The Solley Six

Mummers in Bulgaria

2012-01-29T03:09:00.000-05:00

Kukeri Festival2012

2012-01-29T02:56:00.001-05:00

snow in Sofia

2012-01-29T02:54:00.000-05:00

Sloane is 6 (oh no!)

2012-01-04T07:02:00.001-05:00

sloane is turning my least favorite age. In the collective 29 1/2 birthday years I've been through as a parent...six is really NOT my favorite age. Let's hope Sloane's amazing capacity for kindness will overcome the six-year-old-snootiness I've seen in the past.

Sloane makes friends with everyone-girls and boys want to play with her, because she's fun and generous. She has good ideas for play and isn't bossy about them. She's accommodating with youngers and follows along with olders. She's excellent at listening and encouraging those around her to do the right thing in a very gentle way "Hmm...I don't think my brother would like it if you put the gingerbread house in the leopard gecko cage. What if we play house and I am your leopard gecko pet and pretend I keep trying to eat the candy off the house and you keep saying "No, no Lighteningspeed!"

She and Cort are the very best of friends and often get so caught up in their games of little toys- calico critters, polly pockets, pirate island, nativity set. We don't see them for hours at a time. It's a good time to be six because she gets along with the older crew as well. Billie's friends often include Sloane in their games (not Cort) of role-playing and AG dolls. Jackson can teach her things: show her how to cook, yo-yo, read and she will pay attention rather than shoot foam bullets at his chest during his demonstration (Cort).

If 6 is half as nice as 5 with Sloane- I'll be a happy mama.

Athens Marathon/Greek Gods

2012-01-04T07:00:00.000-05:00

The Solley's take on Athens, Greece

2012-01-04T06:58:00.001-05:00

One day we went to Greece. It was little 12 hour drive, we stopped once in the middle for butter croissants, from Sofia to Athens.

It was a slightly windy at the Acropolis.
Happy anniversary to us!
Cort was doing ninja moves.

Merry- Merry!

2012-01-04T06:53:00.000-05:00

Pippi, deadly Bride and Daniel Laruso

2011-10-27T14:15:00.000-04:00

Halloweeners 2011

2011-10-27T07:52:00.000-04:00

Dad visits Plovdiv

2011-10-22T09:02:00.000-04:00

snow camping

2011-10-22T08:56:00.000-04:00

Summertime in Bulgaria

2011-07-16T07:01:00.000-04:00

new beginnings

2011-07-13T10:24:00.001-04:00

unsure campers

2011-07-07T20:18:00.000-04:00

happy campers

2011-07-07T20:15:00.000-04:00

Happy bday America!

2011-07-04T13:39:00.000-04:00

Rila Monastery

2011-06-15T03:50:00.000-04:00

exploration

2011-06-15T03:44:00.000-04:00

Varna

2011-06-02T13:08:00.000-04:00

Last week we went to Varna. The kids spent a lot of time burying eachother in the sand. Which led Jackson to an insightful observation. While digging a hole for Cort to fit in (he has to fit in wearing his 'floaty suit', which is a big inflatable thing like a life jacket) he says "It must be a lot of work for obese people grave diggers."

Gondola

2011-06-02T08:51:00.000-04:00

The gondola ride rocked.

Venice

2011-06-02T08:49:00.000-04:00

We went to Venice one day and the food was yummy but it cost us 12 Euros to use the bathroom!

Glamping

2011-06-02T08:42:00.000-04:00

We went glamping outside of Venice at this fabulous place. It was decorated beautifully, we woke up to fresh made cakes for breakfast and they even had bikes for guests to use!

Mirano

2011-06-02T08:37:00.000-04:00

Mirano, Italy was so much fun. We found a chocolateria there and they run the cone under a fountain of chocolate to coat the inside of the cone before your ice cream goes in. Cort does not like to be on the back of the lion!

Rovenji

2011-06-02T08:33:00.000-04:00

One day we went to Rovenji. I don't really know how to spell that. It was before one city and after another. It was in between. Guess what we did in Rovenji? We threw rocks in water. When I say something to Billie and she IS NOT in Venice, like 'Turn around, let me take your picture!" She likes to say "Maawwwwm! Humph!"

waterfalls

2011-06-02T08:29:00.000-04:00

Splitvice was REALLY beautiful. We heard they had some water there, so we went to see if we could throw some rocks in it. Bill is kinda cranky when we're travelling, did you notice? One time he yelled at these young folks in Triste who were partying in their tents which were 6 FEET AWAY from our tents. He yelled at them at 4am and he wasn't saying very nice things. Even if they spoke Italian, I think they could pretty much get the gist of it. Anyway, Plitvice was really lovely.

In between

2011-06-02T08:23:00.000-04:00

When we're not in a cool city, we are driving from one cool city to the next.
This is what it's like in the car- the kids take their books everywhere. Let's try to pretend Cort isn't in the car singing the ABC song for the 47th time that hour

another place

2011-06-02T08:19:00.000-04:00

And we went to another city and stayed there in a funky apartment that was cool. We saw dolpins from the balcony when we woke up in the morning...after that we went to throw some rocks in the water.

4 kids

2011-06-02T08:17:00.000-04:00

Our kids are crazy cute.

next stop

2011-06-02T08:14:00.000-04:00

After that we went to this place. Where was this? Split, I think. Yeah, maybe it was Split. Then we took pictures with sculptures and got ice cream. And I like old windows.

lizard whisperer

2011-06-02T08:11:00.000-04:00

We go to lots of amazing places on this trip but most of our vacation turns out to be about throwing rocks in water, chasing pigeons and Jack making friends with every animal we see.

2011-06-02T08:07:00.000-04:00

Jackson gives a lot of piggy back rides to the littles when they are tired of walking, but once in a while he gets one himself. When you hang out with Jackson you have to remind yourself that he's not a teenager a lot. He's getting good a skipping rocks.

The edge of town

2011-06-02T08:02:00.000-04:00

Cort looks really cute when he's in Mostar

Family trip to Mostar

2011-06-02T08:01:00.000-04:00

Then we went to Mostar, which has a really lovely bridge and Bill broke up a fight between a German tourist and a crazy old man. Then we went to lunch at a cafe overlooking the river.

