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!

Shiver Me Timbers...Redux

Ok, I promise this is the last post on this subject, but I did a little tweaking to Will's room and I wanted to capture the updated look.

I had ordered some stickers that arrived a little late but they add just the right little details to make the room look perfect!

(Click on the pics to make them bigger to see the detail)

Yo ho, Yo ho...Well, You Know The Rest

This past weekend I was finally able to make good on my eight month old promise to transform Will's bedroom into a Pirate room.

Scott seemed a bit skeptical when I explained how I would paint the sky, island and ocean but it was my project and he dutifully handled all the higher painting and trim work.

I think it turned out well, with a lot of credit going to the Olive Kids Wallies that gave it a little less amateurish look. They were very easy to apply.

I still need to find a coordinating blue bedspread but Will is thrilled with the room. In fact, he woke up first thing this morning, gave me a big hug and and said, "Thank you for my pirate room Mommy." And, really, that is what makes it worth every minute of work."So Will, what do you think about all this pirate stuff?"

Playing Pirate Hooky!

I am trying to be more intentional when it comes to being spontaneous with my kids.

I know that sounds oxymoronic (is that a word?) but it is the best way I can describe it.

I have to do this because deep down I am a planner. With a capital P.

I like rules. I like to follow rules. I like to be on time. I like to know what's coming. I like to be prepared.

But I know that when my kids look back at their childhood, they will not remember (or appreciate, for that matter) how much time and energy I might have spent planning a family vacation or ensuring they were not late for school or that they went to bed on time.

What they will remember is the time their Mom took to play with them, listen to them, encourage them and just be with them. And, hopefully, they will remember those few precious times when Mom surprised them by chucking the rules out the window to have some fun.

That is what I did yesterday with Will.

After we dropped Eliza Grace off at school, I turned to Will and said, "I think we should play hooky today." The rest of the conversation went like this:

Will: "What's hooky"

Me: "It's when I take the day off work and you take the day off from school and we go play."

Will: "Really?!" (You should have seen those big, round eyes and the smiling dimples that popped out - that alone made my day!)

Me: "Yep, so what do you say we go home, get on your swim suit, throw your pirate costume over it and head to Jordan Lake for a pirate play date, complete with boat ride."

Will: "YES!"

Now, before you think I have strayed too far from my true self, I have to confess that I planned this "spontaneous" play date a week prior, after learning about this fun activity from one of Will's classmate's Mom, with whom I arranged to meet there with her son.

So in the end, I think it was the best of both worlds. I got to plan and Will got to be spontaneous and we had an absolutely fabulous time playing hooky.

I enjoyed the gorgeous sky while Capt. Willy (arrg!) was hopping around:

My pensive pirate:

Will got rid of the costume to splash in Jordan Lake

I just loved this tree growing from the edge of the shore

Will and Gabe waiting for Capt. Don to cast off

Sling Boy Birthday - Part 2

Tonight we celebrated Will's birthday as a family. I did a bit of decorating in the continuing pirate theme - it is amazing what one can do with crepe paper and pirate themed napkins!

We had the usual fare - sliced cucumbers, mini penne pasta, and bread dipped in olive oil with spices. We have to watch our fingers with the bread because the kids mop up the oil and spices with the bread so fast we could draw back a nub if we are not careful!

We finished it all up with cupcakes and a treasure hunt to find Will's presents. It was a fun family evening to be sure. Which begs the question as to why Will melted down around 8:30 into inconsolable tears and frustration. Perhaps it was too much attention, too many new things to play with, the down side of a butter cream icing high? I am fairly certain it was a combination of all three.

But now my baby - my FOUR YEAR OLD baby - is lying in his bed, hopefully having wonderful Veggie Tale pirate ship dreams.

Wow, my own treasure map!

1st mate, Eliza Grace, helping to find the X that marks the spot.

No, its just your imagination. I mean what kind of mother would use 3 day old cupcakes from her child's school party for his family party? (hee,hee - just call me the frugal gourmet!)"I wish for a Veggie Tales pirate ship!"

I got my wish!

Sling Boy Birthday - Part 1

Arg, help! We are stuck in quick sand!

Despite the whole broken collar bone/arm in a sling thing, we proceeded with our plans to bring cupcakes to preschool to celebrate Will's birthday. Just about every 5 minutes today he asked if it was time to have his pirate party at school. 
As soon as we walked in the door, he immediately asked me, "when will my friends sing to me?" And then was his typical shy when they did. All the kiddos asked how Will was feeling, especially since most of them saw him fall and witnessed the painful cries afterward. They were so sweet and told him that they missed him.

