My Little Biscuits

Crazytown. Population: 1

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 05:49:00 +0000

So...

In an attempt to ease my ~~anxiety~~ mind, I've spent the past month scheduling meetings and tours with the school that Ava is zoned to attend in the fall as well as a few charter schools in the area. In addition to that, I've applied for transfers to top performing schools in our district, a too-good-to-be-true Science & Arts charter, and schools where Spanish Immersion is offered, which it is not at her home campus.

Technically, yes, Wes is justified in reminding me that the entire reason that we chose this city, and this neighborhood, and this house, and this street--is so that our girls could attend the well reputed school at the end of it. But I'm no stranger on the train to Crazytown, so I like to remind him that all of those decisions happened 3 years ago before I had to face the reality that this day would actually arrive at some point. I'm a bury-my-head-in-the-sand type of girl...

What a trip this entire process has been...and it hasn't even really begun! It's a big decision-- the one about who should educate your child. I'd do it myself, except there's that whole college-dropout-thing looming over my head like a dark cloud and taunting me with reminders that I'd most likely be doing Ava a major disservice by trying my hand at homeschooling her.

Not to mention, despite our age difference, I'm fairly certain she's smarter than I am.

Anyway, so touring has been the name of the game this month. We've loved a few, hated others, and felt downright mediocre about some.

One thing is for certain: It's never okay to start a sentence with "Was you..."

"Was you want'n a tour?"

Well, yes, I was....but now I'm no longer sure....

Where am I going with all of this? I have no idea. I think I've lost track. There's no point, really, except to say that I'm terrified about sending my baby girl off to strangers, and I want to make sure I do everything in my (very limited) power to assure she has the best opportunities available.

And the best news of all? We get to do this all over again in 2 years with Leah!! Hooty Who!

***

Nothing like a little home renovation project to add some stress to your stress, right? Actually, quite the contrary... we've handled this bathroom project like a bunch of Bob Villa's if you ask me. We're laying floor. We're tearing out walls. We're laying counter tile at 2am. We're doing it wrong and hoping nobody notices....

The train to Crazytown is at maximum capacity, people!

before:

in progress:

I'm proud of us. It's not complete, but we're making fast progress and in an inexpensive do-it-yo'self type of way. Those are the best ways.

I might be a college drop-out, but I can caulk a clean line like nobody's business! Was you thinking I couldn't?

Happy February, friends. And for all you soon-to-be-kindergartner-mama's.....peace be with you.

yee-haw y'all...

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 04:47:00 +0000

I feel a little bad about how I always start these off with an "Oh, geez, it's been awhile! Here's what we've been up to...,"

But it has been awhile. And oh, geez! So here's what we've been up to:

***

The month of January has been unusually beautiful this year. Hardly any cold weather and mostly perfect outside play days instead. Moreover, it's also the month in which the Chinese New Year falls. Ava came home from school one day and said, "Hey, guess what? I was born in the year of the dog."

***

Leah likes to walk our pretentious chihuahua, Scout, in the baby stroller. In his defense, he has a bum leg and can't go on walks like a normal dog. In her defense, she gets a big kick out of playing "Mommy," stopping along the way to pat his head and ask him if he's "feeling comfortable in there, Fweetie?"

I can't decide if this is a look of contentment, or a plea for help. Possibly a mixture of both.

***

Can't forget about our newest toys:

Pascal and Spots are doing well and have adjusted to the Fisher household swimmingly. Ava and Leah love them dearly and are getting quite good at handling them calmly and gently.

***

Wes woke up early last Saturday, put on his "paint pants" and started turning on all the lights in the house and rearranging things. I immediately knew something was up. "What exactly are you doing?" I asked. I was hesitant, I'll admit that.

A few hours later, an ambitious suggestion along the lines of "let's paint the bathroom today..." turned into complete bathroom demolition. We're talking walls removed, paneling down, counter top out, sink trashed, floor removed....the works.

It's coming along nicely. Slowly, yes, but nicely. I'm pretty impressed with our abilities and our motivation, considering we both swore we'd die happy if we never saw another paintbrush again after the moving in update we did to this house....

Check out our new floor though! It's almost always a good day when you can give old linoleum the ol' boot.

***

Rodeo time, buckaroos!

I love making costumes and outfits for the girls and laying them out at night to surprise them the next morning. It's borderline weird, I'm well aware, but I love seeing their excited little faces when they see them for the first time.

This year, Ava was Jessie (from Toy Story) and Leah was--by request-- a "Rodeo Princess"...whatever that means.

We had such fun this year and we managed to make it all the way through the entire show for the first time ever!

The rodeo was extra special this year because one of Ava's drawings was shown at the Museum of Science and History as part of a Stock Show animal art contest.

Quite possibly the proudest I've ever been of our girl....

Isn't it beautiful?

I am loving watching their personalities and talents develop. I love Ava's quirkiness and Leah's gentle nature. I love Ava's fiestiness (sometimes) and Leah's cuddliness. I love how bright they are and how they question things they don't understand. I love how they're both kind and how they each have such a sweet spirit. I love how there is never, ever a dull moment.

I'm really enjoying age 3 and age 5, and I'm really enjoying being their mom.

Until next time....

twenty eleven

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 06:50:00 +0000

17 Things I've Learned in 2011.

Because 15 was too few, and 20 was too many.

1. When you ask your five year old to say one nice thing about each person at the table, you should fully expect a response along the lines of, "I like when you say we can have ice-cream" when your turn comes up.

2. What works for one doesn't always work for the other. Whether it be children, families, ....hairstyles. I'm approaching this year with an attempted confidence in doing what works for us. Because there is no one else like us.

3. A little girl who pretends to be as tough as nails secretly still needs cuddles from her mommy.

4. Acrylic paint doesn't come out of carpet. It doesn't come out of anything.

5. I've learned to relax a bit. And while it's probably not enough --and it might not ever be-- I'm learning that messes & chaos are okay. They define family. They define creativity. They define comfort.

6. That there is no greater joy than reading or hearing the words that my first baby has written.

7. That I'm sorely lacking in basic sibling relations. Only children are just that. Only. Conflict resolution at age 5 isn't that hard when you're talking to your dolls, as far as I remember.

8. I've learned that family is the most important thing in the world. Not money. Not brains. Not beauty. Family.

9. To embrace my weaknesses. They make me strive to do better, try harder.

10. That I freaking love food.

11. That buying a king size bed doesn't mean there'll be more room in it. Turns out, I kinda like our cramped quarters.

12. That I can't beat the laundry. It always wins.

13. That some things just aren't worth the battle.

14. That I can jump start a Prius battery in 5 minutes or less.

15. That South Georgia slang is a language of its own. You don't have to live there to learn it...my babies are proof.

16. That when asked if I ever saw myself chasing down crickets to feed to my geckos, the answer was no. But I'm glad I was wrong.

17. That I couldn't be more lucky or more proud of this family of mine.

Happy New Year's to you.

december in a nutshell...

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 03:48:00 +0000

Happy belated holidays! I've been a bad blogger the month of December, so here's what we've been up to...

Our December festivities started with Ava's school holiday party:

Even Leah got to participate in the classroom party this year! She dug deep for her holiday cheer in more ways than one....

The school party marked the start of Ava's Christmas break, and we hit the ground running. I made an effort to do a special Christmas project each day of Ava's school break leading up to Christmas. One day we made gingerbread houses. Lots of fun, lots of mess, and lots of this:

I managed to keep the girls from eating it until after Christmas, which is a true Christmas miracle. One night, after they were asleep, I picked it up by its tray, carried it to the pantry (where I go when I want to eat sugary things without little eyes watching...) and, literally bit off an iced corner. Does it get any lower than that? Denying your children the pleasure of devouring it until after Christmas, but then stealing bites like the closeted sugar fiend that I am....

Wes' family began trickling in a few days before Christmas. His sister Mandy from Portland, and his sister Mindy, her husband, Brendan, and their son, Declan, from Austin.

Aunt Mandy had a bag of gifts for the girls, each one more wonderful than the last. For instance, this beautiful book she made them with pictures and stories from our trip to Portland last September:

She also brought two new additions to our family, Pascal (Leah) and Spots (Ava), our two baby leopard geckos. They're incredibly adorable and so neat to watch & play with.