Big Fortress

2011-06-02T08:00:00.000-04:00

There's a big fortress in Dubrovnik and it's got a romantic history.

lola's mom

2011-06-02T07:57:00.000-04:00

Sloane is really cute and most willing to pose for photos. Lola and Sloane mostly like to wear the same outfit every day, which is good when you don't do any laundry for 2 weeks. Lola wimped out on the rock climbing.

Croatia Camping

2011-06-02T07:53:00.000-04:00

We chased pigeons in the park, which is very Bosnian, went geocaching and camping. When camping this is how we have breakfast. If someone wakes up cranky after sharing a tent with 5 other people and is rude at the breakfast table (old towel) then we have to send them to their room- it's oatmeal in the van for you!

Sareajvo

2011-06-02T07:46:00.000-04:00

One day we drove to Bosnia-Herz....

the big 1-0

2011-03-30T03:52:00.000-04:00

Billie is in double digits now. Which has been shocking me for months...how can that little ball of patient, thoughtful baby be turning 10? She has a retainer, she is creative, inventive, happy all the time...unless she's stomping off with a snotty remark. She returns 4 minutes later eager and giddy with a new idea that she just has to share...can't remember to stay angry or cranky because as soon as she's alone with her thoughts...she comes up with a plan, a project, a game, an idea and she's happy again.

weekend at the park

2011-03-29T03:13:00.002-04:00

This weekend we went to the park. The sun and shedding our heavy coats feels wonderful after winter in Bulgaria.

little Sloane

2011-03-20T05:06:00.000-04:00

Sloane used to look like this, now she can read (a little) and write (a lot) and make her bed, get her own breakfast, help Cort, remind us to pray before we eat and lead a game for all her friends. Five is a REALLY old kid.

Traditional OZ

2011-03-20T04:58:00.000-04:00

These costumes will always be my favorite, I'm in a blog-frenzy and came across them- too darling to pass up.

I'm Otay

2011-03-20T04:50:00.000-04:00

One day Cort may have broken his nose. We didn't have any official x-rays or anything, but I'm pretty sure it was broken, but then he was fine.

these are the days

2011-03-20T04:45:00.001-04:00

Once a really detailed and thoughtful building, just left to rot away...it looks sad, but a little lovely, and like it's full of stories...maybe ghost stories. I love the way the bare trees look on the foggy days too.
A day walking in Sofia.

2011-03-20T04:43:00.000-04:00

This is walking around Bulgaria. Bulgaria is weird. There's lots of lovely things if you look for them, but you have to look for them. It's ugly/beauty. That's my favorite kind of beauty, at the moment. There's graffiti on EVERYTHING, I'm going to start taking more pictures. Now that I can use un-mittened hands outdoors again.

Boylie Girl

2011-03-20T04:39:00.000-04:00

It's nice to have girls AND boys in the house- Jackson knows how to knit and cross stitch. Cort can go between high heels and tiaras to clones and iron man. Billie can skateboard, climb trees and read horror stories. Sloane can do cloaks and daggers just as well as teeny tiny polly pocket neighborhoods. Sloane and Cort are still the ultimate pair of friends. They do EVERYTHING together and have equally as inventive and consistant games as their older set. Sometimes they play 'Sisters' which involves lots of princess outfits and Cort takes on this weeny, high voice and floats around saying things like "I a dirl." And other times he uses his mean and angry voice to say things like "Dihv me dat water boddle wite now or I will tut off your head!"
This week he went to a St. Patricks Day party wearing a sparkly unicorn outfit with pink accents, it's ingenious really, because everyone then thought it was cute when he said "My horn is pointy and it can TILL you!"

Go Daddy Go!

2011-03-20T04:27:00.000-04:00

Today Bill is running a big race, so big that it take TWO DAYS to finish. He's in Budapest and he talked a few of the guys in his office to joining him (they agreed to do ONE day). That's fun. The kids and I had lots of b-day parties and playdates this weekend and today we'll make a poster to decorate the front door.

Mummers

2011-01-30T03:18:00.000-05:00

We're still here. Our internet NEVER EVER works! We have had wonderful visits with family and adventures and knitting, sledding, reading, learning Bulgarski, and yesterday we went to the Kukeri festival in Plodnik. With crazy cowbell dancers and frightening animal masks. It was super cold and we had to bribe the kids with lollies and balloons in an attempt to stop the endless rounds of 'my toes hurt'.

Snow day

2010-12-29T10:38:00.000-05:00

It's snowing here in Bulgaria. So, we threw our new skis in the van and went to a ski resort. It sounded like a good idea at the time...

In reality it's pretty much hell, with some fun bits thrown in.
Having our dear friends with us makes it all just something we can laugh about but that laughter leads to coughing.

It sounds so fun when you talk about skiing. I was picturing fireplaces in the lodge, kids who are mature and experienced now; who would be able to operate all their own equipment, but honestly- they can't even put on their own boots. Oh heck, I can't put my own boots on either. I will never ever do this again...for at least 2 years.
But then I find myself out there with the sun, the snow and the Chalga music and for a minute I think "this is fun." It's like the cold mountain air plays a trick on your brain and makes all the work since 6:30am a fuzzy blur. How did I get here? Well, it's sunny and snowy and I can buy generic powdered hot chocolate for $7 while the waitress can barely endure our presence- what's not to love?

castle, sweet castle

2010-12-11T05:05:00.000-05:00

Just in case you forgot how big our house was...here's another picture. The top bit is the part we call the 'tower' there are two arched windows centered on each of the 10 ft walls, amazing views from all sides since we're halfway up the mountain; snowy mountain top if you look to the left and city lights if you look to the right. Mostly we just stand in the 5 story spiral staircase and yell out "Where are you? Can you hear me?" to one another.

Snow

2010-12-11T04:56:00.000-05:00

We drove to the top of the mountain the other day- there's snow up there. I think we'll have to get serious snow boots this winter- brr!

hand made

2010-12-11T04:45:00.000-05:00

One of the nice things I've noticed about my kids lately is how giving they've become. There was a definite selfish stage there around age 6 that went on for a while and was making me crazy. Billie decided to make a doll for Sloane a couple weeks before her birthday- we worked together on this project each night as Bill read stories to the littles and sometimes stayed up late at the sewing machine. Billie did 95% of the work and the doll actually has and embriodered face on her other side, which is sleeping, so you can just flip her pink/purple/yellow hair over to see that.