Part 2 of the celebration will come on Monday, his actual birthday, when we will celebrate at home with cake and ice cream and presents!

The shy smile during the happy birthday song Look Ms. Amanda, I got a real pirate spy glass

Now how does this thing work?

Two Pirates, Velma and Them Bones

Halloween was a 2 day affair this year. On Friday, Will's school had a costume parade and carnival that was loads of fun.

Then we carefully de-costumed to be ready for the real thing the next day. Saturday started out rainy but the evening was dry and nearly 70 degrees as we hit the streets.

The Duseks joined us for dinner and Trick or Treating. Will decided at the last minute that he would be brave this year and actually ring some bells instead of sitting on the stoop and handing out candy. Of course, Scott and George handled giving candy out quite nicely - it was something you could easily do while holding a beer!

Speaking of, one neighbor offered grown up treats - a fridge with 6 built in taps to taste their home brew! Too bad Scott and George were at our house holding down the fort.

Here are a few pics from the evening. Eliza Grace received the most comments for her costume by far!

Arrg...Capt'n Spooky!

Jinkees - it's Velma!

The gang heading to collect their treats

We're done...dig in!Oh, and remember, Mama Q gets all the Whoppers.
Right kids? Kids? Right?

Kiawah Island 2009

A couple of weeks ago we headed down to Grandmommy's beach house on Kiawah Island, SC.

Scott and I arranged it so that we had NINE whole days of vacation - in a row! First time in nine years that we have taken 6 days in a row off of work so we were thrilled to leave Cisco and ModusLink behind for a decent chunk of time.

The weather was mild and beautiful. Overall, we had a lovely time. We got to see lots of the typical low country flora and fauna.


These big fellas were all over the place, in between trees and all over house eves - as Scott found out when he walked right into a massive web that stuck to him like glue. Sometimes being tall is a hazard. Regardless, they eat a lot of mosquitoes so we left them to their snacking.

The first couple of days were uneventful, full of lots of time on the beach. The water was calm and terrific!

My gang of three getting wet

However, there were a few minor mishaps. And for once, they did not happen to me - but more on that in a minute.
Will started out with his typical "jump right in" style. I am very happy that both our kids really love the water, whether pool or ocean.





But Monday evening, 4 days in our vacation, Will fell off the monkey bars from about 6 feet up and landed with all of his weight on the top of his right foot. By Wednesday morning, he looked like this:
Thankfully, Dr. Feldman and the rest of the wonderful staff at the Kiawah-Seabrook Urgent Care center were just 4 miles down the road. The splint was a pain management intervention, as the x-rays were not clear as to whether or not he broke his right third metatarsal. Without the splint, he would not put any weight on his right foot at all, which meant he would hop, crawl or have to be carried. And let me tell you that his 42 pounds feels like 100 after about 2 minutes of hauling him up and down stairs.

Of course, if you have ever spent any time with a 3 year old boy, a little thing like a nearly broken foot and splint cannot slow them down. Since the splint was open plaster on each end, getting it wet was not an option, so we would stroll him down to the beach, remove the splint, and let him crawl and hobble in the sand and ocean.

I am so glad that it did not really slow him down or put a big damper on our fun. I am also terribly thankful that Aunt Heidi brought her umbrella stroller, as I made the decision not to bring regular stroller because I figured there would be no possible reason we would need one - silly Mommy!

We did take one day off from the beach and headed into Charleston to check out the Children's Museum of the Low Country. I definitely recommend this for the toddler to 2nd grade crowd. Eliza Grace, Will and cousin Gretchen had a great time in the many themed areas, including some of their very favorite themes: Pirates, Knights and arts/crafts.

Will - aka Peg Leg the pirate - checking out the treasure!

Bluebeard the Pirate...AAARRRGGG!

Hard 'a starboard!

"Yo ho, heros!"(homage to Veggie Tales "The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything!")

"We are the the knights who say.....Ni!"

"It's good to be the king"

As far as other mishaps that week, Scott managed to give himself a nice burn on the palm of his hand while grilling steaks and the salt water really aggravated Eliza Grace's eczema, so I got to make a couple of phone calls to our pediatrician and a couple of trips to CVS for bandages and creams. As the one who has on more than one occasion seriously sprained my ankle, burned myself and has skin flare ups (thanks to both rosacea and psoriasis), it was nothing short of amazing that I had none of those issues this time around. Hallelujah for me!

I have some fun videos to share as well, but will save those for the next post.