Chickadee 365

Ballet slippers

2012-02-04T21:41:00.000-05:00

My 4-year old has been asking, for probably a year now, to take ballet lessons. It all started with the Angelina Ballerina books and cartoons. Then on our way to swim lessons at the Y we would go past the ballet class and stop and watch. Once we talked to the teacher who did a quick evaluation and said "when she's a little older." In the car she often asks for me to put on the "Angelina music". Then I pointed out that there was a ballet school right across from our library. Every week after story time Sophie would ask me to go sign her up. And one of the teachers at the ballet school even has children in both of my boy's classes at school and I see her everyday at pick-up. So I couldn't put it off any longer. We went over to the ballet school after story time at the library, but it was closed. So I called and left a message. A couple days later I went outside to get the mail and when I came back in Sophie was screaming that "the ballet school called! The ballet school called!" I called right back and made arrangements to sign her up. A few days later we were at ballet class and Sophie put on her first pair of slippers. She was so happy. She slept in her new slippers that night and didn't take them off for two days. That's one happy girl.

Mommy, let me try!

2012-01-17T14:58:00.000-05:00

Keeping me company

2012-01-16T14:55:00.000-05:00

Sophie wanted to be sure I had someone keeping me company while I worked on the grocery list.

Lego creations

2012-01-12T14:54:00.000-05:00

Aidan's first day of fencing

2012-01-10T14:53:00.000-05:00

He can't wait until they get to use "swords."

Eat at your own risk

2012-01-09T14:49:00.000-05:00

If you eat jelly beans with these flavors...

You're gonna make faces like this:

My kids want Rick to put them on a bowl on his desk at work and see what happens. They're so evil.

Stuck between two holidays

2012-01-08T14:47:00.000-05:00

Afternoon Stroll

2012-01-07T14:43:00.000-05:00

I don't know how I raised such a girly, girl.

2012-01-06T14:42:00.000-05:00

My day in the hospital

2012-01-04T14:38:00.000-05:00

I spent the morning here. Why? A week or so before Christmas I passed out. I don't know how else to explain it. I was getting ready for bed, brushing my teeth, and the next thing I know Rick is calling my name asking if I'm ok. We laugh about his experience now, but he was pretty freaked out at the time. He said I went upstairs and a few minutes later he heard a thud. He thought one of the kids had fallen out of bed. He came up to check, found all the kids still in bed, then found me on the floor in the bathroom. My electric toothbrush was buzzing away on the floor and my face was covered with toothpaste. I woke as soon as he said my name and felt fine, but ended up with a huge bruise on my hip from when I hit the floor. Weird. So I went to the doctor a couple days later under the guise of having just a routine physical. Honestly, I've never had one. The Doc asked me what really brought me in so I told him the story. Well, he immediately ordered every test possible. Not really, but it felt like it. A complete blood work-up, EKG, blood pressure test, whatever. And he told me to stop training for the 1/2 marathon. That takes us to today. I was sent to the hospital for a stress test. That's when they take an ultrasound of your heart immediately after working out. When I checked in they gave me a bracelet that said "Fall Risk." Really? I just laughed. I was told it's mandatory for anyone who has fallen within 3 months. I had a whole crowd watching me on that tread mill--two technicians, a nurse, a resident, the ultrasound tech. I think they were having fun seeing how fast they could get me going. And I think they don't get "young" people in this department very often. Anyway, it was non-eventful. I didn't pass out. My heart didn't explode. And all my tests came back normal. Let's just chalk this one up to exhaustion.

A Letter to Myself

2012-01-02T14:19:00.000-05:00

We forgot to do it on New Year's Eve, but we finally opened our "Letters to Ourselves" from last year and wrote new ones from this year. It's funny to see how much and how little we change over a year.

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T14:13:00.000-05:00

Saying goodbye to family and heading home.

Met a shifty looking character in the airport. Or maybe he's an undercover spy?

365: Guns and chickens

2011-12-31T20:51:00.000-05:00

Visiting my younger sister is almost as fun as visiting a farm. We got to shoot a gun, feed chickens, and gather eggs. Yee haw!
But then we had to say "goodbye". The cousins were pretty broken up about it.Then it was back to the in-laws to ring in the new year.And I made it through another 365. Whew.

364: Visiting my side of the fam

2011-12-30T20:22:00.000-05:00

It was impossible to fit in everything that we wanted to on this trip because there were so many people to visit and so little time. Plus, Oliver and Sophie had nasty colds for most of the trip. I'm truly amazed we got photos of them smiling because they felt so miserable. I think we only got about 1/3 of the things on our list cross off. Anyway, we made a quick stop at my (not so little) little brother's. Meeting some cousins for the first time.
And then headed to my little sister's.