Jackson carefully wrapped up his remote control car, which Sloane is always asking to have a go at, tied it with a bow and gifted it to her. Cort (I) picked out a Little Einstiens computer because they use a defunct computer in most of their games as a cash register or to keep track of the books being checked out when playing their most frequent game 'library'. Cort uses a lot of pseudonyms to check out more than his alotted amount of books. Sloane (looking official behind the defunct computer): What's your name? Cort: King of Jedis.

Back to the kindness- when Billie had her concussion she and I spent one night in the hospital. The kids were there for her fall, watched quietly as Bill and I got all flustered and concerned. They sat silently worried in the hallway chairs while doctors, nurses and we all hovered over Billie for an hour or so. Other people played with them and made paper airplanes with them while we ran tests and got checked in, moved to the pediatric hall (with 6 rooms). Eventually Bill took them home to see Nanna and assured them Billie would be fine and home soon.

The next day Bill brought us home from the hospital. Nanna had the girls drawing a welcome home banner for Billie and Jackson was running back and forth sneakily and only gave me a quick hello, obviously busy at work. Billie was still pretty wiped out that morning- Bill carried her to her bed. The littles went right in to give her hugs and see her. The first chance he got, Jackson snuck in to her room and I entered to find pokemon cards everywhere. He had sorted through his entire deck (let me assure you this is no small feat) and picked out all of the 'cute' characters, stacked them up and wrapped them and addressed them to Billie, complete with a few card covers to keep your most special cards in top condition. Billie was smiling and looking over her new cards for two minutes before rolling over and going back to sleep.

These trauma situations aren't exactly fun but it was nice to see how thoughtful everyone was not just to Billie, but to the whole family. We played lots of card games in bed, read stories and watched endless episodes of Teen Titans on DVD together.

Sloane

2010-12-11T04:19:00.000-05:00

Sloane turned five this week. We had a family night with cake and gifts and a party with friends yesterday. I requested no gifts or a picture drawn by her friends and the families all came up with such thoughtful things- one boy made a necklace, as you can see in this photo. Another friend drew pictures of Sloane at her birthday party and made it into a book. All day the kids and I made cupcakes, cake, blew up balloons and hung decorations, we were feeling festive all day. Cort informed us that "You have to have a costume for a PARTY!" so he wore his helmet and Jackson's Kabuto PJs all day. We played musical chairs, hyperdash and Billie and Jackson hid a bunch of number 5s around the house and the kids ran around hunting for them to see how many they could find. It was a wonderful party and Sloane enjoyed every minute of it.

Happy Birthday to my very big girl!

2010-12-04T15:42:00.000-05:00

The view of the mountain from our window

Billie as Hermione Granger

The magic show performance for CHILDREN at the SCHOOL, reminiscent of the Brownie troop gathering upon our arrival in Turkey.

Jackson is still here too, he's growing up and growing his hair out like Harry Potter. Bill keeps telling me to cut it, but it's Jonas Brothers style, right?

still cute

2010-12-04T15:30:00.001-05:00

Sloane and Cort are still really, really cute. Sometimes naughty...even cute when naughty.

Bonk

2010-12-04T15:27:00.000-05:00

Billie got a concussion three weeks ago. It was the scariest thing that has ever happened to me- much more of a focused fear than the time Sloane wandered out of the fence in the backyard.

A nice day outside, we put the scooters in the van and headed to a nearby park. The kids were having fun and we decided to go for a walk along the paved path. Billie and Jack were up ahead scootering along at not-very-fast speeds when Billie must have hit a crack in the pavement, thunked over and there was silence. No cry or hugging herself- just laying there on the path very still and silent. It was frightening not to hear her cry.

She was unconcious, with a teensy tiny, not bleeding scrap on the side of her forehead. Bill swooped her up we booked it back to the van and got to the hospital within 20 minutes of her fall. She woke up as we were walking to the van and got steadily better from there. There was a CT scan when we arrived at the hospital to show no sign of bleeding or damage to the brain. Relief. But I stayed worried for days afterwards.

The thing is, she could have been wearing a helmet. And it's hard to face that an accident like this could really have been prevented by Bill and I reminding her to put on her helmet.

A few days of not leaving Billie's bed (not bed side, I actually curled up in her bed with her for three days) I had a lot of time to think. I would say that, as parents, we are pretty slack on the safety scale- the kids climb trees, play outside unsupervised, go rock climbing, we use car seats MOST of the time, wear helmets on bike rides only when you're older than 6 and going further than the driveway, we don't get the flu shot and we never ever EVER use hand sanitizer (gasp!). While we were in the hospital I just kept thinking "how did this happen? We do 14 things more dangerous than helmetless scootering EACH DAY!"

I don't think we're negligent; I feel like we take precautions when something has the potential for danger; littles must hold hands when crossing a busy street and all that. But I also really want the kids to grow up with a strong sense of security and not set them up with the idea that something could go wrong at any turn. I don't want them to examine every project/idea/outing for any potential disaster...just be able to identify obvious danger and make smart choices to avoid it.

What is up with a two year old needing more safety gear than an astronaut to use a three wheeled scooter on a 4 ft square patio? What speeds and heights will this child be getting to at age two in this environment? It just doesn't seem rational to me.

What's so bad about a skinned knee? Or chicken pox?

But if you had told me I could have prevented Billie from this trauma, which is already just a funny story to tell for her...(so it's my own trauma) I would have agreed to have her wear a helmet every day for a year. This is a tricky line for me between safety and overprotectiveness. I guess I'll just have to keep figuring it out as I go.

Scenes from the stable

2010-12-04T14:52:00.000-05:00

Today the kids picked out an activity from our 'holiday box.' The holiday box is a thoughtful, handmade gift from a friend which contains cards with activities and ideas for projects that have to do with Hannukah, Christmas or the winter season. Create your own nativity scene. Sloanes is made up of baby dolls and cute animals, Billie made one with pokemon (2 pickachus as the kings) and Jackson made a bionicle version...notice how the green bionicle cradles the Jesus bionicle...isn't that sweet? The three kings have arrived with heavy weaponry.
Also related to this subject was our conversation yesterday when Sloane called me over to tell me that she loves Jesus just as much as she loves Santa. She explained that this way Santa wouldn't say "Sloane loves me more...so take that, Jesus!"
I didn't know what to respond so I did my usual 'okaaaaaaaaaaaaayy' thing that I say when I have to take time to process what they're telling me. Apparently she has noticed that there's some connection between Jesus and Santa but clearly she's not gotten all the roles worked out.
Jackson has mentioned to me quietly a couple times that he thinks it's really parents who load up the stockings while the other morning at breakfast Billie wondered aloud "I just don't get how he can carry all the packages at once?!" Still, willing to believe despite being puzzled with the details.

