Summer Exploration Week 1&2

Week one of summer was Bugs, Frogs and turtles...
After a trip to the "Frog" pond and a "turtle" pond, Oscar and Poppy were well immersed in the animal surroundings...literally!

Oscar in the depths of the reeds

O'man had no problem heading into the depths to explore their habitats...you may be surprised however that Poppy only ventured in about calf-deep. I think her lack of swimming skills kept her cautious.
As we have a resident bee-keeper in our midst, it was no problem for a hands on bee-lesson. Having the second veil has been a great tool for the kids to get a little bit closer to the inside of the hive. OScar curretnly has a couple of drone male bees living in a jar(they are the pretty much useless bees that hang around the hive and can't sting you).
Other activities included tracking the number and kind of bugs/insects on our outings. This was a topic very familiar and yet we still learned some new things about how ants carry their young to the surface for air, and that frogs eat their own skin as they shed it. Pretty cool stuff.
Week Two was the topic of "People" (I should note that the kids picked the topics, I merely facilitate their request). We recently met some great friends who happen to be Korean. Shilla the mom of Patrick and Liah (sp?) lived in Korea until she was ten. She was our guest teacher for the week.
She taught the kids how to wrap egg rolls...
How to make some funny rice disks that turn into these fried rice chips...oh, so cool!
Next, she gave the kids a lesson on the Korean flag and the meanings of the markings. It was so interesting and enlightening. It was all about keeping balance in nature and in life. I was once again reminded that there are just some eternal truths in this world. It dosen't matter what religion or culture you are from, everything has to have a balance...Balance is one truth I can atest to. Without it we find ourselves in the midst of chaos...I was excited to discover the meanings of the markings and I think the kids really soaked it in too.
Thanks Sheilla for the great day on Korea!
We also learned about Portugal, Iceland, Switzerland (the land of my grandparents), Canada, Volcanologists, and we sailed through a few books on a few other cultures/ocupations.
Overall it went really well.
Lastly Hazel took her first swim in the pool...the swim suit was a bit big but the girl loved it. Not as long as the other two kids but she was a great fish for her first time.
Next week the topic is trees and wood...we'll let you know how it goes.

Summer begins...

Ahhhh...SUMMER!

We are now officially into summer mode, despite that the calendar still says it is spring. Oscar is officially out of school, we have veggies growing in the garden, I can hang clothes out to dry, we all seem to have tan lines (farmer tans), the out door pool opened(no that we have been, it is still a bit cold for that) and the farmer's market is in full swing....these are the days that we look forward to all year long!
Beginning Monday we will begin our summer-weekly themes. Fittingly the kids have picked to study bugs, frog and turtles next week. We hope to study habitats, life cycle, and explore their environments...I'm sure they will have no problem getting interested in this topic. The plan is that we will have a topic for the week and each day we will spend time doing different projects/field trips on the theme...I hope to post the progress and results, but if you only get little tid-bits you can rest assured I am mearly busy being a mom of three, and not lost somewhere in space.
Meanwhile Miss Hazel hit her three month mark...and boy is she ever cute!!! We all just about can't stand it. We want to squeeze snuggle and kiss her to death. Even Daddy has a hard time letting her go to bed at night. We all know it is for her good and well-being but man, it is hard putting her to bed knowing that she is so sweet to snuggle.

See that smile? Seriously, could you put that down? She lets us know she done however, she snuggles, a little gives us a cry and wants to be left alone to go to sleep. Reluctantly we let her go. Then each morning once again she greets us with a full gummy smile. She loves to wake up and see us. Poppy always wants to be the first one to climb into bed with her, so she can "make her happy" although she doesn't need to. She always greets us with a smile.
As busy as it is being a mother of three, it is great! And to be honest, I don't mind having a good reason to scale things back a bit. After all, what better reason could there be?

Poppy days...

(Poppy and Olivia on the trail)

It seems that some weeks have a particular child that is the spot light during the week. The past few weeks have been Poppy weeks...From alergic reactions, recitals, bug bites/stings, and a new bike she has been the family star.
She is the new proud owner of a pretty pink bike, with a basket. She loves to ride. She surprisingly hasn't complained about getting strong legs. She asks to ride frequently, and I sorta wish we didn't live on such a hill so that she could ride a bit easier from our front door.
We went out for a ride on the trail the other day with her good friends Olivia and Lucy.
Last night Poppy rode to the swamp. I think we are training a new Bicycle queen...

(Poppy pooped-out after the dance recital...she fell asleep on the ride home)

She also had her first Dance recital. Being 3 1/2 years old it was no surprise that she was adorable.
We also learned the new art of Recital hair...her dance teacher said we should tie her wispy hair in rags so that we would be able to put it into a side ponytail.This is what her hair looked like the morning after...total afro. It went into the pony tail like a charm. It was hilarious seeing her with such fuzzy hair.

