Work In Progress

we're still here.

things have been getting in the way of blogging.

truth be told, i'm growing bored with blogging. but i don't really scrap much anymore, so the stories have to go somewhere. so i keep blogging.

just, apparently, not very well.

and right now, the weather is amazing, so i'm getting pulled away from the computer by nice days, bike rides, weed pulling, sitting on the couch by a window that's open and letting in an amazing breeze ...

or by a little girl who asks me to play barbies outside, then she gets sidetracked by chasing butterflies and dragonflies and rolling down the hill ...

(click on the pic and you can actually watch her roll down said hill:)

and then i get sidetracked by how pretty she is ...

then i get sidetracked by boys who trudge across the empty lots to shoot at things ...

and the biggest guy tries to give the not-quite-as-big guy pointers on how to aim, how to stand up straight, and how to please stand up straight, and how to just stand up straight already ...

and then i start thinking about how the biggest guy's only real regret in life is that he didn't go into the military like he wanted to oh so desperately, and that he never got the chance to see if he could have made it as a sniper ...

and then i get sidetracked thinking about how neat our kids are, and thank god that mchotness didn't enlist because then we never would have met and fallen in love and made out and created those kids ...

and then i got sidetracked by mother's day, and the plan to go to the arboretum that was waylaid by a line of cars about a quarter of a mile long, waiting to turn into the arboretum; cars full of families and mothers who, apparently, had exactly the same idea. so we ended up at lake minnetonka, watching sailboats and ding dong people who had no clue how to fly kites. and then i look through the four pictures i took that day and get sidetracked by how giant my eldest is and the fact that he still has, according to his doctor, about a foot more to grow ...

(no, he is not standing on something. no, i am not sitting on something. he's that much taller than i am. shut up.)

and then when i finally do sit down to type something, i get sidetracked by my assistant, who chooses to sit right in front of the keyboard. it's really hard to type with your wrists resting on a cat, and i'm sure it isn't ergonomic. but you do what you have to do.

so i will try harder from now on.

easy like sunday morning

we had 512 things to do yesterday, so opted to skip church and keep the morning easy.

the kids woke early, like they usually do, and got onto their computers to play mine craft. it's kinda their weekend thing, so we let them.

i got up a little after 8, made my coffee, then settled in for cbs sunday morning. on sundays that we don't go to church, this is kinda *my* thing.

marc stayed in bed. that's his thing, regardless of day or schedule.

when my coffee was gone and the show was over, i went upstairs to find the kids just hanging, but no longer at their computer.

they were happy, content, quiet, so i just left them.

soon, though, it was time to get chopping.

they each had quiet morning chores ...

then we got on with our day. trip to the old house ... a stop at a bike shop ... unloading the car from the trip to the old house ... etc.

the cats supervised from their spots.

then the rains moved in and we closed up shop for the day.

and it was all good. a good, easy, productive, busy, mellow sunday.

i love sundays like that.

so, we had spring break.

goodbye, winter that wasn't.

hello, spring.

we're supposed to be in the 60s and 70s all week long.

in march.

that's just craziness.

true, we are occasionally treated to an april snowstorm. but something tells me that isn't happening this year.

especially since it hasn't happened even once this winter. a minnesota winter without snow is unheard of.

climate change skeptics can kiss my grits right about now.

anyway, we got our first real taste of winter's goodbye this weekend. it was in the 60s and breezy and amazing all weekend long. it was impossible to be in the house, so on saturday i took the kids for a bike ride around the neighorhood, then harper gave up and begged to go to the park instead. she played in the sand with her buddy for awhile while henry continued to ride his bike, but soon henry started to head in and i knew what that meant: find dad and see if he wants to play xbox.

i was not having it on such a lovely day.

so i diverted henry's attention. i said, "hey - tell dad to bring out the kites. this is a perfect day for that."

and that worked. henry was instantly hooked on the idea, he and marc got the kites ready, and the wind was perfect.

 

(yes, marc had a barbie kite.)

 

the single-string kite flew easily, but henry struggled with his. we hadn't realized it was a double-handled one. definitely tricky for a kite novice.

