a fun Monday

Today Sam and Mae went back to preschool. Horizons starts tomorrow, so Ted (and Brooke & Bailey, twins in his class that I was in charge of for the morning) met up with Kai and Omri at Chuck E Cheese for a few hours of fun. Then we went to Panera for lunch. It was noisy but the kids had fun. They are all ready to go back to school, which is sweet.

After preschool pickup, I delighted Sam by announcing that he didn't need to nap today, but Mae did. I decided he would be FAR grumpier if I had to wake him up from a nap than if he simply skipped it, and I was right; he was fine. Why such emphasis on Sam's happiness? Because today was his first day back at TKD and I wanted him to be HAPPY! And he was. He was so excited all week to start again and he did great today. He is the only orange belt in the class (the others are white belts-beginners), but we won't test him (testing is in 2 weeks) so he'll be able to remain in this beginning class for 4 more months. I think the longer he can be with the littler kids, the better. I think the bigger kids intimidated him somehow. He is so cute and was SO psyched about it. I got him his own nunchucks for Thursday's Black Belt Club class so we are set! Cutie!

And I am really enjoying these last intense weeks before testing. I really like being solid on my forms and onesteps in enough time to enjoy practicing them. Fun stuff.

And lastly, pics of me skiing. I don't take poles with me because I just trip over them. So, a pic of me desperately snow plowing down a green run, and finally sitting safely on the slope. Phew.

Our fabulous spring skiing vacation

Ted and I spent 4 days in Breckenridge with Wendy and Alex. The boys spent Friday at ski school and Wendy took them on 8 runs on Saturday. The boys are fine on blue runs now and mostly enjoyed the small terrain park with its jumps, rollers and half pipe. What a BLAST! (I won't go into my adventure atop a green run, butt-scooting, and a ride on the snowmobile. Heh.) Enjoy the movie. More pics on moeltini.

Bolder Boulder!

I last ran the Bolder Boulder in 2005. In 2006 I had *just* returned with Mae and last year I wasn't remotely into running. Paul ran last year's in 45:27 and hopefully he'll be put in a good wave this year. I'll be at the back, but I'm going to run it!! At dinner Monday night, Louise mentioned that she was starting a running program, and then Sarah confessed that she's training for the Boulder Backroads Half Marathon in September. So I got inspired. I enjoy hiking with Ole, but I'm ready for a new challenge, and spring is such an easy time to WANT to be outside. This program looks doable and easy, and since I don't have a time goal to beat, I hope to just run the race for fun!

much movement

So far, spring break has been lovely. I love sleeping in (7:30am is just BLISS!) and the weather is simply amazing, so we've been outside most of the time. On Monday we went over to Jack and Jason's house. Jack and Ted biked all around and got completely muddy in a ravine somewhere. They had a great day just exploring and being messy. Sam and Jason played a lot of Spiderman and somehow managed to flood the bathroom. Oops. Mae and I hung out and ate a lot of delicious bagels. Mmm. Later that afternoon we all played out back. The kiddos even had their dinners outside. Ah, how I love spring.

Tuesday was Errand Day. Ted had the dentist, Sam and Mae had swimming, and then all 3 accompanied me to a TKD class. Naps were a relief and the afternoon was spent doing thank you cards. They are all done! Woo hoo! I love them. I scanned in Ted's writing of "Thank You" and "Ted" and Wendy put it on this picture (which cracks me up.) Then I taped the pic to the front of a side-folded colored paper card and used a child-esque font to write "I love my (blank). Thank you so much!" Then he wrote in the gift and drew a picture. It's perfect for his age and ability I think. It took us much longer than normal to get them out, but I think it's so cute. I also think that Sam would be able to do this for his birthday in September, so we may keep this idea.

