Sun Break Thursday

When we first moved to the Great Northwest I was told of days like this...days where it starts out rainy and cold but then, about half way through, the sky clears up and the sun pours down. On days like this, I was told, people left work early and just went outside to soak in the sun.
I remember working at the JCC when this would happen. The little 2 year olds would wake up from their naps and see that the sun had made an appearance and they would leap from their nap mats and head towards the back door. I'm not making this up...it really happens.

I worked at the kids school this morning. Just did a half day. I was scheduled to work in Hazel's classroom and was very excited to be there as many of the kids I taught last year ended up in her class. Upon arrival this morning I was greeted with some family emergencies and a room swap. Not really a big deal for me and I didn't think it would be a problem for Hazel...until she quietly asked me why I wasn't going to be her teacher today. I explained that there were too many teachers out and that they needed to put me in another room. She was quiet for a minute, until I heard her sobbing. She said (between huge tears), "I'm just so disappointed!"
Poor Hazel.
I checked in on her before I left and she was having a perfectly fine day.

August had his monthly ortho appointment this morning. Trey was able to take him as I often find that I mistakenly take a job when August is supposed to be in the office.
I told August that we could have burgers tonight...he's been craving them for the last few days. We picked them up from Whole Foods and turned the grill on...they were delish!

The sun is still shining down on us:
And I'm loving it!

Flick this!

Christmas and New Years pictures are up on flicker.

The End is Near

Welp folks, we're nearing the end of this vacation. I'm not going to lie, it's dragged on and on. The kids go back to school on Monday and Hazel as been asking to go back since Wednesday.
We've successfully stayed busy and had some good times.
Today we woke up early (9:00) to get some last minute things done before the weekend. I dropped off my passport paperwork for a trip Trey and I are taking in June for our 10 year anniversary. Used my last two checks to cover the cost and continued on with the list of things. Drove to our old neighborhood to visit with Rachel and Francis when my phone rang with news that I had written the check for the wrong amount. CRAP! Rachel was kind enough to keep the kids while I attempted to get more checks from the bank...nope...10 days to get em. I then called the office and asked if they thought I could just cross off the wrong word (it was written for 65 instead of 67) and initial it. They were pretty sure it would be OK. So I headed back to Lake City to correct my error. Whew! Done and done.
While we were in our old neck of the woods the kids and I stopped at a locally owned pet store. There was a super cute puppy hanging out so Hazel was in Heaven. They ended up having the exact crate we've been looking for for the back of the car (surprise Trey!). We recently sold our minivan and got a vw wagon. We're very happy with how we all fit. Tank is so happy with his new digs in the back and I'm so happy with the being able to drive around with the dog stuck in the back.
We're having another sleep over with Francis. The boys can currently be found in August's room playing DS. I'm going to start our VERY LAST Christmas movie of the season in about 15 minutes. Hazel is hanging out with me in the living room watching Jeopardy.

Yesterday

Holy Cow!
OK. So we went to the Seattle Center and ended up ice skating. It was fun. The kids went around and around and August was pretty confident considering he'd never been on the ice. We went with Jonah and Aunt Kat.
Jonah is about Hazel's age and his been a friend of the family for years. My sister used to nanny for him and now she does yoga with him. Hazel and Jonah have a very special connection and they try to spend as much time as they can together but with Hazel in school now that time has been limited. So we made sure that the kids could get together during the break.
About 20 minutes into our skate date a woman approached Kat and requested that she remove Jonah from the ice as it was not OK to have a stroller or wheelchair on the rink. Kat was obviously upset and began to argue with the attendant. Hazel was hanging onto the stroller at this point and when she heard what the woman was saying she immediately began to cry uncontrollably. Hazel has a great ability to cry on cue. It really amped up the frustration factor...and drew a bunch of attention. At one point Kat yelled something like, "well, I guess we've got to get off the rink because they won't let handicapped people skate here!!!" At that moment I was attending to my emotional daughter and trying to calm my also emotional sister. I looked up and saw the principal of the kids school walking up with his family. He had no idea what he was walking into. I tried to explain the situation without emotion so as not to get anyone else upset. He offered to get involved, he offered to carry Jonah around the rink, he offered to leave the establishment. All of which I thanked him for but asked him to enjoy his afternoon with his family while we got our money back and went to the fountain.
Hazel recovered nicely once she was given the opportunity to run off her nervous energy.
Kat recovered when she brought Jonah home and told his parents about the afternoon. Jonah's parents recovered when they called the ice rink and set up a meeting to change the rules.

