vacation vs home

Isn't it funny? The strange feeling of vacation vs home. We just got back from a week's vacation - a day/night in Vancouver and then a few days in Whistler. On paper it sounded great, and even while we were there, it sounded just as good.
Then the sickies hit.
Roxie didn't just get sick - she really got sick. She had pink eye in BOTH eyes AND hand, foot & mouth (no - not mad cow - read about it)! So the beginning of the week was a bit tough.
Milo, in the meantime, was in three days of ski school. The first day he came out absolutely beaming. He was so excited to do it and had SUCH fun. I also think he was pretty proud of himself for doing it and that was pretty cool to see. By the third day, however, he was getting a bit sick and rundown since it was his 5th nap-free day in a row and he was staying up late because he and his friend were sharing a room and having fun doing it. By Thursday morning Milo had a fever and was looking baaaad.
We decided we'd had enough.
Vacation was hard hard work and we were heading home early.
But vacation is, after all, vacation, so we didn't go home too early. We left on Friday morning instead of Saturday morning, but somehow that extra day made all the difference in the world for us. We were all THRILLED to be going home.
Once home (after a very tough ride with M throwing up twice and R getting VERY restless by the end of the 7hours) we pretty much did a little jig! Everyone was happy and yelling and dancing and that even lasted through Saturday and into Sunday. It didn't hurt that it was a beautiful day on Saturday and we all went and played in the front yard and even did a little gardening together.
My point, and yes it's long in coming, is that it's such a strange thing to SO look forward to vacation, enjoy it for a couple days, and then start longing for home.
Maybe it's not so strange.
I guess if you have a happy home life and enjoy being there, it's only normal to want to be back, even when you're enjoying where you are.
It's also probably not so strange to wish to be back on vacation a few days after coming home - cuz life's just better when you're on vacation.
Maybe next time we'll just rent some sand and heat lamps and vacation in the guest bedroom.
until next time....
enjoy

SM Returns just in time for his valentines

 SM got home from Barcelona yesterday (after being gone since Saturday... NOW you know why I haven't been posting!) just in time to celebrate Valentine's Day with the kids. They had a great day at school, they both had parties and got some face paint. But the best part was that Daddy was waiting for them at home when we got there.
phew
 
We even got to have pizza for dinner and chocolate chip cookies for dessert.
 And I even almost got a good night's sleep. almost....

what to write about? plenty!

How is it that we have so much to do and so much going on but I still don't have anything to write? I think it's just that we're plodding along too busy to really be able to make a note of the "fun" we might actually be having.
We actually had a great weekend. Friday night was "chill" night and had the fam hangin' in the basement watching a little Ninja Warrior*.
*beware, this show is totally addictive for all ages!
Saturday we went to the grand opening of a great new kids' shop near U-Village called "Le Petit Shoppe". We scored a super-cute rocking chair for the diva and a gently-used stokke high-chair that we've been searching for. Plus the kids got babycakes just for coming with us. Then we went and got books and lunch and headed home for a little family naptime before friends came over. Saturday night we had 4, YES FOUR, sleeping children while the adults drank and played poker in the basement. Best fun in quite a loooong time - plus we were all stuck singing the same song... "on the bed, on the floor, on a towel by the door...."
good times

Sunday we went for a family walk around the neighborhood so milo could get some time on his bike.
Then we watched one of the best SuperBowl games in a long time. And I'm not even a Giants fan.

Well there now... I guess I did have a little bit to write about.
Guess I'd better keep it up.
until next time...
hope it's not too long 'til then!

talking each other off the ledge

Our little family has been going through alot lately. The diva is having real sleep issues. Baby bear was really (and still is) a good sleeper so we're in uncharted territory. She has trouble shutting down at night so we have to stay in her room until she's totally asleep or she bolts upright, howling, ready to run out of her bed/room to find us. She's a little sick, so she's waking up pretty often throughout the night (every hour from 1am on) doing the same thing: bolting upright, howling, ready to run out of her bed/room unless we get there quickly enough. More often than not, I end up sleeping on the floor next to her from about 4:30am on when it's my night.
Then, of course, there's the kindergarten ordeal that we're in the middle of right now. Plus, with all the school tours and broken water heaters, we're barely putting in any time at work - which isn't necessarily appreciated by co-workers/managers. Stress levels are incredibly high and for some reason SM and I just HAVE to be devil's advocate to each other no matter what the topic.
Today, as we chatted on the phone reviewing our FOURTH SCHOOL TOUR!?!?!?!, he said it:
"Right now we just need to keep talking each other off the ledge."
That's what it's come to.
Not enjoying each other's company, discussing politics (or anything else that's not directly family-related) or playing with our children.
We have to constantly be talked off ledges.
*sigh*
until next time...
please children, sleep
please Seattle Schools, let my child get into a GOOD SCHOOL

you don't know what you've got...

