Overheard during Christmas....

Nate loves to sing. This Christmas Scott and I got a kick out of hearing him sing "We Wish You a Merry Christmas", including the lyrics

"Good tithings we bring to you and your kids..."

The song was "epic", as was everything according to Nate this year.

Thanksgiving

Reason #378 to love kindergarten: this Thanksgiving getup. There are a limited number of times in your life when you can wear a brown paper bag and a necklace made from cereal and have it be not only okay, but adorable. Cue the class feast.

Pumpkin pie, fruit juice, popcorn, carrots and pretzels served in a handmade, handpainted clay bowl. Grandma and Grandpa Larsen were in town for the holiday, so Grandma came with me to the feast to help serve, take pictures, and have a snack with an adorable 6 year old.

I have three pictures of Thanksgiving day and they all involve the crafts we did that morning. The kids colored pictures of turkeys, pilgrims, Native Americans, etc. Brenna and Ava made a turkey and we all put what we are thankful for on a feather that we glued to the turkey's back.

And we ate too! A lot!

A short list of things I am thankful for: Scott, Brenna, Ava, Nate and Gwen. Grandma and Grandpa. Gram and Pops. My sisters and brother. All those sweet nephews and nieces that my kids are such good friends with. The gospel of Jesus Christ. Good health. Friends. Bluetooth capability in my car, the internet, cell phones, my laptop, my Kindle (I love technology....sing it with me!.....but not as much as you you see, but I still love technology...) Since this is the short list I'm stopping there.

Halloween

The patch we normally get our pumpkins from had a wonderful year, apparently, and sold almost their entire crop. We can't carve pumpkins more than a day in advance of Halloween because they rot quickly in our warm temps. By the time we got to the patch this year, there were a few handfuls of small pumpkins left, which actually was fabulous because the kids were able to carve those little pumpkins almost entirely by themselves.

Halloween was on a Wednesday this year. We had a chili dinner and trunk or treat at our church, followed by trick or treating in our neighborhood.

Gwen wanted to be Tinkerbell this year, and with her blonde hair was perfect for the part. Unfortunately she discovered her previously well-hidden costume just two days before Halloween and had ruined her wings by the big day. Still, she was cute. I love these shots of her being just downright Gwennish. I don't even remember what she was telling me about. I just love all her expressions.

Brenna went as Katniss Everdeen, the main character from the book, The Hunger Games. We had fun actually putting together a costume from scratch and making the bow and arrows and Mockingjay pin that are fundamental to the character. Brenna liked her costume, but it attracted a LOT of attention. Everywhere she went people commented on it and stopped her to say they liked it. By the end of the night I think she'd had enough! She was ready to blend in a little more.

Nate went as Batman. I'm especially fond of the superhero underpants look. 

Gwen showing off the pumpkin she had carved.

Ava dressed up as the Greek goddess, Athena. She decided it was time to put an end to the princess costume streak that began when she was 2 or 3 years old.

The kids all ready to for Trunk or Treat at the church.

My favorite part of the night was when Gwen got mad at me for not letting her Trunk or Treat by herself. I mean, she's 3, right, so what's the problem with her wandering unsupervised through a dark parking lot full of people with her best 3-year old friend?

The kids made a huge haul that lasted, I think, about 4 days. 

Birthday Boys

At our house, the girls have their birthdays in the winter and the boys have their birthdays in the fall. 

This is a snapshot of breakfast in bed with kiddos. Half these kids actually slept in that bed the night before and then wanted as much of their dad's breakfast as he would share with them. Is it just me or with that black bed in the background does it look like Scott is sporting some extreme Charlie Brown/modified mohawk haircut?

November 1st was Nate's birthday. Count how many years this boy has been with us:

Brenna made him some paper claws which were his favorite gift. He channeled his inner Wolverine.

That night we had his two best buddies over for dinner and cake.

I adore this picture:

Digging in:

I'm so thankful for my two boys!

Fall Swim Team

3 swimmers (sorry Gwen!) 

4 nights a week

for 6 weeks

1 swim meet at the end

Easy peasy lemon squeezy! We loved the swim team this fall! 

