Spots of Time

Wonderkid's Woes

Last week wonderkid was very much under the weather.  She was tired, and stuffed up, and just generally sickly.  On thursday, I had to pull her out of bed and put her in the car in her jammies so I could take MJ to school.  I got out of the car in front of the school to help MJ with her cello, and chat with a couple of other moms.  When I got back into the car five minutes later, Wonderkid had curled up onto Madalyn's seat and had started to fall asleep. 

Fortunately the cold was short lived and she was feeling better just in time to don her Statue of Liberty costume and scour the streets for candy (which is exactly what kid coming off of a sickness needs...).  

Unfortunately for her, however, the celebratory period was short lived.  On monday night she asked if I could help her dig an apple peel out of her tooth.  When I peeked in her mouth, I was shocked to see that a big chunk of tooth had broken off one of her molars. My mom alarm went off immediately,  Because I knew it was that tooth, that horrible little devil of a tooth has already caused us so much pain and heartache.  It all started three years ago when the dentist noticed a tiny little cavity had grown in a tiny little crack on the side of her tooth.  It will be a quick and easy fix, the dentist promised, we'll have her in and out faster than she can say, ouch.  Unfortunately this was not to be the case.  Wonderkid screamed and cried through the entire procedure.  She kept telling the dentist that it hurt, it hurt really bad, and the dentist kept telling her she couldn't be in pain because her mouth was numb.  She cried and she screamed until they had to bring in several people to hold her down.  I was doing my best to comfort her and encourage her, but by this point she was just inconsolable.  The dentist then turned to me and condescendingly said, She really needs to behave mom.  What do you even say in a situation like that?

Unfortunately because of all of the wiggling and struggling, the whole procedure was a disaster.  The dentist took off much more of her tooth than was necessary, and there was a huge crack right down the middle of her molar. 

A few days later I had to tell my little girl she was going to have go back for another filling.  It's a different dentist, I told her, it's going to be very, very different.  She was scared, but still believed me.  I said a little prayer and I hoped things would be much better.  She cried when they went in with the needle, but didn't scream or struggle.  Then something amazing happened.  What's wrong with me Mom, my cheek is all tingly?  I was confused that she was confused, hadn't it felt like this before?  Hadn't it? 

This was the point when I got that sickening feeling in the pit of my stomach.  Was it possible that the anesthetic hadn't worked the first time around?  When the dentist came in to do the procedure this time around she was perfectly behaved.  Afterwards she turned to me, and in a shocked voice said, Mom you were right it didn't hurt!  This pretty much confirmed my suspicions.  I can't tell you how many times I've relived that day, when nobody believed her when she said it hurt.  We still go to the same office, but I refuse to let my girls see that same dentist, mostly because I'm afraid I might try to punch her in the face or something.  I know she didn't hurt my girl on purpose, but you know those motherly instincts are pretty hard to stifle. 

Anyway, as you've probably already guessed, wonderkid had to have this same tooth filled again this week.  Apparently a cavity grew underneath the old filling, causing part of it to break off.  Fortunately they caught it before it turned into something worse.  I was very thankful for that, because seriously the last thing this kid needs is a root canal.  She was very good for this filling, and the dentist even let her hold a mirror and watch the entire procedure.  I have to admit, I don't even think I could have done that much.  While we were waiting for her mouth to numb up she played around with one of the apps on my phone:

Because even spongebob has to go to the dentist yo!  The dentist seemed to think this was the best invention ever, and even asked if we could do elmo.  Wonderkid had to inform him that she is way past elmo...

In more unfortunate news, we also discovered this week that Wonderkid's six year molars didn't form correctly and are going to be very prone to cavities, even with good flossing and brushing.  Right now she has one cavity, and it's in a tooth that hasn't even come in all the way.  Don't worry, the dentist told us, this one is teeny tiny and will be easy to fix.  It looks like we are back to square one all over again.

This poor girl needs a break!

