New project...

I am so making this skirt! Easy and pattern free. Besides I have soooooo much extra fabric from Ruby's quilt...

Home free...

I never get a vacation. Vacation once you are a parent is hardly vacation unless the kids aren't with you...and that is a rare, usually one or two day vacation (though we have been blessed with longer trips...thanks to my parents and their willingness to watch the girls).

Anyway, I NEED a vacation! My BFF Megan is getting married on Saturday in Houston. Chris wanted me to use the miles we have accrued, and that limited my itinerary. So the best I could do was leave on Weds. and come back on Tues. He was fine with it...it was free, after all. So...off I go. I love her, I love her family, I hope to love her beau and I plan to help Megan like crazy until I see her off with Josh on Saturday night...then I plan to relax and gab with her saintly mother while I knit and take frequent cat nap breaks. Even spending time talking to a blank wall sounds appealing.

This is a vacation where I don't have to put on my clown act to talk someone into doing what is best for them. This is a vacation where I don't believe anyone will ask me to "wipe" their bum. This is a vacation where the only seat belt I put on will be my own, where cereal just might not be the main course three meals a day and where it will be assumed that I get privacy in the shower! Yummmmmmy.

Houston, HERE I COME!

P.S. If it seems like I have a few BFF's, I do. I haven't ever written about Megan, because once when she said that she had visited my blog, she mentioned something about how she didn't read it, she just scanned for pictures. rip off! That officially banned her as a subject of a post. I'll be working that angle this weekend though. For sure. She is definitely blog worthy.

Spring Fair...

Puyallup is famous for its fair. The real fair isn't until the fall, but it is twice as expensive, twice as crowded and not much more exciting than that smaller, one weekend spring fair. We usually end up hitting both, but everytime we go to the spring fair, we claim we aren't going to go to the real fair in the fall.

This was an odd year--certainly not spring-y...there was four inches of snow accumulation on Saturday an hour north of here at my parent's house! It was a brief moment to enjoy the fair, as the rest of the weekend was freezing and snowy/rainy!

Ruby loves rides. Loves, loves them. I think she'd go on just about any ride they have at the fair if there weren't minimum height requirements. I love that she was the only kid throwing her arms up in the air. I think she learned that at Disneyland.

My girl...

Ruby is so thoughtful! She loves to do things to make other people feel loved and happy (I realize the picture could use some editing, but I am short on time). Last week, she went downstairs while I was in the shower and she went to all kinds of trouble to set the table for the three of us for breakfast. She even got the milk out of the fridge. What a doll.

Usually when I am called upstairs to see a "surprise", her room will be clean, she'll be all dressed and if I am really, really lucky...her hair will be brushed. It's always a welcome surprise.

Familiar face, anyone?

I suppose I should ask permission to post these pics...since so many of you know the face. Who can resist though? This was a fun shoot. My friend, Angela's son is graduating. "A" is a talented kid with a great personality and I had fun taking his pictures.

Clouds, spirits, prayer and Snow Buddies...

Ruby laying on the couch looking out the window: Mom, what do clouds feel like?
Me (didn't really answer because I want to know what she's thinking): I don't know, I've never felt one.
Ruby: Maybe when we fly up to heaven--you know how we are going to fly up--we will be able to touch one.
Me (curious about the flying part): Maybe
Ruby: Maybe when we get to Jesus, he'll be in a cloud. We don't live again until everyone dies, right?
Me (realizing the "flying" might have something to do with her imagining resurrection, and our bodies reuniting with our spirits): Our spirits won't ever die, but yes, our bodies won't reunite with our spirits until after everyone dies. Our spirits will live in heaven waiting for the resurrection.
Ruby: Will our spirits talk?
Me: Yes
Ruby: How will we talk without a body?
Me: I don't know
Ruby: I think our spirits will talk by thinking.
Me: Maybe, that is how our spirit talks to Heavenly Father when we pray.
Ruby: Last night, the babysitter couldn't get the TV to work. She tried and tried and tried, but we couldn't get the sound on. Then I told her I would say a prayer, and it worked! I stayed up late and watched Snow Buddies.
Me: I'm glad you prayed.
Ruby: Mom, have you ever seen a dog pull a sleigh?

Gorgeous weekend...

Here in the northwest, we've had unprecedented cold weather...SIX MONTHS NEVER REACHING SIXTY DEGREES! When you live in the land of perpetual 60s, this is an odd thing...and I think it was a record of some kind. Thankfully last weekend there was a reprieve and we hit near 80 degrees!

It was nice timing, because we were up north for our friends' son Aksel's first birthday party. We went to see Horton Hears a Who in the morning with my folks and then went to the party. It was really warm and they had an outdoor BBQ, so we got to be outdoors. Of course, I had gone up the day before to stay the night and my parents' house, so the girls were in long sleeves and long pants. Oh well.
One of Aksel's new toys! Kelly (Aksel's mom) pulled he and Ruby around the yard in the wagon.

Askel was darling devouring his cake and opening his presents. He really got excited about the drum sticks that went with his new drum, and he quickly put good use to some plastic kid-size landscaping tools. He's the first grandchild on one side, and a new generation of grandchildren on the other, and it was comical and fun to witness so many adults gawk at him and worry if he had frosting in his nose or if he was eating too much sugar. It is so fun to see how that smitten kid-love looks as a bystander. I love seeing a kid surrounded by a dozen people who are totally in love with him...all kids should be so lucky!