All the following pictures are from the swim meet and all were taken by Laura for three reasons. 1) I raced over to the meet following my Saturday morning spin class and did not remember my good camera, 2) Apparently Laura has become my personal photographer since I can't be bothered to take my own photos any more, and 3) I was too busy trying not to scream at all the idiot parents crowded around the pool at this meet to stop and take a photo. Not that I could have gotten any shots of my kids in action, due to the aforementioned idiot parents gathered poolside. My frustrations aside, the meet was great, the kids swam well, and they clearly had fun hanging out with their silly friends all day!

Swimming has become, by far, my favorite kid sport. Living where it's warm enough to swim outdoors well into October helps too!

The best compliment of all

A few days ago I overheard the kids playing a game of "house" together. Now, I think every parent has had those moments when they realize that they're not being very nice to their kids or that they are grouchy or stressed or tired far more often than they would like. I don't know about you, but I worry that my kids' whole perception of their home life is of a nagging mother trying to coerce them into doing chores or yelling at them for whatever kid-like thing they've done today.

So imagine my delight when playing this game of house, Gwen tells Ava that she can be the mommy and Gwen will be the "sweetie". Since then I've noticed the "sweetie" any time she plays with dolls, or Littlest Pet Shops, or any time there is someone who is a mother and someone else who is a child. The mother is always kind and the little one is always referred to as sweetie.

What a relief to hear through the mimicry of my own child that apparently I can be nice!

Party with Untle Patwick

Way back in August we spent the weekend at my sister-in-law's parents' house in Laguna Beach, hosted by my brother. We spent two days eating, relaxing, and partying in the fierce So Cal waves. Nate is frightening in the ocean, although why should we be surprised? He's frightening in many places. 

Brenna taking a breather with her favorite "adult" beverage.

Don't let this confident pose fool you, this girl does NOT yet like the waves. She's content to sit on the beach and play in the sand.

"Land surfing", aka, trying to stay upright when the wicked waves came in.

We did lots of body boarding (boogie boarding, I don't know the difference, but I suppose one of those must be right) and wave jumping. I tried swimming out a bit and did fine but got trashed by some pretty wicked waves trying to swim back in. Note to self: no need to go swimming. The sand is wonderful!

My sister-in-law's sister has a hairless cat that the kids adored petting in the evenings. That cat straight up freaked me out.

The second morning we walked to a beach-front restaurant for weekend brunch. While we waited for a table the kids got their feet dirty. Here's Gwen refusing to get close to the water.

Ava and Brenna caught sand crabs.

This is what "don't get dirty" and "stay out of the water" looks like. They mostly stayed presentable.

Afterward we picked up cupcakes at Sprinkles. Hurray for the secret word of the day: a half dozen free cupcakes, one for each of us! Naturally we needed more than just that.

We had such a fun time. Thanks to the kids' favorite party uncle and the Cowans for accommodating us in their digs!

Where you at?

- Cleaning 3,000 square feet that are always getting dirty again
- Finally exercising 5 days a week again now that the kiddos are back in school
- Planning, shopping for, and making 3 reasonably healthy meals a day
- Taking kids to piano
- Taking Ava to dance (twice a week)
- Taking kids to swim team practice (three times a week)
- Wondering why my 10 year old isn't turning in 1/3 of her classwork
- Riding my 10 year old's case from the minute she gets home until she goes to bed to make sure she's on task
- Hounding kids to do afternoon chores
- Hounding kids to hang up their backpacks and unload their lunch boxes
- Hounding kids to do homework
- Hounding kids to practice piano
- Hounding kids to pick up their rooms
- Hounding kids to put away their folded laundry
- Hounding kids to stop acting like maniacs to each other
- Hounding kids to get out the door on time
- Hounding kids to get in the shower
- Hounding kids to get their teeth brushed, deodorant on, hair brushed, etc
- Taking kids to the dentist
- Taking kid #1 to the orthodontist
- Taking myself to the podiatrist
- Working with the youth at church every Wednesday night
- Laundry, laundry and more laundry
- Spending quality time with Gwen
- Trying to find time each day with each child to interact positively and without demands
- Painting Nate's dresser with chalkboard paint since he insists on drawing on it anyway
- Reading, always reading
- Trying to ignore the football games that someone insists on watching nonstop from Thursday-Sunday, except of course, for the one game a week I care about
- Reminiscing about those "boring" summer days with nothing to do and nowhere to go
- Enjoying that busy though we are, every day we each have something to do and somewhere to go

Oh, to be three...