Lady Liberty and her Patriotic Friend

As I've probably mentioned once or twice before, I'm a glutton for punishment, especially when it comes to sewing Halloween costumes.  I've spent many an October (and sometimes September) cutting, and stitching for hours on end for something my kids will only wear once or twice.  Why do I do it?  I don't know, I just don't know.  Sometimes I use a pattern and sometimes I just wing it, but either way I end up making adjustments right up until the last minute (see this post for some disasters of years' past).  Anyway, this year wonderkid really wanted to be the Statue of Liberty. I thought it sounded like a pretty straightforward costume and felt like I was up for the task of putting something together for her.   When I sat down to sew this costume I thought I should probably make it a little big so there will be plenty of drape folds, just like the real lady of liberty.  Unfortunately I went a little overboard with the bigness factor:

I know the picture is a little blurry, but I think you get the idea; her hands just barely reached the shoulder seams.  It could have fit KR.  When I slipped this costume over her head, all three of us started laughing uncontrollably.  I laughed so hard I had tears running down my face.  My bowled over laughter made the girls giggle even more, which put all of us into hysterics for at least five minutes.  It had just been one of those nights.

Fortunately her costume was salvageable, and I did manage to get it down to a more wearable size (with a little extra drape):

 MJ, who was inspired by our recent trip to the Daughters of the American Revolution museum in DC, decided to dress up like an authentic patriot colonial girl.  Fortunately, the sewing part was a little more straightforward with this costume.  I told her our Virginian ancestors would be proud:

They didn't exactly plan it this way, but I think the two costumes complimented each other nicely. 

 

In related news, this year the girls informed me that they are way too big for their adorable ghost shaped Halloween bags with their names embroidered on the back. I tried to force the issue, but they were worried they wouldn't have enough room for all of their trick or treating candy.  They ended up using pillow cases, which really isn't that big of a deal, but it kind of hit home for me since that was what I used when I was a "bigger kid" trying to rake in as much candy as possible.  Another year, another milestone, sigh...

Here they are getting ready to hit the streets with their friends:

 

Family Pictures!!!!

My friend Beth took some pictures of our family this past weekend.  It was a perfectly beautiful fall day, and the leaves were at peak color.  The photographer did a fantastic job, and the pictures came out gorgeous.  The best part about these pictures is that KR is genuinely smiling.  He hates having his picture taken and usually ends up giving some kind of awkward grimace when he's asked to pose for the camera. The professional pictures are always the worst.  We actually had to re do all of our engagement pictures because he looked so weird in all of them; he only had a natural looking smile in the picture where he was trying to pinch my butt...and we certainly weren't going to send THAT one out to my distant relatives. Anyway, needles to say I am VERY happy with these pictures.

You can head on over to Beth's blog to see some more, the first picture of the girls is my favorite.  Thanks Beth!!!

Hay is for kids...

When I got the invitation for this past weekend's fall bash, I was a little confused by the part that read There will be plenty of hay available for the kids!

I kept thinking, what in tarnation are the kids going to do with hay?  I eventually just dismissed the confusion, figuring it must have been a typo or some kind of inside joke that a non-native New Englander just wouldn't understand (which seems to happen a lot up here).   When we arrived at said party it didn't take long for us to figure out just exactly what they meant when they said there would be hay for the kids.  They just tossed a bunch of hay into an empty barn and let the kids have at it. I don't know why I didn't consider this possibility, especially since I was once the kid who turned my parents dining room table into a soy sauce slip-n-slide for me and my siblings.  I guess I've lost some of my imaginative edge in my old age.   Anyway, my girls had more fun jumping in the hay with their friends than they've had at any playground, ever.  It was just a good old fashioned, dirty, dusty, allergy inducing (for me anyway) good time. 

I'll be picking straw out of my girls' hair for months, but it was oh so worth it.

We took a hay ride through a "haunted" forest, and stopped off in a pumpkin patch for a little harvesting.

MJ and her friends decided to hang out around the periphery, while the "little kids" ran amok in the pumpkin patch.  They wanted to pick their pumpkins in peace.  I found the whole situation a little amusing, especially listening to she and her friends talk about themselves as being so old and mature.  Okay honey, I tell her when the conversation turns to her almost-ten-year-old wisdom, but you're still my baby.  It seems like I've been saying this a lot lately...

