Tangled

Saw Tangled yesterday. By myself on my "mom's day out". Loved it! I thought it was totally in league with some of the great Disney Classics like Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella, and completely on par with the 90's animated revival hits like Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast. I am constantly in awe of storytellers and animators who can take a fable, spin it in a manner so complex, and yet so clearly all at the same time, and create characters that you adore. Giving facial expressions to chameleons and horses alike that make you laugh out loud. And creating a princess so stinkin' adorable, you want to put her in your pocket and take her home with you. Not to mention wanting her super cute messy 'do at the end. I stand in grateful awe of all those creative individuals.

I laughed. I cried. It was better than Cats.

Secret Mess

I've decided that my house is a reflection of myself. The rooms that people see look clean and put together most of the time...just don't look in the rooms behind the closed doors, cause that's where the real mess is. Such a metaphor for my life.

It's that time of year again...

A little trip with the boys to the P-Patch on a beautiful day:

Someday, My Post Will Come...

Fun with Facepaints

Or practice for Halloween, whichever you want to call it... But the boys are loving a new face everyday.

Note to self...

Dear Future Self,

Listen, friend, do yourself a favor. The next time you think it will be a good idea to get some fake nails...get some professional help... and I don't mean psychologically. Go to a nail salon, my friend. Don't be tempted by the perfect looking, seemingly simple packages of fake nails in the drug store for $6.99. Don't be fooled by all promises on the package. Marketers are not your friends (no offense, hon). Easy to apply? No. Chip-proof? No. Fast-drying glue... well, yes, but remember this moment, and that several layers of skin missing from the right thumb (that have been inconveniently redistributed onto the nail of the left middle finger) is not a pretty picture, and so not worth the inexpensive price. Remember that, future self. And please tell me we've lost that last 5 pounds...

Brothers

Natural Waterslides

Took a little trip up into the mountains recently for some hiking to a place that has some natural "water slides". The place was packed (very popular, obviously), and the boys had a great time. Not sure who or what made Caleb so mad in the one picture, but it cracked me up when I saw it because it is SO him. It was a good hike, not too hard on my knees, and we all had fun. We might even go there again... if I can ever convince Andrew of the merits of returning to somewhere you have already been before. :) Next time, I might even remember to bring my sunglasses.

More thoughts from a two year old

Caleb with either be a great linguist or...well, something when he grows up, I don't know, but he has taken to making up words and sounds a LOT. The boy has been speaking quite clearly in complete sentences for a long time now, but in the last few months he has started just making up words and sounds and talking a whole lot of nonsense. Like I said, most of it is nonsense, and sometimes, he doesn't even know when his sounds make actual words. His latest obsession that keeps coming up in conversation is "Captain Sarabi". No idea who this mysterious Captain is, but apparently he and Caleb are pretty good friends. Yesterday, however, I met a new member of Caleb's word entourage: Captain Kegel. He has no idea how funny that is to me.

Stupid Blogger

So, I went to edit my blog appearance and it deleted my blog list. Now I have to go through old emails, blog stalk through other people's blogs, etc. to get all the addresses of everyone's blogs again. The whole reason I put them on my page is that to have them all in one place and avoid that kind of hunt in the first place. Oh well... this could take a while...

And The Living Is Easy

Summertime! Summer finally came to Seattle! Okay, so we've had some really beautiful weather throughout May, but the first two weeks of June were rough. Not entirely surprising, as it has been this way at least for the last two summers as well, but rough, nonetheless, when you can't wait to get to outside activities and kids start getting cabin fever, etc. So, to honor the gorgeous 70-something degree weather we had today (have I mentioned how much I adore summer in Seattle... seriously... gorgeous, but I digress...), we went for a hike/beach trip at Discovery. The boys were troopers and did mostly the entire thing by themselves (Caleb had to be carried once or twice just for a few minutes). And mom was a trooper, too! Re-injured toe and all. (Yes, a couple of days ago, I slammed my newly healed broken toe into a large metal hand weight that had been left in the middle of the floor, hiding under a blanket... living room forts are dangerous things). Anyway...

