Nannou fun

We had a great time with Nannou here. Billie turned up the brattiness for a few days and that was met by no less than 3 gifts per day. Billie: "Jackson! Stop it...you're the rudest boy ever and never touch my new strawberry shortcake doll without asking me!!" Jackson: "Thanks for the power ranger Nannou...can we go get ice cream?" Nannou: "yes!" Billie: "Fine. But I'm having Strawberry and I'm not even going to share any of it with you Jackson...NOT EVEN A BITE!" Nannou: "okay, let's go and then I've got another suprise for you after we have ice cream...I got you each new videos, we can watch them this afternoon while Mom is at her ultrasound." Billie: "Well, we're watching MY choice first!"
Okay...this isn't an exact recorded conversation...but this would not be an exaggeration of the spoiling or of Billie's 'tude.
So, apart from Billie we all had a WONDERFUL time with Nannou visiting. As for my ultrasound...we are not finding out if sprout is a boy or a girl. More motivation to push in the delivery room. But...while we're on the subject...I would put my money on boy...I've got a feeling and I'm putting it in writing. It is important to note here that I thought Sloane was a boy too, but I didn't feel this strongly about it. The ultrasound tech, who said he "could have done my Mom's ultrasound when I was in her tummy" (when I blurted out my age in defense of being 'too young' to have my 4th kid). Really, things are getting silly now...I thought I had a lot of comments when I would go out with the 3 of them. Seriously, the comments are getting a little outrageous...the other day at the library, a man asked me "Are you mormon?"

A Wizarding party

A picture says a thousand words and most of them are 'Wah!" on the subject of Daddy getting on the plane to travel for a week (doing work stuff) and missing my Harry Potter 6th birthdayparty!

These picture says "I love my American Girl Doll- Molly, who I've wanted for a year"

This is us making magic wands at my harry potter party- flick and swish!

In potions class, the drinks were experimental (all juic and non-soda, of course). Using droppers to mix until the flavor was just right...or totally gross...depending on your tastes.
It was magical! I wish you all could have been there!

princess gardening

Well, here i am all dolled up; ballet shoes on, a tu tu over my outift and my tiara is in place...what should i do now? go roller skating & plant seeds in the garden and get very muddy? yes! that sounds good!

travel

so, we're back and thank goodness it's 70 degrees and it was homeschooler park day yesterday or we'd do nothing but sit inside and miss Nanna and France. it's not Paris but the playground is free and full of friends. flights and airports all went smoothly with only one low point in desperate parenting when there were NO children's movies available on the 8 hour flight and we let Jackson watch the Ben Stiller film "A Night in the Museum" and Billie paid attention to every detail of "Marie Antoinette" by Sofia Coppola- which is funny and a great flick by the way. Sloane did cry and call out but not for more than 10 seconds at a time (we've never had to do a crying baby on a plane before but i guess it could have been worse). So, like i said, it was fine...up until the very end when Jackson urped up all of the candy, chips, and other usually-forbidden junk food he'd eaten all that day on the shuttle bus between airport terminals as we returned to DC. blech.
And now we're back and I'm reading The Suprising Power of Family Meals, inspired by Pat and the French way of enjoying your meals (less food shoveling, more talking between bites). Dinner time as a family is going to be my new mission (trimester 2 is 'mission mode' and the only 3 month stretches of time in the last 6 years that I'm actually productive and able to complete a project from start to finish that entails more than slathering on sunscreen and packing snacks for the beach).
well, i've got two kids in a wagon waiting for me outside and one in roller skates. we're heading to the library- maybe over a mile away so we'll have to stop for snacks at a less-than-cool-non-patisserie along the way but it's WAY too nice outside to drive!
Here's some Paris memories: us in Monet's garden, reading about Monet's garden, catching ladybugs in Monet's garden, climbing trees in Monet's garden and at Monet's grave.

