Pre-K Graduation

5 minutes of cuteness. (Ted is 2nd from the end, on the left.)

45:27

Paul made the paper! He may have been disappointed in his time but he was fast enough to be in the paper! They only list the first 2000 runners in each sex (the slowest man of the first 2000 was a sprightly 46:16) so this was way cool! Good job Paul! One of the reasons he was slower than he expected was because he was in a wave that didn't require proof of time. Next year, with these results, he should be able to be in one of the first waves and won't lose time the first 2 miles trying to pass all the slowpokes. (He didn't have proof of time last year because I had just returned from China so he didn't run it.) WOO HOO!

Bolder Boulder

Paul ran the 10K today. He was disappointed with his time (around 45min), but since I've never broken an hour, I was impressed. Let's just say it took us longer to get to the finish then it took him! We had popsicles & chips in the shade before the arduous trek back to the car (WOW, we have wimpy kids!) We had to wake them at 6:30 and toss them in the car, so I put a PullUp on Mae just to be safe. When I took her to a Port-A-Potty around 9, she was dry and did her business like a big kid. I should trust her more! Post-race, we all had early naps and are getting ready for a neighborhood farewell party for a super sweet family on our block. We are bummed that they are leaving...they are so nice.

croc-o-pile

10 miles today!

Today's adventure was my 10 mile walk, alone without my walking buddy.
*sniff*
I did it though! Details here.

Boulder Creek Festival

Today Ted and I went to the Boulder Creek Festival to see if his TaeKwonDo school was holding classes or not (we missed class on Thursday). Turns out they were just hanging out giving out info, but it was a great excuse to do the festival. Ted had a BLAST. He loved the bungee trampoline thing, as well as jousting and fencing. Then our friend Nicole (Ava & Danny's mom) was kind enough to give us Ava's bracelet that let Ted do all the carnival rides, so he did a ton of those. Way fun. Blurry phone pics are all I got though.
Tonight for dinner I wanted to find something to use up the yummy mushrooms I scored at the Farmer's Market. THIS recipe even called for arulula, which was in our share this week! It was delicious! YUM! We had it with garlicky collards. Very yummy. We love mushrooms. Mae and I were fighting over the last one. It's called 'Sticky Mushrooms on Toast.' It's an English recipe.

lotsa greens

Tonight's dinner was an experiment that turned out deliciously! While reading through Nava's cookbook the other day, I was intrigued by the Puree of Spring Greens-"an intense blend of Asian greens, spinach, lettuce, and parsley". In the sidebar, she commented that this soup, born out of necessity, (what to do with all those late spring greens?!) has become an annual tradition. We love it. I used our bok choy, ancient spinach & lettuce. The greens are simmered in a base of sauteed onions & garlic, veggie broth and sweet potatoes. Then it is all pureed and (soy or rice) milk is added to make it creamy. YUM.

another mellow Thursday

I think Thursdays are going to be my 'free' days, where I don't plan anything for the morning. I tried to have a plan and we all got behind so we just diddled around and had fun! We did stop by Henry's house to get a sneak peek of his big boy room. It's being repainted, hardwood flooring put in, and a new sleigh bed will replace his sweet crib. Crazy!! I can't wait to see it all finished, probably next Tuesday when the bed gets delivered. The boys got to ride bikes and Ted enjoyed doing stunts on a bike ramp, til he fell off and got hurt. Then it was nap time and I had to wake Mae up after only an hour to get to my car appointment, then to Ted's swim class. After swim class was our first CSA pickup of the season! Way exciting. LOTS AND LOTS of greens. Holy cow. This week we got a large handful of the following (probably 2 servings of each green): ancient spinach, lettuce, arugala & regular spinach. We also got 2 bok choy and 1 king choy. Way exciting. Now I'm off to find some recipes for all these greens! YUM.
And in PT news, Mae was a rock star again today. She did have 2 accidents, but I think they were preventable. I had her in underwear today and we are done with PullUps. I do use them at naptime (actually, I've used one in the last week!) and will move to using them for nighttime when she seems dry in the morning. It's a wonderful feeling.

it's over.

Today a lovely young pregnant woman drove to my house to look over the diaper stash. She bought it. *sniff*
Bye, bye, cute diapers.
Mae was accident-free today. She stays dry during her nap, which baffles me, since Sam still sometimes has accidents during his nap. After she pooped tonight, she asked for a quarter (which is what the boys get if they sleep (i.e. stay in their rooms) til 7am. Smartie.

the only way to cook with kids

This idea comes to mothers everywhere courtesy of Vicki at Vegan Vice. I tried this out today while Nava's Spring Vegetable Soup (Vegetarian Soups for All Seasons) simmered on the stove. Sam and I were busy whipping up our favorite spelt biscuits (VeganLunchBox) and I needed to keep Mae occupied (she is a terror around flour!) Ted was watching Star Wars but got sucked into the fun of scooping and pouring. Sam stayed on task and helped me cut the biscuits. It was a yummy, comforting dinner for a cold and rainy evening.

