Easter Weekend

We had quite a celebration for Easter.  On Friday, we went to DC.  I had bought a Groupon a couple of months ago for a Cherry Blossom cruise.  It was for the 5 of us to go on a cruise around the Potomac to enjoy the Springtime view of the cherry blossoms.  When I booked it I didn't anticipate that the blossoms would bloom so early.  So there wasn't much (any) pink to be seen but it was still a gorgeous day.  The kids had been asking us to take them on a boat for a while and they were thrilled.  We took the metro in, which is an adventure in and of itself, and then walked to the harbor.  We all enjoyed the boat ride.  The cruise lasted just under an hour and gave some good, touristy information.  The kids loved standing at the very front of the boat and peering over the sides, which made me a bit nervous but certainly kept them entertained.

On the train ride there

This was actually the way home, they loved holding on and moving with the train.

In the distance is the Washington Monument

After the cruise we decided to head over to the museums.  Thomas wanted to see an exhibit that we thought was at the National Gallery.  I was excited to go there because it was where Thomas and I had our first date.  We planned to eat at the museum cafeteria, the same place Thomas and I ate almost 11 years ago when we were just getting to know each other.  It was close to a mile away which is a long walk for little legs.  But, we all made it.  We had lunch and reminisced.   We have been to a lot of the other museums since then but this was our first trip back to the National Gallery (not the most interesting for our out of town guests, most of whom have small children).  Unfortunately, the exhibit we were looking for was at the American Art Museum.  I enjoyed seeing the Picasso sketches and the kids liked all the sculptures, but no one felt like going to another museum.  We just figure this means we'll have to go back soon.  

While we were enjoying lunch, a woman sat down across from us.  She had just a piece of cake and Anna said loudly, "I wish I could have some cake."  The woman then offered her a bite, which we politely declined.  But, her gesture of kindness was all that it took for the kids to label her a friend.  They proceeded to talk to her nonstop, telling her their real names and character names (Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman that day) and about going on the boat.  She asked Jack what his favorite thing at the museum was and he answered with a story about Buzz Lightyear.  I love those kids!  My husband also got us some interesting looks.  We were telling the kids about how we were there before they were born.  Anna said that they must have been in my tummy (their answer for anything that happened before they were born).  Then, she asked how they got out of my tummy.  In a very dramatic fashion Thomas said, "the doctors took a knife (he gestured as if holding a knife) and they cut open mommy's stomach and pulled you out (he acted it out with motions in the air)!"  There were three teenagers sitting at the next table, and they all quickly turned around to look at us.  It was hilarious!  (It is a story our bizarre kids like to hear they are used to it.)

Saturday, we took the kids to an Easter Eggstravaganza on the base.  It was okay.  I was a little irritated that it was $5/person.  I assumed it was $5/kid and I don't think the event was worth $25.  We stayed for about an hour, the kids got to tie-dye shirts, which was fun.  (Although after only one washing they have already greatly faded.)  They also had some games but the lines were really long.  The highlight was, of course, the egg hunt.  They had tons of eggs.  I can't imagine who stuffed them all.  They had fields of them (a different field for each age category, we were in 3-5).  We got lots of stickers and gum (which my kids can't have), some that had laffy taffy and sweet-tarts, and a few with prizes like little compasses, tiny erasers or bouncy balls.   

Dyeing t-shirts

Waiting patiently for the hunt to start (sorry Thomas)

Enjoying their spoils

When we got home we dyed Easter eggs and played outside.  Sunday, they had their own little hunt in our house.  We hid the eggs they had dyed and some more candy-filled ones.  They are all such loving kids; they had no problems helping each other and making sure everyone got the same number of eggs.  If one of them of them found an egg another had dyed, they were so excited to give it to their sibling.  It was very sweet to watch.

Before we added stickers and other decorations to our dyed eggs

A Case of Mistaken Identity

I never know who I am going to find when I wake my kids each morning.  Will it be Anna or Ariel?  Is Wish Bear making an appearance?  Perhaps evil Sid will greet me before spending the morning torturing his toys (and us).  Today I have called them by the following names (at their request of course): Wish Bear and Wish Star (Anna and Kara respectively), Batman (Jack), Baby Captain America (Kara), Baby Darth Vader (Anna), and Darth Vader (Jack).  At the moment, I am a Rebel.  Which means one of the kids occassionally pops in, asks if I am rebel and then runs off screaming to the others that they have found the rebels. 

