Back to School 2009

I know, I'm turning into one of those people by saying this....but, I can't help it.....So, is it just me, or is going back to school a much more serious business than it was when I was a kid? I don't remember having to bring this much stuff. I pretty much only remember being jealous that Jo Vailand had an awesome "Hello Kitty" pencil box and I totally wanted it.

Anywayzzz, this year I did get into the whole Back to School thing and I'm a little proud of myself for being more organized about it than I have in years past. Really, what that means is that we actually got the school supplies turned in early, and that I figured out what shirt Max wore on the first day last year so that I wouldn't put him in the same thing again.

Otherwise I'm short on my own good ideas, and since the good ideas of others are meant to be copied, we decided to have our own Back to School dinner.

Our theme: Be Wise

(But don't worry, the whole thing was pulled off without flower centerpieces, paper crowns, and bejeweled placemats, and we were all still very happy with it.)

First, Adam "flew" everyone to "Wise Land." (They looooved this!). There were even in-flight nuts and drinks, and I believe that they hit a patch or two of turbulence along the way where Max demonstrated that he had not stayed properly buckled in his seat.



Once in Wise Land, we had a dinner of garden green beans, bruchetta with our own tomatoes and basil, ravioli with a fresh tomato sauce, and Italian soda. Max made the place cards.

After dinner we played a game about being 'school wise' that was very conveniently found in this month's Friend. When it was Isabel's turn to take one of the cards and read the what-would-you-do-scenario, she insisted on reading it herself and very seriously said, "When I go to 'chool' I do poopies and pee-pees in the potty." (For the record, she still isn't, but apparently I'm talking about it an awful lot, and at least that's sinking in.) She also asked that when she goes to school will be be in Delaware or Africa?

After the game, they each recieved a back to school blessing from Adam and a new watch.
I think that even I'm ready to stop dragging my feet about summer ending.

Week in Review

Stuff from this week (because I feel like remembering it, even if no one else feels like reading it...)

The New Work Ethic

This week my kids figured out how to successfully avoid doing any household chores: cooperative play.

Yes, all it took was them spontaneously playing soooo nicely with each other (and for more than two minutes), that I found myself willing to pick up all the toys, put away all their laundry, and wipe down all the counters just to keep the good times rolling. Now I just can't figure out which should I be more shocked about.

Peachy

My elderly neighbor (not the ones moving this summer, but on our other side) has a peach tree, but she's so elderly that she doesn't pick the peaches anymore. The first summer we lived here she told me that I could pick up the "drops" worth salvaging off of the ground to use. So I did, because peaches are peaches after all, even if I have to cut out a few bruises to use them. And then I kept the ground free of all the rotten drops for her with the hopes that she'd give me license to pick just a few unbruised ones off of the branches the next year. But instead she told me that she was considering having the tree cut down just to rid herself of the hassle. Well, that got me in a tizzy, because in case you don't know me well enough, it's a crime to let good food go to waste.

I have to admit that I became a little obsessed about the tree. There were a solid few months when every time I heard a work truck on the street I immediately checked out the window to see if it was a tree truck tree. I started plotting how I could get on her good side in order to keep the tree alive. All year I waged a campaign of delivered baked goods, back yard visits, cards at holidays, waves when passing in the car, etc... And every so often I was sure to have a conversation something like this, "Oh, your azaleas are just fantastic this spring. I sure enjoyed those peaches last summer. How's that new hip holding up? Did you know that those peaches make delicious jam? "

Well, here we are, four years later and the tree survives--so far. Whether or not she recognized my very covert yet persuasive campaign, she's now given me full reign of the tree. So this year I picked, peeled, pitted enough peaches for a few pies, several breakfasts of sliced peaches swimming in heavy cream, and nine batches of jam. Don't even ask how much sugar that uses. Really I should say that I made sugar jam flavored with peaches. I've learned my lesson after the one year I made peach jam sans sugar using fruit juice instead. Think peach applesauce, except not as good as that sounds. And no one would eat it (including me).

