Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Fishy Business

Yesterday the kids and I took a walk to the creek. We found that a fish had been 'trapped' by some kids at some earlier point in the day. The poor fish was not doing well. Seren was in near tears about this injustice. "Why would they do that!? Why would they let the fish just DIE mom!?" So I found myself up to my elbows in pond muck to try to free this sad little fish. It finally swam the right way out of the man made trap. We all cheered! Seren and Wyeth were so happy and immediately starting yelling about saving the fish's life. "We saved a life mom! We did it! MOM! Are we are going to be in the newspaper??"



I don't know about that, kiddo.

I felt grateful for small fish, small creeks, small children and "big" adventures.

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Just Because

Just because kids grow too fast.





It is working!

Potty training! It is happening!! It really is!

After having no interest in the potty and then refusing to sit on it and tears. We gave up. And then he started peeing in red plastic boats. We knew that he could do it. And so dear internets, we took your advice.

We "ran out of diapers".

Sam and Wyeth counted the diapers down. Sam, smartly, placed the diapers in the center of his bedroom and we counted them down. 6 more! 5 more! 4 more! 3 more! 2 more!

As Saturday drew to a close, we saw that we had just one more diaper.

Just one more!

Sunday, March 18th 2012 was going to be "interesting".

Sam woke up with Wyeth on Sunday and on went the undies. He knew it was coming. (see above for the massive count down). When I woke up at 8 (I sleep in until 8 on Sundays), he was SO proud of his undies. He showed them to me immediately!

And man did we go through undies. Puddles. Clean ups. We stayed local. By 9:30 AM, I was on the phone with Andy and we were at pair number 6.

But right at 11 am it clicked. A little pee came out and I raced him to the potty (with the red boat in it) and he finished up! I was so proud that I thought this was worth an M and M. Incentivize! And I cheered! And he smiled! Sam danced! And it did the trick! We still had accidents but he realized he could do it! He drank milk all morning so we had LOTS of practice.

He got 3 m and Ms the first time he didn't have an accident first.

I phased out the comforting red boat by the afternoon. But there were no tears the entire day! (I visualized him crying and being very scared!) No tears at all. Lots of wetness? For sure. But he got 6 m and ms for being successful! The chocolate helped!

By the end of the day, we had 10 pairs of wet undies and 10 pairs of wet pants. But no tears. And we didn't get frustrated. And either did he. We were cool as cucumbers and kept changing those pants.

Day two was yesterday! One accident. And now he goes on the big potty and even went to the public library potty. We ask him at about the hour or 90 min mark if he has to go but make a big deal about him "being in charge". And then if he has to go, he trots off with us. (We still help aim).

I say? MAJOR SUCCESS! So happy about this new development. SO happy. We know better than to think this is 'done'. We are far from done. But we'll take it!

Next big milestone: the big boy bed. But we won't rush that.

Show me the mommy

The infamous Laura a few years back encouraged us all to post pic of ourselves to get us, as moms, into pictures. I loved the series!

This is a picture of me that Wyeth took. And I love it. For several reasons. I love that it shows our messy kitchen. Our not quite clean cabinets. Our out of place stool. I love that it is from his perspective. Of what his Mom looks like on a weekend. In my mom clothes.

(Do you have "Mom" clothes?)

But I also like it because it captures who I still want to be. A person  who believes in the spirt of Americorps. Of getting things DONE. In community. Of making a difference in the world. To people who really need the basics. Food. Shelter. I haven't grown to be that person as fully as I once envisioned. Not yet.

But I'm still there. Still hopeful that my life- at least some part of it- will be dedicated to some sort of service.

If only through the eyes of my children.

Beach Weekend 2012

You know how you have endless conversations with dear friends that go something like this:

"We should really get together."
"We should. We should plan something."
"It would be amazing if we could go away to the beach."
"I know, right! That would be awesome!"

And these conversations happen frequently but the weekend/dinner/drinks never really happen? Well this March, it really did happen! I have a dear friend from high school named Jessica. She and I went to elementary school together through high school. We connected over creative writing and long conversations during road trips in high school. But then life got busy during college. She lived all over the world. I lived in California. Despite the miles, we stayed in touch and she gifted Sam and I by performing beautifully at our wedding.

She is one of those uber talented people. Among other talents: She has a PhD. She paints. She has a record album. She salsa dances. She is a yogi. She is also a mom to a super cutie toddler. But just as importantly, she is hysterical and makes me laugh.

She invited me to her family's beach house for a weekend two weekends ago. I looked forward to it immensely. We'd be able to have full conversations! Finish our sentences! Drink wine! Have a LONG dinner! Drink coffee!

And we did all of those things. We met up around 11 am and drove to the beach. We set up shop, made lunch, walked along the beach, did yoga, had coffee, played scrabble and went on small adventures. It was all of the little things that I love. Nature. Conversation. Rest.


She is also an amazing cook and I am an amazing eater. :)

I woke up to the sound of sea gulls and then we had mimosas for breakfast! Hello! Perfect!
She is a great conversationalist so my mind spun for a few days afterwards- mulling over parts of our conversation from the weekend.

In short? It was a gift. The whole thing.
Thanks so much Jess!








Thursday, March 1, 2012

Who wore it best?

The red carpet is being rolled out. Who wore it best?


Dress Number 1:


Dress Number 2:



Who rocked it with grace and elegance?? Any votes!?