We celebrated Christmas with Wes' family on Christmas eve this year. Everyone came to our house, and my mother-in-law and I (I shouldn't include myself...my "help" came in the form of me attempting to look busy and asking questions like, "What temperature does the oven need to be set to?") cooked a refreshing simple meal. It was wonderfully cozy and relaxing.

Wes' sweet mother:

Opening gifts was, of course, the highlight of the girls' day. They are so fortunate to be surrounded by such caring and generous family.

That's right, our future scientist was gifted an actual microscope. She's been collecting hair samples and carpet fibers ever since.

Wes' dad snuck a nap in with our pampered chihuahua, while Aunt Mandy and I had an impromptu photo-shoot with the geckos....directed by Ava & Leah:

photo by Ava

photo by Leah

photo by Mandy

Ava asked for a motorcycle for Christmas this year. Obviously, we couldn't buy our 5 year old a motorcycle, so I left her a letter "from Santa" explaining why there was no motorcycle to greet her on Christmas morning.

Despite my attempt at changing my handwriting so that she wouldn't recognize it, it didn't take her any time at all to ask me if I wrote that letter and if I bought those gifts. That girl! She is so hilarious with her refusal to shelve her logic long enough to believe such things as fat men fitting down chimneys, reindeer flying through the clouds, or an entire group of people living in the coldest place on earth (her words, not mine).

Regardless, both girls had a happy Christmas morning...

Leah's prized possession: a Cinderella dress with matching crown & jewelry...

We got Ava a mechanical cat that was so realistic that the girls weren't quite sure what to think of it. They took it to my parents' house for Christmas lunch and it meowed and licked its paws from the buffet table as we ate. Absurd.

After we opened gifts at our house we headed over to my parent's for Christmas with the Wessons. My mom made us a beautiful lunch and we exchanged gifts, reminding us again how fortunate we are to have such loving family.

Ava got a much desired sleep mask, which she's worn to bed every night since. Everything that quirky girl does is just hilarious. My parent's gave her a pair of walkie talkie's for Christmas and she had my entire family in hysterics listening to her throw out phrases like "What's your handle?" and "10-4, good buddy."

Now that the girls are older, it's such fun to experience Christmas through their eyes. We tried to cram in as many Christmas traditions as possible and really enjoy every minute that we could. It was over before we knew it and we were back to life as usual.

I'm enjoying this last week of vacation before it's time for Ava to return to school. I've loved having her home with me each day.

Hope you had a peaceful holiday. Until next time...

leah jane turns 3...

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 04:20:00 +0000

Our littlest baby turned 3 today.

It took her almost 42 weeks-- complete with 5 days of prodromal labor--to show her sweet face those 3 short years ago, and we've been smitten with her ever since.

She's deliciously sweet & cuddly, with a little side of feisty (have you met her sister, Ava?...). She's girly and sensitive and a closeted Broadway star. She can't say her 'g's' and she still says "I'm is!" when I ask her to climb in her carseat....

She's perfect. We love every inch of her.

We had a family party this year. Familiar faces make our shy girl most comfortable, so she was happiest to celebrate with us and her Nana & Papa and Mimi & Pa.

Pink was the requested color of the day. I had fun challenging myself to come up with a pink food menu that didn't involve red dye 40. It all mattered so much since Ava ate, like, 20 chocolate covered strawberries and then immediately honed in on the cake, and Leah couldn't have cared less about the food. Who needs food when there's a pile of pink presents nearby?!

When given free reign on the greeting card aisle, Ava picked out a card for Leah that opened to the tune of "Tequila!" and had a vibrating Chihuahua. Who was I to deny her the simple pleasures of sister-gifting?

"To Leah" she wrote.
"Bi Ava & Mommy"

I love that she loves ampersands.

I took big sister shopping last week to pick out a gift for Leah. She spent quite a bit of time perusing the aisles before she finally settled on a mechanical penguin that pleadingly smacks his beak until you bottle-feed him.

"You're sure that's something you think Leah would like?" I asked her. "Remember, we're getting something for Leah's birthday."

"Trust me," she said. "She'll love this."

You'll never guess who spent the day carrying, bottle-feeding, sleeping, and talking to that penguin....

Let's just say she's 5 and her name rhymes with Mava Gage:

....turns out someone else was a big fan of the penguin too:

Penguin love aside, we had a great day.

She used to look like this, you know:

Be still my heart.

Happiest 3rd birthday wishes to our sweet Leah Jane. We are so glad you're ours.

thanksgiving chatta'...

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 18:47:00 +0000

We had a nice, relaxing Thanksgiving this year. Our day started early with a trip to Arlington where I tried to balance out my upcoming Thanksgiving lunch by running the Turkey Trot 5k.

I still think I ended up taking in far more than I put out that day, but whatever. Food and I are old friends, and while Running and I get along pretty well, nothing can ever take the place of Food in my heart.

The race was packed--the largest I've run by far--which was new and different for me, and I had a difficult time finding my pace while trying to navigate around all the people. No worries though...I had my own little fan club there to cheer me on!

Even Santa came out to cheer us on. He wasn't the most aesthetically pleasing Santa and Ava was all, "Ugh...that doesn't even look like Santa at all."

That girl. She is way too logical for all this Santa hoopla (as Wes calls it). I give her another year, max, before she dismisses the entire notion altogether.

Though I didn't get any pictures (sorry Mom!) we had a wonderful Thanksgiving lunch with my parents. My mom prepared a delicious meal for us and I was fortunate enough to reap the rewards of my Grandma's dressing recipe in the form of two full tupperware boxes of leftovers. Yum.

Friday night we loaded up the hot chocolate and headed to our traditional Christmas Parade of Lights in downtown Ft. Worth. I forget how many consecutive years we've done this now...

*crummy cell phone picture warning*

Such fun. Luckily, the weather was perfect this year and we hardly needed coats, much less hats and gloves. The girls both loved the parade and mom & I laughed at how my sweet Ava waved at the floats the entire time. I don't think she put her hand down once.

Saturday we celebrated our friend, Allison's birthday with a small brunch here at our house. I always love an excuse to eat a cheesy breakfast casserole....

Sunday was a rest day, literally, and we didn't leave the house except to take the girls to see the Muppet movie, which was good and funny and a real trip down memory lane for Wes and me....

And then it was Monday...back to the grind.

Leah's birthday is around the corner, and it seems surreal to think our last baby is already turning 3. She has been nothing but a source of complete joy to us and these 3 years have, literally, flown by. We can't wait to celebrate her birth in the way she'll love most: Pink and glitter.

Until next time....

remember november...

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 03:04:00 +0000

I was trying to explain to Ava the importance of making good decisions and doing the "right thing." She interrupted me mid-sentence to start telling a story about something completely unrelated.

"Ava," I said in exasperation. "Have you heard anything I said?"

"Yeah, yeah...." she attempted to pick right back up where she left off with her story. Wes cut her off this time and asked her to tell us what I'd been saying.

"It was too long for me to repeat." she told him. I took that as my cue to start over where I'd left off with my earlier lesson, but she interrupted me once again. "See?" she whined. "That's why I didn't want to repeat it. I knew she'd just say it all over again."

Between this conversation and overhearing her tell Leah that she shouldn't be afraid of Santa because "he's just your mother or father or your aunt or uncle dressed up in a weird costume," I'm beginning to wonder if I've officially been out-smarted by my five year old.

A few pictures of our November so far....

such sass!:

Happy November to you. Until next time...

pumpkin party

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 03:04:00 +0000

Ava's school had their Fall festival today. Our girl has had her mind set on dressing as a bat for Halloween for quite a few months now.

"Oh, how fun," I said. "Batgirl is a great idea."

"No," she told me. "Not Batgirl. A bat. Not a girl. A bat."

Ava's sweet teacher kindly included Leah in the festivities today, so she was able to participate in the pumpkin parade and the class party.

Our little Leah decided to dress as a princess this Halloween, and the girls' costumes really couldn't be more indicative of their personalities and interests. Ava couldn't care less about anything 'girly' and for Leah, the more ruffles, layers, beads, and sequins, the better.

Unlike last year, when Leah was still a hip-slung baby, I was able to get things set up without her 'assistance'. Ava's teacher, Ms. Nadiah, invited Leah into the classroom with the rest of the children and she marched right in without looking back. Leah rarely wants me to leave her side, so I was quite proud of her confidence and bravery today.