Then today we went Rock Climbing! Luckily for us, Omri's dad knew how to belay so they let us in and all the kids did a few rope climbs, quite a few free climbs, and tons and tons of sliding down a crazy fast slide. Then we went to Moe's for lunch and everyone passed out when we got home. The weather today was 70! We took Ole to the park by our house and everyone biked, pushed a stroller, or ran like crazy (can you guess who did what?) for a few hours til hunger got the best of us and we came home. And oh joy! Another Pokemon movie was waiting for us in the mailbox, so the evening passed uneventfully. I feel a bit like a single mom today; Paul left the house before 8am, got home around 6 and left again at 7 to play soccer. But, Ted and I leave tomorrow, late afternoon, for 3 days in Breckenridge (to ski with Wendy and Alex), so I do have it coming! I hope this lovely weather lasts through the weekend so they can have a lot of stress-free park time. So, I'm not going to bring the computer along, but expect an update on Sunday night! It should be super fun!

for Mom

Earth Hour 2008

No sooner had my mom told me about this event did I see it popping up on all the 'living green' blogs I frequent. On March 29, 2008, turn off your lights from 8-9pm. Join the movement! Read about it here.

Happy Easter!

Almost as much fun as Xmas at Rob's, Easter at Bestemor's is equally looked forward to by the kids. This year, with Baby Kit added to the commotion, it was a chaotic, lovely morning. As usual, Bestemor and Anna outdid themselves with eggs (both dyed and plastic) hidden in creative places, lots of yummy candy, and a table spread with brunch food, adult-style, and the requisite donuts and cookies for the kids. Everyone was happy. TONS of pics on moeltini too.

a date with Mae

The boys had Ninja Night last night, so Paul and I dropped them off and went to Japango with Mae. We haven't gone out to dinner there with a child since Ted was 13 months old. She was a ROCK STAR. They had an ADORABLE Kids Meal on a little Japanese divided plate (so so cute) that we ordered for her. There were 2 chicken items on it and they subbed in edamame and another inarizushi for those 2. So she had 2 inarizushi, some edamame, a fish stick, a juicy orange cut up, and a "yogurt flavored soda pop" drink (?). She actually took about 25 minutes longer to finish her meal than we did! We could have ordered another round. At one point she said, "I LOVE this place!" Hee! I think this might have to become a Ninja Night tradition. Mmmm!

April 5th

The Boulder Farmer's Market will re-open on Saturday, April 5th. I can't WAIT. Still not sure when our CSA starts up again, but how exciting to know that SOON we can have some local produce! And this time, I'm ready for the lettuce!

Meanwhile, my little seedlings are doing so well! The sugar snap peas, chard and spinach are the tallest so far, but everything (save one tomato plant..hmmm) is looking good! Another 3-4 weeks inside and then we'll transfer them to the back deck during the day, to 'harden' them, suggest the experts. Then when the requisite 2 weeks are completed, they can be replanted in the garden or the container tubs. 6 weeks! Not long now.

A More Perfect Union

The whole speech is wonderful, but if you're crunched for time (or have a slow connection), start at the 30 minute mark.

no shrimp

Kids' allergies mystify me. We got the results of Ted's bloodwork yesterday. While his numbers for dairy are still higher than normal, they are WAY lower than last year. This translates to: don't give him an 8oz glass of milk every day, but a slice of pizza is fine. Hooray! We celebrated yesterday with a baggie of goldfish. Oh the joy. However, he did come up WILDLY allergic to shrimp. Not clams or other shellfish, just shrimp. Which he's never tasted (because he won't eat fish ... fish are like an animal, I don't eat animals, yadda yadda). No problem keeping the shrimp out of his diet. Although Rosa said that, like eggs, sometimes shrimp-esque properties are found in medications, so it's something to alert his doctors to, especially in an emergency situation. So, we are going to continue the no dairy policy at home, but lighten up when out and about. He is so happy!

cuteness overload

Last night was Ted's play. All the K/1 classes presented a version of an Eric Carle book. Ted's class did Papa, Get the Moon For Me. Each class also had a Beatles song that they sang, that miraculously fit their play. Gotta love the Beatles. SO CUTE. At the end of all the shows, all 4 classes sang "This Little Light of Mine." This was so sweet. Ted did great. He was a little goofy at the beginning but marched right up to the microphone for his (2) lines (although we couldn't hear him, his mouth was moving...) and did his little dance at the end, despite his protests that he didn't want to hug a girl! It was adorable. I love this school. (Ted's in the red shirt, on the far right.)

