Sunday, December 28, 2008

Family Outing to the Science Museum

The best laid plans...(I remember saying that to a friend in college in our feminist days - "the best laid plans of mice and men" - and she said, "good thing we are neither!")

Yesterday, Rose #3 was unexpectedly, unexplainedly sick. She threw up a couple of times and was generally miserable. So my veggie-heavy, TV-free day morphed into a junk food, movie day during which we only left the house to go to Cub and Target.

So we made up for it (in part) today. We went to the Science Museum, of which we are members. Rose #1's favorite part was a computer program that helped her learn about how wind patterns are formed.  She spent quite a while learning about high and low pressure centers, and wind direction and speed, etc.
Rose #2 liked an exhibit that demonstrated air flow.  A ball sits on top of an exhaust outlet and when the air goes on, the outlet can be moved.  Then you see how far down the outlet can go before the ball bounces off.  Here is Rose #2 prepping to catch the ball:
Rose #3 took frequent breaks (with me) for snacks.  Nilla Wafers, raisins:  she wasn't picky.  Here she is in the snack corner smiling since she got to eat a bunch of Nilla Wafers:
MY favorite part of the Science Museum is the musical steps.  The Science Museum has connected a flight of stairs to a music program so that when you step on a stair,  a musical note plays.  There are lots of good things about these steps:  they are neat, plus they encourage young children to run up and down many times.  I.e.,:

Saturday, December 27, 2008

Quiet Saturday Morning

Up early to get some work done.  Every morning I wake up with one girl on my right (usually Rose #2) and one on my left (usually Rose #3).  Until the Christmas loft beds, I would also normally find another girl at my feet, lying perpindicular across the bed (Rose #1).  Yes, they still come into our bed, almost every night.  I just try to remember that when they are teenagers, they won't even want to TALK to us.  Quite the opposite these days, of course.

Today we are going to try to do a family activity - Science Museum, maybe, since we are members.  And my personal goal is to have 1) very little television 2) lots of fruits and vegetables (wish you saw Rose #2 with her ice cream and Whopper sundae last night) 3) thank you notes done by the end of the day and 4) a minimum of yelling.  On my part, that is.

Tomorrow, the Christmas tree comes down.  It seems like we only had it up for such a short time.  This year the Roses got to the glass bulbs before I could put them mostly on the top of the tree, so they were all threaded precariously on the bottom branches.  We lost quite a few of those bulbs this year, of course.   I feel like I was always running into the tree room with a broom and dustpan.

Thursday, December 25, 2008

Christmas '08 Continued

The most beautiful little shepherd you ever did see:
And Rose #2 and her cousin in a Christmas tank dress hug:

Christmas '08!

We had a wonderful Christmas Eve. We had a shepherd and a cherub in the Christmas pageant:

They were extremely well behaved.  Rose #2 the cherub waited patiently for her turn to go on, and Rose #1 the shepherd wanted nothing to do with me - she was playing Apples to Apples with the big shepherds in the shepherd waiting room.

After church - which went late - we had Christmas Eve dinner with Ahma and Ahgong.  Here are the Roses in front of the tree with their grandparents:

We had a slight emergency when Rose #1 opened the door to our bedroom and found one of the Christmas gifts in there - but all ended well.  Roses #1 and #2 got new beds for Christmas - loft beds.  They share a bedroom so they need extra space.  

Friday, December 19, 2008

Friday Night Cuties

Rose #1 LOVES Kung Fu Panda. Mainly so she can do kung fu herself. SeeExhibit 1, below:
Rose #2 was just smiley. Slightly out of focus, but very smiley.
Rose #3 has ketchup on her face. (We had turkey burgers for dinner and I haven't washed her face yet.) But isn't she cute? She's a stinkpants, but a cute one. Sometimes she calls me "Mommy Tinkpants."

And, a shot of them watching the movie. The only movie we ever watch anymore - Kung Fu Panda.

I love spending Friday night with my girls.
We are having two big parties this weekend - one for Little Fins, the limb difference group we belong to for Rose #1 - and the other for BECHAMP family Christmas. We had the house cleaned on Thursday (by a group of professional cleaners) and the house looks GOOD.