Not to mention, it was low tide, and I did the ultimately momly thing and trudged out through the muck and seaweed to look at cool things with my kids, touch detached crab claws, open up empty clam shells, and show them the difference between clams, oysters, mussels, and abalone shells. That's right, I AM patting myself on the back right now. It was one of those rare moments when somewhere in the back of my brain, all the seemingly useless trivia that I have stored up from years of animal planet, discovery channel, and various other facty tidbit shows and books all came together and I was able to sound really smart and amazing to my 4 and 2 year olds. Go, mom! Although, mom DID forget to bring a camera and consequently has no pictures to document said event. Oh well, you can't win 'em all, I suppose. And now I am off to sew a zillion tiny ties for Father's Day Keychains... Good times.

The Prayer of a Two Year Old...Boy.

Warning...totally inappropriate, and potentially sacreligious, content ahead.

My two-year old is obsessed with bums. Bummy heads, bummy bums, bum anything. Sometimes he just calls people bums for fun. They were at a friends house playing one night, and when I came to pick them up and I told him to say bye to his friends, he shouted, "Bye, bums!" (to a chorus of snickers and laughter, of course... everything seems cute when you're two, right?)

I don't think I realized the extent of the obsession until tonight's prayer before bed. Caleb has taken to saying his own prayers "by himself" before bedtime. Liam's often include being thankful for the house, the street, the parks, the parking lot, and all the people, and anything else he can think of in that moment. Caleb, apparently taking somewhat of a cue from Liam, said a prayer that went something like this:

Dear Heavenly Father,

I love to eat my food. (pause)

I love to eat...(pause, at which point he clearly lost his train of thought...I hope)

All the people's bums and parts and everything.

Yep. My little angel.

Just One Of Those Days

Thought I'd be a good mom today and take my kids to the zoo...spent the whole time being frustrated and playing "mean mommy". Thought I'd have some comfort food, but can't eat much of anything due to a sore mouth (my own fault from too many potato chips this week - lame!). Watching Cash Cab and realizing that I didn't know any of the answers...even the $25 ones. Talk about feeling not so smart... *sigh* Here's hoping tomorrow will be a better day.

Trying to catch up

Most of my recent posts are outdated already, but I am frantically trying to catch up on what has been happening of note lately. So today, it's Caleb's chin and stitches.

In April, Caleb fell while climbing on the retaining wall and split open his chin...on a Sunday evening about an hour after his doctor's office closed. It was a pretty bad gash and wouldn't stop bleeding, so after a brief moment to calm him down and look up online where the nearest emergency room was, we headed out. Horrific experience with my 2 year old crying and shouting "Don't hold me down, dad! I have to get up! Don't hold me, Dad!" By the time they were done with his four stitches, he was like a cornered animal...didn't want anyone to touch him or hold him or get near him. Cried his way out to the car, clutching his juice cup (which he would not drink...probably didn't trust me anymore, so didn't know what I put in it, poor guy).

The following night, he tripped on the stairs and hit his chin again. It pulled the wound a little more open, but not enough that we were going to put him through that again. We figured a little more noticeable scar would not harm him in life. The first of many, I'm sure...

Self-Governing

Liam put himself down for a nap at noon today. Told me he was hungry at 11:30, ate his lunch, then announced he was going upstairs to take a rest. When I went up to check on him, the lights were out, the curtains drawn (as best he could), and he was snoring peacefully. Huh. Now if only Caleb would be so open to rest time.

The "After"

And "after":

I'm a so thrilled with the way it all turned out! It's totally us, and I think we managed a nice blend of Andrew's desire for modern and my desire for a little more traditional. The tub is amazing and the boys love it. And having two sink has done wonders for the fighting over who's turn it is to brush and wash. All along I have said that as soon as it's done, I will not remodel anything for a long time... and now, all I can think about is what I would do in the downstairs bath... hmm... :)

The Before

Everyone always says you are supposed to take pictures of a room before you renovate/redecorate, etc. right? Well, when you don't actually plan to renovate you don't exactly do that. So, since our bathroom reno was "spur of the moment", shall we say? I realized that I have no pictures of the "before". So, I sorted through my photos, found the few that had, combined them with a few of the partial demolition (which shows the tub and shower tile still intact), and took a few of the downstairs bathroom, which had the same vanity, light fixture style, etc. to get a sense of the before...and here they are:

The downstairs bathroom

The half demo-ed upstairs

The story...

The bathroom saga begins.

