Some of you may remember that I chose one word for 2011. A word to inspire me and shape my year. I talked about my word, commit, here. Well, seems it might be time for a little review. To what did I want to commit? [in no particular order]
One, to my picture a day scrapbook. I am happy to report that I am still taking lots of pictures and mostly keeping up. I am working on November this afternoon and hopefully can move on to December this evening. 2011 required two books! This year was a good start, but I can see ways which I could improve. For starters, I went ahead and bought the actual kit for next year. I thought it wasn't necessary, and it's certainly not, but it will be MUCH easier to just use the kit - the journal cards and filler papers are already cut to the correct sizes so I won't need my paper cutter or adhesives for much of anything. I have a small tote with all of my extra supplies - markers, embellishments, etc. And best of all, the boys love to look through it already.
Another, to walk a half marathon. We (my sister and I) did it!! We completed the Indianapolis Womens' Half in September and are registered for the 500 Festival Mini in May. I have wanted to do the 500 mini for a long time but I kept having babies. So, I'm super excited for that! Plus, I definitely stick with a program better if I have that extra motiviation of an upcoming event.
A third, church. I am helping with one of the classes - girls, a little older than Seth. I really wanted the boys to know me in this role - not as their teacher but as someone who is involved at church. We taught for so long, but not since Seth was old enough to know/remember. It was really bothering me that Seth only knows me as a fairly uninvolved church attender, not a teacher/helper/doer. I also joined the MOPS group at our church and that has really helped. At least I recognize other moms as we all pick up our kiddos.
Finally, my kids. I know this is the most important and likely the one area I will never feel like I can commit enough. I am reaching the conclusion that it will just never feel like enough. When you really think about how blessed we are to have these three beautiful little boys to love on, care for, train up, etc. it's just overwhelming.
I am currently in search of my 2012 One Little Word. I'm tossing around some ideas, but I need to find that one word that will sum it all up. And you, do you have a word for the year?
Friday, December 30, 2011
Monday, November 21, 2011
Business as usual
Or not so much. I mentioned recently that I was starting a cute, tiny small business. I made a couple of wreaths this last year for family decorations. Turns out, some people thought they were cute. So, I've decided to try to sell some on Etsy. I haven't sold any yet, but I just recently started listing them. So, hope on over to my Etsy shop and give it a look: http://www.etsy.com/shop/NotYourMamasWreath. And if you're on facebook, search "NotYourMamasWreath" and like my page. That's all the begging I'll do. For today.
It's been fun (and yes, that probably makes me odd) to shop around for all of the supplies (primarily online) and price things out and figure out what it all costs me and the best way to get the supplies and how many supplies to get and create some spreadsheets and all that good stuff.
However, I think David is super excited that we're having everyone here for Thanksgiving so that I am forced to take totes of wreaths and huge bags of balloons up the stairs to the office and out of the corner of the kitchen! I do think though that he is "commissioning a few pieces" as Christmas gifts so I hope he knows the kitchen corner is only getting a temporary reprieve!
It's been fun (and yes, that probably makes me odd) to shop around for all of the supplies (primarily online) and price things out and figure out what it all costs me and the best way to get the supplies and how many supplies to get and create some spreadsheets and all that good stuff.
However, I think David is super excited that we're having everyone here for Thanksgiving so that I am forced to take totes of wreaths and huge bags of balloons up the stairs to the office and out of the corner of the kitchen! I do think though that he is "commissioning a few pieces" as Christmas gifts so I hope he knows the kitchen corner is only getting a temporary reprieve!
Saturday, November 19, 2011
24 hours...
I once had someone (who was not a mom) ask me what I could possibly do all day with no job. So, I think I'll share a recent 24 hour period. Of course, this isn't the norm. But then again, there really isn't a norm. Sure, there's often a routine and certain things that need to happen at certain times, but flexibility might be the key to being a stay at home mom. So, here goes.
Friday
noon - finish cleaning Max's room - vacuum, mostly w/Max standing at his crib (outside of his crib), sucking his thumb holding onto the wrinkle in the sheet through the slats of the crib OR hanging onto my legs OR attempting to vacuum with the ball popper
12:30 - pack diaper bag with items to amuse Luke and Max; load up cake pops to take to bake sale at school; run thru drive thru and grab food for everyone; eat sandwich in car
1:00 - arrive at school; take bake sale items to bake sale person; set boys up with lunch (and attempt to convince Luke that it's a game to keep all the crumbs in one area); attempt to help with some set-up of chili supper for later in the day; talk with Seth's teacher and her assistant; attempt to keep Luke out of the class (Seth's) that is playing with playdoh in the gym/cafeteria area.
2:40 - leave school having accomplished very little; bring all three boys home; pick out clothes for the boys for the chili supper; put a very tired Max and Luke (who had been up since 5:40) in bed; let Seth stay up but negotiate a deal where he must help me pick up before he eats his leftover treat from lunch
3:15 - continue to remind Seth he's picking up, not playing; help him pick up toys just to have it done; clean up the kitchen, again (we finished making the bake sale cake pops at 11:51 Thursday night so it was still a bit of a mess); talk to my sister for a few minutes
4:45 - do happy dance when hubby comes home with bogo Starbucks; chat with him for a few minutes while Seth tries to simultaneously share all about his day; change clothes, touch up make-up, brush teeth; try to help Dave calm Luke who woke up screaming (he does this a lot); let my dad in and suggest he lay low while Dave dresses the boys so they can all come to chili supper together (mom was out of town)
5:20 - leave for chili supper (solo, thus driving the truck); nearly take a header out of truck upon arrival at school; work the PTF dues table (not nearly as painful as the other committee members had assured me it would be); greet my only family who flits by me to their table in the back
6:00 - chili supper starts
6:30 - Dad hangs out at the table with the boys; Dave is nearly next in line for food so I sneak away from table where I'm working and help him carry food for the boys to the table; finish up at my table; get myself food; try to corral kids for way too long; kiss everyone goodbye and stay to help clean up
8:45 - figure out that I'm not much help with clean up and leave; get home, help Dave finish up baths and dress boys for bed
9:15 - sit down - such a life of leisure! ha ha; realize the boys' jerseys aren't clean for their games in the morning (oops), thus, start more laundry; make Thanksgiving menu, weekly menu, grocery list, look for coupons (all w/Dave's help); get jerseys into dryer
Saturday
12:15am - collapse into bed, realizing that the contact solution that takes 6 hours to neutralize is probably not an option tonight
5:55 - wake up to two oldest boys waking each other up; sleepily beg them to stop fighting, whining, picking at each other SO early in the day; turn on television to buy a few more minutes of quiet; finally convince myself to get up and get ready
7:30 - breakfast for Seth and Luke; get jerseys out of dryer; pack diaper bag and Max's breakfast for the games; encourage/beg boys to get ready for games
8:15 - get sleepy Max up and dress him; load everyone up and drive to the games
9:00 - Seth and Luke both have practice then games, both starting at 9; Dave is co-coaching Luke's team so Max and I are outside with Seth the whole time; 45 degrees is REALLY cold when there is no sunshine and you're 18 months old and eating your dry cereal trumps the wearing of gloves/mittens
10:15 - Luke and Dave join us for Seth's trophy "ceremony;" I breathe a sigh of relief that flag football is done, at least for the time being; drive home and get grocery list, which of course, I forgot because every week I forget something (does it count that I packed a diaper bag for two kiddos, breakfast for Max, my purse and my camera, a hat for Max, and gloves and a hat for Seth?); potty breaks/diaper changes for all; load everyone into car again
11:00 - head to grocery store - all 5 of us (yes, all 5 of us the Saturday before Thanksgiving!); rip the list in half, as well as the kiddos - oh wait, just kidding! Although that also involved a strategy meeting: "Max and Luke both must ride in the cart. Thus, one person cannot take both Max and Luke and also get groceries. Who do you want? And who gets Seth?" Let's just say I took the one who partway through was sucking his thumb with his head nearly leaned on the side of the cart. Dave took the other two. And perhaps won't do it again anytime soon (don't I say that everytime??)
And that concludes our 24 hours together, well, technically 25 because we didn't finish at the store until about 1. Hope no one asks me the "what do you DO all day" question for awhile.
Friday
noon - finish cleaning Max's room - vacuum, mostly w/Max standing at his crib (outside of his crib), sucking his thumb holding onto the wrinkle in the sheet through the slats of the crib OR hanging onto my legs OR attempting to vacuum with the ball popper
12:30 - pack diaper bag with items to amuse Luke and Max; load up cake pops to take to bake sale at school; run thru drive thru and grab food for everyone; eat sandwich in car
1:00 - arrive at school; take bake sale items to bake sale person; set boys up with lunch (and attempt to convince Luke that it's a game to keep all the crumbs in one area); attempt to help with some set-up of chili supper for later in the day; talk with Seth's teacher and her assistant; attempt to keep Luke out of the class (Seth's) that is playing with playdoh in the gym/cafeteria area.
