Hunker Down

I cannot tell you how many times I've heard that phrase this weekend - "hunker down." With the approach of Hurricane Sandy we decided to heed the advice of those on Twitter and "hunker down" we did.

Watchin' the storm a-brewin'.

We actually weathered the storm fairly well, other than the lights flickering a few times we kept power throughout the whole event.  We were even able to stream the entire "Wait Until Dark" movie from Amazon all throughout the worst of it!  (Perfect stormy night movie I might add).  I almost felt a little guilty. 

Good thing we visited the pumpkin patch before the hurricane!

 

 

And we had no large limbs fall, we actually had to sneak over to our neighbor's yard to nab a branch worthy enough to be used as our "Thankful Tree" (more on that later).

 
Which is all very surprising since we tend to have limbs fall around the house at least once a month.  Just this summer alone we got a hole in our roof, lost a section of our gutter and had to repair the hood of Jon's car - all compliments of the trees in our yard.

I *think* he liked riding the pony, you never can tell ...

 

In case you're wondering, I still love them.  The trees that is.  All the work is worth it (then again, Jon does the brunt of the outside work).  I love how they shade the house in the summer, how they cause the light and shadows to dance across our walls whenever a breeze blows across the bay.  And I love how, in the dark days of winter, our house is flooded with more light once the trees lose their leaves.  And of course, I love the leaves.  I love the colors.  I love how they swirl and float to the ground.  I love the way they crunch underfoot when we go on walks.

And speaking of those leaves, they hunkered down too.  The practical part of me, along with my husband, was hoping the storm would knock the majority of them down so we could get most of the yard work done in one weekend.  But those leaves are tenacious and despite the piles and piles of leaves that will need raked tomorrow, my right-brain is thankful for the palette still sprinkled high up in the branches. 

Check out those birds!

Jack and I have gone on numerous "leaf walks" over the past few weeks, trying to find the most beautiful, colorful leaves.  We weren't having any success prior the storm.  Not that Jack minded, his ultimate goal was to get his fingers and toes just cold enough to beg for some hot cocoa once we returned.  But the leaves have finally peaked and we gathered up and pressed a few of our favorites to laminate and hang on the window.  Here's to preserving some fall all year round!

So yes, we made it through the Frankenstorm unscathed.  In fact, the most difficult aspect of the whole ordeal was being trapped inside the house with three little kids.  Our friend "Miss Kylee" was in for the weekend, and we opted to hold her captive two extra days rather than send her back to the Jersey Coast during the hurricane.  Uncle Jared also came to visit and both of them were a huge help in keeping the children occupied.  PlayDoh, water paint, crayons ... books and puzzles ... choo choo train tracks and legos.  We went through all of them over the extended weekend.

"Pleeeeaaaasssse hold me!"

Oh I so wish I knew what she was thinking sometimes!

And with the kids outnumbered, for once, I was even able to get some projects done myself - a new valence in the dining room and some botanical art for our bedroom.  In fact, I actually finished an entire book during Hurricane Sandy.  And I have a new author to recommend - Georgette Heyer.  I downloaded "Cotillion" ages ago on my Kindle when Amazon was offering it for free, but never got around to reading it.  I started it on Friday and had it all neatly finished by Monday.  I LOVED it.  Heyer was a Jane Austen fan and wrote during the 1920s but about the Regency era.  While I could never love any author as much as my Jane, Heyer has definitely made my list of favorites.  And she's funny too!  The best part is she's written a whole slew of books, so I should be set with reading material for the next 20 storms or so.  Okay, back from my tangent ...

Jack, checking out the llamas on our hay ride.

Jude, picking his nose on our hay ride.

One of the advantages of being in the path of a hurricane is that Jon had off work for two days.  We thoroughly enjoyed having Daddy home with us for an extra-long weekend.  And while I think he appreciated the break as well (and the more-than-adequate excuse not to do yard work) I'm sure he was quite ready to head back to the office after spending four days trapped in the house with the kiddos. 

