week in review

wow! 2 posts in one day! ok, here's what we've been up to this week. i've had some sickies here at home...first with aidan last weekend, then jack, then mia. minor viral thing, quick fever spike, minor lethargy, then rebound within about 12-18 hours. within about a day, they were all better...with the exception of jack, who has been a little cranky all week. he's getting in his fourth tooth on the bottom.

monday: afternoon babysitting co-op; 5 kids = major babysitting hours earned!

tuesday: ordered papa john's pizza for blue river elementary (BRE) fundraiser (have i mentioned that i LOVE that school?), mia was out sick from school.

wednesday: mia's dance in the morning; soccer practice in the evening. aidan's coach has asked bob to help out at practice and games, he's (bob) loving it.

thursday: room mom meeting at BRE...looking forward to being involved with aidan's class!

friday: playgroup at deanna rose...i need to do a "stuff we like to do" post on this place. i have tons of old playgroup photos that would be a fun blast from the past!

saturday: this was a doozy.


8am: soccer game

9am: hunter's and brayden's baptisms. i am so grateful to have been able to go to see these terrific kids get baptized. they're an awesome pair, and i'm so happy to be their CTR 8 teacher! they make being eight extra great!

1pm: jedi training birthday party at the park

4:30pm: ballerina party dinner

saturday pretty much did us in. it was a great day though, i love celebrating our friends' special events with them. it reminds me of just how wonderfully blessed life is.

my neighbors just painted their garage, and i can't find my dustpan.

liberator of dustpans

i looked out my window this afternoon and saw that the reason why my neighbors had moved their eight objects from their garage onto their driveway was that they had painted the walls in their garage. now, having spent 2 hours last week clearing junk out of my stinky garage, only to still not have enough room to park 2 cars, seeing this made me drop my jaw in amazement. there are only a few reasons you paint your garage: either you're martha stewart (they're not), are a perfectionist (they probably are), have EVERY other possible project in your home finished, or you don't have kids (they don't). don't get me wrong, these neighbors are awesome. their yard is impeccable. they decorate for halloween by september 24th, and Christmas, the day after thanksgiving. they even brought us the most delicious selection of goodies for the holidays one year. i'm not mocking them, i'm just in awe at just how together they are. maybe my standards are low, but painting your garage is the pinnacle of household success. i am tearing up at the concept of having the time to do it.

it just so happens that i make this discovery as i am ripping my house apart looking for my missing dustpan. jack had it yesterday, along with the broom. of course, i let him play with it because, as every mother knows, you don't interrupt a child who is entertaining himself. i thought a silent warning to myself, "he's going to hide it, and you're going to be sorry." the fact that i can't find the dustpan is either a testament to how crazy my house is right now or that my 16 month old is super talented at hiding big, red dustpans.

you're not the boss of me!

so today, on our way home from playgroup, mia is chatting away in the back seat (big surprise, right?). she informs me that someone in the neighborhood was having a party, and that they are not allowed to do so unless they ask our permission. huh? so i said, well mia, that's their house, they can do what they want, to which she replies, but i'm their boss, they have to do what i say! i thought the girl was bossy, but sheesh! so i asked her if she wanted to be a boss someday when she grew up, and she said that yes, she would be my (and daddy's, and aidan's and jack's) boss. gotta love her.

here's mia in her paper hat she made in preschool yesterday.

p.s.

mia loves her new pop-up fairy book so much, she took it to aidan's soccer practice last night, slept with it, and stumbled into my room at 7 am with it in hand. good news to report, jack has not destroyed it yet, despite his best efforts!

wait, it's not over yet!

today we finally went shopping to spend mia's birthday money she got from nona and pop wallace in california. we went to costco and she picked out the prettiest my little pony playset and pop-up fairy book. while she was browsing, she said: "i miss grandma nona!" thanks, and we miss you too!

“The secret of all victory lies in the organization of the non-obvious.”

i totally found that quote and thought it summed up my struggle to get and stay organized in every aspect of my life. it is a battle. it's a fight to keep track of all those little mundane odds and ends of life: from pots and pans to bills to artwork to memorabilia to the minutes in our days. i find myself drowning in all those non-obvious things on a daily basis.

chaos, take that!

my friend karina posted a challenge on her blog to get organized and post our progress. the organizational bug bit me a few weeks ago, when enough was enough and i cleared out this cabinet. it was overflowing with phonebooks, artwork, art supplies and junk mail. jack had started getting into it and if the right piece of paper got moved, it triggered an avalanche of junk! i found some organizing things around the house, and used these cool little school supply boxes i found at wal-mart to contain it. now, the kids can grab a box of crayons, markers or art supplies, paper or a coloring book or workbook easily. below, i stored three boxes i found at costco for $15. on each, i labeled the kids' initials, and that's where i stash their artwork and important stuff to file or scrapbook. next to the paper is aidan's art "portfolio," which consists of 3 ring notebook and page protectors to contain his favorite drawings. crazy thing? it has remained this little oasis of organization amid the chaos hiding in most of my other cabinets and closets.