2:40 - leave school having accomplished very little; bring all three boys home; pick out clothes for the boys for the chili supper; put a very tired Max and Luke (who had been up since 5:40) in bed; let Seth stay up but negotiate a deal where he must help me pick up before he eats his leftover treat from lunch
3:15 - continue to remind Seth he's picking up, not playing; help him pick up toys just to have it done; clean up the kitchen, again (we finished making the bake sale cake pops at 11:51 Thursday night so it was still a bit of a mess); talk to my sister for a few minutes
4:45 - do happy dance when hubby comes home with bogo Starbucks; chat with him for a few minutes while Seth tries to simultaneously share all about his day; change clothes, touch up make-up, brush teeth; try to help Dave calm Luke who woke up screaming (he does this a lot); let my dad in and suggest he lay low while Dave dresses the boys so they can all come to chili supper together (mom was out of town)
5:20 - leave for chili supper (solo, thus driving the truck); nearly take a header out of truck upon arrival at school; work the PTF dues table (not nearly as painful as the other committee members had assured me it would be); greet my only family who flits by me to their table in the back
6:00 - chili supper starts
6:30 - Dad hangs out at the table with the boys; Dave is nearly next in line for food so I sneak away from table where I'm working and help him carry food for the boys to the table; finish up at my table; get myself food; try to corral kids for way too long; kiss everyone goodbye and stay to help clean up
8:45 - figure out that I'm not much help with clean up and leave; get home, help Dave finish up baths and dress boys for bed
9:15 - sit down - such a life of leisure! ha ha; realize the boys' jerseys aren't clean for their games in the morning (oops), thus, start more laundry; make Thanksgiving menu, weekly menu, grocery list, look for coupons (all w/Dave's help); get jerseys into dryer
Saturday
12:15am - collapse into bed, realizing that the contact solution that takes 6 hours to neutralize is probably not an option tonight
5:55 - wake up to two oldest boys waking each other up; sleepily beg them to stop fighting, whining, picking at each other SO early in the day; turn on television to buy a few more minutes of quiet; finally convince myself to get up and get ready
7:30 - breakfast for Seth and Luke; get jerseys out of dryer; pack diaper bag and Max's breakfast for the games; encourage/beg boys to get ready for games
8:15 - get sleepy Max up and dress him; load everyone up and drive to the games
9:00 - Seth and Luke both have practice then games, both starting at 9; Dave is co-coaching Luke's team so Max and I are outside with Seth the whole time; 45 degrees is REALLY cold when there is no sunshine and you're 18 months old and eating your dry cereal trumps the wearing of gloves/mittens
10:15 - Luke and Dave join us for Seth's trophy "ceremony;" I breathe a sigh of relief that flag football is done, at least for the time being; drive home and get grocery list, which of course, I forgot because every week I forget something (does it count that I packed a diaper bag for two kiddos, breakfast for Max, my purse and my camera, a hat for Max, and gloves and a hat for Seth?); potty breaks/diaper changes for all; load everyone into car again
11:00 - head to grocery store - all 5 of us (yes, all 5 of us the Saturday before Thanksgiving!); rip the list in half, as well as the kiddos - oh wait, just kidding! Although that also involved a strategy meeting: "Max and Luke both must ride in the cart. Thus, one person cannot take both Max and Luke and also get groceries. Who do you want? And who gets Seth?" Let's just say I took the one who partway through was sucking his thumb with his head nearly leaned on the side of the cart. Dave took the other two. And perhaps won't do it again anytime soon (don't I say that everytime??)
And that concludes our 24 hours together, well, technically 25 because we didn't finish at the store until about 1. Hope no one asks me the "what do you DO all day" question for awhile.
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Record...
Wow. Two blog posts in October. I think that might be a record. A record of my patheticness. I'm not too sure what happened. Life, I guess. Let me attempt to make some excuses.
Dave is working a lot. A lot a lot. It's great that he's busy. It's tough to complain as I don't contribute whatsoever to the family income. Just the opposite, in fact. ["David honey, we need this. David honey, I need that."] But, the boys are harder to manage when they are missing Daddy. I am harder to be around when my helper in the evening isn't home to be helpful. Then the things that I do while we're tag teaming in the evening still have to get done, only after the boys are in bed instead of before.
Then, I am attempting to start a very teensy tiny business. I am trying to avoid the urge right here to call it silly. It's just for fun. And, I guess, somewhat to have something that I can call "my own." I always thought moms were a little goofy when they said that, but I'm starting to understand what they mean. Just something that is mine. Something to be proud of (hopefully). Something totally independent of the rest of my world. But, in doing so, there's lots of researching - prices, quantities, buy here or order online; set up a tiny shop online; find time to make a few of the products; figure out pricing; etc. Watch for more info regarding my cute little adventure in the days to come.
And I really desire to be involved at the boys' school. Welll, right now it's just Seth's school, but at this point, it is our plan for it to be all the boys' school one day. It's not easy to be involved with two younger kiddos at home, so right now I'm on a committee that is meeting once every couple of weeks to get some events planned for the year. It's fun and it's nice to be involved and be with other parents. But, it means throwing together a dinner and running out the door some nights. One night I heard Dave turn the key in the lock and I picked up my stuff and we passed with a hello/goodbye kiss at the door.
Nevermind that our boys are young boys. It's been awhile since I've devoted a post to each of them so I'll work on that in the next few weeks. But, let's just say that a lot of work goes into parenting a 5, 3, and 1 year old. And I'm pretty sure I'm not doing something (or many somethings) right. For one minor thing, my boys seem to think that 5:45 is a perfectly fine time to get up for the day. Even though there is no need for them to be up before 7:00am. I am dreading daylight savings time tonight, when their little internal clocks don't have a button to reset and I hear them waking each other at 4:45 in the morning. Maybe I should go to bed now?
Not sure whether this turned out to be a list of excuses or just a list of upcoming posts or a bunch of whining. Either way, I'm still here, just a little overwhelmed by life at times (and I KNOW those of you with older kiddos are probably laughing at how my life is so calm compared to yours). But, it feels good to share anyway!
***On a side note, I started this post a few days ago and when I signed back in to edit today I noticed I have about 10 unpublished posts that I thought I would go back and edit. So, there may be a lot of posts over the next few days as I clean up my old posts. Or I might just delete them - if they weren't worthy of posting the first time...
Dave is working a lot. A lot a lot. It's great that he's busy. It's tough to complain as I don't contribute whatsoever to the family income. Just the opposite, in fact. ["David honey, we need this. David honey, I need that."] But, the boys are harder to manage when they are missing Daddy. I am harder to be around when my helper in the evening isn't home to be helpful. Then the things that I do while we're tag teaming in the evening still have to get done, only after the boys are in bed instead of before.
Then, I am attempting to start a very teensy tiny business. I am trying to avoid the urge right here to call it silly. It's just for fun. And, I guess, somewhat to have something that I can call "my own." I always thought moms were a little goofy when they said that, but I'm starting to understand what they mean. Just something that is mine. Something to be proud of (hopefully). Something totally independent of the rest of my world. But, in doing so, there's lots of researching - prices, quantities, buy here or order online; set up a tiny shop online; find time to make a few of the products; figure out pricing; etc. Watch for more info regarding my cute little adventure in the days to come.
And I really desire to be involved at the boys' school. Welll, right now it's just Seth's school, but at this point, it is our plan for it to be all the boys' school one day. It's not easy to be involved with two younger kiddos at home, so right now I'm on a committee that is meeting once every couple of weeks to get some events planned for the year. It's fun and it's nice to be involved and be with other parents. But, it means throwing together a dinner and running out the door some nights. One night I heard Dave turn the key in the lock and I picked up my stuff and we passed with a hello/goodbye kiss at the door.
Nevermind that our boys are young boys. It's been awhile since I've devoted a post to each of them so I'll work on that in the next few weeks. But, let's just say that a lot of work goes into parenting a 5, 3, and 1 year old. And I'm pretty sure I'm not doing something (or many somethings) right. For one minor thing, my boys seem to think that 5:45 is a perfectly fine time to get up for the day. Even though there is no need for them to be up before 7:00am. I am dreading daylight savings time tonight, when their little internal clocks don't have a button to reset and I hear them waking each other at 4:45 in the morning. Maybe I should go to bed now?
Not sure whether this turned out to be a list of excuses or just a list of upcoming posts or a bunch of whining. Either way, I'm still here, just a little overwhelmed by life at times (and I KNOW those of you with older kiddos are probably laughing at how my life is so calm compared to yours). But, it feels good to share anyway!
***On a side note, I started this post a few days ago and when I signed back in to edit today I noticed I have about 10 unpublished posts that I thought I would go back and edit. So, there may be a lot of posts over the next few days as I clean up my old posts. Or I might just delete them - if they weren't worthy of posting the first time...
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Things I've learned so far today...
1. Max should be worried. Very worried. He is quickly becoming the social outcast of my three boys. He ran FROM the window today when the trash truck came. As in, away and not to. This could be a serious issue.
2. The cows in the field are not preparing to nap. They are, in fact, preparing to watch the horse perform a dance routine. "You know, he has a radio/CD player, too." It could not be determined what he might dance to today.
3. Too many little wooden letters and too many colors of paint do not end well with a 3 year old and a 16 month old audience. Perhaps gray is the new turquoise?
4. No mom is cooler than the one who pulls the minivan over and lets two little boys hop out at the neighborhood pond to watch the turtle swim by.
This one is from a few days ago, but it's worth sharing: fancy boxed mac and cheese is SO much better when you mix in the cheese sauce, and not just the seasoning packet and bread crumbs for the top. Or at least, I remember it being better last time when I didn't have a shiny silver packet left over at the end of the meal!
2. The cows in the field are not preparing to nap. They are, in fact, preparing to watch the horse perform a dance routine. "You know, he has a radio/CD player, too." It could not be determined what he might dance to today.
3. Too many little wooden letters and too many colors of paint do not end well with a 3 year old and a 16 month old audience. Perhaps gray is the new turquoise?
4. No mom is cooler than the one who pulls the minivan over and lets two little boys hop out at the neighborhood pond to watch the turtle swim by.
This one is from a few days ago, but it's worth sharing: fancy boxed mac and cheese is SO much better when you mix in the cheese sauce, and not just the seasoning packet and bread crumbs for the top. Or at least, I remember it being better last time when I didn't have a shiny silver packet left over at the end of the meal!
Sunday, October 2, 2011
First kindergarten field trip...
I recently had the privilege of accompanying Seth's class on the first field trip of their kindergarten year. I am so thankful that David was able to take off work to be with the littler boys so I could be around some of the other moms in Seth's class and spend a little time with the teacher's assistant. I really want to be involved with the boys' school!
[Sidenote: His teacher was out of town as her daughter had quadruplets, very early. Seth's class has been praying for the mommy and her babies. I love that they are able to do this at his school. However, I am a product of public schools and am in no way knocking that choice either! Thank you for allowing me this not so brief digression].
The apple sorter, where they divide the good apples from the cider apples. Mmmm, apple cider.
The polisher. Did you know they don't grow on the trees that shiny? Okay, just kidding about that one! Well, I mean, they don't grow that pretty. But, I knew that.
