Autumn Afternoon

Sometimes the best days are the ones when you have nothing planned.  By some sort of miracle, Sunday ended being less busy.  Dave and I left the kids to play.

Eileen and Robin commenced with fort building.  Their creation differed from previous versions by having an open air quality in part.

All the kids spent time playing in there.  I loved Eileen's note she created.  I was even more impressed by her spelling!

Bird Suite Rules

1. no steeling tuffets
2. no going into other personal spaces unless permission
3. if you have never gone into this fort ask Eileen.
4. listen to employs

My sister, Sally, is due any day with a baby.  Eileen and I went over to help her out.  While I helped with baby laundry, Eileen was more than happy to entertain Pee Wee.  She was pretty much in heaven, snuggly with an animal.

Meanwhile, the boys/menfolk built armor out of cardboard and zip ties and then commenced with an epic battle of nerf guns.

Settlers of Catan, Risk, and Frog Juice were played.  Yoon has figured out that Dave is the fun parent.  The evening ended with Linus and Yoon watching the movie, Avengers: Infinity War.  They bargained with offering no screen time on Monday, taking showers beforehand (they were pretty smelly from earlier nerf warfare), and going to bed easily.

This morning in the car on the way to school I listened for 15 minutes as Linus and Yoon dissected the movie and different super heroes.  It's these kind of weekends that make fall the best.

Haunted Halloween

The month of October was sort of a blur.  I had to write down carving pumpkins on my to-do list or I honestly think I would have forgotten.  I mean, I forgot to bake Halloween cookies!  What is happening to me!?!

Thanks to a birthday party at a pumpkin patch, Robin and Eileen picked out pumpkins for the whole family.  Carving pumpkins is not a thing in Korea, neither is costumes or trick or treating.  Yoon took to pumpkin carving like a moth to flame.  He really enjoyed himself.  None of my kids like the guts, but at least this year everyone but Robin helped.  Yoon didn't mind getting in there and doing the gross work.  Linus helped Yoon with the final hollowing out (getting rid of the last of the strings).  It was a good partnership.  Pumpkin carving was definitely a group effort this year.

Dave and I went to a Halloween party for the first time in a few years.  It finally gave me a chance to wear my Elaine Benes (from Seinfeld) costume and show off my sweet dance moves.

I should have made Dave wear a ruffled shirt.  Then we could have been like all the other cute and coordinated couples at the party.  Dave went as a gorilla.

I disappointed myself a little a didn't wear a costume to school on Halloween.  I chose to just dress for the color games (black).  My shirt did have a sparkly pumpkin on it.  So I can argue I was at least festive.

Robin opted to be a ghost this year.  I didn't anticipate how much he would embrace the costume.  He roamed the halls of school all morning, making ghostly sounds.  It was awesome.  He loved how everyone who ran away in fear from him.

Yoon joined the rest of the 6th grade boys for trick or treating, which left Dave to take out our kids.  The haul was pretty impressive with multiple full size candy bars.

Linus really wanted to be the Black Panther.  I had to think about it for awhile and weigh to what extent it would constitute cultural appropriation.  Eventually, I agreed.  Linus was very excited.

Eileen loves animals and continued her tradition of animals for Halloween.  Previous costumes have been bat (2 different years), snow leopard, and black cat.  She made a pretty cute raccoon and did her own face paint.

On all fours.

You can tell Yoon and Linus did the carving themselves.  You can't tell, but the giant mouth on the pumpkin on the far right actually has large, scary, glow in the dark teeth.  Yoon's is the one that is more of a Picasso pumpkin.

I let the kids each keep 5 pieces of candy in their rooms and put all the rest in labeled ziplocks.  I am such a mean mom.  Linus and Yoon figured out that they could work the system by choosing larger pieces of candy.  It's 3 days later.  The kids are each down to one piece of candy or less in their rooms.  I have been doing my part by slowly gleaning their bags, careful to take from each ziplock and not just one.  Sometimes it's good to be the mom.  Let the kids do all the work, and I reap the benefits.  Mwa ha ha.

10 Years in the Making

I am in a state of denial.  Today my very first baby, my baby Linusaur, turned 10.  10.  As in a decade, double digits.  I can't even call him a little kid anymore! 

Believe it or not this is the face of a sick kid.  Despite sickness, he's pretty happy this long awaited moment arrived.

See what I mean?  He's practically a man!  For perspective, I think of Linus a little more like this.

Or really, more like this.  There needs to be a bit of a mischievous glint in his eye to capture his true essence.

His tenth year started out a little rough.  Due to some poor choices, he lost screen time for a week.  The night before his birthday Linus started feeling ill.  On the way home from soccer practice, Dave had to pull over three times so Linus could puke on the side of the road.  His precious red velvet cupcakes for his classroom treat would have to wait a day, Linus would have to spend his birthday home sick.