Prior to the storm though, my hubby did manage to leave me alone with the boys right in the middle of pumpkin carving time.

 

Jack asked for a "spookey smile that goes up and down" (on the right) and a girl-smile with curly hair.

So we are here and thriving.  Since the storm passed we've only had a little bit of sunshine and a lot of rain and clouds.  It's also gotten much, much colder.  Which means trouble.  My spirited, doesn't-adapt-to-change-so-well 4 year old insists he wants to wear shorts every morning, even after I moved them out of his drawers to the top of the closet.  And my sensitive, doesn't-like-to-be-uncormfotable 2 year old fights me every time I try to put his coat on.  I now have to plan to leave the house about 10-15 minutes earlier than usual, just to give Jude adequate time to throw a fit and lay on the floor writhing in agony ... all over wearing a coat.  Sometimes I wonder: is it worth it?  Two-fifths of us have already started with the runny noses, I'm sure full-blown colds are just around the corner.  Will wearing shorts or not wearing coats really make a difference?  All I know is we've hunkered down long enough.  There are groceries to be got, sticks to gather and leaves to rake.  So boys, you best put some clothes on!

Ain't I a Military Spouse?

I'm over at Spouse Buzz today with a guest post on being a Coastie wife!  Fellow military spouses, I'd love to hear your opinion in the comments section! 

Early on in our marriage, the MyCAA program was announced. I was young, anxious to further my education and desperate to find a career that I knew could move with me wherever my husband’s job took us. So I called up to register. In all my eagerness I had overlooked one small detail — that the program was offered by the Department of Defense.
In other words, as the spouse of a Coastguardsman, I was ineligible. Yes, since March 2003 the Coast Guard has fallen under the Department of Homeland Security, but, just like Sojourner Truth said of herself in her infamous “Ain’t I a Woman” speech, ain’t I a military spouse?


Read more: http://spousebuzz.com/blog/2012/10/coastie-wife-aint-i-a-military-spouse.html#ixzz2AoRthRwp

Weeks End

Well this day is a bust.  It started at 4am, when Julia woke up for no known reason.  This has been happening more and more frequently.  I try to let her work it out on her own but that just seems to prolong the agony, because it involves me lying awake listening to her whine and whimper and toss and turn. So I go to her and she's immediately happy.  And then I end up nursing her because that's the fastest way to get us both back to sleep.  I stumble back to bed and it seems like I've just drifted off when Jude starts yelling "Poooooops, Mom!  I've gotta go pooopss!!"  Really?  Who gets bowel movement urges before the sun is even up?  I've never heard of such a thing.  Of course he's wide awake, and jumping and loud-whispering and flushing which captures his little sister's attention and the next thing Jon knows is he's getting poked in the eye by his 2 year old and serenaded by giggles from his 1 year old, who are both smothered between us in "Mommy-Daddy bed."  And that my friends, is a good morning.

Things have been going downhill ever since.  Jack somehow managed to fall backward off the arm of the couch.  Jude got hit by a flying miniature folding chair.  Julia refused all three of my attempts to put her down for a morning nap.  And everyone has been just plain cantankerous.  Take morning devotions, for example.  I got two sentences into it and Jude is sobbing at my knee, trying to climb up on my lap, and Julia has a death grip on my sweatpants (yup, it's been a sweatpants kinda day) and is doing that whining/dancing move she does when she so desperately wants to be held.  And the only one who's being quiet, strangely quiet, is Jack who is mixing some sort of concoction with his oatmeal and whatever other objects he can find within arms reach.

Morning devotions, or what some people like to call "quiet time."