363: Rock Canyon

2011-12-29T20:05:00.000-05:00

A short hike up the canyon. We didn't make it very far because we were distracted by the mine and frozen creek.

362: Cinnamon Bears, Dinosaurs, and Burgers! Oh, my!

2011-12-28T19:03:00.000-05:00

Why visit Utah? Well, to visit family of course! We have so much family in Utah, but this trip was mostly to visit Rick's.

Of course I had to stop and get some chocolate covered cinnamon bears.
Next, the Museum of Ancient Life. All the teenagers (and Rick, too) insisted we stop at In-N-Out for dinner. What is the deal with the secret menu? And we finished off the night with a board game.

361: Mountains

2011-12-27T16:15:00.000-05:00

360: Air Time

2011-12-26T16:13:00.000-05:00

Heading to Utah.

359: Christmas morning

2011-12-25T15:51:00.000-05:00

358: Christmas eve tradition

2011-12-24T15:38:00.000-05:00

The tradition of going to the beach on Christmas Eve made so much more sense when I lived in Florida. But, I love it even when it's windy and freezing cold. I'm glad my family humors me and plays along every year.

357: Rick learns to sew

2011-12-23T15:36:00.000-05:00

Rick got Sophie for our handmade gift exchange. He wanted to sew her a little handbag. I just gave him a few pointers and he did all the work. He made the bag out of old jeans. So proud.

356: The only rule is...

2011-12-22T15:32:00.000-05:00

... that the gift has to be handmade (at least partially). I love doing our family gift exchange. I got Oliver this year. Shhh. It's top secret. I'm making him a spy kit with items found around the house: a voice recorder, camera, de-coder, spy keys, and spy phone. I made the de-coder and patches for the bag. He's going to love it!

355: Visitor

2011-12-21T15:27:00.000-05:00

354: All I want for Christmas is...

2011-12-20T15:26:00.000-05:00

...a clean bill of health. Then I can get back to marathon training!

353: Almost ready

2011-12-19T15:25:00.000-05:00

352: Christmas House 2011

2011-12-18T15:24:00.000-05:00

I have to see it every year and I'm never disappointed.

351: Mom's Christmas helper

2011-12-17T15:23:00.000-05:00

350: Still counting down

2011-12-16T15:22:00.000-05:00

The kids look forward to finding daily ~~letters~~ assignments from our elf, Wanda.

349: Parents luncheon

2011-12-15T15:20:00.000-05:00

It's always fun having lunch at school.

348: Christmas caroling

2011-12-14T15:19:00.000-05:00

Caroling at the nursing home is one of my favorite activities to do with the YW. I was laughing so hard this time. I'm certain I was more blessed than the residents we sang for.

347: Happy birthday, Rick!

2011-12-13T14:45:00.000-05:00

Oliver secretly worked on this all morning.

346: Look what I learned

2011-12-12T14:43:00.000-05:00

345: Miniature gingerbread house

2011-12-11T14:51:00.000-05:00

344: Wedding

2011-12-10T14:50:00.000-05:00

343: Tradition

2011-12-09T14:50:00.000-05:00

342: shapely art

2011-12-08T14:49:00.000-05:00

341: 4-years old

2011-12-07T14:48:00.000-05:00

340: the night before her 4th birthday

2011-12-06T14:20:00.000-05:00

Memo to myself: don't leave gift shopping until 8:30 the night before your kid's birthday. You might end up at the check out counter at the toy store and find you don't have your wallet and have to go home without the only-one-left-in-town doll and don't have time to run back because they'll be closed by then. Then you'll be mad at yourself while you're up at 10pm making the cake that you also put off until the last minute.

339: Do you do a train around your tree?

2011-12-05T14:19:00.000-05:00

338: Photo shoot at Hagrid's hut

2011-12-04T14:17:00.000-05:00

Made you look! This was at Aidan's request. He spent a long time setting it up just right. I love that kid.

337: Christmas mantle

2011-12-03T14:16:00.000-05:00

336: Even though it's 70 degrees out we can still have snow

2011-12-02T14:16:00.000-05:00

335: It seems a bossy elf has moved in.

2011-12-01T13:32:00.000-05:00

We're not quite sure if Wanda is one of Santa's elves or a house elf like from Harry Potter.

