The Day Nursery Files

Orcas and Windmills

Well we're already back to reality, but the end of our vacation was great!  Even though it rained quite a bit, there were spots of sun and we took advantage of that.  The guys took the kids to fly kids on Thursday, and we ended our stay with a lovely dinner at a little place call Tidal Raves. It overlooked the ocean and the food was amazingly good. Camille ate her weight in clams and the rest of us chowed on coconut shrimp, salmon, and halibut tacos. Wow, so good.  During dinner we heard a clamor and heard folks talking about whales!  We looked out and saw two Orca killer whales out hunting together! It was quite an amazing and unexpected sight!

The ride home was long but beautiful. The constantly changing landscape in OR is fascinating to me. From moss covered trees on the beach, to dessert along the Columbia river gorge, then rolling grassy farmlands.  We saw plenty of wind farms (love those huge white windmills!), and also a huge tree farm which I loved.  It had hundreds of rows of trees at all stages of life.  It was warm in UT and ID, but then cold and snowy in WY.  Colorado wasn't much better, but we were glad to be home!

I've added more pics to the Oregon album. Ciao!

Crashing Waves

On Tuesday, after Kendra cooked us some yummy crepes for breakfast, the guys took off to play 9 holes of golf at the Shalisan Resort which we now have access to. Super cool perk!

 
While they were out, Kendra and I hung out with the kids, colored and made ice-cream treats with our new Plah Doh set.  While the kiddos napped, we did a workout with "Lesley" (Kendra's workout video) on the patio overlooking the beach. It was the best way to do an exercise video, even though we probably looked like dorks to the passers by on the beach. :-0  For an extra dinner snack, Jesse brough home a bag of clams for him and Camille to feast on... I love that she likes them; Em and I won't touch the things.  Later, the guys made a small fire on the beach and the kids roasted marshmallows. They had a blast, and came in smelling smoky toasty.

Yesterday it rained all day and was fairly cold and dreary.  Kendra and I had planned to do a girls outing on Nye Beach, but decided we'd rather be warm instead. So we all stayed in, played games, put movies on for the kiddos.

By evening the kids were on eachother's nerves, and thankfully the sun came out. So, after dinner we headed to the pool so the kids could get some fun and exercise in.

Today, we're grateful for the sun! The Sahs take off to Portland this evening, then we will head out in the morning.  Our trek will get us to Denver Saturday evening. The girls will be ready for routine by then, and my body will be happier when I'm not eating everything in sight. :) Jesse made two apple pies, and last night a chocolate cream pie... Kendra made pumpkin choc chip cookies, then we had strawberry shortcake another night. Excellent treats, that will make their resting place in my thighs. 

OH, and Kendra also bought a bag of little dark chocolate pomegranate nubbies that are SUPER delicious. On Tuesday night, I gave each of the girls a small handful to eat and thought nothing of it. Until Em was wide awake at 1am when I checked on her, and complained of a headache. We were playing games so we had her join us. She was perfectly pleasant, and perfectly awake (after a long day and no nap) so I was totally perplexed. Then it occured to us that the caffeine from the chocolates was probably to blame. After a hearty snack she joined us all in bed later and slept soundly. :)

I'll miss the amazing ocean view and the sound of the waves crashing all day. It's breathtaking to sit here and just watch them come rolling in... I can see how folks who were raised near the water would miss it so...

 

Happy Spring!

Howdy!  It's been so long, I won't even offer an explanation. :)

We are happy to be on vacation this week on the Oregon coast! I've added pics to the left nav and will add more throughout our stay. This is the 3rd year that the Sahs have invited us to be their guests at the family beach house, and we VERY happily agreed!

We left Denver around 12:45pm on Friday, and after a long haul that night, and again Saturday, we arrived on the coast at 5pm.  Thanks to aunt/uncle Saiz who allowed us to borrow their new Honda Pilot... SO roomy and loaded! What would we have done without the built -in DVD player?? Girls did remarkably well on the drive, and loved watching an endless stream of movies! (Believe it or not, they DID get tired of them after 3 hours straight.) Off and on, Em asked "are we there yet?"  It wasn't irritating as much as it was dimaying trying to explain to a 3-year old that we had 10 hours ahead of us. Friday night, we drove until 1am, finally resting 40 miles out of Boise at a new Hampden Inn. It was lovely, cozy, clean and comfortable. And they fed us a free breakast in the AM - we were very thankful for the omelettes, yogurt, fruit and biscuits with marmalade! 

