3, it's the perfect number

The girls are singing classic School House Rock songs for their music program this year. We've all been humming the tunes and thought this song was most appropriate for this weekend's fantastic event. . . Joel + Jenny + Klaus!

My "G" Rated Vacation

WARNING: This post has been rated "G" for extreme grossness. Readers are warned before proceeding.

Number of nasty bugs in our home: 1
Number of people the bug has visited: 7
Number of days: 5 (and counting)
Number of collective hours of recovery sleep: 24
Number of hours of sleep missed caring for others: 3
Number of surprise 50th b-day parties missed: 1
Number of ski trips aborted: 1
Number of appointments/commitments rescheduled: 6
Number of schools called to report sick days: 4
Number of full Lysol bottles sprayed: 1
Number of times our bathroom has been cleaned: 16
Number of candles burned: 3
Number of people back to normal: 4
Number of days missed from work: 0 (pre-scheduled vacation time)
Number of people naive enough to think it won't happen to him: 1

30 days 'til K (roughly)

Fun afternoon with the girls celebrating Jenny and Baby-to-be. (The boys had their own fun too.)

Laundry to the Rescue?

Note to Heidi.
From: Heidi

A few years ago while figuring out life with 3 small children, Alisha found a fantastic article about how the monotony of folding laundry (and other "meaningless" activities) can teach some great life lessons. Maybe it was sleep deprivation or lack of adult interaction, but it struck a chord with me and I have reflected back to it over the years. (Don't get me wrong, I am not giddy to do laundry each week.)

This weekend as I sorted, washed, folded, found more clothes hidden away, sorted, washed, and folded at least 20 loads of laundry, I thought of that message. Through the monotony of sorting socks I had the time to think about each owner. I thought of the experiences they had in those clothes. I realized those experiences involved me at some point. And then it hit me about our current reality.

It has taken a while to acclimate to each other. To assimilate (as the Borg would say) into the collective. To absorb the physical belongings and organize the remaining space. To understand each other's moods and whims. To know when to give space and when to follow up instead.

In many ways I feel like the parent of a newborn (except with a 2 week gestation rather than 9 months). Not that the kids are helpless. But that I am learning things about myself and the world. Some I anticipated. And some are a complete surprise.

As I thought of the support and love of our family/friends (meal-in-a-bag, the sharing of furniture, the desire to meet the kids, birthday wishes shared to those not even met, the check-in for our mental health, the physical labor of clearing out space, and even offering some temporary distance). I couldn't help but think of the similarities to having a new baby.

And I now feel like I can move forward. I know challenges are in our future. They would be either way. But I am ready. And I have the laundry to thank for this awareness.

What a DECADE!

Our little Avy Baby turned 10 years old this Friday! What a great decade it has been having her in our lives.

Here's our (Slade is helping me) Top Ten reasons Avy is fantastic:

1. The girl is creative. And in a creative way. Just give her random things and her ideas will be NO WHERE near the box!

2. Avy is friendly and enjoys being with people. She has an inclusive streak about her that we hope will continue with her.

3. She enjoys being active: soccer, lacrosse, skiing, bike riding.

4. Avy LOVES to laugh!!! And laugh she does. A beautiful, contagious, infectious laugh.

5. Recently she has learned the art of saving money. It is so refreshing to see the restraint from what she "needs right now" for something in the future.

6. FASHION. In the sense that "fashion" is not "mainstream".

7. Singing is a joy for Avy and follows in her grandpa's footsteps for singing about anything.

8. Avy values her library card. She frequently asks to go and enjoys reading.

9. Avy is a compassionate and caring person. So much so, that she has become a vegetarian. No kidding. And no exceptions since September. She feels for those little chickies and cows.

10. Caring part 2: she was the most excited when asked about adding kids to the family.

We look forward to the next decade and know she will be an incredible adult!

We love you, Avy!

What Comes Around . . .

Slade and I grew up in a large families. People were around all. the. time. It was just a part of life. By default, I think it also meant some major coordination and organization of and by the parental figures. But I never knew just how much that until this last week.

Here is my assessment of doubling the kids in our home:

1. It is loud. My mom never liked listening to the radio when driving. She claimed it "discouraged talking" and I never bought her excuse. Now I find myself turning off my beloved public radio just to listen to nothing when driving to and from work. The sound of silence.

