Mother's Day

Sitting on the porch
Putting the binding on our family quilt
One kid sleeping
One kid playing outside
One kid snuggled right next to me, reading.

Fantastic Time in Mexico

A much needed vacation! We had a great time with my extended family. Cancun is only a 3 hour direct flight from Milwaukee-- I think we may be visiting there again!

We're a PJ kind of family

Our New Family Hobby

The kids love hiking! And I love hiking with them! Ok, we've only been twice now so I'm not sure I can safely call it a hobby but as soon as we were done they asked when we can go again. The first time we left Shayna at the bottom of the mountain with my in-laws. I wasn't sure how the kids were going to do. I can't explain how much fun it was. Ron went up ahead with Talia and I stayed with Alex. I loved seeing everything through his eyes. He really felt like we were on an adventure. He wanted to touch all that he saw and collect items for our nature table and climb the super tall mountain. He felt compelled to talk to each person that passed us by. It was a blast. The kids just wanted to go higher and higher and higher. We only got them to come back down the mountain by telling them that we w ould return when the leaves changed. This time Ron put Shayna in the Ergo carrier and she loved it. The leaves weren't as colorful as we hoped (next weekend should be perfect for anyone interested) but the kids were thrilled to be climbing again. We went even higher and it was much more crowded so Alex had more people to talk to. I hope we will be able to get back once or twice before it gets too cold.

Stay at home weekend

We had a family portrait session

Did some reading

Worked on some art projects

Tried to roll over

Caught a caterpillar

Put together a new puzzle


Played with a new toy

Wrote and illustrated a story about the aforementioned caterpillar

Also: went to the farmers' market, played in the sprinkler, rode bikes, grilled dinner, worked on a quilt, went running (Ron, not me!), attended a birthday party (Talia) and spent lots of quality time together. Sometimes weekends in which we stay home feel a little claustrophobic but this one felt relaxing. Now if I could just figure out why and apply that knowledge to the upcoming summer...

Family Photo Shoot

I'm just proud of myself for trying the family photo shoot at all. To my surprise, everyone cooperated- if only for a short time. And I got that one great shot of just Shayna (see previous post). The kids seems to go back and forth between wanting to hold the baby and wanting to watch tv. They definitely don't want to change diapers or be anywhere near her if she's crying. I thought it would be fun for the kids to help with her bath. The first time they were so freaked out by her belly button/ umbilical cord that they ran from the room screaming and talked about it for two days (Alex said, "because she has a yucky belly button"). For the second and third baths they wanted to help but ran from the room because she was crying. So much for my fantasies about family time.

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!

Wishing you all the best in the new year!

Recent Happenings

I would like to give some excuse for not posting in so long (almost a month!) but I have none. Everything is going relatively smoothly-- this has still been my easiest pregnancy. There are days when I feel less able to move around comfortably (today, for one..) but I can never seem to figure out why. Eight more weeks. I am starting to get stressed out a little bit about that. I'm realizing now that I'll never get all that house organizing done. I wanted to go through each closet, each drawer, each tiny space and get rid of everything I own. Maybe I need to watch an episode of Hoarders each day-- that does get me motivated! Instead I'm sidetracked by the everyday organizing and cleaning (that damn mudroom full of snowboots and snowsuits and school bags and lunchboxes and coats and groceries and...) and rarely get that enough under control to move on to organizing what is hidden away in the closets. I did get to organizing the kids' old clothes and ended up with about 12 huge bins that are organized by size. (Note that I have given away all of Alex's clothes under size 18 months and all of Talia's clothes under 4T so this sadly represents only a year or two. Must watch Hoarders more often!) I still have to go through their more current clothes and lots of miscellaneous shoes and winter gear that are just thrown on the floor in our storage room.

I bought a new point and shoot digital camera, which explains why I haven't been taking many photos (the LCD screen on my old one broke) and so I have some new pictures. I'm actually returning the new camera (too slow to respond...) and trying a different one but that's another story. The pix in the above collage represent the past week or so-- Talia and I went to see the Nutcracker. See how I'm hiding my pregnant self behind my kid? Nice. Hanukkah came and went with big gifts of an American Girl doll for Talia and the Playmobil airplane AND airport terminal for Alex (if we have to play with him we may as well make it fun for ourselves...) and many many many many smaller presents for each. Talia had her first ski lesson and was AMAZING! After an hour-long private lesson she was able to ski down the slope, get on the rope tow, come up, ski down, come up etc. She is even able to stop, troubleshoot, fall and get up. She loved it. I've been on and off with cooking lately but this past week I cooked a bunch of meals (butternut squash risotto, middle eastern chickpeas and spinach with yogurt sauce, orchiette with broccolini, chickpea and bread soup, cauliflower with panko). Last week I picked out a month's worth of recipes and that seems to have worked out pretty well. All the clean up is really too much for me though and keeps me from those other organizing projects (see paragraph number one!).