[Sidenote: His teacher was out of town as her daughter had quadruplets, very early. Seth's class has been praying for the mommy and her babies. I love that they are able to do this at his school. However, I am a product of public schools and am in no way knocking that choice either! Thank you for allowing me this not so brief digression].
Seth's classmates and the teacher's assistant. Or the resistance, as Seth calls her.
We got to hang out in the refrigerator - not freezer as a snowman would eventually melt. I loved their tour guide! She was a recent college graduate, with plans to attend law school so that might have elevated her a bit in my book. But, she was really good at explaining things in way that was interesting, yet easy for a 5 year old to understand. Her apple tip - keep your applies in the fridge with a damp cloth and they will keep for months. Who knew? Likely everyone except me. Ha ha.
We each got to pick four apples to take home with us. Luke was very appreciative, pulling up his chair, washing the apple himself, and digging in!
It's always fun to see your child interact with people outside of his family. It is funny to me that, at this age anyway, Seth's best friend is whomever is in our group on the field trip. I asked if the little guy he plays with at recess most days was there as I never saw him talk to him but Seth said, "Yeah, I just didn't want to bother him." So funny! He just hung out with the other little boy who rode in our car. And on the way back to school they made big plans to play together the following week. It all seems so easy at 5! I'm definitely looking forward to more field trips!
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Blip...
Since I'm dreadful about posting anything of substance (you should see the number of non-published posts I have just waiting for me to tweak them with an edit or two), maybe I should just plan to procrastinate on fixing dinner every night by sharing a little blip from our day. Here's today's...
I picked Seth up from school today. We got about 5 minutes down the road and he announced he was going to marry [little girl in his class]. Umm, okay. This is the first time he's mentioned marriage so I perked up a bit. Nevermind that generally I'm attempting my best cross examination to get any information out of him and by about this point in the trip he announces that he just needs some quiet.
So, I asked why they had decided to get married. He responded that they both had gardens at home - a generous description on Seth's part of some tomatoes and not so healthy looking onions, but I digress. Anyway, they both have gardens and liked them and figured they could be farmers. Together. If they can find each other again when they are older.
I let it go, as Seth doesn't like when I dwell on any one subject for too long.
So, once we were at home I waited awhile and braved the conversation again and asked how the two of them decided on this plan. I was just trying to figure out how we got from produce that Seth refuses to eat to a lifetime commitment. He looked at me and said, "Mom, we walked into class together." As though this meant automatic bethrothal.
So, I'm still a bit perplexed. But, Seth's not always overly nice to me. Perhaps a fiancee will soften his attitude toward his Mama?
I picked Seth up from school today. We got about 5 minutes down the road and he announced he was going to marry [little girl in his class]. Umm, okay. This is the first time he's mentioned marriage so I perked up a bit. Nevermind that generally I'm attempting my best cross examination to get any information out of him and by about this point in the trip he announces that he just needs some quiet.
So, I asked why they had decided to get married. He responded that they both had gardens at home - a generous description on Seth's part of some tomatoes and not so healthy looking onions, but I digress. Anyway, they both have gardens and liked them and figured they could be farmers. Together. If they can find each other again when they are older.
I let it go, as Seth doesn't like when I dwell on any one subject for too long.
So, once we were at home I waited awhile and braved the conversation again and asked how the two of them decided on this plan. I was just trying to figure out how we got from produce that Seth refuses to eat to a lifetime commitment. He looked at me and said, "Mom, we walked into class together." As though this meant automatic bethrothal.
So, I'm still a bit perplexed. But, Seth's not always overly nice to me. Perhaps a fiancee will soften his attitude toward his Mama?
Monday, September 26, 2011
True Story...
I have a meeting for Seth's school tonight. Dave worked all day and then went to the gym on the way home. We will pretty much be passing each other at the door. I've been working finishing up a couple of little projects this afternoon. So, dinner becomes a hodge podge of, unfortunately, junk - more or less.
So, my conversation with Luke went like this...
Me: Luke, do you want chicken sticks or a corn dog for dinner.
Luke: Light orange. [Seriously, that was the answer and I have NO idea to what question!]
Me: That's not an answer to chicken sticks or corn dog. You have to choose one or the other.
Luke: One or the other.
ugh
So, my conversation with Luke went like this...
Me: Luke, do you want chicken sticks or a corn dog for dinner.
Luke: Light orange. [Seriously, that was the answer and I have NO idea to what question!]
Me: That's not an answer to chicken sticks or corn dog. You have to choose one or the other.
Luke: One or the other.
ugh
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Some days are easier than others...
I know I have a great "job." I know there are many many people who envy me (well, not me, but stay at home moms in general). I have three sweet and wonderful boys; a husband who works hard so that I can be at home with these awesome little people; a house to live in; food to eat (even if I HATE the grocery store); and on and on. But, some days are just better than others. Yesterday fell into the 'not so hot' category...
It started like any other day. Got up, got the older two boys up, got their breakfast, supervised tooth brushing and dressing, got shoes on, and sent Seth off to school via the Daddy school bus. Luke watched some television while I mopped the kitchen floor and cleaned a few other things. Then I got myself ready. Next up, I cleaned out some of Luke's clothes that are too small and put them in a tote. Finally, I got Max up and fed and dressed, and eventually we headed out to pick up Seth at school.
Dave had called and said gasoline prices were going up (he'd driven by two different gas stations, one with prices about a quarter higher), so to fill up if I needed to and could still find cheaper gas on my way to get Seth. The cheaper station was on my way to get Seth so we swung by their and it had already gone up. Knew I could find another on the way home so we went on to school and got Seth.
Drove by another gas station, already the higher prices. Drove by a third - they were all basically on my way so I wasn't really insanely driving the gas out of my car to save a couple of dollars. My third and final option had the cheaper gas. And most of the southside was there filling up on gas. I pulled right up to the pump and got my gasoline. No problem. It was leaving that caused a small problem. There was a lady that really wanted my pump. But she blocked me in. So, I sat. This was no big deal - she finally moved. But, Luke's observations were hysterical. He said, "Oooh, she's grumpy." I asked why he thought that and he said, "Her mouth is gruuuuuuuuuuumpy!" And he was right - she had the biggest scowl. But, it was funny to hear a 3 year old calling her out. (well, not to her face, as that would've been rude and not amusing)
So, we head home. This is how returning home from picking Seth up goes: Every. Single. Day. I pull into the garage. Seth is in a booster seat, using a regular seat belt so he can just unstrap and jump out. Luke is in a carseat and needs help unlatching it - there's a lever on the side, etc. So, Seth jumps out of his seat and Luke puts his feet up to block Seth so that Seth can't get out first. Seth breaks through while Luke kicks and screams. Seth runs to the back of the car and checks to be sure the van is in far enough to close the garage door. Luke folds his arms across his chest and pouts (making it nearly impossible for me to unbuckle him), because HE wants to check that the car is in far enough. Every. Single. Day.
This day, after above scenario played out, we headed inside and the boys started playing. I think Seth and Luke really miss each other all morning and they are currently obsessed with the bigger lego blocks so they immediately started building. And then they both wanted one particular block, which there are probably 20 of, but the other 19 would not do. Then there was fighting and screaming and crying. I don't know who had the block first. Nor do I care as the blocks are plentiful. But, Luke (yes, the younger one) came after Seth (yes, the older one) and sent Seth into an [I'm tired because I've been at school learning and playing all morning] tailspin during which Seth announced that he would like for Luke to be sold at a garage sale. Ugh.
I threw together some lunch, clinging to the hope that everyone would just eat and then go rest peacefully. I was noticing that the earlier mopped kitchen floor was still not clean so I wanted to mop again but there are no doors to close everyone out of the the kitchen so I can't do it when everyone is up, especially not Max. So, I got the boys their lunch. Luke had his head down on the table part of the time and I let myself get all excited about how he was going to take a great nap. Max always naps and Seth plays (semi) quietly in my bedroom, so I was looking forward to some quiet mopping time. How pitiful is that that I was looking forward to mopping time?
Anyway, I got everyone settled into bed and it became apparent that Luke, who chose to go to bed in only his t-shirt and underwear, was not going to sleep. And that's okay, but we are really working on Luke staying in his room quietly for awhile. It's a good break for all of us and he can be in his room looking at books or playing quietly with cars. Luke just isn't good at staying in his room. I had to stop mopping/tidying multiple times to get him back into his room. Finally, I could hear him (there's a monitor in their room) talking and playing. I was so glad he had finally settled down and was staying put in his room.
Then I heard his door open. I went to the stairs and saw him standing at the top of the stairs. My view looking up from the bottom of the stairs? Luke. In a t-shirt and underwear. Slathered in shiny oil. Looking like a well-greased three year old body builder. Holding the bottle of Vitamin E oil. Giving me his sheepish grin and a little, "I got some on me." Uh, ya think? I told him to march back into his room. Then it occurred to me that he was going to get everything in his path greasy. I quickly ran up the stairs to his room and told him to stand still. That's when I noticed he had pulled the tote of clothes over to his dresser and stood on the tote to get the basket of band-aids and first aid supplies. He opened maybe 25 band-aids (checking out the pictures, I assume). There were at least that many more unopened all over the floor. I grabbed baby wipes and started wiping his legs - only to discover that it was doing absolutely nothing except sliding down his leg. Bathtime! I ushered him to the bathroom and got him undressed. I didn't think to take a picture until then and it wasn't appropriate so we skipped it. I bathed him and put him in my room with Seth, turned the television on and instructed the two of them NOT to move.
Next, I went down and googled how to get the oil out of the carpet. Dishwashing liquid was mentioned repeatedly so I grabbed a plastic cup, some Dawn, hot water, and an old towel. I was down on my hands and needs scrubbing the oil out of the carpet when his little face appeared in the doorway. He looked at me and very sweetly said, "I think I have poop in my underwear." WHAT?!?
Back to the bathroom to clean up again.
Back to the bedroom to finish scrubbing the carpet.