 

 
 
 

This and That

It's a beautiful fall day outside, and was probably the last time we'll see 70 degrees until April or May.  I should be out enjoying the gorgeous weather with my girls, but I'm stuck at home with a nasty cold.  I should have known this would happen after Sunday's debacle.  MJ was also home sick today, but with a sinus infection.  It seems like she's gotten sick a lot this past year, and every time she get's a little cold it turns into something bigger.  Out of all of us, she's the one I worry about the most when it comes to catching the flu.  Much to her chagrin, I've been rubbing her down with purell every chance I get.  Both my girls hate purell, mostly because they love playing with our cat.  On any given day they usually have at least a dozen little tine hairline cuts from our kitty's claws.  I would feel sorry for them, but it really is their own fault.  They like to poke the tips of their fingers out from underneath their blankets at night and tap on the headboard repeatedly until they get the kitty's attention.  It usually takes the cat a good 60 seconds to gear up and properly stalk her prey before she moves, so the girls have plenty of time to change their minds.  They squeal with laughter when the cat bounds up the bed and attacks their hands, then put her on the floor and repeat the process.  Like I said, all their fault... 

In other news, I think running a marathon might have fried my brain.  In the past few days I've made some major spelling and grammatical errors on my work edits...and in my emails... and here on my blog... and, well you get the idea.  Then today at the doctor's office I forgot KR's birthday, even though I knew they were going to ask for insurance purposes.  I tried to laugh it off, but the receptionist wasn't having any of it.  She just shook her head, and gave me a tight smile, probably thinking I was either a total dolt or just one of those moms who didn't have the time to care about things like my baby daddy's birthday.  For the record, I've never forgotten his birthday...at least not when it really counts.  And I don't think I'm that much of a dolt, even with the brain damage, although I certainly don't claim to be mother of the year either.  Right now my kids are in the backyard without any jackets to speak of, swinging around on a tattered old rope that KR rigged up into the tree branch.  In my own defense, I did make the sick kid put on a pair of shoes before she went out; I can see them sitting right there on the ground next to her. 

 

Feeling the burn

This is me getting ready to line up for my first marathon yesterday.  I was, for the most part, happy and excited. 

 

It was a little chilly at the starting line, but I knew that once I started running I was going to warm up quickly.  I figured I would end up ditching the shirt and the gloves at some point in the race.

Things went fine for the first 10 miles or so, and I was feeling pretty good and pretty confident.  Unfortunately at that point in the race it started to rain.  Then the wind started to blow.  Then the temperature dropped.  Around mile 11 I stepped in a puddle and soaked both shoes.  By mile 13 my toes and fingers were numb, and by the time I reached mile 17, I could no longer feel my legs from the knees down.  I hit rock bottom at mile 23 when I tried to grasp a water cup at the aid station and realized I couldn't open my fingers.  I was just so cold.  Those last three miles were the hardest miles I've ever run, but I knew if I stopped to walk I would never be able to start again, so I just kept going. 

Here I am about ten feet from the finish, if it looks like I'm barely hobbling and soaking wet, that's because I was.  I was very grateful that I hadn't ditched the gloves during the early, warmer miles of the race: 

I crossed the finish line slightly confused and uncontrollably shivering.  I went straight to the locker room where I was met by a trio of EMT's who were treating all of the "hypothermic runners."  There were a lot of shivering women in there, and the emt's were clearly overwhelmed.  They had us all sit in a sauna until they could tend to us individually; I sat in there for about 45 minutes and then finally stopped shivering, then went out to meet KR and the girls.

Anyway, despite the horror stories, I'm really glad I tackled this race.  It was mentally and physically one of the most challenging things I've ever done, but now that I'm on the other side of the fence I can look back and say "I survived."  I'm also in awe of how supportive and helpful KR and the girls were.  They sat out there in crappy conditions for who knows how long and didn't even complain.  I have the best cheerleaders ever:

 

I've always heard your first marathon should be treated as a learning experience and that is how I'm trying to approach this one.  I was disappointed with my time (30 mins later than I had hoped) but now I've got something to build on for the next race (which will hopefully be a little warmer). 

White Mountains!!!

