Cooper: [puts his hand on my cheek and looks me directly in the eye] It’s otay mommy. Don’t woowy. I a big boy now. I do it all by myself. I lub you mommy.
My heart simultaneously swelled with pride (because it’s exactly what I want my children to grow up and say), and broke into a million little pieces because it’s all going by way too fast. All I could do his swoop him into me, hug him tight, and tell him I love him. All through a choked voice and teary eyes.
I am happy it’s the last day of blogging everyday. I did pretty good by only missing one day. Things I didn’t post about and still need to:
Guest bedroom makeover
Holiday Cards reveal
Sting Concert
Basement reveal party
Master bedroom paint
Charlotte’s room paint
Playing pretend
Playing games
Charlotte has made a very good friend very quickly at school. Her name is Evelyn and she and Charlotte follow each other around all the time (see the field trip here). We got invited to Evelyn’s birthday party over the weekend at Monkey Bizness. It was over dinner time so we thought it would be an easy evening – dinner taken care of, fun time with friends, wear them out, and go straight to bed.
Mostly it was great. They both had a blast running all over. It was adorable that Evelyn and Charlotte stuck together almost the entire time. Evelyn hardly paid attention to any of the other kids. While we were eating pizza Cooper lamented ‘where awe all my fwiends? I don’t hab any boyfwiends. Dare awe onwe two boys here foe me.’ (Not sure if I blogged about this but he exclaimed one day after school ‘Only I hab boyfwiends. Charyotte hab gulfwiends.’)
And then it sort of went downhill. We were crammed into a tiny room and the kids were hungry and tired. There wasn’t enough food or drinks for the adults and the kids, so I got cranky too. Charlotte was distracted with everything and would barely eat and Cooper was obsessed with the cake. Then when it was time to get a balloon Cooper pushed the other kids around and some of the older boys got upset with him. He was mad that the green balloon didn’t have a green string.
s we were leaving they got really upset that they couldn’t play anymore. Thank goodness for Bob Marley on the way home! They did zonk out pretty fast, so that was nice.
(Side note: Evelyn is the only other kid in the class besides Charlotte who has a Thomas the Train backpack. It’s a perfect match I tell you!)
We put up the Christmas tree and some of the other indoor decorations. I sadly did not take any pictures this year of the kids decorating.
I am back to working out and it is TOUGH. I’m only doing 30 minutes of cardio and then 15 min of stretching and plank work, three times a week, and then pilates on the 4th day. I cannot believe how out of shape I am after taking 2 months off. I guess having surgery will do that to you.
Charlotte isn’t sleeping well at all. She wakes up nearly every hour all night and tries to stay up and play. She doesn’t fall asleep until nearly 9 and wakes up at 5 am. This is unusual behavior for her because she’s always been a great sleeper. This has been going on for about 4 months now. I’m wondering if it has to do with learning at school or the lack of sleep is causing sleeplessness. Not sure how to help her.
Cooper is sick and super cranky. He whines and cries most of the day and evening. He is super-glued to my side. I’m getting touched out.
Chris is getting stir crazy being a stay-at-home dad and being done with school (yay! he finished his business degree!). I wish we could do 4 days of preschool to give him more of a break (the class is full so we can’t until next year).
I started seeing a chiropractor this week. I’ve had a lot of pain in my neck and shoulders in the last few months. I haven’t slept well, couldn’t turn my head very well to the right, my hands and fingers were numb and tingling, my throat sore from the sinus drip, and was having headaches every day. Chris started going about 2 months ago for a lot of the same things and now he is feeling great with all of his symptoms gone.
I had xrays done last week and they showed quite a bit of misalignment. My right shoulder and hip are dropped and my head sits off to the right and turns to the left my almost 2 inches. My neck is off to the right, my mid back to the left and my lower back to the right. My hips are also turned to the left. My head sits forward 5 degrees on my neck, although it’s supposed to curve back 35-45 degrees. Basically I’m not aligned anywhere. Now I know why my all my photos are crooked!
I go to the chiropractor 3x a week for the next 8 weeks. I also have to do some ab stabilization exercises on an exercise ball, go to yoga and pilates to strengthen my core and increase my flexibility, and then do low impact cardio by walking, on an elliptical or a stationary bike.
I had 3 adjustments this week on M/T/W and I haven’t had any daily headaches. I can turn my head with no pain and my hands aren’t tingling. Of course we’ll see how I feel on Sunday when the chiropractor’s adjustment gets pulled out of alignment due to muscle memory. I’m happy to see some small improvement and can’t wait until it’s more permanent!
Note to self throwing a party, drinking too many martinis, dealing with a hangover (because hello I’m not 20 anymore!) and then following that up with dinner, a concert and staying out late only to get up at 5 am for work makes for some serious exhaustion. (That was a really long sentence.)