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Frayed Tempers

The holidays are coming up fast, and all we have is frayed tempers at our house. Or, to be more specific, my temper is frayed. I don't know if it is remnants of strep, or cabin fever (dang has it been COLD here in Minnesota), but everyone is crabby. Or I am crabby and my crabbiness is making everyone else crabby.

Every night as I drive up to the house at 5:30 I vow to be a patient, loving, kind, sweet and empathetic mother. But every single night I am greeted by super crabby, whiny kids. Example: Rose #3 asks for juice before dinner every. single. night. We have a rule: no juice before dinner. I am not a paragon of consistency but I have stuck to this rule for quite some time. You might think that eventually she will stop asking, but you would be wrong. Tonight I had to bodily remove her from the kitchen because she was HOWLING at the top of her lungs. (I do find it a tiny bit funny when she is sobbing, gulping for air, and somehow still asking "Juice! Please! Juice! Please!" As if adding Please! will change my mind. It doesn't.)

Another tussling point: every night Rose #2 wants the TV in the kitchen to be turned up to FULL VOLUME. I let the kids watch TV while I make dinner but I can't tolerate super loud TV. So every night I turn it down to a very, very respectably audible volume. Every single night we have a screaming fit about how "I can't hear the TV". (OF COURSE YOU CAN'T HEAR THE TV, YOU ARE CRYING AT THE TOP OF YOUR LUNGS.)

Phew. These are not earthshaking problems, I know. I know, I know, I know. But I feel like such an awful mother after I get mad at them for the umpteenth time about juice, or TV volume, or leaving everything on the floor all the time, or hitting each other, or, or, or.

Tomorrow, I will try again. To be patient. To be loving. To be kind. Because really, I do love the Roses more than anything in the whole wide world.

Monday, December 15, 2008

Jammie Shots

So, I told you that I broke Rose #3's crib, and here is proof:


She is now using her bed as a toddler bed. The unfortunate side effect is that she can get out of it whenever she wants! Oh well, this day was bound to come sooner or later.


I also offer for your enjoyment a quick shot of some post toothbrushing shenanigans. Doesn't Rose #3's hair look cute? Thanks Aunt Boo for letting Rose #3 muscle in on the MND haircut schedule.

I have been slacking a bit on the posting lately - I know, I know. I have been super tired in the evenings so it has been hard to blog. Most nights I just fall asleep on the floor in the girls' room. (Not very comfortable.)

Friday, December 12, 2008

An Explanation For the Awfulness

We-ell, we know why everyone has been so witchy around here.  Rose #1 has strep, so does Rose #3.  Rose #2 tested negative for strep at urgent care tonight, so either she dodged the bullet or the strep test is inaccurate.  Hopefully it is the former.  The timing is AWFUL.  Ahma and Ahgong are picking up the healthy Roses for an outing tomorrow and H and I were going to go Christmas shopping.  We'll see what shopping actually happens, I guess.  Bother.  Bother.  Bother.

I wish I was the kind of person who shops for Christmas throughout the year.  But I am not.  I never know what my girls want until it is close to the time - this time last year, Rose #2 was all about princesses, nothing else, heaven forbid you should suggest anything other than a princess toy.  Now she wants nothing to do with princesses and everything is about Pokemon.  Or candy.  Go figure.

On a note about Rose #3 - I have to admit that at about 1:45 a.m. this morning, when everyone was awake (you would think we had NEWBORNS in this house, not ages 6, 4 and 2) I was a teensy, eensy bit mad, and I put the bar down on Rose #3's crib a teensy, eensy bit fast and maybe not so gently.  Well, I broke it.  (I remember going shopping for this crib at Sears at the Mall of America when I was pregnant with Rose #1.  I think I went with Anna - can that be right?)  Anyway, it is a good thing that the crib turns into a toddler bed, because it really had no choice but to be a toddler bed.  The very, very unfortunate part:  Rose #3 has figured out that she can get in and out of her bed at her very own discretion.  This is not good.

Rose #1 got to stay home from school today (first 24 hours on antibiotics) and she is twirly, and bored, and sharky (her bottom two teeth STILL have not fallen out yet).  This weekend she has to work on her cultural heritage presentation - yes, they have first graders making class presentations at her school.  Sunday is all about the red envelope presentation here at our house.

This Just In: Christmas Pageant Roles

Rose #1: Little Shepherd
Rose #2: Cherub
Rose #3: (Too Young.)