On the twelfth day of vacation

I'm trying to get the kids back into waking up when I want them to...not going so well today. August is still slumbering while Hazel is cuddling with Trey. I'm up and buzzing around the house with a list of things to do today, which includes taking some student art work down to the Seattle Center House to hang up for the Reflections Program. I thought it would be fun to either go to the Science Center or the Aquarium while we were down in that area...adding that to the list. Kat is going to bring Jonah downtown to meet us so the kids can hang together.
Hazel is ready to go back to school. She's in the habit of asking how many more days till school? She's pleased as punch that we're finally down to one hand.
Later today the kids are going to AK's house for a sleep over. It's perfect timing really. We've been talking about the kids going over there for a while now but this works out just great. Trey has to be at the airport at 5 in the morning tomorrow, with the kids doing a sleep over I'll be able to crawl out of bed without having to worry about how the kids will face the day that early. August and Hazel are very, very excited about it. Hazel has her quilted bag (thanks to my mom) all packed and well, August is still snoozing.
Having the kids with AK will give me some time with Trey this evening. He's had this whole time off with the kids which has been wonderful. I'm excited to sneak away with him for dinner and maybe a movie tonight. I'd love to see either Juno or Sweeney Todd. Has anyone seen these yet? I've heard great things about Juno...but haven't heard anything about Sweeney.

Snow Flakes

Nope, it's not snowing today. I've been watching the weather, particularly in Detroit, Seattle and South Pasadena (where my brother and sister-in-law live), it's been pretty depressing. Seattle has been hitting the same temps as Detroit with Pasadena looking really nice to me right now.

August went to the Seattle Center House with Kathy and Jonah today to see a break dancing show. Yup, those of you who've watched So You Think You Can Dance- that's you Amy (and me of course)- a group of kids did a whole demonstration of break dancing, they were supposed to have some crunk dancers but they didn't show up.
Hazel and Trey and I took the opportunity to go downtown and eat sushi together. Hazel felt very special being alone with us. I'm pretty sure she ate her weight in salmon and edamame.

We're heading over to the Bazan's house tonight to have a low-key welcoming of the New Year. I'll take a few pictures and post them as the evening wears on.

ACK! On the eighth and ninth day of vacation

Oh Geez, time sure did get away from me yesterday. So here's the thing about staying home for Christmas vs. going back to Michigan: when we're in Michigan we have grandparents who are willing to hang out with the kids and do fun things that say, I'm a little tired of doing...Or, said grandparents will mention that they'd just been dying to take the kids to a museum for the day...and then Trey and I would get to go to Ann Arbor and walk around...doesn't happen here. Kat did take the kids on Friday, don't get me wrong...everyone involved loved it. I think that's what got me thinking about this. The kids could be entertained by other people...what a thought. They've spent a lot of time in their rooms this break, and I don't feel badly over it...they're spending time playing with new toys or reading new books. They wouldn't be doing that if we were in Michigan. We'd have packed everything up to be mailed home by now...

Yesterday Trey and I took turns at the gym again which meant that we got a bit of a late start to the day. Tank went to a Terrier only playgroup for an hour which ended up helping us toward the end of the day as these things tend to wear him out.
I signed up for the Buca di Beppo email list and was sent a coupon for a free appetizer so we ended up going there for dinner. Love me some Bapa da Deppo (wink...that's for you mom.)

Today, well, I got up early to make apple pancakes for the kids. Then we went to church where I struggled to keep my eyes open. Now Trey is taking Tank to the dog park while the kids watch a movie and I'm going to take a nap. Yep. It's vacation. We're watching many, many movies and taking naps.

