Easter Cake and 35 miles... Really?

Well, our day came and went, without an Easter Egg hunt. I just couldn't muster the dedication it would have taken to re-stuff and hide the 50+ eggs Josephine found on Saturday at our neighborhood Egg Hunt. Thank you Renie and Chris! And don't you love Josephine's Easter Egg "Basket?" She loves her new soccer shoes so much she insisted on using the box.

But the day wasn't without some drama and fun. First deluxe breakfast and church. At the latter, it was revealed to us that Josephine was actually quite sick. She complained the entire time about her ear and couldn't even sit up for most of the service.

So home we headed to start Easter dinner, and oh, wait, did I mention the lost dog from the morning? Oh yes... cute as could be, lost, well-fed, friendly, no collar, black lab was out in our front yard this morning as we were leaving. I couldn't bring myself to just leave him wandering the neighborhood, so we put him in the courtyard and came back to deal with him. After a few blocks of walking and asking if anyone knew his owner, we decided to call the Darien Police, and the owner was at our door within 30 minutes! Easter saved for BOTH families! :) His name was 'chip', and Josephine misses him sporadically, but with some apparent nostalgia. Who knew a dog in the life of a 5-year-old for all of 45 minutes could make such an impression. And she's mentioned how old she is and how much she would love to have a dog at least 5 times since he left! Ughhh...

Then, after dinner was cooking, Josephine and I were off to the urgent care, where, after waiting for well over an hour to just see the doctor, we were informed that yes she does have another ear infection, or maybe it's just the last one, never quite gone away. Either way, she is resting now with motrin and antibiotics and lots and lots of CAKE. Yes, Easter cake! It's our new tradition, complete with a "Happy Easter to You" sung to the Happy Birthday tune. Candles and ALL! Daddy gets all the credit, with some help from Josephine on the blue dots and lots of help from Chris Jr. with all the extra cake he cut off. (The open mouth cake eating pic absolutely kills me!)

Overall it was a great day! Despite all of the unforeseen visitors and doctor visits. Ah... children and dogs, you can't live with them, and you can't live without them... well, we CAN live without the dog. Thank goodness!

Oh, and one more weekend tidbit, for those of you who thought that Chris Sr. was sounding remarkably sane in this entry... my husband started off the weekend on Thursday by running home from work. And yes kids, he works in MANHATTAN and we live in CONNECTICUT! Total journey... 35 MILES! Left at 5pm and arrived home around 1:30am. Part of his training for the 100 mile race he's doing in VT at the beginning of May. I am officially married to a maniac. But God do I love him! :)

Our Maple Syrup Adventure

Well, one thing I really do love (and hate) about my husband... when he gets an idea in his head, he goes full speed ahead and never looks back. This March the idea was "Maple Syrup." (Thank you Brother-in-law John, I'll get you back somehow!) Now some might ask themselves, well do you have any maple trees on your property to tap for syrup? And if the answer is no, as it was in our case, you might think you were out of luck. But not my hubby, why let a little thing like lack of trees slow you down!?

No, Chris simply began driving all around Darien CT looking for ideal trees. Thankfully he didn't illegally tap any trees... yet! He has multiple plans for tapping trees all over town next year. But this year he limited himself to our next door neighbor and a nice old man up the street. For two weekends we monitored the trees all day (and night) emptying the sap into our five gallon storage bucket.

At the end of the first weekend Chris and Josephine spent about 5 hours outside boiling the sap into syrup. And believe it or not, with that batch and the rest from the next weekend we ended up with 8 bottles of delicious homemade goodness.

Now, as many of you might know, I am skeptical by nature, and I was VERY reluctant about this adventure, but Chris and the kids proved me wrong once again. Even on a few rainy March weekends in suburban CT you can still find good old New England Pioneering going on. Next thing you know he'll be building a wagon to match his tattoo! lol

Ok, Do you REALLY want to know?

So I woke up this morning and was laying in bed with my almost 5-year-old daughter listening to my iPod. Her first request was the song “Man in the Mirror” by Michael Jackson. This one was really funny because she sang the chorus with the word ‘mustache’ inserted at a part where the words are too fast for her to understand. The next song was “21 Guns”, the Broadway version by Green Day. She loved that one too. She called it "awesome music." Then we listened to “Chicken Fried” by the Zac Brown Band and I was feeling pretty good… you know “Cold beers on a Friday night, a pair of jeans that fits just right, and the radio on…” Very up-beat.