Nunderwear

2010-10-30T04:29:00.000-04:00

We got to visit with this adorable nun. She had worked for the secret service until retirement at 55, didn't think she'd live long so decided to come to the monestary. Now at 76, she's still going strong, hangs her own laundry out, grows her own food and her house doesn't even have indoor plumbing...can't even imagine how much work that would be in winter. I love our encounters with amazing people, stories and history.

new Sofia

2010-10-30T04:25:00.000-04:00

Sloane and Cort are dear friends and she's always taking care of him. Yesterday he told Bill "I like flowers, for real!!" Weapons and baby dolls are his favorite toys. Cort wasn't sure what to make of this painting, a lovely courtyard at the monestary, a walk in the woods.

Sofia close-up

2010-10-30T04:20:00.000-04:00

We also like all the funniness of being overseas again. Chuppa Chups enormous advertisement, broken playground equipment we let our kids play on, making friends with stray animals and interesting European art.

Welcome to Bulgaria

2010-10-30T04:15:00.000-04:00

So, we pretty much love Bulgaria. I think I might even be getting good at moving...it's taken some practice, or maybe we got lucky this time; I'm not sure I can take the credit. We're doing well here. After our initial 4 days of running around the house up and down the five spiral staircases, down dark hallways, peeking into room after room and singing "I think I'm gonna like it here!" as Annie does when she arrives at Daddy Warbuck's. We were able to make some friends, visit an orphanage, get in some traditional Bulgarian dancing, try out some new foods, learn to love instant coffee, become obsessed with a Plants vs. Zombies, count bathrooms, get totally sick of spending time with each other and then learn to enjoy eachother again.
So, that's been our whirlwind of a new life. Going from tae kwon doe six days a week, friends at the park 4 days a week, library 3 times a week, drama class, camps, tennis courts, bikes, piano lessons, visits from family, dinner invitations, free concerts, swimming pools- I could go on and on about the things we got to do with our Virginia family. Well, we went from that to a screeching halt of nothing. No phone calls, no phone, no emails, no internet, no sports, no friends, no Life cereal, no life. It was a shock to my system and I got a little insane on some days, insisting that we all put on boots and coats and go out over the 547 potholes in the not-really-what-you'd-call-a-sidewalk to get to the cafe, get myself some nes-cafe in a plastic cup with a straw and fresh bread, tomatoes, feta cheese, cucumbers...just to get out of the house and do SOMETHING really.
I sent out friend-fishing emails and invited perfect strangers to stop by the house any chance they got. It worked, I made some friends, some playdates and a strange thing started to happen- especially between the bigs who'd been fighting recently- they started to say things like "wanna play mastermind?" "sure!" and sort of started getting along because they had to. Two days ago we woke up to snow all over and when it got dark we played tennis in the basement, which is now a tennis and racquet ball court, the other room is good for scooters and skateboards. We sing this line a lot now "The tennis court is...down the stairs. Inside the house? Oh boy!"

Last weekend we went for a beautiful walk in the mountain woods. We live on Mt. Vitosha and look forward to skiing soon.

Cousins

2010-09-10T12:54:00.000-04:00

The joys of cousinhood...

Things that make us happy

2010-08-14T17:36:00.004-04:00

We are total groupies of this band- Rocknocerous, yesterday we went to see them play at Wolftrap, theater in the woods. Colonel Purple Turtle is Sloane and Cort's favorite song.

Riding bikes.

Here comes yummy!

creek time

2010-08-11T17:43:00.000-04:00

This summer we have spent a lot of time in creeks. We prefer playgrounds near creeks. We never ever come home dry or clean. This is how it is: Jackson is first to scramble down rocks and in the water, Billie helps Cort. Sloane wears dresses or skirts no matter where we are going that day. Cort wears a Hibiki helmet and pajamas.

I'm Cort, I'm free!

2010-08-11T17:34:00.002-04:00

Cort is THREE now, he says it 'Free' and connects his ring finger to his thumb in an odd way of pointing 3 fingers up to show people. He says this to random people, in an elevator, sitting at the next table in the restaurant, strangers in the pool..."I'm Tort, I'm free!"
Jackson gave him his own 'pirate ship' and he got tons of weapons, which are his favorite things. We went to the Air & Space museum and had a very happy birthday for him.

Berry cute

2010-08-11T17:25:00.001-04:00

A fun summer day.

How on earth do you do it?

2010-07-23T12:22:00.000-04:00

So, there are definitely times when we are moving, packing suitcases for 10 months, living in hotel-like homes, not getting too settled where we are, leaving all the comfort of what we know and wandering into new territory and I think this is just CRAZY. Seriously, what are we doing? And then we get pictures of our new house and it looks like this. And then I'm like- oh yeah, I can totally live with this.

Really, there's a lot that moving around offers us; at all times the promise of a new beginning is on the horizon. We can enjoy the time where we are knowing that we'll only be there for a limited time; we don't sweat the small stuff...it'll be gone soon enough. Crappy celing fans, cranky neighbors, bad haircuts...who cares?

Moving helps me sort through our 'stuff' and stay focused on what's really important. Each time we move I have to think about who I'll miss, what I need, what I want to change, what rituals I want to keep, and what I want to forget. It's like New Year's Resolutions but more often and more through. I have grown to love the cleansing-ness of a new beginning. I can move there and pretend I have always had dreads, I can start over as a Mom who never yells (we'll see how long that one lasts), I can set up a 'quiet room' for yoga, legos, puzzles, as I've been meaning to do for the last 2 years. It's suddenly a time to re-new.

Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to have a solid ground, a home that I considered MY OWN, with mosiacs in the kitchen that I had made. For the kids to have neighborhood friends that they play with ALL the time, to be part of a knit group that was going to keep meeting for the next 20 years. To have a spice collection or a pantry that really contained everything...

Moving isn't always easy but it's constantly exciting to wonder- what will our next home be like? Where will we be? What new people will I meet? What adventure is out there just waiting for us?