So, this is going to be a long one. I'm writing it down for me, so that I can find it funny someday. Here is how it all happened:

The boys are no longer napping so we were trying upstairs play time while mommy does her stuff, also known as "mommy time". (We are no longer doing this due to the events of the day in question). The boys were upstairs playing and I was on the computer and watching some TV. I heard someone washing their hands and listened carefully to make sure the water went off. it did. Or so I thought it did. I heard them playing in the bathroom, which is not that unusual because they love to play skateboards in the empty tub, so I didn't give it much thought. I heard the water go on another time or two but figured someone had use the bathroom and was washing their hands. And I listened each time to make sure it went off, and it did. Turns out it didn't! They were apparently turning it just low enough so that it sounded like it was off. They're devious! They are 4 and 2 and they are already devious! Anyway...I digress.

As I was sitting downstairs, I heard the sound of dripping behind me, so I turned to look at the window and realized that there was water steadily dripping from the top of the window box. Considering that their bathroom is upstairs in the middle of the house, and the window is on the outside wall of the downstairs...let's just say I was more than alarmed. I rushed upstairs to fins them both sitting naked on the countertop in a flooded bathroom. They had plugged the sink and turned the water low enough to be not be heard but to fill the sink. And they

were splashing...everywhere. And throwing water at each other and the walls. There was water covering the entire floor, and pouring down the heating vent (which, as it turns out, is how to travelled to the various places it did). After a total freak out, and naked boys in their bedroom timeout, and several large soaking bath towels later, I calmed down enough to call Andrew and figure out what to do. By the time I started calling "restoration" places, it was well into the evening. So, cleanup did not even start until almost 9pm. The cleanup guys started their assessment, moved some furniture, put in some fans and scheduled to come do demo the following day. Three days of fans and destruction, days of having half a family room, and weeks of construction ensued, and I'm getting typing tired, so now I will just post some pictures:

Our Half a Family Room

The other half of the room

A Good Time

Took the kids to the park today for "scootering". They had a wonderful time. I tried not to think about all the things at home that I was not getting done. It's hard to care, though, when your two year old says such adorable things as he does. I was sitting on the bench and he would "scoot" over to me and climb up and sit down for a minute or two. Then he would climb down and say "I had a good time with you, Mom, but now I have to go scoot." Love that kid.

Incidentally, their favorite bedtime story is about a little boy "scooting". Well, at least it starts out that way. Dexter Bexley and the Big Blue Beastie. Such a cute book!

Memory Loss

So, at the Home Depot today to return a few things and pick up a few things (now that the bathroom is done)...got some things returned, but neglected to even look for the few things I needed for the bathroom (a tightening screw, and some other watchamacallits). That's right... no list, no memory. Sheesh. But, at least the boys are in the backyard enjoying all the beautiful sunshine today. :)

The Grand Salon...

Okay, so really this post is about the bathroom, but once it's done it will be so much nicer than any other room in the rest of the house that I have decided to start calling in the Grand Salon...or something.

I feel like it's never going to be done. The vanity cabinet was supposed to arrive today, so the crew should be back either tomorrow or Wednesday to finish putting things in... and fix my upside down vanity light fixture. :) Countertop people were scheduled to come on Friday, but that didn't work for us (we still have to live our lives, no?), so that might not be until next week. I'm sure it's making Andrew crazy, but I am trying to have a very relaxed attitude about this whole timeline thing because, let's face it, no amount of stressing, complaining, and endless amount of phone calls is going to make this go any faster, so I am going to save myself the worry and go with the flow.

In the meantime, the tile and tub are done, and here is a little preview of how it is all coming out...pre-grout, of course...

A Day on the Island

Spent this past Saturday on Bainbridge... it was so beautiful! The weather was perfect, sunny and cool, and the boys had a great time at the beach. We decided that when we are older, or if the commute was not an issue, we would love to live there...just a nice quaint little 4,000 sq foot home overlooking the water. ;) A girl can dream, right? :)

Ooh, and on a side note...turns out the doctor missed a stitch (thought it was a piece of the thread simply imbedded in the scab, but it turns out the knot was still there, too), I discovered it on Saturday, so I grabbed my handy dandy tiny scissors out of my first aid kit and removed it myself. Go me! See, Andrew: scabs, survival stitch removal...I told you I was gonna man up on the blog. :)

Man Up

Okay, so I think Andrew might be suffocating from all the estrogen that has been pouring out of our "family" blog lately. I guess I need to man up and stop using it as my personal journal (although, that really is what I consider it). Sorry, hon. I promise the next post will have no "reflections" or "emotions" or any other other flowery, girly junk in it. Just manly stuff like knives and survival hikes and stuff. :) Or better yet... war wounds... more on Caleb's stitch experience to come... with photos! ;)

