This seemed to be the theme for our family this August. I'll start with the good news.
First, Ezra turned four! We had a wonderful birthday party for him with some friends and neighbors. I made a cake once again for him, and he loved it. Several months before his birthday, he had already decided that he wanted a Curious George cake. In fact, every time someone would ask him how old he was, his response was, "Three. August, four (as in, he would turn four in August). Curious George cake." Well, it took me about two hours to decorate it, but it turned out beautifully, and I am quite proud of it. :)
My second piece of good news is the development of Lydia's language skills (among all of her other amazing growth and changes). She is talking up a storm. Just a month ago, she would basically just say one word at a time and would often ask one-word questions (very cute!). Now, she has started putting more words together. It's an exciting time in her language development, and we are really enjoying hearing her speak.
Another piece of good news: we have been enjoying lots of fresh veggies from the garden. We only have tomatoes and basil in our garden this year, but we have some friends who have shared a lot of veggies from theirs. I've been making lots of tomato sauce, pizza sauce and salsa. And I had eggplant parmigiana for the first time--it was delicious and I can't wait to have it again!
The third piece of good news is the success I've been having with couponing. My sister-in-law started couponing a few months ago, and I decided I should really start doing that to save some money on groceries. I've been keeping track of my savings from the coupons, and since I started at the end of July, I've saved $133.13! Now, I'm even more excited to continue using them!
Now for the bad news. Recently, we took the van in to the shop because it was doing a bit of shaking/vibrating when I would slow down or sit at a stoplight. When John called after dropping it off, he said, "I have good news and bad news. The good news is it won't cost $1500 to fix the van." "What's the bad news?" I asked. "It's going to be $900 instead." :( Not long after that, I was in a very minor car accident. The other driver didn't see me and pulled out of an alley, hitting the side of the van. Unfortunately, we got false information from the other driver (partly my fault because I didn't ask for enough information) and now we will have to meet the deductible to have the car fixed. So, the good news is that none of us were hurt, and the bad news is that the other driver lied and we got stuck with the at least part of the bill.
On the day of the accident, my mom had been visiting but was leaving for home that afternoon. John had been out of town for a week taking a CPE (continuing professional education, for anyone unsure of the initials). He was flying in that night, so I was alone with the kids that afternoon and evening. I was on the computer checking email and the kids were upstairs playing. I heard them fighting at one point, but they worked it out and continued playing. A little while later, I heard thump, thump, thump, thump...wailing that sounded little very hearty laughter. Lydia had fallen down the steps with some help from Ezra. I ran and picked up Lydia and tried to comfort her even though she was just beside herself. I tried to get her to tell me where she hurt and she kept saying, "Finger," while pointing to her right hand index finger. Her hand was shaky and she avoided using it. She seemed to be pretty with it, but she was very shaken by this. I spoke with a nurse from our hospital, and she advised me to take Lydia to an ER or an urgent care clinic. So, since John wasn't home, my neighbor graciously came with me to help with the kids and give me moral support. After taking xrays, we found out the Lydia had a buckle fracture and had to wear a too-big brace since they didn't have any that fit on hand. After seeing an orthopedic doctor, she was given an appropriately-sized, very cute and colorful brace, and we were told she would heal in about 2 or three weeks. So, the bad news in this situation is obvious and the good news is that she was not hurt in a worse way than her fracture. We are so thankful that she had no head injuries or a bigger break!
Two days later, Ezra was trying to catch a balloon and landed with his cheek hitting the top of a little child-sized chair. His cheek immediately swelled and later turned into a black eye. The next morning, when I went in to get him up, he declared with excitement, "Mama! I have a big cheek!" He has been having fun seeing the development of his bruise and change in color. And he has gotten a lot of attention from the black eye. Again, I think the good news and bad news are obvious. I just wish that he would grow out of his clumsiness, but I see many more bruises, cuts, blood in the future because of his combination of wildness and clumsiness (not a good combination!).
Here are some picture of the kids and their injuries:
Some other recent pictures:
In case you're wondering from the pictures, Paint the Pavement is a neighborhood activity where you paint an intersection of your neighborhood. It takes a lot of planning and preparation, but it is so worthwhile in the end. We did this with our neighbors this summer, and the end result was beautiful. We met and got to know more of our wonderful neighbors and really enjoyed our time. Ezra had a blast painting and was very disappointed when it was all done. I was disappointed too because I thought it would take longer and I never got a chance to paint anything. At least some of my family can take credit!