2. Showers. Who needs a schedule? We do!! Yep, I am now doing the thing I SWORE I would never do.

3. Shopping. We really hate being such consumers but it takes a lot of food (and shelf space) to feed that many kids. I used to buy extra groceries just to have on hand and to have meal options for our culinary whims. Not anymore. If we aren't eating it this week, it isn't making it into the cart.

4. I am a flake. Please forgive me if I miss something, don't call you back or just don't show up. It is not my intention. I just can't remember it all. I try to console myself that my parents had time to acclimate to 6 kids. (But I had my flakey moments before this so I think it is me.)

5. A lot of things are truly an AGE issue. It is nice to see other kids acting similarly to ours. It IS developmental, not necessarily obstinacy towards me.

6. Bedtime is sacred. "Slade time" (Slade's way of saying "your day is over, so I can close out mine") is essential.

7. I look forward to my time with Slade. And I don't take it for granted!

8. Why fight the obvious flow of things? Sure they can do homework as soon as they get home from school and then go stir crazy after dinner. OR they can play, rumpus about, and NOT do homework until after dinner and then things naturally quiet down.

9. Gratitude goes a LONG way. It is very nice to hear compliments and pleasantries so frequently. Twice the kids, twice the nice things being spoken.

10. Supportive extended family makes an amazing difference in our lives.

So with our "week anniversary" approaching tomorrow, we have no regrets. And in fact, are VERY thankful for the blessing to be a part of their lives. It is fun thinking about them throughout the day, wondering how their days are progressing, and looking forward to being with everyone again.

AM's 11th Birthday

Little AM celebrated her 11th birthday today. As requested, we enjoyed "breakfast for dinner", rootbeer, brownies and ice cream. It's been a sugar-loaded evening. (Hurray for Slade taking on post-dinner-homework activities!)

We hope this year brings her mucho happiness and joy!

January Birthday x5?

January is the month of birthdays for our family. Heidi, Sawyer, Slade and then Avy. But this week we added a few more kids to the household AND another January birthday. Party on, dude!

Christmas 10

Just a few images for memories' sake . . .

DEC 6

And then I remembered one of my FAVORITE (relatively new) holiday traditions . . . Rosco de Reyes. I have Mauricio to thank for this infusion into our celebrations. And I love it!

Hot cocoa (stirred and whipped just so with a hint of mint).

Pastry with sugared candy (pretty, but I have yet to actually eat the candy).

And baby Jesus. And another baby Jesus. And another. And another.

But it only seems fair that everyone who wants a baby Jesus should get a baby Jesus.

TEEN in the house!

Sawyer did it. . . he's now officially 13. And that is LUCKY 13 in our minds. Lucky to have such a cool guy hanging around. Lucky to see his curly hair poking out from under his hat. Lucky to hear his logic and ideas. (That one is pretty entertaining too.) Lucky to have him any way you look at it.

His birthday (the 3rd we celebrated last week) was pretty low-key. He opted to temporarily postpone a friend-party for a few weeks for a friend to have some healing time. But when it came down to it, I think he wanted some hype on HIS day. So we threw together the best crowd we could--and I'd say it was mighty fine!

A Halloween Riddle

Birthday Bob

Kennah has mastered delayed gratification when it comes to her birthday parties. Mid-September is WAAAAAY too busy with soccer practices (or "trainings" as Slade calls them), Back-to-School diddies, and just adjusting to a structured life after a care-free summer. (Don't get me wrong, if she wanted the parties then, we would happily oblige. We are not cruel parents.)

But she loves the festivities that accompany October and happily obliges their many calls to her.

We were prepared for a rainy day, but it held off and we enjoyed the perfection of fall.

Crush x 3

Funny how this was only two months ago and they all have changed since then.

Sum, Sum, Summertime

Summer Vacation

A little late in posting. But not for the lack of good memories. We enjoyed every second of our time with Meghan, Ryan, Savanah and Laney! It was the PERFECT vacation from start to finish.

Time

is marching on. . .



Sawyer started junior high today. Gym uniform, algebra, locker combination, homeroom, and parental figures MILES from the school. He is most excited that school doesn't begin until almost 9:00 am. He plans to snooze longer than us all.




