Memories...

Happy Thanksgiving!
Being back here in Utah I have had a flood of memories come back to me. Yesterday Rick and I went for a Run along the Jordan River Parkway. I suddenly remembered a time last summer when I took Oscar for a run on the same route. I’ve decided to share it with you as I am now THANKFUL not to be pregnant…
While running on this pathway and nearing the turnaround point, Oscar needed to go “Potty”. Seeing a bathroom up ahead I ran as fast as my pregnant body would go. Arriving at the bathroom we discovered it was locked! This typically isn’t an issue for Oscar as long as he is going #1. This however was a #2 emergency.
About a ½ mile further was another bathroom. I first tried to get him to go in the bushes…didn’t work. I put him back in the stroller and off we ran to the next bathroom.
The bathroom was open to my relief and I sat Oscar on the toilet.
He was now old enough that he didn’t want me in the stall with him while he did his work (I was 7 months prego and took up most of the stall anyway). Patiently I waited outside of the stall.
Minutes passed and Oscar finished his work. He is still young enough however that he still needs me to help wipe. As I went to open the door I discover that Oscar has locked it and he now could not/would not unlock the door! Yes, this is the moment when the mommy becomes the not-so-nice mom and demands that Oscar unlock the door so that I can help him. He just laughs. The laugh begins to fuels my pregnant short-tempered mind!
Taking stock of my options I realize that I’m going to have to crawl under the door opening to get Oscar taken care of! Here’s the dilemma…My belly is large enough that I had to suck my protruding stomach in as far as possible…and I still barely (that is had to wiggle to get under and through the opening) made it under.
I should note that the bathroom floor was not clean!
After rescuing the naughty child, I put him back in the stroller to finish the run back.
Oh…the memories!
Yes I’m grateful that I am not as large as a whale…thankful that I have great families and friends. Yes, and I’m very grateful for my two beautiful children who help me become a more well rounded person!

Road Trip!!

There are few things greater than a super surprise!
Only better, is to be the one who is giving the surprise.
To plan, prepare, and concoct a surprise that in the end goes just as planned. Is worth every ounce of work that goes into making it happen.

This morning we were able to pull off such a stunt and to our great delight surprised Rick's parents. We had made plans to surprise them by driving to Utah on Wednesday. Rick's very nice boss however, said he could take the whole week and do some work from here. So, Saturday after running the turkey run in Lewiston, doing laundry, packing, and buying a minivan (two hours before we left) we hit the road for Utah.

Twelve hours later we arrived in the SLC valley. We decided to wait until his parents were at church to surprise them. We staked out their house until they left for church...Oscar said "we are in dangerous territory" as we were parked a few houses away, monitoring their house until they left. Then we quickly dressed in Sunday attire and sat down next to them at church. They were very surprised and we were delighted to have pulled it off!

Now, here we are Monday and enjoying being back in the comfort of grandpa and grandma's house. Oscar is busy keeping grandma entertained (or is that the other way around?). Poppy is taking a well needed nap. Rick is doing some of his work. As for myself, I'm enjoying being in a house where I don't have to think about what needs to be done. I can sit back and enjoy the sound of Oscar and Grandma's make believe world (no wonder he has such a great imagination!).

Now, we will go back and address the the addition of the MINIVAN!
Yes, I now have to adjust my perceived image of myself to included...The minivan! This is no easy task. I must admit that the trek to Utah was very comfortable. And as far as minivans go...It is cute?...I mean good looking?...I dunno...It's a nice minivan. I'm not complaining... I'm just trying to figure out how to define my new vehicle and how it defines me.

I've now come to a new crossroad in my life where I am treading on territory that I hadn't prepared myself for. I still see myself as 22, that Rick and I are still in school, I'm still in touch with what is cool and what is not...I'm not prepared to be a REAL minivan mom!!!

The image of a worn out mom with stretch pants and undone hair comes to mind! Ok , ok, so most days during the week I don't shower or do my hair until 3pm in the afternoon. And I'm typically in spandex of sorts until that time...It's just that it is easier to shower when I don't have to worry about my children getting into the Sharpie markers and writing all over my retro luggage (oh wait I don't have any retro luggage...Betina ?). Yes, I do most of my errands in this attire and by the time I have actually showered and dressed myself for the day...I have no where else to go... At least my hubby gets to see me in normal clothing!