334: This could take days

2011-11-30T13:31:00.000-05:00

333: Dear Santa

2011-11-29T13:28:00.000-05:00

When we put up the tree the other day, I asked Sophie if she remembered Christmas. She said "no" so I got to tell her all about why we celebrate it and about Santa. Then she dictated her letter to me and wanted to write it herself. I love that everything is still new to her.

332: Grocery store find

2011-11-28T13:27:00.000-05:00

Now, if only I knew what to do with it...

331: First of many

2011-11-27T13:26:00.000-05:00

330: My favorite place to be

2011-11-26T13:25:00.000-05:00

329: 'tis the season

2011-11-25T13:23:00.000-05:00

328: Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T15:57:00.000-05:00

327: I should have been making pies

2011-11-23T15:54:00.000-05:00

but instead I was sidetracked by my phone case. Rick just laughed and laughed when he saw I was cross-stitching my phone case. He said, "Only you...."

326: Where are all the pilgrims?

2011-11-22T15:52:00.000-05:00

I guess this year they got to choose if they wanted to be pilgrim or an Indian.

325: Cotton-eyed Joe dance off

2011-11-21T15:51:00.000-05:00

324

2011-11-20T15:50:00.000-05:00

323: Thankful

2011-11-19T15:50:00.000-05:00

Aidan and I went to help serve meals at a shelter tonight. I am so very thankful. Makes me want to help more. Our annual "12 days of Christmas" family service project might need to expand this year....

322: Dr. Seuss themed dinner?

2011-11-18T15:45:00.000-05:00

Last Christmas Eve we had a Harry Potter themed dinner. Sophie found this book at the library....Maybe this year we'll have a crazy Seuss-themed dinner--roast beast, schlopp, and pink ink to drink?

321: Supernatural cooking--no ghosts involved

2011-11-17T16:34:00.000-05:00

This recipe is from Heidi Swanson's Super Natural Every Day. Yellow split peas with greens, pumpkin seeds and cilantro pesto.The man at the bookstore gave me a funny look when I asked for the supernatural cookbook.

320: Fall by phone

2011-11-16T16:25:00.000-05:00

319: Citizen of the month reception

2011-11-15T16:29:00.000-05:00

318: Waiting

2011-11-14T16:28:00.000-05:00

317: from yesterday's adventure

2011-11-13T16:26:00.000-05:00

316: Adventures and sand and things

2011-11-12T16:11:00.000-05:00

315: We're having a hard time admitting that it's November over here

2011-11-11T16:06:00.000-05:00

314: Remnant

2011-11-10T16:06:00.000-05:00

313: I knew that chef hat would come in handy again

2011-11-09T13:06:00.000-05:00

Learning how to make baked spaghetti and being a good sport about wearing the hat.

312: Teenagers

2011-11-08T12:51:00.000-05:00

I was about to write that I just don't get them... teenagers. But as I look at these shoes, belonging to a 17-soon-to-be-18-year old, I remember scribbling Duran Duran over and over and over on my school folders. Maybe I just need to do a little more remembering.

311: Personality

2011-11-07T20:38:00.000-05:00

I simply brought the camera up to my eyes and they automatically started posing. Just long enough for me to snap a couple frames. This represents their personalities so well. And then they were off again, down the trail searching for autumnal treasures.

310: Sunday tradition

2011-11-06T20:34:00.000-05:00

I can't get away with skipping the family journal. It was funny watching the kids go back just a couple weeks, re-read what we wrote, and laugh their heads off. I'm glad they make sure I stay on top of it.

309: Youth Trip

2011-11-05T20:53:00.000-04:00

The girls had me laughing so hard on the drive home that I was crying. It was a great trip.

308: For my horse-loving girl

2011-11-04T20:26:00.000-04:00

307: More costumes? It must be career day.

2011-11-03T14:39:00.000-04:00

306: Lunch date.

2011-11-02T14:36:00.000-04:00

305: Annual tradition

2011-11-01T14:08:00.000-04:00

Every November I start having my family think about all the things they are grateful for. We usually write them on paper feathers and stick them to a paper turkey. This year we're using up the felt left over from Halloween costumes and made a tree trunk and cut out colorful leaves to write on. Every day they add a leaf to the tree. I can't wait to see what it looks like at the end of the month and to see what gratitudes (did I just make up a word?) the can come up with. Yes, that one says rifles. Aidan says he's grateful for rifles because that's how we get food.

304: first gymnastics class (Happy Halloween, but no costumes in today's post)

2011-10-31T20:24:00.000-04:00

303: Free spirit

2011-10-30T20:22:00.000-04:00

302: So grateful

2011-10-29T20:22:00.000-04:00

One of the blessings of serving others is being able to forget about all the stresses in my life and focus on others for just a little while.

