Merry and Bright

Merry Christmas to all! We hope you have a wonderful day with family, food, cheer, and health.

The Young And The Restless

I have about a thousand adjectives to describe Molly (which seems appropriate given how strong a foothold MadLibs have taken in our house. Thanks Grammy, Megan, and Erin -- this is a direct result of all the Thanksgiving MadLib madness.We could come up with a fairly wacky post if I played that way but I'll refrain). I've said most of them before and they continue to hold true. She's a proud, zany, booty-shaking, bossy, caring, smart, kind, helpful, stubborn, snuggly, loving, brave little creature who both really cares what other people think and very determinedly marches to the beat of her own (unseen, unheard) drummer. Her highs are high and her lows are... well... dramatic. She is not even keeled, not by any means, but that makes her her and adds some pretty exciting spice to our life. Mostly, I think of her as so much fun and so enjoyable as she comes up with yet another brilliant idea that everyone must embrace RIGHT NOW. She cries easily, latches onto things strongly, and she and she alone decides when it is time to move on (prime example being Spanish school. After weeks and weeks of tears at drop off, she suddenly decided two weeks ago that she was over being sad. She apparently loves Spanish school now. SERIOUSLY?!). She's also loves special time, being read to (and, very exciting for all of us, she just read her first book on her own! Sounding out evvvvverrrrrry word), baking, make-believe, special treats, climbing, balancing, running, chasing, just going. Her world has expanded this year in so many ways and she's mostly okay with that. There are challenges, naturally, but she is embracing change much better than she has in the past. She is a great companion and I thoroughly enjoy the special time that she and I have this year, in her last year, before full time school. We've been talking a lot about compassion this fall and giving to others and while this remains a largely concrete concept for her, she's fully turning the ideas over in her head and adding shades of gray. She has a big heart, which I think can make her feel overwhelmed sometimes, but she's discovering the roots of who she is and what's important. I admire her tenacity in tackling bigger thoughts, feelings, and issues since I might be just a wee bit impatient, but I hope I'm ultimately supporting that growth. It's very cool to watch the changes in feeling and thinking and bear witness to the possibilities.

Five feels like a big birthday to me. It's been five exciting years -- I feel like my brain power has significantly diminished but that my ability to see people and their actions in their purest forms -- their love, excitement, sadness, kindness -- has grown immensely, largely due to the little whippersnapper who came into our lives that snowy winter. As I try and teach her things, I humbly acknowledge that she teaches me so much more. She teaches me the power of my words and actions. She teaches me that we're all special but we're no better than anybody else. She teaches me that it's okay to cry and not to know answers. "I don't know" has become a more and more common answer around here. She teaches me that it's okay to fail but that you have to pick yourself up again. These are all expectations that I have for her and that she reminds me I have to have for myself. She's a good egg, this little (sorry, big) Molly. I'm honored today, as I am every day, to be her mom. 

Her superhero friend birthday bash. Please tell me you can see the Wonder Woman logo on that cake... somehow...

I did say zany, no?

Photobombing the carousel picture

Her actual-birthday cake.

She had a better reaction to her ice-cream cake than her brother did...

Happy to get a few big-girl presents...

Including some Playmobil, which...

allows the adults to have some fun, too. 

High Five

A quick birthday wish for my big, big girl today. I could not love her anymore than I already do but I am a extra appreciative of her presence today, on this fifth anniversary of her birth, given the tragic events of this week. Her birthday hugs are a little squeezier and a little longer than normal on this day for many reasons, not the least of which is that I'm just grateful that she's here. With us. We love our big, bold, bouncy girl so, so very much. Happy birthday to my little spitfire.

And So It Goes

Well, well... remember us? We've been skulking around holiday blogs (like dear Martha and that darn Pinterest) incognito...

so I understand if you didn't even realize that we've been on the internet since Halloween... since that's the last time I got off my duff and posted. 