It's comical, I know laughter is the best medicine but honestly, this morning I just wanted to find a quiet corner, cover my ears and scream for a few minutes.  Instead, I muddle through.  Counting the hours til naptime.  Which is where we are now.  Two babies sleeping and one watching a movie.  I'm in coping mode, sitting by the open door, watching it literally rain leaves in the yard, oscillating between thinking "oh how pretty" and "oh, how much raking we'll have to do this weekend."  I'm nibbling on my third brownie of the day and contemplating brewing a cup of tea but forcing myself to chug this glass of water instead.  I dug out my "Pride and Prejudice" soundtrack.  I actuallly have this sheet music.  And it's moments like these that I would love, love, love to have a piano.  And then I remember it's naptime... and pianos and naptime would hardly work.



Naptime.  When I should be folding that heaping pile of laundry, sweeping up crumbs from lunch, or devising new ways to keep my boys' bathroom smelling fresh.  Instead, I'll write.  Because writing is therapeutic and heaven knows I need some therapy today.

Check out that shiner. Strangers stop to ask him how he got it, he just runs away to bury his head in my legs.  But then Jack proudly pipes up with "I throw tubby toy at him!"

Switching gears now, while I grab Brownie #4, and sub out my water (that strangely tastes like penicillin) for some iced tea, and while my music player changes over to the "Sense and Sensibility" soundtrack ... Jon was home this week, all week.  It's nice, or it should be.  Unfortunately, he's been working late most nights and when he's not working late he's at the gym prepping for weigh-ins next week.  Which means he's only home after the kids go to bed, which is basically like not being home at all.  Some nights though, he takes the boys to the gym with him to play in the childcare center.  And that makes a huge difference.

Another coping mechanism, long walks in the woods.

 

 

When we can't take it anymore, we head to the woods and let the boys run wild.  Meanwhile us civilized ladies hang back and watch the leaves float to the forest floor, listen to the birds chirp and take deep gulps of autumnal scented breezes.

Monday was one of those nights he ended up working late.  Our Small Group meets on Monday nights for a parenting class, so I was on my own to get the 4 of us ready and out the door.  My first mistake was dinner, which I purposely had ready early to give ourselves plenty of time.  It went well and even tasted delicious, one of our favorite recipes where you steam tilapia over greens with a dash of red pepper flakes.  Blast you red pepper flakes for sending the dish over the edge for my boys.  Both of them kept gasping after each bite saying "too hot, Mommy, too hot!"  Ironically, Julia at ALL of hers, albeit a bit slower than usual and not without making a few faces.  So Jack and Jude are trying to clean their plates so they can have a treat at Small Group, meanwhile I'm refilling their water glasses about 5 times during the meal.  Which brings me to the next mistake.

Jack doesn't understand why it's not hot enough for his pool, but he more than gets when it's cold enough for hot cocoa!

Jack just cannot handle a lot of beverage.  If he drinks one cup of something, anything, he will literally have to go potty 3-5 times in the next hour.  I'm not sure if it's a developmental thing or an actual problem (he's currently visiting the chiropractor right now to see if some adjustments will help with that and his nighttime bedwetting) but for now we just try to be on top of his drinking.  Clearly I wasn't thinking this night.  He went to the bathroom during dinner.  And I made everyone go again before we left, which was surprisingly a little early, and that was good because we didn't get two minutes down the road before Jack started yelling he had to go potty.  So we stopped at the closest known restroom, the grocery store, and I unbuckled everyone, herded them through the parking lot and into Safeway for a potty break.  Except Jude assured me he did not have to go.

Speaking of Jack and restrooms ... he's always giving something a bath while I'm trying to put the other two down for naps ...

Therein lies my third mistake.  Never listen to your child when he tells you he doesn't have to go pee pee.  Always insist they try.  Because again, we didn't get more than 3 minutes down the road before Jude started yelling that he had to go.  And this time I wasn't stopping, because there was no place to stop and we were so close.  Alas, not close enough.  Poor Jude wore wet pants all through Small Group.