Today's adventure

Well, today was interesting. The plan was to go to the Museum of Nature and Science, but the boys lost museum priviliges when they wouldn't stop fighting. So, instead, we headed over to Wendy's to attach the 3rd wheel and get Sam used to it. It was pretty...wraught with drama. First, we couldn't get the baby seat off. Once we figured that out, it was another drama to attach the 3rd wheel. Thanks goodness Wendy's dad was there to help out. Turns out having the baby seat on inhibits the motion of the 3rd wheel, so I'm going to take the baby seat off and have it put on Paul's bike. I'll ride Paul's bike when Sam wants to ride his 2 wheeler. And when Wendy and I are going on an adventure with the big boys, we'll put the 3rd wheel on my bike and the babies in the Burley. Rather than be sad that Paul doesn't want to jump on the biking bandwagon, I'll be happy that I now have 2 bikes to use as I choose. What we ended up doing today was biking to the park and riding around the tennis court so Sam could practice. All the other kids ended up taking a turn too, so it was a real hit. Then it started hailing on us (?!) so we headed back. "It's good we have helmets on!" said Sam.
It's cold, and I want to make a warm and comfortable stew. I have a bunch of veggies to use up, so I'm on the hunt for a soup/stew that uses a bunch.

a vegan market!

Look what I found on Happy Cow! I can't believe THREE LITTLE FIGS is in the same complex as Paul's office. The kids and I had a FABULOUS exciting field trip after pickup today. Not only were there vegan marshmallows, but a plethora of vegan faux meats and Sheese (something I've been wanting to try; they had samples; it rocks) as well as a Tofutti brand of pizza, which if Ted would like it, would make birthday parties a lot easier for everyone. I also scored some vegan M&Ms and the kids got to pick a treat too. YUM. Very exciting to have such a local source of vegan stuff. Wild Oats and Whole Foods have quite a lot of these products, but not the wide variety that 3LF boasts (more than 5 varieties of faux meats & cheese, namely). I also appreciated the samples they fixed up just for me to taste before I bought. Very nice people. They told me about a pizza place on Broadway that has a gluten-free, dairy-free pizza (perfect for Ted!) and a smoothie place that uses soy ice cream to make really delicious smoothies and ice cream concoctions. Mmmm. I like this place and will make a trip there when I need to stock up.

Potty Update

It's been a week and we are at about 60%, I'd say. She is amazing at holding it...just not so good about getting to the potty when the time comes. She wakes up dry from her nap and pees like a champ then, as well as first thing in the morning. The rest of the day is ...unpredictable. Oh well, we have plenty of time and lots of undies! Today I washed and organized my Toddler size cloth diaper stash. I sold my Infant stash on Ebay a few months ago. I have such a great stash built up-whoever wants this one will have a fun time. I am posting them for sale on craig's list and with my compact. After 3 kids, I would feel guilty trying to resell them through a consignment store and I love craig's list, so we'll see. Yesterday I found a tag-a-long on CL for Sam that I will pick up tomorrow afternoon. This will make biking around the neighborhood easier for Sam and more fun for me. Anyway, I'll update in another week and hopefully we will have nudged up a few more % points!

Weekend Adventures

Saturday was the CF Walk. I raised $818 total, about $300 of it from the Chance Raffle at preschool (which I ended up winning-is that funny or what? I told Stacy not to put my name in but she did and of course I won! Hee. Anyway, Mark added $200 to my $818 so I was over $1000 which means I get a free MP3 player! With all the walking I'm doing, it will be really fun to listen to music and books as the miles get longer. That night Paul and I went bowling with some friends. Paul bowled a Turkey at one point (3 strikes!). After bowling was dinner but I had a crashing headache so we bailed and went to Borders instead. I got to bed at 8:45 and took a Tylenol PM and felt much better in the morning!