Next up was Seth's I-don't-want-your-help-with-my-homework.-I-wan't-Daddy-instead rant. Oh goodness. He's five. It's kindergarten. It's writing his name four times. What will this scene look like when it's algebra?
We made it through dinner and Seth was in an oddly agreeable mood for that. Thanked me for making dinner and raved about how great it was. He even told Luke that Luke was missing out by not eating it. It was meatloaf. Bizarre.
I was excited that it was my scheduled walking night. I'm a stress eater and the donut holes and I had had a rough afternoon. See above. We decided to do our usual - Gretch picks mom up, they drive to my house, we all walk mom a couple of miles back to her apartment, and then Gretch and I walk back to my house - usually through some neighborhoods, etc.
Gretch came in the door and said it was National Chocolate Day and we should just go for coffee. I have really been wanting another Salted Caramel Mocha since I tried it last week and the idea didn't sound half bad! I think we all wanted to, but no one wanted to be the one to opt for high calorie drinks rather than exercise. So, we set out for our walk. It seemed really dark. Darker than usual. Maybe just because it's getting darker earlier and it used to be a little light when we started. But last night it was not light at all. My neighborhood was fine. Next we have to walk on a main road. There's a little stretch with no sidewalk and I forgot my tiny flashlight. No big deal. We got over to the part with the sidewalk just fine. The sidewalk is pretty far off the road so the traffic isn't a problem. But there are not many lights on the main road. Actually, when I drive home that way I often think about how dark it is and how crazy we must look.
We were not far down the road when a car drove by and honked. We get a lot of that. Usually rusty old beat up clunker cars whose drivers must have nothing better to do than annoy people who are out exercising. But, this horn sounded odd and when it drove by it was a police car. And not a beeping horn but more of the siren/horn. We were annoyed that a police officer would honk to annoy us. And then he started shining his spotlight ahead of us on the side of the road, in the trees, on the sidewalk, etc. The dark and the police freaked us all out and we took a vote and opted to turn around, avoid the area where he was shining the light, and head back to my house. We walked 1.25 miles. Whoo hoo.
I was so mad that we got scared by a police car. And a police spotlight. And then after a little visit in my kitchen, sans coffee, my sister took my mom home, where there were multiple police cars at the entrance to my parents' apartment. So, it's back to the indoors and the treadmill for us! My parents move starts this week so we are hoping their new neighborhood might be better lit and more suitable for walking.
All that to say, some days are just easier than others!
It started like any other day. Got up, got the older two boys up, got their breakfast, supervised tooth brushing and dressing, got shoes on, and sent Seth off to school via the Daddy school bus. Luke watched some television while I mopped the kitchen floor and cleaned a few other things. Then I got myself ready. Next up, I cleaned out some of Luke's clothes that are too small and put them in a tote. Finally, I got Max up and fed and dressed, and eventually we headed out to pick up Seth at school.
Dave had called and said gasoline prices were going up (he'd driven by two different gas stations, one with prices about a quarter higher), so to fill up if I needed to and could still find cheaper gas on my way to get Seth. The cheaper station was on my way to get Seth so we swung by their and it had already gone up. Knew I could find another on the way home so we went on to school and got Seth.
Drove by another gas station, already the higher prices. Drove by a third - they were all basically on my way so I wasn't really insanely driving the gas out of my car to save a couple of dollars. My third and final option had the cheaper gas. And most of the southside was there filling up on gas. I pulled right up to the pump and got my gasoline. No problem. It was leaving that caused a small problem. There was a lady that really wanted my pump. But she blocked me in. So, I sat. This was no big deal - she finally moved. But, Luke's observations were hysterical. He said, "Oooh, she's grumpy." I asked why he thought that and he said, "Her mouth is gruuuuuuuuuuumpy!" And he was right - she had the biggest scowl. But, it was funny to hear a 3 year old calling her out. (well, not to her face, as that would've been rude and not amusing)
So, we head home. This is how returning home from picking Seth up goes: Every. Single. Day. I pull into the garage. Seth is in a booster seat, using a regular seat belt so he can just unstrap and jump out. Luke is in a carseat and needs help unlatching it - there's a lever on the side, etc. So, Seth jumps out of his seat and Luke puts his feet up to block Seth so that Seth can't get out first. Seth breaks through while Luke kicks and screams. Seth runs to the back of the car and checks to be sure the van is in far enough to close the garage door. Luke folds his arms across his chest and pouts (making it nearly impossible for me to unbuckle him), because HE wants to check that the car is in far enough. Every. Single. Day.
This day, after above scenario played out, we headed inside and the boys started playing. I think Seth and Luke really miss each other all morning and they are currently obsessed with the bigger lego blocks so they immediately started building. And then they both wanted one particular block, which there are probably 20 of, but the other 19 would not do. Then there was fighting and screaming and crying. I don't know who had the block first. Nor do I care as the blocks are plentiful. But, Luke (yes, the younger one) came after Seth (yes, the older one) and sent Seth into an [I'm tired because I've been at school learning and playing all morning] tailspin during which Seth announced that he would like for Luke to be sold at a garage sale. Ugh.
I threw together some lunch, clinging to the hope that everyone would just eat and then go rest peacefully. I was noticing that the earlier mopped kitchen floor was still not clean so I wanted to mop again but there are no doors to close everyone out of the the kitchen so I can't do it when everyone is up, especially not Max. So, I got the boys their lunch. Luke had his head down on the table part of the time and I let myself get all excited about how he was going to take a great nap. Max always naps and Seth plays (semi) quietly in my bedroom, so I was looking forward to some quiet mopping time. How pitiful is that that I was looking forward to mopping time?
Anyway, I got everyone settled into bed and it became apparent that Luke, who chose to go to bed in only his t-shirt and underwear, was not going to sleep. And that's okay, but we are really working on Luke staying in his room quietly for awhile. It's a good break for all of us and he can be in his room looking at books or playing quietly with cars. Luke just isn't good at staying in his room. I had to stop mopping/tidying multiple times to get him back into his room. Finally, I could hear him (there's a monitor in their room) talking and playing. I was so glad he had finally settled down and was staying put in his room.
Then I heard his door open. I went to the stairs and saw him standing at the top of the stairs. My view looking up from the bottom of the stairs? Luke. In a t-shirt and underwear. Slathered in shiny oil. Looking like a well-greased three year old body builder. Holding the bottle of Vitamin E oil. Giving me his sheepish grin and a little, "I got some on me." Uh, ya think? I told him to march back into his room. Then it occurred to me that he was going to get everything in his path greasy. I quickly ran up the stairs to his room and told him to stand still. That's when I noticed he had pulled the tote of clothes over to his dresser and stood on the tote to get the basket of band-aids and first aid supplies. He opened maybe 25 band-aids (checking out the pictures, I assume). There were at least that many more unopened all over the floor. I grabbed baby wipes and started wiping his legs - only to discover that it was doing absolutely nothing except sliding down his leg. Bathtime! I ushered him to the bathroom and got him undressed. I didn't think to take a picture until then and it wasn't appropriate so we skipped it. I bathed him and put him in my room with Seth, turned the television on and instructed the two of them NOT to move.
Next, I went down and googled how to get the oil out of the carpet. Dishwashing liquid was mentioned repeatedly so I grabbed a plastic cup, some Dawn, hot water, and an old towel. I was down on my hands and needs scrubbing the oil out of the carpet when his little face appeared in the doorway. He looked at me and very sweetly said, "I think I have poop in my underwear." WHAT?!?
Back to the bathroom to clean up again.
Back to the bedroom to finish scrubbing the carpet.
Next up was Seth's I-don't-want-your-help-with-my-homework.-I-wan't-Daddy-instead rant. Oh goodness. He's five. It's kindergarten. It's writing his name four times. What will this scene look like when it's algebra?
We made it through dinner and Seth was in an oddly agreeable mood for that. Thanked me for making dinner and raved about how great it was. He even told Luke that Luke was missing out by not eating it. It was meatloaf. Bizarre.
I was excited that it was my scheduled walking night. I'm a stress eater and the donut holes and I had had a rough afternoon. See above. We decided to do our usual - Gretch picks mom up, they drive to my house, we all walk mom a couple of miles back to her apartment, and then Gretch and I walk back to my house - usually through some neighborhoods, etc.
Gretch came in the door and said it was National Chocolate Day and we should just go for coffee. I have really been wanting another Salted Caramel Mocha since I tried it last week and the idea didn't sound half bad! I think we all wanted to, but no one wanted to be the one to opt for high calorie drinks rather than exercise. So, we set out for our walk. It seemed really dark. Darker than usual. Maybe just because it's getting darker earlier and it used to be a little light when we started. But last night it was not light at all. My neighborhood was fine. Next we have to walk on a main road. There's a little stretch with no sidewalk and I forgot my tiny flashlight. No big deal. We got over to the part with the sidewalk just fine. The sidewalk is pretty far off the road so the traffic isn't a problem. But there are not many lights on the main road. Actually, when I drive home that way I often think about how dark it is and how crazy we must look.
We were not far down the road when a car drove by and honked. We get a lot of that. Usually rusty old beat up clunker cars whose drivers must have nothing better to do than annoy people who are out exercising. But, this horn sounded odd and when it drove by it was a police car. And not a beeping horn but more of the siren/horn. We were annoyed that a police officer would honk to annoy us. And then he started shining his spotlight ahead of us on the side of the road, in the trees, on the sidewalk, etc. The dark and the police freaked us all out and we took a vote and opted to turn around, avoid the area where he was shining the light, and head back to my house. We walked 1.25 miles. Whoo hoo.
I was so mad that we got scared by a police car. And a police spotlight. And then after a little visit in my kitchen, sans coffee, my sister took my mom home, where there were multiple police cars at the entrance to my parents' apartment. So, it's back to the indoors and the treadmill for us! My parents move starts this week so we are hoping their new neighborhood might be better lit and more suitable for walking.
All that to say, some days are just easier than others!
Friday, September 9, 2011
Too good not to share
I have two new favorite recipes that I feel I must share. These do not belong on a weight loss program, but rather a little splurge day. Personally, I think they're great together, but I have a serious sweet tooth - most of you would probably have that too-much-sugar toothache...