Saturday's drive was fairly uneventful and we thoroughly enjoyed the scenery. We LOVE car trips and very much look forward to the decompression that a 20-hour drive affords. ;)  And the scenery... in Wyoming was so rugged and beautiful.  The the snowcapped mountains in Utah, the gentle rolling hills in Idaho, and then Oregon! The scenery in Oregon is so varied. My favorite part is driving along the Columbia river gorge as we enter Portland. The huge wind farms are awesome!

Upon arriving on Saturday, we joined the Sahs for dinner at the famed "Mo's" and ate happily. Jesse said the clam chowder was amazing, and I loved loved loved my fish tacos with cilantro pesto cabbage.  One treat I've been looking forward to since the last time we were here (2009) is a Brown Cow milkshake from Panache - a mini drivethru lighthouse with the most amazing shakes ever!

The beach house is amazing... it's right up against the coast with a nearly unobstructed view of the ocean. It comfortably sleeps us all, and is particularly well appointed. We took the girls to the beach for a bit yesterday and while the water was freezing, at least the sand was warm on our toes. Camille can't get enough of running into and from the waves, while Em in content to dig endlessly in the sand. The vast enormity of the ocean seems to frighten her a bit. With the comfort of a hearty windbreaker, I was happy to run around and look for pretty rocks. :)

Sunday, we slept in then had a large breakfast for brunch.  That evening, we joined the Sahs at the local church (with a small congregation of about 15).  The girls seemed happy to be checking out a different church, but it was a bit of a challenge keeping them quiet!  There was a very sweet, tender spirit there and after the service Camille kept wanting to go back to the altar to pray - so wonderful to see that!

Today, we were excited to go to Oregon State's Hatfield Marine Center to watch the feeding of their octopus, "Ursula." :)  She was red, and very interesting to watch (I got the willies watching her saunter around the tank - shudder!).  We learned that octopuses are very smart - like cats, they can change color in an instant, and live for only 3-5 years. They can squeeze all the water out of their body and fit into a hole the size of their small beakish mouth. And they never stop growing. I think the lady said that the largest recorded octopus measured tentacles 16 feet long! The kiddos were enthralled and couldn't get enough of it. I think Camille would have grabbed the thing had they allowed her.

The Center also had some really cool "petting" tanks where we could touch starfish, anemone, a sea cucumber, fish, and urchin.  It was super fun touching it all and the girls loved it.  I, admitedly, I had to supress the creepies a few times! My favorite was the urchin - they "hug" your finger if you stick it in between the needles. Apparently if you see a black urchin in Mexico, DO NOT touch them because they will kill you. Word to the wise I guess...

More tomorrow! :)

 

 

Happy New Year!

Well, here we are in 2011, I can't even believe it!  Here's where the Day family stands in this new year:

We are very blessed!  We are grateful to have eachother, and for our little, growing girlies. :) We are happy and settled in our home, Jesse in his job, and me in my role as Stay at Home Mom (SAHM).

• Camille:  she turns 5 next month!  I am in awe at how quickly time goes by. She is a tall girl, about 38 lbs, and her 'likes" haven't changed much over time!  Still loves fruit, sweets, pizza and tostadas. She still adores horses, but also now likes Buzz Lightyear, spaceships, and Diego. She loves to run around in her tennis shoes, and enjoys playing "rough" with the boys. She says she loves "boy toys" but also some girl toys. :) She is in pre-kindergarten now and loves school! She is starting to recognize words and can already spell quite a few. She loves to read books and we try to keep a steady flow of them in the house. The library is our friend!
  
  Jesse and I decided late last year that we wanted to try to get the girls into a charter school for various reasons, but did not get slots in the schools we'd chosen. However, a dear friend of ours told us about an opportunity to become a "founding family" to a new charter school in the area and we jumped on it - put in 60 hours of volunteer time in 6 weeks (phew!) and now have secured a spot for Camille (and later Emily) in Ben Franklin Academy - slated to open this fall. Yay! A huge load off our minds. They will be wearing uniforms, I love that!!!
• Emily: our baby is clearly no longer one...she turned 3 last October. She is still very verbal and loves to talk, and sing, and lecture her animals (and Camille). She can be incredibly adorable and sweet, and also incredibly naughty!  My grandma told us, when she was still alive, that Emily "has a mind of her own, and knows what she wants." Well, she was VERY right. Emily has had a few rough patches in the past few months, pushing limits, testing our patience. :)  We still can't get her to put wee wee in the potty, but she wears undies then switches to a diaper when time comes.  She's clearly able and ready, but isn't yet willing. Haven't found the magic carrot yet - and mommy is discouraged!
  
