Snack food

The night before this happened the dinner conversation went something like this:
me: "Anderson, no more lettuce until you eat your spaghetti."
Anderson: "I love lettuce! I don't want any more spaghetti, just lettuce!"

A vegetable lover, who would have thought? I actually really love vegetables but who would have thought a three year old would as well? I'm not complaining. Though I did once threaten to take his spinach away if he didn't eat his pizza. What?! When he begged to eat this crown of broccoli as his pre-dinner snack it just seemed wrong to deny him so off he went, broccoli in hand to munch away. And munch he did. He ate that thing down to less than half its original size. Good boy. And because this is my journal and I can write whatever I please I am going to choose not to go into the fact that the next day he consumed nearly his weight in candy and junk food. Because "broccoli boy" makes me look like a much better mom.

Packed Away

Last week I packed up the last of Beck's baby bottles. I'm not normally so sentimental about such things but for some reason it made me pause, I guess because it was acknowledgement of just how big my baby has gotten. Funny what can trigger a little pull at your heart.

So long, summer

Something has changed since September began. The air is still hot (over 100 degrees last week!), but there is a definite moisture and a slight breeze that tells me fall is waiting in the wings. I suppose I am in a bit of denial about the whole thing. Lazy summer days have already been replaced with busy work schedules, very early mornings, reasonable bedtimes, and strict routines. The days are noticeably shorter and it won't be long before costumes are in the works and pumpkin bread is in the oven. This time of year is one of my favorites but right now I would do just about anything for just a few more beach days with my boys.

Happy Feet

Anderson and I draw little faces on our toes and have them talk to eachother. We call them "toe buddies". They make us happy.

Bruiser

Beck, you were out of our sight not more than 10 seconds and then we heard a thud followed by that unmistakable high pitched "come quick I am hurt!" scream. Apparently somewhere between our room and yours you fell on a toy (or maybe the tube of diaper cream?) and got a puncture wound right on the corner of your eye. A morning that started off with everyone happy and smiling turned into a long afternoon of debating whether or not to take you to get a little glue on your eyelid that seemed to continue to bleed for hours. In the end Grandma and I decided it was fine to treat you at home with a little tape, some Tylenol, and a lot of lovies instead of subjecting to you the emergency room. Ughhh...why do these things always seem to take place just minutes before Daddy has to walk out the door for work?! Things got even better when you tried to give Buddy some cake crumbs and he snipped at your finger. Oh, and you are teething and fighting a cold. Seriously a bad weekend all around. I am keeping my fingers crossed for at least a few more consecutive hours of sleep tonight, though I will be making extra coffee for the morning just in case. One and a half is truly a tough age. Hang in there, baby. I love you, little Bruiser.

Anderson | first day of preschool

Anderson, you started preschool today. Real preschool. Not just a one month trial run like we had in the summer where everyday was a glorified play date, but the real alphabet-learning, shape-analyzing, sit-in-a-circle-and-go-through-your-numbers kind and you were oh so excited. It's times like these where I truly feel the weight of being a working mom. Leaving for work this morning when it was still dark knowing that I would not be here to make you a special send-off breakfast or to walk you into your classroom made my heart a little heavy.

I am so proud of you, my little boy. To hear that you marched right into your class, bucket in hand, with confidence and a smile on your face made my morning a happy one. To hear you stood out as a leader made me swell with pride. Though I will likely miss many of your first days I understand that as special as those moments are for me, they are equally as special for Daddy to have with you boys. Every family makes little sacrifices for the sake of the greater good, that's just the way it has to be.

Even though I couldn't be there on the first real day of class I did take off on Monday to attend orientation, meet the other parents, and take your picture. Because as much as I love Daddy, I just knew that expecting him to take first day photos while getting you and your brother out the door was just too much pressure. I am just so happy to have the few he got of you in class, sitting right up in front. You are your mommy's boy. So sweet.

So here is to your first official year of school. May every day be as exciting as the first. I cannot wait to hang every piece of art and hear about every lesson taught. Oh, how I love you so.

Summer from 1-51, according to my phone

Too many moments without my camera in hand made for a summer captured haphazardly on the phone. Blurry, poorly-lit, and at times downright awful, these photos remind me of one of the best summers of my life.

Here they are, fifty-one un-edited mostly! happy memories as captured by my cell phone.