Sunday was our 8 mile walk, which we accomplished by walking from Wendy's house up the Royal Arch trail (a killer) and back. Oy. It was Mitzvah Day and the rest of the family was busily working at the JCC, cleaning it up, cutting down branches and the like. Now we are off to our friend's for dinner. Phew! What a weekend!!! You can read all about Saturday's adventures HERE and Sunday's HERE.

biking to dinner

I REALLY need to remember my camera. Tonight we had an unforgettable adventure, one that I'm sure we'll repeat quite often this summer. The plan was to meet our neighbors at Wahoo's for dinner. Their son Oliver, age 4.5, recently got off training wheels and he and Ted are biking buddies around the neighborhood. Oliver's little sister, Elise, is Mae's age. I got the boys set with their camelbacks and Mae in the baby seat....and Sam burst into tears at how steep the driveway was. Oy. I quickly realized he wouldn't make it the 3 miles to Wahoo's, mostly downhill. So I worked out a deal with Melissa-she took Mae and Elise in her car and I biked with Sam in the baby seat and Oliver & Ted ahead of me. They did GREAT, although they crashed twice when both tried to get in the lead. Healthy competition, right? We had a nice meal at Wahoo's and the boys were bursting to bike home, so Jeff & I took off with the 3 boys. The way home was mostly uphill, which I think was harder on me than the boys-they didn't complain at all, just kept on trecking. They came over for ice cream and some playtime and then everyone went home/took baths/collapsed into bed around 8:30. TOO FUN. I LOVE that Ted and I can bike over to that area so easily. There is a great trail that leads to that area and I am sure we'll be doing that from now on. Biking to the mall is actually even closer, so I can see that being a fun dinner option too. I think they do Thursday night bands too, so we may do that as a weekly thing too. It's really fun for Ted (& Sam, in his own way) to love biking. Makes getting around the neighborhood a lot more fun.
Tomorrow is the CF Walk. I'll remember my camera tomorrow!!

a day at home

Today was a refreshing day. There was lots of crying, lots of fighting and lots and LOTS of peeing in places other than the potty (thank you, Mae) but it was the first time in a LONG time that we did NOTHING. We just hung out all day (I did do 5 loads of laundry...including getting all the diapers put into a bag to sell on Ebay...sniff!) And, no one was sick. This is a key point. Ted played independently all day long. Sam whinged most of the day and Mae played with Henry for a while and bothered Sam for a while. Tonight our social worker came for our 1 year meeting and thought we seemed like a pretty normal family.

Ted did SO SO SO well in TaeKwonDo (lots of Yes Ma'am!) but he goofed off the last 5 minutes and didn't get a star for the day. He was bummed. But I am encouraged...he's been doing so well lately. I'll have to get a video of the self-defense move they do. Here's the text: Shark in the water! Fin pops up! Clap! Push! Get away from me! No one will mess with these kids, I tell you! Paul sewed his Victory Patch (with the 3 stars he has) on his uniform last night, so he is starting to look more official. Having a new kid in the class has really helped him act like he knows what's going on too. Today while doing kicks he actually counted them off the way they are supposed to count off everything: "One, Ma'am! Two, Ma'am!" I was grinning from ear to ear. And he likes it! Too fun. He chose this outfit today because he 'wanted to look handsome.' Cutie.

haircut

For your viewing pleasure, a quick shot of Mae's nicely trimmed do. First thing in the morning no less! I mean, seriously, could this child BE any cuter?!

2 years ago!

2 years ago, when Ted & Jack were Caterpillars, we walked in our first CF Great Strides Walk. Jason was an INFANT! Amazing. Ted and Jack look so small, too. Last year I was in China, and this year both Ted and Jack are FIVE. Jason is no baby either! It really is amazing how great they are doing, how healthy and happy they are. It's mostly due to the CF Foundation and their research into gene therapy, enzymes & lung treatments. Thanks to those of you who donated to this year's walk! (You still have 2 days to sponsor our team if you're so inclined!)

818

I had a rough day today, but it ended well. Stacy and I raised $818 from our Hapa 'chance raffle' which I'll be bringing to the CF Walk this Saturday. We had $1000 as our goal, but we are not too far off. We may actually be closer to $900 since 5 of the families did donate online rather than give us a check. If you haven't sponsored our team, the JJ Walkers, yet and would like to, click HERE! Thank you!

And, in potty news, Mae had one accident around 8am and another around 7pm, but in between she was a rock star and was in the same PullUp all day. She didn't actually PEE (or poop) on the potty, but she certainly proved she can hold it! Tomorrow we are laying low at home and hopefully getting some more actual VOLUME in ye olde potty chair.

the obligatory potty shot

No real success today, but she was at the sitter in the morning and with Paul in the afternoon. She's happy to sit, so onward we trudge.