Stay tuned for my next post when I whine about all the things I just said I love: Sorting, stuff, wondering, unknowns, etc.

July

2010-07-18T10:36:00.001-04:00

Jackson had the best birthday ever. Meeting up with tons of friends at the playground, we provided snack foods which required no plates or silverware ( twizzlers, cheese sticks, decorate-your-own-cupcake station with icing and sprinkle choices, fruit and granola bars).
We also made up a TON of yo-yo balloons- a big hit for all ages and we hid treasure stones amoung the trees and kids had to hunt for them. I made them all the day before so I just put silly bands inside and baked them at 200 degrees for maybe 20-40 min depending on how hard they felt, when the stones feel hard I take them out.
Jackson had a fantastic time and we all went to see Despicable Me the next day, a water park the day after that and yet ANOTHER water park the following day. It's been quite the fun week. Happy 8 years old!

extra ordinary

2010-06-14T18:44:00.003-04:00

So, the thing with Jackson is that he's different. There are words like immature, Asperger's, objective-defiant disorder, genius, gifted and boy that all seem to fit him at times. Basically, I'm not interested in labels and diagnosis. I just want to deal with Jackson as the person that he is.
Today he taught Sloane to knit. Watching the show Charlie and Lola is like being with Jackson and Sloane. The other day he decided to make a list of mammals, which brings up questions like "Do Octopuses hear?" he filled three + pages.
He sometimes gets REALLY REALLY ANGRY over very minor disturbances to his things. He doesn't have control over a lot, as he's 7 and he's in a family that has to work with 5 other people and their schedules/likes/dislikes/attitudes.
He's amazingly kind and responsible and shockingly immature at times. Yesterday at the park a mom came up to me and asked "Is that older boy your son?" She wanted to tell me how kind and thoughtfully he included her younger son in a game he was playing with another kid. Today his zoology teacher told me he was incredibly smart and made great contributions to the class. This is a slice of the one and only Jackson.

Sloane's world

2010-06-11T12:22:00.002-04:00

Sloane is 4 and a half years old. She's darling and wonderful and frequently writes me letters which say "To the best Mommy and Daddy in the world who are the best we could ever even know about having such a good mommy and daddy and I love you so much even so much more than the biggest house and even more than a tree and I think you are very, very, very great."
She draws these intricate drawings that contain lots of little parts and careful pieces all over. They are machines that can bring us pancakes and houses and people. There are letters scattered through the drawings S, L, A, B, E, N, M, W and she doesn't put them together to make her name but sometimes writes a string of letters to ask what it says.
Sloane is very mothering, always looks out for Cort.
Apricots are her favorite food and she'll eat fruit all day long if I let her.
The other day Sloane learned to pump all by herself on the swing. Jackson taught her by tying a jump rope to her swing and pulling it to swing her until she got the motion on her own. As she pumped herself up high she sang out "Jackson is my HERO."
She has been following him around and answers all his requests with "Yes, your majesty" for two weeks since.

How I spent my summer vacation

2010-06-11T12:09:00.001-04:00

Today we cut up old t-shirts to make spy masks a la Teenage Mutant Ninja Solleys.

opps, I did it again!

2010-06-08T09:53:00.001-04:00

Crazy in other ways too

2010-06-05T12:30:00.003-04:00

Today
Bill is running a 50 mile race. I have not been supportive of this in any way...but he's doing it anyway just because he can't do anything on a normal level...running 26 miles is not enough, he does that every other week, running 30 miles is not enough...we have to be all extreme so he's going for 50 miles today and I am getting ice for his 'ice bath' later and we are making a sign for him to smile at as he crosses the finish line today in the 95 degree heat.

Jackson got heelys at the thrift store the other day for $4. He could hardly walk out of the store wearing them for the first time because they are heavy and akward with wheels on the back heels. Then he fell over and over and worked at it for HOURS as he slowly and steadily got very good. Now he can do all sorts of tricks. He totally has Bill's determination and gets fixated on things: knitting, reading every book in the Wizard of Oz series, heelys, legos.
As I was taking these wheely photos I noticed the background of my messy kitchen. Piles of papers and dirty dishes...and an iron (it came with the apartment) and a towel because my coutnertop is my ironing board and because sometimes I do little projects.

Today I ignored the dishes, made my bed, got dressed, schlepped the kids to the thrift store (yes...again!) because I wanted to reconstruct an old man's work shirt into a cutesy girl shirt. This seems to be the style Billie has mostly adopted; at the moment she has these half-finished projects in SIGHT of where I sit right now, newspaper basketweaving, a theater ticket stub scrapbook, 2 crochet projects, her own poster for Dad because she didn't want the other kids messing up her drawings, and one construction paper 'tape player' she's planning to use as a prop in our next play. I won't list the arty things I'm working on at the moment but I may have more going than she does and if you were to calculate a rate I probably finish about 45% of the things I start. Bill does everything he puts he puts his mind to. If only I could get him to commit to putting his socks in the laundry bin and he could rely on me to actually get to the grocery store...

when the bees sting

2010-05-20T21:30:00.002-04:00

I simply remember my favorite things and then I don't feel so bad:

Washing my face with plain ol' buy at the grocery store SEA salt.

My new trim treads that I wear around the house and feel sore the next day so it's like a version of doing nothing to exercise that actually works....maybe. I have only had them for a week but my calves are killing me!!

The perfectly funny book about momhood called When Did I Get Like This, which is how I feel my blog would be like if I wrote a book and had lots of different experiences.

Thinking about getting dreadlocks again...

Being more green: You probably already know that I don't buy paper-towels, haven't for about 8 years and I always use paper napkins. I've also given up dryer sheets and I am happy to report that I haven't purchased ANY household cleaning products for 2 years. I keep a cutesy spray bottle of vinegar water in each bathroom and use that for all sorts of spills: carpet stains, pee on the floor, juice puddles left in the bathtub, strawberry jam stuck on the couch pillow and found months later, boogers stuck to the wall...you know, all the stuff around the house. For the bathrooms & kitchen I use microfiber cloths.
Recently I gave up wipes, you know like, those little disposable diaper wipes people use on their kids all the time. I bought a set of these cuties and I keep a couple in the car, a few in my purse, they are great for runny noses and I always have water on hand so I can wet them and use them if I have a sticky popsicle to clean up after. I'm never buying wasteful wipes again- this pack of 20 will wash and wear through the next 10 years.
For eco-friendly lunch packaging I bought some silicone cupcake holders for our bento box snacks- zip lock baggies are OUT!
While I'm at it with the linky-love I must say that we've put these popsicle molds to frequent (near daily use) for months and I have never had a broken or stuck popsicle! Juice is so much simpler than individually wrapped, dye filled popsicles and the kids are equally eager for the handmade version of the icy treat.