Utils

The guy driving the ice cream truck hit pay dirt: the community pool. He's now swinging by the pool every afternoon. The first time I heard him I guffawed to myself thinking that he'd be sorry at his own expectations and ultimate stupidity since the pool already sells little frozen treats for just a fraction of the price (duh!). But no, apparently the duh is on me since the kids went streaming out of the pool and into the parking lot with their dollars in hand. No matter, I thought. I just chalked it up to the idea that the first time's a novelty, but that the next time he came around no one would bite. Apparently I don't understand economics these days because day after day the truck rolled in, and day after day the kids grabbed the fistful of cash that it takes to buy one stinkin' cone and went running out to meet him. And who's begging to be in line with them, but Olivia. Every day she's asking, and every day I'm saying NO. And then we're home and I'm making dinner and trying to keep people from sneaking Fritos and chocolate chips out of the pantry because they're sooo starving even though we're almost about to eat, and Olivia starts crying and crying about how she really wants an ice cream bar from the ice cream truck. And because I'm a kind and sympathetic parent who is interested in helping her navigate the world's pitfalls, I tell her that I'm. not. buying. any. ice cream. bars. from. the. truck! And does she want to know why? So I swing open the freezer and pull out the half-gallon of rocky road we currently are stocking (except that it's actually not even a half-gallon anymore, like all ice cream companies thought that we wouldn't notice that they're short shrifting us on that one--ha!) and explain that for $3 she can buy one stupid ice cream bar, or for the same $3 she can buy a whole carton! Now, don't you want a whole carton? And what did she answer? She looked away from me and angrily mumbled, "I still want the ice cream bar."

Well, I had nothing to say to her after that because I guess that I can understand how sometimes you really want something, even if the price is just utterly ridiculous. And then I'll try and remember how many plastic bead bracelets I can buy at Target for that fabulous jewelery I keep daydreaming about every time I get a Sundance catalog in the mail. We all have our foibles.

Dinner and After Dinner

Tonight we had the missionaries and another couple over for dinner. None of them had ever been to our house before, and over the course of the evening, I tell a story--one of my old standards--that Adam has heard me tell at least a dozen times before. Come to dinner and you too can hear it! But he smiles and listens and even laughs at the appropriate times (because I am a good story-teller, after all!), and from his reaction, our guests probably don't know just how worn out this particular story is. Later in the evening, Adam tells one of his own anecdotes, one that I've heard at least as many times as he's heard mine, and I can't help but smile. Not because we recycle our stories, but because after 11 years of marriage I'm still enjoying his old stories and his telling them. That's just how it is, and I'm pretty darn happy about that.

But after dinner when Adam loads the dishwasher, even after 11 years, I still have to re-load it. One of us is of the Martha Stewart philosophy where no-dish-should-touch-another-while-being-washed....and some of us are not. For the record, I fit in seven additional dessert plates, one more bottle, and two more cups.

FOUND

Celebrate. My lost Oreos have been found. Adam found them, but my favorite part was how for a few days following he still wouldn't tell me where they were, but instead taunted me by bringing out a few cookies here and there when I was extra snacky. And, if you're wondering, after 3 months, they turned out to be a bit soft.

5 months

I feel like one day he looked like a little tiny baby and then the next time I got him up from a nap he'd puffed up into a cute little man. Now I'm just looking for the perfect chocolate sauce to drizzle over his toes since it's really hard keeping myself from just eating him up.

p.s. He can blow raspberry kisses too.

Tri, again.

We had such a good time at the triathalon that Max did last summer that we decided to do it again. And he had so much fun, that at the end he was certain that he'd gotten 3rd place this year. Well, buddy, not quite.....but who's really counting anyway. Actually, he did the whole race in 22 minutes, which I am pretty certain is faster than I could do it myself. I mean, I'm pretty certain that's about how long it would take me to get chest deep in a brackish pond at 7am, never mind swimming the whole 100 yards.

He had a few friends doing it with him this year.

Here's he is coming off the swim.

At the transition area getting ready for the bike.

Starting the 2.5 mile bike ride.

Finishing the bike section.

Finishing the .4mile run.

The successful and happy racers (except the little guy in red).

After the race they did another fun run for anyone interested. Olivia was ready and excited for this one. Adam ran with her again this year.

Wahoo!