Ruby got a minute to hold little Addison who was a super sleeper at just three weeks of age!

Alice was all over the cake as soon as Aksel was done...well maybe before too. Anyway she was going at it for more bits for a good twenty or thirty minutes!

More lemonade...

Sommer and her kids were down for a night last week, as her husband was out of town. We (you guessed it) sewed all night and then the next day, we had a lemonade stand before they took off. Across the street from our house, there is a huge hedge that lines the back fields of the local Jr. High. If we time our stand right, we can sell through our lemonade in a matter of twenty minutes! I'm always amazed at how many people driving by will stop and just love to give the kids a little money for a cup of lemonade. Thank goodness for people who love kids! The Jr. High students would pretty well pass us up entirely if we weren't shelling out the money for them to give to our kids. Anyway, the kiddos were thrilled, they were full of "Enjoy your lemonade!" and other darling customer service quips.

This lady gave them a dollar each! WOAH!

Our friend Ethan (and Rachel and Lauren and Kate) stopped by for a cup too! THANKS RACHEL!

The kids really drank a lot of lemonade...Alice focused solely on that responsibility...she may have even had some sips of cups that we wound up selling. Whoops!

Homeschool...

It is so crazy for me that I am going to homeschool (for now) my kids. I LOVED elementary school, (even had my 2nd grade teacher at my graduation and my wedding reception--my first and third grade teacher was at graduation too, but sent a gift to the wedding reception) and though academics were never the focus in middle school or high school (focusing on academics was not a requirement for good grades), I never missed a social beat, and really loved my whole public school experience. Mostly. I think. I do realize as an adult how heavy the social pressures weighed on me through some of those years. I was a little mean to those I didn't like...okay, a lot mean and I definitely belittled others in order to further myself. Well anyway, I'm not homeschooling for reasons of rebellion against my own experience, though I'm sure in some ways it is a factor. I have a lot of reasons for choosing to homeschool, but I find that when I state my reasons, it puts those who have their kids in public school on the defense, and that isn't the point. I'm just doing something that is right for my family...Ruby, specifically. For now. We'll see.

Anyway, I'm really excited about a co-op that I found. It is primarliy LDS, and meets at a Unitarian church fairly close-by. Apparently, because the general Christian population doesn't believe members of the LDS faith are Christian, we aren't allowed to join the local "Christian" co-ops. I was thrilled to find out that there are 22 families (19 are LDS) who are doing collaborative things in the interest of educating and socializing children...and they wanted us! It meets once a week for two and a half hours and Ruby gets to take three subjects that change every eight weeks. Alice gets to start in the preschool program in the fall, but for now, she's in the nursery.

For the first session (we just started), I don't teach, I just observe. In the fall I will teach one class and asist with another. They have eight classes going each "period". I love that the scouts post the colors at the beginning and we say the Pledge of Allegience, and I love that the kids are learning science, short stories, quilting, civil war, etc.

It is so fun to see all the things that homeschoolers get to do! Ruby made a mosaic out of beans today in her art class, and her own volcano in her science class. When they are around 7 years old, there are history simulation groups that meet weekly, book clubs that meet monthly, and weekly hiking groups in the spring and summer. In the co-op, they have a class for the older kids that focuses on teaching others. Each kid develops a curriculum and practices teaching and then one "trained" youth per session will have the opportunity to teach a class to the younger kids. Most of the kids start at the community college through running start when they are 16, and they are off to college with two years of college credit under their belt.

I will say socially, they are different than other kids. I don't find them for a second socially inept, but they are bypassing many of the social hoops that I felt pressured to jump through...the ones that didn't apply in college at all, that didn't really serve me in my long term development toward adulthood. For whatever reason, I don't worry a bit about the social aspect of Ruby or Alice's developement. They have two really social parents and between co-ops and classes, they will spend a good 12-15 hours a week interacting with their peers socially...I only mention it because it tends to be the first thing people throw at me.

It will be an interesting first year, but I'm really excited about it! I have my bad days and maybe I even have more than most, but when it comes down to it, I can't fathom the full day away from home in first grade. Kindergarten is hardly more of a commitment than preschool, but I don't think I could start Ruby and then pull her out after kinder, so we are going to start it this way and see where we wind up.

Should be interesting! Wish me luck!

Vans are not toys...

Alice loves playing in my van. She sneaks in the garage and has a hay day playing with my makeup and pretending to drive. She's good enough now to get the key in the ignition, so I have to bring my keys in the house and lock the van doors now.

Once, she managed to cram a bunch of spare change into the steering wheel, so that it bounced around in there while I drove. It was really mortifying when my horn would start honking persistently at the wrong moments. Once, I was in the YMCA parking lot and it was really cold and rainy. I was driving slowly to allow for the pedestrians to hurry to their cars when my horn got hit just right by a flying penny and it honked full blast for like thirty seconds. The woman who was in front of my van holding her daughter against her in the rain was so mortified, but all the dirty looks in the world didn't stop my horn from honking. So embarrassing!

Anyway, the other day she was thrilled about something and pulled me out to the garage to see. She had taken two dolls out there and strapped them both into she and Ruby's car seats (yes, my 5 year old is still in a 5-point harness...yours should be too! Soap box, sorry.)

If we are home for more than five minutes she will head out there to play, and be so disappointed when the doors are locked. "Doors locked, mommy!"

"Yes Alice, vans are not toys!"