The kids are now off from school for TWO WEEKS. I'm really excited about not having to get them out of the house in the morning (though now they are used to getting up at 7am so I suspect I won't get to sleep in at all...) but not excited about entertaining them for so many days. I need to force myself to take them out for an activity each day. They don't really want to go (they are pajama homebodies like me) but it will give structure to the day. Tomorrow we are getting a HUGE delivery of a bunk bed for Talia's room. I guess that means that we are finally going to get Alex out of the crib. I wonder how that will go, since it seems like he couldn't care less about it. He's been crying at bedtime (and naptime too sometimes) lately so I can't imagine it will go well. He's welcome to sleep in Talia's room on the bottom bunk but who knows how that will be? Talia is such a light sleeper. If he cries she will certainly wake up and if I spend time cuddling him and trying to get him back to sleep she gets jealous. ("You love him more than me" is a popular phrase in our house; a topic for another day). I guess that's what winter break is for-- to try new sleeping arrangements out! We have no idea where to put the new baby-- not that it will matter for a few months, she'll just stay in our room-- but if Talia and Alex did want to room together it would solve some problems... We have an upcoming vacation as well so don't feel *too* sorry for me having the kids home for two weeks.

That's all for now. I get my new new new camera tomorrow or the next day so I guess I will be taking lots more pictures and perhaps will post a little more frequently... Happy holidays to all.

Library Book Bin

The Hanukkah Helper has been creating some mischief in our house each night. Last night he emptied the library book bin and climbed up a fairy tent vine. I'm actually running out of ideas about where to put him. The kids love it and it's actually easier for me to get Talia downstairs on school mornings because she wants to see what he's done. On the other hand, she's waking up earlier on weekends too...

Actually I'm writing this post to show off the Library Book Bin. I've been using it for a while but finally got around to decorating it. I matched the fabric to the colors in the fairy tent, used fusible web and just ironed on the letters and some cute birdcages (no sewing). Every week or two I go to the library and literally just sweep an entire shelf of books into my bag. I barely look at them. There always ends up being a mix of books for Talia and Alex to look through. If they don't like them they get new ones in a week or so anyway (not that it's ever happened!) At Alex's age Talia was still ripping books up but I've been able to get Alex library books for months now. It's so refreshing to have new things to read! We also check out DVD's and many many audiobooks for the car. I've noticed that Talia will listen to some books that are slightly above her level (Little House, the original Peter Pan, today we started The Borrowers) and her comprehension is great. We have the best library in the world. Have I mentioned that they don't charge for late items? Ever?

Dane County Farmer's Market

This past weekend we took our first trip of the summer to the farmer's market. Madison has the best farmer's market in the world and I am willing to argue with anyone who claims otherwise. It is quite crowded by the time we get there (late!) and we kind of have to just find a spot to park ourselves near the capitol and then Ron and I take little 20 minutes trips to get what we want. We have the garden and CSA, of course, so we don't need to get too much. This weekend we got sugar snap peas (so yum) and strawberries. It was a perfect day for the farmer's market! I highly recommend Ingrid's Lunch Box for a meal-- get the farmer's crepe and you will NOT be disappointed!

We also went to the pool and had friends over for dinner. All in all a very nice weekend.

An update on Alex's experience at school. It's getting better. Today the kids were already on the playground by the time we got there so I got to drop him off (crying) on the playground, then drop Talia off and go back by the playground to see that Alex was fine and happy by the time I left.

What summer means to me

We had a summery day here last week (just one!) and I got the urge to make a friendship bracelet. I gave it to Talia. She made one for Alex (surprisingly well with my improvised board) and I ended up making two more for Talia as well. Not to be outdone, Ron wanted to show that he knew how to do it too. Who knew he could do something crafty? He also gave it to Talia who now has 4. She hasn't taken them off yet. Alex didn't like his, I guess. Or maybe he doesn't want to be friends with Talia. I can actually make pretty fancy ones but I won't get into that... just yet anyway. It was the perfect project for a summer day.

