The Bathroom

This odd picture is the only one I have of the bathroom as it looked yesterday. It was actually taken before we bought the house...our realitor was showing us the "awesome" sink and toilet from 1947!!
And these pictures are from today, day one of our bathroom remodel:
They tore through the room pretty quickly I think. I'll continue taking pictures throughout the project...

Hazel

Hazel is sitting on the other end of the couch cleaning her nails for the first time all by herself. I'm working really hard at not helping her because I want her to be able to do this herself. She is working very hard at getting all the dirt out and at one point she says, "Oh Mama, you do not want to see what's in this nail!"
Me: "Is it a booger?"
Hazel: "No, it's just a bunch of boogers....I mean a bunch of dirt!"
Me: "Glad you're cleaning them out then, huh?"
Hazel: "Yup."

Hazel, a few minutes later: "HOLY MOTHER OF STARS! That's a lot of dirt...and it kinda hurt!"

Soccer Games

Just posted some pictures from August's soccer most recent soccer game to my gallery. Here's a few if you don't have time to look at them all:

Chicago Ramblings

I was born in Chicago, in Ravenswood Hospital to be exact. I'm not sure where we lived when I was born, but I know that I grew up at 4610 N Paulina. It was a beautiful old Victorian house on a then, not so great street. I've been back as an adult and the street is so much better now...and the house looks just as beautiful!
We lived in Chicago until I was 12 and going into 6th grade. We went to Addison Street Congregational Church where I had many, many good times. I went to a small school called Pilgrim Lutheran Church and School where I had many, many good times as well. I poked around the website for the school and there are 2 teachers who are STILL teaching there! One of them was my favorite...Mr. Knuth, he taught me how to whistle.
I'm telling you all this because I've been a busy internet girl again...while in Chicago I had a friend named Dawn. We were good friends with plans all laid out for our futures...but then we moved.
I was always a good letter writer and tried to keep up with her and her family but as time moved on we lost track of each other. Then, in 1987 my family went back to Chicago to visit during the holiday season. Our church had a big party in a hall where all I remember is that people were dressed up in crazy outfits...strange memories...Dawn was there and we reconnected which led to many more letters. Letters not only from Dawn but from her mom and one of her brothers as well.
I have not been successful at finding her but the other evening I did find her brother and their mom happened to be with him. I've been so excited at the thought of reconnecting with this family.
I'm so far removed from my life in Chicago. I remember the exact year when I realized that I had lived outside of Chicago longer than I had lived in the city. It was a sad realization for me. I struggle even now answering where I'm from. I want to say that I'm from Chicago but then I'm asked all kinds of questions about living there and all I can say is that I loved living there as a child. My brother and I still have the Chicago accent though, which makes me so proud.
Living in Seattle makes me think that Hazel and August may have the same experiences I had growing up in a city. Hazel already has a little friend who lives down the street who she's known for a few years now and August has Francis. I am so hopeful that my kids will be able to stay connected with their friends as they transition into young adults...


***Just heard back from Dawn!! The last time I saw her was in 1987 and we're emailing like time hasn't passed! I'm thrilled to no end.

Tales of Tank in Pictures

Thursday

So to give Hazel a little credit, she did wake up at 1 in the morning saying that her head was hurting so I gave her some Tylenol and she went back to sleep. But I was still surprised by the phone call from the school nurse suggesting that I come and pick Hazel up at 10:30 this morning.
I told the school that I'd be there as quick as I could but that I was in Edmonds and it may take a while, then Tank and I regretfully left the amazing dog beach and raced home.
When I arrived, Hazel was sitting on that bed thing that every school nurse office has, she didn't even notice me when I came in the room. We loaded in the car and started driving to Whole Foods to get her some soup.
During the drive we had this conversation:

Me- "OK, Haze, when we get home you can eat your soup and then you're going to go to bed."
H- "WHAT?! That's not right! I'm not even tired! I never fall asleep when I'm sick! Can't I at LEAST lay down on the couch?"
Me- "Nope. You've got to go to bed so that your body can get better. Did you think it would be fun to come home sick?"
H- "YES!!! I thought I could lay on the couch and watch TV cause that ALWAYS makes me feel better!"
Me- "Sorry baby, that is not resting, that's watching TV. Today is a school day, no TV, you know that."
H- "BUT I'M SICK!"
Me- "I know...that's why you're going to go to bed after the soup."
H- "This is TOTALLY not fair!"

So, she's eaten her soup and had a glass of water and is currently in her room. I'm sure she's not in bed, but she's quiet and she's not in front of the TV...success!

****Hazel has been asleep for about an hour now! I ended up going into her room to lay down with her, she resisted and talked....a lot...but was snoring within a half hour. TRUE SUCCESS!!****

10 on 10

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More Summer Pictures

I've put more pictures up on my MobileMe Gallery:

http://gallery.me.com/jennifermany

Many are from my cell phone so the quality isn't that great, but it'll give you a few peeks into our last days of summer.

Tales of Tank

Tank has been really enjoying our time together now that the kids are back in school. We walk to school and then around the neighborhood until almost 10am. Then we head to the dog park where he gets to run and play and wade. He's a happy dog these days.
Last night he was in a funk. He stayed in his kennel when everyone came home only coming out to ring the bell to go outside. I figured that he's probably pretty worn out from all our activities of late and just left him alone. Around 10:30pm he started making a strange noise from our room. He s.l.o.w.l.y. crept out of the kennel and into the hall huffing and growling at the same time. The hair on his back stood straight up. He made is way from the hallway to the dining room, then to the kitchen, then to the back door all the while making this crazy rumbling sound mixed with some strange breathing thing that dogs do when they're tracking something. I quietly followed him through the house and silently opened the back door.
Once out of the house he tore through the backyard making more aggressive sounds disappearing into the lavender bushes then barking into the neighbors yard. This continued for a number of minutes and I just couldn't watch for fear that he'd get whatever it was that was invading our yard. I waited, listening, until he was done. A few minutes later he scratched the door, signaling me that he's ready to come in. I ran back and opened the door but he didn't want to come in...he turned and ran back to the middle of the yard, turned the side of his body to me, looked at the lavender bush and pointed. Like a bird dog, my Jack Russell pointed towards whatever it was!
I thanked him kindly for alerting me but declined his invitation to check it out.
He huffed and came back into the house, got a quick drink of water and returned to his kennel.

First Day

Well, August is in 4th and Hazel is in 1st! Big day today...Grandma Klier asked August what he was going to do on his first day back to school and he said, "Pout!" He wasn't so bad though. Trey bought him a cool new hoodie and he was excited to show it off, I think it helped that we had one of his good friends over yesterday too.
Hazel was downright excited by seeing all her friends and having the same teacher that August had when he was in 1st grade. She's the classic second child in that she's ready for anything.

Here are their first day pictures from last year:And here are the pictures from today:

Hazel is super excited because she gets to have one of her good friends from preschool in her class this year. They were the first in line.