The moral of this story is: always wait to add red pepper flakes until AFTER you've dished out the kids' portions.  Or maybe it's: keep a close eye on the amount of water the kids drink right before leaving to go somewhere.  Or perhaps: always make your child try to use the restroom when the opportunity presents itself.  And then again: remember to carry a back-up set of clothes in your bag at all times.  Yes, there are just so many lessons to be had here in just one short evening of my life.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, it's been a long week.  And I am tired.  And now that it's many, many hours since I started writing this post.  And the kids are in bed.  And I actually did get around to cleaning the bathroom, sweeping the floor and folding all 4 loads of laundry... there is a book on my Kindle calling my name.  Let the weekend begin!

Two Birthdays, One Party

It's birthday month in our family and I did the one thing I promised I wouldn't when we first found our our youngest was due the same week as our oldest's birthday - I combined their celebrations.  I really didn't feel like doing anything, this is my third "first birthday" in four years and I'm kinda over it all.  But I couldn't not throw a party for Julia.  Especially since she may read this blog one day, and she'll certainly look at pictures, and see her brother's parties (here and here).  And then I couldn't throw a party for Julia, and travel home to PA to visit friends and family, without giving a nod to Jack's birthday.  Of the two, he's the one that was actually aware of the significance of this month.  He's only been talking about "Ogtober 12" for weeks and weeks now.

Jack's birthday morning surprise.

So we threw a party for Julia and added a little line for Jack at the bottom of the invitation.

Yup, that's an electronic invite... and I emailed it out less than two weeks before the party.  I was totally on the ball this year.

A few people wanted to know what the party theme was.  There wasn't a party theme.  Perhaps we should use the word influence, and that would have been: tea by the sea, Portsmouth, England, 1813.  I know, I know, me and my nautical themes.  And I decided to go with a blue and yellow palette, since I wanted to use what I had on hand.  No pink, no purple, apparently I haven't had enough blue these past four years.

Since we were still setting things up when the guests started to arrive, I did a very poor job of documenting the decor.

It was fun to plan out my ideas on Pinterest.  I wanted to utilize as much of my own resources as possible - my set of Blue Willow dishes, a dress that Marmie had picked up at a yard sale last year, a headband I made from material scraps, tablecloths that I had around the house and food that would be easy to make or buy.  In the end, the only thing I ended up buying was material, and a significant portion of that is destined to be turned into a valence in our living room.



I always say I'm going to keep things low-key and yet we still ended up with over 30 people that stopped by.  I specifically avoided meal time so I could get away with less food.  Okay, that's not entirely true.  10:00am actually worked best with Julia's napping.  But it also meant we could do brunch foods and I gotta say, quiche is so delectable in miniature form.

And of course, Marmie made the cakes.

Jack specifically requested a dump truck with dirt.

And thankfully my brother Micah graciously opened up his home to our party and guests. His house is a great central location for both of our families and he's always happy to host friends for the day! I'm sure it's not easy for a bachelor to clean and prep for guests, plus he helped me by picking up some of the food the morning of the party. Oh yeah, and he also raked up this big pile of leaves as a place for the kids to burn energy. I think it was a success!









Present opening is always a bit crazy, times that by two and it was nearly chaos.  I was just trying to unwrap toys fast enough that each of the kids quickly crowding in would have something to occupy them and stop fighting over the first thing that got opened!

 

Thank you Uncle Micah for the Billy Bob binky.

Funny story about this doll...



Girlfriend was being all sweet on her.  Lovin' up on dolly, giving hugs and big, drooly open-mouthed kisses.



Then I turn around and the next thing I know she's got a little plastic knife and is literally trying to saw Baby's arm off.  Like actually making sawing motions on the dolls arm.  And then she starts stabbing Dolly in the eye.



All I can say is, it's a good thing Lia's got some baby dolls now because she could definitely use a little practice in the caretaking department.

So we survived gift-giving and the resulting toy explosion.  I think we even got away without leaving any small pieces behind.  And we partied.  At the end of the day we met my goal, and that was to celebrate the life of my little girl and big boy. They're pretty cool kids.

And I think that should be enough first birthday parties for a while now ...