Nico rocks!

Nico is getting so big, sitting in chairs unassisted. Last night, we were getting the children ready for bed, and he sat down in one of the little rocking chairs (gifted by their grandma).  I'm still so in awe whenever he does something new.  I called out to RWF, "Do you have your phone?!!" I wanted this recorded.  We shot a quick video, and I grilled Nico on what sounds different animals make while he rocked. But, because it was (dangerously) close to bedtime, Bode and Gianna were screechy and whiney in the background. It's kind of hard to hear Nico. I might post it anyway.  But for now, here are some pics of the big boy rockin' in the rocking chair.

Nico is now officially 21 months! I need to write a 20/21 months post for Nico! He has made a bunch of leaps over the past month, most notably talking up a storm and being opinionated!

Our summer mornings are spent at the swimming pool for Bode and Gianna's lessons. They are doing so great at swimming.  It makes me excited to think that they just might get the whole swim thing down before summer's end. But I may be getting ahead of myself.  

After swim lessons, we usually run an errand, stop at Starbuck's, and then we are home for naps.  I can never motivate myself to take them anywhere in the afternoons!  I really need to get it together. This summer has been pretty lame so far.

Happy Wednesday.

xo

A fun party

We had a wonderful birthday party and I think Gianna was very pleased to be reunited with all of her school friends.  I think all of the school friends were happy to be together again!

Look closely and you see a small smile!

We had the party at a local children's gym, and the two teachers who put it together did a great job keeping everyone moving and entertained.  They played music, jumped around and even played hide and seek.  Hide-and-seek was hilarious because all of the children hid in the same place, together. Seeing them all smush together, and then break apart trying to make room as they all moved under a mat to be "hidden" was hilarious. Not to mention hearing them (loudly) whisper, "Move over!" or "I need to get in!" etc. while hiding.

The cake (the "caaaake" a la Franck/Father of the Bride) was a complete disaster.  It is comical now, but when I picked it up, I almost fainted.  First of all, it is all my fault.  Last week, I was debating over and over (as I tend to do) about whether to go to the (real) bakery where I got RWF's birthday cake, or if I should just order simple cupcakes from the grocery store bakery.  I texted RWF for his "final answer" as I pulled into the grocery store parking lot. Getting no answer from him (and no doubt, on purpose for his part, because he got tired of my obsessing over the birthday party details), I went in and ordered birthday cupcakes at the store bakery.  When I approached the bakery person, she got - honestly - this deer in the headlights look on her face and asked me if my order would be simple, or if I wanted something from the cake order book (featuring Disney characters and "fancier" stuff). I told her that I just wanted simple, pink cupcakes, put together to resemble a whole cake (but that could be pulled apart for serving).  She asked me what color pink, and I produced a napkin from Gianna's birthday theme.  It was a pale pink, and I asked that the darker pink be used in the frosting to spell out "Happy Birthday Gianna."  She nodded, wrote everything down, confirmed the spelling of the name, and I walked off....with a feeling of, "Oh, I should have gone to the bakery."  But instead of turning right around and canceling the order, I just let it go.

On Sunday, I went to pick up the cake at the appointed time. Another lady was behind the counter and that was my first, "uh oh" moment because she didn't know about a cake order but then said, "Oh, here it is."  She came out with a NEON PINK cake, with light pink icing. But that color wasn't the problem. The problem was the cake looked terrible. Awful. Horrible.  I could not believe it. I kept looking at it, like, I don't know what...maybe there was something wrong with my eyes and I would start seeing the beautiful simple cake it really was...only it didn't change into a beautiful simple cake.  I saw more flaws...her name was spelled correctly (thank God) but the writing was not centered and it was too high, the (neon) pink frosting dribbling over the sides, frosting spread too thin on some of the cupcakes, blue frosting on the bottom of the cakes...huh?  I walked off and finished my last-minute shopping. I still had to buy baby carrots, celery and other snack foods for the party. I walked around the store with the cake glaring up at me in all of its gloopy, neon horribleness. Every time I walked back to the cart, I peered at the cake to see if it had changed into something pretty. No such luck.  I lined up to pay, thinking, "Why am I paying for this?" I wheeled my cart around to the front of the store to "Customer Service," except there was nobody there. The store was packed with Sunday afternoon shoppers trying to check out with a week's worth of groceries. None of the checkers or baggers would meet my eye, so I couldn't get anyone's attention.  Finally, I lined up again to check out.  Then I saw a lady wearing a sweater and button down shirt, checking in the next aisle over and thought, "She must be a manager."  "Excuse me..." I said very loudly.  She finished checking and walked over. "I'm not happy with this cake," I said.  She glanced down at it and said, "I agree," and to the checker she ordered, "Give her 10 percent off."  "Excuse me, do you see what I see? Look at this..." I gestured at the frosting. "And look, look at this blue frosting on the bottom..." She frowned as she examined the cake. "Wait," she said, and her eyes bugged out,  "Is this a custom order?"  She rolled her eyes and said, "Give her 20 percent off."  Turning her attention to me, she said that their bakery department was short-staffed and they were having trouble finding cake decorators.  We both lamented about the sad cake. I said, "I could have done a better job myself." But I paid for the cake and walked off.   As I drove home, I kept thinking about the stupid, ugly cake.  I thought about stopping at another grocery store and buying another cake. I thought about hiding the flaws under flowers maybe? Or maybe rose petals?  Ridiculous. At home, I showed RWF and his face confirmed what I was thinking. Suddenly, I was furious: WHY DID I PAY FOR THAT CAKE?  

