Another perfect party down

Alex's PERFECT party started with a perfectly rowdy game of FREEZE TAG HOT LAVA. Katie was in charge of the game which worked out perfectly for me.

Next Jordan led Team Lego Construction. This game was perfectly quiet. Yahoo!

Next we ate a perfectly lame cake. The kids thought the cupcake cake could be 1 flower in a pot, a balloon, a guitar--no, it was a light saber. I know pretty bad, huh. The nice thing is Alex loved it.

After cake and ice cream we had presents. It was perfectly noisy.

The most perfect part of the party was when the last one left at the very minute the party was supposed to be over. It was perfectly WONDERFUL.

a GOOD MOM day

As we walked home from taking dinner to a neighbor's house last night we saw our neighbor taking out the garbage.

Neighbor: "looks like you guys have had a lot of fun today."

Me: "every once in a while we have a really good day."

Neighbor: "I love my children (all grown and gone) but I miss my kids."

Me: "You know where to find mine if you need them."

The thing is it was a GREAT day. Why?

• I road scooters with the kids at two different times of the day.
• We read stories.
• I took a nap with Grant. Well I only slept for 10 minutes and he slept for an hour.
• I quilted while Grant and Alex had a bean bag toss that I initiated.
• I made dinner.
• I didn't yell at all even when Grant was hysterical about not wanting his hair washed. I draw the line at 3 weeks. You can go for 3 but no more without a hair washing.
• I talked nicely and tried t help the kids--sometimes its just too overwhelming to help.
• I sang and talked to the kids at bedtime about what they liked about the day.
• transmission is being rebuilt in my car so I've been without one for a few days.

Why not have this day every day?

• I need to take care of our failing MA house--so much to do.
• I drive myself too hard to get stuff done.
• I forget what makes me happy--being a good mom.
• lots of errands to run
• doing all my projects and still feeling like I haven't had any time to myself.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Its been a pretty great birthday week for Alex. To celebrate we ruined the transmission in the car so Alex would get to stay home from school all week (no bus for afternoon kindergarten). We're just hoping his friends show up for the party Friday despite the fact that Alex has been missing for a week.

Birthday menu:

Breakfast: flat eggs (fried) and sausage

Lunch: pears, fresh spinach and hot dogs

Dinner: Lasagna

Treat: Pumpkin Pie and Cake (I put my foot down on the cake--it will have to wait for tomorrow's party).

To celebrate we looked through the 2003 scrapbook, the year Alex was born. Grant was so funny. He kept saying excitedly, "Alex dats(that's) you. You coot (cute) Alex."


Jordan and Katie prepared gifts without any reminders. The top picture is Alex after opening Jordan's presents, all toys that used to be Jordan's. How nice to sacrifice some of his good stuff. Katie gave him this, which she painted a few weeks ago--way to look ahead.

HAPPY 6TH BIRTHDAY ALEX!

"More Dim Dee Pease"

Carl has been a great influence on the kids where food is concerned. Because he makes Korean food at least a few times a year my kids love seaweed. Every single one of them. In fact, sometimes they take it in their school lunch. Grant will gobble it down like cookie monster. Though I can't stomach it I'm really glad my kids eat it, especially Grant who is generally very selective. When Carl makes a Korean dinner there is always Kim Chi--fermented cabbage with red pepper. Every time he brings it out (it always lasts a few weeks) to put it on his burrito, enchilada, salad etc. the kids say things like, "oh sick . . . don't put it there dad, its too close to my face . . . that stinks." Recently though, Jordan has tasted the stuff and loves it. Grant asked to try it last week (weird since it doesn't resemble chicken nuggets, ice cream or pizza) and he LOVED it. "More Dim Dee Mom," he kept asking in between gulps of water (the stuff is full of red pepper and pretty spicy).

more on the house

Downstairs bathroom

yay! it has a shower that works


Katie's bedroom--she's was totally willing to take the smallest bedroom on the condition that she didn't have to share.


We put the closet organizers in every closet. It makes me so happy to open them. One of my favorite things about the house is the doors--I love them.

the big move

Christmas isn't the ideal time to move. Moving in a storm isn't ideal either. Moving to a house that's not quite finished isn't probably a good idea. Moving, then having Christmas, then going out of town 2 days later isn't the best idea either. Getting home from vacation and preparing for a new school less than 48 hours later can get a little hectic. Aren't our lives EXCITING! It turns out driving 12 hours to get to my brother's wedding was a little stressful. Do you know that parts of this country got 57 inches of snow in 12 days? We happen to drive right to that area. Stores were being shut down for collapsed roofs--pretty crazy. The miracle is we did it all and are still alive. There was only one small accident when my dad backed his tractor into our car while clearing the driveway (tractors are needed for very long driveways in the country). I suppose its not very funny, but it makes me laugh thinking about it.

Anyway, as of last night we have closet shelves installed in 2 out of 6 closets. The others have no rods and no shelves which is continuing to make the house messy. Oh well, come what may and love it right? We hope that the dryer outlet will get swapped out for a new one today so that we can finally do laundry.

Isn't it so beautiful. Its definitely my favorite room. Its so nice to be able to fit our table in its own spot. The skylight gives some great light too. You'd be surprised how much I had to clean just to get this picture. Other pictures may be weeks away.

Getting Yelled At

Yesterday my kids missed the bus. Since it was only their second day at a new school I happily drove to the school to pick them up. As I approached a bus that was stopped, the bus driver (who happened to be our bus driver) waved me down to stop. Seeing that the kids were safely off the bus I rolled down my window and stopped to talk with him. I thought he had some information on why my kids missed the bus. Anyway, as I got closer he yelled stop, stop STOP. By this point his face was really red and he was obviously mad. What I thought was him wanting to talk to me was really a motion to stop until he had shut the bus door. Yeah, I know, pretty dumb of me not to have thought of that. I was a little distracted about the kids missing the bus and wondered if they would be safe standing outside the school waiting for me. Anyway, even after I profusely apologized he was still obviously mad. He impatiently waved me to move along. As I drove on I felt that terrible "being yelled at" feeling. You know the one, someone hates you (or at least it seems that way) when you didn't intentionally make a mistake. You even apologized for your mistake and they are still holding it against you. It made me think about my own yelling I sometimes do at home. I thought the kids probably feel the same way, like they're hated. I think speaking kindly to them even while dealing out consequences will help them feel happier and better about themselves in the long run. Sometimes when I yell at Grant (seems the thing to do when he's wielding a sharp knife) he just lays down and cries. He obviously doesn't understand and doesn't really deserve to be yelled at. So I'm determined not to yell anymore.