Max-Attack

Max was asking me where the part was where I told about each of them on the blog. "You know, Mom, what we like to do and stuff. . .".

Today I Love. . .

1. crossing off ALL the items on the daily to-do list
2. family night - unscripted
3. texting
4. when a 'plan comes together' (80s reference anyone?)
5. tyler's laugh
6. the smell of rain (ozone, whatever!)
7. being the 'ultimate mom' because I can take off max & grey's sweatshirts without taking off their shirts - if only everyone were that easy to impress!
8. icebreakers peppermint gum
9. muck boots
10. watching a movie with tyler after the curtain-climbers pass out

Piece of Advice

Tyler asked me to post a letter I wrote to one of our nieces for one of his friends. It's a little lengthy, but here goes. (I'll leave out the personal greeting etc!)

March 7, 2007
I just got off the phone with your mom and she mentioned that you were feeling a little overwhelmed now having two little people to watch, comfort, feed, protect, etc., etc. So I just wanted to be the first to tell you - IT ONLY GETS WORSE! No, really, everyday will bring you a new epiphany. I've had some of my own in the last few years with regard to the the most terrifying of all arenas we mothers must face - the Grocery Store:

1. Those cute little racing car shopping carts are straight from heaven! If you don't have them at the stores you frequent, you should petition for them. Young mothers will flock by the hundreds and wait in their cars until another one becomes available. The carts with the car in front of the shopping cart are particularly ungainly and you will feel pregnant all over again as you run the cart into the sides of aisles (and slower shoppers), BUT you can contain at least three children in them! Said children may even stay content for upwards of fifteen minutes before they will require one of the many treats they will spy from their little car windows. At this point they will undoubtedly make a break for their escape. Being the shopping savvy mother you are, you will certainly whack the plastic doors shut before they can crawl all the way out. Luckily for the little ones the front windows are far big enough for them to hurtle themselves through before you can do anything but run them over. (Still, you had fifteen minutes.)
The carts that are designed with the entire cart being a race car can be problematic until the baby can sit up by himself because the only place the baby-carrier fits is actually in the basket itself. So, you're pretty much back to square one with those - forget I mentioned it. (However, child #1 IS happier driving a 'race car' than sitting in a shopping cart, and child #2 is probably asleep and won't mind a loaf or two of bread and a head of lettuce harmlessly lying on his feet. I will never admit, of course, to giving you that advice, and have certainly NEVER done it myself. . . heh heh.)

2. As for letting the older sibling ride lying down on the very bottom of regular shopping carts - I don't recommend it, no matter how hard they beg, or how clever they think they are to have thought of it. HYPOTHETICALLY speaking, they might stick their hands out and pull many, many boxes off the shelves. They might turn sideways when you aren't looking, at which point YOU will knock many, many boxes off the shelves as you unknowingly ram their sweet little heads into a nearby stack of Cheerios (inexplicably placed mid-aisle - oooh a "stack-out sale!"). They will most assuredly run their fingers along the wheels and drag their sleeves on the nasty floor. AND, at some point, of course, you will run over their filthy digits and receive many horrified "what were you thinking" glares as your child sobs (dirty fingers, sleeves and all) into the side of your leg and you try to disappear into the floor.

3. Letting your child run free is also not advisable. Aside from the obvious kidnapping threat, the unsecured child may find an uncontrollable urge to drop his pants and dance in the frozen foods section while you wheel madly around the corner in an attempt to catch him. (This is, by the way, ALWAYS the time you will run into your disapproving Miss Kravitz-like neighbor who will feign concern that your darling child was about to be abducted until she heroically arrived on the scene.) He may run away from you so fast that he will trip and hit his head on the concrete floor and then cry so hard that he throws up in your hair and down your shirt when you pick him up to comfort him. (Okay, so that was actually in a department store, but it could just as easily happen in the grocery store. AND, being the run-down housewife that I am, I will have you know I managed to 'clean' all of us up in the bathroom and STILL buy a new pair of 'sevens' before I left. . .every cloud has to have a silver lining.) He might, once more, start an avalanche of many, many apples, oranges, onions, etc. when he grabs the one that was apparently holding all the others up. He may even decide to ride on the side of one of those smaller shopping carts some stores are so brilliant to use and pull the whole thing over on top of himself. . . (More glares from perfect mothering types will thus ensue.)

So, what do we do? I suggest midnight shopping, or telling your husband you're merely getting something from the car (with your purse over your shoulder) and driving away like mad. Naturally, this course of action will only work so many times before he catches on. Don't worry though, you're not at all alone - every mother of more than one child knows exactly what you're feeling. You can haul one rugrat anywhere, anytime. With two, you suddenly feel tied down and half crazed all the time! You'll get it all figured out sooner than you think (about the time you realize you're pregnant with number three . . .when the games REALLY begin!). Enjoy the madness - I hear you'll miss it someday! :)

Building Update

Almost time for the "four-way". That's contractor-speak for the first big inspection - framing, ac/heat, electrical, and plumbing. I walked through with the electrician yesterday to go over where every light switch, light, plug, etc. would go and today all the boxes and cans are there and they're pulling the wires! Lights in light speed!