It's all so silly now.  And it really didn't matter because they are children and they don't care what the cake looked like...but for me, it was the principle.  And also, I didn't fight the store because (a) damage done (and we needed a cake), and (b) I learned a lesson: never going to a grocery store bakery again.  There are no pictures of Gianna's party cake because it was just...awful. Seriously awful.

When it came time to sing Happy Birthday, Gianna kept blowing out the candles before Shayla (teacher) even set the cake down! As soon as Shayla leaned down to set her cake down, Gianna would start blowing.  We had to start over 3 (!!!) times. I guess Gianna just knew that she was supposed to blow out the candles and by golly, she was going to do it immediately. Finally, we convinced her to wait until after we sang "Happy Birthday." It was pretty funny. 

But the real fun was the party itself.  I had a lot of fun watching the children running around, squealing and laughing.  I was 'stuck' sitting down because Nico was gassy and unhappy (which is unfortunate). The blessing in having a gassy baby is that at least I had to sit, hold the baby and just watch the party...instead of running around trying to snap photos and worrying about that damn cake. 

Making funny faces

Everyone had fun.  Gianna had a great day and as we were driving away, she said, "Mommy, that was a fun party."    Yes, I agree: that was a fun party.

xo

Gianna's birthday party

Gianna had a Fabulous (capital F) birthday party with all of her school friends.  You can't tell from the pictures though.  The birthday girl refused to smile for me.  But it might have been that she was just too busy having fun to stop for photos.

We were almost late for our own party. Well, that's what I thought, anyway. But in reality, we got there 15 minutes ahead of the party start, which is exactly what we had planned.  Sure, we had to hustle, and maybe Nico isn't wearing socks, but we're all there, and I guess that's what matters!

Pre-party and stressing about the caaaaake and who all is coming. Because I'm not Martha and parties stress me out, even when they are being handled by someone else.  And I'm all, "I've got a gassy baby on my hip, who is going to take pictures? WHOOOOO?" and the girl behind the counter was all, "Hi, I can operate a camera." So I smushed everyone together for a pre-party family photo. And Gianna didn't smile in that one, either.

Tonight we are happy and tired. I'll report more tomorrow...like how horrible the cake turned out (the caaaaake a la Franck Eggelhoffer/Father of the Bride), but also why the cake really didn't matter because of how much fun was had by all.
xo

PSA: the Brothers McGee FOUND

This is a PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT

When we last saw them, the Brothers McGee were located in the East, and looked like this:

Scary, mean, and fierce!

Through extensive investigation, they have been located again. Apparently, they are now on the loose in the Northwest. 

Be on the look-out for these two brothers, known as "Eyelashes," (or "lashes") and "Cheeksy." 

Though the smaller of the two, "Eyelashes" may in fact be the mastermind of the dangerous duo. He often uses the code word, "Bobo!" when getting his brother's attention. He may also be heard shouting, "Day! Day!" though we are not sure what this means. Investigators think that "Day!" means, "I want that!" but this is still inconclusive.

Eyelashes spotted in front of his hideout

"Cheeksy," seen here (below) with his back to the camera, may be working odd jobs in the neighborhood. DO NOT be fooled by his big, cheeksy grin and no matter how politely he asks, do not give him money, ice cream or toys.  He is, no doubt, plotting something serious. He can often be heard making blasting noises and talking excitedly about space or fast cars. We are not sure what these code words mean, yet.