Tuesday, September 01, 2009
Monday, July 06, 2009
A Child's Prayer
I love listening to kids pray. At a certain age, they start realizing that they can say a prayer all their own, one with their own thoughts and words. They are usually very sweet and sincere...and often quite funny. Tonight, we had to keep ourselves from laughing out loud after Ezra's prayer. It was so cute:
Dear Jesus,
Thank you for this food. Bless that give God a heaven.
Amen.
Dear Jesus,
Thank you for this food. Bless that give God a heaven.
Amen.
Thursday, July 02, 2009
Vacation in Nebraska
Last week we went on vacation to Nebraska. I'm sure you're thinking, "Wow! Nebraska! How exciting!" But, truthfully, it was wonderful. We stayed in a cabin with my parents and my sister and her family in Mahoney State Park, about halfway between Lincoln and Omaha. The cabin was spacious, very comfortable, and, most importantly, air-conditioned since it was in the 90's most of the time we were there. While we were there, we went to the SAC Museum, climbed a tower in the park that overlooked the Platte River, hiked (while it was still cool in the morning), spent a day at the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha, had ice cream at a cute little cafe several times in a nearby town, and spent a day in Lincoln (just the four of us). I have two photo albums to share. The first is of vacation in general (mostly the four kids: Ezra, Lydia and their two cousins). The second is of the day the four of us spent in Lincoln--John showed us around since he used to live there when he was in junior high and high school. We really enjoyed ourselves, but, as always, we're happy to be home again on a normal schedule! :)
Monday, June 22, 2009
Really?
That was John's response when I told him this story. On the exit ramp from the interstate close to our house, there is often a homeless person holding up a sign asking for money. Usually these say things like, "Homeless. Need money for food" or "Hungry. Please give. Anything helps". Recently, I saw sign I've never seen in this same spot. The sign said, "Ninja killed my family. Need $ 4 karate lessons." At least the guy was creative!
Friday, June 19, 2009
Subway
Yesterday, Ezra was looking at a used Subway gift card that we had saved for the kids. I heard him reading the letters outloud which he often does. Then he said to me, "Subway! Mama, this says Subway!" Blown away by what I just heard, I asked Ezra, "Did you just read that off of the card?" He replied, "Yeah, I sounded the letters out and read it." Wow. That's all I can say....wow.
Last week I was visiting my parents in Iowa. My sister and her family live in the same town, so we see a lot of each other when we visit. Plus, our kids get to play together quite often. Ezra loves his cousin, Sean, and he gets very excited around him. The two boys get each other all worked up, and Ezra often gets too physical with Sean, making him worried and upset. One day on the playground, Ezra was hugging Sean a little too tightly. I could tell Sean was getting upset, so I asked Ezra to come over and talk to me. Here is our conversation:
Me: Ezra, you can't be so wild and crazy around Sean. He doesn't like that.
Ezra (looking past me at Lydia and his cousin, Caitlyn, on the swings): Wow, look at them in the air!
Me: Ezra, you're not listening to me. Look at me when I talk to you. Sean doesn't like it when you get so wild with him and hug him so roughly. Did you hear what I said?
Ezra: Wow, their really swinging!
Me: Ezra, can you tell me what I just said?
Ezra: Look at me.
Me: What else?
Ezra: Listen to me.
Me: What else?
Ezra: (Sigh) Oh, I don't know.
Me: Okay, listen to me now. Sean doesn't like it when you are so rough and wild with him. If he's getting upset, you need to stop what you're doing because he doesn't like it.
Ezra--repeats what I just said word for word, looking at me this time.
Me: Now, you need to go and say "I'm sorry" to him.
Ezra: Okay.
Ezra to Sean: I'm sorry, Sean.
Sean: (sweet sigh, like he's happy) It's okay, Ezra, it was an accident.
Ezra: No, it wasn't!
Last week I was visiting my parents in Iowa. My sister and her family live in the same town, so we see a lot of each other when we visit. Plus, our kids get to play together quite often. Ezra loves his cousin, Sean, and he gets very excited around him. The two boys get each other all worked up, and Ezra often gets too physical with Sean, making him worried and upset. One day on the playground, Ezra was hugging Sean a little too tightly. I could tell Sean was getting upset, so I asked Ezra to come over and talk to me. Here is our conversation:
Me: Ezra, you can't be so wild and crazy around Sean. He doesn't like that.