1. afternoons in the lawn while the neighbors babysat played with the boys
2. endless messes
3. babies in sunglasses
4. our caterpillar that perished after nearly two weeks (Anderson still thinks he turned into a butterfly and flew away)
5. sewing projects started, some finished, some not
6. icees, icees, icees
7. buying more fruit than we could possibly consume
8. In-n-Out making dinner a no-brainer
9. fresh-squeezed lemonade
10. Saturday nights with Thia food and Mad Men
11. getting wet every chance we could
12. being too tired to make it through the day, but too proud to ever admit it
13. re-discovering the amazingness of the public library
14. forgetting to return those amazing books
15. first day of preschool
16. taking just morning for my self
17. many trips to the fabric store searching for inspiration
18. celebrating our country
19. ladybug hunting at Shipley Nature Center
20. more than a few melt-downs
21. sunflowers taller than all of us
22. first of many popsicles
23. visiting Prehistoric Pets for a little one-on-one time with our friends in the reptile world
24. picnics, picnics everywhere
25. date night to Pageant of the Masters
26. impromptu late-night coffee date
27. not-so-helpful laundry helper
28. strip with cheese at Dwight's
29. trekking to the pool 3 times a week even though we have one in our own back yard
30. tomatoes on everything!
31. clothing optional dance parties
32. about 437 trips to Target
33. goggle boy
34. organizing way less than anticipated, but thinking about it more than I should have
35. Friday morning story time
36. working on the little things
37. rewarding good behavior
38. celebrating Gabe's birthday like a couple of teenagers on a date
39. a single rainbow that only moments later became a double
40. carrots for breakfast
41. cookies as big as your face for breakfast
42. LA adventures with Miss Jihan
43. cupcake ATM!
44. avoiding the heat and hitting the carousel
45. sacrificing green sweaters
46. grocery shopping with two over active little boys
47. Little Elton
48. spending time with old friends
49. consuming entirely too much ice cream
50. visiting the Mexican market for a birthday fiesta
51. spending lazy mornings at the beach with my two favorite little people

Gabe had a birthday

We celebrated Gabe's birthday last week in the nicest way possible- a homemade cake, some good food, and a few of our closest friends and family members. It was a perfect afternoon. Even better was the fact that we hired a babysitter and had a real out-to-dinner-date the next night.

I made my first ever German chocolate cake. Such a weird recipe, but so, so good. It's even better for breakfast. ;)

It was so hot and perhaps we could have dressed up for the occasion, but that's the beauty of small parties with only those closest to you- nobody cares what you're wearing.

Anderson is still trying to understand the dfifference bewteen blowing and spitting.

Gabe is so very lucky to have such creative friends. Jihan's box of goodies was way better than the already returned sunglasses I got him.

I too often forget to celebrate the person who means the most to me and it was nice to do something special for him. Happy birthday, Gabe.

Be the change

"Be the change that you wish to see in the world."

                                                  -Mahatma Ghandi

 

I see this quote on a nearly daily basis as I think it attached as a signature on the email of about 25% of the population. It's a simple enough quote that in itself carries an enormous message which has never been so pertinent in my life as it is at this very moment. I'm not talking about changing the world, not even a little bit, but I am taking to heart the fact that change begins right here, no matter how big or small. In the last few weeks I have been involved in a variety of situations both personally and professionally that have left me feeling defeated. I have been challenged, I have been dismissed, and I have been betrayed. It would have been easy for me to relent, to keep quiet; but for the first time in a very long time I have decided to stand up for what I know to be the right thing despite what others may think or say. I know changes must be made and I know that at this moment they begin with me.

 

This quote will serve as my motto for this new school year, both professionally and personally though I have no plans to make it my signature, thank you very much. I know I am good at what I do, I know that everything I do has a purpose, and I know I produce results. My philosophies are not always the most accepted, my methodologies are most certainly not the most easily adopted and my opinion is not always popular, but I will continue on this path. Changes need to be made. The direction must always be forward. There are far to many people hung up on the past and simply doing what has always been done. Whether they fear change or accepting responsibility, I do not know. What I do know is that I can no longer sit back and accept everything without question. I know where I want things to go and I am standing up and making the changes to get them there. Some people will most likely be resistant and some will probably even hope to see failure can't people be just terrible?, but I don't live my life and I don't teach my classes for "some people". Who knows, maybe by this time next year they'll all be standing alongside next to me as opposed to opposite me. Doubtful, but maybe.  



Back to work

Tomorrow I go back to work after spending the entire summer doing pretty much whatever I felt like. Which, sadly, did not include nearly as many chores, tasks, projects or posts as I had hoped. There is always Christmas break, right? And I am feeling surprisingly OK about the whole thing I suppose because I actually went in about every week to do some work. Many years I feel anxious or nervous or just plain not ready, but this year things feel good. Calm. Maybe because life at home with 2 little boys is chaos every minute of every day or maybe because this marks the beginning of my fourteenth year teaching. Fourteen?! Regardless, I am happy to get back into a routine that is all my own, albeit one that begins at 5 am when no normal human should be getting dressed.

Summer has been good to our family but I am looking forward to starting my first school year in quite a few where I have neither morning sickness nor a newborn. It's a very welcome change; one that will make me a better teacher, a better mother, and a better wife. Because waking up multiple times during the night and being ready to leave for work at 5:30 am has never been good for anyone. And so I am off to lay out my clothes and pack my snacks for the first time in months because 5 am will be here before I know it and that alarm is unrelenting.