Sledding!

The weatherman promised me snow.  He said it was a La Nina year, just like last year, and to be prepared for a cold winter with snow.  He lied.  Doesn't the weatherman know that lying makes the baby Jesus cry? Or that the lack of snow crushes a little boy's dreams of building a snowman?  In order to remedy this situation, we headed to Snoqualmie Pass for some sledding.

We aren't winter sports people due to a variety of reasons, but we do own quite a bit of fleece and rain gear.  I picked up a sledding inner tube a while ago, and along with the Discover Pass my sister gave us for Christmas, we were ready for an inexpensive morning on the mountain.  Our PEPs friends, the Reillys, joined us for the adventure.

Linus booked it out the door of the swagger wagon as fast as he possibly could and had made it down both the bunny slope and big slope by the time I had Eileen out of the car.  He quickly mastered the art of solo sledding and getting to the side of the slope while carrying the sled.

Eileen was not about to be outdone by her brother.

We took a break from sledding to play in the snow.  Linus used it as an opportunity for mischief.

preparing snow balls while daddy builds a snowman

the wind-up

witness

What?  I have no idea where that snowball came from.

Happy to give his witness a shove down the mountain.

Eileen spent a lot of time just taking it all in.

We had a great time.  No one got too cold or wet.  I even managed to make it down the big slope despite being a wimp.  I am quickly discovering the having kids is a great excuse to go out there and be active. We'll definitely make sledding an annual tradition.  Who knows? Maybe one day we will become winter sports people.  In the meantime,  I love our family Saturday adventures.

Giant Sandbox

Today was another rainy day in Seattle and I woke up unsure of what I was going to do with the kids, but I knew it would involve leaving the house.  I decided to check out Parent Map to see if anything interesting was happening. And then I found it, perhaps one of the most genius business ideas ever--a giant indoor sandbox!

I normally loathe sand play--the mess, the dirt, wondering how many cats have visited, the questionable sand toys left behind.  Linus of course loves playing in the sand.  At least once a week he asks why the big wave had to come and take away his bucket and shovel (see Seabrook post in September).  Despite my reservations, especially about Eileen just eating sand, I decided that this activity warranted a trip to a part of Seattle we never venture to, Georgetown.  So off we headed to Lil' Diggers at Sandbox Sports. 

I swear this isn't a paid advertisement, but I have to admit I was impressed.

1. Very clean sand with the perfect amount of moisture for play.
2. Lots and lots of nice sand toys (nothing broken or dirty).
3. Cubbies for shoes and bags.
4. Lots of chairs for sitting.
5. Diaper changing table close to main area.
6. On Wednesdays, an LMP is there to offer chair massages while your kids play.
7. Enclosed play area is HUGE.  No one got in anyone else's space.
8. Sand brushes right off so you don't bring the beach home (although Eileen did manage to get quite a bit in her diaper somehow).
9. There are refreshments but I didn't take a close look.
10. Very nice, friendly welcoming owner.

My only criticism is that at $6 per kid, the cost could add up.  It would be better if they had a family rate as well.

The kids had a good time.

Overwhelmed at first by all the sand.

Eileen was on the move the entire time, rarely stopping except for trips to the slide.

taking a deep breath before going down the slide

Eileen liked going off by herself to the vacant part of the sandbox.

Only a little sand was eaten, although there were tears when sand got in the eyes (a hazard of rubbing your eyes after playing in sand).  The kids played hard for over an hour before heading home for a bath, lunch, and long naps.  Linus thanked me multiple times for taking him to the indoor sandbox.  It was a really fun morning.  We'll definitely go again, but I'll have to get another mom friend to go with me so we can take turns watching the kids and take advantage of the masseuse. 

The owner mentioned they have an adult skill class on Wednesday nights.  I am intrigued.  He promised it was fun and that he didn't allow jerks--something you run into a lot with adult rec play.  My adult soccer team starts next week so I don't know if I can also fit volleyball in, but maybe it couldn't hurt to check it out....

From the Mouths of Babes in December

Linus: It's a penguin! (commenting on the stick figure I drew)
Me: It's not a penguin.  It's a man.
Linus:  It walks like a penguin.


Linus:  I have pick ups.  (hiccups)

Linus: (to me) I'm going to cut you up and sew you and turn you into jammies.  And then I will wear you tonight.

