Ratatat

This will probably be an odds and ends post – what else can I do when I haven’t written for a few weeks?

Is it more embarrassing if your mom talks about your mental or gastrointestinal health?

If Bella is going to be a more typical kid — pickier eater, better sleeper, stranger aware, fall down on the ground tantrums, frustrated by her inability to speak intelligible words, sharing and smacking in equal measures — boy, the next year is going to suck.

I feel cheated by the lack of rain. Rain is not my favorite part of spring, but rain now would wash away the dirty icky snow (and dirty icky airmass hovering over Wisconsin). And the dirty snow needs to go. Instead of drenching rain, we have fog.

Drifting fog + stagnant green water in the far fields + ice patches + winter trees = the landscape of a ghost tale. In Scotland.

Just because you know what you’re doing is potentially and probably dumb, it doesn’t make it any easier to do the smarter thing. Self preservation may be smart, but it isn’t easy. This is probably universally true, not just in worklife.

I am struck that Scott Walker’s idea to break MPS into 10-12 districts is not nearly as interesting as if he suggested a county wide solution. You know, creating a city-county school district. Of course, the 10-12 districts could each be the suburb at the edges of Milwaukee, each taking a piece. Leaving behind maybe 2-3 smaller fully urban districts.

I can’t even tell if I hate this idea.

I really can’t even believe I don’t live in Milwaukee anymore.

And I wonder where the suburbanites who fled Milwaukee would flee if there were combined city suburban districts.

How can I be frustrated with my daughter’s pessimism when I am not exactly a ray of sunshine?

Just rain! Rain! Rain! Blow in some new weather.

Henry has more homework in kindergarten than Miranda had in first and second grade.

Miranda got her state test scores and her MAPS scores. She is doing well. She finally wants to read harder books.  I wonder if testing well is an inherited trait? They make her more nervous than I even remember feeling.

We had a quiet weekend ahead of us. I hope.

Henry is 5, so soon to be 6 he can taste it. He can poke it it, through the gap in his bottom teeth. He lost his first tooth, an event which both frightened and excited him. His thin thin frame is starting to show that look of a school boy. He never had any baby fat, but that first bloom of elementary school is showing on his face. His face is wider, his arms are stronger, his games are more creative. He sees letters everywhere. He spots numbers and counts. Not just the STOP sign, but the 50 words on his school star word list. He she is was you I the…

Henry has become quite good at video games. I should not not proud of this. It shows the hours he has logged on the Wii and the DS. But I am of the opinion that this generation will spend most of their lifetimes with elctronica aroudn them, entertaining them, employing them, educating them. He is starting to master real games, not just the Diego and Mii creation that might have previously satisfied him.  His hand-eye coordination is growing. His amblyopia was more mild – it is now corrected to 20/20 with glasses.

School is OK. I think Henry enjoys it. He shares stories at random, and never when I am prepared. He was proud that he was the only one at his table to pick out that Elephant started with E. He has friends. He plays at recess. He enjoys gym class and regularly gets posture? sitting? conduct awards in music. The art teacher has her hands full with him. He has never enjoyed coloring per se. And he is coloring a lot this year. It is mostly free-form, which is probably better for his brain but less charming for the baby book.

At 5 and 11 months, I am awed at how big he is. How smart he is. How nice he is. He still is working on some assertiveness with his peers. Working on using words with his sisters instead of light sabers. He feels boo-bbos strongly and cries at the slights and sadness in his day.

+

And now on  to Miranda. Miranda is nearly 8 and half. She can’t have grown 5 inches this year already, but it feels like it. Having already been tall, I feel foolish to say she’s so tall. Yes, it is true. But she has reached that next stage of equilibrium, of grace. She is more at peace with her body. She still fights with her hair, but her long think mane is a source of pride too. There is a foreshadowing of adolescence when I look at her. I hope that the transition into puberty is kind to her.

School is harder this year for Miranda. Not too hard, but she has to think more often. She is reading well, silently, my biggest dream for this year. Math is pushing her boundaries. She understands how to do the work, but sometimes the mystery of why she has to do it that way (number lines specifically) eludes her. And she is not buying my explanation that it is good to have as many strategies as possible to approach numbers. The drama of friends is still with us. She is better at figuring out how to play with her friends. She is realizing that sometimes it is just as important to have someone to play with as it is to get to choose what to play. I am glad to see her loyatly and kindness develop more fully.