I still haven’t recovered. It’s a good thing we changed our plans and are joining Mikael and Che for Thanksgiving. I’m only making 2 dishes instead of making the whole dinner. Afterwards I’m going home and going to bed. Well if the kids will let me that is.
I think Cooper might be left handed. This is surprising to me because I don’t know anyone in my family and Chris doesn’t know anyone in his who is left handed. He has always held his silverware in his left hand but hasn’t seem to favor one hand over another when coloring.
We were making a card for Ryan’s 3rd birthday (my friend Heather’s oldest daughter) and he wanted to write his name. So I put a marker in his right hand and he seemed awkward holding it. Then I held his hand to help him write his name. When I let go he automatically switched the marker to his left hand and seemed to hold it much more naturally.
All this time I’ve been forcing him to put everything in his right hand! I think I’ll start letting him choose which hand he wants to use from now on.
(His teacher mentioned that he favors his left hand when writing, painting and cutting. She also said that it would be easier if he were right handed, especially when he learns cursive. Chris and I sat there dumbfounded that she would say such an antiquated thing and then Chris deadpanned, ‘Do they even teach cursive anymore?’. The teacher replied, ‘Well, uh, not so much. Not at all really.’ I responded, ‘Well then I guess it doesn’t matter which hand he uses.”)
We had a great party last night to reveal the new basement (still working on the post…probably tomorrow). We are both very tired today, which is not so good since we had a birthday party and then are leaving for ‘date night’. We’re going to dinner and then the Sting concert. I don’t know how I’m going to find energy to host Thanksgiving too!
We had teacher conferences a couple weeks ago. I have to say that it is really strange to hear someone else talk about my child’s skills. Overall it went well, but it makes me nervous to navigate the education system as the kids get older.
Both are doing well and are at the appropriate skill level. Cooper can recognize several letters and numbers, while Charlotte can recite the numbers and letters. Cooper is a leader, while Charlotte is a follower. Charlotte is quiet and goes with the flow, while Cooper is loud, aggressive and lets his opinion be known.
Charlotte is a little behind socially and rarely plays with the other kids and doesn’t seem to understand how to follow directions unless the teacher gets her to focus. Cooper can listen to one set of directions and follow through with the previous set of directions at the same time. Both need to work on cutting with scissors and holding a pencil.
Their teacher seems to have labeled Charlotte ‘the easy one’ and Cooper ‘the hard one’. This annoyed us because we think Charlotte can easily get lost because she doesn’t pay attention as well. We think Cooper’s aggressive and independent attitude is frustrating for the teacher. However she is also dealing with 15 preschoolers, so we can’t expect too much one on one with our kids.
We’ll see how the rest of the year goes!
(This is a catch up post.)
Chris’ dad, step-mom and one of his sisters all live in North Carolina. We make an effort to either fly the grandparents here or to take a trip out there every year. This year his sister was getting married so we made the trip out there in September. We had a really great time!
The kids are so much easier on the plane now. We took the iPads with us and they had their own little suitcases with wheels. We really didn’t have any problems at all and they were so amazed by ‘going on ‘cation again!’. We got delayed an hour on our second leg of the trip, but that just gave us time to eat something and let the kids stretch their legs.
The best part of the trip was leaving the kids with the grandparents for a few days while Chris and I made our way down to Myrtle Beach. We stayed at a hotel right on the beach, had great food, went out to the clubs, and just remembered what it was like to be adults again!
View of the pools from our room.
View of the beach from our inside our room looking out the balcony.
View after stepping onto the balcony. See the hammocks down by the palm trees before the beach? That was a fantastic reading/napping spot!
View of the palm trees while laying in the hammock.
While we were away we went shopping for the kids at the Disney store. Cooper LOVED his Phineaus, Ferb, and Perry toys.
The rest of the week was enjoying down time, spending time with family, and getting ready for the wedding. Charlotte and Cooper were the flower girl and ring bearer. They were adorable, although Cooper really didn’t want to wear his tux and overall just didn’t really want the job of ring bearer. He did great anyhow!
The trip seemed short and we left to go home pretty early in the morning. By the time we got home, we were all very tired and cranky. It was awesome to come home to a finished master bathroom though!!
We are bad pet owners as of late. We rarely if ever walk the dog anymore and we’ve lived here for a year and haven’t licensed Scout. Chris finally took her to the vet for a check up. She is a little overweight so we have to cut her food intake in half (she eats Blue Buffalo food, so she gets all the nutrition she needs in 1/4 cup a day and we were feeding her 1 cup a day) and then give her apples (no seeds) or carrots as snacks.
We also found out that her teeth are covered in plaque and she needs a cleaning. The big thing we found is that she has a heart murmur. We are going to do some additional testing to see if she needs medication to prevent it from becoming worse. That makes me worry a bit!