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

An Awful Night, Last Night Was

H is (right now?) giving his final presentation for his class - Verification and Validation - zzzzz (oh, wake me up, was I sleeping?) and last night he was practicing with his project group.  Which left me with the kids.  I love the girls.  I do.  I love them, love them, love them.

But after a full cup of orange juice was spilled on the kitchen floor, and Rose #3 peed on the bathroom floor because she was too busy hiking up her dress and arranging the footstool to actually Sit. On. The. Potty. And. Use. It., I kind of lost it.  I had to clean the kitchen and the bathroom, and I know that in the grand scheme of things (i.e., this vs. homelesness, or starvation, or even layoffs) it is not big deal.   But, I was really mad.  So, I yelled at the Roses, and I made them clean the living room and dining room in a very authoritarian manner, and Rose #2 looked at me with her crumply face and said, in a small voice, "I thought tonight was going to be a GOOD night."

I felt as small as this (I am holding up my thumb and forefinger and there is about a centimeter span between them).

So, I promised myself tonight would be better.  How is it better, you ask?  How is it that I am blogging at 6:37 p.m.?  The Roses begged to go up to the toyroom and watch television, and I, weak creature that I am, let them.

Who knew parenting would be this hard?

Sunday, December 7, 2008

The Roses, Their Cousins, and a Jolly Old Elf

Today was the day - our annual trek to the 8th floor of Macy's. In Rose #1's time, it has been Dayton's, Marshall Fields, and Macy's. Luckily they keep up the tradition of the 8th floor, where a Christmas story is staged each year with figurines, lights, music, and signs to tell the story. This year the story is about Santa's elves:

The Roses enjoyed walking through the displays. There was a very large quantity of cotton (?) snow. Here they are looking at one display with moving Christmas trees:
All of Guppy's grandchildren were there. Here is baby Kate, who was extremely cheerful during the entire event. Her daddy is in the background:
And here is Rose #2 with her cousin Maddie:
And Rose #3 riding on Uncle Andy's shoulders. Uncle Andy is growing a beard which makes him very intriguing to Rose #3:

And finally here are the Roses sitting on Santa's lap. Rose #1 whispered what she wants to Santa, and I could not even hear. Rose #2 wants a "jellybean machine," and I do not even know what this is. Rose #3 whispered something about "Pokemon" before losing it completely and being unable to speak.

We all had a very good time, and returned to our house after the outing for delicious homemade soup (thank you Aunt Heidi!). What is Christmas without an outing to sit on Santa's lap?

Friday night at home...

It was a lazy Friday night at home. Once again, we were canoozled into watching Kung Fu Panda, which is actually a very cute movie.  Here is Rose #1 winking with pleasure because she got to watch her movie again.

And Rose #2, pouting a little bit, and looking crabbish.
And Rose #3, hamming it up as usual.
Rose #1 is working on her family tree.  She has to draw the family tree, label it, and then put a symbol that represents each person next to their spot on the tree.  I will take a picture of this  and post it here when it is done to memorialize it for all time.

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Wednesday Night At Our House

So, here we are on a Wednesday night. H has class, so we were just hanging around.  Rose #3 decided that she wanted to wear H's socks as tights.  So, here she is posing for her sock portrait.
Rose #1 was lounging on the rug discussing two very important things - family trees (she is learning about her cultural heritage at school) and measuring things using "feet."  Meaning the length of her own foot, or mine, etc.  This is apparently a lesson about the vagaries of non-metric measuring.
Prior to this interlude the Roses played a game called "Lift Up Rose #3."  I don't like this game much because I am always worried that Rose #3 will be dropped.
And, lo and behold, she was.

Game over!

Monday, December 1, 2008

gsw87sf7w9fd67fw67 (Or, Title As Typed By A 4-Year-Old)

The post-MND belly of Rose #3:I couldn't resist bringing my camera to MND.  Here is Gus, my nephew, looking cute in the kitchen:
And here is Rose #2, posing in one of her model poses.
Rose #1 is very into equity.  If there is a shot of Rose #2 and Rose #3, there had better be one of Rose #1 (or woe befall you):
Sometime soon we will cure Rose #3 of her squinty-eye smile whenever someone points a  camera in her face.  Here she is with Aunt Brenna:
We had a good MND.  Pot roast (chicken for me), potatoes, broccoli, homemade bread, and Aunt Heidi brought a big old chocolate bar.  Yum.