It's been... busy, sicky, travely, holiday-y, birthday preparation-y, getting someone back on a sleep routine-y, sicky, and more sicky. Since apparently licking plane seat arm rests causes unfortunate outcomes, during and since our quite exciting (new babies!) trip back east for Thanksgiving, our little Jack has had a mother of diaper rash requiring voodoo remedies fix, an episode of puking with his sister close behind him (when I wasn't there and Grandparents had the pleasure of cleaning up that bile. Oopsandthankyou), a nasty stomach bug that I did have the pleasure of seeing from all ends once we returned home (with the peanut gallery hollering out "that makes me gag" every time he upchucked.), and now some monkey disease with hives. He's a beaut. So the little man has had a roller coaster beginning to the holiday season (which has not been improved by his crazy mother and sister's insistence on seeing Christmas carolers, tall lit up Christmas ships, and Costco and his incredibly busy dad and travel. Okay, we can't blame the dad). Despite some short-lived alarm on the part of the same crazy mother and his teacher that we had Jack 2-point-uh-oh on our hands all of a sudden, he has been surprisingly chipper, if not snugglier, during his several bouts of hosting foreign DNA in his little body. 

And now, we're on the mend and in the thick of it all just like every other family with small people. Santa excitement is in full bloom, hopefully tempered by reminders of other important parts of the season. Really, I hope. We've got a little girl ready and eager to join the full finger club of five years old with a party a week before her big day so that she and I can fulfill our yearning to just get that darned tree up already without interfering with any Wonder Woman birthday party plans. And maybe we'll just keep writing run-on sentences for the rest of this post since it is Christmas and all and it's the most wonderful time of the year and there is so much fun stuff to do for the next 19 days. 

Yes, she's already  wearing a Christmas shirt and we might just be painting ornaments. It never hurts to be prepared. 

But, before we get to all this candy cane goodness, we have to back up and acknowledge the lovely Thanksgiving holiday and visits we had. Because, it was great and it's always nice to be home. And Grandparents do fun things with grandkids. 

And the weather was beautiful for at least some of the time and, when in Maine, go the ocean. 

And just generally, we created mayhem...

 made artistic messes... 

and did I mention created mayhem? 

We had a great trip and Thanksgiving day itself and I did not take one picture of my whole family and for that, I'm a big turkey (hardy har har). Hopefully, though, we're back -- on track, on the blog, on the camera, and, most important of all, on the holiday crazy train. Happy December to you all. 

Argh! Buzz! Boo!

Not much to report from Halloween other than I love getting ready for it, the kids love trick or treating and handing out candy, and John loves the loot resulting from trick or treating. The kids decided early on to be a pirate and a bumblebee and were presented with a bunch of chances to wear their costumes (including it being a random Tuesday if you're Molly), which suited them just fine. Jack, admittedly, was about the least scary pirate around since he does not have it in him to be tough and nasty. Molly's face paint was completed via her own two hands and wow... it just completed her costume (notreally). It gets more fun every year, that's for darn sure. Happy, happy November!

Riddle Me This

Following in Liz's footsteps again... here are the updates to Mr. Jack's annual questions about life, toys, food, and friends. He was excited about answering in the beginning, lost steam towards the middle, and was okay with delegating the answers to Molly at the end. But I wouldn't let him... oh no, he had the pleasure to answer each and every one of my queries. It just took a little longer... Previous answers are in parenthesis and my notes are, well, obvious. See if you can spot the theme.

Jack - Age 3
Height: 38.25 inches 
Weight:  39 lbs at last doctor's appointment
Favorite color: Yellow and blue and green (blue) -- I'm just happy he knows his colors.
Favorite toy: Thomas (Train tracks) -- True.
Favorite fruit: Strawberries (Apples) -- Yep.
Favorite TV show: Thomas The Tank show (Thomas) -- Yes, yes, yes.
Favorite thing to eat for lunch: Peanut butter and jelly (Popcorn) -- This is a much more accurate answer than popcorn. The other was just a bald faced lie. 
Favorite outfit: Thomas shirt (Train shirt) -- Yep. True. Rivaled only by his Patriots shirt, his Red Sox shirt, and his hockey shirt.
Favorite game: Cat In the Hat game (Basketball and soccer ball and hockey) -- This is not true. He has the attention span of gnat when it comes to board games. He's much better at playing King Kong on the game board, however. Maybe that's what he meant...
Favorite snack: Applesauce (Apples and cheese) -- That and granola bars. 
Favorite animal: Llamas (Elephant) -- this is an interesting one... The elephant answer came out of left field. But the llamas? He has started taking a liking to a llama stuffed animal we have, which I think is cute. 
Favorite song: Elmo song (Dancing with the iPad and I am a Pizza) -- It's actually the Thomas theme song, the Muppets theme song, and two "race car" songs that he professes to know. 
Favorite book: Busytown (Thomas and the Great Discovery) -- For sure.
Best friend: Levi and Liam  (Teacher Katie) -- Really, his best non-family friends are Zach and Tadd, his forty year old dad friends. 
Favorite cereal: Tractor cereal (Oaty Bites) -- I don't know what this is. 
Favorite thing to do outside: Play football (Play in the sandbox) -- Ball sports, yes, football specifically? notsomuch. 
Favorite drink: Juice (milk and water) 
Favorite holiday: Santa (Christmas) 
What you take to bed at night: Elmo, Burt, Thomas, Percy, Curious George, Horton, Cookie Monster, Grover (Bill and Ben) -- It's a busy, busy bed.
Favorite thing to eat for breakfast: Scrambled eggs (waffles) --  No, it's cereal. But he's really good at repeating what we had for breakfast the day I asked these questions
What you want for your special birthday dinner: Pasta (Pizza) -- This is my carb loving son.
What you want to be when you grow up: I want to cross the street myself. I like Firetrucks. (Trains) -- He really could not give two hoots about what he wants to be when he grows up. He just wants to cross the damn street by himself. 

