase poster board that I had purchased to use in a Barbie classroom for Mollie's dolls.  We get together every day and work out a plan for what we are going to do either for that day if it's morning or the next day if we manage to get to it the night before.  I use poster putty to stick the slips of paper to the poster board, slip the whole thing into the sleeve, and then use dry erase markers to add details like times, food we're having, and the occasional picture.

I usually don't get this fancy with the pictures, but I had a little extra time and a little extra space, something that doesn't often happen on our busier days.

This system has worked for our family so far.  The kids are able to check to see when we have to leave for appointments or to go out to run errands, and, more importantly, they are able to see what to expect from the day.  I am able to remember better what I have "promised" the kids we'd do, and so far I think we've only had to scrap one whole day because plans changed.

I hope that this system won't go the way of the other systems we have tried in the past.  It is so easy to maintain, and I can always add new slips of activities and to-dos when the need arises.  For now, though, it's working for all of us, and that's really all I could ask for.

Back to School: Breakfast Time!

I'll admit: this is a weird post to start with since I haven't written anything all summer in forever.  But as I was making my kids' breakfasts this morning I started thinking about how their swim coaches (they were on a swim team again this last summer) reacted when they said what they ate every morning.  The coaches would go down the line and ask each swimmer questions, like "who is your favorite Star Wars character" or "what did you do this weekend".  On more than one morning, they asked the kids what they had for breakfast; often times the kids would answer "cereal" or "pop tarts" or "pancakes".  Then there were my kids.

Nearly every day for breakfast this summer (and for a bulk of the school year last year - and all of the school year so far) the kids ate the same breakfast.  They are creatures of habit and like to know what to expect when it comes to food, among other things.  I always try to make sure they start the day out right with a filling breakfast because I know how important it is for them ... and because I hate it when they get "hangry".

Mollie's breakfast is a homemade oatmeal concoction I started making for Baylor years ago and seem to have finally gotten down to a science.  It has five main ingredients: quick oats, raisins, raw honey, ground cinnamon, and 1% milk.  I start by putting about 3/4 cup oatmeal into a bowl.  In a microwave-safe cup, I heat up some milk (I measured it out today at about 1/3 cup plus 1/4 cup) for 45 seconds on high; if it isn't hot when I hold my hand over it, I will add another 10 seconds.

While the milk is heating, I sprinkle a decent amount of cinnamon over the oats.  This is largely based on personal preference.

Once the milk is hot, I pour some of it into the oats, usually just enough that I start seeing it puddle around the edges.  Hold on to the rest of the milk ... you're going to need that in a minute!

Then I take a soup spoon and dip it into our favorite raw honey, loading it up with as much honey as I can in one dip (not a scoop, mind you - that would be a lot of honey).  I'll use the spoon she's going to eat with to get all the honey I can off the soup spoon.

Next I add a little more milk and stir it all up, and it ends up looking like this:

Finally, I add raisins to the oatmeal.  This is about how much I put in Mollie's bowl; she basically won't eat a bite without a raisin in it, so I really go wild with the raisins for her.

Then, I stir them all in.  My kids like it when I poke all the raisins down into the oatmeal so they are no longer visible and then pretend like we ran out of raisins.  The better I sell it, the more they seem to enjoy it.  I don't really get it, but whatever works, right?!  I also usually add a little extra milk so it's kind of puddled; that way, when she takes forever to eat it it isn't nearly solid by the time she gets to the last of it.

Baylor's breakfast is much more simple; he eats a banana with peanut butter and a yogurt.  Lately we have been enjoying Yoplait Greek 100 yogurt; it's lower in sugar than a lot of other yogurts out there, and it doesn't have any added food coloring.  Plus, both kids have really enjoyed their flavor options.

Edit:  Since I started writing this post back in August, Baylor has also started eating oatmeal every day.  He likes his with way more cinnamon and not quite so much milk compared to his sister, but other than that they are basically the same.

And that's it!  The kids seem to enjoy their respective breakfasts, and it gets them through the morning pretty well.

I hope you have a great start to the school year!

* I have received no payment for endorsing any of these products.  We just really like this stuff and I think posts are more interesting with pictures.  

Seventeen in '17 Update: February

I realize it is already March, but I thought I'd better do my February update before much more time passed.

February was less of a blur than January, so I felt a little more aware of my time and a little more able to get a handle on some things.  Here's how my 17 in '17 list went this past month ...

1.)  Finish Amalia's room redo. - I did it!  I even got it started one day and was able to return to it within a couple of days to finish, thereby keeping it from falling into the projects-I-started-but-never-finished category.  Mollie even helped take some photographs while I worked on converting the frames into her gallery.

She was such a good little helper!

After all the frames were converted - eye hooks, filament wire, and small clothespins added - my dear girl told me how she wanted everything laid out.  We took this picture - which is, of course, sideways because my camera just couldn't figure out what was going on - to help us measure the space between each frame so I could get it up on the wall just the way she wanted.

I think it turned out pretty darn great, if I do say so myself.

Mollie also asked if we could figure out a way to allow her to put the titles of each picture up as well, just like a real gallery, so we added six 3M clips to the walls as well.  Once she added some of her artwork, it started looking like a real gallery!

2.)  Exercise at least five days a week. - I was not as successful here as I was last month.  I only exercised nine days out of the whole month, but there were some extenuating circumstances that did keep me active ... like physically bringing 114 cases of Girl Scout cookies into our home and then getting them distributed to other Girl Scouts and customers as quickly as possible.

I did manage to find my favorite Pilates DVDs (that I thought I had accidentally donated), so hopefully I'll be able to use them to round out my exercise routine and to fill in on the days when I don't have time to run on the treadmill.  Yay!

3.)  Clean off my desk and maintain it. - Nope.  This did not happen.  It is ever so slightly better in a couple spots and a little worse in others.  Hopefully I can tackle this a little bit more in March.

4.)  Get the unfinished side of the basement into a usable state. - I made a little headway with this one at the very end of the month.  I went through the gigantic mountain of boxes and whittled it down into a more reasonable stack, few of which are nested into each other making it easier to get at each and every box.  Some might contend that I have kept too many boxes, but I kept what I wanted and I am comfortable with that.  Hopefully I will be able to go through more of the basement this month.