I paused a few times during my work setting up to go check on her, and I was so happy to see that she was working diligently right alongside the other children:

Ava's sweet classmates and teachers getting ready for the parade to start:

The pumpkin parade is always such fun, and the weather was exceptionally great today (it's about time, Texas!):

Ava proudly lead her sister through the rows of pumpkins. All was well until her leadership skills got a little too aggressive and then Leah went all "Oh no you didn't" on her and spent the rest of the parade in head-buried-in-Mommy's-shoulder mode:

After the parade, we headed back to the classroom for Ava's class party. Volunteering to help at these parties guarantees me samples of various baked goodies and the chance to spend time with my girl & her friends, so it's really a win/win.

I pulled Ava out of school early after the party and we came home and had a fun afternoon of cuddling and nail painting and a long neighborhood walk, and then Ava finished up the evening by realizing that she'd been shorted a few precious hours of school-time with her friends and accused me of being a "horrible Mommy!!" for bringing her home early.

See what I mean about the baked goods win/win?

Food.
Sugar.
Bliss.

It's the little things that matter when you're a mom trying to do right by a feisty 5 year old.

Happy Fall to you.

march of the pumpkins...

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 03:12:00 +0000

This is my 300th post. Which means I have managed to prattle on and embarrass myself 300 times, and therefore, I feel as though I should thank you - 300 times over - for putting up with me 300 times. So thanks.

It's been a pumpkin-filled couple of weeks around the Fisher house. We're giving this Texas heat the cold shoulder and going about our merry Autumn ways as if there were actually some season changing going on. Which there is not.

The girls painted their pumpkins, covering every square inch with paint until they're left with big brown globes:

***

Leah, my cuddle bug, is extra cuddly when her big sister is at school. I think she'd climb back in my womb and stay there until college if she could. (Sorry for that unwarranted visual).

She's waving her I'm-almost-three-and-I'm-gonna-let-you-know-it flag proudly as of late, and while there's some serious sass buried underneath all that sweetness, she's still mostly delicious and edible. Mostly.

***

The local high school (which happens to be the school I graduated from), holds a band fundraiser each year that includes a full march through a few of the nearby neighborhoods. This year, our street was on their route and we were so excited to see them up close and in action.

We started off our morning with donuts and pigs-in-a-blanket, and then Leah shimmied & shaked and Ava watched in awe as the band came into view:

After the march-by, we followed the band through the neighborhood to a nearby shopping center where they performed a short concert.

We were covered in sweat and we're showing traces of sunburn and it was 9am and it's almost November. Sigh. Thank you very little, Texas.

Daddy and his girls busted out a little choo-choo on the way....

....and Leah stopped mid-choo and crumpled in a defeated heap in the middle of the road wailing in agony because "Aba hurt my feelings!!"

Nevertheless, we prevailed and made it to the concert unscathed. It was such a great way to start the morning and we all really loved seeing the band. Such a fun tradition.

photo by Leah

***

We took a trip to the local pumpkin patch (Halls in Grapevine, if you're local. It's amazing!) with our dear friends, the Pauls, and had a great time with great friends. It's been our tradition for 5 years now to take pumpkin patch pictures and I don't think I'll ever give it up.

"Ava, Leah, finish up your SAT's and come sit on this pumpkin and let Mommy take your picture."

How does that saying about payback go, Wes? ....

They're getting so big, these sweet babies of mine. Seems like we were just here:

Until next time....

october i-phone photo dump...

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 03:23:00 +0000

click collage to enlarge:

(a piece of) our week in review....

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 02:43:00 +0000

What we've been doing lately:

We're dog-sitting for my in-law's while they're on vacation. It's pretty much Christmas every day for the girls, having two new dogs around.

Since they're small dogs, we've been letting the girls walk them with very little assistance, which is something quite new to Ava and Leah, since walking our 50lbs. family dog would, literally, end with them being dragged down the street and is something that doesn't happen ~~often~~ ever.

Wally, the boy dog, does this walking handstand thing after he goes to the bathroom. Both girls thought it was completely hilarious and were full of questions like "Mommy! How does he do that?!"

We did take them all for a walk one day, which meant we had 4 humans and 4 dogs (one of which rode in the doll stroller). I'm sure we looked like a traveling circus, but it was lots of fun...even if it did take us about 24 hours to get around the block.

***

We had a joint garage sale this weekend with our best friends/neighbors, the Pauls. We didn't profit quite like we did last year...but we sure had fun!

Ava and Leah set up a lemonade and cookie stand. I made the sign (something I did after the girls went to bed, in hopes of getting a jump start on the next day), which Ava was NOT happy about. I decided that we would sell the lemonade for 25 cents and that the cookies would be free:

But Ava, our budding entrepreneur, clearly thought otherwise and told her first customer, "Here, have a cookie. They're free!.....with the purchase of a lemonade."

While I do appreciate her no-nonsense business skills.... I was grateful for the reminder that sometimes a lesson is needed in kindness and generosity.

Leah and Ella got cozy in one of the 'for sale' beds:

While Jacob and Ava formed Team Hoodie and hung out like "big kids.":

Good-bye hugs from sweet friends:

Love them. What a great day.

Until next time...

Portland continues...

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 18:37:00 +0000

College Algebra, as it turns out, is not a friend of mine. And that proverbial excuse about the dog eating your homework? Well, the computer, literally, ate my homework one night after a 4 hour attempt to control my doodling and day-dreaming tendencies and actually think logically for a minute.

If it weren't Wes' company laptop, I think I would have thrown it right out the window. Because if x is the number of hours Rachel had worked to solve the homework, and y is the amount of fury Rachel felt when it disappeared, then x+y= ....

Ugh. I hate math.

It's too bad my math-gifted sister-in-law isn't small enough to fit in my pocket and take a little trip to the campus with me when midterm time rolls around.

She's one of those weird people who says things like "Oh! I LOVE Algebra!"

I'll let her slide since she was an exceptional hostess for an entire week while we visited her in Oregon. And, her boyfriend is my candy soul mate (Sour Patch Kids > chocolate for all you mathletes out there), so that really helps me overlook any math incompatibilities between the two of us.

More of our Portland trip...

Aunt Mandy has quite the fan in Ava. She loves science and she plays the drums and ironically, Ava aspires to be a drum playing scientist as well, so they're like two peas in a pod. Plus, anyone who sets up their entire drum set just so my girls can bang around for a bit, is pretty swell in my book.

So, as I mentioned before, once a month or so, Portlandians/ers gather together for a massive bike ride through the city. It's called Sunday Park Ways, or Portland Sunday Days, or Ways to Park on Sunday....I never could get it right.

We took a break half way through our ride so that we could rest and grab a bite to eat. Aside from Aunt Mandy's run-in with an irritated bee who had climbed in a very private part of her pants, we had a great time. There were booths set up with activities for kids, and hundreds of families parked out enjoying the (perfect) weather.

Ava learned how to dance hip-hop from a woman Wes later referred to as a "total nut job."

...and Leah Jane spent her park time napping like a proper little lady.

We spent an entire day of our vacation (and then some) at OMSI, the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry where Aunt Mandy works.

One could, literally, spend days at the museum, but we fit in as much as we could, including a little behind-the-scenes action, thanks to Mandy.

Wes and I took Ava on a tour of this retired submarine, since Leah was too little. It was a fascinating tour, and Ava really seemed interested in everything the tour guide said, and even raised her tiny hand at one point when the guide asked if anyone had any questions. I cried with pride, which is a totally absurd, according to my husband, but I couldn't help it. I was so proud.

The girls (and Wes) even got to put on their lab coats and participate in a few science experiments:

Our backstage tour included a pit-stop for some reptile handling...

That last picture really gives me the willies.

We took a trip to the Tillamook factory in Tillamook, Oregon, and on further for a beautiful drive up the coast.

Next update: Fruit picking and more math woes.

Until then, Happy weekend!

Portland!

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 18:52:00 +0000

We've just returned from our week-long trek through Oregon (and a little bit of Washington, too).

Oregon, in case you didn't know, is, like, the most beautiful place in the world.

Or at least the US.

Or at least the Pacific Northwest for sure.

We spent the majority of our stay with Wes' (incredibly generous!) sister, Mandy. She hosted our rambunctious foursome in her Portland home for an entire week, save for the night we spent out camping.

The night before we left Texas, I paused from loading the camera into its bag and asked Wes if the battery was fully charged.