i knew i had scored a little victory when a neighbor girl came over and marveled at how clean my house was, and how good my art cabinet looked. apparently, a little goes a long way!

yesterday, bob and i spent a couple hours cleaning our garage. it was gross. but it's a start. i think i'm going to tackle the entry closet next, and i will have a before photo for that.

week in review

i need to do these week in reviews more often to keep up on just the everyday stuff that goes on around here.
monday: we went on a walk to the park when bob got home from work. we are having such an awesome end to the summer, that we have to take advantage of the great weather. this is a photo of bob and the kids on the walking trail across the street from our house. it leads to our neighborhood park, and it is really a lovely walk. aidan's working on getting off training wheels...it's not going so well. he was a little put off by how heavy the bike was once he had to control it himself. we just decided to raise the wheels and give him a little more time.

the kids were really fascinated by these green things that fall from the trees this time of year...i've heard that they're walnuts, but i'm not sure. they are the prettiest shade of green, even though they look like mini brains.


my kids love going to the park (who doesn't?) jack's at the age now where he wants to do all the big kid stuff, but i'm too chicken to let him go up by himself. so i just run around on the equipment blocking all the potential exits (why are they all so high off the ground?).

tuesday: park


wednesday: dance class at blue valley rec. today the girls put on long tutus and danced around with fairy wands. there's nothing cuter than that.
after dance class we met a couple of mia's friends at i-lan park. why can't jack just sit still so i can chat with the moms...isn't that why we set these things up anyway?
after the park, we rushed over to aidan's school for a parent volunteer meeting. mrs. mcginley introduced us to all the stuff we'll be doing to help out in class — i'm so excited to see what goes on while aidan's at school!
after dinner, we headed over to aidan's soccer practice — last week got canceled due to the rain. this is technically only their second practice, and it was much better for aidan this time. once he figured out that it's ok if someone takes the ball, he had a lot more fun.

friday: ward fiesta party. there was mexican food, a band, sombreros, a pinata and yes, a conga line. it was fun, the kids had a blast, and jack worked himself (literally) into a puke inducing tizzy. he still had a great time, and what do we expect, feeding him chips and guac? unfortunately, all the photos i got were of the back of my children's heads.




saturday: aidan's second soccer game (at 8am). he did much better this time around, much to bob's relief. he got a lot more aggressive, and was more aware of the concept of defense, and moving the ball in the direction of the goal. he made a couple of great passes and even a goal attempt. he missed it by a couple measly inches, but his team cheered him on just like he made it. it was great. the coach asked bob to coach one of the groups playing. because aidan's team is so big, they split up into two teams and play simultaneously. bob really loved getting in there, and it helped him work out all those dad-nerves associated with watching your kid play sports. aunt annie got up early to see him play, and we ooed and ahhed over the sheer cuteness of little boys playing soccer. afterwards, we all went over to mcdonald's for breakfast, and aidan got to play with another little boy on his team there.

party at the farm...

for quite some time, people have been buzzing about the annual party bob's company throws for its employees at the owner's farm. coincidentally, we've been driving past this very farm several times a week for the last few years...it's the farm with the white fence and pretty horses at 151st right before the railroad tracks and kenneth rd. we were a little concerned due to the weather, but they had tents set up and if it got too rainy, we'd move "into the barn."

with over 600 employees, they had to have satellite parking at mia's preschool up the road, and we got shuttled in. upon arrival, there was a volleyball tournament in full swing (bob's team withdrew from the competition citing muddy playing conditions, which they were secretly relieved about due to the rumor the robotics team had a mean spiker), a beer tent, face painting, games for the kids, pony rides, a funky mama concert and an ox on display. aidan was immediately drawn to the games, and mia to the ponies.

aidan playing games...he loved the nascar pit crew

then we came upon this beast of an animal. bob and his friend ryan were debating what type of animal this is...it's an ox of course! it's hard to fathom just how large these animals are until you are standing right next to one. surprisingly, aidan quickly agreed to get on it for a photo op. aidan looks a little unsure of the situation...i thought it was hilarious, and apparently, so did the ox.

is the ox smiling? and what is that balloon headdress? and who is this guy?

what childhood memory would be complete without a pony ride? the kids both enjoyed riding the cute ponies — fortunately, they were quite docile, no runaway ponies.