I'm sure I will adjust to the fine features of this vehicle. I will delight in the fact that we no longer have to put Oscar, Poppy and Smiley on the back seat of the wagon. I will delight in the CD player, temperature control between driver and passenger side (Rick is always warm...Me freezing!), the bucket seats that put my two kids a little further away from each other, and space. But, I still see myself in my CUTE wagon with my bike rack on top and my trailer/stroller in the back...I still see us able to pack the car completely full and head to the Ocean! Now, I'm a mere lemming of sorts... I'm now expanding into a whole new phase of motherhood! I'm going to have to think of a way to define this vehicle as my own...Any good suggestions? In the meantime I will attempt to adjust my image and rejoice in our new, more spacious and comfortable vehicle.
Such is Life! Happy trails!

Journey of the Mayflower...

This week I'm the joy school mom and so in light of the up-coming week we took a journey on the Mayflower...Pilgrim Poppy decided to try on her mommy's bonnet and Oscar today took a little journey of his own. He frequently re-arranges the household furniture to facilitate his journey on various boats.
After checking out a book called "Peggony-Po: A Whale of a Tale" (the book was a about a little wooden boy who captures this whale called Cetus. The Whale had eaten the leg of his dad, the carver who created him.) Oscar told me that he wouldn't be afraid of whales and when he gets big and rides them he will be able to catch lots of them.
This is a boy who LOVES the ocean! Every night he has me sing him a song about our dog smiley running to the ocean and we drive there and find him and then we camp for four days on the beach and then we drive home and the next time we go back in a helicopter and we jump from the helicopter onto the beach and then we camp for four more months and then we drive home and smiley wants to come with us! ( I know this is a run-on but for real Oscar telling effect read it as though it is all one big sentence or song!) Then make up a tune to it. This is how a typical day goes for our son the boy who likes to check out into imaginary world!
One last thing before I go. The Picture of him in his sweater and PJ's was this morning. We found him checking out his dad's tileing work and when we asked why he had a sweater on he said "I was cold" this wouldn't be so funny but his pj's were the super warm type and we figured out that he put them on last night when he got up to play in his room without our knowledge!
What a fun little boy full of imagination and wonder!

For the next post you can look forward to hearing about Oscar and smiley's debut at the stake talent show tomorrow night. Oscar with the Accordion and smiley with the HOWL!

Imaginary World

Each day there comes a delightful time called "quiet time"(This being defined as: Poppy takes a nap and Oscar checks in to imaginary world). This is the time period where, as a mother, I regroup for the remaining hours of wakefulness left in the day.
I suppose I even Drift off into imaginary world...as I Imagine that my jobs (chores) are completed...or I imagine that it is sunny and warm outside, when actually it's 45 degrees and the wind is blowing at 45mph (I have a wind indicator, courtesy of previous owner).
Oscar truly is the master of the imaginary world!! If I want him to entertain himself, I only need ask that he "clean up" the play room. In a matter of minutes he has checked out into the deep beyond and will entertain himself for quite sometime! I think this is where he develops his extensive imaginary world vocabulary (i.e. Stoach).
Humm...how would it be to just check out of reality and into a world where you create your own language, make your own rules, and you always turn out the hero! Sounds pretty good!
Now, I'll go back to mediating poppy/oscar teasing. Real world here I come!

"Action" Acrobatics

Edge terminology

We have now arrived at a point where it becomes important to educate our reading fan base on some of our household terminology. In order to help you clearly understand some of the things we may discuss, here is a list of some Edgeology...
Binky-ing: Verb-the action of placing something soft, and/or fuzzy between the thumb and first two fingers and rubbing together in order to soothe oneself to sleep. This may happen spontaneously when presented with something very soft..Such as Rick binky-ing the back of Poppy's head with his nose while holding her. (I've included a few pics of binky-ing to illustrate my point.) Poppy binky's her hair, Oscar binky's his blanket ties. Rick binky's his own hair, Poppy's, or Oscar's(but only when he's thinking) :o) I'm not a binky-er but I like to sniff Poppy's soft hair.
Stoach: Oscar word...Not quite sure what it's origin is. He usually uses it as a noun for a weapon of sorts.
Action: "Are you ready for this action"(oscar's use of the word) He also uses this word to indicate he wants to rough- house with his dad..."Dad let's do some action".