"It is," he said. "Do you think we should take the charger? You know, just in case."

"No way!" I said. "The battery on that thing lasts forever. There's no way it won't last a week."

Our camera battery died on Wednesday. Exactly the half way point in our trip.

Sooo, while browsing our trip photos, our enthusiasm went from "Oh! Pretty Oregon Nikon pictures!" to "Aghh! Terribly grainy cell phone pictures!" Brace yourself...it's about to get fuzzy.

I'm breaking this bad boy down into several posts, because despite the terrible quality, we took a TON of pictures and it'll take me forever to over-talk my way through them. Plus, school just started and I'm too busy crying algebraic equations into my pillow each night.

Here we are at the airport, and then again on the plane:

The girls did really well on the plane. As did Wes and I - which I feel is an important mention when traveling with a 5 year old and an almost-3-year-old.

Leah Jane has become a professional winker. She throws winks out like smiles, and they're so adorably slow and calculated:

Portland!!

I could post an entire blog about the greatness that is Portland food. I don't think I've ever eaten so much in my life...except that's not true at all. I've totally eaten that much before, I just try not to make such a disgusting habit out of it.

We ate. And ate. And ate.

During our entire week there, we actually only sat down to eat at two restaurants. The majority of our meals came from these deliciously quirky food carts that are placed in random parking lots all over Portland.

Waffle sandwich carts.
Mac & cheese carts.
Korean taco carts.
Greek carts.
Burger carts.
Ice cream carts.
Grilled cheese carts.
....and the list goes on and on....

The great thing about Portland though is that you can eat and eat and eat without feeling like a sloth, because Portland-ers (Portlandians?) bike everywhere. I've never seen so many bikers, or bike friendly roads and places in my life!

Sweet Aunt Mandy had prepared for our trip by making sure we all had bikes to ride (or Trail-A-Bikes & Burley's at the very least), so we were able to get around and enjoy the city without feeling too much like tourists. I loved the biking that we did and immediately started formulating plans as to how Leah and I could bike Ava to and from school once we returned home to Texas. Wes was quick to remind me that ~~Texas~~ Mid-City drivers probably aren't nearly as accommodating to bikers as Portland drivers are, and since we don't have one single bike lane or bike stand in the city, it might be a bit of a pipe dream.

One day we'll be a biking family!!

Amazing, right?

We rented a little cabin in Washington so that we could camp overnight halfway through our trip. The cabin had no running water or electricity and was nestled deep in the woods, and it backed up to beautiful little stream and lots of neat hiking trails. After we put on our jackets (well, for me it was my frumpy blue hoodie, which I must have worn every single minute of every single day, since it made an appearance in every single picture from our trip...), we went out for a little hike before the sun went down.

Because once the sun goes down, the outhouse and Rachel aren't friends anymore. I don't do the whole hole-in-the-ground-pitch-black-night thing.

I'll pause here for a break so that I don't overwhelm you with the beauty of Oregon & Washington all in one post.

Let me negate some of that beauty by leaving you with an entire collage of my disgusting blue hoodie. That's right, an entire collage.

You're welcome.

Up next....Portland part deuce. Stay tuned...

Happy Birthday, Ava!

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Sun, 07 Aug 2011 02:42:00 +0000

Our Ava girl celebrated her 5th birthday today. First with friends, and then again later in the day with family.

Party Info:

The Place: Pepe Le Potter, a local do-it-yourself pottery place.

The Plan: Pick out a small, $12 cartoon duck, squirrel, snail...or various other woodland creature...and slather it with paint (make sure your mother holds it in place with her creepy alien claw...what in the world has happened to my hands!?).

The Theme: Gumballs galore, baby! Somehow, in one of my brief "I'm the best mom ever!" hallucinations, I told Ava that she needed to be 5 to chew gum. She has been counting down the days for...oh, about 2 years now.

So, like any good mother concerned with the dental hygiene of her children, I decided a gumball themed party would be our only real option.

She wanted gum. She got gum.

Going...

Gone.

The Gang: My incredibly talented friend, Ashley (of Snowbird Design), who made such adorable paper party goodies. My wonderful mother, who is, like, a party planning guru, and my mother-in-law, who has years and years of gumball memorabilia that she so sweetly shared. Throw in my procrastinating self...and we had ourselves a team!

The Kiddos: Had a good time, I think. It was fun to see some of Ava's school friends that we hadn't seen all summer, and it's always fun to see Ava's future husband, the adorable son of my bff & neighbor, Allison, who proudly sported his party hat on the side of his head and solidified his place as "future son-in-law" in my heart.

The After-party: The grandparents came back to the house for a family dinner. Lasagna (or La-jama, as Leah calls it), and lots & lots of sugar. One method of sugar dosing came in the form of an entire gumball machine full of Runts, which was Wes' as a child and is now being passed down to us (and was, conveniently, already painted my favorite color of green!). That, coupled with gum, raspberry cupcakes topped with raspberry icing (another bizarre birthday cake request from the birthday girl), made for some seriously sugar caked teeth.

My sweet mom & dad gifted Ava art lessons! She is excited, but I am crazy excited for her. She is so wonderfully creative & talented and I can't wait to see her flourish.

***

We got silly with some family pictures before the party today. LJ wore her sunglasses most of the day, and charmed us with her funny antics. That girl is funny. Seriously funny.

Ava appeased us with her physical presence in the photos, but her mind was elsewhere & she had taken to chanting, "I am 5! I am 5! I am 5!...."

(This is Ms. Claus, the beautiful doll made (made!) by my incredibly talented Aunt Pam).

Honestly, are we not the most eclectic bunch you have ever seen? My 3 favorite people. I love them so.

Happy 5th birthday, sweet Ava Paige. May all your wishes come true.

beat the heat...

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 03:41:00 +0000

I've been living in the land of the lost for, oh, about 10 days.

My phone-slash-pocket computer went ka-put:

...and as it fell to its death, so did my link to the outside world.

There isn't a lot of sit-down-at-the-computer-time when you're a mom to two little busy bodies, so without my phone, I was forced to a full week of not neglecting chores. It was pretty darn awful.

I'm back in business now though, thanks to my ~~technogeek~~ generous husband, who promptly ordered me a new, indestructible phone.

***

It's about 200 degrees, on average, here these days. We're all just completely miserable, and while I've tried my hardest to find things to keep my sweet girls out of the heat this summer, sometimes a little backyard baking just can't be helped.

Sweat is like a magnet for dirt, so we end up sticky, sweaty and filthy by the end of it all.

And I'm okay with that, because a dirty baby is a happy baby:

Of course, Leah's insistence for wearing only satin, double layered Christmas dresses and rain-boots, and Ava's passion for long pants and long sleeves (paired with ballerina tutu's) doesn't really help matters....but a mom can only have so many clothing oriented debates before she throws in the towel...or the satin dress, in this case.

***

Anyway, I'm back on the map, friends, and I promise to be better about updating and such. If nothing else, I can fill pages and pages with complaints about the heat and pictures of sweaty little heads and bright red, dirt caked faces.

Ah...Texas. We can't wait to leave your lands. Virginia, Vermont....here we come.

Until next time...

a camping we will go....

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 04:13:00 +0000

***
-My dear readers, Ugh, I only just realized that I'd published this post, thinking it complete, when it was only half way written & edited. I've made the necessary corrections, but if you made it through reading the awful thing the first time around, kudos to you. My sincerest apologies for hurting your eyes & grammar sensitive ears.
***

I'm fairly certain that I've completely ostracized my 4 previous faithful blog readers with my neglectfulness to regularly update this summer.

But, as Grandma's tend to do, mine still thinks I'm swell and tells me that she checks for pictures and stories of the girls regularly, and being that she makes me grits and biscuits and she still loved me through my gangly teenage years- even when my orthodontist insisted on putting a bracket on an upper eye tooth of mine that had completely gone awry, growing in up by my nose, instead of down south next to the rest of my teeth, thus rendering me incapable of touching my lips together until the darn thing slowly moved into its proper place- I'm doing this for her. Grandma, I love you.

***

Let's start where I left off....in June...

I had the fun privilege of keeping some friends of ours, Haley and Alli, a few weeks ago. Haley is a fellow scientist-in-training, so Ava is pretty smitten with her. It was hilarious to hear a four year old and a nine year old talk about whether or not the sun is a mass of incandescent gas....

