Tuesday 10: Life Beyond These Early Childhood Years

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reach

I can feel the end of an era coming as my littlest gets bigger and bigger. Even the puppy is slowly turning into a regular old, gigantic, spazzy dog. In the fall my “baby” begins 4k and I’ll be finding myself with a handful of hours to myself each day. Next year, when she’s in kindergarten, that window of time will get even larger. Like “should I maybe get a job?” larger. I’ve gone back and forth in my mind about what I plan to do when the kids are both in school and the truth is, I just don’t know.

What I do know is that I really want to be there when they get off the bus each day which means “Mother’s Hours” wherever I decide to spend my time. I could volunteer in the class, find a part time job, work from home, spend my days in yoga pants at the gym or walking the dog or becoming the Domestic Goddess that I can’t seem to achieve with two kids in tow. Or something else entirely.

Because it’s Tuesday and I like making random lists, here are 10 things that I would like to when my kiddos are both School Kiddos:

  1. Write a novel or maybe a novella or maybe something else entirely. Creative writing of some kind.
  2. Read lots of other peoples’ novels and novellas and other creative writing endeavors and possibly edit them.
  3. Exercise, like every freaking day. Yoga classes, long walks, strength training, running perhaps?
  4. Go on long walks in beautiful places with my camera and not have a small child tugging on my arm while I click the shutter.
  5. Sit in a coffee shop and drink a cup of coffee and read a book instead of drinking my coffee as quickly as possible and telling my daughter to share the toys with the other kids and stop piling all the toy food on my table.
  6. Take the dog for a long walk every day or at least, much more often – explore dog parks together and enjoy some fresh air.
  7. Go grocery shopping all by myself. Nuff said.
  8. Take a shower and not be paranoid about how many minutes it’s been.
  9. Start reading a magazine and finish it in the same sitting.
  10. Do numbers 1-9 and still have ten minutes left over to meditate or watch crappy television before the kids come home.

You’ll notice that cleaning wasn’t anywhere on this list? I said things I would *like* to do, not things I’ll guilt trip myself into doing instead!

What’s on your mind today? Share your favorite things to do without kids in the comments section or just say hi and tell me something totally random! 

On Princesses Who Do Ballet and Drawing Our Own Lines.

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contraditictory ballerina

Today was her second ballet class. It went sooooo much better than last week. She has been eagerly waiting for class all week and was all smiles and confidence as she strutted into class in her new ballet slippers and sparkly tutu. She spent class having a great time, but absolutely marching to the beat of her own drum, unconcerned if her twirls and leaps were not exactly the same as the other girls. She was eager and friendly but definitely giving off that I’m Gonna Do It My Way vibe that I love about her.

Do I care if she becomes smitten with all things ballet and turns into a Swan Lake Super Star? Nope – I just want her to have a great time and learn new things with confidence and poise. To embrace the challenges in her life and never stop trying. I want her to fall down and get back up – to make new friends and know when to let go. I want her to define awesomeness for herself and defend those choices with vigor.

ta da!

After class I asked her if she liked being a ballerina and she said calmly, “I’m not a ballerina mommy. I’m a Princess who does ballet.” I tried to get her to divulge the difference between ballerinas and Princesses Who Do Ballet but she was pretty vague on the topic. I think it has something to do with the skirt? But probably it’s about the attitude. Ballerinas fall in line, princesses draw the line, you know?

my princess

This girl definitely draws her own lines!

What I’m Into Lately: April 29, 2013

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happiest kids in the world

You’d never know it looking at this picture, but the kids had an absolute blast this weekend. It started with a somewhat impromtu trip to the UW Geology Museum. MM went on a field trip with his class, but the rest of us have never seen this free museum with rocks and castings of awesome dinosaur skeletons and much more.

black light exhibit

Our favorite exhibit was the black light room which shows you a display of rocks in varying levels of black lights so that on certain settings you see more or less colors. Very cool. Next to that was a little mock up of a cave where you could actually hear the dripping water if you stood inside long enough. BB liked to run from the black light room to the cave and back again. Over. And over. And over.

Other fun weekend memories: new sandals for the kids, digging up dandelions with daddy, dinner at Abuelo’s, grilling in the backyard, watching Brave & Rise of the Guardians with the kids, working on Mothers Day cards with the kids, and other things that I can’t remember now. It was a great, productive weekend with lots of beautiful weather.