On the one hand I love their imaginations.  On the other, I get tired of being corrected a thousand times a day with, "I'm NOT Jack, call me Batman."  Frequently, I become a part of their games.  We were outside today, I was pulling weeds and the kids were riding bikes.  Jack was Batman.  Anna was Wish Bear and Kara was her side-kick Wish Star.  Much to the girls dismay Jack refused to be roped into a Care Bears game.  Anna tried, "welcome to Care-A-Lot, Batman."  Jack's response, "Batman does not visit Care Bears."  I, however, had to juggle being Robin and the queen of Care-A-Lot.  Fortunately, the girls let Jack off the hook without much fuss.  It doesn't always go that way when someone refuses to participate in their world of make-believe.  A couple of days ago Kara let out a blood-curdling scream. Assuming she had fallen down the stairs or something equally terrible, I ran to her aid. When she calmed down enough to talk, I learned what happened: Anna had refused to call her Belle.

When Anna or Kara is Ariel they opt not to use their legs.  Thomas is a kinder parent, he will make them a mermaid tail out of a blanket.  I just step over them, trying to remember if I am Ursula, Flouder, or King Titon.

They have no legs and since Mommy refuses to carry them from room to room, they are left with no choice but to drag themselves about.

Last week Anna was Cinderella and I was the evil stepmother.  Every few minutes she would demand a new task.  I would tell her to go wash the windows or sweep the floors.  A minute later she would return and say it was done and I would give her a new task.  This went on for a while until I heard running water.  Apparently she had decided that I was not pretending when I told her to wash the bathroom floor.  She dumped a bucket of water on it.  After that, I was careful to distinguish between real and pretend tasks.  Pictured below are real tasks of wiping counters and helping with laundry.

  





Now, I am a stormtrooper, directing them in their hunt to find Princess Leia.  Kara just threw a pillow at me and told me it was her Captain America shield.  Never a dull moment.  But on the plus side there is no way I could have sat down a year ago to write a blog while they were awake.  Now, their imaginations allow them to have all kinds of fun together, often with limited parental involvment.  They are growing fast and I am enjoying seeing their imaginations blossom. 

I had started to keep notes of all the cutes things they are doing so I could write about it.  Unfortunately, I can't find my notebook.  It was probably the prop in one of their games. 

So, in limited other news, Jack and Anna have started soccer and Thomas is their coach.  I couldn't believe how cute they all were in their soccer gear.  They have only had one practice, so I'll have to keep you posted.  Kara is progressing with the potty training.  She kept her underwear dry all day yesterday.  Today hasn't gone as well, but we're getting there.  Anna got in trouble at dance last night, apparently she was "huffing and puffing" and had to sit against the mirror.  I am not 100% sure what that means but I think she was sighing heavily and repeatedly when she was frustrated.

It looks like the troops need me, so that will have to serve as catch-up for now.  Now, where are those rebel scum???

Me, Anna & the bees

To those who know me well, this will come as no suprise: I am terrified of bees and hornets.  As in, I have jumped out of a moving car to get away from a bee.  As in, I was voted "least likely to become an entomologist" at camp.  As in, my father almost didn't let me get a driver's license because he was afraid of what would happen if I was the driver of a vehicle that contained a stinging bug.  This life-long fear began as a child.  I can't remember a time when I was not scared of the flying insects.  And, as a result of this, I got stung.  A lot.  I have been stung on my eye, neck, arm, foot, and finger.  Those are just the ones that come immediately to mind.  Oddly enough, when you turn into a bumbling imbecile anytime a bee comes near you, they tend to freak out and sting you.  I am also slightly allergic; I swell up pretty big.  We have made at least one trip to the emergency room, but benadryl seems to do the trick.