The comedian Ray Romano has a bit about seeing his young daughter smiling to herself as she gazes out the window of their car and asking her what she's thinking about. She responds, "Candy."

Isn't it wonderful, the sweetness and innocence of a child's thoughts?

Tonight Gwen was having a hard time getting to sleep and wanted me to sit by her and rub her back. While I did this she told me how she wanted a "tiny giraffe" to be her friend. She was so sweet and happy thinking and talking about her tiny giraffe that I fell in love with my little Gwen all over again. 

I find the experience of having children to be a lot like a new romance. That child is the most wonderful person in the world and they can do no real wrong in your eyes. Sure, they may have flaws, you're not totally blind, you can see that, but their flaws are charming, harmless, endearing. The more you're around your child the more you love them. You think about them too much. Talk about them too much.   Sure, they can be frustrating and hard to understand, but what person isn't when you're in a new relationship, trying to figure out exactly who that other, wonderful person really is. 

So even after 10, 8, 5 and 3 years, I'm still trying to figure out what's going on in the minds and hearts of my children and falling in love with those insights every single day. Especially when it's tiny giraffes.

First day of school!

We had 3 excited kids (and one oblivious 3 year old) at our house this morning chomping at the bit to get back to school. In spite of our attempts to entertain them with trips to Disneyland, Utah, Lake Tahoe, and Laguna Beach, in spite of countless days swimming with friends and hours of swim lessons and swim practice and swim meets, in spite of days at the movies, a house full of toys, and more electronics than you can shake a stick at, the kids were "bored". The fact of the matter is, not only is summer vacation not 104 days long, it is nothing at all like Phineas and Ferb would have you believe. Despite a mother's best efforts there are seemingly endless hours in the day to fill and the kids were tired of trying to fill them. Bring on the school year!

Nate and Gwen clearly didn't get the point of the fingers being held up in this picture. Brenna is starting 5th grade, Ava 3rd, Nate kindergarten, and Gwen is rocking the home life with mom for a couple more years. Please note, she is also rocking the pink cowboy boots, which she wears all the time. 

So I started the day off with a bang by not charging the good camera last night. These were all taken on my iPhone.

We park several blocks from the school and walk the kids in on the first day, along with almost every other family.

Nate's teacher must know a thing or two about 5 year olds, particularly 5 year old boys. She had a bowl of Unifix cubes at each spot for the students to play with as they arrived. Kindergarten has "legos"! Nate was a happy boy. I, on the other hand, found myself unexpectedly teary-eyed and was grateful for my sunglasses so I didn't look like one of "those" moms.

Brenna and Ava didn't even peek in their classrooms. They simply set their backpacks outside the door and headed out to the playground with quick farewell hugs (if we were lucky).

At 2:45 Gwen and I headed to the bus stop to pick up the kids. Nate and Ava are supposed to arrive at 2:50, and Brenna at 3:10. Finally at 3:15 Ava and Nate's bus arrived, with NO NATE ON IT! The kindergartners wear wristbands to make it easy to tell which bus they need to get on and what stop to get off at. I had filled out the wrong wristband for Nate, designating the right stop but on the wrong bus. I realized my mistake this morning and told his teacher that I needed to make new wristbands for him, but she assured me she had already noticed the mistake and had filled out new ones. Turns out that she must have noticed some other kids incorrect wristbands. So I asked a friend who lives around the corner if Brenna could come home with her for a few minutes when she made it off the bus because they would surely take my kindergartener back to the school when he didn't get off because he never saw his stop.

Ava, Gwen and I hurried back to the house to find Nate standing in front of the garage door (which I had left open), sipping a Capri Sun he had gotten out of the garage fridge. He was perfectly happy, and said in a pleasant voice, "Where were you guys?"

Since he had ridden the wrong bus, he saw the bus stop that Brenna and Ava used to get off at 2 years ago and got off there. He then proceeded to walk the 2/3 of a mile from there to our house all by himself, without getting lost or even perturbed. Apparently being a big kid implies a lot more to him than it does to me!

So all is well that ends well. Nate feels like a brave adventurer and I've written a note to make sure the teacher knows which bus he should ride from now on.

The kids were all glad to see their friends and learn the rules of their new classrooms. They were also all in need of some mindless escapism the moment they hit the door (that, a drink of water and a big helping of Texas sheet cake with vanilla ice cream).

Here's hoping tomorrow is another good day.