I must admit I love the cutesieness of things and then I appreciate them more; I think I might use and enjoy things more when they are cute so I make an effort to take a cute path when going green and that makes things not only better for the Earth but also better in my house- which is a plus.

And catching up with Brandye from Okinawa today! She's totally cute.

Please share what you've been loving lately!

braces for billie

2010-05-19T14:50:00.001-04:00

I know I haven't been keeping up with our blog. But really, you don't want to be friends with us at the moment. We've had a cranky week...or maybe it's been a month...I'm in a crank-fog and I've lost all track of time. Have my children ever been kind or helpful in the past? I don't recall anything like that. I'll try to think of three good things to write and keep it at that.

1. Cort takes naps. That's good. He's really sweet when he's asleep.
2. We have a roof over our heads and plenty of Kix cereal. That's good.
3. I have nice handwriting. That's good.

So, there. I did it.

Apart from Billie and Jackson's NON-STOP bickering and my constant complaining about said bickering we have a very nice life.

At least there's
free bowling on the horizon.

And Sloane's new haircut is cute.

Billie is growing up some...she has braces now but still wears her shirt backwards sometimes. I hardly ever wear my shirts backwards these days thankyouverymuch.

These lights will make you feel brand new

2010-05-19T14:40:00.001-04:00

We had this really amazing trip to NYC- it was a while ago but what to do when there's not much fun stuff going on around here? Recall good times; A walk in Central Park with Uncle Ted

Cort carried this dagger all over for weeks and weeks. He slept with it every night until he lost it. This worked out well at Disneyworld because all the boys are dressed as pirates, or have a lightsaber on hand...the girls walk around in princess gear...it's magical. But now we're in NYC and visiting relatives with our two year old who just happens to carry a knife with him at all times. It's a little less appropriate in Central Park to run up to strangers pointing your dagger in their face and saying "I A PIRATE!" lots of people are disturbed adn I'm constantly explaining 'heh heh, it's just rubber! it's his favorite toy, he's harmless really, he just likes to threaten people, he never hurts anyone so that's practically acceptable, right? It's just that he's our 4th child...we give him anything he wants and right now he's into knives. Anyway, what kind of person are you? Threatened by someone wearing pink sparkly shoes with light up hearts. Really!'

Billie, Sloane and I got to ride the subway. Sloane was the only person in NYC wearing this hat because I KNIT DAT!

Then we went to a Broadway show. Possibly the best night ever and we are still dancing around on couches at least once a week here to the new version of Practically Perfect and Billie's favorite: Brimstone and Treacle. This spurred Billie to read all the books in the Mary Poppins series and the weekly singalongs have pushed Jackson's tolerance of our performances over the edge. Billie has resorted to headphones on her I-pod. Each time he's out of the house for an outing with friends or family we are staging our own musicals.

Torty

2010-04-23T11:02:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was Earth Day and we talked about it throughout the day as we hung with friends at the park (yes, that is the 4th weekday in a row we've spent the ENTIRE day at a park...and I bet you can guess where we're headed today. As of late, our homeschool has turned into more of a parkschool system. Fear not, traditionalists; Jackson is constantly digging up rocks and checks out gems and minerals books from the library to discern which types he's found then sharing/showing/explaining to the rest of us. Certifiable science.) Anyhow, it was Earth day and then as I was laying in bed with Cort while he falls asleep he suddenly remembered something "Hey! Santa not bring us any presents!!?" He knows what happens on holidays! Why hasn't someone incorporated candy as the most essential part of Earth day?

Happy Hunters

2010-04-06T21:12:00.000-04:00

On the road again

2010-02-25T22:22:00.001-05:00

We went up to Massachusettes to visit Nanna from Kentucky (that is her full name), Aunt Elizabeth and Uncle Tom. We had a lovely time, catching up, sleeping over and having homemade doughnuts for breakfast! Jackson hates having his picture taken...have you noticed? Usually I don't force him...but we came all that way to visit Nanna from Kentucky and it would be so nice for her to have a picture with all the kids. You can see how thrilled he was about it. He doesn't know the 'f' word yet but his friend told him that the finger means "I hate you." I think it's directed at me and Nanna from Kentucky didn't even notice...so, that makes it a nice picture.

snowmageddon

2010-02-25T22:12:00.001-05:00

We've had some snow here recently...you may have heard. So, it's lots of fun for the first 3 days...kind of a pain after that.

See Seaworld

2010-02-10T23:23:00.000-05:00

We even got to touch the dolphins at Seaworld. Thanks for all the fun Nanna Carrie!

Disney, the ugly

2010-02-10T23:16:00.000-05:00

Our hotel was supported by gigantic maracas.

Sometimes we all felt like this.

Some days we got soaked.

This photo might be sad if it weren't so hilarious.

Disney, the bad

2010-02-10T23:08:00.000-05:00

Dadddy could only come for the weekend and then he didn't get to stay for the remaining seven days of Disney adventures.

Things started to go downhill when Cort picked out a knife from Pirates of the Caribbean and then threatened both characters and tourists alike.

He completed his look with the pirate mickey mouse hat and worried those around him.

Then all the kids joined the green guys army...Cort took it very seriously.

Disney, the good

2010-02-10T22:57:00.000-05:00

Then we went to Disneyland with Nanna Carrie and Grampa Les. It was really fun and everyone had so much fun on Space Mountain...even Jackson cracked a smile.

sweetly napping

2010-02-10T22:53:00.000-05:00

One day Cort was so tired he fell asleep on Sloane. She gently patted his head while he slept. Another day I found him asleep standing up. He was leaning his head on the couch but had passed out while on his feet- I have a video of it.

Christmas, out of order

2010-02-10T22:49:00.000-05:00

So, when we left Turkey we went to Mom and Bobs in Minonk. We played in the snow and went to Walmart and made preprations for Santa.
Cort made cookies...his stirring face looks the same as his angry face.

