A little family olympics

One step behind

     I was just one lunging, diving, almost-saving, step behind Elsie as she tumbled down the concrete stairs and landed on her face.
       I was just one pivoting, don't-even-think-about-it-mom's-watching, step behind Liam as he turned on the hand mixer and got his arm (yes, I said "arm") caught between the frantically spinning beaters. 
      I was baffled that despite holding. snuggling, feeding, and helping Elsie all day, I failed to detect the tick embedded into her flesh.  I must have passed over it and mistaken it for a speck of dirt. It wasn't until the embedded bugs legs started scurrying that I noticed he was even there. And then even after he'd been detected, I couldn't get him out.  Uggh. Then came a mild fever, vomiting, worrying, calls to the doctor, hugs and kisses, and more mother guilt.

     What a weekend.
        Kids bring trauma. Luckily, they are surprisingly resilient.  Right now mine appear healthy and happy, despite any afflictions I did not prevent.
     I guess that's life. All the love in the world can not ensure a smooth ride for people we love.  Love and good intentions don't deter bad luck. It seems like caring about, and praying for, someone should, in a totally fair world, impose some preventative measures. Live and learn and stand a little closer.









GETTING LEGIT

I figured you can only take yourself so seriously if you sleep on a futon.  So this past weekend after 7 years of futoning we broke down and bought a bed, a real bed, with a real head board.  It feels oh, so good.

This purchase, this ikea, craigslisted find makes me feel totally legit.  In fact this $100 bed makes me feel like I'm thousand dollars richer.  There are some purchases that just make you feel guilty, that seem superfluous when they float around in the back of your mind. But this just makes me feel like I never should have waited this long to upgrade.

 I guess I didn't know what I was missing.  Being a grad school family for so long has made me frugal, maybe even tacky-cheap. Brady has yet to have any of his academic friends over for the past 5 years and I can't help but think our junky furniture doesn't help the odds. I have had time to think long and hard about how to spend money when I actually have it.  In my mind I have a lists of things to acquire and things that I will gladly do without.
     
1) Stuff to buy when I have $- a house (even just renting) without mice, swanky new clothes, a get away to New Zealand, a couch without holes and a table without water stains, meat (yes, even steak)  all new towels and pillowcases.
 2)Stuff other people buy I can do without- a brand spankin' new car, a spacious house, designer anything,  expensive electronics, . . .

 For now all those things can wait though, I've got my bed.


The 'before' bed, equipped with buzz light year pillowcases and a super cute kid


 

Baby Birds

For the past 2 weeks we have been spying on the nest of a mother Robin, perched outside a closet window. Three eggs hatched and it's been fun to have a bird's eye view of the process at a 2-inch distance. The baby birds grow quick. We first found them when they were pink, squirmy, and fuzzy. Today we saw one of the little guys take his first fall/flight. Liam's loved watching them get fed and volunteered to take over the mom's job of hunting for worms, if need be.

 

Liam insists that all of his hot dogs be made to look like "Light Saber Hotdog's

The ice cream man debate

 I grew up in a house on a fast, 45 mile an hour road.  On a street where our dogs got ran over, and you never, ever saw kids riding their bikes.  We never got trick-or-treaters, even though my mom always bought candy, just in case.  We enjoyed our uniquely Alaskan luxuries- a huge back yard full of fireweed taller than our heads, a 4 wheeler trail, a swing set we hung moose meat on, and a BB gun shooting range.  Despite this, I was always a bit jealous of those culdesac kids. You know, the ones that would play kick ball and capture the flag late into the night with the neighbors.  Also, I dreamed of having the ice cream man drive slowly past my house, playing the Entertainer.


The ice cream man adds a spontaneous, frantic chase to a mundane day.  Following his obnoxiously twangy music, hunting him down becomes a game. The winner is rewarded with melty, sticky, summery, goodness. 

For $2 you can lick a vanilla cone completely covered in sprinkles, or cool off with a fruit popsicle loaded with frozen chunks of real strawberry. Most importantly, for $2 I can check something off my list of  "I always wanted to do that"s.