Rosa's here!

My poor parents. They were sure something was wrong since I haven't blogged or returned email since Friday. Last weekend was CRAZY. Purim and Ted's school fundraiser occupied all of my time. Then Rosa came into town on Monday morning and it's been non-stop ever since! Besides keeping up with the kids' activities, we've had fun hiking, eating, drinking and chatting. I may have to hold her hostage for a few more days...or weeks...

Bloodwork, shots and toys, oh my!

This afternoon we went back to the doctor for shots and bloodwork. Ted was totally cool about it all day; he obviously is the type of kid that doesn't do well with surprises! However, once in the room with the nurse, he did freak out and sobbed SO HARD. It was sad. He did GREAT at the lab though, especially when the tech was digging around in his arm trying to find his vein (we think he needs to drink more water). We had put that OTC topical anesthetic on the spot and it worked like a charm. They also only took 1 vial of blood (last year it was 4 vials and he almost fell asleep while they were doing it!) No big deal. He skipped out of there and we went to Target to get "shot toys." Bionicles again. We should get the blood results early next week. It will be interesting to see if the numbers are down at all, or just the same (or worse? yikes!) Good job, big boy.

Quick Dark Days Update

I haven't been posting much about our meals because we've been so crazy busy that I've just pulled things from the deep freeze in the morning and heated them up at night. Our local meals lately included Slow Cooker Vindaloo and Honey Baked Lentils. I've resorted to buying the big tub of spinach at Whole Foods (WHEN oh when will it be spring/CSA time, again?) so we are keeping our greens going. It is FABULOUS to have the freezer stocked. Although I am getting pretty lazy about cooking, so I hope having the fresh produce will give me a nudge when the time comes!

Wow! a recap

Life has been busy! We've been having fun though, and we're actually healthy-ish, so it's all good! Here's our re-cap.

Saturday: Ted and I went skiing at Eldora. BAD day for skiing. First off, Frozen Dead Guy Days was going on in Ned, making the drive home UNBEARABLY long and slow. But interesting! (No, I'm not making this up! This was the festival's 7th year. Mmm hmm.) Second, and worst of all, at 9:30am, a 9 year old girl was air-lifted to Children's Hospital with a crushed chest. She was on a black run, as were a bunch of ski teams, and she was crashed into. They closed the Blue and Black runs to children under 10 and let all the parents know that the kids wouldn't be learning anything new today, just staying safe and having fun, easy runs. Yikes! It was CRAZY crowded, partly because of FDGD and also because of the 10+ ski teams that were up practicing. But also, it's getting to the end of the season, only 6 or so weeks left, so it's going to be packed from now on. We won't be going up on Saturday, although Ted and I hope to join Wendy in Breck over Spring Break for a few fun ski days. Still waiting on the sitter situation! Anyway, Ted had a good skiing day and came home to open his presents from the family. He loved his Indiana Jones lego sets and Leapster gameboy. As luck would have it, G'ma and G'pa Kessie's gifts arrived too! More wonderful books, of which Ted is a huge, huge fan.

Sunday: I forgot all about Daylight Savings Time and got Ted to Sunday School an hour late. Oops. Luckily they still had 45 minutes left of class so he didn't miss it all. Geesh. We spent a GLORIOUS late morning in the park, having a picnic, riding bikes, playing with pinecones and sticks, and just relishing the gorgeous day. Then Sam and Mae's bikes got stolen. I know...what?!? They were "too tired" to ride them home so we left them up at the park (about 6 houses from ours) and went back to collect them later. They were gone! Helmets were there, but no 12" with training wheels and no tricycle. Amazing. We went to Wahoo's for dinner just for the spring-y heck of it and every behaved. I did order Mae and myself 2 dinners, because I forgot that I had (JUST) ordered us Noodles from next door. Oops. Heh. Yes, I enjoyed my margarita too.