 

 

it would go up ... it would crash down ... it would go up ... it would crash down ... it would get tangled up in itself ... it would take five minutes to untangle ...

and patience is not henry's strong suit.

pretty soon, harper came running over from the playground to claim the barbie kite, and she flew it like a champ.

 

 

 

for, like, the next two hours she flew that kite.

and henry continued to try, bless his heart.

 

 

within half an hour of us going out with our kites, word spread and soon these kids came out with their kites ...

 

 

and then these kids showed up with their kite ...

 

 

and an adult neighbor out walking her dog came to the park with *her* kite.

and marc and i just sighed and exclaimed to each other: this is what we wanted. this is the neighborhood we'd been waiting for.

we were all outside for four and a half hours. during that time, we counted more than 30 kids coming and going. my kids were happy and engaged the entire time. even after henry's kite snapped in half from one too many nosedives into the ground, instead of fleeing to the house, he jogged over to play football with the other neighbor boys.

and it was bliss.

if this is what spring and summer will be like, i'm perfectly fine with it arriving early.

seems like just yesterday ...

i was recovering from 35 weeks of nausea, vomitting, heart burn; two weeks of inexplicable water retention and weight gain (23 pounds in 10 days ... yikes); 20 hours of relentless contractions; and one hour of pushing. and i was holding my perfect little nine-pound newborn son.

 

 

i thought time had sped up. in a blink, he was six months, a year, 18 months ...

 

 

and before i knew it, he was in preschool. then real school. then his sister was born.

and suddenly ... he's 12.

and my 9 lb, 21.5" baby is now 5'7", 114 lbs, and the next time i take him shoe shopping i know we'll be buying size 11s.

where did the time go?

to be fair, he's still my baby. he came over to me yesterday afternoon and said, "mom, i have something for you." then he wrapped those long, skinny arms around me and melted into a snuggle.

oh. my.

best birthday present ever, my boy giving ME a hug and then staying for more.

he's such a good kid.

to celebrate his big day, we watched him swim in a meet in wisconsin. (i know ... party! woot!) he did a good job, considering it was his first REAL meet against REAL other teams in a REAL setting, not his home pool. his first two races, he was in the final heats and did a great job. his last race ... well ... he lost his goggles during the start and sort of whiffed the rest of the race.

oh well.

 

 

 you win some, you lose some.

we headed home after lunch, everyone got a little rest, then henry opened his gifts: hoodies, books, a bible, and, from, us, portal bookends. oh yeah.

 

 

 

 

then a sitter came over to be with harper, and marc and i took henry to stella's fish cafe in uptown for a steak, then to comedy sportz for a show. henry has really gotten into comedy lately - funny shows, comedians, silly things floating around the internet - so i knew this show would be perfect. and i would much rather give my kids experiences than stuff. we all loved the show, and can't wait to go again. henry even threw out a suggestion that was selected by the referee for an improv challenge (the actletes were to imagine themselves in a situation where they would be surrounded by people, and what they would say to put their foot in their mouth. henry's suggested situation? health class. so funny.), which pleased him greatly.

today, apparently, the birthday celebration continues ... he and marc are on the couch, headsets on, controllers in hand, linked up with uncle matt in indiana, playing call of duty. for the rest of the day.

because, now that he's twelve, he does what the big boys do.

but he still gives his mom a hug.

and that's as it should be.

 

what is up with winter?!

this time last year, we had, like, 47 feet of snow on the ground. this year? nothing. zip. brown, bare ground.

so depressing.

yesterday, i took a walk. it was 38 degrees outside and lovely.

today? wind chill of -9.

minnesota has bipolar disorder.

however, the chill in the air (i can call -9 a "chill." i'm a minnesotan; it's legit.) today reminded me of photos i haven't yet shared.

the new house is just up the hill from a lovely lake. there are houses all around it - some modest ranches, some tiny little shabby fishing shacks, some two-story homes that were obviously built after a shack was torn down. and in the winter, when the lake freezes, it becomes covered in a village of ice fishing houses. which is fascinating to me. there is a whole new neighborhood ... one with codes of conduct, of first rights, of traffic patterns. because all of those fishing houses have to get there somehow, and usually the pick-up truck or small rv that pushed it out there is parked right beside it for the evening commute home. yes, parked. on the ice.

if you don't live up north, you don't understand.

have you seen "grumpy old men"? it's like that.

well, this year, because the weather has been so, shall we say, capricious, it took a lot longer for the ice to become solid and thick enough for ice houses. then it took even longer to become safe for cars to drive on. where last year there stood a veritable city of fishing houses and f150s, this year there is a smattering of ice tents and intrepid shanties, pulled out with snowmobiles and atvs.

we decided one saturday to wander down there and meet the neighbors. the kids had never walked on a frozen lake, as far as we knew (so much for the minnesotan thing. we're apparently really bad at it.), so they were thrilled, and bundled up to the gills for the adventure.