Third Times A Charm

We celebrated the heck out of our brand new three year old last week. At three, Jack is the picture of nonchalance most of the time but is so clued in to what is going on, it's a little scary. He pulls out all the little tidbits he picks up at a time of his choosing and I am often left explaining why, for instance, I took a shower with my clothes on (I didn't. I was cleaning the shower and had no idea he was paying attention). He is sweet and funny and outgoing with nary a shy bone in his body. He loudly announces his presence ("hi guys! I'm here!"), says please and thank you (and no thank you) without too much prompting, thinks he can dance Gangnam style (his preschool dance moves can look suspiciously similar), can be very protective of his little girlfriend ("No Max! Don't hit Gloria!" with his chubby little hand held out to protect this little girl who really needs no protecting), makes up story after story about his trains and trucks (and does not need or want your participation), studiously avoids arts and crafts (SOB!), continues to love men and hardware stores (he cried his way out of school yesterday because I wouldn't take him to Lowe's), is generally an easy fix when he is sad or upset (carbohydrates, Busytown books, trains, music all generally work), still uses his pacifiers and tries to negotiate (or "be sleepy") his way into keeping them after nap or in the morning but actually gives them up without many complaints, entertains himself quite easily (that whole train thing), is still very snuggly (especially if you pull out a train, plane, or automobile book), generally wonders what all the fuss is about when someone is being dramatic (so do I, Buddy), is often an instigator of the drama (and does not care one whit that he provokes her), has a much better sense of direction than I do (this is not difficult to beat but his really is good), is a great companion (he's funny!), and is thankfully very willing to go with the flow (there are a lot of pick-ups, drop-offs, squeezing in extra kids to deal with in our current reality). He's so very much a second child but is completely his own person. He is physically challenging since he likes to run and chase and keep up with big kids but he has such an agreeable nature (although, he's definitely three) that I don't generally mind. Three years ago, I couldn't have verbalized what his personality would be at this point in the journey yet somehow he's exactly the same sweet, mellow baby that I had back then (who is now a much better sleeper!). He has grown leaps and bounds, exceeded my expectations, and adds so much to our family dynamic but his jolly temperament is still the very definition of him. My heart bursts with pride and laughter and love for this goofy, happy go lucky, lovely little boy and I hope that his sunny outlook on life continues to serve him well. 

 On his actual birthday, he did not enjoy waking up to a stunning rendition of Happy Birthday sung by yours truly (who offered no on-pitch notes whatsoever. Who made that song so hard?) and Big Sister (who sang every note on key as far as I could tell) but warmed up to celebrating himself quite nice about four minutes later. This boy, in contrast to his sister (sometimes I think he just likes to stick it to her), likes to remind us how "brave" he is, which is his stand in for friendly and outgoing, so I had little doubt that this day was going to go just fine, which it did. He opened his day with a candle in blueberry pancakes -- which gave me the opportunity to see how much spit he was going to spread around when he blew out his candles on community food. The verdict: he was surprisingly hygienic. 

Fast forward through his school celebration to his post-school cupcake with some friends. By this point, he encouraged people to sing multiple rounds of the birthday song to him. 

We continued the sugar fest after dinner with some cake and presents and with him showing his digit dexterity. 

