About A Girl

A girl called Carver. She promptly hung up on me, but she asked to speak with him before quickly losing her nerve. I am really not ready for this. Granted, Carver thinks girls are about as exciting as moldy cheese, but still... I remember when I was in 5th grade and being in love with half the boys in my class. (sigh) I feel like stopping this crazy ride called parenthood and getting off. However, this is a very good time for me to apologize to all the mothers of the boys I called and hung up on. So, so sorry.

Laugh or Cry?

There is a Bible verse that says, "There's a time to laugh, and a time to cry." But I truly didn't know which applied this afternoon. I came home from the grocery store and Lily announced, "Zinabu did my hair!" It was something, let me tell you. I am not posting photos of what it looked like in the back because when Lily is 16 I would like her to still be on speaking terms with me. However, the giant bangs and clump of hair I found on the counter were enough cause for worry.

Oh, the pros and cons of being married to a high school administrator. The cons would take too long to list, but the pros came in handy today. It was the big homecoming parade! The parade has been a tradition in the historic part of town for years and years and it is a wonderful celebration of the elementary, middle, and high school in the area. In the past we've ridden with David on a golf cart (thrilling, let me tell you!) but the kids are all old enough to ride solo. While David was in the administrator's cart, the kids and I decorated then rode on our bikes. It was a blast, except I conveniently forgot the fact that everyone would be looking at me. You know, that happens in a parade but you don't really plan ahead about what that will really feel like. It was a little odd, and I confess I worried too much about the size of my bum on my bicycle seat. Vanity, vanity.

It was a beautiful fall day, the kids had a blast, and we stroked our kids' egos about being the center of attention. All in a day's work!

If/Then

If you beg and beg and beg and beg and beg for a dog and finally get one, it follows that then you start to beg and beg and beg and beg and beg for a horse.

Lily is giving me grey hair.

The weather turned nasty this week, which I actually love. We get a lot of sunny days in Colorado and after weeks and weeks of it, you kinda long for clouds, chill, and drizzle. The leaves in the mountains are turning and the rest of the state is close behind. I've had a bee in my bonnet to cook (see previous post)... which is probably going to be a passing phase. Let's face it, this new Culinary Cathy will probably go down in smoke with Knitting Cathy and Get-Up-Early-And-Go-Swim-At-The-YMCA-Cathy. But in the meantime, Culinary Cathy has been productive. Ina Garten is my new superhero. Most of her recipes are ones that I already make and my family eats but she makes them much, much better. I can throw together a fast Chicken Pot Pie, but I tried Ina's Chicken Stew with Biscuits and we all moaned over our spoons. I made her Beef Stew (which is ready to be heated up for tonight and uses an entire bottle of red wine, be still my heart) and when I sampled some I thought I had reached nirvana. My problem lies in the fact that it's more time consuming than I'm used to, AND I'm using twice the amount of dishes/utensils for prep work. Once I'm finished cooking, the clean up is killing me. So here is my dilemma: do I make good but easy chicken pot pie, quickly clean up, and go read a book (my true love) or do I make blissful, out-of-this-world chicken stew with biscuits (that include gobs and gobs of butter) that we all love and devour but tack on an extra load of dishes?

The jury is out.

Around Here...
For someone who doesn't like to be busy (me) there certainly is a lot of action going on (here)! School is in full swing and we are being pulled in several directions. Our elementary school is wonderful because it offers lots of after-school activities: book clubs, Spanish club, science club, sports club, etc. Well, when you have three kids, guess what? Someone is attending something every day after school. Which is a good thing. My kids get an extra hour of enrichment with their friends. If I could freeze time right now I would. Having Carver, Lily, and Z at the same place at the same time all day is a huge blessing. Volunteering is a breeze because I can see all of them in one day and really get some quality time in their classrooms.

Zinabu started chess club this week. Is he a nerd, or what? There are about 20 kids who meet after school and play chess together with the 2nd grade teacher. Zinabu doesn't know all the rules yet but he loves the game. Zinabu is also a perfectonist, which is making kindergarten more of a struggle for him than it should be. Every once in a while--should his crayon stray outside the lines--he has a meltdown. This is a characteristic that I absolutely cannot relate to. Perfectionism is so not me. At all. I'm the lady that sets the bar low. So if you have a perfectionist kiddo I'd love to hear what you do to comfort them when they flip out over the little things.

Carver chose a new instrument to try this year. The French Horn! Other than the occasional giggles when it sounds like someone with bad indigestion, he's having a great time learning a brass instrument.

Lily is Lily. Steady and predictable and perfect at school and a wee bit more emotional at home. Ahem. On the bright side, she pushes me to be a better mom. Right? RIGHT? Someone tell me that's the bright side.