Ezra (looking past me at Lydia and his cousin, Caitlyn, on the swings): Wow, look at them in the air!
Me: Ezra, you're not listening to me. Look at me when I talk to you. Sean doesn't like it when you get so wild with him and hug him so roughly. Did you hear what I said?
Ezra: Wow, their really swinging!
Me: Ezra, can you tell me what I just said?
Ezra: Look at me.
Me: What else?
Ezra: Listen to me.
Me: What else?
Ezra: (Sigh) Oh, I don't know.
Me: Okay, listen to me now. Sean doesn't like it when you are so rough and wild with him. If he's getting upset, you need to stop what you're doing because he doesn't like it.
Ezra--repeats what I just said word for word, looking at me this time.
Me: Now, you need to go and say "I'm sorry" to him.
Ezra: Okay.
Ezra to Sean: I'm sorry, Sean.
Sean: (sweet sigh, like he's happy) It's okay, Ezra, it was an accident.
Ezra: No, it wasn't!
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Quotes from both kids
Both kids amaze me at how quickly they are growing. Occasionally, when I look at them, I'm amazed to see that they are so big. I think I have a constant picture of them in my head of what they should look like. Ezra, for instance, is constantly at early 3's and Lydia is probably more around 12 months. And then I look at them, and Ezra is growing into this tall, long-legged almost 4-year-old boy and Lydia can already have her hair in pigtails. What happened? Did I miss a few months?
When we were in Target the other day, we happened to see some people that were at a nearby campsite last summer when we were camping at Gooseberry Falls. We found out that they live somewhat close to us, and their son, Finn, is around the same age as Ezra. The two boys played together a lot while we camped and had a great time together. Well, when we saw them the other day, Finn's mother said to Ezra, "You look like you've grown a foot since I last saw you." And that got a conversation going between us and how much the kids had grown. In fact, they didn't even remember that we had Lydia then, probably because she was less than a year old and not yet walking. We tried desperately to keep her out of the mud the whole time we were there. Anyway...while we were talking, Ezra had this funny look on his face and kept looking down at his feet. I asked him what was wrong, and he asked me, "Mama, did I grow a foot?" At that point, I burst out laughing and after a while regained my composure enough to explain to him what she meant by growing a foot. Of course, when he realized what it meant, he laughed too.
In terms of learning, Ezra is growing by leaps and bounds too. For nearly a year, he has been able to recognize all the letters and say them in order. He can count to 30 without help and up to 100 with help on the beginning of each set of 10. For several months, he's been working on learning the sounds of letters. And recently, I found out that he knows some very basic spelling. The first time I realized this was when we were out for a walk. Lydia saw a dog and was the first to point it out, as usual. In response, Ezra said, "D-Dog", (sounding out the "D"). "Dog is spelled D-O-G." I was totally floored when he said that to me because I had never taught him that. After hearing that, we've been working on sounding out 3-letter words and spelling them, and, amazingly, he is doing a fantastic job. We're seriously considering homeschooling, and it may just be a breeze to teach him if he keeps this up!
Lydia is also amazing me lately. She has recently started saying, "thank you" and "excuse me", of her own accord at very appropriate times. And just this morning, when I asked her why she had done something, she answered, "Because," as though that answered the question completely and totally. Later I heard Ezra ask her a question and she answered again in the same way. But he needed more of an answer and asked her repeatly, "Because why?", receiving no better answer than before. :)
Well, I could go on and on, and I guess I already have! I'll save more for another day.
When we were in Target the other day, we happened to see some people that were at a nearby campsite last summer when we were camping at Gooseberry Falls. We found out that they live somewhat close to us, and their son, Finn, is around the same age as Ezra. The two boys played together a lot while we camped and had a great time together. Well, when we saw them the other day, Finn's mother said to Ezra, "You look like you've grown a foot since I last saw you." And that got a conversation going between us and how much the kids had grown. In fact, they didn't even remember that we had Lydia then, probably because she was less than a year old and not yet walking. We tried desperately to keep her out of the mud the whole time we were there. Anyway...while we were talking, Ezra had this funny look on his face and kept looking down at his feet. I asked him what was wrong, and he asked me, "Mama, did I grow a foot?" At that point, I burst out laughing and after a while regained my composure enough to explain to him what she meant by growing a foot. Of course, when he realized what it meant, he laughed too.