We love the White Mountains, I mean we love LOVE the White Mountains.  We've made at least two dozen trips to this little area in the past few years, and only grow fonder of this beautiful piece of earth every time we go.  This is where we prefer to come for winter skiing, spring hiking, summer camping, and fall leaf peeping.  It's quaint and beautiful in a simple, unassuming way.

 
In the winter we've come to this lake to watch the Dog Sled races, it looks a lot different this time of year.

We spent one of our mornings hiking up to Black Cap Peak:

If you're looking for a short, relatively easy hike with big rewards at the end, I can't think of a better trail:

... and when I say big rewards, I mean BIG rewards.  Especially this time of year:

You can see the entire Mt. Washington valley...

 

It's just gorgeous (the trees, not my backside people): 

MJ wasn't feeling very well this weekend, and it really seemed to hit her on the hike back down.  I snapped this one of her during one of our little breaks, the poor girl was such a trooper.  I do love those baby blues though.
  

It's October!!!!

In my opinion, October is by far the best month of the year.  Everything that I love about seasons and holidays all seems to coalesce into just a few weeks every fall, it's just the perfect mix of gorgeous weather, colorful scenery, good food, costumes, parties, and candy.  Seriously, what more could you want in life? We've been so excited about fall around here that we've already hit the pumkin patch twice. 

 
As for Halloween, the girls have had a difficult time narrowing down their costume choices this year.  Wonderkid has gone back and forth for weeks about being either the Statue of Liberty or Medusa.  Since I'm such a sucker for halloween (and my girls) I'm sewing her a silver robe, and am planning on securing the accessories for both costumes.  That way she can go back and forth between themes or even try a mix of both if she likes (which would be really fun to explain on the trick or treating trail).  As for MJ, she tells me she wants to dress up like our cat.  I'm not going to lie, I have issues with cat costumes that I won't go into on my blog, but so far I think we've been able to come to a good compromise on the issues.  Either way, we're all very excited around our house.  Bring on the candy corn!!!
 

Seasons come and seasons go

This morning when I was out on my usual running path, I noticed that there are quite a few red leaves on the trees.  The new scenery and the cooler weather has given me just enough motivation to push through until my marathon, which now only two weeks away.  After that, I'm planning on taking some time to just sit back, relax, and stare out my window (because there's a good chance I won't be able to walk for a while anyway).  It certainly won't hurt that this is what the view around here usually looks like in mid october:

I took this picture from the window in our computer room, I think this sight is almost enough to make me want to work from home forever...  I almost love it as much as I adore this sight:

or this one:

Or maybe even this one:

Hmmm, no, I still love the first one the best, but at least the others still give me something to look forward to every few months. 
 
 
 
 

Apples

Yesterday while MJ was at a birthday party (we get Jewish holidays off of school up here) Wonderkid and I went apple picking at a local orchard.  Last time we went apple picking, we showed up rather late in the season, and many of the apples had already fallen off the trees.  This time around however we had more than enough apples to choose from, as the branches were literally loaded down with ripe fruit:

 

I was grateful to have a little one-on-one time with my youngest girlie.  The weather was so nice, and the orchard smelled so sweet that we didn't want to leave when we were done collecting all of our apples.  We ended up spending a good portion of our afternoon just walking around between the trees talking about school, family, friends, and other things that are important in the world of a seven-year-old.  I can't imagine life getting much better than this.

Our biggest development of the day, however, came on the way home when wonderkid yelled from the backseat, MOM, I can bite an apple with my front teeth...seriously, I can actually bite off a whole chunk into my mouth, it's amazing! 

The poor kid has spent the past three years of her life with two front teeth that were so chipped they were practially nonexistent (the dentist told us it was pointless to try to repair them).  She had just gotten used to having to gnaw at things instead of bite them.  She was still eating her apples this way while we were at the orchard:

Being the sole adult in this situation I probably should have noticed she was still using that pitiful little bite, but I guess I'm just so used to her eating habits that the thought didn't occur to me to suggest trying out her new, stronger teeth.  Fortunately she figured it out on her own, and honestly I think it has been a while since I have seen her this excited about anything.   These new permanent teeth have opened up a whole new world of eating for this kid. I guess it's about time for some corn on the cob. 