Linus: (very upset) Eileen is playing rough with me.

Linus: I'm a bad guy who vacuums all the floors!

Random Parent at REI treehouse:  Which one is yours? (referring to all the children)
Me:  Mine's Batman over there (Linus is wearing a Batman shirt).
Linus: (sadly) I'm not Batman. I'm Spiderman. 

Christmas in the Northwest

Say what you will.  I love that song in all its cheesiness.  This year we really tried to do our part to participate in everything the Northwest had to offer.

There was a trip to zoolights with our friends, the Reillys.

A trip to the top of the Space Needle.

During the Space Needle trip we also checked out the winter trains and village at the Seattle Center House, rode the monorail, and took a spin on the Winterfest Carousel in downtown Seattle.

There was also a trip to visit the reindeer, camel, and donkey at Swanson's nursery.

We drove around and looked at Christmas lights one night. And finally, a trip with Bryan and Sally to the Teddy Bear Suite at the Olympic Fairmount Hotel and the Gingerbread Villages at the Sheraton.

Conquering a pile of teddy bears.

Waiting in line to see all the gingerbread houses.

Lots of cookies were baked and eaten.  Unfortunately, in the week leading up to Christmas, both Linus and Eileen came down with nasty colds.  Linus also got a viral pinkeye infection.   I did everything I could to try to keep anyone else from getting pinkeye.  Just as Linus appeared to be on the mend, Eileen got sicker.  Being an exceptionally special family, Eileen managed to develop a bacterial pinkeye infection and ear infection to compliment her cold.

We celebrated Christmas Eve at my parents' house in Tacoma.  It was really lovely.  My sister, Beth, played the piano while we all sang Christmas carols.  Since we do a present exchange with everyone, I decided to try my hand at homemade Christmas using my new found sewing skills.  I made everyone coffee cup cozies, pajama pants for the men, a reversible super hero cape for my nephew,  and retro kitchen aprons.

Christmas morning was simple and sweet.

We are all grateful Santa brought Eileen her own chair.  Fights were beginning to ensue over Linus'.  Santa also has a sense of humor when it comes to binkies.

Building a pirate ship while modeling the sea turtle jammies I made for him.

We managed to make it to mass in the morning (I strongly prefer Christmas Eve mass but it is too hard to do when we are do my family's Christmas get together in Tacoma) and then came home and put back on our jammies.  We feasted on egg nog muffins and cocoa.   There were long naps and lots of playing with new toys.

We were supposed to celebrate Christmas with the Dimock side the day after Christmas, but Eileen and I stayed home since she was still sick and highly contagious.  Dave and Linus went, and apparently had a great time.  It was a little sad not being there, but what can you do?

Despite all the sickness, it was a festive holiday season.  Luckily, Eileen loves her "special milk", warm milk mixed with a little sugar and a teaspoon of amoxicillan.  She is not a big fan of the eye drops.  I look forward to no longer having sick children (Eileen has given up sleeping at night) and a return to normal.

Christmas, Spirituality, and Stephen Colbert

I am proud to be Catholic, value the Catholic education I received, and look forward to providing my children with the same opportunity.  However, I do not wear my Catholicism on my sleeve and struggle with my Catholic identity.  Compared to my Catholic friends, I am just barely Catholic or even religious.  To non-religious friends, I am their Catholic friend. It's an odd place to be and often leaves me feeling conflicted.

The Christmas season always seems to intensify these feelings.  I feel like I approach religion with a healthy dose of critical analysis.  I get annoyed when people talk about how we need to put the Christ back in Christmas, although I agree Christmas has become way too commercialized.  My sister posted this comic on Facebook, and I thought it said it best.

I love the feel of the holidays.  This year I decided it was perhaps time to include a little bit more religious instruction so help alleviate the focus on presents.  It's hard after a month and a half of birthday.  This year I bought an Advent wreath.  Linus likes the blowing out the candles part.  I bought a book about doing Advent with children.  While I found some of it a little overly religious for my tastes, I did like that it had readings to do a Jesse Tree.  I have fond memories of doing a Jesse Tree in Mrs. Layton's 2nd grade class.  So, each night we have lit the candle(s), done the day's reading, and said grace.  This is actually a big deal because we hadn't been saying grace and I loathe leading prayer.