Now our little Scout is up to date on her shots and heart worm medication. We also licensed her (online!) so now all we need to do is find some motivation to walk her!
We were walking into Target the other night. Here is the conversation we had:
Cooper: [looks up and points] Yook, mommy, da moon!! Dare’s da moon! I need to doe in outer pace.
Me: It is the moon! Do you want to be an astronaut and go to outer space when you grow up?
Cooper: Yep! What do you want to do, mommy?
Me: [quickly thinks of a way to explain the oil industry to a 3 year old] Well, I’m already a grown up. I dig really deep holes into the ground and find oil to make it into gas that we put in our car.
Cooper: You diiiiggggg big holes!! [said in a deep growling voice while he motions his hands like he’s digging with a shovel]
Me: Yep, that’s right!
I took the kids to Target last night to grab a few items. I ended getting about 5x as many as a few. That always happens at that store. I swear things multiply in my basket!
We were waiting in line to pay and I started loading the conveyor belt. The mom in front of me was managing her ~1 yr old in her arms while her four year old struck up a conversation with my two:
Cooper: Awe you doe-ing to da pawty too?
Me: I don’t think he’s going to Evelyn’s party honey. (We got a birthday invite from Charlotte’s best friend, Evelyn, who they go to school with.)
Cooper: Tan we doe to your pawty?
Boy: No. I already turned 4 and had my birthday.
Me: Cooper you don’t even know this little boy, you can ask to go to his party!
Cooper: You want to tum to our bur-day pawty?
Me: Honey we can ask strangers as Target if they want to come to our birthday parties!
Cooper: No, mommy, he my fwend.
Me: You just met him in Target!
Boy’s Mom: Are they in the same class together?
Me: I have no idea. Maybe?
Boy’s Mom: I heard you say something about Evelyn’s party. At Monkey Business? I think they’re in the same class!
Me: Oh, wow, I guess they are friends! How funny.
We introduced ourselves to each other and laughed and then Ethan and his mom left while my kids waved. And this is what Cooper had to say: ‘See mommy he is my fwend. My fwend fwom school!’
If you have not heard of pinterest, you might be living under a rock. If you have not joined pinterest, you are definitely missing out. This is a new way to manage your ‘favorites’ on your computer and to do it visually. It reminds me a little of google images, but you can oraganize those images (and links) any which way you want to.
There are tons of recipes on Pinterest. We’ve been working our way through a few, so I thought I would give a review. Just click on the photo or the title to find the recipe.
I chose this recipe for our pumpkin seeds this year. I love garlic and I love pumpkin seeds, plus the recipe has 5 stars on Allrecipes.com. Just a few great seasonings: garlic powder, seasoning salt, and celery salt. I had to go buy some celery salt, but it was worth it. Also these are cooked in the microwave instead of the oven and surprisingly they came out crunchy (but not burnt which happens to me because I’m spacey)!
My only problem is that it took a long time in the microwave. I put them in for 3 min and turned because hopping every minute annoyed me. It also took about 9-12 min per batch instead of the 4 min the recipe says. It would have been faster in my double ovens and I could have just put them in and done something for 20-40 min instead of babysitting pumpkin seeds.
Bottom line: Flavoring is great, but use the oven next time! Highly recommend.
Chris loves anything that resembles apple pie, so I figured these would be a good hit. They are basically like apple fried donuts. You bread them like onion rings, fry them, put cinnamon and sugar on them, bake them for a short time to make them crispy and then lather some cinnamon frosting on them.
These taste like little bites of apple pie and are truly fantastic. I left more apple by only cutting out the core and I’m glad I did because they would have been too sweet otherwise. I used both granny smith green apples and honey crisp red apples. I preferred the tangy sweet of the red apples, while Chris preferred the tart green apples. Cooper didn’t like them and Charlotte didn’t care what color apple she got.
My only issue is the number of steps. There were a LOT of steps to this recipe and I was tired by the end of making them. Good thing they are delicious or I wouldn’t bother making them again.
Bottom line: Make them, they’re too good not to try. Be prepared for lots of steps. Highly recommended.
Only 4 ingredients – parmesan cheese, italian dressing mix, garlic powder and chicken breasts. This is such a simple recipe and we had all the ingredients on hand. This is probably one of my favorite ways of cooking chicken now! I LOVE parmesan cheese (if it’s fresh) and the italian dressing mix adds a kick to the recipe. The kids even ate this right up and they aren’t big chicken fans.
It took a little longer than the recipe recommended to actually cook the chicken. Also the recipe is for 6, so we should have cut the recipe down, since we had way too much extra.
Bottom line: New staple in our dinner rotation. Tasty and easy to make. Highly recommended.