Warning: Deep Mommy Thoughts Ahead

The drive home from the cousins house today was so beautiful it was almost painful. Coming down the hill in the sunshine through the wooded area that is vibrant with new spring greens everywhere. And white blossomed trees and bushes on both sides of the road. It was gorgeous! And since both boys fell asleep immediately in the car, it gave me plenty of time to reflect. It's no secret that I've been... um... shall we say... "challenged" by the boys lately. Feeling like I can't win, like no matter what tone I use, or tactic I employ, no matter how kind and patient I try to be that it always ends with one or both of the boys screeching, yelling, growling, or otherwise disrespecting me when they don't like what I have to say (this is true confession time, here).

My wonderful mom always reminds me that there is "a time and a season for all things", and I especially have to think about this at my current stage of life. There will be a time to do and accomplish all the (unnecessary) things that I'd like to, be it performing in theater, singing in the choir, keeping on top of the laundry, the list is endless... but now is not that time. Right now is the time to focus on my children... appreciate the stage of life they are in (for better or for worse), NOT wish away their childhood, and to try... really try (which is often not easy) to remain happy and positive and patient and loving in my interactions with them. Because I want them to be happy and positive and patient and loving people. And if I don't teach them that, who will? (Besides their dad, of course). :) I'm trying...and that's all I can ask of myself.

When it rains...

...And a Sunday night trip to the Emergency Room for 4 stitches in Caleb's chin.

Happy Belated Anniversary, Seattle!

So, amidst all the chaos at our house over the past month (boys flooding the upstairs bathroom and family room, bathroom remodel, and all the fun events of the past two weeks), I realized that I missed our 2 year anniversary of living here in the beautiful Pacific Northwest. In some ways, it doesn't seem like we have been here that long. But then I think about our time in the downtown corporate apartment and that seems like a lifetime ago. When I look at the boys now, especially Caleb, it is so strange to think about what they were or were not doing yet at that time. Caleb pulled himself to standing for the first time in that apartment...and he hasn't stopped moving since. And Liam had just turned 2, and would only eat pasta and and Cheerios (okay, so not THAT much has changed). :) Can't believe how much they have changed in two short years.

Clearly, Liam still loves to climb. :)

Back in the saddle...

Three bouts of cold/sore throats, two battles with pink-eye, two trips to the doctor, a broken toe and 7 pounds later...we're back on track. :) And as soon as I find the cords to reconnect my camera with my computer (post family-room reconstruction), I will post some current pictures: boys, bathroom remodel, etc. In the meantime, here are the boys from our most recent (February) trip to the Aquarium:

Perspective

In the quiet night (in between boy wakings), it's so easy to see all the things I did wrong with the boys today, and try to figure out how to do better tomorrow. But the quiet night doesn't last very long... Now if I can just remember it all in the tantrum-filled, defiantly yelling daytime.

The Adventure Continues

Everything has a learning curve...some are more "curvy" than others. I am learning a lot about the process of remodeling. Our unplanned bathroom renovation (more on that later) is moving forward, and it seems at every step, there is something else that I have done wrong, or chosen the wrong item: A tub that is non-standard and requires specialty plumbing parts and non-standard measurement faucets, etc. Things got sticky for awhile...not sure if I could find an affordable tub spout in the same finish as everything else that would work with the tub...but it appears as though everything is going to work out.

As I take a moment (a much calmer and confident moment than yesterday when everything seemed disastrous and out of control) to ponder this whole renovation thing I have a come to a few conclusions:

-There are showrooms that I would DEFINATELY work with again to help me find exactly what I need (thank you, Best Plumbing), and ones I would NOT (no names named to protect the arrogant).

-I need more professional help than most. Building and designing professional help, that is...my need of the other kind of professional help is not really that big of a revelation.

-I will purchase and supply most of the fixtures, etc. myself. One, because any "contractor rate" that can be purchased on most items, does not end up benefitting me all that much, and two, because sometimes the control freak in me comes out. I like to have everything in my own house ready to go.

Am I picking out the right things. Apparently not. Do I have all the information I need before picking things? Apparently not. Am I asking all the right questions to have said information? Apparently not. Needless to say it has been a little stressful, emotional and a bit of a roller coaster for me, but I'm learning. I know what I would do differently in the future, and there's a first time learning curve for everything, right?