Truly they did. I wouldn't lie to you.

***

My girl turns 5 in a few weeks, and those very words sound weird in my mouth. Five. Like, she's half way to double digits and she requests lip gloss each time we leave the house. I feel like if I blink too slowly she'll be fifteen when I open my eyes.

She's swimming like a little fish now, even diving down to the bottom of the pool "with goggles only, mom!" to get her swim rings and various other pool do-dads.

She makes friends so easily, which warms my heart. She's kind and welcoming to most everyone (except good old mom and dad and sister on occasion) and really just genuinely loves being in the company of other kids.

...which is often interesting....

Take, for example, today at the pool. A little girl swims up to us. "I'm six," she says. "Can I play with you, too?"

"Of course," I say. "Come join us."

"How old are they?" she asks, throwing her thumb towards Ava and Leah.

"I'm almost five and my little sister is two," Ava says.

"Two, huh," the little girl pauses thoughtfully. "Did you hear on the news about that two year old that got murdered?"

"What's murdered?" Ava asks.

And, call me crazy, but I'm just not quite prepared to talk murder with my four year old, so I change the subject and suggest a vigorous game of "Ring Dive!" instead.

Geez.

Or, last weekend, when camping, a couple of kids from separate group than ours wandered over to our campsite as we were preparing dinner.

"Umm mmm! Is that corn?" one little boy asks.

"It is," I say.

"Boy," he says. "I love me some corn."

"It's good stuff," I say.

"Man," he says. "Corn's my favorite."

"Yeah," I say. "It's pretty great."

"Gosh," he says. "Think I could stay for dinner?"

And, as he stood there in his tiny cowboy boots with his little flushed face, I realized that, aside from the pride of watching your own children learn, and grow, and accomplish-watching them interact with their friends and observing other kids is really one of the best parts of parenting. Kids are great.

***

Speaking of camping....

We went on a campout in beautiful East Texas with my sweet mother-in-law and father-in-law (also know as Nana and Papa).

It was hot.

It was humid.

It was sandy.

It was FUN.

check out those feet!

Pic by Leah

We really had a great time and the girls played long and hard every single day. Luckily, we found relief from the heat in the form of a natural spring at the bottom of the campsite. Its frigid water was a welcome break from the 105 degree temps.

I'm proud to say I jumped into the spring Tarzan style with the help of a rope swing and a little inner thigh chaffing. I had to pave the way for my husband, who will only swim freely in water with near bathtub temps.

No pictures of that though.

You're welcome.

***

On the long drive home, for lack of anything better to do, I gave Ava our camera and told her she could take pictures of the landscape as it passed us by.

Uploading the resulting pictures was a surprising treat. A little bit of back-of-Daddy's-headrest, mixed in with a healthy dose of little-sister-who-doesn't-want-big-sister-to-take-her-picture-and-finally-hides-behind-book:

***

Fourth of July!

The girls got to stay up late for their first "real" fireworks show this year. It was great fun. We're fortunate to live within walking distance of the local park where the fireworks are launched, so we were able to snag great seats at the end of our street. Both girls were troopers, and were officially up later than ever before (11pm!).

We celebrated the 4th and a nod to my birthday with my parents (also known as Mimi and Pa).

And, while we're here, a sweet glimpse of my two little firecrackers last year:

Be still my heart.

Until next time....

summer

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 03:31:00 +0000

Ahhh, summer.

Summer, with its late mornings and late nights.

Summer, with its lazy days.

My babies are cotton topped and smell like sunscreen. Their noses are pink, their feet are almost always dirty, and they're completely exhausted at the end of the day.

I love summer.

Every movie is my favorite movie. Every song is my favorite song. Every book is my favorite book. I'm one of those people. But my favorite season? It's summer. Truly.

We're a water loving family. Well, 3 of the 4 of us anyway. Wes, as it turns out, doesn't quite put the Fish in Fisher the way the girls and I do. We love to swim, love to be in the sun. In fact, there's so little shame in my swimming game, that if you drive by our house during the peak sun hours of the day, you're likely to see me ~~wallering~~ sitting in the girls' small plastic wading pool.

The best is when the girls grow tired of the pool and decide to play on bikes in the driveway, leaving their poor, full grown adult mama in the kiddie pool all by herself.

The hypocrisy: I caught myself relaxing back against the hard plastic side of the pool and doing the 'ol neighborhood sweep. I surveyed the neighborhood, studying each house, each yard, each occupant. I stared with narrowed eyes at the home of our next door neighbor...

"Ugh," I mentally seethed, "their yard is so unkempt." I shook my head and clicked my tongue, "and look, they haven't even picked up their paper in days!"

.....and then I remembered: I'm sitting, alone, in a kiddie pool in 6 inches of water....in my front yard.

I'm thankful for humbling reality checks.

A smattering of pictures to tell the story of our summer thus far:

-A very hot visit to Log Cabin Village:

-The girls have really taken an interest in their wardrobe these days....

...and since they each insist on wearing no less than 5 individual outfits each day:

...we've been having a few laundry lessons. Because, let's face it, I could use a little help with the laundry (although you'll all be proud to learn that for about 8 hours last week, the dining room table was completely laundry free and all clothes rested in their proper receptacles!).

-"Rapunzel hair" has been a hot commodity this summer. Take it or leave it from Ava, but a full on I'm-not-leaving-this-house-unless-my-hair-is-in-a-braid from sweet Leah Jane.

- More menu's made by Ava. On the menu for tonight:

BBQ, also known as "Ava's Br-b-Cubs."

Her writing is still, hands down, our favorite milestone yet.

Much like the anticipation of any good vacation, I'm already dreading the day that our summer comes to an end and we're faced with schedules and responsibilities again.

Normal day, let me be aware of the treasure you are. Let me learn from you, love you, bless you before you depart. Let me not pass you by in quest of some rare and perfect tomorrow. Let me hold you while I may, for it may not always be so. One day I shall dig my nails into the earth, or bury my face in the pillow, or stretch myself taut, or raise my hands to the sky and want, more than all the world, your return.

Such a sweet quote and reminder of how truly precious each day is, and how quickly they pass.

Until next time...

celebrating ruthie...

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 04:25:00 +0000

Wes' sweet grandmother, Ruthie, passed away last week, the third grandparent of his to have passed in 3 years time. We have such sweet memories of her, especially from Ava's baby days, and we're so glad that our babies got the chance to know her.

Wes' siblings and their families were all in town (we're the only losers still married to DFW) for a few days so we soaked up our fair share of cousin lovin'.

5 under 5, that's the grandchild status in Wes' family. And while this picture really couldn't be more unflattering, I thought it was necessary that I share it, along with the feeling of complete hysteria I felt when I viewed it for the first time and considered-hypothetically, of course-what it would be like to have 5 under 5.

I promptly died, just at the thought...

Aren't they cute though? Ava's the oldest, having dressed herself this day in thick jeans, despite the heat, because proving a point to her mother is so much more important than listening to parental advice and wearing weather appropriate clothing...Naomi is next in line...followed just a few months later by Leah Jane....followed by Declan, who stands alone as the only boy grandchild...followed by our newest family member, baby Elena.

We had a great time visiting with everyone, as always...

(Wes' youngest sister, Mandy)

(Wes' brother, Paul)

This girl, this girl. She and I have a tumultuous relationship this summer. You know, being that we're on day, what, 4 of summer vacation so far?

I embarrass, exhaust, and exasperate her. She embarrasses, exhausts, and exasperates me. We are the epitome of the standard, strained, mother/teenage daughter relationship....except, oh yeah, wait, SHE'S FOUR.

I love her. So much. She makes me cry in frustration near daily, but every night, when I lay my poor, heavy, exhausted head on my pillow, I'm overwhelmed with love and pride for this sweet girl. And I know, I know that the things that can be so overwhelming to parent right now, will become her most admirable traits and qualities in the future, if fostered correctly....so let's just hope I learn to foster sometime soon...

It's an awful cell phone picture, but this is the new bathing suit I bought last week:

"Wait. You bought me a zucchini?!" Ava shrieked.

"Not a zucchini, silly," I told her. "It's called a bikini." Except the real life version involved me laughing for about 10 minutes straight and included Ava getting mad and stomping her foot, demanding to know "What. Is. So. Funny?!"