To save space I'll limit my list to these three but I'll be sure to add more later. Now I'll include a pic of Oscar and Ricks "action" acrobatics

Binky-ing

Oscar Binky-ing...
Binky-ing...Poppy
Poppy's ...Piggy's

Oatmunchers claptrap...

Well, Rick has developed his own BLOG! And I'm sure you guessed the name(see blog title). He's always the original one. Me...I am what I am. He and I just took a Star trek personality test and I was likened to Chakotay!!! I was hoping to match up with seven of nine or captain Janeway but evidentially I'm more of the loving, caring, feeler type. My code was Introvert, Sensor, Feeler, Judger. I was pleased to discover that my opposite was Nelix!!! Here's the link to my result http://scifi.about.com/library/weekly/aa080201z.htm
Rick on the other hand got the prized position! He was a Captain kirk, Seven of nine combo! His code was Introvert,Intuitive,Thinker, Judger. On the job suggestions, it actually said "Intellectual property attorney"!!! lol. His opposite was Captain Janeway. Very amusing personality test for a Friday night. If you want to know more about Rick's you'll have to check out his blog... www.oatmunchers.blogspot.com .
I have a great idea for a future blog. I was hoping to have it completed today but I'm lacking the photos for better blog quality. So, I will hold you in suspense of something to come...

Chocolate...Ummm

Inspired by one of the finer things in life...Chocolate. I decided to change my hair color. We can now say that I'm a chocolate head! Does that now mean that I look delicious?

Speaking of chocolate...I was sitting here eating some of the tasty stuff (that I got for my birthday) and noticed on the package that it said: "Chocolate is sacred. There is an art to the alchemy of chocolate, an art we explore with mystery and integrity."(Dagoba organic chocolate) Sounds pretty deep...I"m not really even sure what "alchemy" is??? (Thanks to Wikipedia I have discovered that alchemy"refers to an early form of the investigation of nature and early philosophical and spiritual discipline, both combining elements of chemistry, physics, medicine, astrology, metallurgy, semiotics, mysticism, spiritualism, and art.") Well that sums it up...GOOD STUFF!!

I think you would only find that sort of depth on the back of "organic" chocolate. Certainly Hershey's and Nestle wouldn't put it on their labels. Their label would read something like this..."Fit for human consumption"..."we do not test on animals".
I'm not a chocolate snob entirely...if there is a bucket of Halloween candy close by, and say there is a Reeses peanut butter cup inside...yeah, well...I'm certainly not going to let it go to waste! I do however, prefer the darker side of the chocolate world and I think that Lindt has the corner on the market.
Enough about my chocolate musings...back to cleaning house! May the force be with you!

It's my birthday!!

It was my Birthday today and Oscar decided to throw me a tea party. This tea party consisted of the following: Water, china, and some year-old candy canes. It was delicious!

Poppy enjoyed the candy cane immensely. She has developed quite the sweet tooth. During the Halloween party she could be found racing to any unattended bucket of candy. She also knows where we have placed Oscar's Halloween stash and she will grunt and point in it's direction (she has very strong non-verbal communication skills). I guess the apple doesn't fall to far from the tree! Candy anyone?

Rick and Oscar went birthday shopping at lunch today and came home with some down booties, chocolate, and cheese! Three of my favorite things...something cozy, chocolate and cheese. Life is good!

Blog worthy material

Now that I have taken on the responsibility for a "blog"(as if two kids a dog and a husband aren't enough!) I find myself throughout the day thinking...This would be good...or I'm going to write about that! Yet, as I sit here, computer in lap, I have forgotten those fantastic items that were certain to make good writing material.
Alas...something has occurred to me...it seems all day today Oscar was full of a million questions. Not the easy variety mind you. He wants to know all the good stuff. Like what his address is and what is smoking (after explanation he still inquires to know more!) , what is Oxygen?????? Most of the time I try the simple quick answer. However, he never seems quite satisfied with that. It becomes and long drawn out discussion.
This isn't necessarily a bad thing. But, when he is asking for further explanation while I'm running up a hill or talking on the phone., or driving through construction...It gets a little difficult to satisfy his curious brain!
I find myself yelling "Oscar just give me a minute"...(then the guilt sets in).
He has mastered the part of saying "Excuse me mom". But when I don't respond immediately, he repeats this over and over, louder and louder until I'm forced to make some response!
As my lovely husband would say "Brevity is the soul of whit". I wish someday that Lil' O would settle for a little brevity.
He is after all a four year old. He has the whole world in front of him and only understands a small fraction of what's really going on!
I wonder how frustrated we would be if every time we called some customer service place for further clarification on something. What if they kept putting us on hold. Oh, wait that happens all the time!!! It is Frustrating!!!!
No wonder when I don't respond the first time he keeps Shouting until I actually make some acknowledgment of his presence!
Although he may not pick the perfect timing. I suppose I'm really grateful he has such an inquisitive mind. I just wish I knew the correct answers at all the right moments!