5.)  Make/get the kids' Traveler's notebooks. - I haven't done this yet, but I did make the kids something I put in my own notebook.  I found the idea on several YouTube videos and thought it would be fun and simple enough for them to do.  It is called My Life in Pixels; each day you fill in a little box according to how you felt your day went.  Each color coordinates to a different emotion (e.g., happy, sad, angry) or state of being (e.g., relaxed, stressed, productive) that I can use to show how my day went.  I chose to use only one color for each day, but the kids have decided to split some or all of their boxes in two.

6.)  Stop eating by 9:30 p.m. - I was only successful with this 16 of 28 days, but the days I ate after 9:30 I did a reasonably good job of not overeating.

7.)  Get at least 7 hours of sleep each night. - I was actually successful with this two of the nights in February!  Is that even close to my goal?  Nope.  But it's two more nights than I was able to do in January, so it's an improvement.  Baby steps, right?

8.)  Write at least five blog posts per month. - I wrote four blog posts last month, and I would have had five if I had managed to get this written last month when I intended to.  Not too bad!

9.)  Keep the counter cleaned off. - The counter got pretty bad at a couple points this month (right around when the cookies arrived), but I was able to get it mostly cleaned off, at least at one end.  This end, though has been incredibly stubborn and is the pile I will be tackling in the next few days.  The thought of what important information might be hidden in there is uncomfortable for me.  

10.)  Make our quilt. - The quilt is still made and having it has increased the amount of times our bed has been made in the last month.  Score!

11.)  Find a new doctor. - This one sat on the back burner in February.  I am hoping to get more done with this in March so I don't end up having to delay any appointments.

12.)  Drink more water. - I am having trouble really telling whether or not I was successful with this because I haven't properly quantified "more" water.  I think this month is a good time to define exactly what that means and then try to reach that goal.

13.)  Add recipes to repertoire. - I did not add any new recipes this month, but my husband cooked a couple times and tried out some new things.  I did manage to add back in something we used to make a lot - fajitas!  They are awesome, but since they do somehow create a lot of dishes to do it'll have to be made on nights when we have a little extra time.

14.)  Take more pictures. - I took a decent amount of pictures in February, though it was a little more sporadic than January.

I took a bunch when the kids decided to clean the wagon at my parents' house on one of the nicer days of the month.

 And I took some when the guys worked on Baylor's whittling project for Cub Scouts - though most of them will remain in my computer since he did most of the work without a shirt on.  He did such a great job, though!  And with a real pocket knife, too!

15.)  Do something each week to support or further a cause I believe in. - This one was more difficult in February, if only because of the sheer onslaught of craptastic-ness that was coming out of Washington D.C.  If their strategy is to overwhelm us with the amount of awfulness they can achieve in one month, then they are winning.  But that is a different blog post.

16.)  Keep a gratitude log. - I was able to start up and keep a gratitude log this month.  It is inspired by the one Kara keeps over at Boho Berry, and I really enjoyed being able to use either script or pictures to show my gratitude.  Can't wait to use this again this month!

 And now for the 17th goal for this year ...

17.)  Teach Baylor and Amalia how to catch (and throw). - Yes, you read that right.  I want to teach the kids to catch and throw this year.  They are nearly eight-and-a-half and seven, respectively, and it is high time they learn this skill.  Even if they don't end up playing any sports where these skills are valued, it still would be nice to know that I could toss something to them and have them actually catch it.  We were able to formally practice one day last month, so I'm hoping that this month we can start in earnest.

Gotta hit the ground running for March!

That's What They Said: Fashion and Science Confound

This is just one long conversation this morning, and spacing it like I usually do was quite difficult to read, hence the extra spacing.

(While trying to pick out clothes on a particularly cold morning ...)
Me:  Baylor, did you pick out a blue sweatshirt?

Baylor:  Um, hmm.  (his current "yes" response)

Me:  (thinking he was going to be wearing blue pants with it)  Oh, Baylor, you're going to be a vision in blue!  Now, Amalia, I like this combination.  I think the long underwear are going to keep you warm enough today.

Amalia:  Mooooom, but I want to wear all one color like Baylor!  It's like being a spy!

Me:  Okay, well let's see what you've got.

(searches pant drawer and closet the little result)

Me:  Well, Amalia, did you know that not all spies dress up all in one color?

Amalia:  They don't?

Me:  No.  Sometimes they actually wear disguises.  Do you know what a disguise is?

Amalia:  What is it?

Me:  It's where you dress up like someone or something else.  You could do that today!  (she looks at me quizzically)  Do you know who you could dress up like?

Amalia:  (slightly pouting)  Who?

Me:  You could dress up like me!  I wear long underwear and jeans almost every day, and today I am going to wear an undershirt, a CuddlDud top, and a sweatshirt just like we picked out for you!

Amalia: But what is going to be on the outside?  You know, that everyone will see?

Me:  Jeans and my Michigan State sweatshirt.  (seeing that she was unhappy about the MSU sweatshirt)  And while I know YOU don't have an MSU sweatshirt, I know your brother does.  I bet he'd be willing to lend it to you.  Plus, my sweatshirt is a little big on me and his would be a little big on you!  What do you say?

Amalia: (looks at me even more skeptically)  Well, ...

Me:  AND, Mollie, did you know that people actually think you look a lot like me?

Amalia:  (surprised and skeptical)  They do?

Me:  Yes!  I get that all the time.  And I even have proof online.  I posted a picture of you wearing that red jumper online - because you looked so cute - and I had SO MANY people say how much you looked like me!  I had friends from when I was little say, "Oh, Nicole, she looks JUST like you!"  (seeing her doubting all this)  And, I had a friend from college, college, say, "Nicole, she is like a little mini you!"

Amalia: (clearly unhappy)  But people will look at you and see you are an adult and see that I am a kid!  And how do I look like you?

Me:  Well, maybe they'll think I got shrunken down or something.  And as for you looking like me, well genes are a funny thing.

Amalia:  (quite perturbed)  Mooooom, I don't like jeans!  (explaining it to me)  I just don't see them in my drawer.  I look and look, and on gym days or even not gym days I wear the other things in my drawer.  Not anything from this (the jeans) pile!

Me:  (smiling)  I know, and it boggles the mind, my dear.  I wear jeans every day!

Amalia:  Well, I don't.