This recipe seemed simple enough with very few ingredients—cream cheese, italian dressing mix, and cream of chicken soup. We have a giant crockpot and generally only cook a couple pieces of meat. I put this in for only 6 hours on low and by hour 3 it was starting to dry up and the cheese was turning brown on the sides of the crockpot. By hour 4, I turned off the crockpot, but it was 2 hours before dinner. I tasted it and although the flavor was good, the consistency was not. We ended up going to get food that night.
I plan to try this again, but maybe when we have guests over. Also this recipe needs a lot more liquid. I plan to put 2 cans of soup and some milk in the mixture next time. I can’t imagine putting this on rice, so I’ll probably use noodles.
Bottom line: Use a smaller crockpot or more food. Add more liquid. Need to try it again.
This is a recipe that I originally pinned and is one of my favorites. It is pretty easy to make and tastes delicious. Everyone else loves it too. I’ve made a few changes to the recipe to either simplify it or use what I have on hand. I don’t use flour/evaporated milk to thicken the sauce, I just use a can of cream of mushroom or cream of chicken to make the sauce a little thicker. I also just use a bag of frozen mixed veggies to avoid having to measure/cut/buy all the different vegetables. Instead of croissants I have also used biscuits and some buisquick mixed to make buiscuits.
Bottom line: Delicious and easy. Highly recommended.
These are so fun and so easy! Basically make pizza dough with all the ingredients mixed inside and then baked in a mini-muffin pan. I’ve made them full size muffins as well, but there is something more fun about a mini-size pizza muffin. These are great for a party or potluck (I’ve made them for both) and the kids gobble them up.
I’ve made plain cheese ones and used pepperoni as well. I want to try making them with other ingredients, since Charlotte is a ‘supreme’ pizza kind of kid. I’m pretty sure these can be made and then frozen too!
Bottom line: Fun, easy, and tasty. Highly recommended.
You can see other recipes I’ve pinned here:
I took the kids to Noodles & Company tonight for dinner while Chris went out with Mikael. There is a statue outside in the front of the restaurant. The conversation went something like this:
Cooper: Dare no water! Where da water?
Me: It’s too cold. The water will freeze into ice, so they turn them off in the winter.
Charlotte: What is dat?
Me: It’s a statue.
Charlotte: It’s da Statue of Liberty!
Me: If you say so, but I think the Statue of Liberty is a lot bigger and is in New York.
Charlotte: And we lib in Cah-ye-foe-nya.
Me: We used to live in California. Now we live in Colorado.
Charlotte: Caw-yer-ado?
Me: Yes, in Aurora, Colorado.
Charlotte: What dat mean? Awe-roar-ya?
Me: That’s the name of our city.
Charlotte: Yeah, we live in Awe-roar-ya, Caw-yer-ado!
Then later we got home and were getting ready for bed. They started pulling out the poles to the temporary closet systems that we have yet to take to Goodwill. This was the conversation:
Cooper: Mommy we awe bidding sumting.
Me: What are you building?
Cooper: A tower!
Charlotte: Da Eiffel Tower!
Me: Have been reading books on the Statue of Liberty and the Eiffel Tower in school? Or are you travelling the world while I’m sleeping?
Charlotte: Yeah, we weed books at stool!
Me: Oh okay. You remember a lot from your books that you read at school.
Charlotte, our little world traveller all because of books. So proud.
On the drive home from my sister’s house we were stuck in Broncos game traffic. I really get annoyed with traffic and it puts me in a terrible mood. Charlotte gets really annoyed with being in the car and it puts her in a terrible mood. Then Cooper likes to torment both of us because we are easy targets and that just puts us both in worse moods.
Charlotte asked for some music so I turned on Adele. They both love the CD since it’s the right mix of fast pace fun songs, and slower relaxing songs. I also really love the CD! On the second song into the CD, I hear Cooper in the back:
‘That’s me. I hab it! I hab it! Coopeh hab it! It my song!’
And then he starts dancing and rocking out. I was so confused until I listened to the song more closely. And then I smiled and just relished in the moment that my 3 year old is completely and utterly adorable and maybe I do like this age after all. Traffic seemed like a breeze after this little episode.
And in case you have no idea what I’m talking about, here is the song. Cooper heard ‘Cooper has it’ instead of ‘Rumor has it’.
It’s time for 30 days of blogging! I’ll start with—check out the book review and giveaway on the photo blog! I can’t promise I will blog on both blogs every day, but I will blog on at least one of the blogs every day. Hopefully this will put me back in a blogging mood?
And next – Happy Halloween!! We got pumpkins two days before Halloween, so we got them for buy one get one free. Basically the kids all around the little pumpkin patch making it in impossible for me to get any photos in focus.
Waiting to get started carving.
Charlotte’s ‘happy’ pumpking and Cooper’s ‘mad’ pumpkin (their choice on face style).