Then we opened a million presents and apparently didn't get one good picture. It was very fun for everyone but Bob. This is what the house looked like. And this is only a FEW of my Mom's Christmas decorations. You think I'm kidding now...but I'm really not.

one thing at a time

2010-02-10T22:38:00.000-05:00

So, we moved into our new apartment which is some sort of vortex of static electricity, best illustrated in Sloane's hair. And I tied one binkey to the doorhandle so that Cort, who is TWO AND A HALF, could now cut down to binkies only for naps and bedtime. This one he can have whenever he wants, only he can't have any fun...just stand next to the door with his binky. Our new home is pretty nice, but not as cool as the last ones because the kids can not go outside without me and we don't have many neighbor friends.
Luckily, we can (and frequently do) walk to our old favorite Stacy's coffeehouse.

The way things are in transition

2010-01-27T13:04:00.004-05:00

So, a few things of interest happened since I last posted a blog. Like, we moved to the United States and stuff.
Too much to recount it all but at least I can mention a few highlights:
Sloane turned 4 and got a big red inflatable ball that you can climb inside and roll around an empty apartment after the movers have come.
I have worn the same outfit for 5.7 weeks straight, the grey boots with buckles, skinny jeans and a sweater in cardigan form or other.
We played legos.
We have played LOTS of board games. Bill has worked out every day and bikes, walks or runs to work every day since we moved here.
We got a new van even crappier than the one we had before.
Excellent time hanging out with cousins.
Invaded Mom and Bob's house for a 3 week stay and expressed our critical opinions of everything they did during that 3 week period.
Decorated 4 Christmas trees at Mom's house.
We sat on Santa's lap.
We made snow forts and snow people and snow angels and had painful and totally disappointing sugar on snow party.
Cort has not changed is simplified/shouting speech style since I last wrote: "This. Mine. Yogurt. This. Not. Loane's. Yogurt. This. Spoon. Mine. Weapon. Shoot. You. Mine weapon! I not mean guy. I nice mean guy!"
Most all of his statements include the words mine and weapon.
For now we're having fun in our little, nice place in Virginia (little is so much easier than big!).
We are catching up with friends, doing a homeschool drama class, yoga class with Ankara friends, and piano lessons. We are waiting to hear where our next location will be and wondering if Bill will get language training for that location...thinking it's most likely that he will.
We are happy and busy and astounded at the awful traffic and cost of groceries. We are obsessed with the library and all our new books and neglecting our blog/email and other computer related functions.
In a few days we're headed to Disneyland for a week's vacation. I think I'll blog again before we move again. That's all our news.

the way things are in Turkey

2009-11-27T12:05:00.000-05:00

Today was beautiful, Bill and the kids climbed to the top of a cliff.

I chatted with the ladies in the sheep killing area.

Cort climbed into an antique bucket in the antique display section because the kid-loving Turks don't care if kids climb all over pieces of art at the museum or start swordfighting with relics...kids are allowed to do anything they want.

(which includes smoking.)

Ebru painting

2009-11-27T11:59:00.001-05:00

Either we were painting on cows fat oil or something was lost in the translation.

Eee Bayramlar!

2009-11-27T11:57:00.001-05:00

It's sacrafice holiday in Turkey. Invite all the family over and then dress up the sheep, goat or cow with fancy ribbons...

Come on little guy...let's go to the backyard.

I'll bring the knives...

Thankful I'm not a sheep

2009-11-27T11:55:00.001-05:00

Gather around and sing to the goat...sing a gentle prayerful song while gently stroking the little guy

Foreigners watch from afar respectfully.
Cut open his throat and bend his head back to break his neck.
Carry the bits and pieces back to the house (didn't you notice that was a huge cows head laying on the ground 3 photos ago?)

dear friends

2009-11-08T06:05:00.002-05:00

Lately I've been thinking about the people in my life. Sometimes people come in to my life and then they go out of my life...probably because I'm not on Facebook (and because I'm terrible at keeping in touch) but these people are still a part of my life. Well, the important ones are. There's plenty of folks that I've forgotten, I'm sure. Then there's the people I could never forget: people who I look up to, who've given me advice...people I can talk about anything with; from nipples to nose-hairs. I feel very lucky for all of you.. the people in my life!

the Ali-pooh-pooh trip

2009-10-14T14:53:00.001-04:00

We drove straight from the hollow cow to the airport to pick up Nanna. We showed her our fossils and then took her to Safron Bolu. We walked around the old ottoman city, bought a sketch from a tormented street artist and then on to Amasara.

We checked in with the Black Sea, took a boat ride to rabbit Island, played cards and ate a lot of popsicles.

What a lovely time. Then we came back to Ankara to celebrate Pat's birthday with a ladybug cake. It wasn't homemade but it WAS a very cute ladybug.

Fossil finding

2009-10-14T14:39:00.002-04:00

Sloane and her bucket o'fossils (they are ALL OVER the ground!)

To get there, you just drive down lots of random roads to nowhere and then turn on a dirt road and park at the cow carcass.

Cort got into it. Jackson did too but I didn't get a photo of him because he was climbing over the neighboring mountain by the time I got out of the car...he was with other 7 & 8 year old boys and apparently, we need to spend 4 hours rock climbing every day because there was not one whine, dispute, or disagreement the whole time.

Got in a little rock climbing.
Billie doing her usual pose "Supermodel/tomboy"