What I’m reading:

Where'd You Go Bernadette by Maria SempleWhere’d You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple which my book club will be discussing at the end of the month. I’m about 150 pages in and enjoying it. The format of the book took a little getting used to as it’s sort of an epistolary style story, told through letters, emails, memos, etc. with a few paragraphs here and there narrated by Bernadette’s daughter, Bee.

“Bernadette Fox has vanished.

When her daughter Bee claims a family trip to Antarctica as a reward for perfect grades, Bernadette, a fiercely intelligent shut-in, throws herself into preparations for the trip. But worn down by years of trying to live the Seattle life she never wanted, Ms. Fox is on the brink of a meltdown. And after a school fundraiser goes disastrously awry at her hands, she disappears, leaving her family to pick up the pieces.

Which is exactly what Bee does, weaving together an elaborate web of emails, invoices, and school memos that reveals a secret past Bernadette has been hiding for decades. Where’d You Go Bernadette is an ingenious and unabashedly entertaining novel about a family coming to terms with who they are, and the power of a daughter’s love for her mother.”

TV show I’m excited about this week:

This week’s Idol should be pretty great seeing as the Top 3 girls have been my three favorites all season long. I’m also really looking forward to New Girl this week. Did anyone else squeal like a school girl at the end of last week’s episode?

Movie I watched recently:

This weekend Dan and I rented Silver Lining Playbook (in addition to the kids movies I mentioned above which were both sweet, adorable, great family movies) and we both really liked it. It was a strange, kind of beautiful movie. Major props to Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper who both did such an amazing job with their characters. I loved how the energy of the movie kind of flowed with the internal feelings of the characters. It felt frantic and crazy in parts and then at the end it was like everyone collectively, finally, exhaled. Great movie.

In my ears:
So during SNL, hubby and I both remarked that Of Monsters and Men were even more talented than we realized. We both really love the song Little Talks but watching them play it live gave us even more respect for the group. It was one of the better SNL performances I’ve seen (why is it that so many bands and musicians are borderline awful when performing on shows like SNL, The Ellen Show and such? Of Monsters and Men did a great job and I am thinking of looking into buying their album now.
Items of Note:
This week MM is the Star Student of the Week. I guess every week all year they have featured one kid and they bring in photographs and fill in little booklets all about themselves and celebrate that student all week in different ways. MM is all kinds of excited and a little nervous, too. This morning he asked me to style his hair to look like David Tennant (I did my best!) – too cute. On Friday he can have a class snack brought in and I’m thinking of running to World Market and getting a handful of packages of Jammie Dodgers to share with the class (the Doctor’s favorite cookie, of course).
What I’m Looking Forward to:

BB has her second ballet class this morning, hoping she goes in with more confidence this week and that her new ballet slippers give her some courage!

what are you into these days? Let me know in the comments below!

High Five Friday: May 3, 2013

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highfive5-3-2013

First High Five Friday for May! I have to say I am majorly looking forward to this weekend, not because we have something amazing planned but because this week kinda kicked my butt in a major way. There was a lot of good, of course, but also a lot of temper tantrums (from the kids and from me), poop, schizophrenic weather patterns, poop, disgusting ice coffee, poop and well, poop.

But in between all of that poop, here are some awesome things that I captured on camera this week:

1 – beautiful spring blooms – finally! I puffy hearts adore this time of year because every time I go outside the trees all look completely different. <3
2 – making pom pom pets with little BB – totally made up for an otherwise very lazy day in which I didn’t bother taking off my bathrobe until 3 in the afternoon and then only because I was too warm.
3 – ballet slippers for my little ballerina who totally overcame her fears of participating in her first ballet class!
4 – standing on one foot while waiting for the bus – ways to keep warm on cold spring mornings where you aren’t sure if you’ll need a winter hat or a rain jacket to face the day.
5 – beautiful 80 degree days in the middle of 40-50 degree days ; playdates with good friends

How was your week? Tell me about your favorite memory from the past week in the comments section below!

Top Pictures from April 2013 : now with a spiffy new format!

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top nature pics from april 2013

I had a hard time choosing my favorite pictures from the month of April – looking back over the month, it was jam packed with big events, sweet smaller moments, beautiful nature pictures and crazy puppies. Rather than try to fit that all into an arbitrary Top 10 list, I thought this would be a fun time to shake things up! This month I’m trying out a collage form of my favorite pictures from the past month, each collage with it’s own theme.