Cheeksy in a neighborhood, with an unidentified source (may be his sister, "G")

If you do happen to spot these two brothers running around, please report them to their mother immediately! For more information, please go here.

END OF PSA.

xo

Summer so far

Our first week off of school went well.  We kept busy, and rested in the afternoons for those needing naps (Nico and Gianna).

Monday, we went to the Children's Museum.  It is excellent.  At first, when we walked in and I saw some exhibits that looked very, very similar to the children's museum in Palo Alto, CA, I thought, "Oh, boo..." because the museum in Palo Alto is, in my opinion, small and uninspired for the older set. But this museum is great. It is very large, with tons to see and do.  And, even better, it's for all ages. They just opened an outdoor play space.  When I read about it a few months ago, I thought, "An outdoor play space in Portland? Is that really necessary?" because Portland has a ton of green space and parks. But this outdoor exhibit is wonderful!  Bode and Gianna (and other kids) all scrambled around the grassy areas, climbed in a big tree, "hid" in other shelters made out of sticks and grapevine-like material, etc. The best part was the creek that flowed downhill.  The children stood in the dry creek , while other kids turned the water on and off, and kids can also operate a dam in the middle. The water flows downhill, so there's no alarm (for alarmist parents like me) of your kids falling into deep water.  Of course everyone got soaking wet, even though they were wearing rain clothes and boots (because, surprise! it was raining that day). I bought a membership when we walked in, not knowing what to expect, but reasoning that the cost would pay for itself if I just dragged the family there 4 times this year.  Buying the membership to the museum sight-unseen was a good gamble: I fully expect to take the children at least 4 times this summer, and I'm sure that they'd love to go at least 1xmonth all year!

Monday night, I smashed my iPhone by accident. My iPhone case had cracked a few months ago, and I had never replaced it. So when I dropped my iPhone Monday evening, the glass completely shattered. So! I knew what my plans were on Tuesday! Early Tuesday morning was spent at the mall, in the Apple store.  The children were so good while waiting for me to get my new phone! I couldn't believe how patient (quiet and still) they were while waiting. I took them to Barnes & Noble afterwards for a treat in the cafe. After we refueled, we went to the children's section and perused their toys and books.  Wednesday we ran errands. Thursday, Bode and Gianna started gymnastics again.  They both go once a week at the same place, so that is good.  The gym is much more crowded during the summer though!  I was disappointed to see such a crush of children and parents at the start and end of the classes.  I even "lost" Gianna at one point.  I completely panicked, grabbing Gianna's teacher and telling her that Gianna was missing.  They shut down the exit, deposited Bode with the front office manager in her office while we searched the gym for Gianna. The little stinker was playing in a (pretend) school bus upstairs! She had decided that she wasn't ready to leave and wanted to play with the toys (they have a waiting area upstairs for children/parents with toys and magazines). Her teacher found her.  I'm going to be much more diligent around the gym going forward!  That afternoon, I turned on the hose and had them wash our patio chairs.  They had so much fun!!!  I really scrubbed the chairs while they had the fun job of spraying the chairs and dumping the water out of the tubs.  I forgot the "magic" of the water hose...such easy entertainment! I'll have to use that trick several times this summer, I think. 

Today, Bode and Gianna got their bangs trim.  I've tried for a few weeks to get Bode's hair cut.  But he insists that he wants to grow it out.  RWF thinks we should just get it cut, no questions asked.  I'm inclined to let him do what he wants with his hair right now.  I kind of like it on the long side, though I would like to get it styled/trimmed up.  This morning, I asked him if we could just get a small trim and Bode said No.  When he got in the chair, he turned to the stylist and said, "Just trim my bangs above the eye brows, please," just like I request of Gianna's bangs. He was very grown up about it. It was pretty cute.

Both my baby sitters quit at the start of June to pursue full-time summer jobs.  So I don't get a break to run errands like I used to, and now, I have to run errands with all 3 children in tow.  A lot of the time, I dread this errand-running.  I think of taking the children in and out of the carseats, and in and out of the stores, walking through busy parking lots, and the logistics of shopping carts (who rides where, if at all), etc. and I get completely stressed out.  But I have to say that this week, the children were so unbelievably good while running errands!  It might be a nice change of pace for them this week.  I don't want to drag them around too much though.  And I try to do at least one fun thing either in the morning or the afternoon.  That way, if we spend time doing errands, they have some fun time for themselves, too. 

Next week, we start DAILY swimming lessons. I'm sure the novelty will wear off quickly and I'll be dragging them by their spandex to the pool. 

