What is Christmas morning like in a family full of girls? I picture the mom and dad sipping their coffee, watching the girls read and listen to music and play dolls together.
Here was OUR Christmas morning:
We tried to keep Tug and Kitty calm as the newest member of the family chased them around. His name is Cruncher and he's a baby dinosaur. No joke. He growls at you when you ignore him, attacks people when they walk by, and purrs when you pet him. The real animals are not amused.
We watched our kids move the couches around to capture all of the nano- and hexbugs that had escaped their "habitat."
We ducked as remote controlled helicopters (plural) took flight around the living room, soared over the TV, and crashed into the wall. We learned how to turn the helicopters off, or run them out of batteries so they couldn't fly anymore. The boys learned to turn them back on and charge them up themselves.
We helped the boys into the their new rollerblades, then helped them skate-walk around the driveway (did I mention there is no snow and it was in the 40s?). We soothed Jack through his first skating-related head injury. It wasn't bad, I promise.
We listened to Chuck show Jack how to play his first real electric guitar, and listened to Ryker play his new (hand-me-down from his brother, which was handed down to him from our neighbor Randy) acoustic guitar.
We picked up random shards of paper as Ryker cut up "notes" and Jack sifted through his new I'm Not Bored Anymore Art Jar, the top of which is filled with confetti. (Thanks Baby Oster.)
My mom was up here for the whole thing - and Grandma Bernice and Bob came for Christmas dinner. It was lovely, and we ate on my new Fiestaware plates (thanks Gaga and Papa!) and sat on our new barstools! So exciting!
Then we quickly cleaned up everything, because the cleaning crew was coming the next morning. That's a leftover present from last year (thanks again Grandmommy!). That morning, my mom and the kids hung out in the basement, away from the cleaners, and Chuck and I hung out at Caribou. Each of us had our idilic morning - Grandmommy with the boys, me reading a book and drinking coffee, Chuck entering all of his passwords into a new program and having them digitally encrypted (while drinking coffee). Wait, that makes it sound like Chuck and I don't like hanging with the boys. We do, clearly, but it was nice to take a break.
Then CHUCK suggested that he and I go to the Mall of America. What? He's a maverick - always on search for the best deals, and we came away with $8 jeans and sweaters, so he was right.
All this time we were nursing Ryker through a cough, runny nose and low-grade fever. This morning he complained of an ear ache and a doctor's visit told us he had a pretty bad ear infection. Now happily on meds, he and Jack packed themselves into Grandmommy's car and headed to StL with her. They were a day and a half late in their departure, but are looking forward to hanging out with Gaga and Papa and getting some really good Grandmommy time.
We are now sitting quietly in our clean house, with no dinosaurs or bugs scurrying, no helicopters flying, and no guitars whining. It's very calm, but a little weird. I'll enjoy this gift of quiet, but I do miss my little guys.
By the way, how awesome is my mom? She willingly took both boys with all their crap and instructions on what to do if Ryk's ear drum RUPTURES, and happily drove with them for 9 hours to get to StL. Awesome.
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Holidays Are Busy
I didn't update since December 11? Geez. I'll do general updates for you...
Ryker update:
He had his Holiday Program at school last week. He has been singing the songs and doing the little dances around the house for a long time. He got up on stage, smiled hugely and waved at us, then stood perfectly silently for the almost the entire program. He smiled nicely and clasped his hands together. Not a word. Not a dance move. All the teachers took turns trying to coax him into participating, and he would just shake his head no. They kept turning to me and shrugging. Hilarious. He did yell out one line of one song, which made the whole audience cheer, and then stood silently again. Afterwards he seemed perfectly pleased with himself.
He also continues to be fiercely loyal to his brother. If Jack is in a timeout, Ryker tries to spring him loose, or tell us that it's time to let him out. It's pretty cute.
Jack update:
He lost his first tooth! I got a call at work from the school nurse, who we happen to know anyway because she dates our neighbor across the street. She said "Jamie - Jackson lost his tooth!" and I said "exciting!" and she said "yes, but we can't find it, so you will want to watch him..." and then the call dropped. Ummm, watch for WHAT? Wouldn't it just...pass, or something? Anyway, he got the coveted Tooth Necklace, which is supposed to hold your tooth so you can take it home. Only his was empty. He made me write a note to the Tooth Fairy, which he dictated to me. It said "Dear Tooth Fairy, Jackson lost his tooth. He lost it for real." Then he said "Dear Jackson". I said "huh? Are we starting a new letter?" and he said "no, now write Dear Jackson". He thought closings are the same as openings. So cute. We put the note under his pillow and the Tooth Fairy brought him a shiny gold one-dollar coin with a picture of Abraham Lincoln on it. Score!