The collection of photos above are my favorite nature shots from April: spring buds beginning to bloom, beautiful sunsets, the rain on my windshield and a heart found on the tree in our backyard from where two branches had been chopped off.

best photos of BB

The Best of BB: sweetest smiles, meeting a princess aka Rebecca Loebe, baby mugging, messy spaghetti faces, washing daddy’s truck & new ballet slippers

the best photos of MM in April

MM’s Best April Pics: sweet smiles & the world’s longest eyelashes, fedora loving, Cub Scout meetings, birthday present madness, the birthday cake that he helped me make & walking with his little sister in beautiful Spring weather

miscallenous favorites from April

Everything Else: Cute pic of my newish haircut (how often do I snap a picture of myself that I don’t hate?), apple fritter bread and Dubliner cheese, lots of coffee, jelly fish at the pediatricians office, interesting ways to misspell my name, crazy puppies and my daughter’s wardrobe is developing a serious stylistic theme.

Can you believe it’s already May?

Can you believe that I got so many awesome pics last month?

What do you think of the collage format? Too many pics?

SPRING! Spotting the signs of my favorite season

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spring

We’re getting to that time of year when pretty much every tree has teeny tiny buds starting to pop and a few are becoming downright colorful. Slowly tip toeing into the season. The weather is reaching a point where the temps are high enough to ditch jackets when it isn’t raining (which is often unfortunately) and over the weekend we broke out the grill for the first time this year : we welcomed the start of Grilling Season with some beer brats & grilled stuffed mushroom caps. Our neighbors were also grilling and I’m sure we weren’t alone. We’ll be eating outdoors & wearing sandals for as long as possible here.

Of course the downside to my favorite season is that it’s also the beginning of allergy season which tends to run from early April until late November, just in time for cold and flu season to start! I’ve been trying to decide if one allergy medication will be enough this year or if I’ll need to go back on both of the meds I took last year which were pretty much just enough to keep me mostly alive. Last year was the worst allergy season I have ever endured and I’m hoping for a gentler season this year.

As much as my nose hates this time of year (and my throat, ears & head in general), I love Spring. The flowers blooming, the relief from briskly cold temperatures, the streets and yards finally free of snow and ice. Animals are emerging from hibernation and though this mean that my puppy is even more of a spaz than usual, the signs of life are thrilling and warmly welcomed. The sound of children playing outside can be heard pretty much every day now and sidewalk chalk, bubbles and water tables will be getting used a lot more now. It’s much easier to deal with a case of cabin fever, when you can go outside and enjoy your backyard or take a walk through the neighborhood to the local playground without needing a sweater, winter jacket, scarf, hat and mittens.

What’s your favorite season?

ballet lessons: on overcoming her fears & the power of shoe therapy

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ballet

When we arrived at the ballet studio of our local YMCA this morning, my brave and spirited little princess morphed into a distraught wallflower for possibly the first time in her life. I’m not sure if it was the strange room filled with new people, the glass wall that separated the mommies from the children or the fact that every other little girl there had clearly been to ballet classes before (quite the feat considering this was a pre-ballet class for kids 3-4 years old!). Little BB seemed totally thrown by their confidence and wanted nothing to do with them. She clung to my legs and sobbed when I tried to lead her into the classroom and pleaded that she didn’t want to do ballet after all and maybe she should just have a snack instead.

She has never been this girl – in the face of new adventures, she tends to be fearless and though she’s never quite been a social butterfly, she’s always been friendly and self confident. Did she not sleep well? Was she sick? Was she really terrified of trying something new? Is this a sign of things to come? My mind raced with possible reasons for her meltdown as I tried to think of a solution and also tried not to cry as my heart broke for her. My own inner struggles growing up, trying unsuccessfully sometimes to fit in when finding myself again and again the New Girl ran through my mind and the Warrior Mother within me tried to send telepathic messages of strength and resilience to her.

I insisted that she had to stay for class and sit with the other girls unless she wanted to go home. I bribed her with the promise of a cookie afterwards if she tried. I’m not proud, sometimes you just have to do what works. For a few minutes she did sit there with the other girls, arms crossed with the surliest expression the Midwest has ever seen. But when class started, she absolutely refused to join in. The teacher tried to break the ice with an extended hand and a cheerful encouragement to join the fun, but BB scowled at her, and turned to me as if to say, “I’ll sit in this room, but you can’t make me participate.” A few minutes later, having seemingly had her fill, she got up and walked out of the classroom, giving me her best pout as she coaxed her way back into my arms.