Avy and Kennah are both at Candy Lane this year and were happy to let me drive them to school. Tomorrow (and all future rain-free days) they plan to ride their bikes. No small task since their school is in another city. But Slade prepared them well this summer so it's time to see if they can do it.

Portland to Glacier

Portland to Glacier

At the beginning of July we set off on our summer vacation to Glacier National Park and then on to Winona, Minnesota for the "Watts Family Reunion" (i.e. visit Meghan and Ryan.) We attempted train travel and hoped the decision would be free of regret.

We left a rainy Portland (it was July 2nd for crying out loud--enough rain, already!) at 4:00 pm and rolled into Glacier the next morning around 9:00. If it hadn't been announced by the conductor, we would have not known, as the rain arrived with us hiding any evidence of mountains. We laughed at the irony. But as the day wore on and the clouds burned off, we began to see the amazing scenery. WOW! It was about 35 degrees at almost 7000 feet. The waterfalls were everywhere and cascaded down the ENTIRE mountain range. We hiked, were in awe over the CLEAR water and even saw a bear on a bluff. It was a fantastic day.

We caught the train out of Glacier the next morning at 9:00 and enjoyed the scenery on the outskirts of the park. There was a volunteer tour guide on the train that shared a lot of info on the area as well.

The kids were amazed at the tall sky and puffy clouds of Montana. We spent the day in the lounge car playing games and stepped off the train every few hours to stretch and breathe fresh air. After a night on the train, we awoke to the Mississippi River and soon reached our destination.

CARAVAN PALACE at the zoo

On the way home from work yesterday I heard a couple of French musicians interviewed on NPR (I am a public radio junkie.) The music sounded cool and I hoped to remember the band's name so Slade could check out the CD from our library.

But even better, at the end of the story they announced the band was performing in PORTLAND. THAT NIGHT. It's been a few years since we've been to zoo concerts so we considered it. And then we found ourselves there a few hours later.

After a fine dinner of popcorn and soda, Kennah and her friend, Abby, headed to the stage to hang with Slade. Sawyer did not.

The group was INCREDIBLE. It had a funky-jazzy-techno-(saaaaweeeeet!)-sound and beat. They were all great performers and made it impossible to not dance or smile!

(And here is my conservative mother commentary--the dancing was all great DANCING, not the pseudo-suggestive stuff that I don't want my kids mistaking for "dancing".)

We felt pretty lucky to have stumbled upon such a great concert on a perfect summer's eve. Especially after the previous evening's conversation with Kennah which in a condensed version:

Kennah: My friend wants me to go to Justin Beiber's concert tomorrow. She needs an adult to go too.

Us: We didn't know you liked Justin Beiber.

K: I don't. But she needs someone to go with her.

Us: Tickets are $50 for the nose bleeds to the side of the stage. Do you have $100 for your ticket and one for us. (We know she doesn't so we know we won't be subjected to teen-love-boy.)

K: No $$.

Us: So sorry.

So when we asked Abby (NOT the girl with Beiber fever) if she thought THIS music was better. She immediately responded, "This is so much more heartfelt" and showed us.

While waiting in line to meet the band and have CDs signed, this guy asked the girls what they liked and recorded their answers. They were not short of words or expressions.

The musicians were very playful and happy of the stage as well. Even with a language barrier, they each took time to write on the CD and talk with people.

And WE LOVE THEM!!

Relay 2010

Just a few images from yesterday's fun day at Relay for Life:

Sawyer took care of the game/fundraiser while drowning himself on orange crush soda and zombie stories.

We all took our turns dunking Avy. I don't know who had more fun or those doing the dunking!

Avy has been "training" for this portion of Relay. She definitely held her own in the watermelon eating contest.

Kennah and her dad were caught clucking through the chicken dance song. We didn't get to hang with them very much as Kennah participated in a soccer tournament this weekend and the majority of her games were on Saturday. They made their appearance, but Slade wisely took her home to sleep in her own bed.


Giovanni and Dominic quickly got into the Relay fun.

Jordan enjoys decorating the . . . luminaria bags?

Avy proudly poses next to her luminaria for Glenn. Avy sang 3 karaoke songs that night and was still going strong when Jenni, Sawyer and I fell asleep in the tent at 2:30. (It was just like sharing a room again with Jenni! Although we were too tired to have our "Annie" singing contest like we did back in the day.)

As always, Relay is a great time that I look forward to every year!