Jack has also decided he wants to help around the house a lot. Mostly he wants to cook. He now makes breakfast for Ryker (oatmeal and cereal usually - they are hobbits, remember?). He has also helped make spinach lasagna, and gingerbread cookies.
I'm still healing from the back injury. After every 8 physical and/or occupational therapy appointments, they have you see the spine doc for a re-evaluation. Mine was last week. He says I'm right on track. I've been given the entire circuit training routine to start, which is early for people in my condition. That's due to two things - 1) I was an athlete to start with, so I know most of these exercises, and 2) I couldn't DO anything for the first few appointments so they had lots of time to talk to me.
I'm in the first of two machines, but the doc wouldn't graduate me to the Big Girl Machine (my term). I was bummed about that. The machine that I work in right now is all about range of motion, adding in foot-pounds-of-pressure. I'm at 70 foot pounds right now, and they want me over 100. I'm getting there but they only add 5 pounds every appointment, and that's only the 1st of the 2 machines. They've finally found a position that my back will tolerate in traction, so every appointment ends with me getting pulled in half. It is a VERY weird feeling, but helps. The doc also checked all of my leg symptoms, which is the first order of business - getting the nerve pain out of my leg. My right calf is stronger than it was when I first went in, but I am still totally numb from the knee down on the outside of that leg, on the right side/bottom of my foot, and in my pinkie toe. I also still have zero reflex in my right achilles and behind my right knee.
So, that's the back update. All of THAT being said, I'm able to be back at work full days and to perform my job fairly normally. I'm able to help at home and be a mom and wife. So that's good. I told them, though, that I would rate my "progress" on a scale of 1-10 as a 3. The looked surprised and I said "I have high standards for where I want to be." They smiled.
Chuck's weathering the storm of having a not-as-helpful wife and two crazy boys really well. He's also losing crazy amounts of weight on a new eating/workout regiment. My Incredible Shrinking Husband.
Okay - those are the updates. I'm sure I'll be back to tell you all about Christmas too! Happy Christmas Eve everyone!
Ryker update:
He had his Holiday Program at school last week. He has been singing the songs and doing the little dances around the house for a long time. He got up on stage, smiled hugely and waved at us, then stood perfectly silently for the almost the entire program. He smiled nicely and clasped his hands together. Not a word. Not a dance move. All the teachers took turns trying to coax him into participating, and he would just shake his head no. They kept turning to me and shrugging. Hilarious. He did yell out one line of one song, which made the whole audience cheer, and then stood silently again. Afterwards he seemed perfectly pleased with himself.
He also continues to be fiercely loyal to his brother. If Jack is in a timeout, Ryker tries to spring him loose, or tell us that it's time to let him out. It's pretty cute.
Jack update:
He lost his first tooth! I got a call at work from the school nurse, who we happen to know anyway because she dates our neighbor across the street. She said "Jamie - Jackson lost his tooth!" and I said "exciting!" and she said "yes, but we can't find it, so you will want to watch him..." and then the call dropped. Ummm, watch for WHAT? Wouldn't it just...pass, or something? Anyway, he got the coveted Tooth Necklace, which is supposed to hold your tooth so you can take it home. Only his was empty. He made me write a note to the Tooth Fairy, which he dictated to me. It said "Dear Tooth Fairy, Jackson lost his tooth. He lost it for real." Then he said "Dear Jackson". I said "huh? Are we starting a new letter?" and he said "no, now write Dear Jackson". He thought closings are the same as openings. So cute. We put the note under his pillow and the Tooth Fairy brought him a shiny gold one-dollar coin with a picture of Abraham Lincoln on it. Score!
Jack has also decided he wants to help around the house a lot. Mostly he wants to cook. He now makes breakfast for Ryker (oatmeal and cereal usually - they are hobbits, remember?). He has also helped make spinach lasagna, and gingerbread cookies.
I'm still healing from the back injury. After every 8 physical and/or occupational therapy appointments, they have you see the spine doc for a re-evaluation. Mine was last week. He says I'm right on track. I've been given the entire circuit training routine to start, which is early for people in my condition. That's due to two things - 1) I was an athlete to start with, so I know most of these exercises, and 2) I couldn't DO anything for the first few appointments so they had lots of time to talk to me.
I'm in the first of two machines, but the doc wouldn't graduate me to the Big Girl Machine (my term). I was bummed about that. The machine that I work in right now is all about range of motion, adding in foot-pounds-of-pressure. I'm at 70 foot pounds right now, and they want me over 100. I'm getting there but they only add 5 pounds every appointment, and that's only the 1st of the 2 machines. They've finally found a position that my back will tolerate in traction, so every appointment ends with me getting pulled in half. It is a VERY weird feeling, but helps. The doc also checked all of my leg symptoms, which is the first order of business - getting the nerve pain out of my leg. My right calf is stronger than it was when I first went in, but I am still totally numb from the knee down on the outside of that leg, on the right side/bottom of my foot, and in my pinkie toe. I also still have zero reflex in my right achilles and behind my right knee.