In terms of learning, Ezra is growing by leaps and bounds too. For nearly a year, he has been able to recognize all the letters and say them in order. He can count to 30 without help and up to 100 with help on the beginning of each set of 10. For several months, he's been working on learning the sounds of letters. And recently, I found out that he knows some very basic spelling. The first time I realized this was when we were out for a walk. Lydia saw a dog and was the first to point it out, as usual. In response, Ezra said, "D-Dog", (sounding out the "D"). "Dog is spelled D-O-G." I was totally floored when he said that to me because I had never taught him that. After hearing that, we've been working on sounding out 3-letter words and spelling them, and, amazingly, he is doing a fantastic job. We're seriously considering homeschooling, and it may just be a breeze to teach him if he keeps this up!
Lydia is also amazing me lately. She has recently started saying, "thank you" and "excuse me", of her own accord at very appropriate times. And just this morning, when I asked her why she had done something, she answered, "Because," as though that answered the question completely and totally. Later I heard Ezra ask her a question and she answered again in the same way. But he needed more of an answer and asked her repeatly, "Because why?", receiving no better answer than before. :)
Well, I could go on and on, and I guess I already have! I'll save more for another day.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Thoughts from the last five months...
I will offer only one pathetic excuse for not writing more often and then move on to more interesting things. Here is my excuse: our computer is dreadfully slow which takes away from any desire I have to spend time on the computer, other than checking email and doing bookwork for my teaching. There it is, my excuse. Please forgive me!
From late March, when I started writing this post (pathetic, isn't it?!):
Tax season is in full swing for John right now. But this year seems to be going better than previous years. Apparently, there is always at least one big blow-up with one of his audits during tax season (maybe more than that too, I don't know), but this year, everything has been going smoothly. That's great news because it means I won't lose anymore of my dear husband's time to work! At the end of February, he even surprised me by telling me that he would be able to go with me to a family reunion from his side of the family. And he also surprised me with tickets to a Derek Trucks Band concert while we were there!! That was a fantastic concert, and I came away thoroughly in awe of the band and the music.
A few weeks ago, I drove down to visit my family and play with South Dakota Symphony. I took the kids, as always, and I stayed for about a week and a half for my Spring Break from teaching. I always look forward to my Spring Break because every year I go and visit my family for a week. And very often, the weather is beautiful while I'm there. This year was no exception; the weather was gorgeous some of the days while we were there. Unfortunately, we all ended up getting sick with stomach flu. First I was sick, then Lydia caught it, and then Ezra got hit with it, and his was worse than what Lydia and I had combined. He was just a pathetic little boy, laying on the couch all day with no energy to do anything else. Even after his stomach was feeling better, he was so weak after not eating much and losing fluids for a few days the he still didn't do much for a few days and just laid on the couch. One day, he tried to go outside and play and ended up sitting down several times and eventually going inside. Probably the worst part of it, though, was one day when I thought I smelled a dirty diaper on Lydia, and the smell ended up being in Ezra's pants. He was just laying there on the couch, and didn't even know or care that his pants were dirty. Thankfully, we are all well now, and Ezra will no long have to say to me, "Oh Mama, I just don't know what is wrong with myself."
From mid-April:
Tax season is over!!! Last Saturday, we had our annual Family Day that we always have the first Saturday after Tax Season is over. It was WONDERFUL! The day always starts eating out for breakfast, and we went to the Uptowner, a great, local hole-in-the-wall diner that we went to last year on Family Day too. One of the cooks tried to convince me to try something different, but I had to stick with my favorite: The Tex-Mex which is a HUGE burrito with eggs, crispy hashbrowns, cheese, salsa and sour cream. I actually just ordered a half order, but it looked just as big as a full order, and I only got through less than half of it. After breakfast, we went to the Aquarium at the Mall of America, and we all enjoyed that. Lydia was totally amazed at everything she saw and kept repeating, "Shark!" (even if it wasn't a shark she was looking at). I think we liked the cute little sea horses the best. Then we went to a Starbucks and John ended up getting our coffee and a cookie for FREE! They were having problems with the machine the take the credit card numbers and guy just said it was on the house. Food always tastes better when it's free. :) After that, we spent some time at the Legos area, and John and the kids played with Legos while I sat and knitted. When we were done at the mall, we came home and watched a movie with Ezra while Lydia took a nap. Then we had a quick dinner and went out for ice cream at Cold Stone Creamery. I think we all thoroughly enjoyed our day and were very happy to have John back again more. And I believe John is very relieved to have tax season done again for another year.