On the seventh day of vacation

My sister is doing a huge mitzvah today. She is truly taking one for the team. She's picking the kids up and taking them to see what is most assuredly the WORST movie of the season. She's taking them to see Alvin and the Chipmunks! Poor thing. The kids will have a great day though.

So Joshua's manager emailed me this morning because you guys have been clicking on the link to hear his music and or see his myspace page. THANKS! I mean, I know his manager but it is still pretty cool to hear that people are checking out his music in part because of this blog...here's another link to see pictures from the in-studio show yesterday.

On the sixth day of vacation

Is this getting old? Hearing about our daily activities? Well, I'm committed to it now so I'm gonna keep going:

This morning August and Francis woke up and immediately started playing DS. Hazel woke up shortly after and I fixed everyone some yummy oatmeal with toast and pears. Everyone seemed happy enough. They kept playing for a while until I mentioned starting How the Grinch Stole Christmas (with Jim Carrey). We still have a few Christmas movies we've not gotten through. I figure we've got a few days to plug through them.

A little after noon we dropped Francis off and did some running around, which included using the Christmas money some of you sent. Lucky was having their half off sale so thank you M and R, you bought me 2 pair of really rad sweat pants and a great sweater. We had to rush back to the car by 3 because Trey was doing a live performance on KEXP with a guy named Joshua Morrison. The kids cheered when his name was announced and Hazel encouraged her daddy by saying, "go daddy go!" over and over. We were able to meet up with Trey a little while later to grab some dinner before he headed out to the show tonight at the Tractor.

Which brings me to tonight. Thursday nights are our date nights and many weeks ago I noticed that there was a show I wanted to go to. Now, honestly, I don't get to many shows as it's really part of Trey's job to go to said shows, but this show happened to be on our date night! A series of events occured and what do you know? Trey's now playing drums at the same show I wanted to see. So. I'm getting ready for my night out. Wearing my new sweater and some tall boots. Feeling good.
August and Hazel are in their rooms. Hazel used a Barns and Noble card, thanks W and C, today to buy the High School Musical 2 sound track so she can learn the words to the songs. She can be heard right now catching a word or two while jumping on her bed. August also used a card thanks to W and C, to buy a Christmas movie (added that one to the must watch list) and a book. So they're enjoying their gifts right now. The babysitter should be here in a half hour at which point Hazel will bolt from her room and jump up into Audrey's arms. August will probably stay in his room until a bit later...you know, he's gotta play it cool with the ladies.

On the fifth day of vacation

We've been taking it easy today. The kids were up around 10am and immediately started playing with new toys. Hazel is blinging her new rock band she got from Zane and Audrey while August has been putting some bionicles together in he room. Trey and I each took turns going to the gym...Lord knows we need to spend HOURS there to make up for all the fudge, lemon bars, dips, coffees and who knows what else we've devoured these last few days.
Later today we're going to the Nyssen's semi-annual Boxing Day party. We attempted to find a sitter for the kids and actually secured one but she called to say that she woke up rather sick and didn't think she could come after all. So the kids are coming with us. We'll bring a laptop and keep them in Rachel's bedroom so they'll be out of the way.
August and Hazel were given new pajamas on Christmas Eve...it took a long time for August to change out of them on Christmas Day. I'm pretty sure he was in them until we left for the 5:30 movie. It's safe to say that he liked them a bunch.