Miranda challenges me in such interesting ways. Like making me realize how mainstream a thinker I am.  She likes conspiracy theories (was the moon landing a hoax? did dinosaurs really rule the earth?) and she loves routine. I think she would like a few more routine classes, whereas I am afraid adding more into our schedule will upset her applecart. She feels things so deeply and shares that with us.

I will admit I am going to miss the kids over the next few days. And taking them away on a long weekend out of state would be both quite expensive and tiring for all of us. I will try to think of their funny as well as their sweet. They are nice kids. And I am not as easily amused as I would like to be. Maybe when I return.

Bella is 16 months old now. She seems huge – she’s so long stretched out in bed. Thank goodness she generally likes her crib and we’re not having toes and elbows in our faces all night long. She weighs 22lb now, which doesn’t seem like that much. But she’s just gotten bigger. Next to a small helpless baby, I’d think her a monster :)

My mind is a jumble with travel. I am off to SF this weekend. Not to excite any people who fit within the Venn Diagram of burglers and people who read this blog, as my parents and the kids will be home all weekend. And there is nothing like planning 3 nights away from you children to make your heart all ooey-gooey for them.

Bella is 16 months old. She is walking, running, climbing, singing, babbling, yelling, pointing, tattling, crying, stepping, and moving all the time. She is trying to open the kitchen cabinets, the living rooms cabinets, the drawer with the DS stuff, the keyboard tray, the computer printer all the time. She loves the remote controls, telephones, cell phones, toy phones, calculators, the DS, her doll, her doll’s stroller, and pulling blankets from the bedroom to the living room. She copies her big sister and lays on her tummy on the floor in front of the TV. She rarely angles her head correctly to see the TV while she does this.  She bangs on the refrigerator door for her milk. She thinks the pantry is her playground. She will pick up a toy or a remote control and run around the house. If you chase her, she runs faster. If you get close, she throws the item to the floor. She has dimples and a smile on her face most of the time.  When she gets into everything, without joy, but with a picking, angry purpose, then she is very tired. She will resist sleep. But she needs it.

Pigtails

Her hair is longer. Her bangs are in her eyes, but they are still baby bangs. We have been putting them into a pony tail nearly every day. One day I tried pigtails. She seems to like having her hair up. When it isn’t up, she pokes at it. She likes to rub her hair with mashed potatoes or other soft foods. She likes baths and hair washing, to a point. She hopped in the shower with me and did not like the spray.

She talks, a little. She says Mama. Grandma and Gr’pa, and M’Randa, and Enry and Papa. And baba and dada as all purpose words. She says cook-cook in a very breathy way for cookie. She loves cookies. One in each hand is best. She likes to tickle with sharp little finger nails. She laughs a lot. She wants to go bu-bye and gets her coat when anyone else gets to go away. She likes wearing shoes and boots. She like to try on bigger people’s shoes. She can take off her shirt. She can take off her diaper if she has no pants. Taking off her pants is hard.

She might get red skin after eating tomatoes or chocolate. It isn’t really clear. Her cheeks will get red or sometimes her bottom. We have tried to separate and/ or cut back on chocolate and tomatoes until we can figure it out.  She loves to eat. She will eat with as many people as have meals separately – so if I eat lunch, then Grandma and then Grandpa, Bella would prefer having 3 meals.

She takes 1 nap, usually in the afternoon. 1-2 hours long. She sleeps from 7:30 to 7, waking up once if at all. Or stirring at 5 and then cuddling in a warm bed until she warms up and goes back to sleep. The most exciting time of day is when the bus brings her big kids home. All is better in the world when the big kids and Mama and Grandma are home.

Tomorrow, Miranda and Henry, maybe in 2 posts?

Hello 2010. Good-bye 2009.

I am not sure I can even remember all the way back to January. I started a frugality plan, along with the rest of the Western world. I can’t say I did all that well at it. I think I was good for about 6 months and then we went to a cabin with my mom, and Miranda’s birthday party grew larger, and then Halloween. I usually assume I need stop shopping. I wonder if perhaps I should not entertain at home.