Sunday, November 30, 2008

Sledding

It just wouldn't be a mommy blog without some sledding pics.  Today was the first measurable snowfall here in our region of the great state of Minnesota, and we had to go out and SLED!The Roses enjoyed their outing.  It was a bit of a struggle to get them out the door, especially Rose #2 (VERY picky about her coat, her snowpants, etc. etc.) but worth it!

I am still learning how to work my new camera.  Here is Rose #2, rather closer than I meant to shoot, but it is cute anyway.

Back in the SADDLE!

I happy ya.

We got a replacement for our really, really nice digital camera that fell from the top shelf of a tall bookcase.   The camera is for me - a smaller, MUCH less fancy digital camera, but it WORKS, and now I don't have to say, wistfully, "I wish I had our camera."

Last night we had friends over for dinner, and we made rollout cookies.  Decorating the cookies was one of the activities.  Here are Roses #3 and 1 in the throes of decorating.
And here is Rose #2 and her buddy Nadia working hard on decorating.  Putting sprinkles on is serious business.
Here is a panorama shot of the full decorating extravaganza.  (If you look carefully you can see one of our grownup dinner guests!)
I couldn't resist this picture of Rose #3.  I am just smitten with her.  All the Roses, actually.

Friday, November 28, 2008

A Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Menu:  Turkey, fried rice, mashed potatoes, Chinese broccoli, gravy (yes, from a packet), egg rolls, and squid.  And homemade french silk pie (take THAT, Baker's Square, with peanuts and tree nuts in your pie!).

We were at my in-laws' house.  Guess who loved the squid?  Rose #2, that's who.  She immediately asked for a helping of squid, and then seconds, and thirds.  Guess who couldn't even bring herself to eat squid?  Yours truly.  Guess who is getting used to the fact that squid would be on the menu?  Also yours truly.  (Seems like about time after 10+ years, but I can be a slow learner that way.)

I don't want to seem like I am not an adventurous eater, but in truth I guess I am not.  I am not opposed to other people eating things like squid, though.  I do think it is funny that a 4-year-old would want to eat it!

Other cute things about Thanksgiving:  
  • The girls, with their Ahgong, watching PBS kids on the new flatscreen TV that Ahma and Ahgong got for their kitchen.  They were sitting on the floor and Rose #3 was lounging on her Ahgong's lap.  
  • Rose #3 coming over to the dinner table after she was done but the grownups were not, and jumping while holding the side of the table as if she was on a trampoline.  But she wasn't.  
  • Ahma was cute because she loves the Roses so much.  She volunteers at Rose #1's school and Rose #2's school, and it continues to amaze me how much she loves the girls.  She watches them, and she knows about them, and I think they are the first thing she thinks of when she gets up and the last thing she thinks of before she goes to sleep.  That's ONE thing we have in common.  (Well, two, I guess - we both love her son!)

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Wishlists

The Roses and their cousins draw names for Christmas presents (spending limit = $25).  Tonight we worked on our wishlists.  Rose #1 wants all Pokemon items, Star Wars, and several items WAY out of the price range (D-rex anyone?).  Rose #2 also wants Pokemon items, a Christmas shirt (how cute is that) and several things that are indecipherable to me (a HSM tent with musical things - what?).  Rose #3 wants "Dora, Boots, Momo toy, and Purplicious.  Please."

My siblings and I also draw names.  My wishlist is pretty simple - although I have heard it is not the most well-written book of all time, I still really want to read Twilight.  So, I put it on my wishlist.  I also asked my husband to take me to the movie - he said he would take me, and drop me off, and go see the James Bond movie, and pick me up after.  Not exactly what I had in mind.

Tomorrow we are off to Ahma and Ahgong's house for turkey dinner.  I am looking forward to it.  We are bringing mashed potatoes and a homemade chocolate mousse pie (Rose #1 can't eat Baker's Square french silk pie - peanuts and tree nuts).