We had so much fun trick or treating this year. We went out with Mikael, Che and Maile. The kids really seemed to ‘get’ Halloween this year and had absolutely no problem running and cutting through yards to get to the next front door! Cooper was a little too exuberant and tried to open people’s doors and help himself to their candy. I think if he looked more like a 3 year old and less like a 5 year we wouldn’t have gotten as many bad looks.
Here’s what happens when you ask preschoolers what’s on your hat. (How cute are they…Thomas the Train, Tinker Bell and Iron Man.)
And then remind them you are going to get some candy!
We’re off!
Cooper was the first to the door, partly because he was the only one tall enough to reach the doorbell.
Have no idea what he was so happy about. I’m guessing the candy??
And how great do Mikael and Che look??
And our required costumes per Cooper and Charlotte’s request – a witch and black spiderman (AKA Venom).
Daddy: Cooper, why are getting the cherry tomatoes out? You don’t like tomatoes.
Cooper: Charyotte wants some.
Daddy: Are you sure?
Cooper: Charyotte! Charyotte! Do you want some ‘matoes? You ‘ike ‘matoes?
Charlotte: [No answer.]
Daddy: I don’t think she wants any, can you put them back now?
[Mommy and Daddy go about their business not paying attention to Cooper.]
About 5 minutes later…
Daddy: Hey, hun, do you know where the cherry tomatoes are?
Mommy: What do you mean? Are they missing or something?
Daddy: Well here’s the empty container.
Mommy: Oh, guess I should pay more attention to my son then.
Daddy: Cooper, where are the cherry tomatoes?
Cooper: [Nonchalantly raising his hand and pointing toward Scout.'] In Scout.
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I finished reading one of Cooper’s favorite Dr. Seuss books to him, Because a Little Bug Went Ka-Choo!, the other night. If you haven’t read this story, you should—it’s super cute and I love the bright illustrations. Basically a little bug sneezes and a chain of mishaps occur. It gets out of control by the end of the book. It helps teach cause and effect. I think Cooper has it figured out. He very succintly told me at the end of the book, “Dat bug should sneeze into his elbow!”.
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Charlotte: Daddy! Daddy! Scuse me!
Daddy: Yes, Charlotte?
Charlotte: I like lawn-motors.
Daddy: Um, okay. You like lawn mowers?
Charlotte: Yeah. Do you like lawn-motors?
Daddy: Well, I’m not sure. I haven’t put much thought into whether I like lawn mowers or not.
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We went to Starbucks and a little girl was there with her mom.
Charlotte: Mommy! Mommy! Scuse me!
Mommy: Yes, Charlotte?
Charlotte: Where’s her brudder?
Mommy: Whose brother?
Charlotte: Dat girl’s brudder?
Mommy: Well not all little girls have a brother. Do you have a brother?
Charlotte: Yeah, Coopeh! She not hab a brudder?
Mommy: No I don’t think so.
Charlotte: Oh.
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While I was getting Charlotte dry after a bath…
Charlotte: Mommy! Mommy! Scuse me!
Mommy: Yes, Charlotte?
Charlotte: Wall-E doesn’t have legs. He can’t walk.
Mommy: No, he doesn’t have any legs. He has wheels. How does he move from place to another if he can’t walk?
Charlotte: He rolls! Eba fwies!
Mommy: That’s right he rolls and Eva flies. Are they best friends?
Charlotte: Yeah, they hold hands.
Mommy: Like this? [I hold her hand.]
Charlotte: Yeah!
[A minute goes by and we walk into the hallway.]
Charlotte: We jus hab a conbersation ‘bout Wall-E!!
Mommy: Yes we did have a conversation about Wall-E.
[Next night getting ready for bath.]
Charlotte: Mommy, I hab to talk to you. I want to hab a conbersation ‘bout Wall-E adin.
Mommy: Okay, we can have a conversation about Wall-E again.
Charlotte: Wall-E cleans up trash.
Mommy: Charlotte, I don’t want to talk about trash tonight. Can we get in the bath and get clean.
Charlotte: Yeah!
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I am working my up to catching up on my neglected blogs. Life has just gotten so busy that I haven’t had time to document it. I’ve been spending time lately reading back through our lives in the last few years and it makes me want to blog more regularly so that I will have something to look back on in a few years. Check out the photoblog…I made some new posts over there.
On another note, I have surgery on Thursday. I went to the doctor a few weeks back because my stomach muscles have been hurting more often with me getting back to weight training. I self diagnosed my diastasis recti by measuring the gap at my belly button when I would do an ab crunch. I spent a lot of time being careful, strengthening my lower abs and really just living with the discomfort.
It was never really very much pain, just some discomfort after standing or walking for long periods. However since I’ve increased my exercise regiment since May, I have noticed more pain and small, but gradually getting larger protruding mound above my belly button.