  Emily's tastes are quite different than those of Camille - she loves to dress up everywhere she goes. I finally decided that it's OK to let her wear her "fancy church" dresses to school and to the store, and to Wednesday night services - even though it goes against the flow. She wears her tiara to the playground and to Safeway. She is a princess through and through. She does not love fruit like Camille - pretty much sticks to bananas and an occasional apple. She does love blueberries and strawberries when in season, but can't be bothered with the other stuff. She eschews veggies (except broccoli, thankfully), and loves potatoes, cheese and milk. As Jesse says, "if it's white, Emily will eat it." :)
• Jesse:  last January, the Lord provided Jesse with a job that he absolutely loves. He got in on the ground level of a very cool beauty products company and works for a woman I think is a genius at what she does.  Her name is Margot Elena and the company is Burwell Industries. Jesse started doing their websites, and although he still oversees them, has expanded his duties to Internet and general marketing. He's very good at it and is having a great time. I get free product (yay!) and a man who loves going to work everyday. :)
• Me:  I'm doing well and am thankful for a healthy, happy family. The winter months are SO dreary for me, it's a challenge to figure out a way to get through the cold afternoons and the dark evenings. I did finally join a MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) group at the girls' preschool (a Lutheran church) and have attended two meetings. I think it will help to have other moms to connect with.
  
  Last year I started working more hours at the capitol, from 16-20/week, and did so from February through June... until I decided it was too much. I couldn't get away from my Inbox and it was making crazy, although the money and social interaction was nice. I ended up continuing at my usual 10 hr/week pace and that worked out well through December. I wasn't sure what I'd want to do with the new administration, but have recently learned that my former boss will be the Director again at OSPB (yay!), and a great friend and former colleague will be the Deputy.  So.... it's been very tempting to think about working with and for them. I think I'm still happiest where I am, but am wondering if I shouldn't try and get a gig to get me through these winter months again. :)
  
  Getting some grey and have decided that it's OK!  I'll be 40 this year and while seeing that number in black/white makes me cringe a bit, I think I'll embrace it. Why not? I do think I've earned the grey, and while my life certainly isn't sexy, I truly have everything I've ever wanted!  Well, mostly...! :)

October?

Hm. Well I don't think I've done a great job keeping up with our blog! But, I just finished uploading a million pictures, so that should keep you busy for a bit. :)

We are entering Fall and all doing well, thank you Jesus!  Camille loves her pre-K class and goes M/W/F in the mornings.  I enrolled Emily in an "enrichment" class that meets on Friday mornings and she loves it! They both get to take their lunch on Fridays and I get a morning off!

Emily just turned three which boggles my mind.  She is 90th percentile for height and 50th for weight.  Can't remember what Lu was at that time. Other than refusing to put her wee in the toilet, she's doing well developmentally the doc says. ;) Her vocab is stellar and she uses it to its full extent every day!  That girl can TALK. And her enunciation has always been excellent - she's pretty cute when she talks. :)

Well, off to cook dinner. Meant for this to be longer but I'm just proud that I actually submitted a post. More to come!

Oh A Long Time

Wow, it's been a long time since I've posted. Sorry!  So, I'm now working more hours now and reporting to the office 2x a week, and that's my excuse. I actually enjoy it, although the first two months were pretty painful and I was questioning my decision!

Updates:  Let's see. Emily is 2 1/2 and is very ready to be potty trained, but I shall wait until the summer to do it because I like her little padded bottom. It's cute. She also likes to pick out the "Minnie Mouse one" (there are two different designs on the diapers) and gets super excited about it. That's cute. She loves sparkly shoes, princess dresses, big pretty hairbands and pink barrettes. She's a dollface and we're really enjoying her sweet nature and tiny voice.

Camille is super inquisitive and is beginning to ask intelligent conceptual questions for which I'm ill-prepared! Example: "mom, where were me and Emily when you were a little girl?"  Um. Not sure what to do with that. And: "mom, how did Jesus put me into your belly?" Ask Dad. She still loves school and always wants us to read her schedule for the week.  She likes knowing what to expect for the day/week, etc.  She's starting to understand time/season concepts and loves to read off the time from our digital clocks.

We're all very excited for Springtime. Have been doing major cleaning and restoration of the house and yard. The basement is spic and span; the yards are getting cleaned up. Chopped down the dead Aspens (sniff*) and getting ready to aerate and fertilize.  Camille and I are excited about planting tomatoes and other veggies and flowers in our garden. AND she's prepared for the bunnies who want to eat our petunias. :)  Hoping the frost/snow doesn't kill off all our apple blossoms this Spring -- will be wroth if it does!

Need to post Christmas, birthday and Easter pics! Am super behind!