Well, she is a growing fun girl with a bundle of energy and love.
I'm really looking forward to summer!
I'll try to post a bit more frequetnly...it's just that life is happening and trying to stop to document is often put on the back burner.

Hazel update...

First camping trip

She slept like the baby she is...only one night feeding and keeping with the other Edge babies, she slept great in the tent. I think our kids like to all be snuggled up in the same place. To be honest, I don't mind it too much either. Too bad it is so uncomfortable to sleep on ground or maybe we would do it on a permanent basis.

Caught!!! This baby girl keeps finding that thumb and seems to know just what to do with it. I'm not exactly encouraging it, but then, it is pretty cute how she wraps that finger around her nose.

Human Chia-Pet

She is totally this human chia-pet. Her hair is all coming in at the same time and almost all of the longer stuff fell out. People keep asking me if I buzzed her hair...nope, just a little fuzz head. I have to admit that it is PRIME binking real estate.

Ahhh...warms my soul when I see my littles all together. They even tolerated mildly letting me take thier pictures. Hazel seems to like her big sibling too.

And as you can imagine Poppy can't help but love and snuggle and maul the babe.
Little Hazel girl is such a dream baby to have around. She just goes with teh flow and tolerates all sorts of situations. Seriously, I suppose like most parents, our family just wouldn't be right without her.

Mom my face hurts...

That was how Poppy greeted me this morning at 6:30 am. Because I was still in bed, without glasses, it took me a minute to figure out that indeed her face was all swollen and red.
Later she would tell me "My face feels crunchy"...
After a little dose of Benadryll not doing the trick, and little blisters beginning to beginning to form, we made a trip to the Doctor's office. He said it looked like she had touched something and then her face, multiple times, and her skin was reacting to it. He prescribed some steroid cream and tonight her face is looking much better...but still a bit crunchy.
We are still trying to figure out what she touched...probably a plant in our yard. I guess we will just see if it happens again.
Poor pop's she looked so sad all day. She was however a sweet girl all day and we even went out for ice cream and dance class...what a trooper. I'm still a bit shocked that the Benadryll didn't knock her out...

Oscar Birthday swap

By Request the Volcano cake was back....Oscar has been asking me to make the cake for the past year. The last time I made it was two years ago. The morning I was getting it ready for his class party, he said "I think it was bigger last time"...last time I didn't' quite have it figured out and i ended up making two cakes and piling it up with a bunch of frosting and put a cup in the top for the dry ice. This time I totally had it engineered so that I used a spring form pan, a metal bowl and a ramekin cooked upside down in the top so that it all came together much better. I didn't factor in that Oscar would be missing the chaos factor of the previous cake.
He still loved it and I think his class though tit was pretty awesome too.

This Past weekend we went to Spokane for a birthday swap. Oscar wanted to go camping for his birthday and Ricky had a marathon to run last Saturday. We therefore decided we would do a birthday swap. Rick's birthday is this weekend so we swapped daddy's marathon for his birthday and tomorrow we will head to The trail of the Coure de' lanes fora little camp out/mother's day ride for Oscar's.
They spent some time decorating the road where daddy was soon to run past...
Had a couple doses of Ben and Gerry's super yummy ice cream...A carousel ride...
And Oscar still got his birthday climb on the REI climbing wall. He had hoped to make it to the very top, but made it to the first bell instead. I suppose it leaves him room to grow for next year.
As I mentioned before, we got bumped to a mucher nicer hotel than what we are accustomed to. Not that I mind a nice hotel, I just like it better when there is more bed space for our family. Oscar and poppy ended up like this in the morning. Oscar slept in the "crack" of the beds. We pulled the roll-in bed next to the king sized bed and he decided he would sleep in the crack. By morning he was turned horizontal.

I'm thinking this must be Mr. Davenport himself...Oscar thought he would check out the morning paper with him as we waited for the valet to bring our car around.
Overall it was a great weekend and as always it was fun to cheer on our super dad...nicework Ricky!

My boy turned 7...

I'm still processing the idea of it...Man he is/was such a cute boy!!!! I planned to blog pictures of his seven years and I'm having a hard time narrowing it down. Soon to come will be O' pics and pics of our birthday weekend festivities...
Note on said festivities...Being bumped from your hotel of choice (that would have included TWO queen sized beds and a baby bed, with park yourself and load your own bags which totally feels comfortable to our family of five)...to a fancy-shmansy hotel with obligated valet' parking (where you have to call to get your car each time you want to leave the hotel) ONE king sized bed, a roll away bed and baby crib, no bathtub, just a fancy shower and super nice furnishings isn't exactly my idea of a good trade.
I'm pretty sure they didn't intend those fancy drinking glasses to be used as lucky charm cereal bowls...
I say give me the familiest friendly hotel, with a family friendly pool, continental breakfast, comfy beds that are nice a clean (preferably TWO queen sized beds), with the easiest convience of getting in and out as quickly as possible my idea of a good hotel...call me crazy!
Maybe if I were on a getaway with the hubby it would be a nice exchange ...but when all we have packed is runningshoes/casual attire (meaning shorts and tee shirts) and multiple children to find a cozy, yet not too close sleeping quarters...fancy shmansy is not my idea of comfortable. Especially when it is my child who decided to run down the hallway yelling and laughing...
Oh well...I'm sure the bellboys had a good laugh.