 

(for the record: my husband is 6'4". our son is not quite 12 and is in nearly a size 11 shoe. i fear for our grocery bill.)

the kids started to run out on the ice, and quickly discovered whose boots have good traction and whose don't. (henry's? great traction. harper's? adequate. mine? not so much.) then they started to count all of the abandoned holes, and quickly found chunks of ice and sticks to try to poke through the ice and measure the thickness of the hole.

 

(the thing i love about the above photo? see henry's feet? the way they are crossed and under his bum? he has sat like that since he was a toddler. and his dad sits the exact same way. makes me happy.)

we marveled at who on earth would find contentment sitting out on a frozen lake in a camp chair. then we speculated that perhaps it was the better alternative than what was at home, and we wished the chair much happiness and good fishing.

 

 then marc and harper got their robot dance groove on. turns out slippery surfaces make for the best robot moves.

 

 wonder if they'll bust out those moves at the father/daughter dance next weekend? something tells me no.

then henry and harper stayed with the 80s theme and tried breakdancing, spinning themselves around on their backsides.

 

 pretty soon we were back to wandering. see those three little dots just left of center?

 

 three guys, on camp chairs, fishing.

they DO exist.

about this time harper started to complain that her legs were tired ...

 

 and i may have rediscovered my ability to do the splits while trying to recreate this look ...

 

 and then marc struck up a conversation with a fisherman inside a camper trailer, parked on the ice. now i'm kicking myself for not getting a picture of that.

all too soon, marc's cheeks and my legs were frozen, so we made the journey back home. but soon enough the wind chill will be out of the air enough that we can wander down there again.

there may or may not have been a challenge thrown to walk clear across the lake.

someone needs to tell harper's legs that they'll have to make it there AND back.

2012 is getting away from me

maybe just january is getting away from me.

regardless.

i'm grateful for my iphone, because it's way easier to pull it out, snap a quick pic, and carry on. are the photos the same quality as my big girl camera? no. are they better than no pictures? yes.

so i'm good with it.

so here's what we've been doing in january:

 

 

1. harper figured out how to do her own ponytails.

2. we've entered the realm of Saturday Morning Swim Practice.

3. we had a thai food double date with dear friends ... and the boys played their itouches the whole time.

4. henry had his first official swim meet and did a great job. starts and turns ... and breaststroke kick ... and butterfly ... need some work. but his freestyle is strong and his backstroke is amazing. so i'm more than proud, and totally excited to see where this will take him.

5. we took the house off the market. then we did some final cleaning/touch-up stuff that we just hadn't gotten around to doing. then we re-listed it. traffic was good the first two weeks, we had a solid nibble, then nothing. and yet the feedback, still, is all positive. the likelihood of turning that house into a rental is becoming very high.

6. i finally ... FINALLY ... started unpacking my scrappy stuff. after harper bugging me for weeks to do it so we could do something arty.

7. i spent my birthday day sitting on the couch, kitty in lap, watching ellen degeneres. pretty great way to spend a morning. i should do that more often. all that "errands and cleaning and unpacking and being responsible" crap is for the birds.

8. the downside of swimming: occasionally, practices are held from 7-8:30 p.m., and when those practices fall on nights marc is out of town, it's a very late night for miss harper. so we do what we can to keep her entertained and cooperative. sometimes that means letting her shine a flashlight into her mouth and then taking a picture of it in the rear-view mirror.

9. i mentioned she wanted to get arty, right? one saturday, that meant she made three different sets of hand puppets, and put on three different puppet shows for me.