Here we go

A bit of history. On Tuesdays, Mae & Sam go to Lisa's for the morning while Ted has OT. Lisa has been telling me for the past 2-3 weeks that Mae goes into the plastic house, poops in her diaper, then comes out and announces, "All done!" "Why don't you potty train her?" she asked me. (Because I'm lazy, yes, I know, thanks.) She's been sitting on the potty for months now and often will demand it, pitching a royal fit if we don't take the diaper OFF (no more sitting on it full clothed, oh no.) Yes, she is ready. No, we are not. Potty training Ted was such a nightmare. Although, in his defense, he got it and was pt'd by the time he was 2.5, my goal, since I didn't think it was right to start pre-school in diapers. Sam beat him by 4 months but Sam was just amazing and I had nothing to do with it. I still remember BEGGING him to wear a PullUp to music class, but he would have none of it, screaming at the top of his lungs for "undwearpass!" So here I am, standing at the abyss that is the 2nd of 3 major hurdles for me as a parent. (In case you're wondering, #1 is ditching the bottle before bed and #3 is the transition out of the crib to a bed.) We lead busy lives and I was planning on waiting til after our July vacation to dig in our heels and hang out at home. So, we're going to give it a go. If it turns into a disaster, I'll shelve it til July. I had a fun buying spree in Target today, stocking up on 2T pink Gerber padded pants (Ted & Sam wore 4T and they both still wear them when their regular undies are all in the wash). I also got her a pack of "pin-cess" ones, as a bonus. She is way too into princesses for my taste, but whatever! Next to the $3.99 shorts I was checking out were the summer nighties. TOO CUTE. She scored a (you guessed it!) Princesses one and a Dora one. Sleeping in a NIGHTIE! I can't stand it. She was so psyched tonight. She also had her hair trimmed today, so she looks nice and respectable now. I'll have to get a pic of her sometime tomorrow. We'll see how this goes!

Happy Mother's Day

What a weekend. Time certainly gets away from me these days. Suffice it to say we spent 95% of it outdoors, so that's nice.

It was nice to spend Mother's Day with ALL my kids this year. Here are pics of Mae, last year on Mother's Day and today.

Look Ma, no helmet!

Gotta love Boulder. Yes, it was warm today, but barefoot and in a bikini? Ted pointed out that she had no helmet on. Today was a good day. We did our favorite bike ride to the Dinosaur Park, then lunch at Jamba/bagels. Ted had swimming which lets out at 4:30, awfully tight for my 5:15 Parent Orientation at Horizons. We met at Horizons, Paul took the kids home, I went to my meeting and then met up with Wendy to walk. We ended up eating a delicious Indian meal and poking around Michael's before heading back to her house so she could drive me back to my car. I think she said it's about 2 miles back to her house, so I did my 4 today.
The Orientation was really fun. Besides an overview of the school's philosophy, each of the 4 K/1 teachers gave a little talk and we got to ask questions. I knew about 4 of the parents in some shape or form, so that was really fun to hook up again. There are scheduled play dates in the parks over the summer so the kids get to know each other. Fun stuff. And the best news of all: we had assumed we'd have to pay the 5 day/week K-care fee, since Horizons is full day K. The "suggested but not required" donation is $205/month! And since it's not required, you can elect to not pay it! We will, of course, especially since that's almost $200 less than the regular K-care fee. Makes you wonder what Boulder Valley does with that extra $200 per child that isn't actually used by the school. Hmm...

memories

FYI, our trip to China is saved HERE. It's something to stroll down memory lane.

Gotcha Day

Today was quite a day! We did most of our celebrating this afternoon with Chinese food, a growler of amber, and FABULOUS cake. Not only was this cake vegan, it was DELICIOUS. Mae went at it in style and asked for a 2nd piece (so did everyone, actually!)

Here is a pic of the beautiful cake Wendy made. It says Gotcha and Mae! on the cake tray. TOO CUTE!!!

More pics on moeltini.
And all pics, here and on moeltini, are by Wendy.

Gotcha Cake

Gotcha Day

Wow oh wow. A year ago.

What can I even say to properly express the magnitude of this day? Even more dramatic than the births of my boys, the day Mae was handed to me changed me forever. I think it was partially because of the enormity of the situation. Rather than being cared for, fed and my baby dealt with from midnight til 5am, this was sudden, instant parenting...for a baby that had definite opinions to the contrary. While Mae came around amazingly quickly, she had, and still has, a lot of anger. It was both breathtakenly wonderful...the realization of 18+ months of waiting, and alarmingly frightenting. What had I done? What was I thinking? Our time in Changsha was so emotional, so raw, so difficult and yet so precious. Those first giggles and babbling, the bedtime routine of swaying and singing 'Mama Hao.' Thank goodness for Skype...talking to Paul and the boys while Mae slept was wonderful. But this day...May 8...what an amazing, chaotic experience! Congratulations to everyone else in TG 950...I'm so glad we are in this together!!

