i take it that's a 'yes'

Me: BR, wanna go to the Stock Show Parade tomorrow? There will be horses and cows and...

BR: And their POO!

holy reverence

You know that family that comes to church who just can't sit still in the pew and someone always has to be taken to the back for one reason or another, and they fight over crayons and spill cheerios and all that?


I'll give you one guess whether we are that family at our church.


Truth is, there aren't very many families at all at the very small parish church we attend, so one way or another, we are going to attract some attention. And it's not that the kids are even very badly behaved; I think we usually do pretty well. Usually. It's just that an hour is a very long time when you are 5, or 3, or 2 years old. When I have to go alone while Jeremy is at work or sleeping off his night shift, I dread what might happen.


So you can imagine just how pleased I was when they announced that there would be Sunday School for the kids last week (a rare event at our church).

Yes! I thought. It will be just BR and me--I can handle that. And for once, our family won't be so conspicuous!


BR and I sat toward the front of the church, with a few elderly parishoners in front of us, and the Missionaries of Charity (Mother Teresa's order of nuns) two rows up from us.


And he did great. Sat on my lap, quietly flipped through some books. Nibbled on some raisins. Evidently, he has even moved beyond the phase where he would shout or scream some variation of, "Is that JESUS? In the BREAD? JESUS in the BREAD! IT'S THE JESUS BREAD!!!"

Phew, he didn't do that. No, not that. This time, as the priest lifted the cup of wine, there was complete silence after the bell was rung and everyone was on their knees with heads bowed,


Bu-u-U-RP!

game day

It is COLD outside. Not as cold as North Dakota, but still. So we're staying in today, and playing games. We finished 'memory' and 'candy land' and the 'i spy' game, and they were okay, but what's really fun is to decorate the rug with all the cards...while wearing an Easter hat, of course.

Next, we played clean-up. BR tried to pitch the cards into the appropriate boxes.

And then finally, this game:

[Fashion tip: if you want to look Extra tough in your bulldog shirt, make sure to accessorize appropriately.]

we're clear on genre around here

The kids love to watch 'blooper' videos on youtube. Kids wiping out on sleds, animals doing crazy tricks, that sort of thing.

As we watched one clip earlier this evening about a giant waterslide someone constructed in their backyard, L. was curious: "Mommy, is that a non-fiction movie?" Then, just to make sure I understood her meaning, she added: "I mean, is it a made-up story or not?"

a productive morning

Today was L.'s first day back at school after a long Winter Break. The rest of us kept busy this morning, playing hard and working hard. We packed up almost all of the Christmas decor, swept, dusted, and so on. We took the occasional break to play basketball and to try out a new block set.


These two are my big helpers.

They took all the ornaments off the tree (for once it was legit), picked up all the toys so I could sweep the livingroom, and at one point, I gave them dust rags and let them have had it.

As I swept the hallway I was lost in my own thoughts. Finally, I tuned into their little song: "Mopping the floor with the toilet water, mopping the floor with the toilet WATER!"

"WHAT did you say? You're doing WHAT!?!"

A. happily explained that it was just a mistake, and BR spontaneously--and very cheerfully--switched the words of the song to, "Just a mistake, just a MISTAKE!"

I think you might have to be 2 or 3 to understand how it could be a mistake to drop your rags into the toilet and then accidentally start mopping the floor with them.

A livingroom fort

Our dad is the coolest.

Fraggle Rock

P-roc's mom got us the first season of "Fraggle Rock" on DVD. We are addicted.

Sometimes it gets a little scary and you need to hold someone's hand.

Christmas

I forgot to take pictures of the kids in their Christmas best.

So instead, here they are with their "disgusting" (as L. calls them) false teeth, from their stockings. (L. refused to pose because they were so disgusting.)

(look at those cheeks!)

Uncle Garrett came from Chicago, Gramom and Grampa from the East Coast/further East, and of course we celebrated with Kay & Dave & Baby C. It was a happy Christmas, but with a note of sadness. We learned last Tuesday that the kids' great-grandfather (and Gramom Lisa's dad) had passed away that morning. Lisa and Tom had just visited with him the day before, braving the East Coast snowstorm, and were so thankful for that. He died peacefully, and at home, which is what he would have wanted.

We were all happy to be together, and especially thankful for the company of family at Christmas.

me: "Hey guys, you've been eating lunch for almost an hour. Time to wrap it up."

A.: "Like a present?"

why we are in no rush to upgrade to a larger-than-3-foot tree

(this happened twice already--today.)

1/2 Birthday

Since L's birthday is in June, we wouldn't get a party at school. So we celebrated her half birthday instead. It coincided with the last day of school before the holidays, so we did a combined caroling/cookie decorating/birthday party. In the top photo, she is wearing the birthday hat and her reindeer antlers at the same time.

The Kindergartners went from classroom to classroom throughout the whole school and performed songs for the other students. And L's teacher is just the coolest. She has a great sense of humor about everything, is totally 100% chill all the time and has got all 27 of her students completely under control. And she plays the guitar. She rocks.