From today:
A little over a week ago, we went to visit some friends in Chicago and had a wonderful time. We stayed at a condo right on the beach of Lake Michigan. The condo is owned by friends of the friends we were visiting, and it is a second home for them. It is on the 17th floor, and you can see for miles out over the lake. The first morning we were there, it was a little cloudy, but still beautiful. We took a walk in the neighborhood, had breakfast at a local coffeeshop, and walked on the beach in the soft sand. I practiced violin while looking out over the beautiful scenery, and the kids played. That afternoon, we went for lunch with our friends and went to a museum, then came back to the condo and had delicious breadsticks made by John! The next morning, it was bright and sunny, and the reflection of the sun was almost blinding on the lake. It was a great, relaxing weekend for me to prepare for a busy upcoming week.
The quartet that I have been playing with, for the last year and a half, finally gave our first recital last week Thursday. We performed Beethoven's String Quartet in C Minor, Op. 18, No. 4 and Smetana's String Quartet No. 1 in E minor, "From My Life". The performance went incredibly well, and we are all excited about the whole experience. In fact, it went well beyond my highest expectations, and I will definitely never forget the performance. We made sound and visual recordings of it, so hopefully I can get some of it posted on here eventually.
We had a scary incident on the day of the recital. When Lydia was tested for allergies, the only nut that showed up was peanut. However, we now think that she is allergic to pecans and possibly other nuts as well. On Thursday afternoon, we had been baking some cookies withe pecans for the recital, and my sister thinks she saw Lydia pick one up off of the floor and eat it. She wasn't sure it was a pecan, but it most likely was. Not long after that, she started having a reaction to something. Her left eye started getting all red, itchy and puffy. Shortly before I had to leave to get ready for the recital, her eye was almost swelled shut. I called a doctor friend of mine in a panic, asking her to come over and look at Lydia. Apparently by the time she came, Lydia was looking much better, and her eye was nearly as good as new by the evening. Now, we know to avoid all nuts, and keep them completely out of reach to Lydia.
After that week of stress, we retreated to Des Moines to visit family and relax. Then, we came home and I got sick with a stomach flu. I'm really hoping that my kids do not get sick from it because it is dreadful having sick kids!
Our gardens around our house are beginning to look beautiful. We finally got all of our pots and window boxes planted, and our vegetables in the garden, except for some seeds that should have been planted a month ago! I'm hoping for a good bunch of tomatoes this year from our plants.
Since it's been awhile since I've written, I should probably give updates on the kids. First Lydia:
1. Lydia is turning into a sweet, funny little girl. She makes us laugh everyday with something silly she's doing. She's very good at communicating, verbally or nonverbally. She's quite the talker and is always trying out new words. And very often when you explain something to her, she responds with an appropriate, "Oh." And her funniest nonverbal communication is her nodding or shaking her head to any question.
2. She started walking in January, so now she's practically running. Often, she goes too fast for herself and you can see the fall coming from a mile away! She also thinks it's fun and funny to walk in circles until she gets dizzy.
3. Lydia is becoming a little fashionista as well. She insists on picking out her clothes (or at least one article of clothing) most days. If I pick out something unsatisfactory, she not be happy until I pick out the right thing. She's most picky about her shoes. And her hair is now long enough for pigtails--I love them in her hair. She looks so much older with them.
4. Since the weather is now very springy, we've been enjoying our time outside, and Lydia has come to realize how much she loves being outside. In fact, if you mention going outside and don't follow through, she is very disappointed.
5. Unfortunately, because Lydia has been spending so much time outside, her skin has been looking terrible and she's been very itchy. On top of all of her food allergies, I'm afraid she's developed some environmental allergies as well. When she stays inside for a few days, her skin begins to look better, but the first day out again, she looks worse. I'm not about to keep her inside and away from all the fun just to keep her from itching, so I'm afraid she's going to be extra itchy this summer. We may start going to a dermatologist as well as the allergist we've been seeing already.
Now for Ezra:
Not much new with him, but there's always the funny quotes.
1. One evening when we were getting Ezra ready for bed, Ezra wanted help with something and asked John to do it, adding, "You're a good man for it, Daddy."