Me:  Okay, well, I am going to let you make the decision.  I think Grandma will really like the outfit we have picked out here, but if you want to change it that is fine.  Just make sure whatever you choose is warm enough.  And please bring it down when you guys come down for breakfast.  Oh, and if you do want to wear your brother's MSU sweatshirt, it is already downstairs and it's clean.

Amalia:  Okay.

Buddy, You Are Braver Than You Believe ...

Today was a big day for Baylor.  With a new change in school policy, I was going to have to sign in and pick up a badge every morning to walk him to his classroom through the school, and knowing how late we usually run I knew this would only make us more late (and me feel even more guilty for being just a little behind every day).  So, we decided that he was going to need to start walking himself to his classroom.  When I first brought this up last week he was very, VERY resistant to the idea; he was just sure he wasn't brave enough or that he was going to walk into a wall and get hurt.  We talked about it over the weekend, though, and worked out a reward system to get him started on it.  This morning we went over the plan, that he would get a star for each day he walked to his class by himself and after five stars I would buy him a treat at swim school after his lesson, not making him pay me back for it ... which he really hates doing.  On the way to school, he asked if we could make it less than five stars since he was really nervous about it and it was really new to him, and I agreed that that was a good idea.  So after two stars, he'll get a prize of some sort, then after three he'll get his swim school treat, then he'll need five next week to get the same treat.

Still, I wondered if he was going to be able to do it, if his courage would come through.  I knew the motivation was good enough and his smiles told me that he really wanted to.  But, nerves being what they are, he started to get upset a bit when we got inside the school.  I walked him past the gym and just in front of the office for our little send off. I told him I'd be waiting right there until he got to the end of the hallway and had to turn.  And wait we did.  He slowly, slowly sidled his way down the hallway, sliding his right arm along the wall to ground himself now that he was alone.  When he came to the opening for another hallway, he darted across with parents admonishing him to get to class, the bell had rung.  He slid along the wall a little more then scuttled a bit, cutting the corner before the library.  His principal was watching with me, happy to see the little man getting a little bit more independent, and he said he'd go make sure Baylor got to class alright.  Then he bounded off as we saw Baylor hesitantly round the corner out of my sight.

I will say that not getting to walk him to class was a little hard on me, much more so than I thought it would be.  That extra bit of independence takes him one step farther from the little baby I cared for, the little toddler whose hand I held, and I felt almost a little bit of a loss today as I watched him trek off alone.  I know that the future only holds more of these moments, so I'm bracing myself for more floods of memories and accompanying feelings.  And I don't know if it will be more difficult because I'll likely have to force his hand a bit, pushing him toward the independence that so many kids are more than happy to embrace, all the while wishing I had a little more time to hold that hand, stand nearby for that extra hug.  I just have to hope that he knows I'll always be there for him, ready with a hug or a smile whenever he needs it.

Ultimately, I'm so proud of my little guy for doing something he was so scared to do; he hates the idea of being more independent and really likes having someone familiar nearby when he is venturing out, even if it is some place he's been many times before.  This is a huge step for him, one I've been hoping for since the first day of school, and I hope he felt proud of himself for his efforts.  I know I certainly am.

A Year of Gratitude: Day 310

Today I am grateful that Mollie and I had such a good day together.  She's been a bit out of sorts with her brother at school all day (and then dealing with the attention he gets when he comes home in the afternoon), and until today she had been acting out accordingly.

But today she was sweet and helpful and surprisingly patient, and it was so much fun running errands with her and just getting to spend time with my little lady.

Have a wonderful night!

A Year of Gratitude: Day 298

Today I am grateful that the kiddos and I got a chance to walk through Baylor's new school and learn more about how his days will go.  I definitely felt better after I learned more, and I hope Baylor did as well.  *sigh*  I can't believe kindergarten is already here.

Have a wonderful night!

A Year of Gratitude: Day 261

Well, it's another marathon dinner at the Jacques household.  The kids are going on an hour-and-a-half, and Mollie has barely touched her food.  It's infuriating really, the way they jabber on and on, seemingly oblivious to the food in front of them.  When this sort of night happens, and it happens quite frequently, I want to pull my hair out, scream, pout, cry, fall asleep, and a whole other litany of other tantrum-like behaviors.  They take so long because they are chatting with each other, laughing and making up stories, and how do you get them to stop that long enough to put food in their mouths?  At this point I'd be cool with talking with their mouths full if they'd just eatforcryingoutloud!

But, as infuriating as it all is, I will say this: I am so very grateful that they are friends and enjoy each other's company so much.  They laugh and make faces at each other and generally have a great time just chatting with each other.  It could be so much worse; they could hate each other and spend the whole meal screaming and yelling at each other, thus causing dinner to take forever for a much worse reason.

So, tonight I'm grateful that my kids are friends.  So very grateful.

Have a wonderful evening!




P.S.  This does not, in any way, mean that my kids never fight with each other.  On the contrary, they get on each other's nerves at least once a day, oftentimes much more.  But they always end up coming back to enjoying each other's company, and that's what I'm so grateful for.

A Year of Gratitude: Day 195

Today I am grateful for how this morning started.  I woke up exhausted and had a tough time getting through my shower with any sort of speed, but when I got downstairs something magical happened: I actually got stuff done.  I put away a bunch of the kids' toys in effort to curb the crazy messes they've been making lately, I cleaned off most of the island, I got rid of toys that needed to be gotten rid of (Wendy's kid's meal toys, anyone?).

And not only was it wonderful because I was being productive, but because I had been productive (and had still managed to check my e-mail and scan facebook for any earth-shattering updates) I was able to feel ready and glad to see Mollie when she woke up.  (Baylor, too, but he woke up after her, and that second wake-up is typically less jarring for me.)

Here's hoping I can hold onto that feeling and start to make my mornings better!

Have a wonderful night!

A Year of Gratitude: Day 157 (a day late)

Today I am grateful for the calendar grids I have printed out.  I'm hoping that I can use them to keep track of things around here, namely what we've eaten and which loads of laundry I've done on which days.  (You wouldn't believe how time flies in between washings!)

Anyhow, they make me feel like I might be on the right track and that's always a good feeling.

Have a wonderful day!