Then I picked “Landslide,” the Dixie Chicks version, and that’s when it fell apart for me. See, this week has been really hard for me and I can’t quite figure out why. I’m not PMS, nothing bad has happened, things are going along just fine. But for some reason this morning it all seemed to hit me. I’ve loved this song for a long time. When I was living in Ohio I actually went to a Dixie Chicks concert with two of the women I love most in the world to this day; and I really don't even LIKE country music. But today, for some reason, listening to these words with my little girl brought me more than I expected...

“Oh mirror in the sky

What is Love?

Can the child within my heart rise above?

Can I sail thru the changing ocean tides?

Can I handle the seasons of my life?

Well, I’ve been afraid of changing

‘Cause I’ve built my life around you

But time makes your bolder

Children get older

I’m getting older too...”

I mean I was weeping! Josephine: “Is this a sad song Mommy?” Me: “No” J: “Then why are you crying?” Me: “Because sometimes that’s just what you do.” But I really didn’t have a good answer for her. And I still don’t. Maybe it was the reference to the seasons of my life, or children getting older, but really I think it’s the notion of building a life around someone else that hit me hardest.

So far this blog has focused on our family and the funny things we do. But, there are so many other parts of our family life that aren’t as much fun; there are lots of parts that are really hard for all of us. Sometimes I feel like I’m drowning in diapers, preschool and play dates. Like I’ve lost parts of myself, parts that made me different, that made me, ME. And then my little boy takes my face in his hands and turns it towards him and lays his forehead on mine and looks me right in the eye and says “pizza.” Or my little girl gets out of bed and leaves the room only to return with two pieces of tissue, “one for your eyes and one for your nose.” And during those little precious moments, the sacrifice feels worth it.

But make no mistake, most of the time being a mother is very hard. Maybe no harder than being a father or any other life-consuming role, but this is my blog so this is my perspective. I love my children and my husband more than anything in the whole world, but I’m still looking for balance, and for something else in life that will help me round out my days and make a difference in the world. Suggestions are always welcome.

Thanks for listening. J

Are they Cute or What??

So here are a few more pics of the little ones. I tell you, they make me smile everyday. This first pic is of Chris Jr. sleeping at Grammy and Grandpa's with both hands behind his head. Very comfortable! He seems to have found his voice while I was away. I think without Mommy to translate he must have realized that all of his whining and mumbling just wasn't cutting it. He's now stringing two and three words together, and being quite clear when he wants something.

The little baby boy is Grant, my new nephew. Could he be any more adorable? His little half smile is just too much!

This snow picture of Chris Jr. came last week during our most recent snow storm. Oh, and by the way, these storms seem to just keep coming. I think we've had at least 30 inches or more for the year! That's a lot for coastal Connecticut. I came inside with Chris Jr. and got him out of his wet snow clothes. Before I

knew it, he had put on Josephine's rain boots and was back out the front door to join his sister who continued to sled down our front stairs. We built a snow ramp that was only marginally successful, but was still a lot of fun.

Josephine's most recent project was her Little House on the Prairie paper dolls. She likes them so much that we also got them for her friend Alexandra as a birthday gift. This was her and her creation after she painstakingly cut them all out along the lines by herself. I've never seen her work with such precision and for such a long time. I think she was cutting for at least 45 minutes! Very methodically, she kept telling me "Mommy, please just watch your show, I need to concentrate on this for a minute." And every so often she throws in a "seriously" just for emphasis. So funny!

On this same day her Daddy told her she needed to brush her hair and that it looked terrible. Her response with a shocked and serious face... "Daddy, that is not nice to say in front of a four-year-old!" She is just too much! What would we do without her?

Vancouver 2010

Well, to say our trip was amazing would be an understatement. We had a blast! It seemed like everything went exactly as planned, when was the last time that happened to anyone?? Oh wait, my kids weren't there! Ha! But really, it was too much fun. We arrived late Tuesday and went straight to sleep. Oh, and no jet-lag to speak of, VERY different from my trip to China when I kept waking up at 3am. Renie and I had no problem sleeping in until at least 8am each day! Nice long, leisurely breakfasts each day, and I actually got to read the paper!