The doctor sent me for an ultrasound and I was diagnosed with two ventral hernias. Basically I have a defect in my ab wall and tissue is coming through that defect. They are going to make a small incision, remove the tissue, suture the defect, use a small piece of mesh to prevent reoccurrence (if needed), an then put me back together. The surgery is 1-2 hours long and it’s a 1-2 week recovery.
I’m a little nervous, but I am very excited to not have to deal with pain or being extra careful. The worst part will be recovering with two 3 yr olds wanting to climb all over me! And I am so, so glad I chose the company who puts life before work, has great benefits, and no issue with me being out of work for a couple of weeks. It’s absolutely refreshing.
Being off work for 2 months was awesome. It was a big adjustment at first learning to parent together and balancing needing time away from each other. Going back to work was really hard, especially for the kids. I missed them tremendously the first week until I realized I have an awesome job!
Work: My new job is really really awesome. I get unlimited free snacks and drinks (which is testing my self control to prevent any weight gain!) and they regularly do fun things for the employees. We just got wear shorts to work and have a 2 hour break while the brought us Pinkberry! I enjoy what I do and I really like all the people I work with, including my boss. I love the company and I am more balanced in work/life than I have been in a long time. I am actually really enjoying taking a step back from management.
My workouts: I am still running, but now I have added in weight training, biking, and time on the elliptical. I love that I can run 2-3 miles with no problem, but I am enjoying mixing it up. I can tell my body, especially my legs, are more firm, but I haven’t lost any weight and my dress size hasn’t changed. I’m not really aiming for either, but it’s tough not to see progress in that way.
Chris: He is down to his last term in school. He will graduate in November with a business degree. I am very excited and very proud! He has been working extra hard on the house and I am so impressed with every project he completes. He too has been running (C25K) and has successfully dropped about 20 lbs.
The house: We’ve been busy! Guest bedroom got painted and decorated, including a dresser being refinished. Charlotte’s room was painted and a high chair rail was installed. The playhouse was painted and reconfigured to move the slide and the climbing wall plus add a sandbox. The exterior of the house was painted and new shutters, garage door, and porch rail were added. The master bath and closet were gutted and it is near completion with a new roman tub, beautiful tile work and heated floors, plus custom cabinetry. The basement was gutted and we found out it was not permitted by the previous owner. We are delayed in the remodeling due to getting the proper permits but it will be a game/movie room/bar/entertainment/workout space. We (aka Chris) built a shed. I’ll do a separate post with pictures on each project.
All the work on the house has also been challenging since doors are often left open and unlocked. Scout took a walk-a-bout the neighborhood and almost got hit by a car. Thank goodness a wonderful neighbor several blocks away brought her home to us. Cooper locked himself in Chris’ trunk (It was dawk! he kept saying) and attempted to steal our contractor’s truck.
The kids: They started preschool a couple weeks ago! I’ll do a separate post on that with pictures. Cooper is potty trained and prefers to stand, but he will sit. He loves peeing outside. It took lots of naked time, then boxers and hershey kisses for rewards.
We are amazed at Cooper’s math skills. He seems to know addition and subtraction very easily. We regularly quiz him on it: There are 8 juice boxes and you each get one, how many are left? (he gives the right answer as 6, unless Maile comes over then he accurately says 5). I need 4 plates but I only have 1, how many more do I need (3! he says). There are 2 birds and 2 more come play, how many birds are there (4!). There are 3 birds and 1 flies away, how many are left (2!). We first realized it when we were potty training and told him he got 1 chocolate for peeing and 2 for pooping. Then he went pee and poop and he told us he gets 3 chocolates. It reminds me very much of myself in that I just ‘see’ math rather than memorize it.
He doesn’t memorize numbers/letters as easily as Charlotte. He can count to 10 but he is definitely more interested in the meaning of the number and the sounds of the letters. He easily identifies numbers and letters too, but can’t say his ABC’s yet. He is a pro at the game Memory and rarely misses any matches. He loves reading books and is especially fond of the Eric Carle books. He memorizes them all and several other stories. He is still very independent and prefers to buckle himself in the carseat and tuck himself into bed (he still likes to sit and rock with me for 2-5 min before he climbs in to bed…love that).
Cooper loves dragons, fire trucks, dogs, and fish. He is thoughtful and always brings enough for everyone (if he gets himself an apple, everyone gets an apple). He likes playing with the kitchen and with baby dolls. He plays pretend a lot with all of his action figures. He still gets into everything, but he is getting better at listening. He loves swords and guns and especially loves to wrestle. His favorite color is green.