A Year of Gratitude: Day 105 (a day late)

Today I am grateful that I am working on getting onto more of a cleaning schedule.  The kids moved our kitchen bar stools into the living room to play with them the other day, and the felt circles on the feet (a.k.a., dust collectors) left a whole bunch of grey dust bunnies on the carpet.  After announcing that I would be vacuuming, Baylor asked me, "Is this spring cleaning?"

Yeah, it is so rare that I vacuum (among other things) that my son thinks that the simple act of vacuuming is a big spring cleaning event.

So, after this lovely little wake-up call, I'm working hard at staying on top of the cleaning around here.  It won't be easy; mealtime alone is a nightmare ... syrup, rice, crumbs of all shapes and sizes, among other things, seem to somehow be magnetically drawn to the floor and the counter top and people's shirts, but not their plates or bowls or mouths.  *sigh*

I digress.

I'm grateful this is happening.  I am grateful that this "big spring cleanup of 2013" will be the impetus for change around here.

Have a wonderful day!

The Kids These Days: 2.5 and 4 Years

Well, well, well ... I am finally getting around to writing this, nearly four months after starting it.  I realized that Mollie will be three years old in just under two months over one month now (yes, I've been trying to write this for that long), and she's not technically even two-and-a-half anymore.  *sigh*  The good thing is, all the things I was going to write about still hold true, so that's something, right?  Anyway, here goes ...

Amalia, my little lady, is now two-and-a-half years old, a fact she is actually able to tell you about now.  She is really easy to understand and seems to have a wide vocabulary, but there are still words here and there that she mispronounces.  She used to have a bunch, but slowly they've been replaced by correct pronunciation and quite frankly it makes me a little sad; I miss her calling water "yaya", sleep sheep "beep beep", and the like.  All it took was a quick correction by me and the cute little toddler talk vanished, and while that's great I am - rather selfishly - choosing not to correct some of her mistakes just yet.  For example, she just butchers the word "your"; it comes out something more like "thurrr" and it's adorable.  Plus, people don't know what she's saying, so right now I can get away with it if she insults someone - which she has been known to do.  (More on that later ...)  She also says "bobbin" instead of "bottom" ... cute beyond words.

So, the insults ...

A little while ago a new person came to our house for a visit, and as per usual, Mollie wouldn't speak a word to her.  After the woman left, Mollie looked me right in the eye and said, "I didn't like her face."  Yeah, she said it.  I was shocked, to say the least, and she followed it up with, "I didn't like her face and I didn't like her."  At that moment I was intensely grateful for her shyness, otherwise I could totally see her saying that to the person's unappealing face.  (The woman's face was actually quite pretty; I think that's just how Mollie was expressing her discomfort at having a stranger in the house.)  Ordinarily, though, Mollie is quite complementary.  Really, I swear!

Recently, Mollie started saying, "When I get tall like Grandpa E ..." and finishing it up with what she is looking forward to doing when she is older.  Grandpa E is the gold standard in our family for those who want to be tall, so I can't blame her.  (Trust me, I wanted to be as tall as him - which is about 6'3" - when I was a little girl; at 5'4" I clearly fell a little short of the goal.)  And her list of things that she'll do when she's as big as he is includes potty train, drive, and like certain foods.

My lovely girl has, blissfully, decided to skip the whole princess phase and declare herself a queen.  Yes, a queen.  She proclaimed it one day as she was wearing a pink floral corduroy dress from back when Christine and I were kids (literally ... it was one of our dresses; Mom saved it) and was feeling particularly fancy - it has poofy sleeves and lace around the collar and wrists, after all.  A week or so later we decided I would be the queen mum.  And it is wonderful.

Amalia has an imaginary brother named Andy-brother that she speaks of frequently.  I am apparently not Andy-brother's mom and Bryson isn't Andy-brother's dad so I'm not exactly sure how they are related, but she thinks of him as a brother all the same.  He is of varying ages depending on the day, though she often makes him younger than herself.  She also, occasionally, has a sister named Mollie.  Andy-brother and imaginary Mollie live in my Mollie's imaginary pink house.  She created it in her mind months ago and talks of it regularly.  Baylor also has an imaginary house, blue of course, where his imaginary brother lives.  He is also of varying ages and often gets to do things Baylor wishes he could do (e.g., drive a car).

Mollie has three dolls now that she cares for on a pretty regular basis, Sally, Colin, and Adele.  She loves to pat them, put them to bed, feed them on occasion (Colin spent the bulk of one day in a high chair "eating" a salad, a.k.a. a piece of play lettuce), and so on.  She's very caring and considerate with them and often likes to take them all out with us.  I usually put the kibosh on that unless we're going to Oma's house, and then it's an adorable free for all as Mollie tries to figure out how she can carry them all to and from the car (one of our rules for Oma's house is that if you're going to bring something, you have to be able to carry it yourself ... I have enough bags to carry, thank you very much).  When it was just Sally, before she had really taken notice of Colin and Adele who have been around longer, she used to have her sleep on the glider in her room and would kiss the "boo boo" on her forehead (a blue mark left by an errant toy no doubt) and both of her eyebrows.  It was adorable and so sweet.  Now that there are three of them, she's less consistent with where they sleep, typically either bringing them into bed with her or leaving them downstairs altogether.

Dear Amalia isn't all sugar and spice, though.  She has a stubborn streak a mile wide (wonder where she gets that from ...) and has been known to throw a fit every now and then.  Her favorite and most signature move is a general slumping of the shoulders when she is displeased with something.  It's very dramatic, though it elicits more laughter than sympathy at this point.

Both kids hate it when I make dinner every night, mostly because it means I can't go play with them in the living room.  I try to get them to keep me company in the kitchen coloring or reading, but they can only do that for so long before they get restless.  (I am one of the slowest cooks in history, able to stretch a "15-minute meal" into a two-hour long ordeal.  They have time to get bored, believe me.)  For a while there, they would both freak out any time I would pull my hair back in a pony tail (like I do when I make meals), with Mollie often moaning, "Don't make dinner now, Mommy!"

Mealtime in and of itself is a bit of a test of wills and patience at this point.  They both tend to be kind of pokey eaters who would much rather talk than feed themselves.  We often end up feeding them, though for Baylor especially this seems a bit ridiculous; we've tried to just let them feed themselves, but then dinner ended up being hours long and even more torturous.  The best nights are when we have some of their favorite foods, as those tend to be the nights that they actually scarf down whatever I've made.  Lately those favorite foods are tortellini, pizza, and - Mollie's favorite - tacos.  Sadly, I don't feel comfortable just keeping those three foods in constant rotation, so we have to endure slower-eating nights quite often.