I embarrassed my girl by telling that story to so many friends and family members that she finally said to me, "Ugh, we get it, Mom. I called it a zucchini, it's really a boo-kini. Stop telling that story!"...which sent me into a fit of hysterics all over again, thus repeating the story-telling cycle....

That one was too cute to correct though, so my poor girl is still proudly sporting her new bookini.

***

Anyway, we really enjoyed our time with our girls' cousins while they were visiting, even venturing down to the Stockyards to partake in the daily cattle drive:

(love this picture)

Thanks for a fun time, family. We miss you.

...

In the meantime, here's to: movie nights, summer, great friends, charades, car naps, king sized beds, diaper-free "big girls", good books, watermelon, bath tub-drain-fixing-husbands-who-save-us-a-visit-from-the-plumber-on-a-Sunday, new car fever, bike riding, little girls who sing "Where is Thumpkin? Where is Thumpkin? Here I'm is. Here I'm is...", alone time, coffee, and Ikea.

Until next time...

Hey, May

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Thu, 19 May 2011 04:14:00 +0000

Here's a little mix of what we've been up to lately:

***

One day last week, Leah and I collected roly-poly bugs from the front flower beds, filling up an entire cup of the little guys before I told her that we needed to leave soon to go pick her sister up from school.

She wasn't happy.

Trust me, we take transitions slow around here. Painfully slow. We give 20, 15, 10, 5, 3, 2, 1 minute warnings before it's time to leave, so that the girls have plenty of time to get used to the idea that we're about to move on to something different.

So, at the end of the countdown, when a massive fit ensues over getting in a carseat, I find myself with very little patience...

"Here are your choices, Leah," I always say. "You can get into your carseat yourself, or I can do it for you. What'll it be?"

If I had a nickle for each time I uttered that phrase....

She usually does it herself, but she makes sure to let me know she's not happy about it.

You know, as a first time mother, this look might have bothered me. I might have been hurt by her displeasure with me. I'm sure, with Ava, I probably had a long talk with gentle reminders about how I wished she'd do things the first time I asked, so that I didn't have to give her such blatant ultimatums....

But no, this ain't my first rodeo and an upset baby in the backseat screaming at me the entire 5 minute ride to the preschool just rolls right off my back. I've become an expert in the art of tuning out.

Because Leah, well, she's as hardheaded as she is sweet, and she's got my redheaded temper. She makes Ava's fit throwing look like a relaxing walk in the park....

To make matters worse this day, a thunderstorm rolled through while we were picking Ava up and we came back to a roly-poly holocaust. Why the universe frowns on stay-at-home-moms towards the end of the day, I'll never understand.

***

We met Wes at the park for a family picnic one night last week. The girls rolled down the park hills and Leah ate dirt which, again, just seemed really benign in the grand scheme of life, and I lazily shrugged it off with a, "Well, thank goodness it's just dirt, right?"

Certainly not something I ever thought I'd be saying...

***

Both of the girls have gone through major growth spurts lately. They're both just grown, but Ava especially has really lost the last bit of baby that she was carrying. And Leah, well, she just looks like a miniature Ava.

***

We celebrated Wes' birthday last week with homemade cake balls and a precious card from a little girl who has really grown fond of ampersands:

(this was Leah's "chef hat")

Happy Birthday, sweet Wesley. We love you.

Until next time...

one ditzy mom

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Mon, 09 May 2011 04:00:00 +0000

My sweet Grandma is in town right this very moment, and I was so ashamed at her reminder that I haven't updated since April 13!

Grandma, this post is for you. I love you. I love your biscuits.

***

Last night, I went to a movie after the girls went to bed with my best and funniest friend, Allison. She thinks I'm totally nuts, and that's what makes my friendship with her so fun. She's right. I am nuts.

So, before the movie started, but after the lights had dimmed, I was turned to my left chatting with Allison when I felt something touch my right elbow. Mid conversation, I absentmindedly reached behind me to feel the foreign object.

In an effort to identify it:

I squeezed it.

I caressed it.

I pushed at it.

I flicked it.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" the girl behind me said.

It was her foot. I'd been feeling up her foot.

Allison almost died with laughter and swore that she'd never met anyone else like me. The things that happen to me don't happen to anyone else, she said.

It's totally true, too. I know it.

I knew it again today when I walked into the men's changing room at the gym and didn't realize my error until I was chest to face with some shirtless sweaty dude.

"Am I ditzy, or just quirky?" I asked Wes.

His blatant guffaw was all the answer I needed.

***

Despite my embarrassing snafu at the gym, I had the most perfect Mother's Day. Breakfast in bed, two snuggly babies, precious gifts from my girls and their thoughtful Daddy, swimming, a great Thai lunch, and then a family dinner with my grandmother and parents.

My gift from the girls & Wes. It just might be my favorite gift ever...

Ava made this shell at school and was so proud to show me the designs she'd carved.

I love my babies. Love them.

I love being their mother and I love having a special day to remind me of how lucky I am, but more than anything, I love seeing the pride and excitement on their sweet faces when they give me their homemade gifts and handwritten letters. There is nothing better than a homemade card from my phonetically spelling big girl, or a series of hearts and circles from my little one.

My favorite book to read to the girls is Wherever You Are by Nancy Tillman. It sums everything up much more eloquently than I ever could:

....And if someday you're lonely,

or someday you're sad,

or you strike out at baseball,

or think you've been bad,

just lift up your face, feel the wind in your hair.

That's me, my sweet baby, my love is right there.

In the green of the grass, in the smell of the sea,

in the clouds floating by, at the top of the tree,

in the sound crickets make at the end of the day...

"You are loved. You are loved. You are loved," they all say.

My love is so high, and so wide and so deep,

it's always right there, even when you're asleep.

So hold your head high and don't be afraid,

to march to the front of your own parade.

If you're still my small babe or you're all the way grown,

my promise to you is you're never alone.

You are my baby, my darling, my star, and my love will find you wherever you are.

Read it without crying, I dare you.

I love this family of mine. I love that my "perfect day" is a day spent with them, without interruptions, or chores, or responsibilities. Just them.

I am so happy, so proud to be a part of who they are.

Happy Mother's Day.

p.s. a few belated Easter pics!:

We started with a dozen boiled eggs and ended up with 8 that made it through toddler hands unscathed.

Yeah, I know. She's, like, fully grown now, right? Overnight.

This one, too. Grown. Always has been really.

Until next time...

Carniwheel

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 03:24:00 +0000

I'm way behind in posting pictures, and it has come to my attention that my girls have gone through some type of growth spurt (how dare they!), so update I must.

The weather has been so stinking great here. We're spending as much time as possible outside before we're slammed with hundred degree temps, which means my girls have morphed into blond headed little sprites...

Last weekend, my dear Aunt Pat and Uncle Hollis came to visit us all the way from Brunswick, GA. We spent part of the day Sunday at a local carnival (which the girls call a "Carniwheel"...sort of a mash-up between "carnival" and "ferris wheel"). Poor Leah Jane was only big enough to ride 2 of the rides, but that didn't stop us from spending a semester's worth of their college tuition on tickets, games, and carni food (you'll never guess who was pulling for the latter).

Uncle Hollis, Ava, Aunt Pat

***

I used to babysit two little girls who were not allowed to get dirty. I remember feeling so sorry for those little girls and thinking, to my 15 year old self, that when I had kids, I was going to let them get as dirty as they wanted. "Take that, conformity!" my 15 year old self said....

This was around the same time that I decided I would also let my future hypothetical teenage girls stay out as late as they wanted and dress however they'd see fit, and we all know neither of those things are going to happen, but whatever. The fact of the matter is that I knew then I was going to have dirty children.....

I'm very goal oriented:

These pictures were taken during a weekend of yard work when Leah Jane dug up grub worms and lovingly carted them around the yard calling them her "boys" and, literally, doting them to death. That sweet girl, she'll mother anything with a pulse.

(LJ and Wes on our most recent camping trip)

Sweet Ava's artistic abilities have really blossomed over the past few months. She takes great pride in writing stories and drawing pictures for most any occasion, including a "Congratulations on your new washer and dryer" card for her Nana and Papa, and a "Leah, I am the big sister" card as a subtle reminder to us all who really wears the pants around here.