Happy almost-official Summer, friends!

xo

The Graduates

The morning of graduation

Bode and Gianna's graduation went very well and  was a pretty "dignified" ceremony for such little people (well, almost...).  The ceremony was filled with a lot of spirit and love as well.

The two classes walked to the bridge, Bode's older class taking a longer route, while the younger children in Gianna's class got the shorter, more simple route so that they met up on opposite sides of the bridge. The parents met early and walked over to stand on a hill at the side of the bridge, awaiting the graduates. The two classes met up at just the same time, a feat that the teachers smiled about,  calling over to each other, "Can you believe we met up at the same time?!" and "So unlike last year!"  

The "ceremony" began with Gianna's class singing a song called "We are All the Leaves of One Tree."  Hearing their sweet, baby voices singing the words and using their tiny hands to mime leaves, ocean waves, and stars was almost too much for me to handle.  It was then that I started to cry (silently).  But I held it together, lips clamped together in a smile as I watched the little friends all singing together.

Then the procession began, with the preschool children who were leaving the school walking across first.  Next, Gianna's friends who graduated to Kindergarten.  And last, Gianna (and friends) were supposed to walk across....except...the first boy got scared, ran over to his mother and hid his face in her legs the whole time.  This set the tone for the next graduate, Gianna's friend Kate, who cried out, "Mama!" and then started bawling.  Kate's mother ran over to her and held her. I knew Gianna was next, and I was just willing her to be the strong, fearless girl-child she is and to show her friends how to do it. When Gianna's turn came,  Gianna looked at her teacher, and then turned around and scanned the crowd for me. Finding me, she ran over to me and refused to cross the bridge!  I whispered, "Go on, Gianna, Mr. Trent and Bode are on the other side waiting for you."  But it was too much after her other friends had cried, and she refused to move. ("And they all fall down," I thought.)  Her teacher smiled, turned her attention back to the bridge, and nodded to the Kindergarten teacher, Traci, to start her ceremony.  

So next, the Kindergartners went: those who were leaving the school for new adventures and then those who were graduating (but staying).  When his name was announced, Bode practically skipped over the bridge, a happy smile across his face.

Only I wasn't there to give him a hug. :(   At the start of the Kindergarten ceremony, I had slipped on the muddy embankment, and had fallen -"Boom!" as Nico says - right on my behind.  Two fathers helped me up, each taking one of my arms and lifting me, standing, back to my feet. I was wearing Nico in a backpack and even though we were fine, Nico was startled and was crying loudly.  So I had walked away from the parent group so that everyone could enjoy the ceremony.  I was watching from a distance, but I still feel bad that I wasn't "right there" for Bode when he crossed.  Luckily, I had quieted Nico enough that I could run over to Bode and give him a hug soon after he had crossed over!  

(It is so hard to be a single parent! I feel for single parents everywhere. I feel so bad, always having to divide my time amongst three needy loves! Luckily, Bode is pretty forgiving. Gianna takes it more personally, or at least, lets me know that she *knows* when I am absent, or less than present.)

After the ceremony, we all walked back together to the school for a picnic lunch.  Of course, all the children ran around and played with each other while the parents exchanged memories, tears, and "Can you believe it's over?" laments.

Gianna dances on stage, Nico contemplates someone else's froggy boot, and the boys play Legos.

We stayed too long. In fact, we were the last ones to leave!  Gianna was over-tired and refused to budge.  Unfortunately (or fortunately), Miss Kelly, her teacher, still had to "work" after graduation, because it was up to Miss Kelly to encourage Gianna to go home. ;)  I already had my hands full with Nico, Bode, last-minute school stuff, and picnic supplies. So it was Miss Kelly who asked Gianna to be a big strong helper (to me) and walk by herself up to the car!

Nico wants to hula like everyone else, but he is too tiny.

And now we are on summer break.  And while I am so happy to put away the lunch boxes and backpacks, I'm wondering what to do with these two school children!

xo

23/52

A portrait of my children once a week, every week, in 2014.* Linking up with Jodi and her 52 project.** 

Bode - enjoying a princess moment (I love this photo because he's OK with being a princess!)

Gianna - the princess phase

Nico - will miss "school" as much as his brother and sister

*Okay, I am officially lame!!!  I think this is the 3rd, or maybe even the 4th, week that I've used photos snapped off of my iPhone for this series.  I just haven't been taking any pictures.  I need to make this a priority again and give this project the attention that I know that I will want to see at the end of the year.

**But not really linking up because again - LAME! I am so late to the game.  I need to step it up.