Wednesday we walked all around Stanley Park. I guess this is one of the places Vancouver is known for. It's HUGE! And so beautiful. Great views of the city and 6km of walking trails around the perimeter alone. Then we had lunch and relaxed a bit in the afternoon. Did a little shopping and then it was off to

Short Track Speed Skating to see Apollo Ono! Wow!

Thursday was more walking, we explored Chinatown and did

more souvenir shopping. There were SO many people, but everyone was very nice. And the people in Vancouver seemed happy to have so many visitors. As we were looking at our map, Renie and I were stopped on numerous occasions and asked if we needed directions. Thursday night we went to the men's Figure Skating Free Skate competition and actually got to watch the US competitor, Evan Lysacek, win the gold! That was pretty cool.

Friday was probably the most fun. We spent the entire day skiing in Whistler. What an amazing place! If you haven't gone, schedule a trip. I am a total beginner, but we had lessons all day, and it was still so much fun. I felt so accomplished at the end of the day, and on my last and hardest run I only fell three times! lol I can't wait to take the kids on a winter ski trip soon. Could not have been a more successful girls trip... now I just have to got back with my husband and kids. :)

Winter Storm 2010

Well, our 12 inches of snow this year came on a Wednesday and began in the morning. No school and weather not really conducive to playing outside led to a lot of idle time indoors. We passed the day with a nice fire, time jumping and playing with Uncle Timmy, and a lot of whining and crying.

Josephine also perfected her somersault technique as you can see in the picture. Overall it was a very fun storm, though we were all quite happy to be out of the house the following day. Unfortunately sledding had to wait until Grandpa arrived later

in the week. Chris Jr. was not into the snow. Most of our outings consisted of him crying a little and wanting to be held. I think the bright sun reflecting on the snow bothered his eyes, they were watering the entire time we were there. All the while, Josephine went up and down the hill at least 20 times. She also borrowed a snow board and tried that twice; she almost made it down the second time!

And it has been some kind of record for sledding, Josephine has now gone five days in a row! Four with Grandpa Boutwell and then again today with her "best friend" Ella.

He is a TERROR!

I mean this in the sweetest way possible... my son is a pain in the butt! He has got to be one of the whiniest, most demanding, stubborn and difficult to please toddlers I've ever met. Now, I'm sure my increasing age (this week 35), general lack of patience, and the fact that he's my second child all contribute to this assessment. But I feel like I need to document my frustration with him, so that I can provide an accurate picture of his childhood to him later in life. He might be cute, but I don't want him to ever get the idea that he was an "easy" child! :)

His day begins... He wakes up, talks for a bit, and sometimes I get lucky and he sleeps until 7am. I dress him immediately upon waking because if I don't he's so rambunctious it's hard to get him dressed later. Then comes breakfast, or in his case, me trying to give him anything I can think of that he might like, as he eats 30% and throws the rest on the floor. I'm sure our dining room has permanent yogurt, oatmeal and milk stains on places I can't even see. Breakfast, and the rest of the day for that matter, also includes a lot of screaming and this whining sound that I can't quite put into words. It's like a combination of a high-pitched, incessant crying and the sound of someone's nails on a chalk board. I mean it... IT's BAD!

Chris Jr. is a weird little guy. He seems to want to eat all the time, except when I try to actually sit him down for meals. He refuses to stay in his booster seat, but prefers to wander around the house eating. All the while, dropping food, smudging all the furniture and generally contributing to the sticky mess that over takes our house on most days.

In his defense, there are a few little things that save my little guy... his eyelashes are longer than any adult I've ever met. He has this adorable naughty smile, when he looks at me a little sideways, right before he does something he knows he's not supposed to do. It just kills me. He's also completely obsessed with cleaning. Constantly looking for wipes and the broom. He even gets under furniture, so maybe as he gets a little older, and will follow even the simplest of directions, I might be able to put him to work.

And boy does he love is Mommy. It's endearing, but can be quite exhausting too. When I think of him I laugh and cry all at the same time. It's like this weird emotional roller coaster we're all on. We can't live with him, but I can't even remember my life without him. Truly, having children is so much harder than I thought it would be. But with all that said... I wouldn't change a thing! Not one thing! Well... maybe a few things, but none of the ones that really matter, and that's all that counts! Right?