Everyday Life for Four Seasons

I'm at the Cape for a few days visiting my mom and Dick, and then I head to my dad's house in Rhode Island to see him and Marilyn and Grandma Millicent.


I've taken so many photos since I got here, and I actually ran out of hard drive space as I was taking them off of my camera card (Don't tell Jeff, he will not approve. I need to spend more time backing up my hard drive!). I have been so busy wiping off little noses. 'H' has had the most interesting green stuff running down for a few days now. Honestly, it's almost like a science experiment erupted in her head.

I'm always hyper-vigilant about ear infections because I have always gotten them and also, although it makes no sense at all, my mother's deafness makes me overly concerned about matters of the ear. In the winter I hydrate, hydrate, hydrate the girls and I put 'H' to bed every night with a cup of water so that she'll get hydrated and flush out all of her germs. I'm crossing my fingers that she'll be okay when she wakes up tomorrow morning. This afternoon, her green science experiment stopped and a fever took its place. If she does get one, it will be infection #2 for her in almost 2 years, (I think) so I guess that's not a bad track record.


Here is Grandpa Dick with the road grader. He keeps the road all nice-nice. You should have seen how bumpy it used to be (years ago) before he started smoothing it all out. He puts a lot of work into keeping the neighborhood looking good.


It's not very warm here, considering there isn't any snow left on the ground. We get out to play every day, but oh boy, the wind goes right through you.


One of my assigned projects this weekend is putting together the scrapbook of our wedding. My mother saved all this stuff and says she can't move on and enjoy Emily's wedding if my scrapbook isn't finished, so she handed it all over and told me to have fun. I hate scrapbooking! I did a few pages and got "too tired" to finish.

Speaking of "too tired" to finish things, I am happy to report that 'A' did indeed finish writing her name on all of her class valentine cards, and just as impressive was my work at writing "Roses are red, violets are blue, candy is sweet, but not as sweet as you" on each one. Try writing that 14 times in a row! As Jeff says, at least next year we won't have to write it so many times.


One of the neat things about coming here with my kids is watching them play with my old toys. We had very few toys growing up, but we had a ton of imagination and that kept us very entertained. Remember these Fisher Price little people?


They don't make this kind anymore. The green man on the left is actually made of wood, as are several others in our collection.


Enjoy your night - I'll tell you about my night at the symphony tomorrow! Yes, I went out and had a Grown-up good time!

I'm a little distracted as I put these photos up because we're catching up on "Lost" episodes and if I don't pay attention to the show, I miss everything. I like and dislike the show at the same time. There's a lot of drama, and it moves along quickly, which is great... and there's a lot of drama - sometimes it's a bit over the top, and it makes me lose interest.


Today it was nice and warm - almost spring-like. It never got above 50 at our house, which is my starting point for spring fever. We played at home in the morning and 'A' and I cut a puzzle out of a Cheerios box - her idea. She got the idea from one of the magazines she gets from her grandparents - I can't remember if it's from National Geographic or Ladybug.


We also kissed 'H' a million times just because...


...and then wrapped up Valentine cookie treats to give away.


We went outside to play for what seemed an eternity today. It was so nice outside! We sat and listened to the birds talk about coming home, we rolled around in the yard a bit, and we threw snowballs at our big oak tree in the front yard. I love throwing at that tree because it's hard for me to miss it, and I've got a pretty crooked throwing arm. We even got to play animal detective when we discovered several sets of deer tracks in both the front and back yards.


The tracks weren't the only evidence of the deer. You should see what they did to our rhododendron! ALL of the leaves are gone. ALL of them. Okay, I'll say it one more time, just because I am amazed by it. ALL are gone. And a pile of deer poop was left right beside it. No worries, I'm not posting that photo. I can't even believe I'm telling you about it. My sensibilities in that department are very easily offended! I have a blanket rule about toilet humor and toilet talk around me: it's not allowed. It's an inherited trait. Okay, enough of that topic!