(a Spring pumpkin, appropriately labeled, "Ava Fisher Big Sister")

My girl has loved to draw since she was 8 months old, and one of the greatest parts of parenthood so far has been watching her attention to detail flourish and her pictures grow and take shape and eventually become complete stories with matching words. We love our creative girl and the beat of the unique drum that she marches to....even if we do want to scream, "Turn down that racket!" on occasion.

Until next time....

A Day in the Life...

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Sat, 09 Apr 2011 04:34:00 +0000

Week one of Wes' new job is behind us.

This week has been...interesting.

For almost 5 years now, Wes has left for work long before the sun rises and usually before the rest of us are fully awake. He's always come home fairly early, just a little after 4 or 4:30, and I know, I know how fortunate I am for that.

...or how fortunate I was anyway.

This was the scene each night at our house this week:

It's 4:30 and the switch has been flipped. You know the one. The Evening Meltdown switch. That's the one.

By this time of day, the house looks like someone turned it upside down and shook it. The dining room table is piled high with clothes, some folded, others taunting me from their crumpled pile of unfolded neglect

Wes calls the dining room his kitchen closet. It's embarrassing really, my walk of shame from my bedroom to the kitchen table each night to retrieve a new pillowcase for my nightly pillowcase change (because every completely normal person changes their pillowcase nightly).

...Not embarrassing enough for me to put the pillowcases away in their proper drawers though, apparently.

Anyway, so the house is a complete wreck, and I'm drained of the energy it takes to actually care and feeling really grateful for the friends that pop by and continue to love me despite the error of my ways....

I'm standing at the stove, hot -sweating even- and wondering again why we didn't put some type of exhaust fan in the kitchen to help ventilate some of the smoke coming off the pan of burnt whatever-my-latest-concoction-might-be.

The girls? They're reduced to full on wailing, since writhing and fit throwing didn't get them where they wanted to be. Ava wants a tiny Clementine, but in a moment of Mommy failure, I mistakenly bought the larger sized Clementine's, and How. Could. I. Do. That?!?

She wails on.

Leah only wants to be held, and bless her sweet little 25lbs. self, I just can't hold her and burn the butter, so she's reduced to climbing my legs and screaming at my feet.

"Girls," I say. "Girls, let's all help set the table. That will help dinner come together faster."

"But we can't!!!!" They moan. "The table is covered in clothes!! Some folded, others not. Where will we put the clothes, Mother!?"

I wipe the sweat from my forehead and begin a back-patting inner dialog with myself, praising the things I actually accomplished today, fully aware that it pales in comparison to the list of things I didn't.

The girls have taken it upon themselves to "clear the table" and the folded clothes, the precious folded clothes, are now in a crumpled pile on the floor underneath one of the chairs.

But, do I care? I do not.

Except now Ava is handing out punishments to Leah and banishing her to "The Thinking Chair" with a firm lecture, complete with hands on hips and a shaky finger to the face, and I realize I've got to intervene....

And so the butter burns again.

I break into a fit of hysterical cackles, because I'm certain I'll sob if I don't.

The girls are helping pick out their silver-ware now, except really it's plastic-ware, and Ava will only use the yellow fork, and Leah, who has never cared about yellow a day in her precious life, decides that this is the exact moment that she wants yellow and she'll settle for nothing less....

And we only have one yellow fork.

I turn my back on the butter - because even after all this time, I've yet to advance beyond the melting butter portion of my cooking - to give them a brief counseling session on the importance of sharing and giving and loving, but they don't hear it. They don't care. They're screaming and pulling that stupid yellow fork in every direction....

And then I hear the garage door (because poor Wes has been reduced to entering through the garage and promptly taking his shoes off in the mudroom to appease his crazy wife and her "No Shoes In My House!" rule) timidly creak open.

Wes slowly enters, and I take in his wide, scared eyes, and the look of complete and utter fear on his face, and I wonder what he must see from his side:

Smoke filled room.....because we never did get that exhaust fan.

Dining room table/kitchen closet....status unchanged since his search for socks that very morning.

Wife.....Not a hair out of place, apron donned, red lipstick perfectly applied, cocktail in hand.

Totally kidding of course, Reality Wife is crazy eyed, frazzled, frizzy haired, sweating, and cackling hysterics.

Kids.....screaming, running, writhing, possibly possessed?

He walks in slowly, watching his feet because it's too scary to look elsewhere, and rubs the back of his neck nervously,

"....Hey?"

Am I imagining things? Did the girls actually just ramp it up a notch, really show Daddy what he's been missing the past 2 hours? Did the chaos really just get louder?

I want to tell him that they're sweet girls, really they are. I want to tell him it hasn't been like this all day, that they hit a wall at 4pm and what he's witnessing right now is the after effects. I want to greet him sweetly, ask how his day was. Put a non-burned, perfectly timed dinner on the table and sit down to eat as a family.....

....but instead I stare at him with my crazy eyes and my frizzy hair, cackle once more, squeeze his hand briefly -a symbol of "I know how chaotic this must seem" mixed with a silent promise of "Maybe one day we'll be able to talk again?" and announce loudly, "I'M GOING FOR A RUN."

That was my Week One.

But I did it and, at the end of the week, I felt oddly empowered. Or completely whipped. Whatever.

Don't get me wrong, I love this life. I choose this life. I love my crazies. I'm learning to embrace chaos (I'm an only child...chaos is foreign territory for me).

I wouldn't trade this for anything.

Not even yellow forks and perfectly melted butter.

***I wanted to add pictures to this post, because every good blogger does, but our camera is in the car, and that's, like, miles from this exhausted Mama's place on the couch...so.....

March!

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 04:00:00 +0000

Over a month!?

No excuses, I'll cut right to the chase:

I'm living in a crazy world of fast paced days, 24 hours when really 36 are needed, with two rapidly growing girls.

No, seriously. Like, 4 going on 16.

Eye rolls? We've got 'em.

Slouched posture complete with exaggerated huff? Check.

The embarrassed groan of, "Mooooommm!" Oh yeah.

But the good thing about 4, the thing that beats the heck out of 16, is that while we do have sassy, we have it with a side of sweet.

But big, oh my, is she big. Just grown, you know? These embarrassed giggles that are little glimpses of the future when she's gap toothed and trading secrets with her little friends. We're right there, on the brink of it.....

A couple of things that have been going on around the Fisher house since I left you last:

Ava came home from school one day complaining about how she had to be a princess on the playground when the kids at school played Skeletons and Princesses.

"I don't like being a princess," she whined.

"So then play for the other team," I suggested. "Be a skeleton."

"They say I can't. All the girls have to be princesses."

"Who says you can't?"

"The boys," she said the word as if it tasted sour. "They say only boys can be skeletons."

And just like that, the Helen Reddy soundtrack of "I am Woman, Hear Me Roar" that I didn't even know had been playing in my mind for the past 28 years, skipped.

"Wait a minute. Now wait just a minute! Oh, no. Oh, no, no, no," I was clearly flustered. I'd begun pacing. "Don't ever let a boy (ah, yes, that's where she picked it up) tell you what you can and can't do. Girls can do anything boys can do....and more!" I took a deep breath, ready to continue...

Leave it to Wes:

".....well, not everything."

"Hush!" I hissed.

"Ava," I continued. "Listen to Mommy. If you want to be a skeleton tomorrow, you march right up to those boys (there it was again) and let them know that you're going to be a skeleton!"

"...Okay, Mommy," she said it dismissively, one of those I-really-just-wish-you'd-stop-talking type of things.

The next day, I waited for her in the carpool lane at preschool pickup with baited breath.

"Well?!" I asked, as soon as she got in the car. "What happened? Were you a skeleton today?!"

She rolled her eyes and sighed heavily, "Ugh. No, Mom. We're not even playing that game anymore."

And there you have it. Parenting a girl, in a nutshell.

(Ava wrote a sweet invitation to her friend, Aadya, inviting her to her 5th birthday party....you know, in August.

The card reads: "Aadya, Would you like to come to my birthday" complete with a birthday cake and #5 candle. I'll never, ever grow tired of her sweet writing).

***

Wes got a new job! Same company, transfer position, Division office, new opportunities, and all that good stuff. He's worked so hard to get to this point and we couldn't be more proud of him.

***

Even more raise-the-roof worthy than Wes' new job is this little bit of news:

People. WE BOUGHT A KING SIZED BED.