Charlotte is night time potty trained! She just decided she didn’t want to wear a pull-up anymore and hasn’t had an issue at all. She knows her ABCs, can count to 20 (she REALLY likes 17 and 18 and repeats them a few times), knows her colors (thank you Brown Bear, Brown Bear!), and sings along with songs or just sings to herself songs that she knows. Her favorites include: You are my sunshine, Baa Baa Black Sheep, and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. She loves listening to Bruno Mars, Kings of Leon, Selena Gomez (dat you mommy!, she exclaims) and Bob Marley. Her favorite song is Hey Soul Sister by Train, which she can sing along to almost all of the words. Charlotte loves reading books and will sit for an hour or more reading book after book. She is now trying to write letters and numbers and will ask us to help her write her name.
She loves dancing and still adores Handy Manny, Cars, and Thomas the Train (well any train will work). Although she also likes Tangled and Tinker Bell thanks to Maile’s girly influence. Charlotte loves blue and purple. She is very affectionate with hugs and kisses, and she is very social. She makes friends easily and especially loves older girls around 8-11. She doesn’t like to wrestle, but loves playing any sport with a ball (she has an amazing arm and nearly perfect aim, plus she can catch with her hands nearly every time). She doesn’t like being dirty or having her hair brushed.
Okay, I think that’s it! Unless anyone is wondering anything specific that I haven’t posted about.
Charlotte: Mommy, I hab to talk to you.
Me: What do you need to talk to me about?
Charlotte: Say I’m sorry fo being cwabby.
Me: That is very sweet. Sometimes we get crabby and have bad days. Thank you for telling me you’re sorry.
Charlotte: Yo wehcome. Anytime.
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(This particular conversation happens at least once a day and up to three times a day!)
Charlotte: Mommy, I hab to talk to you.
Me: What do you need to talk to me about?
Charlotte: About trash.
Me: Trash? What about the trash?
Charlotte: Da trash truck come and take da trash away.
Me: Really? Then what happens?
Charlotte: Da trash truck goes to da big trash can and puts da trash dare.
Me: Wow. I didn’t know you knew so much about trash!
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Charlotte: Mommy, I hab to talk to you.
Me: About what honey?
Charlotte: About my My-wee.
Me: About Maile?
Charlotte: I wooweed bout her. I miss her berry much.
Me: It has been a while since we’ve seen her. Maybe you can go over there this week.
We woke up around 9 am, got ready, ate some breakfast, lounged around, packed and then checked out around noon. We went to Subway for lunch and then went to the toy store to kill time before our 4 pm flight.
They loved the cars and Cooper thought it was so neat that a car was ‘Coopeh jus like my name!’
We checked into our flight and had to pay an extra $100 for baggage, despite already upgrading and paying for it with Frontier. Now we have to submit our receipt to Frontier to get reimbursed. The flight went smoothly, although we were all very tired and had to bring food on since they don’t serve or sell any meals. We got home around 9 and got the kids in bed by 9:30. So glad vacation is over!!
We woke up late because I set my alarm for 7:15 PM instead of AM. We were running about 20 minutes behind. We couldn’t find Cooper’s blankey anywhere (the one he’s had since he was a newborn), which made me more sad than him. We left a note with the hotel and a message with lost and found, but I doubt we’ll get it back.
After heading out, we missed the airport turn off and added another 15 min unnecessarily. We turned in our car and rushed to the check-in, only to find out that our flight had been cancelled and there were no other Frontier flights out because of the hail damage to planes. After Chris stood in line for an hour while the kids were entertained by the iPads and I was attempting to find flights on the internet, he found out that we had already been re-booked to another flight the following day. Um, I want to know why Frontier didn’t notify us that 1) Our flight had been cancelled and 2) we had been re-booked. We could have kept our rental car and stayed in our hotel another day!!
They gave us a hotel voucher and food vouchers. We then had to go rent another car but Avis said they didn’t have carseats. I told them then I would have to rent from someone else (and that we had just turned in 2 carseats) and 10 min later they magically found 2 carseats. We checked into the hotel, but had only one room hotel with 2 double beds. Our TV was fuzzy for almost the entire World Cup and the kids were going stir-crazy and demanding with tears that we get on our plane.
After a couple of miserable hours and some lunch at the hotel restaurant we went out to wonder around stores to kill some time. The kids asked over and over if we could ‘cat our pwane now?’ and we explained that it was broken from the big storms but it would be fixed tonight and we could catch the plane tomorrow. They seemed okay with that and then we were off to dinner (at a familiar IHOP).
Bedtime was interesting. Charlotte insisted that she sleep with Cooper like she had done the entire vacation instead of with mommy or daddy, which left Chris and I to squeeze into a double bed. We hooked the iPad up to the TV and turned on a movie in hopes of them zonking out. Instead they just watched the whole movie, complained, and fought. Well Cooper actually just hit Charlotte over and over with his Mickey Mouse stuffed animal. We started a second movie and they finally fell asleep close to 10 pm.
Chris and I attempted to stream True Blood from HBO Go, but the internet wasn’t good enough so it kept stopping to buffer so we gave up I went to bed instead while Chris watched a little more TV and then went to bed.