But boo on that idea.

Let’s see if I review my digital photos:

January: We started rocking out on the Wii to Guitar Hero. Bella started eating real food with a rapacious appetite. She learned to roll over, at least accidentally. We went snowshoeing and for some walks into the ice and snow.

January 2009

February: We visited Chicago. We celebrated Henry’s fifth birthday with his preschool pals at Dairy Queen. We visited my grandparents in Green Bay. Bella kept growing and growing. I enroll Henry in kindergarten for next year and shed a few tears.

February 2009

March: We start some early spring walking around the block. We celebrated my mom’s birthday and my birthday. Miranda takes St. Patrick’s Day very seriously. We visit Green Bay again.

March 2009

April: I work on the preschool yearbook. We see the Easter Bunny and hunt for eggs at the grocery store. Bella puts her feet on the grass. We visit Green Bay. Miranda makes her First Communion and her godparents come from California to see us. We take an amazing band of people to the Dells. Bella is sitting up on her own.

April 2009

May: Baseball with racing sausage madness. A family wedding and some happy time in Green Bay. Faraway friends come for a visit, if only we could pop over to Idaho to return the favor. Rob builds a crazy bike barge. I get 6 yards of dirt for the garden and Henry gets great king-of-the-hill joy. Henry graduates from preschool. We celebrate Rob’s birthday. We connect with Rob’s aunt and brother. Good friends visit from Madison. Bella starts crawling around this time.

May 2009

June: We get 6 yards of sand and don’t spread it out. King of the hill returns. We torment the children with a 5K -we cheat and it still too long. But they run in the kids race and finish! We go to Green Bay and visit our favorite amusement park. 25 cent rides can’t be beat. Rob plays drums in a barn. Henry plays t-ball. We dip our toes in Lake Michigan. Yep, still cold. Henry and Miranda go to Safety Town. We have breakfast on a farm.

June 2009

July: We celebrate America’s Independence with water slides and go-karts. Two trips to the Dells in 1 year should be too much but it is mostly awesome. We head to Green Bay and check out the wildlife sanctuary and Bay Beach. We visit the Milwaukee Zoo. Twice. With my grandparents, we head to Door County to pick cherries. We check out the Town’s heavy machinery at the Happy Days-esque outdoor restaurant. The children enjoy summer bounty from Texas. We head to the free Ozaukee county fair.

July 2009

August: We visit the fair again. We head to Madison and enjoy the company of good friends while being happy neither of us has 6 kids alone. We head to a cottage in Waupaca. We nearly drown the two big kids by flipping a pedal boat, but by grace and luck we don’t. We enjoy the lake life. I relearn that making 4 right turns makes you drive in a circle. Rob and the big kids participate in the triathlon. Our garden exploded while we were gone – the zucchini were too huge. Miranda has a spa birthday party for several of her closest friends. We signed a contract to have an extra area added to our garage.

August 2009

September: School starts. It is an odd thing to have both big kids gone all day. Bella turns 1. We have a nice party. We attend a baseball game. We sit too high up, but Bernie slides a few time, so it is OK. We get Miranda and Henry new desks from IKEA. We visit Chicago and hang out with B&B. The garage slab is poured.

September 2009

October: Halloween madness descends. Miranda is a snow princess. Henry is a monkey. Bella is a frog. Bella learns to walk. Rob is Levon Helms (And if you know who he is, god bless you :) The band was rocking out to Woodstock so I was a hippie. My desire for a car load of pumpkins outweighed my common sense and even my desire to carve 60 of them. We went to the Milwaukee Zoo to delight in their decor. We had a fabulous Halloween party, first the kids in the afternoon and then the kids mostly adults at night.The garage has walls, but no roof.