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Rose #3 and My Curious George

Rose #3 is playing with my Curious George doll, which I have had for a long, long time.  Curious George accompanied me to Russia, among other places, and to each apartment I ever lived in, and to our first house, and now to this (hopefully our last) house.  Here is a direct quote from Rose #3:  "Monkey Poopy.  Change Diaper."  I don't know where she gets these ideas!

Rose #1 is sitting at her homework desk.  It is actually a desk that H bought for me, a small secretary, and we made the mistake of putting it in the TV room.  It became a repository for random cords and wires, a bunch of unused flashcards, and old Netflix wrappers.  We thought better of this and brought it downstairs over the weekend, and I swiped it off with pledge wipes.  Now it looks quite nice, and we finally organized our art supplies so the Roses have easy access to crayons, markers, etc. for their crafting needs.

Rose #2  is just at loose ends.  She is on a 2.5-week long break from school, and while pre-kindergarteners arguably need downtime, I think she could stand to get back to class.  Mrs. S's class reconvenes on December 1.  Thank goodness.

Monday, November 24, 2008

Mellow (?!) MND

After yesterday's Thanksgivingpalooza, there was a smaller crowd at MND.   It was still quite loud!  The cousins - Roses and Sam and Maddie - were whooping it up all over the house.  They are not used to having the run of my mom's house because of the B&B, but there were no guests tonight.

We had a very good hamburger dinner (I had turkey sandwich) with thanksgiving leftovers.  Rose #1 tried the cherry pie tonight (and loved it, duh).  Rose #3 also tried the cherry pie and scarfed it down.  Rose #2, who is completely and utterly anti-fruit, would not even eat cherry pie.  Is cherry pie even fruit?

One downside to MND is that it makes our Mondays go really late.  I could hardly get in a word even with Rose #1 to hear about her school day.  I did hear that Roses #2 and 3 had a bath today - thanks to their nanny - who also introduced us to the wonders of baby oil for very, very dry skin.  All three of the Roses have heartbreakingly dry skin.  Rose #3 even has chapped cheeks.

I wish you could hear Rose #3 talking.  She can just talk up a storm.  And Rose #2, you can see the wheels turning behind her eyes.  And Rose #1, with her two rows of sharklike teeth (I kid you not, she has her two adult teeth in behind her two baby teeth on the bottom, and yes, we did have her checked at the dentist, and no they do not extract the baby teeth in that scenario).

Sunday, November 23, 2008

A wonderful pre-Thanksgiving

We always celebrate Thanksgiving on the Sunday before with my family, and we had a great time today.  We gathered at 2:00 so we could bring the kids to the grocery store to shp for the food shelf.  Guppy, Poppy, Tonya, Jay and I brought the Roses, Sam and Maddie, and Beatrice and Gus to Rainbow to shop for kids who don't have enough money to get all the yummy kinds of foods our kids take for granted.  Let's just say - the kids were more interested in playing with each other, taking junk food and throwing in the cart, and getting in the way of other shoppers than meditating on how we were helping some families that run into this food on their next food shelf visit.

Oh well.  I thought it was a great idea.  As time goes on the kids will hopefully get into the concept more.

Dinner was fabulous.  Turkey, of course, and mashed potatoes (our contribution!) and stuffing, and wild rice and mushrooms, and corn casserole, and green bean casserole, and bread, and cranberry sauce.  It was all so good, and I only sort of stuffed myself.  We had cherry pie, pumpkin pie and french silk pie for dessert.

And, the kids were good.  They sat at their kid table for the most part, and let the grownups eat.  Baby Kate sat in a high chair and ate sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, and cranberry jelly.  She was SO GOOD!  She had a long nap and a good dinner, and Rose #3 played peek-a-boo with her all evening.

The funniest part of the evening was a joke Uncle Andy told while I was recounting the usual fascinatiing topic:  where did the Roses sleep last night?  I was telling about how Rose #3 came into our bed and was turning over and over like a rotisserie chicken.  And how H put her into the hall and locked the door, and how she cried for a couple of minutes, and then stopped crying.  Then, a second later, a small knock came on the door.  Uncle Andy said, "Land Shark."  Maybe it is a sign of how stressed out I am, or how much I needed a laugh, but I just laughed my head off.

We are so thankful for our family and all the good food we are blessed with.  

Thursday, November 20, 2008

What Should I Tell You?