As an adult I have begun to get a handle on my outrageous behavior.  There have been hornets in the car, but I have managed to pull over without killing myself or anyone else on the road.  I have even mustered the courage to unbuckle a child in a carseat and pull them to safety while we waited for the insect to fly away.  This past summer, I enjoyed a picnic with bees flying around and was able to walk into a house surrounded by bees (without covering my ears, which is pretty much a reflex for me).  In fact, I like to think I am almost over my irrational bee fear.  Now, I would say I just have a healthy fear. 

Unfortunately, the hornet phobia is alive and well.  They are just so dang-scary looking, with those dangling leg-like things.   This time of year, they descend on our home.  One of them somehow got inside last week.  Fortunately, we had some "kill on contact" 22-foot spray.  You know the stuff that says that under no circumstance is it to be used inside?  Well, I used it inside.  Then, I opened all the windows and turned on the fan.  We all survived.  Well, not the hornet of course. 

When we had kids, I was afraid I was going to pass my fear onto them.  I have learned to somewhat mask it  but I still freak-out if I am in an enclosed space with one.  And, heaven help us if one lands on me.  I lose all control then.  Which brings me to the Anna part.  She has already been stung 3 times.  Two by hornets (or wasps, I don't know the difference) and once by a bee.  One hornet she picked up thinking it was dead and not knowing what it was.  The bee flew up her dress at the zoo and couldn't find its way out.  And, the last time, she was standing on the deck right on top of a large nest.  So, you can't blame the kid for being scared.  I am seeing a lot of myself in her behavior.  Today, she saw one on the deck.  The way she was screaming and crying, I was afraid she had been stung again.  And that was just because she saw one.  I had to guide her in an alternate door.

So, what is a phobic mother to do?  I decided to be honest.  I told her I was also scared of them and explained how it had kept me from having a lot of fun outside.  I told her that if she lets the fear dictate her behavior now, it will grow and grow and soon she won't be able to fully enjoy all the things she really enjoys, like riding her bike.  I explained how there were hornets flying around the whole time she was outside and she didn't even notice them because she was having so much fun.  So, we talked for a while and she decided she was going to be brave.  Hopefully, she will have (much) more success than I've had.  Fear is such a funny thing; I wish I could be as rational as my 4-year old is.

On a side-note, Jack came in from outside and reported that he also saw a hornet.  Then he asked, "was it looking for Anna?"

Potty Training and Me: A Realization

There are several things in life I am good at, a few I am very good at, and many I am terrible at.  Unfortunately, potty training falls into the latter of those three categories.

Until my attempts with Kara, I could delude myself.  I had one child who learned easily at 2.5 and one who was somewhat of a nightmare.  That one was well past his 3rd birthday (probably midway to his 4th) before he was fully "trained."  So, it was easy to attribute the success of one to myself and the difficulty of the other to the child.  

Anna chose the doll and pink ice cream for her reward.



Let me focus on those two for a minute.  Anna, the successful child, probably could have learned before her 2nd birthday, but it was her daycare's policy to wait until a child was around 2.5.  So, we waited.  Then, when she and her brother hit 2.5, we decorated a potty chart, bought some pretty stickers and watched her chart fill up.  She had the thing accomplished in a less than a week.  I think at the time she filled hers (roughly 60 stickers) Jack's chart had 4.  When we brought her to daycare in underwear for the first time they told us we needed to bring in 5 changes of clothes.  They used none of them.  She literally conquered potty training in less than a week and there was no crying or yelling (by any of us).  Jack was slower.  He just isn't externally motivated.  Stickers didn't do it, toys weren't really a motivation, candy he could take or leave.  I finally told him if he would poop in the potty, we would buy him the Jesse (from Toy Story) costume he wanted.  He did it just enough to get the costume and then didn't bother again for about 3 months.  I don't know what finally motivated him, but it was certainly nothing I said or did.