Poor Linus.  Feeling yucky.  No screens.  Home all day.  He still wanted breakfast in bed, but didn't eat much.  Along with breakfast, I gifted him with his first two presents -- the privilege of a later bedtime (now 8:30 pm) and a pass for one hour of free screen time to be redeemed after his punishment ends.  While not normally our thing, we let Linus open his presents so he would have something to keep him occupied for the day.

I failed to capture the open mouth, gawking that the LEGOs elicited.

It took him about 3 hours to assemble.

We also got him a light up tracing board.  It's pretty cool.  Linus enjoyed his time with that as well.

Along with the new books for his Kindle from Dave's parents, Linus was set for the day.

Linus didn't eat much during the day, but decided he still needed to go out to dinner for his birthday.  His request?  Red Lobster.  We came home to finish the celebration with an oreo ice cream cake.

My parents made it just in time for the cake (what an interesting coincidence....) and brought him a telescope as a gift.  Perfect choice.

Perhaps the gift that excited Linus most came in the mail from my aunt, Eileen (aka Eileen the Elder).

She photoshopped Linus' head onto the body of his uncle, Gino.  As a ten year old, Linus is now old enough to do the Warrior Dash.  Eileen inducted him by providing him with his own pair of flame pants, just like the ones the rest of the people in our group wear.  Do you see the sheer joy?  September can't come soon enough.

Ten is pretty grown up.  At ten, Linus has moved beyond trucks/cars/diggers, pirates, and superheros.  He still loves LEGOs, books, and Calvin and Hobbes.  These days he wants to play Magic or Settlers of Catan, watch videos on Youtube, or play soccer.  He still hates going to bed and waking up.  I'm glad he is over his "I want to be a professional football player" phase.  Linus likes to draw and create. He still hates being told what to do.  Linus has an incredible mind and a wicked sense of humor.  As frustrating as life is now for him sometimes, I'm pretty sure he is going to be an amazing adult if we can all survive these tween years.

Happy Birthday Linus.  10 years never went by so quickly.

Birthday Aging with Kids

I turned 39 this week.  If 40 is "over the hill,"  then right now I suppose I am at the top of the hill and surveying the world around me.

My kids were pretty excited about more birthday, or rather, the opportunity for more cake.

Robin:  Happy Birthday.  You are 39. Next year you will be 40.
Eileen:  And in only 11 years, you will be 50!
Me: Ssh! Shush you!

My yearly birthday morning selfie.

If I look a little tired, I have good reason.  In the lead up to my birthday I had 3 parent meetings (all good, but still).  Even better, on Thursday I won the prize of being offered up as a sacrificial lamb and got to have my teaching observed by 28 principals.  Yes, that's right.  14 principals at a time, clicking away at their laptops, watching me teach/talking to students.  It felt a little crowded to say the least.

By Friday, my actual birthday, I was exhausted.  Luckily, I teach in an awesome community.  My day was full of birthday wishes and lots of love from faculty and kids.  For the first time, a student shared a birthday with me.  It was pretty cool and a fun bond.

The evening was incredibly relaxing.  Too exhausted by even the idea of going out to eat, I had Dave pick up lots of dumplings and pork buns from Little Tings in Greenwood. I was shocked that all the kids ate it.  The food was almost as good as going to Din Tai Fung, but way less stressful.  I then went to my room to relax.  Dave picked up Yoon from Korean school and then we had cake and presents.

Ice cream cake, the best of both worlds.

My husband loves and knows me well.  He picked out just the right gift for me.

My only criticisms are: it doesn't have some of the fun Disney games like Ducktales and the cord on the remote is ridiculously short (way shorter than even on an original).

After cake, I was ready to just chill some more in my room, away from the world.  I came downstairs and found this scene.

 

I love this family of mine.   Eileen asked me if I wished I was still a kid because then I wouldn't have to worry about things like money.  I said no.  If I was a kid, I would miss the family I have now and I wouldn't trade that for anything.

My final gift came this morning, the gift of sleeping in.  Of course, children were in my room at 6:30 am (which never happens on weekdays).  But Dave dealt with them.  I stayed cozy and got caught up on shows on Hulu, drank coffee, and read People magazine.  This year for my birthday, I got the three things I wanted most: my family, a Nintendo mini classic, and the gift of time to myself.

Shower for the Wild One

My little sister is having a baby and I could not be more excited!  According to my brother-in-law, he was a bundle of energy as a child.  Given how Gino is now, this is not a surprise.  I am sure this Gino 2.0 will take after his father.

"And his mother called him 'Wild Thing!'"
                              --Maurice Sendak

As such I decided to host a shower to welcome our new Wild One to the family. 

As a literary nerd and a lover of childhood books, I had a lot of fun with this.  When hosting, I always try to not go too far down the Pinterest rabbit hole, but still create a unique and fun experience. 