Well, a diaper change in the Louvre, break-dancer-veiwing and my belly at the Eiffel tower. things are a little crazy in Paris. There's family drama and fun everywhere. Imagine having Bill, grumpy with an achy back, kids who are sometimes hyper and sometimes whiny, frequently loud and running, sloane who is always wanting to walk when it's a good time to be held, and wanting to be held when our arms are tired, then throw in me, with a baby who has to have a pain au chocolat every fifteen minutes when we're on a walk to stave off being as whiny as billie, and has to fill up a water bottle at each stop, (which then leads to a stop at the W.C. every 10 minutes because the baby is pushing on my bladder)- then throw in jet lag and no one sleeping well. Why would there be any drama? don't you just want to invite us to stay with you?!
Well, how we're having so much fun during all this is beyond me...but we're off to the science park today!

the price of fun

visited the Luxembourg gardens yesterday and the kids played on a superfun playground that had and entrance fee and high gates to keep out the rif-raf...it's like the stay-at-home Mom version of a hot spot. it's a swap from the night club life i imagine one would have living in Paris before having kids. the kids love riding the metro, which is how we get around (we even did it without our resident expert yesterday). Nanna Pat is being very gracious about the cheerios and apple bits all over the floor of her elegant Paris apartment. Here's us at the Louvre pyramid and in the Toulieries garden. we've hit up several patisseries in an effort to find something aside from pain au chocolat that the kids are willing to eat (i'm the only one willing to eat anything containing tomatoes). it's a rainy morning now so we slept in, i'm doing laundry (see above photo for how filthy the kids got yesterday at the playground) and catching up on the blog. trying to survive the morning without a walk to the bakery for fresh baked croissants....
really i'm just mentioning laundry and rain in an effort to make you poor readers who aren't in Paris right now feel not so bad about it.
P.S.- i can't figure out how to switch pictures on the new blogger. Sloane has slept with her head back in the hood through most of the exciting sight-seeing, she likes to wake up for the metro rides and snack time. These are swings with the price for a 5 minute ride!!!

c'est la vie

we're here and it's WONDERFUL. Pat has this amazing apartment and we can walk to cafes and markets. Yesterday we woke past Noon and did the Eiffel Tower. Bill and Pat are noticing fancy scarves on all the men but I can't get past all the coats and boots. Everyone...EVERYONE has a lovely winter coat (except me, Bill, Pat and the kids). I haven't seen one person in sweatshirts and sweatpants- not one. Not one person without gel in their hair, or some form of hair-do!
I'll try to put up a picture.
i wish we had an airport picture. everyone kept wondering what on earth this family with 3 little kids was doing getting on a long-distance flight. those kids are such good travelers and we did make it with one suitcase, plus two backpacks for carry on.

How do you say 'snow' in French?

Snowy days are FINALLY here and we're loving it. Well, we all are except Sloane who doesn't have a waterproof snow suit (really, we'd only wear it two days before it was outgrown so it doesn't seem worth the shopping and purchasing effort): see photo below of her looking longingly out from her glass prison. We've all been knitting and crocheting up a storm as the snow falls into maybe 5 inches outside. Perfect, powdery, not too cold, not windy, just right for packing snow! Of course, that hasn't stopped us from our usual museum trips, the President's Day Parade, and other exciting events. We were all into George Washington (in addition to book 3 of Harry Potter) for a while. Now we've moved on to pracitcing our "Bonjour", "Sil vous plait", "Merci Beaucoup", and "crepe" (because Bille wants to know how to order pancakes in French). We're talking about the Euro and studying the map. At least we're doing something to get ready for France because it's not like I've started packing or made plans for anyone to watch Minerva...that would be practical.
Can you tell i'm strictly in 'fun' mode with this trip...in denial that it will require any actual planning or work? We're the lightest packers on the planet so packing should be quick and then we'll be on a plane the day after tomorrow! Au revoir for now!


 

part 2 (above part 1)

 

We've got art!