Dreary

That's how this winter feels!  Wish there weren't 3 more months (at least) of the cold and snow. I really think I was made for Arizona weather, just wish I could have it here in Denver on demand. :)

Well, I've slacked tremendously on my dear blog. I do have gads of pictures, but have been overwhelmed with life and not in the mood to write. Don't hold it against me!

Girls are well. Camille turns 4 in a few weeks which just amazes me. She looks much older than 3, which is what she is currently of course. People just look at us like we're insane when we tell them she's 3.  Maybe we'll say "5" next time and see if we get an equally strange look, and keep trying a fake number until we get an acceptable response?

Camille still loves books and cars, and sometimes dolls and princesses. She loves to build things with blocks and preferably wheels. She loves horses and movies and still adores all things fuzzy. She is turning into quite the sweet little girl and I'm surprised at what she can comprehend. She's doing well in preschool, got a great little report card, and is still enjoying it.  She seems to have mostly finished with the nap thing but I still make her stay in her room for an hour while mommy has "quiet time" otherwise I lose my mind.

Emily is still as talkative as ever! She loves all princesses, pink and dresses. She can run in her little high heels. Loves headbands (she calls them "runderbands") and pretty barrettes. Loves to wear her hair down and eschews tights or leggings, even when it's cold. I do force the matter when we leave the house, but it confounds me how she doesn't get cold at home. She loves to sleep to her nursery rhymes and still loves her paci, much to our dismay. Cannot think of how to pull that plug out at this point so late in the game. At least it's only to sleep at night, but still... and no, I've not started to potty train her yet, even though she's been ready since last summer. Sigh.

Made myself a fancy "are you kidding me?" coupon book. It's super duper nerdy and I love it. Got the idea from a friend who's nuts about it.  It's a huge binder with see-through sleeves for my coupons (for baseball cards, several slots per page), then organized by tab ("dairy", "bath/body", etc.).  It's pretty nifty and even Jesse digs it, or so he says. He even uses it. :) Very anal though and a bit compulsive, but that's the only thing I'm anal about right now.

In fact, I'm sitting here wondering how all my ambition and motivation left me when I had kids? Where is my drive to organize and clean? Why haven't I filed a thing in 4 years? Instead I put bills, etc. in my used Ann Taylor bags and store them until I set aside a day to file. Which is never. Or maybe every 5 years?

What about all this JUNK we keep around? I've got a growing pile of stuff in our dining room and someday soon will call the ARC or somebody to come and please get it. I tried to sell some of my clothes on craigslist, but with the economy and all, everybody else is doing it too and nobody wanted to pay $5 for my nice suit.

And what about all my girls' clothing? I want to save the nice stuff for family, but which family? And all of it? It makes me cry to go through it so I put it off until there are mountains of clothes to deal with. Now I have a bag full of shoes worth probably a few hundred bucks and I'm not sure what to do with it all. And the toys. I mostly give those away.

And the cleaning? I wish I had a task per week so my house would be cleaner than it is. Fortunately we pick up fairly well so visitors don't notice it, but I wish I cleaned more deeply more often. I hate our dishwasher so I started to wash them myself, in honor of my grandma, and in honor of clean glassware. I tire of drinking water from cloudy glasses with specs of who knows what on the bottom. But the problem is, washing dishes is more work intensive. Duh. So I wait longer to clean them, and sometimes they sit until the next day. HORROR. Grandma would certainly not approve.

And the cooking? I at least like it better now, but I'm not much more creative. I think I'm a vegetarian at heart and dislike (greatly) cooking meat. And I'm better and buying different items so lunch isn't always mac and cheese. So really, I can't complain here, just wish I did a better job grocery shopping.

And working out? Hah! I'll get back to you on that later, but can tell you nothing is happening here. :)

Hmm. So that's an update on my dissatification with my abililty to manage this home. :) But the girls are fed, rested and happy so at least I'm doing that part okay.  Don't get me started on the guilt I feel for not playing with them more though....

Here are a few fun shots of the girls for Christmas. Some day soon I'll get an album started for that. BTW this site is increasingly difficult to navigate. As I type, there is a super annoying lag and uploading pictures takes forever. If you know of a good substitute let me know. Just hate to lose all the history and pictures with Typepad...

Family Pictures :)

I'm thrilled with the way our family pics turned out...we purchased them from Kelli Nixon Photography via "Groupon" and got 3 digital pics for $60... great deal!  Here they are:

  

Seasons and Stuff

Well it's not close to winter and we got like 2 feet of snow last week! Canceled Lu's Halloween party at school but she still got to wear her kitty costume. All she cared about was the costume and candy - she really was excited! Em couldn't really be bothered with going door to door, she just like the ballerina dress and the red sucker she got. :)

Yay! I love the "real" holidays that are coming up and can't wait! Can't believe they're already here though, I really am still stuck in August. Have been missing my grandma a lot lately, don't think that will change much for now. But the girls I think will be very excited for Christmas this year and that's fun and exciting for me. I plan to do a lot of baking with them this year so we'll see!