So, it was easy for me to just figure he was the problem.   Alas, that wasn't true.  I am the problem.  Kara has now passed her 3rd birthday and, as I type, is wearing a diaper.  She had on a pullup, but then she had an "accident," which required a load of laundry and a shower.   Accident is in quotes, because the term doesn't actually apply, but is a more polite term than the word that does.  At least she wasn't wearing underwear.  And, don't think the pullup is the problem, I started this journey by making her wear underwear.  But, she wore me down with multiple daily accidents.  Now, she is about to outgrow her pullups, which I bought more than 6 months ago in optimistic anticipation (you know, for when we went out in public, because at home she would be wearing only underwear).

Anyway, when Kara hit the 2.5 mark, I put up the potty chart for her.  She promptly filled it, went to Target and selected her reward (a Mr. Potato Head).  Then, nothing.  A little different than Jack (whose chart stood for about 5 months and never amassed more than 12 stickers), but lacking the staying power of Anna.  I have tried bribes--candy every time she goes; group coercion--treats for her and her siblings every time she goes; threats--no television if she doesn't; and, the one I am most ashamed of--shaming.  The shaming was me calling her pooper.  She didn't like it.  Then, Anna started calling her pooper, which she REALLY didn't like.  I realized I was setting a terrible example, apologized to Kara and explained to Anna that I was wrong and it was not okay for us to be calling Kara names.  None of it worked; 7 months later and we are no further along.
So, what's the problem?  Kara is smart.  She's not overly stubborn.  She's not typically a difficult child (other than still waking us many nights to cover her.  Which reminds me of a  funny story that must be told even though it bears no relation to the present topic.  See below).   Therefore, I have come to the conclusion that the problem is me.  I stink at this.  Anna trained herself.  Jack and Kara are the shining examples of the skills I (don't) bring to the table.  If Thomas was the SAHP, I don't think we'd have this problem.  I console myself with the fact that one day, probably relatively soon, she will be in underwear and this will be a thing of that past. 

So, the funny story.  Kara still frequently cries in the night, screaming until one of us comes into her room.  Nine times out of 10, she just wants us to cover her. Well, a few weeks ago, I had enough.  Before bed, we had a nice conversation.  I told her how Daddy and I need our sleep too and she needed to cover herself and go back to sleep.  Then, I said if she woke us up to cover her, I was going to take all the books out of her bed.  She was in a good mood and indicated she understood.  So, you can imagine my surprise when I was awakened at 2am by her incessant screaming.  Thomas was also awake, but it was my turn to deal with her.  I stumbled into her room and looked at her expectantly.  She smiled sweetly at me, blanket in hand.  Then, I could see hestitation on her face as she appeared to be remembering our pre-bed conversation.  She surveyed the room, and then, looking at her books said, "ummm...<long pause> ummmmm...<long pause> this book really has a lot of pages, doesn't it Mommy?"  I had to admire her quick thinking on that one and couldn't help but laugh.  I agreed and made my way back to bed.

Flashback Saturday--A Truly Ironic Moment

I cannot remember what triggered this memory, but it remains one of the funniest ironic moments I've ever been privy to: 

Shortly after my college graduation, I received my first (and only—knock on wood) speeding ticket.  To avoid points on my driver’s license, I decided to go to traffic school.  Orlando offered a comedy traffic class, which actually seemed like fun.  I had a friend who had also received a ticket, so we decided to go to Orlando and make a day of it.  Unfortunately, the regular instructor cancelled, so there was no comedy involved, only traffic.  We watched the videos about driving drunk and learned that high speeds can kill.  Typical driver’s ed stuff.  I also remember a video that talked about merging from a stop-sign or traffic light.  The point of the video was to make sure you verified, not only that there was no oncoming traffic, but also that the driver in front of you had cleared out.  There was a picture of a driver who rear-ended a car that had started to pull out, and unbeknownest to the person behind him (who was too busy monitoring oncoming traffic to verify the lead car had successfully merged) changed him mind.

Traffic school was very boring, but it was at a Perkins, so hopefully I enjoyed the pancakes or something.  Anyway, when my friend and I finally got out of there, we cautiously started our drive home.  As we were merging onto the highway we noticed something in the right lane—an accident that looked exactly like the one in the picture!  Very clearly, a car had started to pull out, changed its mind and been rewarded with a nice bump from behind.  And, as we were commenting on how funny that was (not because we were glad to see someone pulled over, but because it was just like what we talked about at traffic school) we saw the driver get out and… it was a fellow student from traffic school!!!  Oh the irony!  We laughed the whole way home and it turned out that the non-comedy traffic school was pretty entertaining after all.