Annnnnnnnd, we were met with this face when we brought out his birthday ice cream cake. Because it wasn't a train cake. The train (track) cake was for his little family party that weekend and this was just supposed to be a little celebration cake for the four of us. Lesson learned: don't taunt the animals. 

When the reality of the cake and ice cream sitting in front of him sunk in, with a little help from Big Sister, he got the deed done.

Trains! Cranes! Firetrucks!

Have I mentioned his love affair with trains before? 

And the celebration did continue over the weekend!

And he finally got his train track cake.

He also got a very special visit from Auntie Holly.

Some of the fam... but we didn't get one of the cousins and Mary (Eric got to join by phone from chilly Alaska) . Boo. Was it warm enough for Molly to wear a summer tank dress, you ask? No, no it wasn't. It was a freezing, rainy, cold day. Does that deter her? Never.

It was a fun couple of days and I'm totally caked-out. Just in time for Halloween...

The King Is In

I like the simplicity of three year old birthdays. Wearing a paper crown, getting to sing your favorite song at school, eating some cupcakes with friends, and sneaking some in some early presents -- it's a pretty awesome day for a newly minted three year old. All the old standbys are true again this year -- I don't know where the time has gone, just yesterday he was a baby, etc., but I am really enjoying this little man right here, right now. I'll celebrate him more in the next several days but for now, I'm just soaking up his happiness (and the quiet thanks to a new toy!). Thanks to everyone who celebrated Baby Jack today -- your faces, your words, your songs, your thoughts are all the wonderful building blocks in his life. We are lucky to have all of you and are so very grateful. Happy birthday to our little buddy. He's a keeper. 

Hush Little Baby

Jack had the privilege of performing what I think was his most-utterly-exhausted-melt-down this morning. It was a doozy (something about my insistence not to shoplift a plane set him off. Sticky fingers.). I felt so badly for him because it was one of those drippy eyes/nose/mouth sobbing fits of sadness that you just know he couldn't do anything about once it got started. You also know these little fits are rooted in sleepiness when all that dripping and hiccuping is happening and he is insisting he isn't tired -- when no one even suggested that this was rooted in a lack of sleep (or didn't out loud, anyway. It's like he read my mind!). Maybe he figured he'd preempt my suggestion that maybe this was the cause. Okay, brother, just go with that. Let's be honest here... I also felt badly for myself because carrying a 40+ lb wet noodle out of a store isn't really all it's cracked up to be. Other than that, though, those meltdowns don't really bother me. I don't much care what looks I get from other people because anyone who thinks he or she hasn't gone through the same thing at some point with his or her own kids are shoplifting something other than a plastic plane... Forty three seconds after getting home, he was out cold and is still sleeping hours later. And there is nothing like a sleeping munchkin to smooth out the bumps. No, no, not because it's quiet and there aren't matchbox cars, toy trains, and Playmobil being spread around underfoot, but because they are just peaceful and still and serene. It's a small piece of magic parked right in your own house. 

Speaking of peacefully sleeping, I don't know how someone sleeps well on the a) the hard floor or b) near the stairs. Don't worry, she just falls asleep here sometimes and we bring her back to bed. Still! Why?!

Tea for Two (Or Three or Four...)

We have visitors, and thus not a lot of time for writing, but I had a few pictures of one of our favorite fall activities... tea parties. Like Fancy Nancy says, you can have a tea party any time (and we do!). Sometimes it's a fancy affair and sometimes, sweatshirts and jeans are acceptable attire. Really, though, we do not need a single, solitary reason other than we are moved in the moment to hold a pinky in the air and sip(/slurp) a warm cup of chamomile.

A Little Slice of Magic

Sunday afternoon is now firmly ensconced as one of the top ten fall days, top ten beach days, top ten anything days. If you don't live here, come visit the Olympic Peninsula... it is magical. It's so interesting what you find when you're not really looking for amazing... you often find, well, amazing places. 

The mighty mighty Pacific

Driftwood hut

Just pure sweetness.

\

Jack + Rocks = enjoyment for him, long deep breaths for me as I prepare to leap up and deflect a missile errantly aimed at a person or bird

Thankfully, Dad steps in.

The scramble.

Looking out toward the Olympics

That's Victoria waaaay out there

Mt. Baker behind the light house at the end of the sand spit (we were at Dungeness Wildlife Refuge, and the Dungeness spit is one of the longest uninterrupted sand spits in the world).

The final glimpse at the Olympics as the sun thought about setting...