Tall, Dark, and Handsome

There was a time I shunned cheescake -ALL cheesecake. I seriously DIDN'T get it. A pointless waste of calories. Kind of reminiscent of a stiff custard GONE BAD! Add deep dark chocolate, however, and everything changes. Voila! A completely irrisistable concoction! After all, you are what eat and I think I'm somewhere between bitter and semi-sweet. :) My latest fave recipe is "Killer Chocolate Cheescake" (from the amazing cookbook, Luscious Chocolate Desserts which I highly reccommend both for reading and baking enjoyment). I made it again for the first time in awhile for a family dinner Sunday. I think I actually saw one of my nephew-in-laws (if that's a real relation) sneak a lick at his plate!

Why I Love to Bake:

1. The only science I've ever loved! I love that if you add something at the wrong time or stir it in the wrong way etc. you can screw up the WHOLE project. Completing a really good recipe well feels like being privy to a secret.

2. I love kitchen gadgets!

3. I love the art of baking - serving something that looks as good as it tastes.

4. I love the whole process (or collection of processes).

5. I love making things that some people wouldn't attempt from scratch. (part of what Tyler calls my baking snobbery - but I know he secretly really likes it!)

Oh Look! Winter's back, again! ARGHHH!

At least it's beautiful for a bit before it turns to a muddy mess!

Baby Talk

Nick is trying out new phrases everyday now, way over-enunciating everything (even when he's using the wrong consonants) and it's leaving me in stitches. My latest favorite came just a minute ago while the boys and their friend were watching Star Wars Episode III for the eight-hundredth time. They had chosen characters to be as they were acting the scenes out and little Nick kept jumping around in the middle of them repeating "I YODA! I YODA!" as clear as day. I love it!

It's not cold, eh?

With the framing ALMOST done on our house,(Yeah!) I have to commend our friends that are the framers (Paul & Peter Hill & crew). Everyone keeps commenting about how surprised they are that the house is going up so fast - especially in the freezing weather we've had. I credit this fact not only to their amazing work ethic but to their Canadian Blood! Everytime I mention that I can't believe they're out there when it's so cold I get the same answer, "Oh, it's not cold, eh?". The boys love to go out and "help the guys" every chance they get. . . they don't last very long in the cold though.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Before last night's snowstorm Grey was asking me if it could still be Christmas when it's Valentine's Day. I guess snow = Christmas. When he woke up this morning he said "I KNEW it could be Christmas on Valentine's Day!". His cute outlook on our neverending winter makes me feel a little better about the new blanket of snow we were "blessed" with just when the ground was becoming visible here and there.



Max - never to be confused with cuddly, lovey Grey-Bug - refused to be any part of a School Valentine Box that actually looked like a School Valentine Box. . .so after much ado we finally agreed on the Valentine Deathstar! I REALLY wanted to write "Max's Deathstar OF LOVE" on it, but Max threatened to tear off the tag. :)

Snow Day

Kiera had the brilliant idea to go skiing on Monday. What a gorgeous day- we kept warm and the snow was still great! I should have taken a few more pictures and captured the mountain covered in snow and all that sunshine. . .next time. Yes, that's me - apparently I'm quite BALD with a beanie on!

work, work, work

When I'm wound about as tight as I can get before I snap it's usually about time to go to work again. I work part-time exercising, training, and just generally taking care of 8 magnificent horses. As cheesy as it sounds, they are seriously my friends! They are ALWAYS happy to see me, (okay, I come bearing grain. . . but still.) we spend hours and hours together and without having to say a word I feel we understand each other. There is an amazing wealth of communication available between humans and horses, and I always leave "work" more at peace than I arrived.

Last week I brought Nick with me to feed. These are just a few of the pictures I snapped of my furry (VERY FURRY this time of year) soulmates and little Nicky.

The Top Five - no make that Six

This Week was, well, let me explain? No, there is too much -I'll sum it up:
The Dregs

1. Having to cancel much anticipated lunch-date with Jacquie.
2. CAN IT PLEASE STOP SNOWING!
3. Cleaning up dog poo in the house TWICE because Duke is failing so badly he can't get up in time to warn us he needs to go out. :(
4. Meeting with multiple subcontractors EVERYDAY - I just want to get on to decorating - when can I paint? Really.
5. Standing (starving) in line for TWO HOURS to vote in the primary. Good thing they found the "I voted today" stickers before we left or I would have been ticked!
6. LOST - What the-?

The Cream

1. Grey being suddenly SO fascinated with kissing (yes, he's four) he keeps pretending he's going to kiss me on the lips before he giggles and hides his face.
2. Max hiding "love notes" from some girls in his class and turning bright red when I tease him about it.
3. Nick's "whacchu talkin' 'bout, Willis?" face.
4. Hearing the framers already hard at work every morning when I get up.
5. Giddy Tyler. (One of his best manifestations) (This ties directly to #4, by the way.
6. LOST - I am pleasantly baffled