Still Alive

My Dad called me a couple of days ago and asked if I was okay.  Apparently he was was worried about my well being, given the fact that I haven't updated my blog in over two weeks.  For those of you who have wondered things are just fine here, I just decided to take a break from blogging for a while to focus on some writing projects that I thought were more pressing.  There have been a few times in the past three years that I've wondered why I spend so much time on this blog posting pictures accompanied by trivial, often poorly written, discourse that very few people will ever read.  Then I remember why I started this whole deal in the first place.  The distance between here and the people we love is too far for anything more than occasional visits; sometimes I feel like these pictures and stories are all my family members have of our girls until we can make it back home again.  There are even some dear friends and family members that we haven't seen for years, who haven't even met my kids, yet they've told me they feel like they know the girls via the stories and images they see on my blog.    I think that, combined with the opportunity to post embarrasing stories or pictures of the people I do see more often, seems to keep these blogging drouts from dragging on too long.

Anyway, now that I've gotten all of the fluffy stuff out of the way, this is the real story of my current life:

This afternoon I did a quick walk through our living and dining room and picked up ten pars of kids shoes.  That's right, TEN PAIRS!!!  I don't know what's worse, the fact that we even own that many pairs of converse, or that some nameless child decided to put one of those pairs on the dining room table. 

Unfortunately the shoes aren't even the worst of the household mess right now, it's the all of the bags we have to keep in rotation for all of their various activities.  Currently we have two soccer bags, four swim bags (they each need a "wet" bag and a dry bag for their supplies), two church bags, two school backpacks, and two lunchboxes sitting around the house.  To top it all off, MJ just added the cello to her list of weekly supplies; I think it would be redundant to say that it is huge, but I had to mention it anyway.  It often feels like a full time job keeping track of all of this stuff, mostly because bag neglect in this house leads to moldy towels, stinky shinguards, and rotten apples mushed into the pages of a library book. And to think I used to complain about keeping track of a diaper bag...

Speaking of swimming, here are my girls during one of their practices.  Needless to say I spend a lot of time hanging out at the local pool:

Back to Reality

This girl was all smiles on her first morning back at school:

MJ wanted a plad skirt for her back to school outfit, and I looked at about 10 stores to try to find one that was long enough.  I finally found this skort at target, and bought it in a size 16 so it would be longer.  We had to cinch up the waist as tight as it could go.  When she tried it on before I could have sworn it was longer; somebody needs to tell this kid to stop growing.  Fortunately this ensemble had built-in shorts, so there was no issue with her being able to play lunch-time soccer.  What I want to know is how the heck is that skirt supposed to fit on a 16 year old?

Wonderkid was a little apprehensive about heading back to school this year.  In fact she woke up that morning and told us all she needed to do to pass second grade was show up on the last day of school.  When that didn't work she told us she wanted to be homeschooled.  When we told her she still had to go, she told us she needed to wear her Ameilia Earhart jacket so she could be brave.  It only took that and a little bit of extra encouragement from her Dad to get her on the bus:

When I met them at the school (yes, I've been known to follow the bus) she was all smiles:

One of these things is not like the other

This past weekend I took a whirlwind trip down to dallas for a football game.  Up around these parts, people are pretty much shocked that anyone would be willing to travel such a great distance for one game, but then again when it comes to college football most New Englanders just don't really get it.  As you can see from this next picture of me and my older brother, I was raised in sooner country where football is king: 

When I was a kid, the OU football culture was so pervasive in my life that I honestly believed all parents sang their kids to sleep with songs that included the phrase "I'm sooner born, I'm sooner bred, and when I die I'm sooner dead."  I'm also pretty sure I believed Barry Switzer was more important and famous than Ronald Reagan.  Even though I ended up not attending OU (although for my Dad's sake, I've held on to my original acceptance letter), I've always considered myself a sooner fan, and thanks to the contagious excitement we get from my relatives back home, KR and the girls love to cheer for the sooners just as much as the rest of us.  