In Light of Mother's Day...

Grandma Dilworth (my mommy and Hazel)

I love to see the grandma's holding my babies...something about how the cycle of life continues on. I'm continually reminded that the most influence i will be able to have in this life will be to the children I raise. I truly hope I don't break them!!!!

I love this picture of Ricky's mom...it seems like it is taken at about the same phase of thier life as where We are right now. Oncea gain that cycle of parenting...

Oscar's school play was today and it was great to see such a fun little fairy tale theater. He was one of the woodsmen who save Little red Riding hood and the grandmother. The best part was when Little Red and the grandmother went to give him a hug...he turned away. It was great!

O-Man with the flowerpot he decorated for me in school...

Two months old! I love the fuzzy hair that is all coming in buzz style.

Poppy has taken to the big sister role quite naturally. Poppy is a natural leader. I'm beginning to learn that I have to work with each of my kids individually...she is one I'm still trying to figure out. Her drive for life and enthusiasm is great. I really love her sparkly fun personality.
Great Grandma Dilworth...the woman who taught me to draw and love the scriptures, among other things...
To all of our mommies and grand mommies, HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY! thank you for all that you have done for us!!!

Spring...stuff

Ladies ride...my odometer read 40.5 miles at the end of the ride...
All I can say is that these ladies were tough!!! Seriously we had a head wind for 3/4 of the ride. That is we only got a small break at the half way point before a storm blew in and made us push the rest of the way home!! It was a nice intro back into real life.
The Hazel girl slept the ENTIRE ride!! from eatign at 8:15am she slept until 1:30 pm. It was awesome!!! This bodes well for the up-comming mother's day ride.
Ashely, Maren, Me (Hazel), Betina(Georgia), Kristin...Sadly not pictured was Camille who met us a couple of miles down the trail. She was the one who kept reminding us that the wind resistance was "more calories ladies!".
Poppy is fitting well into the middle child...slightly neglected and self sufficient. I know this role well being that I'm #six of eleven. I do love how handy she is. Always so resourceful. Lov'in the outfits!
We also made a visit to Oscar's class so they could all meet Miss Hazel. It was a great day!

hmmmm...

Man I love this kid!

Tonight after coming home from a evening of learning to cook Indian food, I stopped by Oscar's room and he was up tinkering with some things. I said hello and said "Hey kiddo thanks for being such a great kid. I sure love you."
To this he responded: "Why did you say that?"
Me- "I dunno because I do?"
O-"Oh, I was just wondering because you usually only say that when you were mad at me."

Me-(Insert all sorts of guilt laden feelings...I'm sure i say it more frequently than that...Don't I????)
"Well, you know I love you all of the time, right?"

O- "Yeah mom"

Me- "I do love you, have a good night, and turn your light off soon."

O-"night mom"

Am I seriously this mom who only tells him I love him after I have been mad at him??? I suppose that isn't the worst thing. I mean, at least after I have been angry with him, I tell him that I still love him. That should mean something Right?

Note to self: shower that boy with hugs and kisses until he can't stand it!!!! No more of giving him his first grader space...He MUST know that I have adored him since he was born! He must know how much I love him! Sometimes I love my kids so much it just hurts!!!
I hope that he knows that I adore the way he takes on this world full of curiosity and kindness, with a soft heart and an eager mind. He should know that I miss him when he is at school and I long for the days when we used to go hiking for hours, just him and me.
Is all of that forgotten? Am I becoming too distracted for him to realize just how much I can't imagine this world without him being a part of it????
Well, at least one day when he is grown and he looks back and remembers his childhood, maybe then he will read this and know that yes, I do love him and that the majority of my days are spent trying to create a place of Love, joy and safety for him. without sheltering him too much.
I'm sure this is just the beginning...but he can expect a lot more hugs in the near future!

Bee Man

The Rickster is lovin his new hobby...

He loves to look at the bees and doesn't even wear gloves. Here he is holding the queen bee's box before she ate her way out. Surprisingly the bees are pretty docile and you can just stand around the hive and they will fly around, sometimes land on you but then go away. We have only had one sting and that was Oscar who started batting at the bees when one landed on him.

Saturday Oscar did his first ever three mile run. He finished in about 37 minutes...we are so proud! Rick ran with him and the girls (it seems funny to type "Girls") and I did the 10K with a couple of other friends.

The best part about this run is the jet-boat ride back to the starting line. Poppy and I sat in the back of the boat with Missy Hazel. It is so nice to be running again, albeit pretty slow! Thanks to Ashley and Linda who convinced me to do the 10k it was nice to feel a little bit back to normal.