Our Wednesday morning music class is over! And gymnastics ends soon. I didn't sign 'A' up for another session because we need a break. I might start again in the fall. I like the program because each child does what they can, and there isn't a final performance. They just go to each class and the teacher helps them do new things like roll over, walk a balance beam, jump, or hop, and that's it. Who knows what she gets out of it. Sometimes she likes it, sometimes she doesn't.


For now I am really looking forward to having a few unstructured weekday mornings with 'A' and 'H'. Tuesdays and Thursdays are preschool days and Friday mornings I have classes at the gym. That now leaves Mondays and Wednesdays for us. As the weather starts to warm up, I think about all of the things I want to do with them, like visit the pine bush and other outdoor places, or stay indoors at the state museum or the Hyde Collection, or stay home and work in the yard or in the kitchen. It is so nice to have a big block of time so we can go about our day in a leisurely way, rather than to try to rush around to show up at scheduled activities. It makes me crazy. I know, I find myself saying that phrase a lot, sorry to repeat myself so much.


I have to go now and finish making the Valentine cards for 'A's class tomorrow. She has to bring in 14 of them and Miss Katy asked that the kids try to write their own name on each one... you can guess how many I have left to finish. They have a party tomorrow too, and I tried to sign up to bring napkins, but Miss Katy saw my name there and said, "I was really hoping you would sign up for the sweet treat instead...!" As Jeff says, "this is what you get for having the allergy kid, you know." So I'll be bringing in a bunch of homemade frosted heart cookies instead of napkins. So much for simplifying.


Have a great night.

For our whole lives, my younger sister Emily and I have seen and thought in color. Words, letters and numbers all have a color associated with them. If you could take a photo of my thoughts, they would show up as an enormous color palette.

I thought everyone thought in color, but just never realized it or talked about it.

Emily and I don't have the same colors for the same words, letters or numbers. But we both share this trait.

On CNN's website today, an article is running about this condition - apparently, it's not something that everyone can see, and those who do see it are often genetically linked.

It's called synesthesia, and it's "a neurological condition in which people experience a mixing of their senses. People with the condition may see colors and movement in numbers, words or sounds."

My colors don't affect my daily life. If anything, they make thinking a fun thing to do sometimes. It probably does slow me down sometimes because I do stop to look at the colors rather than absorb the content of the material, but overall it's not a huge deal. It's just nice to know that one of my little personal mysteries is not such a mystery anymore.

Wait until I tell Emily!

This was our Saturday.

Jeff went to make a deal on a new car, and I spent the morning playing with the girls. They played with some buckets for a while, then we went to Congress Park to see what there was to see.


I brought along some food for the ducks. It's not okay to feed them, according to the city officials, but if you ask me, it's not okay to let them starve and get run over in the parking lots around town as they go out looking for food.

We didn't see any ducks in the park, so we didn't feed any. 'H' however spilled her entire container of Cheerios on the ground, so I guess that counts.


At the end of our journey, we went to McDonald's to buy some hearts to support the Ronald McDonald House. Kathy and Jillian were selling them. Jillian did a great job of asking the customers if they would like to buy a heart. It's good for children to grow up with the expectation that everyone will donate time, money or other resources to support a cause. That's what life is all about.

'A' and 'H' really liked the french fries I bought for them. We never go there because most of the meals have dairy in them, so it's hard to find anything on the menu for 'A'. Except french fries, of course!


We rounded out the day with a birthday party for a little boy who just turned 4, and then came home for our weekly movie night with popcorn.

Check out the bird nests in these trees. Pretty big nests. Pretty cool.


