Saturday, April 25, 2009

Skating!


We finally got him back on wheels again. It was a rainy morning in Colorado Springs, so we headed off to the local skating rink (parents skate for free on Saturday mornings). Caitlin proceeded to cry for most of the time we were there, but Brandon managed to give it another try, and liked it!


Thursday, April 23, 2009

Tofu!

Brian managed to get standby on an earlier flight home last night and made it home before dinner instead of the expected 10:00 pm arrival time. Yesterday was packed for me, and I hadn't planned a family dinner, seeing as it was originally just going to be me and the kids. I got home around 6:30 and tossed together a quick tofu stir-fry using the WestSoy Thai Sesame Peanut baked tofu, some sugar snap peas, red bell peppers and peanuts. Target's Archer Farms brand has a Thai peanut sauce that we've used for a fondue dipper before, but also works well for stir fry. The real wonder of the evening - Brandon declared his love for tofu last night! He ate all his dinner - all his tofu, all his sugar snap peas, his peanuts, and his crunchy (raw) carrots! It was a banner night at the P-4 household! He's still not convinced that the brown basmati rice we've switched to is as good as the white basmati rice he loves, but he'll come around eventually. This is the third time we've tried the baked tofu on the kids, and the first time Brandon has eaten without tears. This might be the first time we did the Thai Sesame Peanut tofu. Usually it's teriyaki. I'll have to pick up some more soon! I'm all about vegetarian eating if that's how we can get the kids to eat proper proteins.

Lest you think dinner was perfect and that we're rocking the tofu world here in Colorado, you should know that Caitlin ate her dinner begrudgingly. She still thinks I'm trying to poison her!

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

"Waking Up Is Hard To Do"

The kids wanted to watch a video this morning. It was after 9:00 before we got around to breakfast, and "Live with Regis and Kelly" was on when we flipped on the television set. I was about to change the channel, since Regis gives me a headache, when I heard the dulcet tones of Neal Sedaka coming out of my television. But it wasn't "Calendar Girl", it was a song I'd never heard called "Dinosaur Pet", sung to the tune of "Calendar Girl":

I love, I love, I love my dinosaur pet
Yeah, sweet dinosaur pet
I love, I love, I love my dinosaur pet
Each and every day of the year
January, he's breaking out of his shell
February, he's body's starting to swell
March, at least eight times a day he's got to be fed
April, when he sleeps with me he crushes the bed
Yeah, yeah, how big can he get
I love, I love, I love my little dinosaur pet
Every day, every day, every day, every day of the year


Who knew Neal Sedaka sang kids songs? The kids were mesmerized. They rewound the Neal Sedaka segment about three times. Each time I had to endure Regis attempting to sing, which wasn't fun, but it was fun to watch the kids! The CD is called "Waking Up Is Hard To Do". I'm now wondering if I should get it, or if it would just eventually drive me over the edge?

Monday, April 20, 2009

Circle of "Friends"

You know that you live in a small town when you see a photo on a local friend's blog. You click on the photo and it looks like somewhere you use to a live a long time ago. But this photo is from an unknown friend of your friend. So you go to Facebook to see if this unknown friend is on your local friend's list of friends, hoping that she has a network listed so you can see where she lives. She is on Facebook! Woo hoo! You now know she lives in your old town in California. Then you see a name on her list of friends that looks familiar. And you realize this is the school admin at your child's school in Colorado, who answers school calls and sends you e-mails about school stuff. And that it is the mother of the person who took the picture. And that she doesn't live that far from you.

Small circle. Small town.

I'm still not use to this.

Heading Towards Spring

I put my snow boots away today. They looked a little strange sitting out next to my sandals. While the snow was much needed, I am looking forward to weeks that don't call for both sandals and snow boots. We might even have a day or two in the upper 70's this week! I'm not ready for summer yet, as the summers I've experienced in Colorado are hot and don't cool down well in the evenings. Having air conditioning helps, but who wants to live out summer all shut up inside? I am ready for green, though. The arid brownness of Colorado in winter is so bleak and stark that only layers of snow make it worthwhile. My soul loves green, and I'm ready for it! I'm also ready for the awful winds to die down, and ready for the sometimes frigid cold to be done. It was 19 below zero in December! Of course, after summer, I'll be ready for the cold weather. However, for as much as I love all four seasons, and autumn is gorgeous, the bleakness of winter here is a little hard to take.

Almost all the snow that pelted down on us on Friday is gone. Thursday was a day of rain, as was Saturday. All in all, I think we got about 2 1/2 inches of water in those three days, which is quite a lot for here. Everything seems greener - except our front lawn. But everyone else's lawn seems greener! Trees are beginning to bud, and some flowers are blooming. Everywhere there is the sound of water - all the snow melting, running, gushing down the roof, the rain gutters, and on to the pavement. Our street looks like a river. I wore my sandals again today. And look - my tree has recovered from Friday:



The Easter decals on our front window, the ones with the happy bunnies and eggs and flowers, don't seem so strange now that the snow is gone. They looked a little out of place last week!

Friday, April 17, 2009

New Baby!

Arlene had her baby! If you know her, pop over to her blog and read the announcement! He's 4 weeks early, but seems to be doing fine. I think all her kids have been early, so she was probably expecting this, but hoping it wouldn't happen. Congrats, Arlene! We're all excited for your family!

