Christmas and Updates

1.  Auntie Vanessa and cousin Felicia came to visit.  We drove them around to foggy wooded locations to make art.

Then they took the girls to Christmas Zoolights and gave Mom and Dad the night off.  And then, unfortunately, they had to leave.  

2.  We found Santa at a working dairy farm and waited 3 hours to see him.  Eva refused to speak to him after all that waiting and asked her sisters to tell him that she'd be sending him a letter instead.  But the pic was worth it.  

3.   This happened a lot.

4.  We watched Dad win his Division 1 Soccer Championship!  We were 4 very excited fans!

5.  Our beautiful neighbor Samantha made us Christmas Eve dinner and we all took turns holding her 2 month old baby, Brody.  Then we decorated gingerbread castles!

Look at this!  I have found the best neighbors in the world and you can't have them!! 

6.   Santa Claus came!  And for the last time for a certain Cutie, I'm afraid.  

 

7.   We did some more snuggling. 

8.    Even Mouder the cat got lots of extra lovin'.  

9.  We found someone "on the inside" and got invited to shop at the Nike Company Store (or The Holy Land, as Joe calls it).  

I've rarely seen the Daddy so excited to go shopping!  We all left with new running shoes and workout gear.  

10.   You have to know my husband and kids to find this next one amusing... Joe is an all out jock and his girls take after him.  Ali was assigned 2miles/day over Christmas break for soccer, so I invited her (and tagalong sis) to the gym with me.  

While I do my usual thing, my 7 year old pumps out 2.5 miles on the treadmill and then proceeds to do 1 handed push-ups on the floor while 10 year old sister cranks the treadmill to max speed and whips out 3.5 miles.  They are apparently used to working out with their Dad and have been advised to tone it down and quit making Mom look like a wuss.  

And that's our break in a nutshell!  Tomorrow's plans include a lazy morning of coffee, smoothies, hot chocolate and Planes the movie.  

Happy New Years!!  

Off Call

My first month "off-call" is coming to an end and what an amazing month it was!  I thought about blogging my adventures as they happened, but ended up spending the weeks pretty much "unplugged" from the outside world and focused on my own little world.  No regrets about that!  So I'll recap some of the highlights, in case you're interested.

1. My Mom and Dad in law came from California and spent some time at the first of the month.  I was still waiting on the births of two sweet babes, so it was a little crazy, but Joe's Mom and Dad just jumped right in and made life so much easier.  Until they had to go home.

We rode the air tram through Portland and saw a double rainbow!

2.  My Mom came from Texas and both her little sisters drove down from Washington.  We had ourselves a party.

I crocheted each grandma-auntie a headband to match each grand-niece.  The grandma-aunties shooed Joe and I away for an entire day and we got to do WHATEVER WE WANTED.  Of course when presented with all that freedom, we couldn't think of a thing to do.  So we went downtown and wandered in and out of shops, had brunch and got a tour of Joe's school (I am in love with his school and am praying that the girls get in next year).  Then we ended up at the same vintage 1940s theater we visited a year ago when we flew out to Portland and watched Thor.  We just love that old theater, doesn't matter what's playing.  Then I surprised Joe with a dinner cruise on the Portland Spirit.

We had dinner and a lovely tour of the city at night along the river.  Yeah, he was impressed.

We took Grandma to the coast and explored caves and tide pools, too!

 It was the best weather we've ever experienced at the Oregon coast.  I always take way too many pictures when we go, but I can't help myself.  It's so pretty.

3.  I signed Eva up for a month-long session of swim lessons because I knew I could get her there consistently!

4.  Joe took a trip to Omaha to visit his BFF and go to a Husker football game.  Go Big Red!!  He stayed up all night drinking and playing playstation.  I know because his BFF's wife told on him and sent me incriminating photos!  The daddy needs a break sometimes too and I was very glad he went because I got all the girls to myself for 4 days (no school).  We painted our nails, went shopping, ate pizza, went swimming, did crafts, did more crafts and rented Barbie movies.  It was awesome.

5.  I got EVERYONE in to see the dentist.

6.  I kept the house cleaner than usual and made dinner more often than usual.  It was exhausting.

7.  I made it to every gymnastics practice and every soccer game.

8.  I crocheted hats, flowers, earbands and scarves.  I caught up on several movies I've been wanting to see.

9. I volunteered at the girls' school!

10.  We traveled to Washington and had Thanksgiving with my newly wedded cousin Kristina and helped her put all her expensive wedding gifts to use making dinner.