On the forth day of vacation

Merry Christmas Family and friends!
We've had a wonderful day. The kids were up late last night which gave us a nice late morning. My brother called at 9am and woke us up (!!!) to tell me that his son was up and ready to open presents at 4am(!!!!!?). My kids have never been awake at that time unless they were sick and were rushing for the bathroom.
Once August and Hazel woke up they both ran to the tree and announced that Santa had indeed come...August is sure he heard the sleigh and bells at some point last night. August also has a memory of Santa coming into his room when he was a baby...my boy BELIEVES in Santa.
My sister Kat and her husband Justin arrived around 9:30 and we started passing out the gifts. The kids were blown over with all the great gifts they were given. August got a bunch of books he's been wanting to read and Hazel got some toys and 2 Wii games. I worked with her to get her started on the first one: High School Musical 2 sing-a-long. Oh my goodness people. So Funny. Please, the next time you come over, you've got to play this game with my girl. I'll try to post her singing in the next couple weeks. She also got Catz 2. She's got her kitty all set up. Her cat is named Christmas. Very sweet. I think she was excited to be able to play on the Wii.
After gifts Trey made us all eggs and bacon and heated up some of the blue berry and cream cheese rolls that Chee Chee sends us. We also whipped up some mimosas to wash it all down. The we started playing video games. Kat and Justin were going crazy on one of the games August got. They were swimming and doing all kids of crazy actions in my living room. Good times.
Later in the day we met up with the Nyssen Family to go downtown and see The Water Horse. Hazel was a bit emotional at parts but it was a great Christmas movie.
Merry Christmas. We love and miss you all.

On the third day of vacation

Today is my dad's birthday!
Poor guy has had to compete with Christmas his whole life.
He's the handsome one with the grey beard. I love him very much.

On the second day of vacation

I made One Big Mistake.

I thought it would be a great idea to sit the kids down and watch The Nativity Story. Nope. Not a great idea. I think we made it through MAYBE 10 minutes of it before August announced, rather loudly, "I don't think we should watch this mommy!" I glanced at him and saw that his eyes were welling up. At that same moment Hazel exploded. Yes, folks, she EXPLODED in tears. Loud, uncontrolled, did I say LOUD tears.
I looked at my children, then at the TV. The guards were taking a girl from her family because they couldn't pay their taxes. Right before this happened I was explaining why the guards were going into peoples houses and "hurting" the baby boys...not really a family movie at this point in my children's lives. Lesson learned: Always watch the movie before showing the kids.

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve. We're going to go to the grocery store to pick up a few appetizers for the evening because we're having a few friends over. We're also going to a cocktail party in the afternoon and are planning on attending the candle light service at our church. It'll be a busy day but we're really looking forward to it.

Saturday

Today...we baked!
Hazel was very interested in helping...for the first 10 minutes. She was excited to mix the dry ingredients and wear her apron.
But then she lost interest and disappeared into her room. August was not willing to help bake but was more than happy to play photographer.
Look how fast those fingers were flying! Almost looks like I know what I'm doing. I used the holiday cookie recipe from the Test Kitchen cookbook. I also made the shortbread and lemon bars from the same book. yum!
The kids have tested the Hazelnut Chocolate Cookies and the Shortbread but are still waiting for the Lemon Bars to cool...I'm thinking that we may not need to eat dinner tonight...ahhh, vacation.

On the first day of vacation

So, I'm going to ATTEMPT to blog a little every day of the kids vacation so that the grandparents can read along and maybe miss the kids a little less this Christmas.

We've established a Christmas routine where we visit Michigan every other year to spend the holidays with our midwest families. This is the year we stay home. This is also our first Christmas in the house. We've been looking forward to this year since we bought the house. We had grand plans to light up the outside but didn't really get around to it. We did enjoy decorating our first fireplace mantle though:
This morning I woke up at 10:00 when Hazel came into our room to ask if she could watch some TV. These last few weeks have been a challenge in the mornings. Both kids need more sleep than they have been getting. August goes to bed a 9 and reads for a half hour and Hazel goes to bed a 8 and looks at books for a half hour. When I go in to wake them up at 8 the next morning it's like pulling teeth. I try to come up with every trick I can think of to get them out of bed and excited for the day. With Hazel this usually means I tell her that she can pick out her own clothes. August is a bit tricky. He could care less about clothes. I think if I let him he'd wear the same clothes everyday, and I'm not talking about wearing the same Kind of clothes like Dave Bazan does...no...August would simply take his clothes off, put them on the floor, wake up the next day and put them on again...all week. The crusty bits and toothpaste spots wouldn't bother him at all. With August- the only thing that works is counting down the days till the weekend...when he can FINALLY play his video games.
And now he's faced with 2 WHOLE WEEKS of vacation. You will find my boy slumped on the couch playing his DS or jumping around in front of the TV playing tennis on the Wii system.
Ahhh, vacation.