Sunday, October 27, 2013

Not

We are not ready for Halloween. C keeps changing his mind on costumes. For the ward party this past weekend, he was a zombie and Viv was supposed to a peashooter from plants vs. zombies, but due to high standards of public dignity she wouldn't touch the hat I made and went in a truly adorable bee costume. Well played, Viv. For real Halloween, C has told me he wants to be Green Lantern, a ghost, Dracula, Wolverine, or perhaps a zombie again.

We are not entirely sure what Viv thinks, but she tries hard to tell us all the time. She refers to herself as Mimi, and loves all things cute and pretty, from doorknobs to small grapes. She is learning new words daily. My favorite new word she's learned this past week is "fire pit", emphasis on the "r" and "t."

We are not ashamed that I have started my birthday extravaganzas a month in advance this year. Happy birthday to me, we now own a little fire pit and its awesome. C is becoming quite adept at the art of the roasted marshmallow.

We are not ready for the perfect weather of fall to end and the winter to make all bleak. I hate sleeping in socks, bundling kiddos and unbundling kiddos repeatedly, scraping ice off cars (rather, making Steve scrape ice), and all the drama I make when it snows. I really need to get over it but each year it keeps coming back! I'll stop when it stops, so there.

We are not ready for sickness season. It should just go away, I hate it so. I am determined to try harder this year to keep us all healthy, since last year was one thing after another from Thanksgiving to Valentine's, but I'm not really sure where to start besides getting flu shots and stocking up on hand sanitizer.

We are not at all sure about what C thinks about, especially since his questions after long periods of thoughtful silence range from,"Are you going to take off your head and make your skin come out of your brain?" (he literally asked me that just now) to "So, when are those PBJs going to be ready?".

We are not worried one bit about C's imaginative ability. It is alive and well, and he is a wonder to converse with. He seems to be most talkative with me if we both sit perched on the corners of the Little Tikes climber in the backyard, or after he's been soaking awhile in the bathtub. That's when he tells me all of the juicy preschool gossip. Apparently, Tom (name changed to protect identity) still wears pull-ups and was the one who set off the fire alarm.

We are not worried one bit about C missing us too much while he's at preschool. He loves it and has made good friends, and has even taught his class dance moves to "What Does the Fox Say?" (thanks Aunt Liz for introducing us).

We are not sure why that video exists, but Viv also knows the dance moves and some of the lyrics (ding ding ding!).

We are not sure why Viv decided to give us one week of perfect sleeping through the night in her own crib, but we're glad she did. I just wish she hadn't stopped the magic just as abruptly.

We are not sure why Viv decided that after many months of weekly attempts at nursery attendance, today would be the day she would go in and not only survive the two hours, but be so happy about it that she would politely say "Thank you, bye-bye" to the nursery leader as she was picked up to leave.

We are not going to hibernate and get fat this winter (no promises for next winter). This spring something clicked and we've been able to consistently be more active and enjoy becoming more fit together. C can probably still do more burpees than me, though. Every day he spends time just running from front wall to back wall, doing parkour tricks on top of anything he can get on top of, and jumping up and down in place.

We are not positive if all three-year-olds are existentialists, but ours has strong tendencies.

We are not going to forget Lou Reed. RIP, Lou.






















Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Summer Travels 2013

The trips we made this summer to Utah, California, and Texas were wonderful! I was able to see all seven of my siblings, who live scattered across four states, and enjoy an extended and immediate reunion with all of Steve's family.
Highlight reel:
Utah, Steve's mom's side family reunion
- Stayed at Timber Moose Lodge, which is Heber's answer to Citizen Kane's Xanadu.
- Lots of helpers with kids on my solo journey (Steve was working)
- Stewart Falls hike
- Bounce house, video games, swimming pool, and hot tub
- Luchador mask wearing
- Visiting my sisters and my niece and nephews, seeing them all play together









California
- A horrible mix-up where someone on our airport shuttle exited with one of our bags, leaving their bag (which they had clearly marked with a gaudy fob of 50 bright pipe cleaners and a neon paper smiley face the size of a grapefruit) instead. After a stressful 90 minutes of frantic phone calling everybody at the DFW airport we found ourselves hustling to board our flight with their bag (it is not that easy to abandon a bag at an airport). As luck would have it, we were all going to the same place! We met them at baggage in San Diego and swapped. Meanwhile, we had the worst flight with the kids. C had scarlet fever (I know, right) and was angry and itchy the whole flight. Viv is mover, and planes don't play nice with movers.
- Relief. Beach. Good food and even better people.
- Working with C in the pool, watching him get comfortable in the water.
- Farewell to Aunt Ally!
- Tide pools
- Cruisin' Grand, El Salvadorian food, hula hoop contest
- In-N-Out
- Dark World board game. Epic.
- Wild Animal Park, lorikeets, elephants!






Texas
- Children's Museum in New Braunfels had a batcave. C's paradise, and turf. He tried to scare off other kids.
- Family! Our visit coincided with other siblings being able to be in town, so we were thrilled to see them.
- Riverwalk and Alamo walkabout, but it felt more like swimming it was so humid.
- Ice cream
- Cool DIY projects
-Tubing on the river. C was only a fan of the chutes, but Viv loved the water and her arm floaties so much that she preferred to be dragged along in the river while we floated in the tubes.











Monday, July 1, 2013

Valentine's Day


People do Christmas in July, why not a little throwback Valentine's in July for my dear readers?




Friday, June 21, 2013

St. Louis and More

We were so excited to have Grandma H visit! C and I made a list of things to take her to, show her, and play with her while she was here and we crossed everything off. A very successful visit!
Highlight  reel:
-Trip to St. Louis to see the zoo, the Magic House, the temple, swim in our hotel pool, eat good food, and do some shopping.
- Steve and I took advantage of Grandma's babysitting offer and went on a getaway to Boonville (C did not believe that was a real place. Can't really blame him).
- Bat cave!
- Picnic at the sandy beach!
- I "trained" for and completed a 5K on the MKT trail with the support of these wonderful people
- Going Bonkers playtime
- Lots of fun book reading and popcorn eating

 Climbing the beanstalk at the Magic House
 Tunneling at the Magic House
 Inside a bubble!
 Water play
 Mr. Fix- It
 Liberating dogs at the vet's 
 Check-up with Dr. C
 Feeding sting-rays. 
 We rode the Carousel a couple times. Huge hit. 
 Viv was enamored with this huge, ancient creature.
 In the Sea Lion Tunnel!



Bat-cave explorers