About how I got home late from work, with groceries from Lund's, and our house was a total disaster area, like a train wreck, and H was sitting with the Roses on the floor playing Sequence for Kids?  And Rose #3 had peed on the rug and he was sitting with dishtowels all around him mopping up the pee?

Should I tell you about the sad thrown together dinner we had with bag salad, and the girls ate it like manna from heaven?  And Rose #3 said, after dinner, "Thank you for the dinner, Mommy and Daddy." 

Should I tell you about how 15 minutes sitting on the couch with H after the dishes were done felt like a moment of grace, and we had a good time just looking at the listings on craigslist for desks?

Should I tell you about how the thought of going to work tomorrow just makes me feel dead inside, and how leaving my girls behind makes me want to cry?  For an hour, or a day, or even a week?

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Study Hall After Dinner

Rose #1 in first grade has real homework.  She has a list of 10 spelling words she has to learn each week (the "hard' word this week is "picture" - which, if you look at that word for awhile, you wonder why exactly it is spelled that way).  Tonight we sat down and she carefully wrote them in two columns - one while looking at the list, and the other from memory.  She did pretty well.  I think she might be like her mama and a good speller.  For some reason I was blessed with being able to spell many words.  This is a talent that became largely useless after spell check was invented. 

We had a good night at study hall at the dining room table.  It does not help that Roses #2 and 3 have NO homework, and they were running around screaming like banshees.  But, I got the glue stick out (Rose #3 likes to think that gluesticks are actually chapstick) and Rose #2 worked on a smiley face guy with glued on pieces of craft-ish pom poms.  (You have to see it to know what I mean.)  Rose #3 dumped the brand new box of 64 crayons all over the floor and thought it was a scream.  You know, heaven forbid you should actually COLOR with the CRAYONS.  Far better to dump them into a waxy crayon pile.  Sigh.

Rose #1 persevered and got through her spelling list.  And, she worked on her math homework.  She also has a project to do about her cultural background.  This is a pretty intense school, but she is happy.   I have high hopes for this school to carry her largely unscathed through eighth grade - it is a 1-8 school - and hope she can go off to high school without a lot of the crappy junior high shenanigans.

It is funny how kids are so different.  I don't worry (much) about Rose #1's academic skills, but I worry about her socially (for reasons that are probably obvious).  I don't worry at all about Rose #2 socially - she is the life of the 4-year-old kindergarten party - but I do worry about her academically , at least as much as you CAN worry about a 4-year-old that way.  

Rose #3, I don't know about yet.  I was thinking this morning as I was walking into the skyway that we never even planned on having Rose #3.  (She was a bit of a surprise...a welcome surprise but a surprise nonetheless.)  I can't even imagine life without her now...

Monday, November 17, 2008

Happy Birthday Aunt Charity

How do you like the above?  Aunt Charity and Rose #3 collaborating to blow out the candles on a delicious pound cake!  Rose #3 ate quite a bit of the pound cake.  "More cake please."  "More milky please."  She starts each sentence with a little sound - kind of like a "nnnn" - so her sentences come out, "Nnnnn, more cake please."  Very cute.

MND

Just typing the word (OK, acronym) does not give you a sense of how people really say it - it is like a word -  Mennnnnd.  It stands for "Monday Night Dinner," when - each week - my siblings and I and our families are all invited to my mom's house for dinner.  Tonight we celebrated Aunt Charity's birthday.  We drew Aunt Charity for birthdays this year - and she is so easy!  She loves to cook, so we got her a bunch of cooking items.  Silicon spatulas, a big glass measuring cup, a mini muffin tin, and the best gift - a spritz cookie maker.  Who knew you can make cheese straws in such a device?  What exactly is a cheese straw anyway?


Rose #3 saw her favorite uncle (above!) and positively lunged for him to sit on his lap.  Rose #2 was so cute in her new High School Musical 3 shirt (from the clearance rack at my favorite discount retailer).  Rose #1 organized all the cousins - well, all of them except B. Kate - to make a card for Aunt Charity.  And, we had a very tasty dinner - Grandma Goldman's chicken.

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Why I Missed Posting Yesterday and Weekend Musings

I took a Benadryl at about 6:30 p.m., and I was OUT.  Like a Light.  At 7:30 p.m.  This left H to put the Roses to bed by himself.  (Tee hee.  Perhaps I will start taking a Benadryl every night!)  I took a Benadryl because I ate something that caused the tastebuds on the BACK of my tongue to swell up.  A lot.  Anyway, that is probably TMI.  (Read on to learn what it was that I ate and the interesting back story.)