So, that's the back update. All of THAT being said, I'm able to be back at work full days and to perform my job fairly normally. I'm able to help at home and be a mom and wife. So that's good. I told them, though, that I would rate my "progress" on a scale of 1-10 as a 3. The looked surprised and I said "I have high standards for where I want to be." They smiled.
Chuck's weathering the storm of having a not-as-helpful wife and two crazy boys really well. He's also losing crazy amounts of weight on a new eating/workout regiment. My Incredible Shrinking Husband.
Okay - those are the updates. I'm sure I'll be back to tell you all about Christmas too! Happy Christmas Eve everyone!
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Months of Pictures
Due to some technical difficulties, I haven't posted pics on Flickr for quite a while. I think I've caught up - click on the link on the right sidebar.
(Disclaimer: If you follow me on Facebook or Instagram, you've seen lots of these already.)
(Disclaimer: If you follow me on Facebook or Instagram, you've seen lots of these already.)
Christmas Lists and Default Answers
I decided to have the kids dictate to me what they wanted on their Christmas lists this year. Generally we just come up with ideas on our own, but I thought they were old enough now to tell me what they want. I was also pretty sure it would make for a good blog post. I was right, at least for Ryker.
The conversation went just like this (I was typing as we were talking):
Momma: Ryker, what do you want for Christmas? We'll make a list for Santa and Grandmommy and Gaga and Papa and everyone.
Ryker: a phone (he means an iPhone)...silence...A toy. A pian-yo. A kitten.
Daddy: Ryker, do you mean you want your kitty-piano back? (We put it in toy jail because of his behavior.)
R: nods...silence...a Cwismas twee (staring at OUR Christmas tree) Dat's it. What do YOU want?
M: Well that's very sweet of you to ask, but we're making YOUR list right now. Can you think of anything else? Anything more specific?
R: Whatever dey got.
M: You get to say what you want Ryker. Like if someone went to a store, what would you want them to pick out for you?
R: Whatever dey got. A ball. Dat's it. Now yet's get da sweet. (he means the broom - "sweep")
Also, a random Ryker story for your amusement. Or mine, mostly.
We were in the car and I was trying to get him to say the words "ping pong." Earlier, we were in the basement and he was trying to get me to play that and he called it "ting tong" so I wanted him to say it for Chuck.
I said "Ryker, what's that game in the basement with the paddles that you wanted to play this morning?"
He paused, confused, and then goes "fsh". A few of my readers will understand that that is the answer to one of my favorite jokes:
Q: "What do you call a fish with no eyes?"
A: "Fsh"
Okay, that's hard to write because it's a play on words. Or on letters. I'm gonna stop explaining it now and hope you all just understand.
Anyway, I asked again, in another way. It was like playing Taboo or something. He patiently waited for me to rephrase, then paused again and said "fsh." I think it's hilarious that his default answer is fsh. Good boy.
Jack's default expression of disgust is "barnacles."
What's wrong with my children? And are they going to get beat up on the playground?
The conversation went just like this (I was typing as we were talking):
Momma: Ryker, what do you want for Christmas? We'll make a list for Santa and Grandmommy and Gaga and Papa and everyone.
Ryker: a phone (he means an iPhone)...silence...A toy. A pian-yo. A kitten.
Daddy: Ryker, do you mean you want your kitty-piano back? (We put it in toy jail because of his behavior.)
R: nods...silence...a Cwismas twee (staring at OUR Christmas tree) Dat's it. What do YOU want?
M: Well that's very sweet of you to ask, but we're making YOUR list right now. Can you think of anything else? Anything more specific?
R: Whatever dey got.
M: You get to say what you want Ryker. Like if someone went to a store, what would you want them to pick out for you?
R: Whatever dey got. A ball. Dat's it. Now yet's get da sweet. (he means the broom - "sweep")
Also, a random Ryker story for your amusement. Or mine, mostly.
We were in the car and I was trying to get him to say the words "ping pong." Earlier, we were in the basement and he was trying to get me to play that and he called it "ting tong" so I wanted him to say it for Chuck.
I said "Ryker, what's that game in the basement with the paddles that you wanted to play this morning?"
He paused, confused, and then goes "fsh". A few of my readers will understand that that is the answer to one of my favorite jokes:
Q: "What do you call a fish with no eyes?"
A: "Fsh"
Okay, that's hard to write because it's a play on words. Or on letters. I'm gonna stop explaining it now and hope you all just understand.
Anyway, I asked again, in another way. It was like playing Taboo or something. He patiently waited for me to rephrase, then paused again and said "fsh." I think it's hilarious that his default answer is fsh. Good boy.