After a few minutes of quietly talking to her, I finally found the apparent source of her angst – the shoes. Those damned shoes. All the girls had them except her and BB found herself filled with envy or perhaps just a sense of not fitting in because of her lack of footwear. Isn’t she too young for this, I wondered? I’m sure as she gets older, we’ll have our battles over owning the right jeans or what length of skirt is acceptable. But at three and a half years old, it surprises me how important fashion is to my daughter. Clearly this was the source of our problem though because when I told her firmly that I wouldn’t buy her ballet slippers unless she participated in class, she nodded calmly, found her inner confidence and marched timidly back into class.

I won’t say that suddenly she morphed into a ballet savant, she continued to be somewhat hesitant in her involvement, but slowly with each passing minute, she eased into it and by the end of class she was smiling and confident again. I rewarded her participation with a trip to the adorable ballet store at the nearby shopping center where a very kind salesperson helped her pick out her first pair of ballet slippers and a new tutu to wear as well. A lot of the other girls were rocking leotards and tights also, but I decided to be somewhat frugal and start with the basics that I knew would win over my little fashionista ballerina.

It’s been an emotional day for both of us, but we came out of it with new shoes, a cute skirt and a happy girl with high hopes for next week’s class. I am very proud of her for overcoming whatever fears she found herself faced with this morning and for giving it a shot.

my girl

Is there anything that new shoes can’t fix?

What I’m Into Lately: April 29, 2013

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love

You know how people say that beauty is all around us in tiny details and that we only need to look closely to find it? I was reminded of this again over the weekend when we were outside grilling dinner on Sunday and the kids were running around the yard playing with nothing in particular but having a blast and suddenly MM stops in front of a tree and says, “There is a heart on this tree!” He is filled with excitement at his discovery and I’ll admit, I didn’t even get up at first, thinking it would probably be a very loose interpretation of a heart and my dinner was delicious.

But hubby got up to check it out and when he also seemed impressed by the tree, I got up and lo and behold – there is a heart on our tree. It’s probably been there the whole entire time we’ve lived here and none of us ever noticed, never bothered to look. It was so beautiful, I of course had to photograph it pretty much immediately. MM decided he had to try to climb the tree pretty much immediately, using the heart as a hand hold ; and suddenly he and Dan were both climbing or pretending to climb trees and even BB wanted to get in on the action.

What’s that? Did I climb a tree, too? Don’t be ridiculous. But it was a beautiful moment, found by looking close enough to see it.

What I’m reading:

Pretty in Plaid by Jen LancasterPretty in Plaid by Jen Lancaster, one of my fave authors and always sure to deliver when I need a good laugh kind of read.

“In Pretty in Plaid, Jen Lancaster reveals how she developed the hubris that perpetually gets her into trouble. Using fashion icons of her youth to tell her hilarious and insightful stories, readers will meet the girl she used to be.”

-goodreads.com

TV show worth watching:

Is anyone else watching Mr. Selfridge on Masterpiece? I found it recording on my DVR because apparently my DVR is planning to record anything “Masterpiece” on PBS because of how it’s titled in their guide, but I’m actually kind of loving it. Jeremy Piven is so amazing as Mr. Selfridge and it’s an interesting time period to watch. It’s very much in a similar style to Downton Abbey in that the show revolves around a lengthy cast of characters but like Downton, it’s easy to follow after a short while and addictively fun.

In my ears:
So don’t laugh at me but I’m kind of loving Demi Lovato’s new song, Heart Attack. It’s true, my musical taste is often on par with your twelve year old. I like to think that it isn’t creepy or weird yet, but remind me to ask you again in ten years.
Items of Note:
Doc and I went back to puppy training over the weekend, this time just the two of us, and I have to say it went a lot better. I don’t know if it was because he’s older or because we’ve had him longer – or that it was our second class. I think another advantage we had going for us was that I didn’t have to juggle the kids also. The car rides there and back were the best I’ve ever taken with the dog, though I think he prefers riding with the kids in the backseat, it was so much less stressful getting him in and out of the car.
What I’m Looking Forward to:

BB has her first pre-ballet class today and I’m not sure who’s more excited. I hope she has fun and that it doesn’t turn out to be a disappointment. I’m thinking any excuse to wear a tutu and she’ll be totally in – it’s all about wardrobe, you know.

what are you into these days? Let me know in the comments below!