Mollie and Baylor are both digging The Beatles something fierce right now.  We listen to their number ones CD on constant repeat in the car, and they have their favorites they look forward to hearing (Mollie loves "Ticket to Ride" and Baylor loves "Daytripper" and "Hey Jude").  Every time I see the track number display flip back to "1" I heave a small sigh, but then I remind myself that we are listening to The Beatles and not Kids Bop or The Wiggles or something else equally annoying and I smile.  John, Paul, George, and Ringo, I salute you!

Baylor is really getting into reading these days and has started up some chapter book series.  We started out with the A to Z Mysteries by Ron Roy, but we stalled out at G when they didn't have it at the bookstore.  (Yes, I buy him the books ... for a few reasons.  One, he can be hard on books, and as we've already returned a few library books damaged I didn't want my card revoked for the rest of eternity.  Two, he actually reads and rereads them all the time; his "rest time" consists of him sitting in his bed reading books for an hour or two and most of the time he chooses chapter books.  And three, I'm hoping Mollie will get into them someday, and it'd be nice to have them already on hand when the time comes.  Plus, she loves just about anything Baylor loves, and I'm hoping to use that to my advantage when it comes to getting her to love reading.)

Anyhow, I digress.

He is now working his way through the Magic Tree House series by Mary Pope Osborne, having received books one through four for Christmas.  These, and the aforementioned mystery books, are great, but they are for a bit more mature of a reader than a four year-old so we've had to do a bit of explaining and a bit of calming down when things got too intense.  (He had a particularly rough time when a T. rex was introduced in one of the books.)  On the upside, he's learning some pretty impressive words like "precipice" and "samurai", and our dictionary is getting a workout.

Baylor is getting into the whole Star Wars thing, though he hasn't seen any of the movies yet.  He initially became interested in them when he saw a bunch of cool-looking Star Wars sets in a Lego catalog, but his interest was piqued even more when I checked out a copy of R2-D2 and Friends at our local library; he spent about four weeks (I renewed it once) pouring over it and memorizing it with little effort.  I'm looking forward to watching the movies with him someday, but I am pretty certain he's too young for that right now.  All in good time.

Speaking of Legos, Baylor still loves them.  (Shocker, right?)  He has a bunch of sets, but he rarely does them by the instructions anymore.  Instead he prefers making "Baylor originals" or "creations" as he calls them, occasionally referencing the instructions for tips on how to make this or that.

Baylor is also into the cash register he got from Santa this past Christmas.  It has a bunch of educational games on it, and from those Baylor has learned all the names and values of the coins and is working on learning how to add and subtract.  It's pretty amazing to watch him at it, and for something that most people would consider a bit too "educational" Baylor really seems to find it fun.

Baylor is a very glass-is-half-full kind of kid.  He's always looking for the silver lining in any situation.  Your team didn't win?  Don't worry, the other one did!  I don't want you to read the story tonight, Daddy, but you can snuggle with me!  On top of that, he's always looking for the best in people; he doesn't want anyone to be mean or hurtful.  Take this recent interaction as a prime example ...

Baylor, after his rest time, told me he wanted to be a villain and I would be the hero.  I was pretty surprised by this as he's only recently been even remotely open to the idea of good guys vs. bad guys, so I agreed.  However, I had to go to the bathroom first, so I told him I'd be right out to play.  While I was in there, I could hear him scamper into the kitchen, read a magnet off the fridge, laugh, and run away again.  After I finished up, I paused at the desk to check my e-mail.  All of a sudden he cackles at me and slams the French doors right next to the desk saying, "I'm locking you out, Mommy!"  Then he blew raspberries on the door for good measure.  I asked, "Are you being the villain?"  He grinned and said that he was, then he told me that he had stolen something and pointed to the magnet from the fridge I had overheard him reading.  I smiled then dashed around the stairway and into the living room and tackled him.  "You got me!" he shrieked, then he sat up very seriously and said, "I am sorry for stealing that.  I will be better in the future."  Worst.  Villain.  EVER.  And I love him all the more for it.

He's also quite complimentary.  Quite often he'll come up to us and say something like, "I like your shirt!" or "I like your hair!"  It's super cute, and it's nice to see that he understands how complimenting someone makes them feel good.

But believe me, Baylor isn't perfect; he has his quirks and issues just like the rest of us.  For example, he is not a morning person.  Let me repeat that ... he is NOT a morning person.  On non-school, nowhere-to-go days, I let him sleep in as long as he likes; he needs the sleep, so I'm happy to just let him go.  School days, though ... ugh, school days.  He really needs to be woken up by 7:00 so we can leave sometime around 8:20 and make it to school on time, and waking him up then does not guarantee that we won't have to hurry.  Sometimes he's so tired that he grabs his blanket and pillow as I'm scooping him out of bed and proceeds to lay his head down at the breakfast table.  *sigh*  High school is going to be a real treat, I can already tell.

Baylor also, for whatever reason, likes to try out just about every public restroom he runs across.  If we're eating at a restaurant, you can almost guarantee he'll have to use the potty at some point, most of the time just so he can see it.  And while restaurant bathrooms are certainly his favorite, he isn't above "needing" to use the potty at Costco or Target.  Unfortunately, he hates hand dryers, so we have to do a lot of careful observation when we first enter a bathroom to prepare for the possibility that he'll have to endure the noise of a dryer at some point.  (Costco is definitely the worst for this; he ended up crying in the stall the other day because they have those terribly loud Dyson Airblade hand dryers and the bathroom was busier than I had realized.)

My little man has a bit of a love/hate relationship with the homework he gets in preschool.  He usually has fun doing it once he starts, but man does he put up a fight to get there.  It's been getting a little better as of late, but now we have a new problem: for a while he was writing his name on his paper just as he should (okay, maybe a little bigger, but whatever ...), but now he has decided to be artsy with his "signature" and creates little stories with the letters.  Oh look, the L is holding the O and R!  Or hey, the B has a hat on!  I often want to write a note with each assignment to let his teacher know what is going on in each crayon stroke, but I try to refrain and let Baylor's work speak for itself.  I have a feeling I'll be fighting this urge for many years to come.