We've been sleeping four to a (queen) bed for half the night for two loooonnnggg years. Our children are warm body seekers, and despite our every attempt to keep them in their own bed for the entire night, we finally just caved and decided a bigger bed would allow everyone to catch some much needed Z's.

Plus, we'll probably have, like, 4 inches of personal space on each side!!

Woo-hoo!

And, though it doesn't pertain, a few cute pictures of Leah Jane before we put this topic to bed.

Bed.

*snort*

See what I did there?

(enjoying a snack and a book with Sassy, one of Leah's many children).

***

The girls started gymnastics again last week. You might remember me mentioning our failed attempt at enrolling Leah last Fall. It was the required (for this age) Mommy & Me class and, well, she hated it. She wouldn't do anything except cling to me and whimper, "Mommy holds me."

I didn't force her, and after the 3rd or 4th miserable session, we called it quits. When enrollment began again, I decided to enroll them both in evening classes, instead of our usual morning sessions, so that Ava could go first (she's in "real" gymnastics now, complete with pointed toes, and raised arms at dismount), and Leah could watch her and see that all was well.

...and so that Daddy could take her.

That's right, it's Daddy & Me classes for our girl!

And it totally worked. She loves it! She's not nearly as clingy with Wes as she is with me, and she strutted her little leotard-clad stuff like she was an old pro.

(Hard to tell, but how hilarious is this little cross-legged pose that Ava selected to watch her sister?)

***

We had some new family pictures taken by a friend of mine, Chera. Her home-schooled daughter is studying the President's and she wanted to barter some wooden figurines for a photo session.

Sold!

The trade:

(Lincoln, McKinley, Teddy Roosevelt, Edith Roosevelt, FDR, Obama)

***

We're going camping next weekend with our new best friends/neighbors and we can't wait to get out and enjoy this weather.

Yard work, garden planning/planting, new job, camping, Spring preschool activities, car woes, out-of-town company visiting all the way from Georgia, Easter, ....busy days ahead!

Whew!! How's that for cramming-it-all-in-one-post?! Until next time...

milestones...

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 18:23:00 +0000

Occasionally, it hits me like a ton of bricks that we've crossed over from baby-and-toddler, to toddler-and-preschooler, and we're just on the cusp of preschooler-and-big kid.

Kids change every single day. I'm well aware. But there's something about watching our kids grow that's just, well, amazing.

Certainly there are lulls. Weeks, or even months, where I think if this phase doesn't pass soon, I'm going to have to up my daily coffee intake from 3 cups to 4. And there are weeks and months where we hit a groove and our family trucks along in that steady growth-easy calm sort of way.

But then there are months like this month. February. The shortest month of the year, and the month when my preschooler decided to grow up right before my very eyes.

She turned 4 and a half this month. I'm almost 5, you know, she reminds us now.

And I do know it. There's a little ticker in my head counting off each day and grasping for some sense of explanation as to how it has already been 4.5 years since this little girl joined our family.

She's a bike rider now. It takes my breath away just to say it. Because my girl, my timid toddler, has turned into a brave, daredevil preschooler and my ability to adjust to that change hasn't quite caught up with her ambition.

Last Saturday, she stood quietly at the park watching an older girl ride her bike solo.

I'm ready for a bike, she said. And I do not want training wheels.

We bought her the smallest bike Walmart had to offer, Wes brought it home, took the training wheels off, strapped on her helmet, and sat her right on the seat (or saddle, as she calls it).

Okay, Daddy. I'm ready. Let go. she said.

And he did.

And she soared.

It was hard watching her ride that very first time. A combination of pride and astonishment in knowing that this is the first of many "big girl" milestones that will be knocking at our door sooner than later.....first pulled tooth, first sleepover, first double digit birthday, first day of high school, first day of college, first time realizing that Mommy is hiding in your college dorm closet-clutching your childhood blanket and rocking slowly back and forth.....

Leah Jane and I ended our nursing relationship a few weeks ago, and she is officially weaned. It's the first time in 5 years that I haven't been pregnant or nursing, save for a 2 month gap between Ava's weaning and my pregnancy with Leah.

It's the bittersweet start of a new chapter in our life, a chapter where our girls aren't babies anymore, and they aren't dependent on me, physically, to meet their needs.

...beyond hugs and kisses, of course, and the 6am demand for Mommy, get up! I want some BREAKFAST!!

But the great things about these transitions into Life with a Preschooler & a Toddler, is that we get to do lots of fun things.

Things like Family Game Night. (Bolded to indicate its placement on our family calendar each month...because, yes, I really am that Type A and that cheesy).

Inevitably, we'd lost all the pieces to Candy Land, so we had to use small toys instead of little-plastic-candy-people.

They both actually get the game at this point, which is always fun.....until Daddy starts losing and gets too competitive and starts doing things like rearranging the deck...

Grounds for disqualification if you ask me, which no one did. But, by my calculations, it meant that Leah won, and Ava followed behind in a close second (because sometimes two orange squares mysteriously turned into five), Mommy held an honest & legitimate grip on third.....and Daddy trailed behind in fourth, with a giant red X on his forehead to indicate cheating.

Here's to growth.

goin' to the lodge...

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 17:54:00 +0000

We spent last weekend at a water park.

In February!!

Not just any water park....Great Wolf Lodge!!

*insert howling wolf*

Great Wolf Lodge, if you're not familiar, is an indoor water park and resort in Grapevine. It's practically a childhood wonderland....

Our visit was a Christmas gift from my sweet parents. We'd wanted to take the girls since the place opened a few years ago, but they require you to stay overnight in their hotel and, well....thank goodness for Christmas gifts!

Hotel life when you're 2 and 4 is pretty much the greatest thing ever. The girls loved our hotel room and were amazed by the corded phone. "What is that?!" They asked in amazement, which sent Wes and me into a fit of giggles. We're constantly reminded of the new, technologically advanced world that we're raising our children in....

The amazing view of bustling Grapevine from our hotel room window:

*snort*

I loved how just as I was taking that picture, one lone car came sputtering down the road....

***

The hotel had plenty of other fun things to do besides the water park. They have a Harry Potter-ish scavenger hunt of sorts where you take out a second mortgage on your home in order to purchase a plastic wand, and then you visit "magical" points all over the hotel, using your wand to activate them.

Both girls really enjoyed that, and it gave us an opportunity to see everything, which was a lot of fun.

They also had an arts and crafts center, where you could purchase a t-shirt or pillowcase to color. OR, if your parents were too cheap, you got a computer paper print out.

Ava couldn't have cared less though. Give that girl a marker (or, as we later learned, a crayon, since the markers are meant for the children who had purchased pillowcases and t-shirts) and she's happy.

I was caught in a tangled web of embarrassment, laughter, and pride when the little girl coloring next to Ava asked her chirpy Mommy what colors are in a rainbow.

"Whatever color you want there to be!!" Her mother cooed.

I watched in uncomfortable silence as Ava stopped what she was doing, put down her crayon, stared at the girl for a few moments, and then said, "Oh. Actually, the colors of the rainbow are red, orange, yellow, green followed by blue, indigo, and then violet."

You can't really argue with that, and I'm proud of my girl for her no-nonsense approach to rainbows, but sometimes a lesson is needed in remembering that other children's parents are their parents.

***

Pajama & Story time with all the other kiddos rounded out the day with one of our favorite books (Corduroy) being read, and then pictures with Violet, the Great Wolf Lodge mascot....which we were AMAZED that our shy Leah Jane participated in.

A few rounds of bed jumping and a good nights rest......

....and we were back at the water park! Such fun the second day, mostly due to the crowd clearing out, and our discovery of the hot tub.

Hot tub = perfection. In my little world anyway.

We quickly discovered that our girls are brave little fishes. Leah wouldn't keep a life vest on, but Ava--who is on the brink of swimming independently--wore hers and swam all over the place!

(She's a rooster in most pictures now. We have no idea....)

And, lest you think Leah's lack-of-life-jacket slowed her down.....

She is unstoppable, that girl.

***

Both girls played so hard and had such a great time covering every inch of the entire park.

My favorite thing was watching people get completely pummeled by this enormous bucket of water that sat quiet, innocently filling with water, and then dumped its entire contents on the unsuspecting heads of the people below:

And, too, don't you love that hilariously hardworking beaver in the bottom of each picture?

***

We were sad to leave, but we had such a great time and can't wait to go back again one day.

Thanks, Mimi & Pa! We love you!