It's a simple, childlike bliss. . . . and it drives Brady crazy.
 It raises his blood pressure.  He knows we paid as much for 2 cones as we would to buy an entire carton at the grocery store.  It's a frequent debate, and neither of us is likely to be convinced.  Yes, he's right it's not the best value. But, you're not just paying for an ice cream, you're paying for a memory.  And that, is worth every penny.

New York

New York City is exactly what you'd presume a Lady Gag Concert to be- Wildly entertaining, flashy, crude, loud, fake, simultaneously wealthy and shoddy, and probably something as a church goer you should shy away from. Yet somehow I think (unlike lady gaga) it's something everyone should do at least once, to sate curiosity.

Times Square

St. Patricks Cathedral

Central Park

The Plaza Hotel

My brother Justin at Central Park

Liam's birthday

Uncle Justin made this amazing monster pinata

Party Week

 Birthday week was a success! Here's to two awesome kids, a fantastic marriage, and a Champion Nin.

Elsie's big day got jump-started by picking up Dani's brother Justin at the Reagan Airport. We cruised around the White House and mall, and then grabbed pizza at Matchbox Pizza (note: next time you're there, when asking "Do you guys do anything for kids' birthdays?", the response "Yep! I'll take care of it" actually means "Sure-- I'll bring out some cake and ice cream- with an extra bowl for each kid-- and charge you full price for everything" haha). Elsie loved her books and dresses and baby doll she got. She got right into her cake and showed off her newly found walking skills for us.

On our Anniversary, Nin watched the kids while Dani and I went to Annapolis for dinner at Reynold's Tavern, which has been around long enough to serve Ben Franklin. 

Liam's birthday party, by his request, was a surprise party, only it was a reverse surprise party where his guests didn't know they were coming to a birthday party. His uncle made a killer dragon pinata, everyone dressed up as monsters, princesses, or superheroes, there was water balloon throwing, and a dragon cake. 

We'll fill in more details later, but I know everyone just wants videos anyway. Happy Birthday Week!

Oxon Hill Farm

Liam milked a real cow.  Elsie chased a chicken.  We spied on 2 black and green striped lizards playing under a rock. Ah, the good life on the farm.

Putting down roots

In our 6 years of marriage, Brady and I have lived at 5 different addresses,  in 4 different states, attending 3 universities.  Each move shifting us farther away from 'home,' In each place we have collected cherished, life-long friends, and warm memories. 

     All the perpetual moving and transitioning has made me realize how important it is to quickly fall in love with where you live, accept it for what it is (and isn't) and just get on to putting down your roots.

       

 

The transition to moving to DC has been made easier by my slightly contradicting declarations:

1) Get to know people as if you were going to live here forever.  Be generous about opening up your home and treat people like they are already friends.

2)  Lost time can't be retrieved. Explore the place you live while also finding the quaint places you love to frequent.

Gardening is a way that I put down my roots and incorporate myself. 

It gives me pleasure in the here and now and makes me count down the days 'til bloom time.  There is something about planting a tree in your backyard that makes that space feel more like home.  There is a satisfaction in beautifying the earth given to you and leaving things better than when you found them. Planting a garden makes me feel connected with the earth and makes me feel like I'm living.

        

I love the simplicity (and divine complexity) of my bare hands in the earth. Plant this, add that, nurture here, prune there and watch it grow. 

Attached to my kitchen door is an enclosed, not quite weather proof, porch. In the words of a friend, it "smells like camping" and I used to be disgusted by it.  

       Now I've turned it into a green house. Liam calls it my "club house,"  and I love it.  My friend Katie and I have taken on the task of  making an organic vegetable garden in my back yard. Now my clubhouse is the perfect place to nurture seedlings, water starters, or to hide from the kids during nap time.:)   

Every garden needs a hiding elf- for good luck.The kids always come outside with me. I pay Liam in Spiderman popsicles to dig holes for me.