The psuedo active mom

Here to the left you will find a picture of what I like to call our containment chamber (also known as the jogger/trailer) . This contraption is quite frequently the passport to my sanity. I can buckle my two kids in the doodlebug(that's actually its name) and then suddenly I'm free as a bird to run like the wind and ride like the breeze! That is until I take the first four steps and realize that it weighs a literal TON! Ok, so maybe not a TON but at least 80lbs. Still, I find myself out there pushing/pulling my kids around like I'm actually getting somewhere.

Then there are mornings like today where I wake to find that it was above freezing(for the first time in a couple weeks) and I decide to take a run to the post office and then to drop Oscar off at preschool. Dandy thought that is until...I also decide to bring Smiley dog along. (I should note here that smiley hasn't been on a run since last Saturday and is quite eager to run!)

As we launch off down the huge hill... smiley suddenly spots a squirrel and decides to make a dash for it! (For those of you unfamiliar with the dynamics of pushing a jogger and holding a dog leash. I need to clarify that when the dog pulls in one direction...the jogger goes the exact oppisite direction with equal force and speed!) So, here we are running down the hill making a turn and Smiley decides to make his dash...here I find myself pulling jogger towards the direction of the dog in order to not collide with on coming traffic. Then as you can imagine the jogger, myself and dog collide with the curbside! Oscar begins yelling "whoaahhhhhhh... MOM I need my helmet!" He wasn't concerned with actually crashing!! He was more concerned with the fact that he didn't have the right equipment for the landing. He's definably a boy!

Now, there's no need to worry about the kids they were safely buckled in the chamber and using my cat like reflexes, was able to maneuver the dog and jogger back on track! It's a good thing I came equipped with my motherly instincts (right?).

I'm not sure why I enjoy these "outings" with the kids in their containment chamber...but there must be some reward for attempting to achieve such motherly fitness...oh thats right, a bucket full of Halloween candy just waiting for me to indulge! At least now I don't feel as guilty!!

Poppy

In the beginning...

As a mother of 2 and a wife of one (yes only one)...I've decided to compile( blog) some of my encounters of everyday life. Such as our dog Smiley puking on the floor yesterday...or of the Oscar deciding to use his new Halloween pencil to make a lovely drawing on the kitchen wall. And I'll be sure to include the lovely tales of a Poppy girl who is not happy about being weened from her mother!

Here in blog space I can share the happenings of a happy home of new discovery and adventure. Thus you have "THE-MOTHER-BLOG"...not quite the mother ship but a tiny world of a few humans doing normal everyday stuff.

And to start off the month of November we will look back into October to catch a few pics of our Halloween. A month ago Oscar came up with the idea that I would be a ballerina, dad would be a super hero, Oscar would be a red dragon and Poppy would be a... flower. After careful consideration we somehow managed to oblige.

Yes...I wore a tutu and yes Rick wore tights and yes poppy was an adorable sunflower! Oscar spent most of the month of October in and out of the "red" dragon costume. He was so excited when it was finally Halloween that he spent the whole morning asking me when the fun was supposed to begin! Little did he know that we don't actually party the entire day of Halloween.

Now, here we are post Halloween and dealing with two kids who LOVE candy. After talking to my sister yesterday, she gave me the idea to try and buy the candy from them so that they can buy a toy instead of eating all their candy. After telling my husband of this great idea he said ok let's see.

So, we're driving down the road going to my spinning class that I teach and Rick says..."Oscar how about I buy your candy from you for 2 dollars?" Oscar replied "no way dad!" then Rick says "how about we buy it from you for 2,000 dollars?" and without even considering this offer he simply says " Don't be silly dad".
So there you have it...how would it be to be four again and the most important thing to you...even more that $2,000. Is a joyful bucket of candy.

Eat your heart out!