October 2009

November: While I adored the Halloween festivities, by November 1, I was done. We un-decorated and I appreciated minimalism. I started a part-time leave-the-house job in early November. Even at 10 hours, I have had challenges getting everything done. The garage comes together with walls and a roof. I decorate the outside of the house to take Christmas photos of the kids. My seemingly early planning paid off. The cards were finished. They had clothes to wear for the holiday concert at school. We decide to buy a new TV in the family room. This results in removing the gas fireplace that we didn’t like, removing the floor, putting in new laminate flooring, painting the walls, buying a new entertainment stand and desk for the computer. Perhaps Frugality 2009 should have had no parties and no home improvement? We visit Green Bay. We stay home for Thanksgiving and my brother and his wife visits. Did more happen in November, or is it just more fresh?

November 2009

December: We see Santa in the Park, enjoying Rob’s work holiday event and seeing the Enchantment in the Park lights show. I realize how awesome it would be to live somewhere warmer – whose Christmas events include fireworks? Walking through light shows. Ah, the possibilities. We start parking the cars in the new garage, before the snows start coming. The big kids each sing in the holiday program. We head to Green Bay and to Madison. Santa brings much job with presents. We find out just how early you need to go to Xmas eve mass to get seats in the old church. (earlier than 35 minutes before) We have a seafood extravaganza for New Year’s Eve. We stay in. It is quiet.

December 2009

It was a grand year watching Bella turn from a 3 month old cuddly bug into walking, nearly-talking, dynamo at 15 months. She has maintained her dimples. And her joy in being around her siblings. I hope I can say that in 10 years.

Whether celebrating near or far or not at all…I wish you tidings of great joy and happiness in 2010.

Merry Christmas!

I’d like to blame the weather. It has been getting darker and darker, earlier and earlier. If the children didn’t go to school practically in time for elevenses, I don’t think I would see them in the light at all. The sky started to accumulate snow, waiting, holding it over our heads for days.

And then it blizzarded. I don’t think of blizzard as a meteorological term, but I guess it is. It snowed and snowed. They cancelled classes at UW-Madison, which didn’t happen the entire time I was in college there. There was a snowball fight on Bascom Hill. And we had less snow than that here. It is amusing to say only 9 inches of snow. Heavy, wet, sodden snow. After the clockwork temperature drop after the giant storm, I slid on several ice sloes on my way across the parking lot today. I’ll digress to say one of the most interesting things I’ve ever heard is that is some place (NY?) get lots of snow but don’t get the ice. It makes snow sound charming. It snows and then it melts.  Like rain in Hawaii. It doesn’t ruin anything.

The local schools were brave and had a 2 hour delay. My particular kids had afternoon doctor appointments that day, so 2 hours late plus leaving 2 hours early meant that they’d go to school for lunch. Not that it didn’t cross my mind to send them. I wouldn’t have to make lunch. Ah. We had our own snow day. It was nice.

I am tired of this snow already. It should melt and try again. A nice wet snow, good for snowmen. Not ice. We could go snow shoeing. Bella could go outside. Bella loved the snow. She loved to taste it, touch it, stomp on it. Miranda went out at 7:30 yesterday morning and started rolling a snowball. She and Henry made two, roughly 2-3 feet in diameter. then she convinced Grandpa to help her lift the first snowball on the second. Grandpa nearly fell over. It was the fastest snowman the kids had ever built. The wind in the night knocked over the snowman. That was some powerful wind. We escaped downed trees or power lines. In the end, it snowed. Let’s not make a habit of it, m’kay?

Wisconsin Dells is near and dear to my heart. I think summer is optimal, but we’ve gone in the off season and enjoyed it. I’d bet a weekend in the Dells would be a nice after Christmas.

I picked Sunday Dec 27 – Tuesday Dec 29 more or less randomly. And I picked the Chula Vista resort because we have been talking about going there for a few years. This is for the 7 of us: my parents, Rob, me and the kids.

2 Bedroom Family Tower
*2 bedrooms containing 1 king  bed, 2 queen beds &  sofa  sleeper
*snack fridge, microwave, coffee maker, & 2 tv’s
*Indoor corridor access to main lodge amenities

$209.00/night   ($418.00)
+ fee $4.00
+ fee $15.90
+tax $47.76
= $485.66    No requirements. Includes guest room and waterpark passes.