after the ponies and the happy ox, we headed into the barn to check out all the horses. we see them frequently when we drive by, and have noticed how beautiful they are. the horses and barn did not disappoint. outside they had a little petting zoo with a llama and baby goats. inside the barn, they had horse rides, and
mia got herself right in line. who knew that within that hannah-montana loving, princess dress wearing little girl was a rough 'n' tough cowgirl? she LOVED riding the horse (and they were huge!), and waited in line for 15 minutes to ride a fake horse to lasso a calf. while waiting, she even practiced the lasso technique and made an impressive effort. aidan had no interest in riding the horse, but had to show up his sister in the lasso department.

after all the ropin' and ridin' we made our way out to the picnic tables for dinner, which was catered by jack stack (the best barbecue in kc). it started to rain a bit, but we were under the canopy of some large trees, so we stayed dry. after dinner, there were some raffle prizes being awarded, so we stayed in the hopes of getting lucky! so did we win the wii, the $3000 travel voucher, the 10 mp camera, the half season chiefs vip tickets (among many other cool prizes)? no, no, no and no. bummer.

despite the rain and bad luck, we had a great time. everyone was really nice and i was impressed that the owners were willing to open their home to us so hospitably — they seem like really down to earth people. i know that bob's been happy with the company and the way they do business.


i'm thinking riding lessons are in mia's future...

princess-fairy-ballerina party of the year!

mia's birthday week wrapped up with a party to end all parties. for her fourth birthday, mia requested a ballerina — wait — a fairy — wait — a princess party. that, my friends, is how we ended up with the princess-fairy-ballerina theme, the trifecta of little girl cuteness. we started out with a pink and white princess tea party complete with cream cheese and strawberry finger sandwiches, strawberry yogurt, strawberry milk (they're all pink!), pink fruit dip, pink jelly beans and pink and white circus animal cookies. despite all the estrogen present, milk mustaches popped up everywhere (they were pink too, by the way):

strawberry milk mustaches

after lunch, we moved on to the games. to borrow a phrase, crazy times call for crazy fun, and crazy fun it was! the girls played pop that balloon, musical thrones, dress up relay (they had to pile on as many dress up things as possible) and princess dance party. here are some shots of the dress up relay that just cracked us up:

jack's wishing he was somewhere else...

musical "thrones"

who knew that such simple games would elicit such enthusiasm, expressed frequently and loudly through shrieks of joy and sheer giddiness. let's just say that aidan was hiding out somewhere downstairs, and i needed some advil at the end of 2 hours. here's a little snippet of the insanity.

mia is so blessed to have such a sweet bunch of little friends. in attendance was reese, brynn, julia (a sweet little girl we recently met in dance class), emma-kate, amelia, sarah, and lucy (a brand new friend from church who is just so darling). the party was awesome, and the girls all had a great time (if the screaming and silliness was any indication). aunt annie and honorary aunt ashley were my ladies in waiting, and i couldn't have pulled it off without their help. thanks ladies!

here's a few more pictures i just had to share:

the wheels on the bus...

my baby. MY BABY! after a couple of weeks of being picked up by mommy, aidan became increasingly insistent that he ride the bus. i didn't want him riding the bus to school because of all those rowdy big kids, but it made sense that he ride it home with the kindergartners. it was a nice compromise. i met mr. larry, the bus driver, a couple days ago, found out who else rides the bus in the neighborhood, then signed him up. aidan was so excited to ride the bus with his friends, he could hardly wait.

today was the perfect day for him to start. in addition to it working better with jack's nap schedule, today was mia's princess-fairy-ballerina birthday party extravaganza (more on that later) which needed my full attention to prepare for.

when it came time, mia watched out the window for aidan's bus. i managed to snap a photo of him getting off the bus and running up the sidewalk to the house (they drop him off right in front!) he ran up with the biggest smile on his face...it was priceless.

when a crescent roll isn't just a crescent roll...

...it's a personal triumph! well, that may be going a bit overboard. i've had much bigger triumphs in life, but for the moment, i'm super proud of the crescent rolls i made from scratch all by myself tonight. i got the recipe off of karina's blog, and had made up my mind that i was going to make them. although i really enjoy cooking and have tried lots of new things, i'm not very confident when it comes to breadmaking — something i'm determined to change. they turned out really yummy, and my family loved them. so i'd like to thank my buddies karina and jenni for the encouragement, hy-vee for carrying this kick-butt fast acting yeast and my kitchen aid for waiting around for me to finally take the plunge.
p.s. karina just informed me that you can adapt this not only to orange rolls, but cinnamon rolls too!

i, senator obama, approved this message...