Drink
First up is iced coffee. It's insanely good and easy. With the right creamer you'll think you paid $5 for your afternoon treat. It's a Pioneer Woman recipe. I can't think of anything of hers that I have not loved! I tweaked the amounts because she makes 2 gallons at at time and even I can't drink it that fast, and I added a little flavoring...
While it's chilling go out and buy yourself one of those nice insulated cold cups with the screw on lid and nice heavy straw. That's the only thing I can make mine in, proportionally speaking. Once the coffee is cold, fill your cup 2/3 full of ice. Add coffee nearly to the top. Add 2 tablespoons of sweetened condensed milk and 1 generous tablespoon of your favorite liquid coffee creamer. I prefer the caramel, but that's just me. French vanilla is nice too. Give it all a good stir, send the kiddos to their rooms, and enjoy five minutes of 'me' time.
It's awesome because, while it takes a little while, there's really not much to it. AND, I have this odd mental block where sometimes I get everyone settled for an afternoon rest and I think, "ooh, now I can go get some coffee." Umm, yeah. I've never actually left them (obviously) and the thought never lasts for more than about half a second, but now I don't have to feel guilty about those little mental lapses when "go get some coffee" just means walk out into the garage!
Snack
Okay, brace yourselves. This is my new favorite snack - s'mores caramel corn. The boys love it on movie night. But it would also be fantastic in goody bags, all prettied up with ribbon and bows. Anyway, it's my favorite caramel corn recipe (thanks Jackie!) with some additional ingredients from here. Follow the caramel corn recipe, but take about 2 cups of puffcorn out of the bag before you start. You need a nibble while you're making it anyway. After the caramel corn is done (the 45 minutes of baking and stirring), remove from oven and add in 3 1/2 cups of mini marshmallows and 2 1/2 cups of golden grahams cereal. Place the pan back in the oven for 2-3 minutes. Take it out and stir. The marshmallows should get all gooey and no longer look like little round marshmallows, but rather little ribbons of marshmallowey goodness.
Rather than just spreading it out on parchment paper, line a jelly roll pan with parchment paper and then spread it out. Heat some chocolate. I prefer the Baker's cup of chocolate because it's super easy - you just pop it in the microwave in the bowl it comes in and voila. Drizzle this over the top and then stick it in the fridge for the chocolate to set (hence the jelly roll pan rather than just the parchment paper). After it's all set I store it in a big ziploc in the fridge. Not that it needs much storing between Dave and the three boys (yes, Max is a fan) and me. I'm the worst, I will confess!
So, there you have it - a snack and a drink. Or lunch as I've been known to call it on a rough day!
Drink
First up is iced coffee. It's insanely good and easy. With the right creamer you'll think you paid $5 for your afternoon treat. It's a Pioneer Woman recipe. I can't think of anything of hers that I have not loved! I tweaked the amounts because she makes 2 gallons at at time and even I can't drink it that fast, and I added a little flavoring...
Start with a container that will seal up nice and tight, to avoid a big mess. I use 2 cups of coffee grounds (folgers decaf for me). Put that in the container and then pour 3 quarts of cold water over the top. Seal it up and let it sit for around 10 hours. Did I mention patience is a virtue? After about 10 hours, grab a pitcher, a ladle, funnel, and a gallon jug. Strain through doubled up cheesecloth into the first pitcher. Then strain a second time by pouring through another piece of doubled up cheesecloth into the funnel and into the gallon jug. Now, put the lid on and put it in the refrigerator until it's nice and cold. Patience, patience.
While it's chilling go out and buy yourself one of those nice insulated cold cups with the screw on lid and nice heavy straw. That's the only thing I can make mine in, proportionally speaking. Once the coffee is cold, fill your cup 2/3 full of ice. Add coffee nearly to the top. Add 2 tablespoons of sweetened condensed milk and 1 generous tablespoon of your favorite liquid coffee creamer. I prefer the caramel, but that's just me. French vanilla is nice too. Give it all a good stir, send the kiddos to their rooms, and enjoy five minutes of 'me' time.
It's awesome because, while it takes a little while, there's really not much to it. AND, I have this odd mental block where sometimes I get everyone settled for an afternoon rest and I think, "ooh, now I can go get some coffee." Umm, yeah. I've never actually left them (obviously) and the thought never lasts for more than about half a second, but now I don't have to feel guilty about those little mental lapses when "go get some coffee" just means walk out into the garage!
Snack
Okay, brace yourselves. This is my new favorite snack - s'mores caramel corn. The boys love it on movie night. But it would also be fantastic in goody bags, all prettied up with ribbon and bows. Anyway, it's my favorite caramel corn recipe (thanks Jackie!) with some additional ingredients from here. Follow the caramel corn recipe, but take about 2 cups of puffcorn out of the bag before you start. You need a nibble while you're making it anyway. After the caramel corn is done (the 45 minutes of baking and stirring), remove from oven and add in 3 1/2 cups of mini marshmallows and 2 1/2 cups of golden grahams cereal. Place the pan back in the oven for 2-3 minutes. Take it out and stir. The marshmallows should get all gooey and no longer look like little round marshmallows, but rather little ribbons of marshmallowey goodness.
Rather than just spreading it out on parchment paper, line a jelly roll pan with parchment paper and then spread it out. Heat some chocolate. I prefer the Baker's cup of chocolate because it's super easy - you just pop it in the microwave in the bowl it comes in and voila. Drizzle this over the top and then stick it in the fridge for the chocolate to set (hence the jelly roll pan rather than just the parchment paper). After it's all set I store it in a big ziploc in the fridge. Not that it needs much storing between Dave and the three boys (yes, Max is a fan) and me. I'm the worst, I will confess! So, there you have it - a snack and a drink. Or lunch as I've been known to call it on a rough day!
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
13.1
Pre race:
Our "little" adventure started Friday afternoon when Gretchen and I headed downtown to pick up our race packets. We talked on the way about our concerns - oversleeping, the heat, and finishing last. There was no line to get our bibs (were we planning to drool? no, silly - it's the big tag with your number on it) and shirts (to wear that day? oh, no way, as they are long sleeved and it was H!O!T!). It was an all female event and they had some students from a local beauty school there doing free manis and hand massages, etc. so we took advantage of the mani. [Side note, when I got home Seth noticed my nail polish color had changed! I ALWAYS have on nail polish so for him to notice the color difference was funny to me!] We made plans to text each other at 5:15 in the morning, hoping we would worry less about oversleeping that way.
I can't recap Gretchen's night but mine wasn't what I had hoped. I didn't get dinner until almost 9pm. And I definitely didn't get to bed quite as early as I had planned. Once in bed I slept okay for awhile. Then something woke me around 4. I looked at the clock at 4:15 and then I laid there for what felt like forever, thinking of the heat, my two experiences of passing out when I was too hot (when I was much younger), and how much faster everyone else would be than me. It felt like I had been lying there forever. I checked the clock again. It was 4:20. Argh! I laid there until 5:15, never really sleeping again. At 5:15 we texted each other.
My text to her: Good morning?
Her text to me: Hello Sunshine!!
Clearly she seemed more enthused than me. Turns out she was just trying to psyche herself up! We met at my house at 6am and my dad came over to drive us downtown. Thanks, Daddy! It was great to not have to worry about parking (downtown is like one big orange barricade) and not to have an extra car to drive home after it was over.
Race:
There was an opening ceremony at 6:30, but we were too nervous and thought it was a good time to hit the bathrooms one last time. I knew there would be portable toilets along the route. I also knew that if I stopped moving completely after about the halfway point, I wouldn't be able to start walking again!
The mayor started the race at 7am. There were less than 2000 participants so they didn't divide up into runners/walkers. It was a little intimidating as all the runners ran by and I started to feel like I was already in the very back (my fear of being last). After a few blocks though it seemed that we all got a bit more spread out and we were able to pass some people, which was a little boost to the ego. The one mile mark came really quickly. And then we figured out it was the actually the one km marker for the 5k race. [Their course was different so that was the only marker that was confusing]. You can see the course map here. There were volunteers at each mile marker calling out the time and we were pleased to find that we were right on pace with where we wanted to be. We were actually pleased for the entire race. There was also water or gatorade at every mile. We started out in the dark and it was overcast for a little while but it didn't take long for the sun to come out and it to get really warm, then really hot.
We picked out some women who were jogging and walking and decided to just sort of try to keep up with them. They got pretty far ahead of us at one point so we jogged to catch up and it felt really good to use some different muscles for awhile so we kept it up for just a little longer and passed them and we never saw them again. But there were some others that we set our sights on after that and just did the same thing of trying to keep up. Toward the end someone passed us and said she'd been pacing herself off of us the whole race so that made me feel like we were doing okay.
Around mile 10 we were walking through a downtown neighborhood and some woman was standing on the side of the road passing out ice cubes. I know, don't take candy from strangers. But, I wasn't putting it in my mouth, just holding it for a moment. I'm not even sure she had anything to do with the race itself, but she was very popular!
We really felt okay most of the time. We used our energy gel around 3 miles and it made me feel a little strange for just a few minutes. It has caffeine and I get a huge headache when I drink caffeine, but usually not right away. It was more of a spinny head feeling, but only for a little while and then I was good again. We had planned to do it at 3, 6, and 9 miles but we felt good at 6 miles, knowing the halfway point was so close so we skipped it then (probably not smart on our part). We both knew we were getting some blisters on our feet. And we were really warm but took advantage of the drinks at nearly every mile (small drinks to avoid that bathroom stop). But by mile 12 we were really having to work on the mental aspect of it all. We started to count down the blocks after the 12 mile marker. At about 12.5 miles a race official was on the side of the road alerting all that the race had been black flagged and we could "continue at our own risk." I hadn't seen anyone having a real issue with the heat and my mind starting racing to "are they all passing out at the finish line?" Or, "Is it the people behind us?" And then my countdown wasn't helping much anymore. Thankfully, the finish was very near where I had worked downtown so I knew that it was about a block to the turn and then after the turn it was a really long city block and then the finish line. Gretch wasn't as familiar with where we were and at about 12.8 miles she said, "I don't want to quit but I'm not sure I can make it." HUH??? I remember praying - a lot - that she could just hang in. I was worrying about the heat and she was feeling crummy so we slowed down a bit. My goal was to cross the finish line upright, not speed, so just getting there was all I cared about. I told her if she needed to puke, just to do it! But, she said she was okay. We rounded the corner and could see the finish in the distance. About halfway down the block, Gretchen spotted Matt and the kids and I think that really helped! Then I saw Dave and our boys and they were waving and smiling. They turned the clock off on the finish line just about the time we got there (because technically the race was cancelled/black flagged) and had to scan our chips for our time, which was annoying. They gave us our medals, a rose, and a bottle of water. My hands were so swollen that I couldn't get it open and I really considered asking any random person I could find but somehow Gretchen got hers open (her hands were equally swollen) so I had her open mine too. Then we got back to Matt and Dave and all the kids and our Mom.
