Easter 2011

Colorful Morning

Stormy Weather

This is what we kept an eye on this afternoon. At 3:38 PM EDT to be exact.
See that arrow just west of the letter "C" in Cary? That is where we live.
All that bright red and purple had us running for our designated severe weather safety location: our master bedroom closet. At one point there were six separate tornado warnings over a four county area.

When we told the kids to grab a couple of lovies and head to our closet, Will became very concerned. Thankfully hugs, reassurances and prayers helped Will relax as we all crammed into our closet with our most prized possessions in hand. Mine were my laptop, iPhone and Nikon camera, naturally.

Chewbacca took advantage of all the blankets and warm bodies and took a nap. I don't think we will be able to depend on him as any kind of early warning system.
Eliza Grace, who is blessed with an amazing spirit that finds an element of fun in nearly every situation, created her own fort and settled in to play her DS.
Thankfully the very worst of the storm missed us by a couple of miles. Unfortunately, the storms did a great deal of damage in the surrounding areas and our thoughts are prayers are with those who were affected.

He Caught Up To Me Again

Last Wednesday Will woke up and asked, "Do you know what the day after tomorrow is?" to which Scott answered, "It's my birthday!" After giving him a bit of an exasperated look, Will said, "Um, well maybe, but what it REALLY is is my first tee-ball practice!"

It was at that point I decided we should probably wait until Saturday to celebrate Scott's birthday so we could all take time to focus on the other important stuff going on in our lives.

Uncle Gus (aka George Dusek) stopped by with a birthday beer for Scott just in time to help us sing.

After four months of being the younger man, Scott caught up to me once again.

Welcome to 44, Scottie.

PS - Quit tracking the package every 5 minutes already. I am sure your new toy will arrive soon :)

A Small Harvest

Scott's garden is doing well and I grabbed some lettuce for dinner last night.

Green strawberries are appearing, tomato plants will bloom soon and the cilantro is almost ready, too!

Fresh and organic from the back yard. Delish!

Learning to Back Off

I admit it. I can be one of "those moms."

I tend to be fairly cautious. I watch my kids pretty closely.

Although I want to expose them to all kinds of experiences, I find it hard to just "let them be" while they experience it.

I feel the need to provide some sort of running commentary: "be careful," "find something to hold onto," "could be poison ivy in there," "look for snakes," "that's high enough."

This is common sense, right? It is my job to make sure my children are safe, right?

But the entire time I am doing this, there is an inner dialogue running though my head:

"You used to ride your bike 4 blocks from home and spend hours at Miller Park, climbing trees, talking to strangers, wading through storm drains and capturing crawdads - with no parent in sight."

"You would swim way past the breakers and play until you were exhausted and you never got swept out to sea."

"How are they going to learn on their own if you do not let them make some mistakes and see what happens."

"Who cares if they get muddy! Get grip, Jacque. Mud washes off."

"You got poison ivy as a kid - a lot! - and survived."

It is the age old battle between knowing how I should react versus the reality of what I actually do.

I have always been partially jealous and yet slightly appalled at parents - first time or not - who can just let their babies and toddlers crawl and wander all over, watching them from a distance while doing their own thing.

I cannot tell you how many times I have caught someone else's child as they fell off play equipment or grabbed them just as something was about to hit them in the head.

A couple of year's ago I actually grabbed a struggling toddler from under the water after she had wandered away from her mother who was on the other side of the pool, chatting away. When I returned her to her mother, her mother just gave me a little smile and said, "Oh thanks, I wasn't sure where she was." I wanted to say, "Really, you did not know where your 3 year old was?! Isn't knowing where your 3 year old is the one thing you should always know?!"

Anyway, the point of this rambling is that I understand that balance is the key to most things in life and I am striving for greater balance when it comes to backing off and letting my kids just be.

And I think I am doing better, because the entire time I was video taping my kids yesterday, in my head I was screaming, "ticks! snakes! mud! disease! nasty! gross! do not fall! do not get hurt! I do not want to go to the ER today!"