We had a fine weekend, especially after I got done working on Saturday.  I got home around 12:30 and organized everyone for a trip to the zoo with Aunt Heidi!  It was a good zoo day if a bit nippy.  We did the tropics trail first, then stopped for snack (where as Aunt Heidi observed each child had their own personal combination of chips, raisins, grapes, and crackers), then we went on the Minnesota trail, and then, to Discovery Bay.  Discovery Bay has a very, very fine tide pool.  Where periodically a huge wave appears cascading over rocks and causes foamy water to spread throughout the pool.  Which my beloved niece Beatrice could not help but stretch her hand and body out to touch, and - see if you can guess what happened.

I was sitting on a rock by this pool maybe, just maybe, about 7 feet from where Beatrice and the Roses were playing.  I warned them not to climb since they would not be happy if they fell in.  The starfish would also not be very happy!  I looked away, or was talking to Rose #3, or something, and I looked back just in time to see Beatrice slooshing into the water, face first, and her whole entire body was submerged in the tide pool.  She was not in there for more than about 2 seconds before I scooped her out.  She was shocked, of course, and wet and cold, but not in any real danger.  I don't know if she squished some marine life (I certainly hope not of course).  Anyway, I dispatched Rose #1 to find her Aunt Heidi (whom she summoned by saying "Aunt Heidi, we have a bit of an emergency") and asked the closest volunteer for a towel.

As it turns out, Beatrice was not the first child in the history of the zoo to fall into the tide pool.  They have a ready supply of towels for just this purpose.  They did ask us politely to leave the wet towel at Guest Services near the exit (which we did)!  Everyone was quite traumatized as we were leaving, so I got everyone a jumbo pretzel for the ride home.  I think it was one of the large granules of salt on the pretzel that made my tongue act so strangely.

Now you know why I did not post yesterday.  I am sorry because I was trying to post every day in November as part of NaBloPoMo.  I feel quite sad that I missed a single day.  But, on with the rest of the month.

Friday, November 14, 2008

MYO Pizza Friday

We like to have MYO Pizza night on Friday nights.  We have the following choices:

Shredded cheese
Pepperoni
Ham (turkey ham!)
Olives (yuck, but Rose #2 eats them by the handful)
Broccoli (yum)
Onions
Mushrooms

Rose #1 likes cheese pizza only.  Rose #2 likes pepperoni and olives. Rose #3 likes to grab handfuls of whatever is closest and dump it into a little tower on her pizza.  

We have a good pizza stone from the restaurant supply store.  MYO Pizza is very, very good on the pizza stone.

Tomorrow we are going to the zoo with Aunt Heidi, Beatrice and Gus.  We are excited about that!

Thursday, November 13, 2008

A fond farewell to our camera (sob)

Last night as I was reading bedtime stories to the Roses, I heard a terrible crash and a gut wrenching crunching noise from downstairs.  Then a "Oh Sh**!" from H.  Yes, our fancy camera, purchased as a Christmas gift from me to H a couple years ago, fell down from its "safe" perch on top of one of our really high bookshelves, and it is completely, totally, 100% broken.  And ruined.

It is my fault.  I took it down last night to take pictures for this blog (argh!) and I put it on the couch rather than putting it away on top of the shelf.  I also just stuck it in the bag, I did not fasten the bag.  So when H went to put it away on the shelf, his hand slipped and the camera toppled out of the bag.

What a stupid stupid mistake (of mine not to close the bag) and what a shame.  I am so sorry.  I know there are much worse things that could happen, but that camera brought us a lot of joy.  And it will be very expensive to replace.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Hangin' Around on a Wednesday

Wednesday night is Daddy's Class Night.  Tonight I had ZERO motivation to cook dinner, so we had turkey ham, blueberry muffins, and green beans.  YUM.  Rose #1 is not feeling very well today, so she just had chicken noodle soup.  She excused herself from the kitchen during dinner and played a videogame (on Disney.com).  Something about HSM3?
Rose #2 has learned how to make herself chocolate milk.  This is very, very dangerous.  Every time I turn around she is getting the chocolate syrup and a large gallon jug of milk out of the refrigerator.  Here she is stirring her concoction.  Can you tell it is not her first glass of chocolate milk (see, e.g., the brown smudges around her mouth!):