Aunt Elizabeth gave us a painting and I LOVE having it in the house...a sleeping kid is my most favorite thing. It's just a little glimpse of a 3 year old napping, or after dark, you can see every bit of sweetness in their soft skin and relaxed body. Like, i don't feel like i'm that relaxed...even when i'm sleeping. now i get that little dose of relaxed perfection- wild babies at rest, each time i look at it. Ahh...yoga at a glance. Thank you Aunt Elizabeth!
Here's Billie's drama class (some of them) doing a performance. Billie was the vulture...and had the best loud, clear voice of the bunch (maybe there is a reason for her un-reasonable volume). If only she were on stage all day everyday...it would make sense.


Nannou sent the kids silly lollipops that look like fat kissing lips when you eat them. Thanks Nannou (the kids liked that as much as I like our painting). 

goggle heads

this morning Jackson brought his ski-goggled-self into our room (he's the one who wakes up first in our family and usually comes in to read quietly until I or Sloane roust ourselves from slumber) and billie did the same thing (except came downstairs, because we were awake by then) two hours later (she's a late sleeper). a note here: ski goggles AND bed head are not such a good combo... but i think we're finally seeing interest in a subject area that is not of the wizard world (phew!).
We're off to Massachusetts tomorrow mostly to see family but we're all excited about getting in a ski day, too. (when i say 'all' i mean Bill and the kids because I'm staying home with Sloane).
Here are some non-goggle shots to keep within our standard of randomness.
Jackson pictured with Mr. Rizzo.
Billie at the computer in one of her 'creative' ensembles - "I like to be colorful!"
Our best attempt (weak!) at a snowman...consists only of a head and then spending the remainder of the day propping umbrellas about and other unsuccessful ventures in an effort to 'save him' from the sun. Sloane joins the kids for 'reading time'.

quick shots

Sloane learning songs from Jackson, focused on reading, giving eskimo kisses to Dad and looking like the center of the universe that she is. She LOVES my Grandpa's rocking chair!

Created a Monster!

Or, a ghoul, goblin, wizard? It's Harry Potter craziness here at our house. And before I talk about that can I just say that you are the best bunch of people ever?! With all that great feedback on chopsticks with cheerios mornings I'm tempted to confess more of my mothering blunders! That had me smiling all day...perhaps even better than a package from Etsy! (but those have given me happy days too- thanks!) You guys are the superest! Thank you!
So...as much as I would like to digress...i simply can't escape the Harry Potter frenzy we've been whipped into. I'll admit it's MUCH better than reading ameilia bedilia crap and that predictable curious george...don't even get me started on the bunny with the pink nose! Billie says it in a taunting voice with such glee "I get to choose the story...and it's going to be a LAME one!!!" Bill and I both roll our eyes and give in to ONE lame story but refuse to re-read in one sitting...it's just beyond our parenting patience limit.
So..we've usually got some pretty good reads going on around here. I throw all my un-used acting skills (Best Actress award- 1993, Annandale High School thankyouverymuch) into personalizing the characters with accents of their country of origin (or a made up accent...if it suits me), using facial expressions, and introducing otherwise forbidden phrases to my children like "shut up you idiot!" I know the bad language isn't much of a learning 'ideal' but the rest really get the kids riled up. Jackson will be shaking his fists back and forth while jumping on the couch next to me as I read an especially frightening, hanging-on-by-the-skin-of-your-teeth scene from the book. He's nearly acting things out as they happen...it's kinesthetic.
Billie can't stop herself from interrupting with 'useful' (?!) bits of information ("he should have listened to Hermione...he's going to get into trouble!") but also gets caught up in the plot and perils. And then...THEN...after finishing the first book in a grande 2 hour reading finale...they were bouncing off the walls with the thrill of the ending (I nearly had myself in tears I was reading it with such feeling) and THEN...we let them watch the movie (which they didn't know we had). I must say, there is all SORTS of creepy stuff in here...but it was already in their heads via the book, so, we thought...what the heck? And it was SO funny to hear them comment on the movie. "I thought Fluffy was white" "I thought Uncle Vernon was skinny but he's fat" "That's not really what happened to Norbert!" "But Dudley doesn't have his smelting stick" They noticed EVERY difference. I can NOT believe all the details the kids got out of that book...i just could never name them all. But it's SO cute to think of them having these ideas in their heads- clearly Billie had pictured Fluffy the 3 headed dog with white fur. I LOVE seeing how their brains work with these little insights. Geez, people are worried about kids learning enough ..but what are they NOT learning? That's what i'd like to know...they notice EVERYTHING and then they think about it.
Of course, we had to start book two that night...and both children crawled into our bedroom sometime during the night because they "had bad dreams...not just about Harry Potter!" (yeah, right! this following at least 2 years of no bad dreams) And i'm reading during breakfast, i use it as an incentive to get them to do a quick playroom pick-up, it's Harry Potter all day and all night. I think we're on Chapter 6...and this is day 2...so, it's officially an obsession. Just thought I'd share that with you...since it's what's happening with us. Tomorrow i'm taking them to Mt. Vernon because Jackson LOVES George Washington and anything to do with him...hoping to get them on another topic for a couple hours at least.
Haven't gotten pictures of the kids up in a while...here's what's up: still-walk-with-a-peg-leg-even-though-i'm-cast-less-Sloane, drama class, and home puppet shows...it's better than looking at shirts and kitchens, right?