2. We've been having lots of long, funny conversations lately. The other day, we stopped at a fabric store to pick up my sewing machine that was being cleaned. I noticed on the store that it was 33 years old. When I mentioned it to Ezra, he asked, "So, only 3-year-olds can go in the store?" I told him that I had said the STORE as 33 years old not 3, and anyone could go in the store. So, then he asked, "So, only 33-year-olds can go in the store?" Again, I explained to him that the STORE was 33 years old and anyone could go in the store. When, confused, he asked the same question again, I finally gave up and said, "Ezra, let's just forget I said anything, okay? We'll just go in the store and you can play with the toys." And that was that.
3. When you have kids at Ezra's and Lydia's ages, you start to become familiar with the phrases you say often without realizing it. Ezra has often pointed these out to me in the things he says. When he was around 2, he would ask questions that would start out like this, "Shall we...?" When he was about 2 1/2, he would often say, "That's a great idea, Mama! Is that a great idea?" Lately, after asking me for something (like a piece of candy) and hearing me explain that he can have it later (like after lunch), he responds by saying, "That's what I'm talkin' about!" Or, if I misunderstand him when he asking me a question and I respond the wrong way, he'll say, "No, Mama! I'm talkin' about..." And just the other day, he started out a sentence with, "Now Mama, as I was saying..." :)
4. Ezra's getting better at saying L's, so Lydia is no longer "Yiddia". While I'm a bit sad about that, it is nice to hear him pronouncing words the right way. For a while, he worked so hard at saying L's, and he still struggles with some words. Take the word, "girl", for example: from Ezra is sounds more like, "girler" with the "r" sounding like a little kid "r" sound. Hard to explain, but super cute coming from him.
5. Ezra likes to pick his nose, and we battled it all winter. Nearly every day there was a red streak of blood across his cheek from his picking. He soon figured out that he could hide somewhere to finish picking his nose if I caught him in the act. One such day, he ran to a favorite hiding spot, and I had an idea why. The funny part about this conversation is not that he denies picking his nose but what his exact response is.
Me: Ezra are you picking your nose?
Ezra: I amn't.
6. Washing hands in the bathroom.
John: Ezra, make sure you get that finger that's all dirty from picking your nose.
Ezra: Daddy! I use ALL my fingers to pick my nose!
Other Ezra updates:
I've started doing just a bit with violin with Ezra. He has a box violin and a stick bow. At this point, we're not really faithful about every day practicing, but I'm not concerned about that quite yet. For now, it's fun just playing around with it and seeing how Ezra does. He's actually very good about letting me form bowholds and getting his box violin up on his shoulder. And he loves playing all of the little games I play with my other students when they are just beginning. And we have a cute little foot chart that Ezra had a lot of fun making.
Ezra is also always asking to help with cooking, washing dishes, folding laundry, etc. So, I've started teaching him how to fold some clothes and he often helps me. And, he folds him jammies in the morning and his clothes at night and puts them all away. And whenever we can include Ezra in the cooking, we take the opportunity.
And now for a few pictures.
Recent and Past Knitting projects
From late March, when I started writing this post (pathetic, isn't it?!):
Tax season is in full swing for John right now. But this year seems to be going better than previous years. Apparently, there is always at least one big blow-up with one of his audits during tax season (maybe more than that too, I don't know), but this year, everything has been going smoothly. That's great news because it means I won't lose anymore of my dear husband's time to work! At the end of February, he even surprised me by telling me that he would be able to go with me to a family reunion from his side of the family. And he also surprised me with tickets to a Derek Trucks Band concert while we were there!! That was a fantastic concert, and I came away thoroughly in awe of the band and the music.
A few weeks ago, I drove down to visit my family and play with South Dakota Symphony. I took the kids, as always, and I stayed for about a week and a half for my Spring Break from teaching. I always look forward to my Spring Break because every year I go and visit my family for a week. And very often, the weather is beautiful while I'm there. This year was no exception; the weather was gorgeous some of the days while we were there. Unfortunately, we all ended up getting sick with stomach flu. First I was sick, then Lydia caught it, and then Ezra got hit with it, and his was worse than what Lydia and I had combined. He was just a pathetic little boy, laying on the couch all day with no energy to do anything else. Even after his stomach was feeling better, he was so weak after not eating much and losing fluids for a few days the he still didn't do much for a few days and just laid on the couch. One day, he tried to go outside and play and ended up sitting down several times and eventually going inside. Probably the worst part of it, though, was one day when I thought I smelled a dirty diaper on Lydia, and the smell ended up being in Ezra's pants. He was just laying there on the couch, and didn't even know or care that his pants were dirty. Thankfully, we are all well now, and Ezra will no long have to say to me, "Oh Mama, I just don't know what is wrong with myself."