10. a couple of times this month, marc was actually home. and two of those days he was home, he ended up free for lunch. on this particular day, his free-for-lunch day coincided with my day to take my car back to toyota and leave it there. (starting to think my 11-year-old car may not have five more years in it.) so i had a lunch date.

11. we spent martin luther king jr day at a neighbor's house ... she and i chatted non-stop, while her boy and mine played airsoft, and her girl used mine as face painting practice. we all won.

12. henry got braces. hello, gawky, awkward adolescence.

and there you go: january. already.

2012 is going too fast.

true story.

to set the scene:

about a month before christmas, we started to hear: "all of my friends have a phone," coming from our beloved firstborn. then we started to hear: "if i had a phone, i could let you know if swimming got done early or if i needed to be picked up from someone's house, so you wouldn't have sit there or hurry up because things changed."

he was playing the "it would make your life easier" card.

smarty pants.

what he didn't know is that his father and i were already discussing a phone for those same reasons. i don't stay when he has swimming, but in this day and age of a general lack of public and/or pay phones in schools, i didn't want him to be at the mercy of asking strangers if he could borrow their phone, thus announcing his parent wasn't there to get him and he was all alone in the big, bad world.

what he also didn't know is that we'd already been phone shopping. we'd gone over the various options ... cheap phone with no bells and whistles, pre-paid phone, less cheap phone with maybe one bell and half a whistle.

then we realized that we could reactivate marc's old old iphone and stick henry on our family plan. cheapest idea of them all, for the most part, because if the phone was stolen or broken or otherwise incapacitated, we wouldn't be out a dime. the only setback is that henry would be out a phone. which would teach him a lesson.

win-win-win.

so christmas came, we sent henry on a little treasure hunt, at the end of which a phone rang while he was standing in his room. he found it, answered, and took 30 seconds to register that he was talking on his present.

needless to say, he was thrilled.

a month later, this newfound "freedom" and "grown-up-ness" the phone has given henry is starting to leak into his view of himself and how he can talk to his mother. he's started "telling" me rather than "asking" me. i don't like that.

this is the text i received from him yesterday, and the text i sent back to him:

little punk.

as soon as he walked in the door, i put this child of mine ... who is now taller than me ... in a headlock. had to show him who is still boss.

he may have a phone, but he is still a child. and deferring to mama is something i will demand well into the days of him being a foot taller than i am.

happy birthday, wyatt!!

two years. big little man!

you are the funniest little creature, and seeing how far you've come in two years makes my heart happy.

you are perfect, and i couldn't love you more if you were my own kiddo.

minimalism

we kept it easy around here for halloween ... the minimalist, "less is more" approach was embraced and encouraged.

the decorations? a few small pumpkins on the porch, that somehow never managed to get carved ...

the costumes? whatever was fast, easy, already in the closet.

that equaled "army guy" for H ...

and "baby" for h ...

and yes, i took only two photos on halloween night. and they were taken at the last second before each child ran out the door to trick-or-treat with friends. and i was okay with that. so very minimalist.

we're going to have to step up our game next year, though. this is a photo harper's friend's mom snapped of the girls at a neighbor's house:

and the vast majority of the houses looked like that.

wow.

so not minimal, but so very fun. trick-or-treating was actually pretty awesome out here ... everyone was into it, the neighbors were all walking with the kids and chatting, the houses were all decked out and fun. so great.

also falling within our "minimal" mindset these days:

the dining room ...

yes, those are folding tables. the new chairs are here, the table ... not so much. but it will do.

at least the table is white. it works.

and also minimal? harper's face:

she's down one more tooth as of last night. she somehow whacked it out of her mouth and sent it flying. as she retold the story, she said, "the first tooth i swallowed, and the second tooth i flung!"

her new source of pride ... swallowing and flinging teeth.

on the not-so-minimal side, did i ever mention the old metal school locker shelves and baskets i found on craigslist back in august? no? well ... i found an old metal school locker shelf and baskets on craigslist back in august. it is FINALLY here, cleaned up, and in the house. can't wait to play with it.

oh, and in the minimal posting of the past few weeks, i failed to acknowledge our 15th anniversary and marc's birthday. we had a date night on our anniversary, which was good, and marc's birthday was relaxing and just a nice family day. both were much needed.

love you, mchotness.