Get out of the kitchen

So, i hear a lot of comments that seem to indicate i have a perfect life, it's true my life is pretty awesome but i have problems too, i just don't usually dump them on you blog readers (the 4 of you might stop reading if i do) but here's a dose of reality...i hate my kitchen. i've tried to adjust...but i can't...it's just awful. how can a room with 40% of it's wall space taken up by windows be dark and creepy? i don't know but my kitchen is. there are 4 drawers. that's right 4 and they are all VERY small, so utensils like whisks and spatulas (see...i know kitchen lingo) are forced up on the counter tops in ugly display next to the appliances which have no room in the 4 cabinets (because plates, cups and food have to go somewhere). And that's my kitchen...which was not a roaring success but somehow tolerable until the dishwasher broke and now...well, it's beyond hope. I don't even want to go IN there! So, i dare you to compliment me now....do you like the way that there's one clean dish in the dish rack? Or the way I've posted vacation type postcard art up so that I can imagine myself somewhere else? How about the big bag of rice, which can't fit anywhere and so has a place between the dishwasher and the back door? Or how about that the microwave blew up with sparks and freaky-ness after we were NOT able to fix the darn dishwasher with the new parts we bought and waited for them to come in last night? Is that fun? And then, it's not really mine...it's my Mother-in-laws (who I think has seen the light now that she has a big Paris place) but handled this teensy room with such grace that she actually believed it when she said "It works really well for me!" and came up with all kinds of responses for the inevitable look of shock and "My GOD! How can you DO anything in this kitchen?!" remark that comes from each new house visitor. My responses are things like..."well, we eat a lot of 3 minute ramen noodles" and "i know...it's really hard because Sloane can reach the stove from any point in the room, so I can hardly hold her and get a glass of water." I don't know how Pat did it- but she's a chef, and possibly just much more optimistic or determined to make it work than me. In any respect, she's a better person than me. And there's your answer to the question I always get: "how do you find time to sew? /read all those books? /order 26 things from Etsy in one day?" I have nothing but time...because i avoid the kitchen, eat P,B &J, ignore the dishes, eat with disposable wooden chopsticks when all utensils are dirty (i suppose some Moms will clean some spoons before breakfast but billie and jackson have totally had cheerios with chopsticks...because i had to finish this really great chapter in the book i'm reading RIGHT NOW...for Sloane? frozen peas- no utensils required!). So, that's my world...not perfect at all, as you can see. And i hope in proving that i'm not the perfect Mom i won't have offended you all into not being my friends. There's worse things than wearing a pair of jeans out of the laundry hamper and eating breakfast with chopsticks? right? By the way, these pictures are taken on two different days of dirty dishes and 2 seconds after this picture was taken Jackson broke this fake drawer off the cabinet! perhaps the kitchen senses my hatred and that's why it's rebelling against me so?!