As it turns out, our spectators did see people having to be helped across the finish line while they were waiting for us. Selfishly, I enjoyed watching some people finish after us, just so that I could say I wasn't last!
When we started the race I felt a little teary - as they said, "go" and I thought, "wow, I am doing this!" I really thought I might cry tears of joy when we were done. Turned out I was so exhausted it didn't even occur to me. Gretchen confessed partway through that when I suggested, earlier in the year, that we do this race she thought I was crazy. But, that being there and doing it, she no longer felt that way! I didn't ask her around mile 12 as I'm guessing she was back to thinking I was insane.
Our "little" adventure started Friday afternoon when Gretchen and I headed downtown to pick up our race packets. We talked on the way about our concerns - oversleeping, the heat, and finishing last. There was no line to get our bibs (were we planning to drool? no, silly - it's the big tag with your number on it) and shirts (to wear that day? oh, no way, as they are long sleeved and it was H!O!T!). It was an all female event and they had some students from a local beauty school there doing free manis and hand massages, etc. so we took advantage of the mani. [Side note, when I got home Seth noticed my nail polish color had changed! I ALWAYS have on nail polish so for him to notice the color difference was funny to me!] We made plans to text each other at 5:15 in the morning, hoping we would worry less about oversleeping that way.
I can't recap Gretchen's night but mine wasn't what I had hoped. I didn't get dinner until almost 9pm. And I definitely didn't get to bed quite as early as I had planned. Once in bed I slept okay for awhile. Then something woke me around 4. I looked at the clock at 4:15 and then I laid there for what felt like forever, thinking of the heat, my two experiences of passing out when I was too hot (when I was much younger), and how much faster everyone else would be than me. It felt like I had been lying there forever. I checked the clock again. It was 4:20. Argh! I laid there until 5:15, never really sleeping again. At 5:15 we texted each other.
My text to her: Good morning?
Her text to me: Hello Sunshine!!
Clearly she seemed more enthused than me. Turns out she was just trying to psyche herself up! We met at my house at 6am and my dad came over to drive us downtown. Thanks, Daddy! It was great to not have to worry about parking (downtown is like one big orange barricade) and not to have an extra car to drive home after it was over.
Race:
There was an opening ceremony at 6:30, but we were too nervous and thought it was a good time to hit the bathrooms one last time. I knew there would be portable toilets along the route. I also knew that if I stopped moving completely after about the halfway point, I wouldn't be able to start walking again!
The mayor started the race at 7am. There were less than 2000 participants so they didn't divide up into runners/walkers. It was a little intimidating as all the runners ran by and I started to feel like I was already in the very back (my fear of being last). After a few blocks though it seemed that we all got a bit more spread out and we were able to pass some people, which was a little boost to the ego. The one mile mark came really quickly. And then we figured out it was the actually the one km marker for the 5k race. [Their course was different so that was the only marker that was confusing]. You can see the course map here. There were volunteers at each mile marker calling out the time and we were pleased to find that we were right on pace with where we wanted to be. We were actually pleased for the entire race. There was also water or gatorade at every mile. We started out in the dark and it was overcast for a little while but it didn't take long for the sun to come out and it to get really warm, then really hot.
We picked out some women who were jogging and walking and decided to just sort of try to keep up with them. They got pretty far ahead of us at one point so we jogged to catch up and it felt really good to use some different muscles for awhile so we kept it up for just a little longer and passed them and we never saw them again. But there were some others that we set our sights on after that and just did the same thing of trying to keep up. Toward the end someone passed us and said she'd been pacing herself off of us the whole race so that made me feel like we were doing okay.
Around mile 10 we were walking through a downtown neighborhood and some woman was standing on the side of the road passing out ice cubes. I know, don't take candy from strangers. But, I wasn't putting it in my mouth, just holding it for a moment. I'm not even sure she had anything to do with the race itself, but she was very popular!
We really felt okay most of the time. We used our energy gel around 3 miles and it made me feel a little strange for just a few minutes. It has caffeine and I get a huge headache when I drink caffeine, but usually not right away. It was more of a spinny head feeling, but only for a little while and then I was good again. We had planned to do it at 3, 6, and 9 miles but we felt good at 6 miles, knowing the halfway point was so close so we skipped it then (probably not smart on our part). We both knew we were getting some blisters on our feet. And we were really warm but took advantage of the drinks at nearly every mile (small drinks to avoid that bathroom stop). But by mile 12 we were really having to work on the mental aspect of it all. We started to count down the blocks after the 12 mile marker. At about 12.5 miles a race official was on the side of the road alerting all that the race had been black flagged and we could "continue at our own risk." I hadn't seen anyone having a real issue with the heat and my mind starting racing to "are they all passing out at the finish line?" Or, "Is it the people behind us?" And then my countdown wasn't helping much anymore. Thankfully, the finish was very near where I had worked downtown so I knew that it was about a block to the turn and then after the turn it was a really long city block and then the finish line. Gretch wasn't as familiar with where we were and at about 12.8 miles she said, "I don't want to quit but I'm not sure I can make it." HUH??? I remember praying - a lot - that she could just hang in. I was worrying about the heat and she was feeling crummy so we slowed down a bit. My goal was to cross the finish line upright, not speed, so just getting there was all I cared about. I told her if she needed to puke, just to do it! But, she said she was okay. We rounded the corner and could see the finish in the distance. About halfway down the block, Gretchen spotted Matt and the kids and I think that really helped! Then I saw Dave and our boys and they were waving and smiling. They turned the clock off on the finish line just about the time we got there (because technically the race was cancelled/black flagged) and had to scan our chips for our time, which was annoying. They gave us our medals, a rose, and a bottle of water. My hands were so swollen that I couldn't get it open and I really considered asking any random person I could find but somehow Gretchen got hers open (her hands were equally swollen) so I had her open mine too. Then we got back to Matt and Dave and all the kids and our Mom.
As it turns out, our spectators did see people having to be helped across the finish line while they were waiting for us. Selfishly, I enjoyed watching some people finish after us, just so that I could say I wasn't last!
When we started the race I felt a little teary - as they said, "go" and I thought, "wow, I am doing this!" I really thought I might cry tears of joy when we were done. Turned out I was so exhausted it didn't even occur to me. Gretchen confessed partway through that when I suggested, earlier in the year, that we do this race she thought I was crazy. But, that being there and doing it, she no longer felt that way! I didn't ask her around mile 12 as I'm guessing she was back to thinking I was insane.
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| Finish line! |
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| Melting. The car thermometer read 95 degrees on the drive home. Ick. |
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| With all the kiddos except Max, who was very content in his stroller. It was really special that our hubbies brought the kids down to see us cross the finish line! |
Post Race:
I'm glad to say that other than my feet I felt okay the next day. Two toes hurt and I had one real blister. Other than that, I was sore, but not in a bad way. Dave was awesome. We had plans Saturday night so he let me/made me rest in the afternoon. Sunday we had my parents and Gretch and her family over for a little celebration lunch. Then later in the afternoon we all napped. It was rainy and cool and perfect for a nap!
Now, time to get back to it. Unfortunately, my little toes are still very sore. They hurt a lot when I wear my walking shoes. Boo!
Friday, September 2, 2011
An Open Letter
Dear Miserable Heat,
Well, you've hung around all summer. You've been a tireless companion, breaking records with all of those days you wanted to love on us. You've caused me to stay inside more than I would have liked. You've likely led to a vitamin D deficiency, which has likely made me a less pleasant person. You've caused me to mutter, "It's just too hot out," more times than I care to recall. You've caused my children to be stuck in the house, learning new wrestling techniques to make me crazy (er).
I tolerated it when you insisted that you go on vacation with me. You even tagged along on my girls trip, causing me to melt five minutes after spending an hour getting all dressed up.
The electric company thanks you for the boost to their economy. The water company didn't even want to deal with you anymore, asking us to just let our grass burn to a brown crisp.
But now, I have a small request. I've been (sort of) patient. I've tried to tolerate your constant presence. However, I beg of you, SLEEP IN tomorrow morning. I know, I know - you can't just stay away, even if it is September. However, it's a small request. I need a few overcast few hours to walk a smidge over 13 miles. After that, I will likely collapse into a heap on my couch, at which time you can go back to wreaking havoc, because once again I will be hiding in the air conditioning.
Smooches, Cara
Well, you've hung around all summer. You've been a tireless companion, breaking records with all of those days you wanted to love on us. You've caused me to stay inside more than I would have liked. You've likely led to a vitamin D deficiency, which has likely made me a less pleasant person. You've caused me to mutter, "It's just too hot out," more times than I care to recall. You've caused my children to be stuck in the house, learning new wrestling techniques to make me crazy (er).
I tolerated it when you insisted that you go on vacation with me. You even tagged along on my girls trip, causing me to melt five minutes after spending an hour getting all dressed up.
The electric company thanks you for the boost to their economy. The water company didn't even want to deal with you anymore, asking us to just let our grass burn to a brown crisp.