While I practice a more progessive form of Catholicism, Dave does not share my religious beliefs but supports raising the kids Catholic.  I haven't wanted to make him uncomfortable or annoyed, so we haven't done grace.  Well, Linus has loved saying grace.  He insists on holding hands.  This was great until last weekend when we went out to dinner with friends before zoolights.  When our food arrived, Linus wanted to do grace, a singing grace more specifically.  I admit I was a bit embarrassed yet I didn't want to confuse Linus by saying lets skip it.  So I found myself singing uncomfortably in the restaurant, in front of our friends.  Suddenly, I was finding myself anxious and thinking, "I hope they don't think I am suddenly conservative or super religious, I swear I am still the same person!"  Nothing like having a child put you on the spot about your religious convictions.

Enter Stephen Colbert.  A couple months ago, I caught an episode of the Colbert Report.  His guest was a Jesuit priest, who now has the role of chaplain of the Colbert Nation.  He wrote a book called, The Jesuit Guide to Almost Everything.  I heart Jesuits.  I find them, along with Maryknoll nuns, to have a more realistic and in touch view of the world.  I figured if the book was featured on the Colbert Report, then it might be worth a read and might even provide a little guidance.  I  enjoyed it and found it provided a lot of clarity for several struggles in my life.  The book spends most of the time on how to use and apply the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises in your life, even if non-Catholic.  The book definitely gave me a lot to think about and maybe a little more sense of peace in my life and with being Catholic.

With the current direction of the Church, I don't know if I will ever feel totally comfortable around my more "Catholic" peers.  But I am excited to provide my kids with a deeper experience of the holiday season.

Getting in the Christmas Spirit

Sunday kicked off Advent.  After much begging from Linus and that fact that Dave came home early from work, I gave in and let the holidays commence around our house.  It first started with baking cookies--cardamom.  While the cookies baked, we brought out the decorations. This was the first year we let Linus help.  Eileen contributed by taking an extra long nap during the whole process.

Dave was a good dad and helped Linus set up nativity scenes.  We currently have 4 sets, 3 of which are kid-friendly.

Then it was time to break out the Christmas jammies.  Linus fell in love with the little tree I used to have on my desk at work.  He claimed it for his own and it currently sits decorated on a bookshelf next to his bed.

fresh cardamom cookies make for happy, smiling babies

Wednesday the kids both took horrible naps.  Since they were up earlier than normal, I decided to go ahead and take the kids to visit Santa.  While I normally don't go quite so early in the season, I wasn't sure when there would be another weekday afternoon where it wasn't too cold, wet, or windy, and both kids were awake before 3:30 pm.  My instincts were good and there was absolutely no line (on weekends the line is 3 hours long--no joke, we waited in it one year).  I was a little disappointed by Santa.  He didn't seem very into his role.  Linus didn't notice.  Before we left the house, he grabbed the letter we had written, thinking it would be a good idea to hand deliver it to Santa.  As soon as we walked into Santa's cabin, Linus marched up and told Santa he wanted a Buzz Lightyear.  This is a far cry from the past two years of screaming and crying.  Eileen cried at first and then didn't seem to mind.  The U Village Santa this year is giving away coupons for free hot cocoa at Jamba Juice along with candy canes.  We made sure to get our cocoa before heading home.

Back home, I made sure to snap a few pics before letting the kids get out of their Christmas finery.

Eileen got in the Christmas spirit by trying to eat the jingle bell.

This little boy loves Christmas.

 So things are off to a good start.  I am hoping this weekend to snag a tag off the tree at church  and have Linus go shopping for someone his age.  I want to teach him the importance of giving back and that Christmas is not all about getting more presents.  After a month of birthday celebrations, he needs a little reminder.

From the Mouths of Babes in November

Linus:  I'm a husky.  I play football.  Do huskies drive cars?
Me: Some do.
Linus: Do they drive on the freeway?
Me: Some do I guess.
Linus:  I'm a husky and I drive my car on the freeway.
Later while playing football...
Linus: Hut hut hike and then I'll drive on the freeway.

Linus: Ooh. Pretty Mama.   (Linus on seeing me in my black one-piece bathing suit)

While playing blocks with my sister, Sally's fiance, Bryan.
Bryan: What do you want to build?
Linus:  Not a gun. Mommy doesn't like guns.