Oh geez is ‘cation over yet??
We knew we had to take a ferry while we were in Seattle since it’s such a big part of the city. There are tons of them to take, but I had heard great things about the San Juan Islands. Plus they were having a Lavender Festival July 16-17. The only problem is that it was 1 hr 40 min drive to the ferry and another hour on the ferry to make it all happen. And we had to catch the ferry by 9 am in order to have time to enjoy the island.
So we got up early, woke the kids up (who weren’t happy at all about that), we ate breakfast and took theirs with us, then we were on our way. We had to stop at a gas station because we forgot to have Charlotte go to the bathroom before we left (how could we forget that first thing in the morning??). She did NOT like the gas station bathroom and kept saying ‘I hab to git outta here white now!’. It took songs and asking her how the whole going to the bathroom thing works.
Me: What happens first?
Charlotte: My beh-wee hurts.
Me: What do we do when your belly hurts?
Charlotte: We sit on da toy-yet and push.
Me: What happens when we push?
Charlotte: Da pee comes out! Yook mommy, it comin’ out!
Okay, so we got that done and then were off. We were really hoping they would zonk out, but that didn’t happen. We made it to the ferry, bought tickets and boarded. The kids were very excited and we spent a lot of time entertaining them. Cooper played with the iPhone for a bit, then we wandered around the boat. It was overcast and raining, so not much to see. Then we played the quiet/sitting still game, which lasted about 5 min. Exhausting, I tell you!
Cooper learned to wink while we were on vacation. He looks so funny doing it!
This was the most we saw out the windows. It was really foggy so you couldn’t see much of anything.
When we got to the island, I was so hungry. We couldn’t figure out where to go for the pancake breakfast and the island only allows local businesses, so no Starbucks and only the use of cash. I had also made an assumption that the island was only as big as Catalina (in CA), so I assumed we wouldn’t need a car and we walked on the ferry. I didn’t realize the Lavender Festival would be so far out of town. We really weren’t prepared.
We went to the bank, got a snack and directions to the Lavender festival, got taxi information from the visitor center and then went and had lunch at Downrigger’s. There wasn’t much on the menu and the waitress was so laid back that it seemed like slow service. Our meals showed up and they were the wrong order, then once those got corrected they still forgot the side dish for Chris’ meal. We were less than pleased, partly because we were ill-prepared for everything and partly because the kids were cranky from being woken so early.
We called the taxi after lunch and did the 15 min drive to the lavender farm. It was still raining and there were hardly any people there. There wasn’t much to do, only a few booths: a bakery, crafts, and bath/household products. There was live music though (which we really enjoyed and even bought the CD for) and the farm was beautiful. It’s pretty tough to be stressed out or not happy when all you smell is lavender. I swear I started to feel almost drunk after 2.5 hours sitting out there (despite the rain!).
(Not once during the entire vacation did I hand my camera over to Chris. I am really sad that I have no pictures of me with the kids or in Seattle!)
First we walked around in the lavender fields. Cooper loved running through the rows, while Charlotte was quite cranky at first.
Then we relaxed and let the kids run and have snacks while I attempted to take pictures of bees. Those things are FAST!! These are the only in focus photos I got out of the 50 or so that I took!
So pretty!
We watched the band.
Here is what Cooper thought of the music.
Then he was off to play on the rocks.
While Charlotte danced with Daddy.
We tried the lavender chocolate chip cookies and the lavender chocolate ice cream. Both were good, and only a tiny bit strange. The ice cream tasted just like you would imagine, chocolate with lavender (almost like the smell of lavender lotion, but with the taste in your mouth).
We also braved the outhouses, where Charlotte exclaimed ‘It tinda tinky in here!’.
When the taxi came back, we were ready to go. We bought the kids plastic ferries at the souvineir shop and then boarded the ferry. I attempted to sleep on the way back (Cooper would say, ‘Mommy you hab to wake up’ every 5-10 minutes). After the hike back up hill to our car, Cooper zonked out almost immediately. We were unable to rouse him even when we stopped for dinner.
We went to the Trumpeteer restuarant in Mt Vernon. The reviews say it was kid friendly, but, um, it’s not. We were ‘those’ parents that brought our toddlers into a swanky restaurant that was really more of a bar that served food. They were nice enough, but there was no kids menu and no kids drinks. Apparently they don’t even have milk (then how do you make mashed potatoes is what I would like to know!) and served my toddlers water in a cocktail glass. Cooper continued to sleep through the whole meal and the food was just okay.
We were all tired and ready for ‘cation to be over. Cooper slept the whole drive back and so did Charlotte. Cooper went to bed about 10 min after getting back, while Charlotte needed the whole bedtime routine to relax again. We were excited to be going home the next day.