Ok ,well, as I watch that again, I admit I still have a long way to go.

But, hey, at least I let him walk across that stream on that old, rotten log while grabbing poison ivy invested vegetation to haul himself up!

Aren't you proud of me?

Batter Up!

This past week was a banner one for Will as he began his first ever team sport: tee- ball.

Although he was a bit reluctant when I first signed him up, once he learned that his best buddy Gabe was assigned to the same team he got pretty excited.

Buying his first glove (and baseball pants, socks and rubber cleats) was a hoot because the kid was so excited he was literally bouncing through the store. Accessories apparently make the man.

The first practice was Friday night and, though he was shy at first, he got over that quickly. Frankly it took all my strength not to march onto the field and tell him to quit chatting and messing around and pay attention to the coaches. I didn't do it because, well, I did not want to be one of those mothers....even though I totally am.

When we first arrived it was warm but within 5 minutes, the temperature dropped about 15 degrees and the wind began to blow. Despite the weather, practice went well. I thank God that there are men who have the patience and willingness to introduce these 5 year olds to the sport and the three coaches for our Rockies seem really great.

Scott and I are excited to see how much Will learns and how much fun he has over the next 16 weeks.

Here's a quick video of the first day of practice. Apologies for the wind noise!

Aaaacting!

The kids and a neighbor friend dragged Eliza Grace's "theater" out of storage the other day and sorely tested my engineering skills.

After a few missteps, I finally got it together and and then the fun began.

Getting ready for the show. Will has already secured his popcorn and candy.
"I'm gonna to sing a little song. Like to hear it, hear it goes."
Jadon delighted the crowd with jokes and riddles.
Even Chewie was rolling on the floor laughing.
A little waltz during the intermission.
And Will finished the performance with an aria...or a really loud belch. One never knows what will come out of his mouth.

She Canters Verticals

Posing for a moment before her introduction.
Trotting into the ring on Anything But Ordinary, also known as Dixie.
And here she goes...

Time to let Dixie rest.

Son, Let Me Show You How It's Done.

Nearly every male Hoosier I have had the pleasure to meet has an underlying trait of avoiding complicating a basic task while finding a way to have fun doing it.

Scott is certainly no exception.

Sometimes actions taken with this approach can defy conventional wisdom. However, simplicity, efficiency and the every popular "that was cool!" factor often over shadow alternative, "smarter" methods.

Scott is working diligently to instill this quality in our son.

Thus, when it was decided that we should remove the overgrown sticker bushes by our mailbox, Scott took the opportunity to show Will how to keep it simple....and still use a big 'ol V8.

(And please forgive my senior moment when I could not come up with the right words for "rear back up sensor").

Camp MusArt Redux

Last week Eliza Grace attended Camp MusArt's track out camp again and loved it more than ever. If you have kids in K-5th grade in the Cary/Apex area that enjoy arts & crafts and music, this is the place for them!

This time, along with daily lessons on cello, violin, piano/keyboard, guitar and recorder, they learned some Irish ditties in honor of St. Patrick's day.

We really love all of the teachers that are part of this program. They are engaging, encouraging and caring. Plus two of the teachers came up to me at the end of the week to tell me how sweet Eliza Grace is and how much they enjoyed having her there. Words every Mother loves to hear!

Now comes the part where I share video from the end-of-the-week performance.

And it is also the part where I tell you that it was hot, crowded and Will was restless and whiny (as were lots of other siblings in the audience).

And I should say that, despite my new Flip HD with image stabilization, it does not keep me from wandering while I film.

And lastly, I must say that we are pretty impressed with Eliza Grace's short violin solo from "Allegro." We have definitely heard screechier versions, so hang in there because she ends well :)

Ok, well, with that really impressive/scary introduction, here's the video!

Scott's Green Thumb

This past weekend Scott decided he wanted to put in a raised garden.

You can take the Hoosier out of Indiana, but you cannot keep him from wanting to grow things!