One big trip

2009-10-08T14:37:00.001-04:00

So, we decided to take a big road trip...see some sights before we leave Turkey. We planned for one long day of driving at the beginning and one long day at the end. In between would just be shorter trips so it wouldn't be too much time in the car. We didn't have reservations at any hotels or a set plan of cities to stay in...we just thought we'd stop around...if we liked a place we'd stay for a night or two...if not, we'd just drive on. It's kind-of a "let the chips fall where they may" philosophy. And by this I mean don't freak out when the Doritos are all over the floor, the car seats and there are orange smears on the headrests. You have to be prepared for that on a road trip.
First we drove to Pammukale- we were all set with snacks and forgotten toys and audio books on CD to start things off. We did the mandatory road-trip stop in Afyon at Burger King and all of a sudden we were in Pammukale...driving time under 5 hours, shorter than we expected. We checked in to an overpriced hotel directly across the street from the amazing site. We got on swim suits, walked across the street, hiked up the hill stopping in all the ponds on the way up. At the top of the Mtn. there's a city of ruins- Hierapolis, which is fun to climb around in. We skipped the 'Antique Pool' (10 euros for the same water we were just sitting in?!) and hiked back down. A 30 min and easy hike over the sand/rock/clay stuff that looks like ice.
Next day we drove to Selcuk. This is where Ephesus is- we stayed at a great hotel there with a little organic garden and the food was EXCELLENT. Then we drove to the top of Ephesus and hiked around there for 3 or 4 hours. The hotel was easy on the wallet and darling with antiques and quite elegant.
Next day we went to Mary's house, it's a quick walk through but very nice to see, be very careful when you let your 3 year old light a candle but you've got to let her do it, it's Mary's house and all, right?
Eat some lunch and get back in the van to drive to Marmaris. Walk around Marmaris, ducking in to hotels to check on prices. After 17 min or so in Marmaris you will be sure to feel MUCH better about how body looks in a bathing suit. Why do the guide books not say that super-tan, over 70s people in very skimpy suits gather in mass on the beaches here? It's very touristy in Marmaris and it may be fun to attend one of the "Elvis or Micheal Jackson" shows but it is NOT fun to listen to the show's throbbing bass music in your hotel room all night. Marmaris is too touristy so the next morning we move on to Dalyan.
If you're lucky to have friends who've led you to a fantastic little hotel with a kitchenette and A/C and helpful staff like us you can stay at________. We really like Dalyan, walking around the town, taking a boat ride, seeing some tombs (again), Iztuzu beach is fantastic amazing for it's views and amazing that it hasn't been industrialized! There's a Hamam there and 1 shopping street with funky stores, lots of cafes along the river water.
Stay for two nights and when you're all packed up and ready to go you decide to do something crazy and call ahead for reservations in Kas so that you actually HAVE a destination. Don't panic when there is NO HOTEL ROOMS AT ALL available in Kas...because now it's Friday night and there's some festival in Kas that weekend. Just stay in Kalkan...and wind up liking it better than Kas anyway!
In Kalkan we stayed at Hotel Meldi and it was PERFECT. We had the rooftop terrace room, it's a teeny tiny room but you can stick one of the kids in the next room with the grandmas (bring grandmas and sleeping bags with you on this trip!). The terrace is big and perfect for staying up late sitting under the stars, overlooking the harbor and talking about old times...or, if you're Bill for working on your laptop under the stars finishing up papers for your final grad school class. Kalkan has really fun shops, strolling and restaurants. The staff at Hotel Meldi is really fun and the breakfast was lovely.
You can take a day trip to Kas (20 min drive) and get a boat from there to Kekova- which is INCREDIBLE. Or, walk around the shops there for super cool boutique shops and spend loads of money on handmade shawls if you're a grandma. Get free bracelets if you're a cute little girl who won't smile at anyone.
After two nights in the lovely town of Kalkan- shopping and long lunches...you're ready to move on to something more active. Saklikent Gorge was one of our favorite spots on the trip. You're in this huge gorge with a river running through it and you hike IN THE RIVER. At one point it's rather deep and you have to cross it and the kids feel like they're getting caught up in the super strong current and they go into panic mode...but have no fear!...there's enterprising 7 year old Turkish boys who will rescue you in the hopes of a lire. The rest of the walk is easy and the water doesn't go much past your ankles in most parts. This walk was SO COOL. You can even have lunch on a little raft that is slightly attached to a wobbly foundation of some sort so that you may break away and be whisked down the river at any point during your meal...hey, this IS Turkey so it's not like there's any safety regulations or anything. The grandmas may refuse to take part in this risk but by leaving some people on sure ground at least you have someone to take pictures of you before anything drastic happens.
Then, you plan to stop at a hotel near some lake...which isn't really interesting but seems a good stopping point on the way back to Ankara. Make this decision because you're awake and alive and feeling fresh from your brushes with death this morning. After driving for 6 hours or so...after 7 days of traveling...and having people keep fallling asleep on you so that you are forced to hold uncomfortable arm positions for hours at a time...weighing the discomfort of your arm vs. having to listen to the whining if that person wakes up...well, at that point your brain just turns to mush. And for some reason you might start thinking that Afyon isn't that far away...and there's Burger King there so that's exciting. And then you might just get the crazy idea that well, since you're all in the car and as if you haven't already done enough that day...maybe you could just keep going all the way home. Especially if no one is checking on the cat and you're wondering if you left enough food for SEVEN DAYS...you might just think it will be easier to get home than to stop and unpack at another hotel. But you're wrong. So, the last 3 hours of your trip are the worst of the whole 7 days...but three hours really isn't that bad for a whole week of mostly goodness. You know it's bad when your 2 year old won't be comforted by anything...not even a twizzler will help at this point.
But when you get home and the cat is still alive...it was all worth it.

We're going away again this weekend...

Pammukale

2009-10-08T11:27:00.000-04:00

Pammukale is so cool! You can cool off in the spring waters as you hike up the mountain. And when you get there...a whole ancient city in ruins to climb around on!

it's not always pretty

2009-10-08T11:18:00.002-04:00

There were some grumpy times. Especially when Sloane noticed that Cort had destroyed her sand castle...again.

Southern Turkey beauty

2009-10-08T11:14:00.000-04:00

There were some beautiful moments on the trip.

Med. Road trip

2009-10-08T11:11:00.000-04:00

We went to Ephesus with Nannou and Nannou 2 (two Nannous?!)

purple sparkle skirt

2009-10-08T11:05:00.000-04:00

This is what it looks like when Bill comes home from work. Sometimes he's greeted by his son, who has selected his own outfit for the day- and sometimes that outfit is a purple, sparkley, skirted leotard. He runs around looking like a pleasant little girl as he hits Sloane on the arm with a back scratcher, sneaks sports equipment out of the closet to drag baseball bats and golf clubs around the house and screams "Shoot you! Shoot you!" as he chases guests around with his 'finger gun'. Not really a gentle child at all.
And sometimes Sloane insists on wearing her too-small pajama shirt all day. And usually, the big kids are not here because they are outside until 6:17 every night because we tell them they must come home at 6:15pm. And sometimes Daddy runs home from work instead of using his car because he's a freak like that, so he's all sweaty and that doesn't stop anyone from climbing on him at all.