From mid-April:
Tax season is over!!! Last Saturday, we had our annual Family Day that we always have the first Saturday after Tax Season is over. It was WONDERFUL! The day always starts eating out for breakfast, and we went to the Uptowner, a great, local hole-in-the-wall diner that we went to last year on Family Day too. One of the cooks tried to convince me to try something different, but I had to stick with my favorite: The Tex-Mex which is a HUGE burrito with eggs, crispy hashbrowns, cheese, salsa and sour cream. I actually just ordered a half order, but it looked just as big as a full order, and I only got through less than half of it. After breakfast, we went to the Aquarium at the Mall of America, and we all enjoyed that. Lydia was totally amazed at everything she saw and kept repeating, "Shark!" (even if it wasn't a shark she was looking at). I think we liked the cute little sea horses the best. Then we went to a Starbucks and John ended up getting our coffee and a cookie for FREE! They were having problems with the machine the take the credit card numbers and guy just said it was on the house. Food always tastes better when it's free. :) After that, we spent some time at the Legos area, and John and the kids played with Legos while I sat and knitted. When we were done at the mall, we came home and watched a movie with Ezra while Lydia took a nap. Then we had a quick dinner and went out for ice cream at Cold Stone Creamery. I think we all thoroughly enjoyed our day and were very happy to have John back again more. And I believe John is very relieved to have tax season done again for another year.
From today:
A little over a week ago, we went to visit some friends in Chicago and had a wonderful time. We stayed at a condo right on the beach of Lake Michigan. The condo is owned by friends of the friends we were visiting, and it is a second home for them. It is on the 17th floor, and you can see for miles out over the lake. The first morning we were there, it was a little cloudy, but still beautiful. We took a walk in the neighborhood, had breakfast at a local coffeeshop, and walked on the beach in the soft sand. I practiced violin while looking out over the beautiful scenery, and the kids played. That afternoon, we went for lunch with our friends and went to a museum, then came back to the condo and had delicious breadsticks made by John! The next morning, it was bright and sunny, and the reflection of the sun was almost blinding on the lake. It was a great, relaxing weekend for me to prepare for a busy upcoming week.
The quartet that I have been playing with, for the last year and a half, finally gave our first recital last week Thursday. We performed Beethoven's String Quartet in C Minor, Op. 18, No. 4 and Smetana's String Quartet No. 1 in E minor, "From My Life". The performance went incredibly well, and we are all excited about the whole experience. In fact, it went well beyond my highest expectations, and I will definitely never forget the performance. We made sound and visual recordings of it, so hopefully I can get some of it posted on here eventually.
We had a scary incident on the day of the recital. When Lydia was tested for allergies, the only nut that showed up was peanut. However, we now think that she is allergic to pecans and possibly other nuts as well. On Thursday afternoon, we had been baking some cookies withe pecans for the recital, and my sister thinks she saw Lydia pick one up off of the floor and eat it. She wasn't sure it was a pecan, but it most likely was. Not long after that, she started having a reaction to something. Her left eye started getting all red, itchy and puffy. Shortly before I had to leave to get ready for the recital, her eye was almost swelled shut. I called a doctor friend of mine in a panic, asking her to come over and look at Lydia. Apparently by the time she came, Lydia was looking much better, and her eye was nearly as good as new by the evening. Now, we know to avoid all nuts, and keep them completely out of reach to Lydia.
After that week of stress, we retreated to Des Moines to visit family and relax. Then, we came home and I got sick with a stomach flu. I'm really hoping that my kids do not get sick from it because it is dreadful having sick kids!
Our gardens around our house are beginning to look beautiful. We finally got all of our pots and window boxes planted, and our vegetables in the garden, except for some seeds that should have been planted a month ago! I'm hoping for a good bunch of tomatoes this year from our plants.
Since it's been awhile since I've written, I should probably give updates on the kids. First Lydia:
1. Lydia is turning into a sweet, funny little girl. She makes us laugh everyday with something silly she's doing. She's very good at communicating, verbally or nonverbally. She's quite the talker and is always trying out new words. And very often when you explain something to her, she responds with an appropriate, "Oh." And her funniest nonverbal communication is her nodding or shaking her head to any question.