Will, who spent the morning as a pirate in pajamas, decided he needed to lend a hand once he realized that tools were involved.
However, his help was short lived because, come on, it was sunny and the swing set was right there!
So Scottie finished the build himself...
hauled way too much top soil (because all we have naturally is red clay and sand)...
planted his lettuce and strawberries...
and protected it all from the many families of rabbits that live in the thickets and woods in our backyard.
What you cannot see are the approximately 12 other planters scattered on and around our decks which are sprouting his other veggies and herbs: tomatoes, peppers, cilantro, oregano, etc.

Thank you, Scott, for all your hard work! We cannot wait to taste the fruits (and veggies and herbs) of your labor!

Miss Kim was in the Houseee ...er...Cheesecake Factoryyy!

Miss Kim (aka Mimi or Kimmie), our nanny from the time Will was 3 months to 18 months old, was in town for a conference last week. The kids and I met her and some of her peers for dinner at the Cheesecake Factory.

I cannot tell you how much we miss this sweet young lady. She was such a joy to have in our lives on a daily basis. At the same time, it is so fun to hear all that she has accomplished over the past nearly 4 years. I found myself bragging to Scott about how well she is doing like some proud mama :)

Even though Will only really remembers Miss Kim through these visits - and scrapbooks, pictures and videos - he completely understands that this woman loves him and cared for him when he was really little.

He knows that she changed too many diapers to count, went through too many burp cloths to comprehend (Will was THE spit up king!) and helped shepherd him through those first 18 month basics: rolling over, sitting up, crawling, walking, talking, eating on his own, etc. etc.

Will and Eliza Grace doing their Ninja poses

Eliza Grace, however, does remember many fun times with Miss Kim. Pedicures while Will napped, walks to the park, tea parties and all kinds of crafts and activities that kept her busy, learning and having fun. They even have their own special way they say goodbye: Kim says, "Love ya, mean it" and Eliza Grace responds, "Love ya mean it more!" They were good buddies and I am so glad they still are.
It was so great to see you again, Miss Kim. We cannot wait to catch up with you again soon!

Sweet Georgia Brown

Last Saturday, the kids and I joined the Dusek's to see the Harlem Globetrotters. I can now officially check another one off my childhood wish list!

For my fellow Amazing Race fans, Big Easy led the game as team captain and lead funny man, but Flight Time was not there.

I venture to say that, aside from different players and some of the music, the 'Trotters routine has changed very little since the 1970's...and it was great!

Our tickets were at the very top of the lower level but, since the matinee performance was only about a third full, we moved much closer to the floor.Each of the kids got their own official red, white and blue Globetrotters basketball, although Eliza Grace chose the smaller version and then got as many autographs as she could in the short signing time after the show. The line was so long for Big Easy that we were not able to get his :(
The 4 Musketeers have another great memory together!

Will (5), Eliza Grace (9), Jacob (9), Isaac (6)

Space, The Final Frontier...

Will's preschool class has been studying outer space, celestial bodies and the space shuttle over the last 2 weeks.

I do believe this has been his favorite topic at school all year. His teachers agree, as they shared that he has been far more attentive during the lessons than he has been most of the year :)

They made a variety of space related crafts:
a picture of Saturna paper towel tube star gazer a rendering of our solar system (note, objects are not as close as they appear, nor are they in any particular order!)
and created their own moon rocks.
They also learned a song to help them remember the names of the planets in order of distance from the sun.

I asked Will if he would sing it for me on camera and he conceded once I convinced him that he would want to show it to his kids someday. Gotta do whatever works!

Perhaps we have a burgeoning astronomer or astronaut on our hands!

Heeeere's Chewie!

Yes, I am sure he is really missing all those loud, yappy puppies at the breeder.

And he never has any fun. See?

Let's take another look at little Chewbacca in that last pose:
Now take a look at a Star Wars AT-AT walker (and imagine it laying on its side in the same position as Chewie above):
Is it just us or is there a real similarity? Scott thinks giving him a Star Wars related name was providential :)