It's a Small World

The Pre-K kids are learning a bunch of songs to tug our heartstrings at graduation. *sniff*

the no-cough rule

Parents, beware! Did you know there is now a no-cough rule on all goods sold in Colorado? Yes, it's true! If your child (or you, I suppose) coughs on a piece of merchandise, you will be made to buy it, as they certainly couldn't re-sell such a ruined item. I didn't know about the rule, and mistakenly allowed Mae to play with a basket of little stuffed animals THAT WAS ON THE FLOOR BY THE ENTRANCE OF THE STORE. When she coughed on Cookie's nose, I was informed that I now had to buy the item. When I reacted with disbelief, I was then offered a full diatribe on how it was my responsibility to watch my children while in a store and not allow them to play with items in the store if I was not intending to buy them. Properly angered and embarrased, I not only stormed out of the store but ended up making off with a box of cookies that had been under my arm that I was intending to put back after seeing something else closer to the register! Oops!!! I didn't feel bad though. Not at all. Jerks.

*Paul says I should edit to say I am being sarcastic. There is no such rule in Colorado; just an idiot running a store.

Parent Teacher Conferences

Some quotes from their end-of-the-year "Development" Reports:

Ted flies into the room ready to play!
Ted is 100% busy the entire time!
Ted is very self-directed.
He is focused and attentive in his activity-and thrives with structure.
He could sit for endless amounts of time listening to stories.
He is often a 'leader of the pack.' This role can be challenging for him as other children seek his approval and attention.
He so often refers to his 'heart being open.'
He is full of energy and wonder and loves the world of school.

Sam's report is less detailed, but they report that he is very verbal (ie can use his words and not just yell at his friends when he's mad) and independant. He is also described as having leadership qualities as all the caterpillars love to play with Sam and follow his lead in games and activities.

Now, I'm partly sharing these things because I love to shamelessly brag about my kids, but it's also a true relief to hear how far Ted has come. His conference in November was worrisome and it's wonderful to know that he has turned it around and getting it together. I've said it before but I love the JCC Preschool. The Jewish quotient aside, I love the teachers and their love and concern for my (annoying) children. They are wonderful and I'm so grateful that Ted had such top-notch teachers all 3 years. Now comes the start of the end...all the prep for graduation. Which of course is more for the parents than the teachers anyway! *sniff sniff!*

The pics are of both boys at the start of Caterpillars at age 2.5.

That which doesn't kill me...

...makes me stronger. Right? Thanks, Nietzsche. The boys were troopers today. Read about it here. I'm very proud of them. I could have done with less grumbling, but they did it.

egg day

Today is Egg Day. After taking Arapahoe to 75th, we turned on to 75th and quickly veered to the right into Cottonwood Farms' egg stand. They were all out at 3pm. So we continued on 75th to Valmont and hit Cure Organic Farms at Valmont/95th. They had only 2 dozen which we snatched up. Our final stop was New Moon Farms at Isabelle/95th, which was also sold out. Next time we'll go first thing in the morning.

And, for fun, a random picture from Ted's bday party. I think the title should be along the lines of "This is my life" or "What it looks like to talk to your 5 year old."

White Belt

MIA but AOK

Monday was a stitch. Mae and I picked up the boys from school at 3 and headed over to Wendy's to pick up Paul's tuned-up bike. No one was home but we accomplished the task of getting Sam asleep, so that was a plus. Then we headed over to Karate for Kids for Ted's first Taekwondo class. He was very good about being brave enough to be on the floor the whole time-the only thing that kept him from getting his belt was that he was using baby talk (his standard reaction to feeling insecure). Hopefully he'll get it today. After Taekwondo we headed back to Wendy's to get the bike, which still needed some tweaking so we waited around for Mr. Wendy (I know his name, but isn't it funnier to say Mr. Wendy?). He was having a late day so we coordinated dinner plans at Wahoo's with the husbands and enjoyed margaritas & Bonzai burritos. The margarita (*ahem*) hit me a little harder than I expected, so Paul took Mae home for bed and the rest of us took a field trip to Target for bike helmets for Paul & Mae. After that, we decided to have a sleepover, which was a blast until it was time to wake up this morning. *yawn* I don't think I've ever slept with both boys before, so it was both sweet and annoying. Ted coughs and snores and Sam moans. Geesh.