2. She started walking in January, so now she's practically running. Often, she goes too fast for herself and you can see the fall coming from a mile away! She also thinks it's fun and funny to walk in circles until she gets dizzy.
3. Lydia is becoming a little fashionista as well. She insists on picking out her clothes (or at least one article of clothing) most days. If I pick out something unsatisfactory, she not be happy until I pick out the right thing. She's most picky about her shoes. And her hair is now long enough for pigtails--I love them in her hair. She looks so much older with them.
4. Since the weather is now very springy, we've been enjoying our time outside, and Lydia has come to realize how much she loves being outside. In fact, if you mention going outside and don't follow through, she is very disappointed.
5. Unfortunately, because Lydia has been spending so much time outside, her skin has been looking terrible and she's been very itchy. On top of all of her food allergies, I'm afraid she's developed some environmental allergies as well. When she stays inside for a few days, her skin begins to look better, but the first day out again, she looks worse. I'm not about to keep her inside and away from all the fun just to keep her from itching, so I'm afraid she's going to be extra itchy this summer. We may start going to a dermatologist as well as the allergist we've been seeing already.
Now for Ezra:
Not much new with him, but there's always the funny quotes.
1. One evening when we were getting Ezra ready for bed, Ezra wanted help with something and asked John to do it, adding, "You're a good man for it, Daddy."
2. We've been having lots of long, funny conversations lately. The other day, we stopped at a fabric store to pick up my sewing machine that was being cleaned. I noticed on the store that it was 33 years old. When I mentioned it to Ezra, he asked, "So, only 3-year-olds can go in the store?" I told him that I had said the STORE as 33 years old not 3, and anyone could go in the store. So, then he asked, "So, only 33-year-olds can go in the store?" Again, I explained to him that the STORE was 33 years old and anyone could go in the store. When, confused, he asked the same question again, I finally gave up and said, "Ezra, let's just forget I said anything, okay? We'll just go in the store and you can play with the toys." And that was that.
3. When you have kids at Ezra's and Lydia's ages, you start to become familiar with the phrases you say often without realizing it. Ezra has often pointed these out to me in the things he says. When he was around 2, he would ask questions that would start out like this, "Shall we...?" When he was about 2 1/2, he would often say, "That's a great idea, Mama! Is that a great idea?" Lately, after asking me for something (like a piece of candy) and hearing me explain that he can have it later (like after lunch), he responds by saying, "That's what I'm talkin' about!" Or, if I misunderstand him when he asking me a question and I respond the wrong way, he'll say, "No, Mama! I'm talkin' about..." And just the other day, he started out a sentence with, "Now Mama, as I was saying..." :)
4. Ezra's getting better at saying L's, so Lydia is no longer "Yiddia". While I'm a bit sad about that, it is nice to hear him pronouncing words the right way. For a while, he worked so hard at saying L's, and he still struggles with some words. Take the word, "girl", for example: from Ezra is sounds more like, "girler" with the "r" sounding like a little kid "r" sound. Hard to explain, but super cute coming from him.
5. Ezra likes to pick his nose, and we battled it all winter. Nearly every day there was a red streak of blood across his cheek from his picking. He soon figured out that he could hide somewhere to finish picking his nose if I caught him in the act. One such day, he ran to a favorite hiding spot, and I had an idea why. The funny part about this conversation is not that he denies picking his nose but what his exact response is.
Me: Ezra are you picking your nose?
Ezra: I amn't.
6. Washing hands in the bathroom.
John: Ezra, make sure you get that finger that's all dirty from picking your nose.
Ezra: Daddy! I use ALL my fingers to pick my nose!
Other Ezra updates:
I've started doing just a bit with violin with Ezra. He has a box violin and a stick bow. At this point, we're not really faithful about every day practicing, but I'm not concerned about that quite yet. For now, it's fun just playing around with it and seeing how Ezra does. He's actually very good about letting me form bowholds and getting his box violin up on his shoulder. And he loves playing all of the little games I play with my other students when they are just beginning. And we have a cute little foot chart that Ezra had a lot of fun making.
Ezra is also always asking to help with cooking, washing dishes, folding laundry, etc. So, I've started teaching him how to fold some clothes and he often helps me. And, he folds him jammies in the morning and his clothes at night and puts them all away. And whenever we can include Ezra in the cooking, we take the opportunity.
And now for a few pictures.
Recent and Past Knitting projects
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