As for me, I discovered something amazing (thanks to the marvelous invention of cable TV that we now have). The Barefoot Contessa. I've caught her show a couple of times, and I have to say she inspires me to cook. Something about the fact that she's so laid back... and her recipes are incredibly yummy but don't look very hard to make. Case in point: beef stew. Gah! I was salivating all over my lap. Maybe it's the fact that her kitchen looks like mine, so I can imagine myself making all her delightful recipes. Kinda like putting on a new pair of running shoes makes you feel you can run faster??? Maybe it's the fact that she's so calm and simple, it doesn't look like she's cooking anything too difficult. But for someone that gets so tired of coming up with breakfast, lunch, and dinner every single day, I think I love her.

David just returned from a fast weekend in Minnesota visiting his mom, brother, and aunt. He had a wonderful visit and dutifully found Minnesota Vikings shirts for all the kids. We are awash in purple.

And other than the fact that I am now on a quest for the perfect pair of red heels (see previous post), all is well.

Believe it or not, my next post was going to be about Buddy. About how he's growing on me and how I've kinda started to like him. About how he went from maniac spaz to well-trained and nice. Even how he has these cute little quirks like drooling when you get his dinner ready or sitting in Zinabu's car seat in the van. But I came home today to a dog that chewed up my favorite pair of shoes. Somewhere in his intestines there is a strap--with a buckle. How he got that down his gullet I'm not sure. He was also napping on my underwear--dragged it out of laundry. Was that meant to endear him to me?

A typical dinner at our house. Lily sings nonsense and Zinabu doesn't shut up.

Colorado State Fair
The Colorado State Fair, in a word, blows. Having come from Minnesota where the State Fair is second only to the Virgin Birth, Colorado's version is always a letdown. We knew this going in, though, so our expectations were pretty low. The kids had a great time, which was important.

Z somehow spoke the goose's language and could get it to honk at him.


Panning for gold. It was hot that day and sticking our arms in the water was actually a relief.


Forced smile.

The Lego station where you could build and exchange H1N1 germs. .

We were tired by mid-afternoon and took a break on the Beef Cart.

This picture cracks me up. All three kids sitting in rapt attention at the goat judging.

Carver and Zinabu waiting in line for a turn in the hamster balls.

Zinabu--so excited!!!

That's my oldest in there!

We are a family that always puts safety FIRST!!!!!!!

Zinabu and Lily, in the 5th row, having a ball.

My family--crazy socks and all, headed to the Disco Fever attraction. It was like a hypnotic force we couldn't avoid.

I am insanely behind on blogging. inSANEly. I have photos and posts coming out of my ever loving ears but it's a little hard to find the time right now. Elementary school is so fun and I love volunteering so much that I'm working at the school every day and not getting anything else done. You know it's bad when you have checks to deposit at the bank and you've put it off for 2 weeks.

So let me just say that I hope to be back to writing every day sometime this week. Whew. In the meantime, go to this darling website and spend all your money.

www.expressionary.com

Recently Overheard

Me: Look kids, the firemen are outside the store with their boots, collecting spare change for a good cause. Let's find some coins to give to them

Carver: Yay!

Lily: Yay!

Zinabu: Well, I don't think I want to give them any money because they haven't done anything for me. I mean, they've never saved my life or put out a fire I started or anything... I don't think I need to give them money because they don't work for me.

I think I know what we're working on this week.

I am sitting outside Lily's room while she tries to fall asleep. My kids canNOT sleep when they have stuffy noses. They think the only way you can sleep is by breathing through your nose and if you have to breathe through your mouth... well, fuggedaboutit. I realize that mouth-breathing isn't the most comfortable way to catch your Zs, but if that's all you can do, then suck it up and get crackin' sister! So anyway, I am sitting outside Lily's room listening to her NOT breathing through her mouth and slowly suffocating with a stuffy nose and I realize I have nothing to offer you in the way of blog posts. So let me just go through my photos stored on the computer and see what I can find...

This is not Halloween, but somehow my kids are sitting around piles of candy in our old living room. I cannot remember what this was. Edit: D's mom was kind enough to point out the plastic eggs in the picture. I'm a little slow.


This is often how she looks at him--part confusion, part annoyance.


I took this while driving. Passed out cold!


From Lily's roller skating party. Very groovy.


Those suckers hurt when they hit you.


Is it just me or do I look constipated?


Forced family fun while camping.

Whatever.

Zinabu in the background. Rabid stuffed beaver in the foreground.

Disneyland Tiki Room. Looks kinda scary the longer I stare at it.

The man I married.

Letting my kids sit on the counter while playing with sharp objects??? What is this?

Carver in the face-painting stage. Every day, people. Every single day.