I've been really proud of Jeff during his car buying process. He really gave some thought to what he wanted in a car and what he could live without, salted it with a heavy dose of reality (meaning that he stuck to our agreed upon budget figures) and he was able to make a decision and work through the process in a way that made him comfortable. He bought a 2009 Ford Fusion. He likes the way it works with all of his techie gadgets, and he also likes knowing that he's doing his part to stimulate our American economy. As much as we throw around the possibility of moving to Canada because we sometimes can't bear the way Americans think and act, we are very pro-American at heart.


The girls are delicious now! Jeff reminds me that they are just about at my favorite ages - 2 and 4 years old. I remember how our days would flow just before 'H' was born. 'A' was a month shy of 2, and we had the greatest time together. Everything was so easy, effortless, and enjoyable. And now that 'H' is having her turn at a month shy of 2, I'm back in that groove. 2 year olds are worker bees. Finally, they can do things with purpose, and out of that comes an awesome sense of pride. 'H' loves that she can take her shoes off by herself and put them by the door. She hangs up her purse and takes it down, over and over again, just because she can. She goes to the bookshelf to pick out a story and she loves that she can do it by herself. She is unbelievably yummy!

And 'A'.... goodness, she is fast approaching that magical age. I love 4 year olds. Suddenly all of those connections in their brains start working, and they really understand things in a way that they never did before. And they know that it's all new and exciting for them. For me, a 4 year old holds all the optimism and creativity in the world, and none of the selfishness, doubt, shame or anger. It's a beautiful age. Being with a 4 year old makes you want to live life to the fullest, because they won't have it any other way.

'A's favorite game right now is "Where is...?" We play it over and over again, all day, every day. There are two versions. One is where she hides and everyone has to find her (or she asks one of us to hide, but usually she is the one who hides). Version 2 is where she hides an object and will ask, "Where could it be?" (and she encourages me to ask, too...). I'm sure there is some sort of logical psychological explanation for these games that ties them to her development, but I have absolutely no idea what it is, and I am just happy knowing that she really seems to enjoy this activity!


Life here is Good, with a capital "G".

Enjoy your day. As you're reading this, I am most likely searching for a hidden toy. Where could it be?

It's cold here. But even in the chill, we still stop to admire the sunsets. This was taken at the library late yesterday afternoon.


'H' likes to wear the hat that Grandma Shelly made for 'A'. She even has a name for it, but I can't remember it right now.


Yesterday my neighbor Kathy, a kindergarten teacher, came to speak at our MOMS Club meeting about raising a reader. She had a lot of good things to say about making reading enjoyable and relevant, and teaching children that reading extends beyond books. She showed us several homemade books that she had made with her daughter. Just this afternoon, I thought of her book display when 'A' told 'H' that she was going to make a book out of all of their drawings from today. We're going to put all of the drawings together and watch the book emerge!


I caught a little stomach bug yesterday. Thank goodness it manifested itself after the girls went to bed and was gone by the time they woke up. I tried my Kool-aid trick right at the beginning to try to stave it off, but it didn't work. Maybe though, the Kool-aid is what kept it from getting worse. What does it say about Kool-aid that I only use it to get the hard water stains out of the dishwasher and as medicine when we get sick? Pretty funky stuff.

Anyway, I'm better now, just a little energy deficient.


Jeff picked up the most heavenly head of bok choy on Sunday and I just had to photograph it. Chris and Sue came over with their boys to watch the Superbowl. Sue made her famous wings, I made quesadillas, and we all scarfed down the bok choy salad because we needed something green to eat! Oh, and I DID make cookies for the Superbowl party, but only because I wanted to have something sweet to serve, not because I needed to make and eat them to heal my car-shopping emotions. Well, that's what I tell myself.

Speaking of the car, Jeff is still trying to make a decision about what to do. It takes time.


These boys are the closest thing to brothers that 'A' and 'H' will ever have.

Take a look at the photo below. Does it make you short of breath too? After Jeff cleaned up the kitchen Friday night I came down to see this scene in the dish rack. It's our heavy pizza stone right next to our delicate Riedels! I just had to take a photo.


Have a great night.