For a more recent funny moment:  we were talking with the kids about what they want to be when they grow up.  It started with Jack, who said that he was going to be a lawyer, or maybe a waiter.  Anna chimed in that she wanted to be a doctor.  Last was Kara, who emphatically announced, "I'm going to be a cat!"  Love those kids!!!

Good Days and Bad Days

Friday was a great day.  It was the kind of day where I just love everything about my life.  It started with all 3 of my children getting themselves dressed.  I know it seems like a small thing, but it is often a fight in our house to get Anna to take off her pajamas.  And, Kara still usually requires some assistance.  So, to see them all come out of their bedrooms fully clothed made for the start of a great day.

Then, it was time for a trip to WalMart.  The kids wanted to play Star Wars, so we pretended the van was a spaceship heading to Planet WalMart.  We would open the sun roof to send R2D2 out to make repairs whenever an enemy blast hit us.  Occassionally, we would veer into an asteroid field (rumble strips).  We also had to take an alternate route when a destroyer got to close.  Fortunately, we were able to avoid the evil empire and made it to Planet WalMart (PW) safely.  While in PW, the kids continued to call me Queen Amydala.  Kara was Luke, Anna was Princess Leia, and Jack was Han Solo.  We got some pretty nice looks.  I also got asked twice if Anna and Kara were twins.  For some reason, that always amuses me.

After PW, we headed home for lunch.  After lunch, the kids proceeded to play both outside and then in for almost 2 hours, WITHOUT A SINGLE ARGUMENT!!!  Twice kids were crying, but both times it was because someone was hurt and it wasn't because of their siblings!  Monumental.

The rest of the day was relatively uneventful.  Saturday, we had a great morning/afternoon.  We went to the Potomac Mills Mall and made our first trip to Ikea.  Everyone was (reasonably) well-behaved.  Unfortunately, on the drive home we received a phone call that Thomas' Grandmother, who he is very close to, was not doing so well.  She was not eating or drinking and was only receiving "comfort care."  We quickly came home and began making arrangements for him to fly to Nevada. 

Unfortunately, Anna has been very upset by the news.  She is very scared of dying and was extremely upset that Thomas was going away without her.  He has promised to tell Great-Grandma goodbye for her and to call often.  I am sorry that I cannot be there with Thomas and his family.  I loved his Grandmother and would like to have gone, but it just didn't make sense for us all to travel.  The kids are too young to expect them to know how to behave in this kind of situation.  For the millionith time, I wish we lived closer to family so that we'd have someone to leave the kids with in these emergency situations.  Fortunately, they are rare. 

Writing this is sad.  After our fun on Friday, I knew I wanted to write about it and memorialize the happy memory, but I can't write the good without acknowleding that something bad also happened this week.  I hope our kids always know how much we love them and how our decisions are always based on what we believe is best for our family.  We have a  lot to be thankful for: the health of children, the fact that Thomas was able to drop everything and fly to Nevada on a moment's notice (i.e. a supportive employer), and the love we have in our family. 

Ain't it Nifty, Kara's...3!

As usual, I am running a bit behind with my blogging.  Kara turned 3 on February 12th and we had a fun-filled weekend to celebrate.  Similarly to what we did for Jack and Anna, we gave her a choice: Great Wolf Lodge or a party with friends.  Of course, being February, a party with friends did NOT mean a bouncy house and/or pony rides.  So, she wisely chose Great Wolf Lodge. 