'til it's GONE!
This week, our water heater broke.
And it didn't just break, it went down in flames.... literally. The dang old thing had a slow leak from the top of the VERY RUSTY tank. The leak eventually creeped its way into the electrical panel and with a spark and small fire, stopped working.
A funny side-story: The kids' bath on Tuesday night was a little tepid, so it was a fast one and SM went down to the basement afterwards to check out the heat issue. We're remodeling our house (new master suite... woohoo)so we figured that had something to do with it, and sure enough there was a blown fuse. So SM dutifully flipped the fuse and we all went to bed. The next morning we woke up and SM was first to shower. He came running out of the bathroom - dry and in a panic - "there's no hot water?!?!?!". We had a school tour and busy work days so we cleaned ourselves the best we could and decided to figure it out that night. After dinner SM went back down to the basement and sure enough, the fuse had blown again, so he flipped it and simultaneously sparked a stinky/scary electrical fire AND heard his 21-mo old daughter screaming bloody murder.
I've never seen a man run up the stairs so quickly.... really funny to me - quite the OPPOSITE for him.
Another very stinky/cranky/nutty day later, my wonderful father put in a new water tank and we were all taking hot showers/baths again by last night.
This morning was a normal morning. We got our showers and got dressed and by the time we were heading down for breakfast my dad arrived to continue work on the master and he said "you know, things are alot calmer this morning than yesterday". Funny - I'm pretty sure this is the #1 reason I don't camp. I psychologically and physiologically can't function without my shower. And it's obviously genetic cuz my kids can't either. ;o)

until next time....
appreciate your hot water - you'll really miss it when it's gone

kindergarten? really?!?!?

This weekend marks our official "start" to kindergarten shopping. Why do I have to go kindergarten shopping you ask? Well, it's because in Seattle the public schools seem to really be a hit or a total miss.
In our case, we live right across the street from a school where I'd hoped my children would go, but may not be welcome.
I grew up in Cincinnati, OH and went to public schools. They were very racially mixed (actually - there were really just 2 races: white & african american and not much else, but mixed between those 2 at least) and I really appreciated that and wanted the same for my children. That's part of why we live so close to the city and in the area we do.
So right now we have a possibly tough and confusing road ahead of us. If you read the article linked above you might better understand my "woes". I actually welcome a diverse student body, I feel like one of the best ways to help our children grow up color blind, is to put them in an environment that includes as many colors as possible. That at least gives them the opportunity to form their own opinions. The issue with Madrona K-8 is not that it's diverse, it's a little bit the test scores, but mostly it's the unwillingness to (or maybe inability) to account for ALL kids.
So fine, no biggie, we don't send the kids across the street.
Then where? In the central cluster the schools are completely polar. They're either really really good, or really really bad (keep in mind, this judgment is solely based on test scores - we don't start school tours until next week - and I'll update my opinions as we go). This weekend there is a kindergarten fair where we get to chat with all of these schools and next week we start touring.
I'm still trying to accept the fact that my baby bear is old enough to (almost) go to kindergarten!
This is a process that I'm dreading, but hopefully it won't be so bad. I think I've decided to just see how it goes for the next couple years, and if it all falls apart we'll either move or maybe save enough for private school.
*sigh*
until next time...
it really shouldn't be this hard

the pigs were a disaster....

Luckily... MOMMY THOUGHT OF DONUTS!!

 
 
 

This weekend there were these mini potbellied pigs that have been on Letterman that were performing at a local community center and baby bear, diva and I were ready to go. We got out of the house a little late, but were arriving at start-time which isn't bad for us.
NO parking.... people everywhere.... Finally found a precarious spot to park and as we were walking toward the pigs - another family was walking back to their car.
SOLD OUT!
Seriously?
Everyone in Seattle went to go see these dang pigs.
Except us.
What a disaster. Baby bear stood on the corner, started crying and pointing at the community center. The Diva was starting to get angry. She didn't know what was going on but kept repeating "piggies piggies" and couldn't figure out why we were standing on the corner in the rain when she was promised PIGGIES!
I was at a loss.
I decided to pry them away with pancakes. 'Course the place I wanted to go ALSO had no parking and a line.
Finally baby bear cried "UNCLE!" and just wanted to go back home and play. So that's where we went.
UNTIL....
Top Pot saved the day... as you can see.

until next time...
if you're going to go to see the pigs, LEAVE EARLY!