But the other thing that has made the Chula Vista interesting to me is the all-inclusive deal. Which prices out as follows:

$541.00    ($1082.00 )
+fee $4.00
+fee $15.90
+tax $87.60
= $1189.50

What you get? “Meals at the Market Fresh Buffet, & Lounge, Luigi’s Pizza at Howler’s Bar, Unlimited drinks including tap beer, liquor, tropical and ice cream drinks, wine, soda, coffee, tea, milk, and juice, Hiking, bonfires, and wagon rides. Full use of all 200,000 sq ft of indoor & outdoor water parks and pools, 18-hole mini-golf, and VIP discounts for Spa del Sol specialty products & Golf at Coldwater Canyon. Package benefits start at 4pm on the day of your arrival and ends at 11:30am on the day of your departure.”

Alternately, we could get a smaller room:

Double Queen Junior Suite
*2 queen beds &  semi-private living room area with sofa sleeper
*snack fridge, microwave,  &  coffee maker
*Indoor corridor access to main lodge amenities

Regular rate:
$159.00   ($318.00)
+fee $4.00
+fee $15.90
+tax $36.76
= $374.66

Inclusive Package
$491.00   ($982.00)
+fee $4.00
+fee $15.90
+tax $76.60
= $1078.50

Now when they first came out with all-inclusive, It was advertised that it included all of the restaurants. And then not the steakhouse. And now there only seems to be 3 (the buffet, the sport bar, and the pizza place). No steakhouse makes sense, but not the 2 bars and grills, the clubhouse or the snack bar?

Now my price breakdown:

The all-inclusive package adds $703.84. I somehow doubt the baby cost the same as an adult. I reconfigured my reservation to learn the cost of the all-inclusive per person. 1 adult = $142.04, 1 kid = $67.84, 1 baby = $0.

The all inclusive starts at 4:30 Sunday and lasts until 11:30 Tuesday. 2 suppers, 1 lunch, 2 breakfasts. Plus beer. I think we would budget $200 for suppers, $70 for lunches and $100 for breakfasts and bring beer from home. Basing those prices on our July visit to the Dells. So about half what they budget. Interesting. I wonder how expensive the food is on property?  I suppose they could assume you will eat lunch there on the last day. Or you will have Fourth Meal, Taco Bell style. Or drink like a fish!

This month of travel ideas has mostly been wishful thinking. But the non-all-inclusive package is possible.

We were on our way somewhere. Hmmm. Gone to the mists of my mind. But the stars aligned and I photographed the crew.

away we go

and

chillaxing

and

the coat

I love that coat. I want one too.

October is Halloween costume time. I have been sewing. Either I started out being very careful and particular or else the longer the sew the less it makes sense to me, because I have ripped out nearly as many seams as I have sewn in the last 3 days. I started out with pattern projects and have worked my way down to freestyle work. I am incredibly frustrated by patterns. I ignore any step that doesn’t involve attaching 2 pieces together or hemming. (I’m looking at you easy-stitching!) But taking Henry’s regular winter hat, then cutting newspaper to make a pattern, then trying to stitch a hat…it may drive me bananas.

A few sneak peeks, to not destroy the surprise for anyone who likes surprise.

#1

and

#2

and

#3

I live entirely too much of my life in pursuit of value and believing that more is better. As my husband (And Mythbusters, I guess) likes to say, anything worth doing is worth overdoing. And that brings me to this:

All our pumpkins

Barthel’s Fruit Farm in Mequon, my favorite apple orchard*, sent us a postcard I could not resist. $49 for all of the pumpkins you can fit in your car. $89/minivan and $128/pickup truck.  I wanted at least 10 pumpkins. Rob emptied his Civic. The kids and I took the van. And Rob crammed 60 pumpkins into the car. I am gleeful. The kids are gleeful. It was like if Costco decided to sell pumpkins. As you may guess, we are carving a lot of pumpkins.

Henry

and

Miranda

and even

Arabella

All together now:

I carved and carved and carved

I wish I had some grand plan for the pumpkins, beyond acknowledging that we won;t be able to carve all 60. Maybe 30? I don’t think I have ever had pumpkins this large – they are really hard to get the knife in. The smaller ones are normal. A curiosity.

Like in the field, but cleaner

* According to those new FTC rules, this review was not compensated in any way. Unsolicited. No free lunch and no free pumpkins.