But now, I have a small request. I've been (sort of) patient. I've tried to tolerate your constant presence. However, I beg of you, SLEEP IN tomorrow morning. I know, I know - you can't just stay away, even if it is September. However, it's a small request. I need a few overcast few hours to walk a smidge over 13 miles. After that, I will likely collapse into a heap on my couch, at which time you can go back to wreaking havoc, because once again I will be hiding in the air conditioning.
Smooches, Cara
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Pix
Well, I officially outgrew my album for 2011. So, I now have two albums to divide it into. It's kind of exciting to me to think that I have that many memories of the year. I am already thinking of how I want to change things a little for 2012, but I am definitely going to continue the process. Unfortunately, I've been a real picture slacker this week so I need to get back on it!
Here are a few of my recent faves:
Here are a few of my recent faves:
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| The baby elephant at the zoo. The boys and I went the day Dave left for his lake trip. It was my attempt at diverting and wearing them out. |
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| Cherry tomatoes from our garden, cradled in sweet little hands. |
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| S'mores caramel corn. No explanation necessary. |
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| At the fair. Seth and Luke enjoyed touching all of the animals. |
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| Seth's first day of school. Actually, Seth's first few minutes of kindergarten. We were asked to drop him off in the car line, but then we could meet him in his classroom for pictures. I love his sweet expression of genuine joy to be back at it. |
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| Some days, it is just too much trouble to stay awake for lunch. I feel like, with school starting and a little schedule change here and there, we are all living life in this ready-to-crash mode. Hoping we get adjusted quickly. |
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| My Grandma and Dad at their birthday party. Their special days are just one day apart so the whole fam went out to dinner - 17 of us. Well, 16 of us and Luke, who accounted for about 4 extra kids that night. He was in rare form and we didn't last the whole time. |
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| Luke, waiting for the cookies to bake in the oven. |
Friday, August 26, 2011
PTSD?
Well, the computer has been down more than it has been up lately. I have been frustrated, annoyed, and now scared to even use it for fear of breaking it again. Argh. As a result, there are many fun things to catch up and, probably, some honest thoughts to share. But, for the moment, this is what's on my mind (or in my gut).
Six years ago Hurricane Katrina ravaged the southern portion of the US and every news story was about the death, destruction, sadness, etc. I was barely pregnant with Seth and so very sick - puking many times a day for weeks and weeks. Ick. I didn't realize how much these events were linked in my head (gut?).
But now as part of the country braces for a possible hurricane, everytime I see a hurricane related news story, I can feel that same sick feeling in my stomach. I am not (I repeat am NOT) pregnant. And I do not feel sick to the point of actually puking. It's just very very odd to me that just a news story can cause those sorts of feelings.
I am not minimizing 'real' post traumatic stress whatsoever. Actually, as long as I'm sharing...
When I worked for the prosecutor's office, one of our courtrooms was this little tiny oddly placed room. We were all in court one day. The judge sat at a long narrow table just one step up from everyone else. The bailiff sat to his right and the paralegal sat immediately to his left and I was seated the next seat over, at the end of the table. The prosecutor (not me, I was still in school) stood in front of the judge with the parties. As we sat there we could hear glass shattering. It's a busy building and that seemed odd but didn't directly affect us so we just went on. Then all of a sudden there was a loud disturbance in the room next to us. That room was accessible via a never-used door right by my chair. There was a different door that was actually used by the public to enter our courtroom. At that point, the prosecutor - a big guy - walked over to open the door and see what was going on next door. From my chair by the door I had a front row seat of a handful of deputies, guns drawn, attempting to apprehend the defendent (from a different courtroom) who had just ran through a locked glass door and was attempting to throw himself out of a closed second story window.
All that to say, for the longest time any kind of breaking glass absolutely freaked me out. And no, neither of those stories has any point, but it's my blog - I can do that, right? How about you? Any PTSD you'd like to share?
Six years ago Hurricane Katrina ravaged the southern portion of the US and every news story was about the death, destruction, sadness, etc. I was barely pregnant with Seth and so very sick - puking many times a day for weeks and weeks. Ick. I didn't realize how much these events were linked in my head (gut?).
But now as part of the country braces for a possible hurricane, everytime I see a hurricane related news story, I can feel that same sick feeling in my stomach. I am not (I repeat am NOT) pregnant. And I do not feel sick to the point of actually puking. It's just very very odd to me that just a news story can cause those sorts of feelings.
I am not minimizing 'real' post traumatic stress whatsoever. Actually, as long as I'm sharing...
When I worked for the prosecutor's office, one of our courtrooms was this little tiny oddly placed room. We were all in court one day. The judge sat at a long narrow table just one step up from everyone else. The bailiff sat to his right and the paralegal sat immediately to his left and I was seated the next seat over, at the end of the table. The prosecutor (not me, I was still in school) stood in front of the judge with the parties. As we sat there we could hear glass shattering. It's a busy building and that seemed odd but didn't directly affect us so we just went on. Then all of a sudden there was a loud disturbance in the room next to us. That room was accessible via a never-used door right by my chair. There was a different door that was actually used by the public to enter our courtroom. At that point, the prosecutor - a big guy - walked over to open the door and see what was going on next door. From my chair by the door I had a front row seat of a handful of deputies, guns drawn, attempting to apprehend the defendent (from a different courtroom) who had just ran through a locked glass door and was attempting to throw himself out of a closed second story window.
All that to say, for the longest time any kind of breaking glass absolutely freaked me out. And no, neither of those stories has any point, but it's my blog - I can do that, right? How about you? Any PTSD you'd like to share?
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
I'm here, I'm here....
Yikes! I guess it's not really been that long since I last blogged. It just feels like forever because I was unable to, maybe?
See, my computer died. And while I could spend lots of time here droning on about how much I dislike the company that makes our computer or our internet provider, I'll skip that and opt to be a nicer person.
So, what have you all missed in my absence? Not much really. Dave got his little vacation/escape/guys' trip to the lake. I actually found it was MUCH easier for me to solo parent for those few days knowing that Dave had just survived the same thing. However, in addition to Dave being gone, my sister and her family went on vacation and my parents joined them for a couple of days. All of these vacations overlapped so I was completely solo for a few days. It was during that time that the computer/internet stopped working! Argh - no one to call and I couldn't even socially network. Thankfully, Lynette and her kiddos came over one day which definitely broke up the boring (thank you!!).
So, now we're up and running and I have about seven posts swirling around in my head, which will likely never be posted. Maybe written, but never posted. I do a lot of that - therapeutic writing, only to delete it later. Who knows? Maybe someday I'll get brave and post them.
But, for now, I'm just going to share some photos of a recent outing (?) that the boys enjoyed with David...
See, my computer died. And while I could spend lots of time here droning on about how much I dislike the company that makes our computer or our internet provider, I'll skip that and opt to be a nicer person.
So, what have you all missed in my absence? Not much really. Dave got his little vacation/escape/guys' trip to the lake. I actually found it was MUCH easier for me to solo parent for those few days knowing that Dave had just survived the same thing. However, in addition to Dave being gone, my sister and her family went on vacation and my parents joined them for a couple of days. All of these vacations overlapped so I was completely solo for a few days. It was during that time that the computer/internet stopped working! Argh - no one to call and I couldn't even socially network. Thankfully, Lynette and her kiddos came over one day which definitely broke up the boring (thank you!!).
So, now we're up and running and I have about seven posts swirling around in my head, which will likely never be posted. Maybe written, but never posted. I do a lot of that - therapeutic writing, only to delete it later. Who knows? Maybe someday I'll get brave and post them.
But, for now, I'm just going to share some photos of a recent outing (?) that the boys enjoyed with David...
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| Setting up camp. Notice the extremely rustic conditions of our backyard. Hey, the boys didn't care where the tent was, just that it was a tent! |
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| Welcome to my humbe abode... |
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| Really? I thought dirt was required in a tent. I guess in my story it's the Prince and the Pea. |
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| Time for bed! Please ignore that the boys are wearing Christmas pajamas. Oh, and I'm sorry I forgot to photograph myself, sitting in my bed, painting my toenails and reading while Max slept in his crib in his bedroom and Dave texted me from the tent. Guess he's not used to a 10:00 bedtime (a little late for the boys, but I guess they were all compromising). |
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
No boys allowed!
So, my honey runs away once or twice a year. No girls allowed. Usually it's a nice lake house with lots of guys or Vegas for basketball tournaments. A couple of the other guys' wives and I are good friends and usually we just complain about how the guys get to have all the fun. Well, David decided it was our turn (LOVE that he decided and that I needed to be talked into it, not the other way around). Of course, now I have to just smile and nod next time he wants to go, but I can live with that! We finally decided on Chicago as our destination and with much planning, e-mailing, and a playdate for 6 kids, found a few days that worked for the three of us girls.
We set out a little after 11 last Wednesday morning. About time to go I decided I felt sick and would just stay home - ha ha! I've never left Max overnight and I've only left Luke overnight to go to the hospital to have Max. But, I did have to leave Seth for five days when he was about 16 months old. Because of that, I knew that once I was gone and wasn't somewhere the boys had been with me, it would be okay. And I was right. But, walking out that door was ROUGH!
So, what do three moms do on vacation? Here's a brief recap:
Wednesday - leave home and drive to Chicago. Stop for a quick lunch on the way and stare at fast food menu, clueless as to how to choose our own meal rather than order it as an afterthought once the kids meals are squared away. Check into hotel. Iron clothes [this was when I realized that I don't relax well - my two friends are sitting there doing nothing and I'm ironing!]. Take a little self-guided tour of the hotel. Get cleaned up a bit. Head out to wait for a trolley to Navy Pier, stopping off at the [free] manager's reception for some snacks.
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| The boys on my first night away. I had recorded a book for them so I could still "read" them a bedtime story. David did the same thing for his last trip. |
Friday - up at a reasonable time. Breakfast at the hotel again and then out shopping! Oh, with a quick stop at Starbucks. It was attached to the hotel. It had to be done. We were just two blocks from Michigan Avenue so it didn't take us long to get started. First up - Crate and Barrel. Then spent lots of time digging at Filene's Basement. Wound up with a junk jewelry bracelet and pajamas for the boys (yeah, I know how to live it up). Wandered into lots of other little places along the way. Late lunch of "real" Chicago style deep dish pizza. Offered to cut up someone's food so I didn't forget how. Both friends declined the offer. Then lots more walking so we would be hungry enough for dessert. Stand in a long (but totally worth it) line at Garrett's popcorn for caramel crisp popcorn with cashews.