Both kiddos have been testing their boundaries lately, and it's getting a little tiring for me.  I have a pretty firm "whining will not get you anything" stance, and have for quite some time, but recently they seem to have decided to test my limits.  Just how far can we push Mommy until she caves?  Unfortunately, it often ends with them crying a bit and me feeling a little guilty over holding my ground.  I feel so strongly about them not being spoiled and getting their way all the time, though, that I'm willing to endure a little unhappiness if it helps them cope with disappointments later in life.  *sigh*  But that is a much larger issue for another post - should I get around to writing it.

So that's it!  Actually, that's just the tip of the iceberg with the kids; there is so much more to them than I can really relate here.  But I want to hit the highlights of how they are now so that someday, way down the line, I'll remember their sweet little selves at two-and-a-half and four.

A Year of Gratitude: Day 67 (a day late)

Today I am grateful for actually being able to squeeze in a workout this morning!  Baylor had school today, which usually means I have to get up and get ready as fast as I can without exercising, but today I tried getting up, doing 20 minutes of Pilates (this DVD is great!), then getting ready and it worked!  Plus, I felt energized and ready for the day.  Always a bonus.

Have a wonderful day!

Bryson in Asia: My Cowgirl and The Little Workers

Mollie and I have been a little at odds with ourselves now that Baylor is in preschool in the morning.  Most days we end up going to the grocery store to pick up a few things and ride Sandy, the penny mechanical horse at the entrance to Meijer.  Mollie even took Sally for a ride one day!

We also end up at Minds in Motion quite a bit, mostly because we have a few kids' birthdays to shop for at the beginning of October.  One day while I was there, I noticed they had kids' rakes on clearance, so I scooped them up in hopes that the kids would help me tackle the enormous carpet of leaves we had on our front lawn.  

They gave it a try, to be sure.

But the help was short-lived, and they ended up mostly wandering around nearly hitting each other in the face with their rakes.

Oh well, maybe next year.  For now they make handy landscape rakes!

Baylor's First Day of Preschool!!!

After missing his introduction to preschool and his first real day of school, Baylor finally got to go on Monday, September 10th.  Decked out in his solar system t-shirt and light up fire truck shoes, he was excited to go.

Nothing can get a kid excited quite like finally getting to use a new backpack.

Complete with Lego luggage tag!  (It's the red thing hanging near his shoulder.)

My mom stayed back with Mollie so I could focus my attention on Baylor, and I was so glad she was able to help out.  (Thanks again, Mom!)

At school, he stood outside the car and admired his Lego two-pocket folder while I tried to get another good picture of him.

We walked to the door to wait for the teacher to welcome them in ... and his nerves kicked in.  He wanted to hold my hand, and I wanted to hold back the tears.  My baby was going to school.

Once he got inside, we deposited his folder in the folder bin, hung his backpack, hat, and coat on his hook (his symbol - since most preschoolers can't yet read - is a monarch butterfly ... I just love it!), and found his name on the cluster of tables in the middle of the room.  Table time that morning consisted of a different puzzle for each kid, and - as luck would have it - Baylor was not thrilled with the one he got.  So much so that he didn't want to sit down.  (It was also, likely, that he didn't want to sit so close to another kid, but that's preschool, kiddo!)  Eventually, I got him to sit down, gave him a hug, and left as quickly as I could.  I had to make a quick stop in the office to pay for preschool; they probably thought I was a nut job as I barely talked, but it was because I was desperately trying to hold back tears.  Halfway to my car I began sobbing; I knew he was okay, but he looked nervous so I was worried.  And I was going to miss him like crazy.  Thankfully, I had to go grocery shopping immediately afterward so I was forced to dry my eyes ... less I end up looking like a hormonal lunatic.

The best part of the whole day was that he loved it!  He loves school.  I can't even say it without smiling.

On Wednesday, we both felt a little more comfortable and a little more prepared.  Mollie, on the other hand, did not.  She did not like going to school with me to drop her brother off; she wanted to stay with him and play.  Going home felt weird without Baylor, so she and I went out and did a little shopping.  We were going to go to Toys R Us to get a gift for Mollie to give to Baylor at his party and to scope out the dollhouse gear. Of course, they didn't open until 9:30, so we drove over to the Hallmark where I used to work to kill some time and get him a card.  And of course, they don't open until 9:00, so we stood outside and waited for the doors to open.

Mollie posed for me in her sassy little outfit and we hugged and snuggled until 9:00.

We chose some cards, chatted with the clerk, and then headed to Toys R Us where Mollie and I picked out a Lego mining set for Baylor.  Mollie was a little mopey the whole time; when I asked her why, she told me she missed Baylor.  I'm so glad they like each other enough to miss one another even at this age!  Soon enough we picked him up and headed home.

It's taking a while to get used to, especially the getting-up-early party, but we're quickly becoming accustomed to our new normal.

The Kids These Days: 28 Months and 3.75 Years

So, the kids these days ... they are a handful.  In a (mostly) good way.  Let's start with the little lady, shall we?

Amalia is now 28 months (nearly 2.5 years) old and is embracing it whole-heartedly.  By and large we escaped Baylor's twos without much terrible, but Mollie is making sure we get the full parenting experience and has shown us what two can really mean.  It's like living with a little bipolar person (though not nearly as severe or serious; I do not mean to make light of that condition); one minute she's happy-go-lucky, bouncing off the walls, and generally having the time of her life, and the next minute she's in full-on meltdown mode.  It can be quite draining, but most of the time she's wonderful, a little girl full of silliness and laughter.

It is getting much easier to understand her these days.  She still has a few word hangups, for example  "stick" comes out "dick", "water" is still "ya-ya", "sometimes" is "dumb-dimes", "pillow" is "pee-yoh" (like she speaks Spanish or something), "clock" is "cock", and "girl" sounds like a load of marbles in her mouth.  But by and large she's coming along nicely in the language department ... too well, sometimes.  Mollie will repeat just about anything she hears.  I believe the other night at dinner she said "hell" after hearing it from her grandpa, but luckily she smiled sneakily and whispered it so really only I heard it.  And hopefully she'll forget it just as quickly as she learned it.