Jack's default expression of disgust is "barnacles."
What's wrong with my children? And are they going to get beat up on the playground?
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Things I'm Bad At
Following is a list of things I can't wrap my brain around, no matter how hard I try.
1. Time zones - I just don't get how some places can decide to do it, some don't, sometimes you travel and skip whole days....
2. School Picture ordering - I'm fixing it, don't worry. We WILL have pictures of my kindergartener. And the customer service people at Lifetouch MIGHT know my name by now.
3. Quantum Physics - Umm, yeah
4. Indicia - Work thing, but I routinely mess it up.
5. Ironing - An hour ago I ironed my brand new shirt to the towel under it. We don't own an ironing board anymore. And then when I tried to peel it off, the shirt's threads pulled apart.
6. Phones, faxes, email - Okay, I kinda get this one in theory, but when you step back and look at it, it's kind of trippy.
7. The temp in my house - 67 degrees in the house in the summer feels fine, but in the winter it makes me FREEZE. Same temp.
8. Health insurance - Our new HSA confuses the crap out of me. Chuck spent the better part of 2 laps around a lake trying to get me to understand.
9. Kids growing - Anyone who has watched an infant grow into a talking person knows this feeling. But then I try to picture that it's a cell-by-cell kind of growth and then my brain hurts.
10. Corkage fees - Work joke.
1. Time zones - I just don't get how some places can decide to do it, some don't, sometimes you travel and skip whole days....
2. School Picture ordering - I'm fixing it, don't worry. We WILL have pictures of my kindergartener. And the customer service people at Lifetouch MIGHT know my name by now.
3. Quantum Physics - Umm, yeah
4. Indicia - Work thing, but I routinely mess it up.
5. Ironing - An hour ago I ironed my brand new shirt to the towel under it. We don't own an ironing board anymore. And then when I tried to peel it off, the shirt's threads pulled apart.
7. The temp in my house - 67 degrees in the house in the summer feels fine, but in the winter it makes me FREEZE. Same temp.
8. Health insurance - Our new HSA confuses the crap out of me. Chuck spent the better part of 2 laps around a lake trying to get me to understand.
9. Kids growing - Anyone who has watched an infant grow into a talking person knows this feeling. But then I try to picture that it's a cell-by-cell kind of growth and then my brain hurts.
10. Corkage fees - Work joke.
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Jack's Parent-Teacher Conference
We had our first parent-teacher conference for Jack today. Hilarious. I knew a lot of what we were going to hear, based on three facts.
1. I am omniscient.
2. I know my kid really well.
3. I had emailed the teacher about a month ago and had a conversation about how he's doing.
I LOVE hearing about how Jack is doing. It gives us insights to how he behaves when he's not around us. It gives us validation about things we already know. It's also just hilarious.
We first talked about his academic progress. He's doing very well with literacy. He is doing even better than that with math. She said he seems to love it. We see that too. He is doing great with physical readiness (strange term, I thought), although when he colors he sometimes rushes and messes up. She showed us a picture that is all colored in "perfectly" except the right side, where he was totally out of the lines. She's like "and over here is where he heard he gets to play after he finishes." HA.
Then there is a section called Life Skills. Here - not so good. He needs improvement there. He talks too much (I don't know ANYONE like that). He is working on being more respectful to others who may be different (this made my heart hurt). He is working on working cooperatively with others and listening to others' ideas. He's really easily frustrated and doesn't want to try things until he knows he has mastered it (Chuck and I both don't know ANYONE like that).
It was great to talk to Mrs. George about all of this. She's great and very willing to work with us. Life skills.
1. I am omniscient.
2. I know my kid really well.
3. I had emailed the teacher about a month ago and had a conversation about how he's doing.
I LOVE hearing about how Jack is doing. It gives us insights to how he behaves when he's not around us. It gives us validation about things we already know. It's also just hilarious.
We first talked about his academic progress. He's doing very well with literacy. He is doing even better than that with math. She said he seems to love it. We see that too. He is doing great with physical readiness (strange term, I thought), although when he colors he sometimes rushes and messes up. She showed us a picture that is all colored in "perfectly" except the right side, where he was totally out of the lines. She's like "and over here is where he heard he gets to play after he finishes." HA.
Then there is a section called Life Skills. Here - not so good. He needs improvement there. He talks too much (I don't know ANYONE like that). He is working on being more respectful to others who may be different (this made my heart hurt). He is working on working cooperatively with others and listening to others' ideas. He's really easily frustrated and doesn't want to try things until he knows he has mastered it (Chuck and I both don't know ANYONE like that).
It was great to talk to Mrs. George about all of this. She's great and very willing to work with us. Life skills.
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