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| Apparently I wasn't the only one indulging in food. Powdered donuts. And a smirky smile. |
Saturday - up at a reasonable time. Laid in bed for awhile thinking about whether or not I still wanted to go back and get what I didn't get the day before (it's a Christmas gift so I'll just be vague). Decided I did. Got up and got ready and packed and skipped breakfast with my friends, opted instead to walk back over to Michigan Ave and grab what I wanted. Might have stopped at Starbucks again on the way back. Got back from my little excursion to hear that they had deactivated our room keys (almost 2 hours before check out time) while the others were at breakfast and they had had to hang out in the hallway waiting for someone to fix the situation. Then we headed home, stopping at McDonald's on the way home (had to ease back into the mom thing). I love vacations, but when it's time to be home I have NO patience for travelling. When it's over, I just want it to be over and be home!
I even returned home to a mostly clean house, nearly all the laundry done (except what I brought home, of course), two bouquets of flowers, and lots of hugs and kisses and cuddles.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Baby steps...
Max's:
Schwoo, my sweet little bug has decided that walking might be fun. It's still that run-forward-until-you-fall-on-your-face/I'm-new-at-this/I-didn't-even-know-I-could-do-this kind of walking, but yesterday he made it to 5 or 6 steps in a row, and did it many times. And, he was standing himself up, on his own, in the middle of the room just to try it out again. I think it's official! Why the 'schwoo' you ask? NOT because I thought he had issues because he's 14 months old and just didn't seem to care. BUT, because I am leaving the boys in David's very capable hands for a couple of days and I was just sure he would pick then to walk. You see, Seth was 16 months old when he started walking, and he waited until I left town for 5 days for a work conference to do it. I sat patiently waiting for 16 months to see those first steps and missed them. When Luke came along and I was able to quit my job, I thought, 'Great, now I'll never miss another first!' And then it looked like I was going to. So, thank you Max for doing this Monday, rather than Thursday!
[Quirky side note that pretty much no one will likely care about: Seth walked at 16 months, Luke at 12, and Max at 14. Max's birth weight was also exactly between Seth and Luke's and during my pregnancy with Max the weight I gained was right between the weight I gained with Seth and Luke.]
Mine:
Schwoo, my sweet little bug has decided that walking might be fun. It's still that run-forward-until-you-fall-on-your-face/I'm-new-at-this/I-didn't-even-know-I-could-do-this kind of walking, but yesterday he made it to 5 or 6 steps in a row, and did it many times. And, he was standing himself up, on his own, in the middle of the room just to try it out again. I think it's official! Why the 'schwoo' you ask? NOT because I thought he had issues because he's 14 months old and just didn't seem to care. BUT, because I am leaving the boys in David's very capable hands for a couple of days and I was just sure he would pick then to walk. You see, Seth was 16 months old when he started walking, and he waited until I left town for 5 days for a work conference to do it. I sat patiently waiting for 16 months to see those first steps and missed them. When Luke came along and I was able to quit my job, I thought, 'Great, now I'll never miss another first!' And then it looked like I was going to. So, thank you Max for doing this Monday, rather than Thursday!
Mine:
Luke went to VBS last week. Luke is only 3 [and never had occasion to go to daycare] so this was the first time Luke has been left "alone," without me or another family member on the premises. We don't have babysitters - just Grammy and Grampy, and sometimes Aunt G and Uncle Matt. So, for me to drop him off and walk away was a new experience for me. Leaving my child at church for VBS would have been fine, but leaving my allergy child at church to eat a snack during VBS was a whole different ballgame. There were many e-mails exchanged, a visit to the kitchen to check the labels on all the snacks, a trip to the grocery store to find substitutions for any food he couldn't eat, a batch of cupcakes made to replicate the ones the other kids were eating, and (finally and most importantly to me) a phone call with another allergy mom who was going to be on site and assured me she would look after him and have an epipen on her (he also had an epipen on the premises). Sweet Luke didn't know about much of the planning that went into. He just knew that he was having a fantastic time and learning a lot too. I'm glad I let him do it. And really glad the week went off without a hitch!
Friday, July 22, 2011
Family vacation: Day 5
Friday morning we packed up and got ready to head home. Or at least that was the plan. We never made it to the pool at the hotel so we thought if we got on the road early enough and the boys slept in the car, maybe we could go to a pool once we got home. I took the boys a few weeks ago but swimming with Daddy is a rare treat for the boys. Ahh, the best laid plans...
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| We were packing up to leave and made the mistake of putting the cereal on the floor, within Max's reach. Yes, he did help himself. |
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| This one was to just show how tiny the fridge was. Very thankful that my husband "permitted" us to eat out nearly every meal. "Cute" is not a word you want to describe your kitchen. |
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| And, this was our accidental detour. As we were driving along the interstate, we were taking about the things that we had planned to do but just didn't have time. Dave was pointing out the arch to the boys as it came into view and then Luke started saying, "Mommy, that was where you wanted to go!" No one else really wanted to go up in the arch, so it seemed silly. But then Luke started saying he would go with me and we decided to detour. We were all dressed in our comfy clothes and the car was packed with all of our stuff, but we figured out how to get there, got to the parking garage, and jumped out. The stroller wasn't accessible since we weren't planning to stop anywhere on the way home so Max had to be held/carried. And the signs all said that they are likely to sell out of tickets early in the day. It was a few minutes after 11:00 and I was worried there wouldn't be any tickets until much later. But, there was a booth just outside of the parking garage and she said she could sell us tickets for 11:40 but that we had to get to the arch (it was a bit of a walk) before the ticket time. |
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| We took off on our walk. On the way Luke managed create a person pileup and we ended up with a skinned knee and a hurting wrist. After we got the knee bandaged up, Dave told me to take Luke and get going and that he and the other two boys would just hang out. We had only bought tickets for Luke and me anyway. About a minute after we walked away, Luke managed to fall too so now his knee was bleeding. I was really regretting the decision to stop at the arch as it seemed like everyone was getting beat up by it! |
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| There were four lines we had to stand in before we were on the tram to the top of the Arch. First was security outside. Luke made new friends, of course, in that line. After the two injuries, it was exactly 11:40 when we got through security. Then we had to stand in line inside to give them our tickets. This was a short line and then we stood in the third line. In this line they gave us all these plastic numbered tickets (Luke enjoyed playing with them, and having me take his picture). Five people can ride in each car so this was our car assignment. At the end of this line they take an overpriced photo of you and your party and release you into a little room with educational Arch info. Luke enjoyed talking on the phone. Ahem, listening on the phone to all the info about the building of the Arch. |
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| Then came the fourth line, on these stairs. You are called by the number on your plastic card and you stand on these stairs and watch a seven minute video about the Arch. Then it's time to board the tram. At this point I was really amazed at how good Luke was being. He is a busy guy, but I think because it was just the two of us and I could focus all of my attention on him, he was really good. At this point I was also VERY thankful that Seth, and somewhat Dave, had stayed behind. I don't think Seth would've gotten into the tram and I don't think Dave would've enjoyed the closed in feeling. |
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| It's tough to tell, but the doors are 4 feet tall and are encased in steel. Watch your head! Five people fit into the little car. The doors close and you there's a little window. However, the view is only of the stairs you would have to use should this ride malfunction. Not sure why I thought we would be able to see out on the way up, but that was definitely not the case. It's a four minute ride to the top - I was glad they told us that ahead of time, just so I knew it wouldn't go on forever. You could feel it going up and then it would rock a little - over and over. One of the passengers in our car wasn't real thrilled with the experience so I kept talking to Luke, hoping she wouldn't scare him. Apparently, Luke doesn't scare easily. Or didn't listen to her anymore than he usually listens to me! He did tell me later (actually, at bedtime) that he didn't like the ride. Made me wonder if he was thinking about it all day? |
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| The viewing area is rather small. It just wasn't at all what I expected. |
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| The windows are really tiny. There are 16 on either side. Luke was too short to stand on the ground so I put him on the slanted wall and he could see just fine - and loved it! He even let one of the employees know that, "We are IN the Arch!" Thankfully, the employee just played along, "OH, that's where we are?" Cute. |
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| He was most excited about this helicopter on its little landing pad out in the water. |
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| A view of the stadium and some of the city from the top of the Arch. |
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| After we finished looking around, maybe 15 minutes, we headed back down the stairs to stand and wait for the tram. The ride down is only three minutes. Gravity, I guess. |
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| Little did we know that the helicopter was also providing the entertainment for Dave and Seth (and Max). It was a sightseeing helicopter and the boys were sitting in the shade watching it take off and land - over and over. |
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| Once we were all reunited we let the boys run for just a little while. |
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| Two of my boys with the Arch. |
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| One last Arch shot. It's tough to see them, but the 16 tiny viewing windows are nearly in the center of the photo. The windows are actually in the middle of the Arch, of course, but I was at an angle taking the picture. |
And THEN it was time to come home. Everyone was hungry and hot and I chose to bypass the first exit with anything good to eat and then it was more than an hour before we found another exit with anything worth eating. Ugh. But, that also meant that after we ate it was only a couple more hours until home.
We got home around 8:30pm, after a quick trip to the store and car wash. We got the boys in bed [I think Max was most excited to see his own bed, but Luke was a close second.], I sorted all the laundry and started a load of it (so I had something to wear on my Saturday adventure), unpacked a few things, and collapsed onto the couch. Then at 9:30 the next morning I was up and ready to head to Ikea in Cincinnati with three of my favorite people on a girls only day trip! The perfect ending to my vacation - although I'm not sure David, who stayed home and did all the rest of the laundry and dealt with grumpy post-vacation kiddos would agree!
Thank you for coming along for our 2011 vacation recap!
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