when i am elected president, no man shall ever be subjected to bathing in a shower that was built for a midget! the republicans will have you believe that these tiny showers are working, are getting you clean, but nooooo, it's a change you need today people! change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. we are the ones we've been waiting for. we are the change that we seek. and what we seek are showers that work--not just for midgets or short adults, but everyone.

disclaimer: all kidding aside, despite my personal politics, i think it's pretty awesome that we'll either have the first african-american president, or first woman vice president, and both have incredible strength and intelligence. i'm grateful my kids are witnessing an election that is more representative of the country they live in!

mia's birthday, continued...

i meant it when i said it was mia's birthday week! after opening presents on saturday, we headed up to the legends for dinner at t-rex and a little shopping. sunday night, we had mia's family party. mia requested macaroni and cheese and hot dogs. karina came through with a super delicious mac 'n' cheese recipe for me and it was a huge hit! yay for comfort food and velveeta. after years of eschewing it (it's soft, it's a strange shade of yellow, and it can be stored on the shelf--it's unnatural!), i am now officially a fan. anyway, the night was completed with a purple princess cake (mia picked it out) and presents from grandma littlewood, uncle david (unky davy wavy), uncle andrew, aunt annie and ashley. mia got a new princess-fairy-ballerina outfit, a few sets of furniture for her new dollhouse and the new little mermaid movie. being four is awesome!

so my brothers like playing with dolls...what are you going to do about it?

senator obama. who knew her new dollhouse would provide mia with loads of fun and a lesson in politics? now all we need is vietnam mccain action figure, and sarah palin and cindy mccain barbies!

at legends

t-rex

mia wanted the servers to sing to her, but when it came time she got all serious.

the remnants of the mac 'n' cheese and all its cheesy velveeta goodness. it was good. trust me.

birthday girl

happy birthday mia!

mia's birthday week has commenced! today, we went to aidan's first soccer game (see previous post), and opened mia's presents. she got an adorable dollhouse, complete with a cute little family (we've named them the obamas, you'll find out why later). aidan got her a bathtime cinderella — and she got a hannah montana barbie from us. later, we're headed to t-rex for dinner...tomorrow, birthday party with the Littlewood family, and on friday, her princess-fairy-ballerina party with friends.

earlier today, i polled everyone about the four things they love about mia...here's what we had to say:

aidan's first soccer game

today was aidan's first soccer game! the morning started off rough...bob got to the team photos early (7:20am, what were they thinking?), but at the wrong place. disaster averted, he made it just in time for the team and individual photos.

it was a little nerve wracking, seeing aidan go out for the first time (his first practice was canceled on wednesday). even though he's played a lot of "soccer" with bob since he could walk, i don't think he had any idea how a game actually worked once he got out there. his first few moments were a little rough (i'm sure bob was freaking out a little inside), but after he warmed up, he did a great job! he got a couple of good plays in and had a great time. i'll upload some video once i figure out how to do it. i'm not winning any mom awards today...i forgot to replace the memory card in my camera, but we got a lot of good video!

#12

mia's first day of school

we all knew that mia was ready for school from aidan's first day of preschool two years ago...she would've stayed if it was up to her. since then, she's become the unofficial class mascot in aidan's classes...she knows the teachers and kids by name, and makes sure they all know her. most days she would run ahead of us and announce to the class that "aidan's here!"

today was mia's first official day of preschool, and it just felt so natural, i didn't think twice about it, and i'm sure she didn't either. she wore one of her favorite pink dresses, her blue "cinderella" earrings amy made for her (they make her feel extra special) and her new sparkly tinkerbell backpack.

when i picked her up, she reported that mrs. ragomo (mia: "mrs. magomo") and her "teaching assistant" (mrs. doherty) were nice, and she had several new friends. and, she was a little shy (ya, right).

after i picked up the kids, mia got to choose lunch (burger king) and i gave them the cutest sugar cookies that i had slaved over late last night. ;-) i actually bought them at marshalls while they were at school...

spaghetti with a side of boar...

+

on sunday nights, we gather at my mom's house for some of her home cookin'. last night she made spaghetti, using green peppers and tomatoes from her garden in the sauce. about halfway through the meal she revealed that in addition to her homegrown ingredients, she had mixed some wild boar sausage with the ground beef.

if you're wondering where the heck my mom came by wild boar meat, we got it from the stevens family who had moved and had me get rid of a freezer full of boar that john had hunted and killed. several members of our ward came and toted off a nice little haul of meat, and we all joked about how we would prepare it.

the verdict? it was quite tasty, and if my mom hadn't told us, we'd be none the wiser. the funny thing? not one person in my family skipped a beat when she told us...either we're adventurous eaters or just a bunch of weirdos....