Pink is, hands down, her favorite color, much to my chagrin, and she applies it to everything.  For a while she said her doll had a "pink mommy/mama"; when pressed as to who this person was, she replied, "Aunt (Chris)tine".  She has an imaginary pink house that she claims is at "Rivertown".  When pretending to drive in a car with Baylor, hers is ALWAYS pink.  And, if given the choice, I believe she would wear pink head to toe every single day and generally look like a Peep.  I'm not a huge fan of pink and how companies seem to lure girls and their parents into buying this or that simply because it's pink, but she genuinely loves the color so I'm trying to just let it go.

Every night before bed, Mollie likes to put her doll, Sally, down to sleep.  She'll lay out the sleeping bag Oma made for Sally, put down her pillow, snug Sally's toy mouse in, and then slip Sally in, pushing the covers down to keep her warm.  Then my favorite part happens; she'll give Sally her goodnight kisses, once on the forehead where Sally somehow got a boo-boo (something blue made a mark there and I can't, for the life of me, get it to come off), and once on each eyebrow.  She loves her Sally so much and tries to take such good care of her.  I say "tries" because lately she's been piling all of her sleep-time pals, including Sally, into my lap and then sitting on them.

Someone must have told Mollie that a woman has a right to change her mind because the little lady does it on a daily basis in some of the most infuriating ways.  I'll ask her what she wants for lunch, she'll tell me, I'll check and double-check that that's what she wants, then I'll put it down in front of her and she'll whine and say she wanted something else.  Ways like that.  Unfortunately for her, no one told her that I'm not going to encourage flip-flopping around here and she's stuck with what she asked for in the first place.

As I mentioned in a previous post, watching Monsters Inc. traumatized Mollie and took away my superstar sleeper.  (Seriously, she used to ASK to go down for a nap ... it was AWESOME!)  Now before bed every night and nap every day, she tells me that she isn't tired and needs her back rubbed.  Part of this is likely a new habit, but I don't want to make sleep time a bad experience for her so I'm indulging it a little at this point, though I flat-out refuse to rub her back 'til she goes asleep.  It isn't good for either one of us.

Mollie is a doting younger sister to Baylor; she adores him and all he does, and it makes my heart happy to see how well they get along.  (Most of the time anyway ... no one is perfect, you know!)  When she gets up before he does, she'll come in with me to get him, crawl onto his bed, get right up next to him with a hug, and say, "Hey, buddy!" or "Good morning, Bayor!"  Bless his heart, this is usually met with a chuckle and an appropriate response.  He really does a great job of dealing with the adoration and aping she is into right now; it can't be easy living with your fan club, after all.

Speaking of Baylor ...

He is a wonderful little boy, warm and loving just like I'd hoped he'd be.  He's quick with an "I love you" to those he's closest with, and he still likes to snuggle ... something I hope he never loses.

Have I mentioned, though, that he is a talker?  Like an all-day, non-stop, run-on sentence, holy moly talker? From weaving new stories to telling old ones, from planning out the day to re-imagining it, from questioning each and every person he meets on how to get to and from their house to telling everyone he meets how to get here or there, he's a chatterbox.  I love hearing him talk and marveling at all the amazing things he comes up with, though sometimes it does get to be a little much; the quiet of nap time and bed time is much revered by me.

Not only does he tell stories and ask millions of questions a day, but he has a few sayings and exclamations that make me grin.  One of his favorites is to smile and say, "Ow, ow, baby!  Ow, ow!" when he's excited about something.  He also often says he hasn't been somewhere or done something "in a while", sometimes when he's never been there or done that.  Earlier this week he said to me, "Mom, I have something to tell you when you get in the car.  You'll like it ... eventually.  I promise."  I see so much of what I say coming out in him, which is a constant reminder to watch what I say and how I say it.

One of Baylor's favorite moments of the day comes right after he wakes up.  He still has to wear an overnight diaper because he drinks most of his liquids at dinner and right before bed giving him no chance to get through the night dry, so right after he wakes up I take his diaper off, put his sleep shorts back on, and let him go commando for the morning.  He LOVES it; it puts such an amazing smile on his face, and sometimes it's the first time of the day I can get him to focus on something.  (He's not a morning eater and would probably forgo any food until lunch time if I let him.  I have no idea how this is all going to work come fall, by the way, when he starts up preschool.  *sigh*)

My little man loves Legos.  It's amazing really ... he can be in the worst, most obstinate mood, but if you ask him if he'd like to do some Legos he perks right up, becomes more agreeable, and relaxes a bit.  Often I have to offer out Legos just to get him to the bar to eat breakfast or lunch, as he's a fan of neither.  On top of him just plain loving them, he's getting really good at coming up with his own creations.

Which is why it was so incredibly difficult for me to take them away this week.  Not everything is perfect with Baylor, as so it goes with every child.  Lately he's been having some potty regression troubles, not noticing when he has to go potty or peeing wherever is most convenient/most attention-getting (the kitchen floor, on his bed).  After a particularly awful incident involving poo (as most particularly awful potty incidences do), I had to take away his Legos.  I didn't take them away because it is his most favorite toy and would instantly ... finally get his attention.  (Though they are and it did.)  I took them away because they were his reward for using the potty in the first place.  That afternoon was hell on so many levels, and I'm just hoping we're working back toward better potty behavior.

Part of the awful incident occurred, I suppose, from the fact that Baylor is done with naps.  He still needs an afternoon resting time, an hour or two where he is alone and will just read to himself, otherwise he's a basket case by dinner.  But increasingly he's become more defiant and mischievous during "resting time", grabbing his monitor and screaming/talking into it until I come up, standing up on his bed to turn on his light, playing with his table lamp or pushing it off the nightstand.  But the awful incident took the cake; it was defiant in a way I'd never experienced with him, and it broke my heart.  (Clearly I wasn't done talking about the awful incident ...)

I digress.

He doesn't nap much, if at all, anymore.  I usually let him rest during the entirety of Mollie's nap, unless things get too rowdy up there.  Occasionally he falls asleep during that time, which sets us up for a whole other problem.  Baylor, much like his dad, is awful to wake up.  He's cranky, whiny, and will do whatever he can to go back to sleep.  I've actually woken him up, scooped him out of bed, laid him on the couch, and had him sleep for another full hour after that.  (Does wonders for dinner time, let me tell ya.)  And then, if he does sleep, bed time is painful.  He's not tired.  He doesn't want to sleep.  And he WILL let you know about it.  If you can get him down, then you get the joy of hearing him talk to himself for upwards of two hours.  So napping's not really an option anymore if we can avoid it.  *sigh*  I don't know what the next step is, but we'll figure it out, as we always do.