Snow, Snow, and (Seriously?) More Snow

Today a slushy machine exploded onto Colorado. It rained all day yesterday. Much needed and nice. Most of the day was more like a heavy, misty fog. Gray and dreary. My hair curled. It made me long for the misty, foggy mornings of northern California. It got old when I lived in it day after day after day, but it's such an anomaly here that it's a nice change! Sometime after midnight and before 3:45 am, when I woke up, it started snowing. And it pretty much hasn't stopped! The snow is not the normal light and fluffy snow that Colorado normally experiences, but a heavy, wet, "white rain" (as my friend called it). Look at the poor tree in my front yard (the one on the far right):

It's normally much more upright than this! In fact, you can't see window on the far right most of the time. Not today. We've already lost our satellite signal and power (right around bed time). The latter of which came back on, but not until after Caitlin had a fit because she thought I magically turned her light off, even though I was in the other room. She's still having issues.

The weather today was just plain weird! I had a meeting at a friend's this morning. Since the kids were up early, we decided to brave the elements and head over. We bundled up in snow boots, coats, hats, etc, and headed out. It was an 8 mile drive (nothing is close around here), and about half way there the snow got light. It was as if we walked out of a darkened movie theater into daylight. There was no snow on the ground! The heavy snow we'd been experiencing just vanished. It was raining, but nothing hard. We looked a little dumb showing up in all our cold weather gear, but at least the kids didn't get their feet wet walking through the puddles up to the house. On the way home, the rain turned back into snow, around the same place, and it was still snowing quite heavily back at our house. That didn't let up all day, but had periods of the "white rain". When Caitlin and I went to pick up Brandon at school, the ground was so slushy I had to carry her in places because there was water up to her knees! You couldn't always tell when you'd be stepping in to it, either, as all the slushy parts were covered with a pristine layer of white snow.

Brian didn't know if he'd make it home tonight, either. From what I hear, he's on the ground here an on his way home. But we didn't know if he'd make it home today, or tomorrow. We have 8 inches of wet snow already, and it's suppose to pick up again over night. Brian's been gone all week and leaves again on another business trip on Monday, so we want him home for a couple of days! A friend e-mailed me from DIA with the sobering news that the airport closed and planes were being rerouted to Pueblo (about 2 1/2 hours away). Fun. Luckily that didn't happen for us. So Brian's on his way home. Yeah!

Colorado has been so dry this winter. It looked like a tinderbox. I wonder what the moisture level is now. Maybe spring will come after all. My tulips might not make it, though:

(There are at least 10 more under all the snow that you can't see!).

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Britain's Got Talent

If you haven't watched this one you should. Brian sent it to me yesterday morning, and I keep watching it! It's long - 7 minutes - but worth it. Clearly, the judges didn't think she would do much, but her voice made them all change their minds. We should all get a chance in our lives to wow others like this woman did. Bravo, Miss Boyle, bravo!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnmbJzH93NU

or here, in HD:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxPZh4AnWyk


Sunday, April 12, 2009

Happy Easter!

God is good. I thank Him for what he did in order for me and my family to be here. Have a Happy Easter!

Sunday, April 05, 2009

Revelling in My Alone-Ness

Brian and the kids are gone this weekend. Brian had his fantasy baseball draft back in bay area this weekend, and took the kids with him. Fantasy baseball is going to be an expensive hobby if we keep doing it this way, but I'm having a great time. I could do this once a year, easily. I have needed this time alone more than I could verbalize. They left on Friday evening and come back Monday evening.

In that short amount of time I have managed to catch-up on a sleep deficiency, run a few errands by and for myself without feeling at all guilty, and reconnect with the part of me that is happy in silence. Most people probably don't realize that I am an introvert. I need alone time to regroup. I seem very extroverted and I talk a lot, but I am also just fine being alone at times. Those times, however, are few and far between for this mother of young children. The spaces I get are fragmented and rushed, and spent mostly in a car or running errands. But not now. Not in this space. My house is quiet (and clean!). I go to bed when I want, rise when I want, and eat an unhurried breakfast. My time is my own, and I can move from project to project in my own time without worrying about the needs of others. I have thought about issues that have been affecting me, sorted and categorized them in my mind, and come to a few conclusions. The last two years have been hard for me in so many ways, and I've needed this time to come to a place of acceptance. It's a selfish need, this need to have time alone, but I've realized that it's been 5 1/2 years since I've been alone in my own home for more than just a couple of hours. That's a long time to apart from something that helps me to reflect and grow. I love my family and my kids. I wouldn't want to be alone for a long time, but a few days a year is pure heaven! Time apart is cathartic for both sides. Not only do I need some time alone, away from my kids, but I think it's healthy for my kids to have time apart from me.

Next year will be different with Brandon in school all day and Caitlin in preschool two days a week. I'll have some hours alone. It will be quite an adjustment from this year, where I have no time alone during the week unless Caitlin has room time in the afternoons before Brandon comes home from school and Brian comes home from work. And even that maxes out at about 45 minutes! I crave this space and silence, and am greatly looking forward to it next year. For now, though, I am looking forward to my children and husband returning on a plane tomorrow evening. I'm sure it will be a happy reunion for all.

Friday, April 03, 2009

Totally Useless

I stopped by Albertson's on my way home from the airport this evening to get a few things for the dinner I'm doing on Sunday. After paying for my groceries, I got the receipt and a coupon. I just looked at the coupon. It's for Milk Bones. I don't even own a dog! Usually the coupons are triggered by something I bought. What was it this time? The garbanzo beans? What a totally useless coupon.

Thursday, April 02, 2009

Lock 'em Up!

Caitlin's been singing "London Bridge" lately. It's her favorite song. She sings it at least 50 times a day, and wants me to join in, too. I hadn't been paying much attention to the song until today. As she was walking upstairs to her room to take a nap, she belted out her version of the second verse:

"Take the kids and lock them up, lock them up, lock them up!
Take the kids and lock them up!
My fair lay-dee!"

Her version or, as my husband called it, the Mommy/Daddy version.