Vacation, Part I: Chris and Erin's Wedding

I'm trying to force myself to catch up on all the super-duper fabulous stuff that we did for the entire month of July while we were on vacation (wahoo!). What it really means is that the next few posts (if I can actually get them pushed out, because I do want to actually remember what we did) will most likely be out of chronological order and probably just a lot of photos and travel log stuff.

Anywayzzz, we went on vacation initially centered around Adam's brother's wedding in Santa Barbara. So I might as well start there.

Uncle Chris got married! He married Erin, a talented, funny, fabulously-nice-to-my-kids, gorgeous, and all around cool woman. I have no doubt that she'll bring the whole family up a notch or two. Their wedding was (how do I say?), just about the most amazing event I've ever seen. In my world of not even considering paying more than $5 for sunglasses or $25 for jeans, and not thinking that it is even possible to walk into a clothing store without immediately seeking out the clearance rack, this was like visiting another planet. Wow, I was way out of my league--but for at least one day, I sure enjoyed being there.

The top photo is not mine, but from their photographer's website, along with other photos that prove the whole day to be a magazine-worthy affair. Really.

Adam was in the wedding party, which meant that, unlike our own wedding, he actually had to wear a tuxedo. And I thought that he was looking so sharp that I almost regretted not putting him in a tux for ours originally...or at least it's making me seriously think that it's time to at least get him a new suit. (Just a friendly warning, my dear.)

Olivia and Isabel were flower girls for the event. Which meant that I spent the whole event trying to get Isabel to keep her dress down, and Olivia spent the whole event pretty much thinking of herself as a Second-only-to-the-Bride Belle of the Ball. She danced around the event like a fairytale princess and was doted on by not only Erin but by all of her bridesmaids. Saying she was in heaven is an understatement. In between the courses at dinner, when Chris and Erin would walk around and socialize, Olivia would also get up to walk around, either following them, posing for a camera, finding a bridesmaid to act shy in front of while they told her how cute she is, or just twirl around in the aisles.

I know that it is probably in bad taste to post a picture of Max in mid-bite, but I had to put this one in just to remember how this trip Max insisted on graduating from the "kids menu". Erin had thoughtfully arranged for a separate dinner menu for them. But when Max saw all of the adults getting a large, buttery, herbed shrimp for an appetizer (and he just looooves shrimp), he wanted a menu swap. Max also pulled another new one on us: falling asleep mid-event. This is a boy who won't fall asleep in a car unless we've been driving a good 5 or so hours already, who never falls asleep on the sofa in front of a movie, and who will read until very late hours without falling asleep when I forget to come back in his room and insist that he turn off the light. But I guess that he was thoroughly worn out because after dinner he just laid down behind one of the sofas in the ballroom, while the dancing and partying was in full-swing, and fell asleep. I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't seen it.

His falling asleep all worked in my favor, however, as it just added evidence to the growing mystique of how can I possibly do it all with four kids! Since ours were the only kids at the event, and since, after all, this is L.A. and they haven't seen couples with more than 2.1 children since catching part of the Sound of Music last time it was on TV. So My goodness, four children! was the favorite topic of conversation. Well, it's easy; see, they put themselves to sleep.

And this little guy totally helped. He had his part down pat: arrive at the event, show off a little by smiling and cooing at the people, eat some dinner, then fall asleep in stroller for the rest of the evening, and let Mom and Dad take all the credit from those marveling at what a good baby he is. He was a dream.

No, I'm being too snarky here. Actually, we felt like we got to know many of Chris and Erin's friends because of our kids. Lots of them had kids at home and so they wanted to talk about their own 4mo. old or their 2 1/2 yr old, and it was a really fun way to meet people. People were actually really, really nice about the kids. And, thankfully, I had just enough bribes in place that the kids came through with their best behavior.

Mostly I came away feeling like I had learned a lot more about Chris and Erin both as a couple and as individuals. Many people shared stories about them and their personalities and I had a lot of fun learning what I did. I am really happy for them and their future together.

And this photo is for my mom, just because I know that she'll want to see what I looked like too.

(And because, yes, I'm still stressing that I spaced on getting a family picture with all of us together. Aarrgh.)