Our friend, Beth, came over early and helped me get ready. I lucked out and the school/parish was having a bake sale the day of the shower.  I made an autumn punch (Trader Joe Spiced Apple Cider, pineapple juice, and ginger beer), a veggie tray, a fruit tray, and a basket of Brazi bites (amazing cheese puffs).  The Brazi bites were a huge hit and I couldn't keep the basket stocked fast enough!

I framed a poster of "Where the Wild Things Are" that Sally could put up in the nursery.  Fairy lights in mason jars added a whimsical touch.  I was excited to find cupcake toppers with the theme.

Sally asked me to have people write mantras for her to use during the birth and the tough times of motherhood.  Some of them may have been less than kid appropriate :)

As people slowly arrived, we created an alphabet book for the baby. 

My daughter, Eileen, was not at the shower, but had fun contributing to the book.  What can I say? My children are witty.

We played pass the present and another game requiring people to identify passages from children's book, both old classics and new.  Sally won this game (from her own time spent reading to my children).

Everyone had a lot of fun.  There was lots of laughter.  I was really impressed by how many people gave books, especially since it's not like they were talking to one another before hand.  Maybe my theme worked as subliminal messaging?

Despite leading an incredibly hectic, busy life right now, it made me so happy to take time to celebrate Sally and her new little one.  I can't wait to meet him and watch her and Gino grow as parents.

Happy Birthday Robin

This guy is 5 years old.  Five.  Five!!!!

He's doing great with this.  His mother? Not so much.  5 is not a baby, not a toddler, a full on kid.  I don't know how I will cope when he start kindergarten.

What does a 5 year old big kid want for his birthday dinner?  A Happy Meal from McDonalds and where we eat in the "restaurant."  The kids were happy.  I suppose I appreciated the lack of effort required by me.  It's one of those times where you realize your childhood self would be very disappointed in your adult self.

Dessert was a red velvet cake. We made it the night before.  Linus requested to help bake the cake.  Yoon asked to help.  Linus taught him to crack an egg.  

Yoon cracks his very first egg.

My parents, sister, and brother-in-law joined us for presents.  Robin got a ton of Pokemon minifigures, the four Owl Diary books we didn't already own, and a small Hatchimal.  I blame Eileen for the Hatchimal.  Luckily, it was inexpensive and I won't feel bad when it later accidentally disappears from the house.

Linus and Eileen are really starting to look alike again.

 A present from Grandma and Grandpa -- a trip to the Cougar Mountain Zoo and a meal at Dicks.

It was at cake time that things started to fall apart.  Robin is a man of many ideas.  He somehow came to the conclusion that the day of his birth is his "silver" birthday.  The day after is his "golden" birthday.  Did you know that you have tomato soup on your golden birthday or that you only can eat cake on your golden birthday.  There is absolutely no cake or ice cream on your silver birthday.

We had to slowly coax him through cake.  He was okay with us singing to him.

After blowing out candles, Robin started to protest so we told him one of the privileges of being five is you get to help cut the cake.  Crisis averted.

Strike that.  Crisis not averted.  Robin was adamant that no one eat cake.  I carried him off screaming and crying and flailing.  We eventually got him to agree to half the cake tonight, half on his "golden" birthday.  Everyone then got to eat.  And then more crisis.  Grandpa decided the cake was so good he needed one more slice.  This meant the cake was no longer exactly half!  Robin got upset and declared he was leaving.

Robin eventually calmed down and he played with his new Pokemon on his Pokemon training gym that Linus made for him a while ago.  This helped.  So to recap.  He ate no cake or ice cream.  When it was time to bed, he agreed to fruit snacks.  It was all so sad.

Robin has really become his own person over the last few months.  He is feeling more confident about his pencil grip and has taken to coloring and creating pictures.  I'm impressed by his ability to stay in the lines.  6 months ago he was declared 2 years delayed in terms of fine motor so this is huge!

Robin loves reading.  He reads at around a 2nd grade level at least.  It's a fun party trick until you can't keep secrets from him.  His favorite things to read are Owl Diaries and Calvin and Hobbes.  Like Linus at this age, he wishes we had named his Calvin.  Robin did suggest we change Linus' name to Hobbes.

Robin likes to build and create -- forts, legos, interesting crafts.  Swimming is his favorite sport and he is a surprisingly strong swimmer.  While he still likes to be a bird and snuggle, Robin is often a more surly bird with a penchant for hitting and biting.  We are all hoping it's only a phase.  I love his wicked sense of humor, his singing, his wild imagination, and his devotion to his siblings.  Generally, Robin is sweetness and love.  Eileen and Linus don't agree on much, but they both agree he is their favorite.  

Happy Birthday Robin Bird.  Please stop growing up so quickly.