However, this past weekend I realized for the first time, that my love of all things sooner does have it's limitations.  I've always said the only time I could never cheer for OU was if they happened to play BYU, my own alma mater, but I honestly didn't think that such a game was ever likely to happen.   When we first found out about this game several months ago my Dad promised he would let me use one of his tickets, even though I told him straight out that I would not be cheering for his beloved sooners.  Anyone who knows my Dad knows that alone must have taken some serious fatherly love.  It was kind of strange sitting in the OU "superfan zone" wearing blue, and I got more than a few dirty looks, but oh it was all so worth it.  Especially when the cougars won.  The only thing more exciting than a nail-biter game, is a nail-biter game that ends with a victory for your own team. 

 

Go cougars!!!

ps. I tend to think my sister and my stepmom (who both went to BYU schools) are traitors, but that's a conversation I'll save for another day...

School Schmool

At my girls' school I'm pretty sure I've officially dubbed myself as "that mom."  You know, the one who's always talking about the importance of her kids education and always asks to volunteer in the classroom, but then has no qualms about taking her kids out of school for a whirlwind trip to New York, or *ahem* a jaunt to the beach.  Don't worry, my kids have never missed more than a day or two here and there, and fortunately they've always been very healthy so they really never use any of their allowed "sick days" anyway.  This time around, however, I think we topped anything we've ever done before by having our kids miss the first four days of school so they could attend our family reunion in PA and New England (with their cousins who they almost never get to see).  I spoke to their teachers beforehand and everything seemed like it was okay, but then I had another teacher I know from another state tell me, "oh, well, I won't tell you what the teachers are really thinking about all this"   This got me thinking, maybe I should have presented our vacation a little differently to their school officials, just in case their teachers were thinking the worst about our parenting skills.  I mean, sure the girls learn a lot in school, and I'm sure they missed some of the "how to behave like a human being" lectures that all elementary school teachers have to give on the first day, but honestly I think my kids will be no worse for the wear when they jump back into the swing of things tomorrow. 

In fact, the past few days has provided plenty of educational experiences, maybe even more than they would have gotten in a classroom.  For example, they had plenty of hands on science lessons in the mountains of Pennsylvania.  The learned, among other things, that freshwater snails secrete a substance that smells just like poop, worms can live even when cut in half, and if you put two crawdads in a small bucket together they'll fight each other for dominance.  While on the beach here in NE they learned that starfish start out as a perfectly formed teeny tiny version of their adult self:

They also spent a lot of time hiking, swimming, boating and just observing nature in general, which led to a variety of educational lessons.  They learned all about geometry wind speed when their sailboat capsized out on the lake (leading to an exciting rescue by the lake rescue boat).  They also discovered just how cold those underground mountain springs really are:

 

They had plenty of opportunities for physical education, including tennis, lake surfing, extreme barefoot soccer, boogie boarding, and trail running. 

 

We all put our math skills to the test at the local country store, where penny candy was king.  And lest you think they fell behind on the books, the girls fit in plenty of reading time.  My persoanl favorite was ghost story time in the appropriately "creepy" attic:

 

For all of us, I think the most important lesson learned was that time with family can trump pretty much anything, even the first day of school:

 

Beach Hopping

Yesterday we decided to switch up our usual beach trip with a jaunt out to a new seaside destination.  We didn't fully realize until we got there that the waves at this new beach are much bigger and rougher than at our usual spots.  Boogie boarding out here was a lot more fun for me than at the "kiddie" beaches where we typically hang out, but it wasn't exactly ideal for the kids, except for MJ who caught some good sized waves:

My kids now call this the "mom beach" because they think I had too much fun in the waves.  When you're a mom, I told them, there's no such thing as too much fun...

 

We fit in about 20 minutes of water time, then decided to pack up our stuff and drive down the coast a few miles to a better suited spot. 

It ended up being a gorgeous day, and the water was just about perfect.  I hate to say it, but this was probably our last beach trip of the summer, so I'm glad it was a good one.  It was so chilly this morning I had to put on a sweatshirt when I went outside.  My only consolation in seeing the summer weather slip through our fingers is that I love, I mean LOVE, fall in New England, so at least I know there are still more good things to come...