Hi!

A few days ago, M & I were at the playground with the kids, when Bear walked up to a big boy of five and said his usual "Hi". Bear's not shy at all, he loves to walk up to groups of kids, no matter what age and greet them, but this boy was having none of it.

"DON'T say hi to me!!", he yelled in Bear's face.

M & I glanced at each other but purposedly kept quiet, waiting to see what Bear would do. Bear grew quiet, lowered his head towards the ground and his bottom lip grew larger & larger. Suddenly I was aware of how much we can't protect them, how much they'll have to learn on their own, when he let out a shriek and smile. About twenty feet away, an even bigger boy of ten, did a stunt jump off the swing, much to Bear's delight. We went on to have a great play session, the earlier episode totally forgotten. A great lesson on being in the moment and not to dwell on things.

Choices

Hmmm, should I wash the dishes, or have a bowl of ice cream? It's not a ton of dishes, and I will do them in the morning...Down guilt, down! Ok, that's much better, now where was I? Wow, crushed Oreo's are really good on vanilla ice cream! Sorry, I'm getting distracted.

I enjoyed dinner last Friday with three friends from high school, it's so nice to NOT be the oldest person at the table! We've done this once or twice a year for the past five years or so and I've noticed how our conversations have evolved. We spend about 5 minutes reminiscing about high school, and now words like 'menopause', 'liposuction', 'botox' & 'spanx' are thrown in between sips of wine and bites of salad & fish. Interspersed with debates on the merits of Facebook, and whose friend requests we're ignoring. We're all at different stages in our life...two of us have grown children, one has just become a grandma, one has a five year old adopted child, and there's me, toddler twin mom. Maybe this is a sign of the times, but I can't help but think that fifty years ago, we would not have had the freedom in our lives to be at such different places. It's great to be in a place where we have so many choices.

Sucked In

I purchased this book as a gift, after hearing NPR's positive review of "another vampire story", and an 800 page one to boot ($15 at Costco). I was curious and thought "I'll just read a chapter and if I like it, I'll get a copy".

Five hundred pages later, that book isn't going anywhere. I'm not a total cad, I did buy another copy for my gift. I had to. I wasn't about to give a book that I've had cracked open every spare minute since that first chapter (a thick one pounder, hello carpal tunnel). A book Boo & Bear have mauled & yanked my bookmark out of countless times (eerily, I go right to my place within a couple pages.)

Meanwhile, milestones are happening all around me: a baby crow is learning to fly in our yard, my Dad just turned 70, Bear goes 'pee pee' in the toilet nearly every time, Boo is entering her princess phase (I guess it was bound to happen), and Mommy has developed has a serious fear of the dark.

Wish Me Luck!

Everytime I see my home page (my blog) I'm reminded that I need to post. And post again. And again. It's neverending, like homework. And now it's been a few weeks since my last one, so here goes...

Tomorrow morning I'm going to a Design seminar in downtown Seattle. I'm looking forward to attending a professional event, but a little nervous about the morning: getting two potty training toddlers ready, getting mom Seattle seminar ready, dropping them off at the sitters (on time for once!) and actually making my ferry. Oh, did I mention that I'll be doing this all by myself since M. isn't here? Sure, I'll get up earlier to do it all, but Bear has been waking up these days around 5:00 a.m.

Doesn't innovation happen when life gets interesting? One can hope.

Therapy of a Great Haircut

Last night as I was serving dinner, literally placing plates on the table, our yellow lab squatted & let loose (really loose I might add!) on the carpet right in front of me. I did what any busy mother would do, picked up the grossest part, laid a towel over it and ate dinner. Boo then spilled her milk, and Bear decided to dump his water (see why I waited?). M. was working late, so I was on my own...behind in the dishes, behind in their bath (which we skipped) and adding carpet cleaning to my nightly tasks.

I wasn't phased in the least. It's amazing what a good hair day can do.

Birthday Weekend

So...I had another one of those pesky birthdays this weekend, and I'm happy (well, working on it anyway) to say that I'm now 45! I don't know how it happened, but here I am. We had a wonderful family weekend, it always helps when the town has a big festival in your honor. Well, maybe it's in honor of Rhododendrons or something, but let me have my fantasy.

What more could you ask for? A carnival with rides...



..then a parade.





The next morning the kids made me waffles and Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting.


Then they were official "Hi-Fiver's" at the 12K Run on Sunday (which goes right by our house).


We even had a babysitter for an evening so Mommy & Daddy could have a date! After all that, we were zonked.


I guess 45 ain't too shabby after all.

To the MothaFathas Out There...

Alright, so I know I'm totally doing what Toyota wants...spreading their viral YouTube video. But I'm a mom with a Sienna AND it's hilarious, so here goes.



Now c'mon, you know you want a mini van.... right?