We wanted to go when it was least crowded, so Thomas took the Thursday before her birthday off from work (he had Friday off already) and to Williamsburg we went.  We got to Williamsburg around noon and Kara chose Chick-Fil-A for lunch.  Then, we went to the Williamsburg outlets.  Around 2, we went to the hotel.  And, being a Thursday and all, our room was ready!  You are allowed to start using the pools at 1 on your check-in day, but it was really nice to be able to unload the car and change in our hotel room.  We then went down to the water park area.  They have 3 baby slides, 2 medium slides, and 4 big slides (but, one was out of order).  There was also a wave pool and a giant climbing structure, along with a huge bucket that dropped water every 5 minutes.  The kids were all scared of the giant bucket and thus kind of avoided the climbing structure.  Jack loved it all!  The bigger slides allow dual riders, and he loved riding with Thomas or me.  He also went down the medium slides all by himself.  Next in bravery was Kara, she liked the baby slides and tried 2 of the big slides with Thomas.  But, she didn't like the big slides and said they were scary.  Then, there was Anna.  She wouldn't try any of the slides on the first day.  Not even the baby slides.  But, she did enjoy "swimming" and going in the wave pool.

We left the pools around 6 to get dinner.  I had packed some food, so we ate in our hotel room and then went down to the sweet shop for dessert.  The kids all chose ice cream.  Thomas had a cupcake and I got chocolate covered sprinkled marshmallows kabobs.  We explored a little and then went back to our room.  At 8pm, they invite kids to come in their pajamas to the lobby for a show and story-time.  The show consisted of some singing animatronics.  I wasn't impressed, but the kids liked it.  It only lasted about 10 minutes.  The story time was a book we couldn't hear.  It was crowded!  I can't imagine what a Friday or Saturday night would be like.

Then, we tried to put the kids to bed.  We had a wolf den suite, which meant there were bunk beds set in their own little room (wolf den).  We put Jack on the top and Anna and Kara laid head to foot in the bottom.  After the initial excitement wore off, they all slept pretty well.

In the morning, we had donuts for breakfast and headed back to the pools.  We finally got Anna to go down the baby slide!  I actually had to push her, but alls well that ends well.  Normally, I wouldn't force my kids to try something like that, I certainly wouldn't make them try the other slides, but I knew she would be okay on this one.  She kept climbing the steps and then climbing back down.  Finally, I went up there with her, Thomas positioned himself at the bottom to catch her, and I gave her a little push.  Of course, she enjoyed it.  Then, she was up for trying a bigger slide.  Thomas took her on the family raft one with Jack.  Kara was going to go on, but changed her mind at the top (so much fun walking down all those stairs).  Anna clung to Thomas the whole way, said "that was fun," when she got off, but did not want to go again.  We were very proud of her for trying.  Unfortunately, we didn't take a lot of pictures at GWL.

We played at the water park for about an hour and a half, showered, check-out, and headed for home.  We let Kara chose a movie to watch in the car and she chose Star Wars.  Yes, really.  We also let her choose lunch--Cracker Barrel.  Our table was close to a little checkerboard table, with dual rocking chairs.  The kids loved sitting and playing checkers while we waited for our food.  We got home around 2 and decided to go to the library.  We enjoyed a delicious cheese fondue for dinner.

Saturday, we didn't do much.  Just stuck around the house and played.  Sunday was Kara's actual birthday.  She wanted a purple cake with purple flowers.  She said I could use another color too.  So, I spent a lot of time making her cake, with a few helping hands.  She chose lasagna for dinner (which annoyed Jack and Anna--added birthday bonus?).  We had set up streamers and balloons the night before, so she was very excited to wake up and see those.  She loved blowing out the candles and opening presents.

The kids were very well-behaved all weekend.  When they did fight, it was fun to hear Kara threaten Anna  with, "you are not allowed to come to my birthday party."  Then, Anna would tell Kara she couldn't come to her birthday party, then they would both cry.  In the end, Anna was allowed to come to the party and I am sure Kara will be allowed to attend Anna's in October.

Kara had her 3-year check-up on Monday.  37 inches and 33 pounds.  The doctor was very impressed with how smart she is, he commented a couple of times on what a great vocabulary she has and how good her motor skills are (in particular, how well she jumps).  The blessing (curse?) of the kids in our family--everyone  is a great talker!

Just before check-in

Eating donuts in our hotel room

The kids wanted to help make Kara's cake

Yummy!  We surprised them with different colors in the cake, but they hardly noticed--they were too busy eating.

Group effort to open presents.

I am not sure who was more excited, Jack or Kara?