The school building itself is really old and well-maintained and parts of it are really beautiful. For example, this huge staircase and the stained glass in some of the classrooms (the colors are not very bright in the photos, but you get the idea).

flash (flood)

(warning: some disgusting content in this post)

BR is potty training. We are working on timing, but it can be very tricky. He is a little confused about whether to inform me before or after there is a puddle on the floor. He doesn't quite understand that "Quick, Mommy! Take me to the potty!" is really no longer relevant once the trousers are soaked.



On my end of things, I am no longer very fazed about the process (usually). I am not even embarrassed about having to mop up a mess under a coffee shop table or whatever public place we happen to be (usually); I always carry a change of clothes and underwear, and then the rest of it... Well, really, third time around there is not much he can dish out that I haven't already handled before. (With grace and poise, of course. Always).

I guess if I had to point to the particular moment when I knew that I reached "Experienced" Mom status when it came to diapers and potty training, it would have to be a couple of months ago. That morning, I woke up earlier than the kids and somehow successfully (and miraculously) snuck into the bathroom without waking anyone up on my way there. I showered and even washed my hair before any of them realized what was happening.

When I eventually made it upstairs to BR's room to pull him out of his crib, the stench was fairly overwhelming. The diaper had not held up, and his sleeper, sheets and blankets were a freshly browned hue.

Ordinarily, this would lead to an interior self-pitying monologue about how this was no way to start the day, and then probably something sarcastic like how I didn't need more laundry to do today, thank-you-very-much. I would grit my teeth and then reason my way into believing that although it was not BR's fault that the velcro bands on the diaper didn't do their job, maybe he could grow up just a little faster and figure this out on his own... That sort of thing. (I know, I am so mature, right?)

But that day was different. My first reaction was just to shrug calmly. "Huh. Look at that," I thought. "Oh well. And who cares, anyway? I can handle anything today because I had a shower!"

very hungry caterpillar, i mean, baby

this baby can eat. he can really eat. Here are some shots of him post-bottle. With a full tummy, he is one happy guy:

We enjoyed our times with Baby Cousin so much, can you tell? I especially like the way his face lights up when he sees his Auntie Claire.

Observe:

cousins shaking hands

Personally, I like the improvised finale.

(no audio)

we've been using this...

...to help with the before-school morning routine. It's been working pretty well.

"Clown Clothes"

I was given orders to post this, with that title. I do what I am told.

deserving of its own post

One of the highlights of the trip to Washington was that we got to visit with Jeremy's grandfather, Wendell. He was married in April of this year and we finally got to meet his bride, Jo!

I think they felt very much at home with their family around them, and we often caught them like this, resting peacefully and naturally in the middle of all the noise and festivities. We look forward to seeing you again soon!

a different rendition

A: "BR, do you want me to sing 'Bob the Builder' for you?"

BR.: "Yes."

A.(singing): "Bob the Builder, can he fix it?"

BR: "Wait, wait, I can sing it: Bob the Builder, NO HE CAN'T! Bob the Builder, HELP ME FIX IT!"

another strike for Rel.Ed.

There we were at Sunday Mass. I thought, what a great time to explain about some of our Christmas traditions.

(Me, whispering to L.): "See those candles? There is one for every week of Advent. See that image of Our Lady of Guadalupe? Her feast day is December 12..." And so on.

"Mommy, your breath smells like tacos."

catching up

O loyal blog readers, I have neglected thee terribly.
This is by far the longest we've ever gone quiet here at RandBs, but not to worry. It wasn't because of crises, just an overload of fun and travel.

First, we went to Seattle, which was like this:

table set for Tanksgiving dinner:

a peak at Pike's Place market:

bah-ket-ball HOOP!

Lunch with Johanna:

had some "rock band" fun (and discovered that L. rocks the guitar, A. knows all the lyrics to "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds and BR is not too bad on the drums):

Then we came home and had a couple days to get ready for our next adventure. Gramom came to hold down the fort and take care of the kiddos while J. and I went south to New Mexico to check out some job opportunities for 2011 (since we won't be able to go there this time next year, because of the whole India thing). I forgot my camera but found the following photos that capture the essence of the trip.

We visited the Navajo Nation at Shiprock which was a little like this:

but the hospital compound was kind of more like this:


next, we went to Gallup, NM (which was actually like this since we happened to be there during their annual Balloon Festival):


on the way home, we made a stop at Aztec, NM (which never had any Aztecs, but did have Native American populations a long, long time ago as these 900 yr-old ruins prove. Yes, apparently the US does indeed boast some 900 yr old structures. take that, Europe!)


We're home now, and glad to be. The kids loved every minute of Gramom's visit from what I can gather and I will have to collect photos from her. It was hard to drag them away from Seattle, though, because "Grammie and Papa's house was WAY more fun" than they'd realized it would be, according to L.!