The girls are starting to get along well and play well together. It's surprising and really neat to see. Emily can hold her own! On occasion she'll go take something from Lu when she's not on guard and run off with a huge grin on her face, while Camille runs screaming after her, frothy-mouthed. It's really a sight. It happened today with a piece of toasted, buttered pita - a coveted snack, not sure why. Camille ran screaming after her and pulled her hair. I looked at Emily and she said "here yu yu, here" and gave it back. She clearly did not want to eat it. Tart!

Camille still loves to watch movies - could watch them all day I think, and Em cannot be bothered. She sits there a few minutes then runs around and chats. She's very social and seems to need human connections more than Lu. Lu is more aloof, although she's very sensitive - to God, and to others. She still loves her daddy more than anything. Em still awakes in a good mood, and while Camille has improved a ton, she still can be moody in the morning. That should be fun when she's 16. Both love to read and I like to leave books around everywhere for them. We go to the library a few times a month and get a huge stack to bring home. Camille loves the Bearnstein Bears (me too) and Em loves anything with Disney princesses. She is clearly my princess and Lu my tomboy. Lu can wear jammies or leggings/sweats all day and will moan when I ask her to dress up. Em usually always wants to be dressed from the get-go and it must be a dress/skirt.  Or, like today, she'll run around in her princess heels, naked, with a crown. :) Usually she wants to wear the ballerina dress we borrowed.

Me, I'm adjusting to the weather/seasons. It's going by SO quickly that before I know it it will be Easter, so I'm just enjoying. Working a bit here and there again, enjoy that. Like my boss. Jesse's company looks like it's ready to soar soon. Think his site is ready, it's www.mindbursts.com if you're interested.

Will add pics to the Autumn album.... 

Mommy's Bill of Rights

Okay so I probably should get my own blog.  This one is really for pics and tales of our babies, but please allow me to take a moment to tell the world how far I've come. Here are some beliefs I've learned to accept/embrace as a mother... beliefs that are helping me to shed the ever-present "mommy guilt."  If you do or don't do any of these things - great! No judging over here, just releasing myself from internal, often unrealistic expectations. :)

1.) It's okay to shop at the Goodwill. My kids' and my duds do not need to be high class, with the best fibers in the latest styles, with matching hats or amazing flower barrettes.  Their toys don't need to come of out a box straight from China.

2.) It's okay to have scrambled eggs and oatmeal for dinner and PBJs and mac&cheese for lunch. Every meal need not be gourmet, organic, homemade or perfectly well-balanced. 

3.) It's okay to bribe my kids with candy or other sweet items to get them to: take pictures, behave in the car, or get ready in a hurry without a fuss.  This doesn't happen everyday and Time Out isn't always an option. They will not be scarred nor get a mouthful of cavities.

4.) It's okay for the girls to nap for 3 hours if they are sleepy, or miss naptime altogether if we can't make it work into our schedule.  They make up for it the next day and don't seem to be worse off.

5.) It's okay for the girls to miss their daily bath and for Camille to go 2 days without having her hair washed.

6.) It's okay for the girls to stay in their PJ's most of the day if we are not going anywhere and are not expecting company. I don't prefer it, but sometimes they do... soon enough they'll have to be up-and-at-it every day.

7.) It's okay if the laundry isn't put away the same day it's washed; if the floor isn't mopped weekly; if the living room stays cluttered with toys for more than one day. I'll get to it.

8.) It's okay to enjoy being a stay-at-home mom for most days, but for others to want to leave for Italy - alone - for a month.

9.) It's okay to let Camille watch 2 movies in one day on occasion if she's tired, I'm tired, or if I'm overwhelmed with work and need her to be occupied.

10.) It's okay to not have the girls signed up for ballet, gymnastics, swimming, music or art at the Rec Center.

11.) It's okay to cry when Camille left for preschool, then decide I really do like the extra time for errands with Emily.

12.) It's okay to not play with the girls for hours each day just because I'm at home with them and can. The household and our lives also need to be managed, and I need time for myself as well.

13.) It's okay that two of Emily's walls are still blank because I never found suitable, affordable wall art.

14.) It's okay that we haven't purchased a swing-set yet.

I know there are more; I'll add to it when I can think of them. Thanks for indulging me. :)