And Rose #3 has chapped cheeks already!  It is only November and her cheeks are all rosy.  Doesn't she have the cutest little smile?
Finally, here are Roses #2 and 3 playing the scarf game.  The rules:  unknowable to anyone over the age of 5.  The object:  unknown.  The prize for first place:  a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, shrowded in an enigma!
If I could wish for anything more on a day like this, it would be more time.  Time with my girls.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Rose #1's First Grade Conference

Well, we had Rose #1's first grade fall conference tonight.  Thank you to Guppy for babysitting Roses #2 and 3 so we could bring Rose #1 to her conference without her younger sisters in tow.

Rose #1's teacher is a veteran teacher of 5th and 6th graders but is new to teaching first graders.  I think she is doing a very good job with a group of precocious kids.  She has them all evaluated for reading level, and she has a very elaborate math system going.  Here is the bottom line on Rose #1:  she is a very strong reader - reading at a 4th grade level independently (which means she can read on a 5th grade level if someone is keeping an eye on her).  She reads too quickly though, so Mrs. Swenson has them stopping for text to person connections.  This is so cute - she has them putting post-it notes in the book and forces them to write down a connection they have to the text.  Rose #1 was reading a book about bees and a connection would be something like "I have never been stung by a bee" or "My sister was stung by a bee."

In math, Rose #1 is more reticent since math does not come easily to her.  She needs to focus on becoming more confident.

I love conference time.  I love hearing about how Rose #1 is doing, and what we need to work on  with her.  I am so grateful that she goes to a good school with a teacher who cares about her.

Monday, November 10, 2008

Just Another Manic Monday

Out the door early again to work, work, work, work all day then back home to the girls for MND at Guppy's.  We had tacos!  And corn.  And carrots.  And delicious homemade apple cake (thanks Aunt Heidi).

The mood was sort of subdued.  Our ministers' son is battling cancer and he is having a rough time. Check out his blog.  We are sending him healing thoughts and prayers and we wish him strength and health for his continued recovery.

Yesterday our sermon was about gratitude, and how even in the worst of times, on the bleakest of days, there are blessings all around us.  Today it seems hard to find those blessings.  My Rose #1 is whistling in my ear as I type - that's a blessing (of sorts).  Rose #2 is chowing down a piece of American cheese - that's a blessing.  Rose #3 was wearing a cute brown dress and her cheeks are rosy today - that's a blessing.

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Menus 11/9 - 11/16

Sunday:   Chicken Salsa Chili, salad, bread
Monday:  MND!
Tuesday:  Tortellini with peas and ham, fruit salad, corn muffins
Wednesday:  Whole chicken crockpot, frozen veggies, bread
Thursday:  Five spice chicken, veggie fried rice
Friday:  Salmon, rice, broccoli

Saturday, November 8, 2008

Dinner at Jill and Tony's

Tonight we had dinner at Jill and Tony's.  Jill and Tony have 8-week-old twin girls!  We were so excited to see the girls.  The last time we saw them was at Jill's baby shower, and that was a number of weeks ago.  They were both very alert tonight.  And cute!  Baby A in particular has hair that reminded us all of Rose #3 when Rose #3 was a little baby (picture very, very sticky uppy).

Here are a few shots from the fun we had.  Jill and Tony have a Wii, which Rose #1 LOVED.  I mean LOVED.  She figured out how to play bowling and got about 4 strikes!  I think in this shot they are playing baseball.

Here is Rose #3 and her beloved old (old meaning former, of course, not chronologically old!) nanny.  Rose #3 has a very good memory for a 2-year-old.  She knows exactly who Jill and Tony are. 
Here is Rose #3 and Baby B!  They do bear some resemblance to each other.  Baby B's dad is Asian just like Rose #3's.
And, here is a shot that Jill has been waiting to get for some time (so she said!).  The Roses and the N's (the real names rhyme in real life, which we figured out as we were pulling into our garage on the way home tonight.
Thanks to Jill and Tony for letting us descend upon you and transform your house with newborns into a house with newborns and big kids!