Now I just keep my fingers crossed that there are no more "surprises" or unexpected expenditures. Ha ha.

Self-realization

So, today, I came to a significant self-realization. I have no love for the gym and working out. No, that is not the realization. :) I've realized why working out, getting/staying in shape, eating super healthy is a challenge for me. It's because I think I look better than I actually do. My sister and I have have talked a lot about this, and we both have the same problem (if you want to call it that): No matter what our weight and size, we think we look really good. I'll see someone in the grocery store or wherever that, in reality, is exactly my size and I think in my head "I'm smaller than that." Totally delusional! :) So, when you have this uber-healthy self-image (deluded as it may be), it makes it hard to tell yourself to do those extra 10 minutes on the elliptical (or get to the gym at all, for that matter), or that extra set on one of the weight machines. And is certainly no help when it comes to avoiding the Funyuns, Peanut Butter M&M's, and Cheeseburgers. :) I thought about posting a picture of me in a swim suit on the fridge to help motivate me (we've all done this at some time or another, right?), but then I realized that if it was an older before-children photo, I would simply look at it and think "that's what I look like now", and if it was a current photo of what I actually look like in a swimsuit, I would look at it and think "Dang, I look good!" :) In many ways, it's wonderful to have such an unrealistic positive image of myself, but a little realism sure would make the healthier eating and motivation to exercise easier. :) So, on that note...I think I hear some Peanut Butter M&M's in my cupboard calling my name...

Sleeplessness

So, I am not allowed to read good books before bed anymore. I always stay up a little later than planned (only a little *wink*), but the real problem is that when it's a really good book, then I lay in bed afterwards, unable to go to sleep because I can't stop thinking about the story. I loved "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins! I wasn't planning to start reading it because the third book doesn't come out until August and anyone who knows me knows that once I start a series, I simply have to finish it...soon. However, due to a power-outage, sleeping kids, and ZERO desire to be productive and clean or do dishes, I chose to read, and that was the book that appealed to me the most. Post-apocolyptic "Most Dangerous Game" meets "The Lottery" and "Survivor". By the first three chapters, I had already cried several times...when I did become so soft? All in all...thoroughly enjoyable!

Then, of course, Caleb chose to have an episode at 4am...good times.

Green Eyed Monster

All these people I know going to Disneyland is KILLING me!! *sigh*

Is it over yet???

Just when the end was in sight...kids were over their colds, the noses had almost stopped running entirely, and we were ready to dive back into our normal sanity-saving routine: mornings at the gym, Liam's preschool twice a week, afternoons at the park, etc. Liam has an earache. pbbbbt! (That's me blowing a raspberry, by the way). So, not only did he miss the first day back to preschool (after the scheduled month long break), but he is now even whinier and crabbier and more difficult to deal with than he has been for the last week and half. As if that was possible.

*sigh*

SARCASMO

It's official...We've discovered Andrew's super-villain secret identity.

Another beautiful day

Just another beautiful day! A trip to Walmart for "slippy pants" (what Liam calls track pants) that actually fit...they grow so fast, don't they? Then a trip to the park, and some time in the back yard, which naturally ended with the boys in the creek, soaked to their waists and covered in mud.

Planted an apple tree recently and the leaves are breaking through. The lilac tree is budding, and everything is green and beautiful. Even the landscaping "construction" zone in the back of the yard looks nice to me in the sun. We will just soak it all in until the rain starts again. :)

Shout Out!

Have to give a shout out to Jeramie Shoda of Shoda Photography. He took some fantastic family pictures for us recently and I'm so grateful to him. He was a total professional and the results were amazing! Here is just one of my personal favorites:

And don't worry, grandparents...there are plenty of closeup shots where you can see the boys cute faces. :) I posted this one because it is simply gorgeous photography.

A Day Off

So, it wasn't a day off for me, exactly, but Andrew took the day off and we went to the zoo. Gorgeous weather, and a wonderful time with the boys! Liam seems most interested in the animals that can't (or at least that he doesn't realize CAN) eat him. You know...lizards, frogs, zebras, jaguars, kimodo dragons and such. :) Not too keen on lions and elephants. And they both LOVED the indoor bird station where you can feed the birds from a popsicle stick. All in all, a fun and happy family day.