It was a great break and great family time.  I loved all the time with Joe and the girls.  I'm mentally prepping myself for the craziness that is creeping back into our lives a day at a time as I get back into the groove of "midwifing" but am reminded of what a blessing it is to have work that I love, a beautiful place to live, healthy children, and a supportive spouse.  Very blessed.  And very grateful.  God bless all you blog-readers this holiday season!  

Letter to fellow parent

I have a bone to pick.

Makeup does not belong on a 10 year old girl with the rare exception being made for sleepover play and Halloween costumes.  This is our family standard and belief.  Not wearing mascara, blush and lipgloss in 5th grade does not make our child a "social outcast" as you adamantly and repeatedly insisted within her hearing and the hearing of all her 5th grade friends.  As mature and responsible as our daughters may be, they are 10 year old children.  Tell me, who does my child need to be pretty for?  Who's attention and approval should she be seeking?  If you start down this road at 10 years old, where are you at 16?

It is not that you disagree with my parenting style.  It is that you openly criticize me and single out my daughter with your hurtful words.   Perhaps you felt as though you were advocating for Ali.  Perhaps you felt we were being unfair.  Perhaps you didn't bother to consider our relationship with our daughter or that while she may disagree with our decisions at times, she respects them.  She has noticed that her mom and dad will risk going against the popular decision, we will risk upsetting her, to stand by what we believe. She is secure in the fact that her parents care about her, love her beyond measure and have her best interests at heart at all times.  Perhaps it's none of your business.

I anticipate we will soon be having a conversation about our decision not to allow our child to travel with the soccer team to Phoenix.  While we appreciate the invitation, the only traveling we are interested in with our 5th grade soccer player are those destinations that can be easily reached by car with her family.  Quite simply, my 10 year old daughter goes where her parents go.  My husband and I realize that most of the families on this team will not hesitate.  However, we believe that traveling by air to an out-of-state tournament with chaperones is an appropriate opportunity for a high school athlete, after having earned the travel funds herself.  I hope that when this conversation happens, that it is brief and received without judgement and immature words.  And I pray that if it is not, that I have the strength of heart, clarity of thought and calmness of spirit to kindly tell you to SHUT UP.

-Katie

Field Trip!

 

Joe and I decided not to enroll Eva in preschool this fall. 

It just came down to logistics and we wisely (I think) decided that we could

preschool ole Eva ourselves. 

 

So here's what "homepreschool" looks like...

 

On Mondays and Tuesdays, Eva and I drink coffee and chocolate milk for an extended period of time.  If no babies are imminent, there is a 50% chance we will remain in our PJs watching cartoons, cleaning the house and reading books until 15 minutes before sisters come home from school. 

 On these days, we will have a snack with sisters, and then we all get down to some homework.

Eva loves to complete page after page in her prek numbers and letters workbooks.

 

On Wednesdays and occasionally throughout the week, Eva comes to work with me. 

My tiny apprentice hangs out at the birthcenter and gets to play with the other midwives' kids. 

 And there's your socialization.

 

On Thursdays, Daddy is in charge of the education. 

They usually make a visit to the library followed by some running of errands.

Daddy is great at finding opportunities for learning in everyday life.

 

Going back to Mondays and Tuesdays... 

If no babies are imminent, there is also a 50%  chance 

we will decide to get dressed and take advantage of the beautiful fall weather.

Today was one of those days.

I decided on a field trip to the pumpkin patch.

 

 

Petting zoo. 

We learned that two pigs really do like mud.

 Four kittens have sharp claws.

And three goats don't smell so good.

 



 

We learned that Eva is 3 1/2 feet tall. 

 

We learned that pumpkins are dirty because they grow on a vine in the dirt.

We attempted to count all the pumpkins in the patch, but gave up after 23.

If you enlarge the picture you can just make out Mt. Hood in the background.

 



Hay maze.

Geography?

Deductive reasoning?

 



3 pumpkins X 15lbs each + 1 Eva(40lbs) = too much for mom to push in wheelbarrow.

We also learned that Eva is the most adorable punkin in this particular patch.

 



 

And we rode the train which could have been labeled as "engineering" but became a discussion on vocations when Eva excitedly explained to the teenage girl "engineer" that PopPop and Uncle Matt drive choochoo trains and she wants to drive them too.