I know I haven't written much about it on here, but Baylor has been going through some play therapy (for Asperger's) since late March and it seems to be working.  He now plays with toy figures (Mollie's dollhouse people, stuffed animals, etc.) and gives them voices of their own.  He will do the hokey pokey with me.  He is more flexible within play.  And, just generally, he seems more comfortable with kids his own age.  Hopefully the improvements will keep coming.

With both kids, there are the usual ups and downs ebbing and flowing throughout our days, but overall I really have no reason to complain; I have the two best children this mother could ask for.  We have so much fun together so much of the time, something I have to try better to remind myself of when the tough moments arise.  The kids and I dance together in the morning, Baylor often leading the group with his snazzy moves (look out ladies!) and Mollie happily joining in with her dear brother.  We snuggle, we read, we laugh as much as we can.  The days of this time of life are long, some so long you'd swear you'd lived two days in just twenty-four hours, but these years are short and I'm trying to embrace this time of life and enjoy my kids ... just as they are now.

Running With My Shadow

I started writing this on Friday the 22nd, but I was pretty excited to finish the book The Help (awesome, by the way) and I didn't end up finishing this until tonight.  So, when reading this, imagine that you are back where you were two days ago.  You there?  Okay, here ya go!

I have been running for a couple weeks now, something I never thought I'd do given that I couldn't even run a mile in gym class in high school, but I have come to love getting out in the fresh air and feeling the pavement beneath my feet.  On days my husband works, I get up around 5:15 a.m. to get ready and get running by 5:50 a.m.; yes, I move slowly in the morning ... so sue me.  (Okay, I move slowly all the time, who am I kidding?)

Anyhow, I get going by 5:50, running a mile-and-a-half in about 19 or 20 minutes followed by a bit of walking to get my heart rate back down, so I can get back and shower before my husband gets up to shower himself.  As much as I hate getting up so early, I know that this is, realistically, my only shot at exercise.  Once the kids are up, my focus shifts to them and "me time" is typically scant.

Yesterday and today, though, I have noticed a change in my run.  No longer am I running in the soft light of dawn.  All of a sudden I have started to run with my shadow.  The daylight is still so low that the streetlights are still on, casting my shadow onto the street and lawns I pass by.  And every time I see my shadow I know my days as a runner are nearly over.  I don't like being out in the morning by myself with it so dark; after what happened in town earlier this month, I am a little more nervous than usual. I would have never thought something so horrible could happen just miles from our house, and just three doors down from where I lived as a child, but it did. I know I don't have an abusive spouse or anyone else I know that would likely harm me, but it just creates an unsettling feeling in me that I can't seem to shake.  The day after the shootings, I even started shutting my garage door when I leave to protect my family as much as I can.

On top of the anxiety over safety, there is the issue of the weather, in particular the temperature at that time of day.  I have jaw issues and they tend to flare up when it is cold out.   Now, the last two days have been exceedingly warm in the morning, so cool weather hasn't been an issue yet, but I know it likely will be soon.  Just last week we had a few colder mornings, one so cold that by the time I started my cool-down walk I had to hold my ear because it was aching so badly.  As wimpy as it sounds, at about 60 degrees the air temperature combined with the coolness of the "wind" I'm generating as I run, my jaw just can't handle it.

So, by the end of the weekend, I will be officially done with my regular running.  Hopefully, at some point, I'll be able to sneak in a run here and there; I really do enjoy it.  I'm going to miss the fresh air, the feeling of doing something good for my body and health, and seeing all the animals out in the early morning; once the kids get up I tell them what I saw on my run and Baylor speculates which Beatrix Potter characters I saw.  I won't have that while I'm riding the stationary recumbent bike in our bedroom (in the dark, I might add).  But it's exercise, and hopefully it'll keep me in decent shape through the winter.

I ran this morning, Sunday the 24th, just as the sun was peeking over the horizon.  (In case you don't know, that's at about 6:24 a.m.)  I actually ran my usual route in 16.5 minutes, pretty awesome for my standards.  I guess it was one last hurrah before I finished running for the season ... well, for the year, I guess.  I'm proud of myself for trying to run for exercise again, and my experience has bolstered my confidence that I'll be able to start up again next year around the same time.  Until then, I'll just have to get my fresh air playing outside with the kiddos.  Sounds like fun to me!

Happy Fourth of July!

A while back my mom bought the kids some patriotic flag shirts to wear this summer, and I was pretty geeked to get the kiddos dressed up all matchy-matchy for the Fourth of July!  We had a relatively low-key day planned as my husband wanted to get some work done on our kitchen and dining room (we're repainting ... more on that to come!).

We read a lot.

I even got the kids to look at me for a quick picture.  I wish they were smiling, but their faces are just priceless!

After dinner, we went out for ice cream with Oma, Grandpa E, and Aunt Christine, and my mom was able to snap an adorable picture of the kids at the ice cream shop.

Mollie was all over the place once we let her down, though she was mostly just trying to keep up with her brother.

On the way home she entertained the entire car with her antics.  She just loves her sunglasses, but she was having a bit of trouble putting them on herself.

After we got home, Baylor and Mollie wanted to go see some fireworks (well, Baylor wanted to see some and Mollie wants to be wherever Baylor is so ...) and some kids were setting some off down the street so we went to watch.  Mollie was pretty scared of all the sound and clung to me like a baby monkey, but Baylor was interested in what was going on and really only seemed afraid when they would make a loud crackling sound.

The kids got to stay up a little later than usual - mostly to see the fireworks down the street - and were tuckered out by the time they hit the hay.  Bryson and I taped a few fireworks displays on our DVR and showed them to Baylor the next morning.  The one in New York seemed especially cool to me, but Baylor was largely unimpressed.

Someday we'll take the kiddos to see real big fireworks and do the whole Fourth of July thing up right.  Until then, it'll just be something to look forward to while we enjoy our low-key holiday.

Hope your Fourth was spectacular!