301: Halloween party

2011-10-28T20:29:00.000-04:00

Happy Halloween!

300: I look like what?!

2011-10-27T14:26:00.000-04:00

So I'm standing in the kitchen this afternoon in the middle of making dinner and Sophie comes up to me. She holds up a book and says "This looks like YOU!" Not really paying attention I say, "Oh, really. How does it look like me?" She says, "You have the same hair!"Now when is my next hair appointment...

299: Parade day

2011-10-26T14:46:00.000-04:00

Oliver's storybook character parade was today. Guess who he's supposed to be. No, not Arthur.And Sophie had a parade at playgroup, too.Yippee-kai-ay!The instructions for making the Frontier Vest can be found here.

298: Creepy concocotion--eye of newt smoothie

2011-10-25T14:26:00.000-04:00

Not really eye of newt, but avocado boba smoothie. These things are popular in Asian cuisine. It's giant black tapioca pearls in the bottom of a smoothie or tea, sometimes called "bubble tea." And you drink it with a giant straw so the "bubbles" come up the straw. Rick first told me about it a while back when a student from Manila brought him one. It sounded so bizarre that I had to try it. I ordered the tapioca online, but you could probably find it in an Asian market. It's strange. It's yummy. It was so rich I couldn't drink it all, but Sophie slurped it up, no problem. I thought it would be a nice, weird, Halloween treat, especially with the green color. You can find the recipe here. I'd like to try a mango one next. Try it IF YOU DARE! Bwah ha ha ha ha!

297: Can you guess who designed each jack-o-lantern

2011-10-24T14:11:00.000-04:00

296: Colorfall.

2011-10-23T14:10:00.000-04:00

295: I would buy a farm just so we could have a corn maze every day.

2011-10-22T14:09:00.000-04:00

294: Hey! Who snuck into my picture?

2011-10-21T14:07:00.000-04:00

I was trying to get a photo of the first harvest of our fall garden. When it comes to veggies fresh from the garden I rarely get to cook them because they always get eaten up before they get to the pot.

293: 30 minutes for me

2011-10-20T13:44:00.000-04:00

Waiting for Sophie to come out of story time at the library.

292: You know you're old when...

2011-10-19T13:43:00.000-04:00

...people no longer bother counting out all the candles for your birthday cake.

291: A great read for Halloween

2011-10-18T14:26:00.000-04:00

290: Waiting for the PTA dinner to start

2011-10-17T14:25:00.000-04:00

289: Image from our stroll--weird fungus

2011-10-16T14:25:00.000-04:00

288: Yummy? treats from Las Islas Filipinas

2011-10-15T14:19:00.000-04:00

The kids loved these chips and when they took them to school they were a hot commodity during the lunch food trade.

287: Giant

2011-10-14T14:12:00.000-04:00

286: Printable Halloween craft

2011-10-13T14:12:00.000-04:00

Get it here.

285: Too big!

2011-10-12T14:10:00.000-04:00

284: They were a little excited to have him home again

2011-10-11T14:09:00.000-04:00

283: Halloween mantle decor

2011-10-10T14:48:00.000-04:00

I'm not really into changing up my mantle for every holiday and season, but I can't resist Halloween. I searched on the internet for vintage movie monsters and just printed some 8x10's at home and put them into cheap-o frames. Voila. I hope the kids don't start having nightmares.

282: It's not like riding a bicycle

2011-10-09T14:46:00.000-04:00

I had to look up how to crochet again. And after a little while my fingers were cramped and I looked like I had witch hands. Yikes! I'm working on a chain mail hood for my knight's Halloween costume. Wish me luck!

281: Theater day

2011-10-08T14:45:00.000-04:00

After hearing such good things about our local theater, I got us season tickets to the children's theater this season. I'm so excited. Rick was out of town, so I took the kids and one of their friends. We had a blast. They were laughing out loud. Mission accomplished.

280: Halloween craftiness

2011-10-07T14:40:00.000-04:00

I've seen these on a couple different websites. I first saw them a few years ago on Martha Stewart. I just painted the inside with acrylic paint and used a dry erase marker to make the faces on the outside. That way the kids can change them up.

279: Casualty from hurrican Irene

2011-10-06T14:38:00.000-04:00

Yep. It's the dinosaur tree. It broke in half during the hurricane. It makes me sad every time we walk past.

278: Clears up my congested head

2011-10-05T14:35:00.000-04:00