República Dominicana

Just got back from a trip to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. It was a much needed break from the Wisconsin winter. We all had a great time and met some new friends. Hopefully I'll have time to post more pictures and thoughts later. Hopefully. Once the bags are unpacked. And the house gets back together. And Talia is back in school. And the kids are back to their normal sleeping patterns. Etc...

Apple Picking

We went apple picking this weekend with my in-laws. I've been pretty loyal to honeycrisp apples for the past 3 or 4 years but I have to say these Jonagolds are really delicious too. Of course, what the hell am I supposed to do with them all? My mother-in-law and I split the 12 pound bag but that's still a lot of apples. I can't see my family eating more than 2 or 3 per day and I think that's really pushing it. I threw 3 pounds into the crockpot to make applesauce but I'm not particularly fond of applesauce. Alex seems to like it in a general way so I hope to feed it to him. On the other hand, he will work at a plain apple for a while so why would I give him the messier, more sugary choice? It was a fun experience to pick them; I don't think I have ever done that before.

Recent Outdoor Activities/ Happy New Year

At this time in our lives, we find it rather difficult to take to the kids to synagogue, despite our desire to participate more fully in Judaism. When we do go we end up sitting with Talia in the preschool service, where she doesn't want to join in or following Alex around the playroom, where he is too young to stay for babysitting and perhaps wouldn't be happy there without us. One of the ways we observed the Jewish holidays this year was to spend a little time in shul and a lot of time outdoors together as a family. This year we went to Olbrich Gardens and Devil's Lake. The leaves were changing, the sun was shining, the breeze was refreshing and it helped us to feel like there is a difference between these fall days of the new year and summer days of the previous year. It gave us a moment (just a quick moment-- there was a lake the kids could fall into!) to appreciate the good things in our lives, to feel determined to change what might not be perfect, and how to be better people to each other and ourselves. We even got a little tiyul in without too much complaining from the little ones. We have a fabulous family and very fortunate in our health and happiness. I am enthusiastic about this upcoming election and the positive direction we can all take as a country after these rough times. L'Shana Tova-- Here's to a great year!

Laugh and laugh and laugh

The kids are getting along really well these days. In this picture Alex is using Talia's arm as a phone. She thought it was pretty funny. I really try to cherish these times instead of being stressed out about stupid shit. The house will either be clean or it won't. We will either eat a healthy dinner or we will eat out. We will definitely forget something important when we leave for vacation. Unless it's one of the kid's blankets, everything else can be bought. You can only be so prepared. Wish us luck on our long drive. Hopefully the person watching the house won't let my garden die and the tomatoes won't ALL ripen while I'm gone. I'm excited to see family and friends!

Plays Well With Others

The kids played together for a least a half hour on the fatboy beanbag (Ron's Father's Day gift). They just kept making each other laugh. It was such a nice treat to just let them do their own thing. They are truly in love (for now). I realized I hardly have any recent pictures of Talia on the blog. She doesn't really smile for my camera anymore and makes stupid faces. It's annoying!

Farmer's Market

Words can't fully describe the Farmer's Market here in Madison. If you haven't been there, you just can't know. On Saturday we went for the first time this year. It was amazing as always. It was packed with people (before 9 am, no less), color, and energy-- not to mention the produce, local cheese and meats, bakery items (cheesy bread!), flowers, local artists and many political supporters. It's always hot, always crowded and so hard to manage with the kids. Usually we park on the family on the lawn of the Capitol Building and each take turns wandering around for a while. It's best to meet friends so the kids can play. Ron is pretty claustrophobic there but I just love to go. Maybe next time I'll leave the family at home so I can really get some shopping done! Our CSA starts this week so we're very excited about that...

All in all we had another nice weekend despite the odd weather (rain rain rain, some tornadoes thrown in). We went to the pool Saturday afternoon only to turn around and go straight home when the thunder started. Luckily we ran into friends and we all had pizza and playtime at our house. School starts again this week. Hopefully Talia will like her new classroom and not give me too much trouble. It's all I want from school- for her to not cry when I drop her off. I don't give it a likely chance but you never know...