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