Monday: The van wouldn't start. Paul and I went to Safeway to look for jumper cables and found Sam's bike! In the bike rack! Woo hoo! Joyriding, I guess. Hope we find the trike too. We finally found some at Wally-World (Paul's first time in the store, he'd like to document!) and got the van going. Sam brought Eyeball home for a visit and much joy ensued. Ted did TKD and then I had bookclub. I had picked Blackwater for this month's book and while it wasn't the most pleasant or fun book club ever, it was certainly lively! We're going lighter for next month with Water for Elephants.

Tuesday: A Judy's Pool Day, as Sam says. Eyeball came along and then we took him to lunch with Sam's pals Jason and Benji. More TKD for Ted and then for me. I taught Songahm 3 to the two new students. I'm a pretty good teacher, I think. I really like this form. The jump front kick is pretty fun.

Wednesday: Phew! Hump Day. This was a really good day. Wendy and I went on a hike with Ole, then picked up fresh hydration pack bladders (for the boys ...I had let them get moldy ... ewww!) and new Yaktrax for me, since mine died and I can't hike my favorite trail without them. They are neon yellow. Word. After picking up the little ones, we headed to Grand Rabbits to look for an Eyeball, i.e., the same koala stuffed animal. Success! Sam was PSYCHED! After school Ted had his 6 Year Well Check. He's 44 pounds and 45 inches tall. 25% for height and 50% for weight. That baffles me since he looks so skinny to me. He needed 2 shots which FREAKED him out because I had promised him no shots this time. Oops. We are going back on Friday for bloodwork (to check his allergy numbers .. hoping he's outgrown or at least lowered his numbers on the dairy) so he'll have his shots then, followed by a visit to Target for more Legos or Pokemon cards, I assume. He went from such a big kid to a sobbing little boy in the space of those 4 words, "He needs 4 shots." Poor thing!

And that's been the last few days! Rosa comes for a visit on Monday and I am so excited! ... End Transmission ...

Ole, the $188 dog

When Maya was bit by a rattlesnake, her vet bill was $1400. We sang a little song about her, "Maya, the 1400 dollar dog..." Well, now it's Ole's turn. On Wednesday he was bitten by a coyote on the trail. It was his fault; he chased one coyote and then another one joined the chase and turned on him. We didn't notice the silver dollar size hole in his inner thigh until last night. And Paul pointed out that he chased yet ANOTHER coyote yesterday on his walk. Guess it didn't make enough of an impression. So we had the vet over and she cleaned it out, applied ointment and put him on antibiotics. She advised shorts in the house and a collar outside, so he won't lick at it. So, I present to you our $188 dog, both the indoor and outdoor versions. Geesh.

shoots!!

It's started! My little shoots are starting up! What a sign of Spring. Hooray!!!

Sadly, Ted was sent home from school today because he threw up (in the bathroom ... what a good guy!) He spent the day lying down and napped for 3 hours. He didn't even play with his birthday presents. Poor thing. He couldn't keep anything down til about 7:30, when he carefully ate 2 graham crackers. His fever is 102 so we gave him Motrin before bed. Poor kiddo! Send him get well vibes please.

The Great Laser Tag Pikachu Extravaganza

Phew! What a day! There are SCORES of pictures on moeltini. As Wendy pointed out, pictures of our sons happily shooting guns IS a bit disturbing. Yet, they loved it. I loved the cake. And the dance fever game. Boondocks is a great place for a party because they do everything for you! I think everyone had fun, and their fair share of wild loud craziness. If I had wine or beer in the house I would drink it, but I don't and I'm too lazy to fix a drink. It was a fun party. And I have to say, he has some really nice friends. This was our first drop off party (although 3 of the kids had their moms there, the other 4 didn't) and it was OK! I didn't lose anyone and no one got hurt. I think I'll let Ted sleep in and be a bit late to school tomorrow. That's a lot of excitement for one day!

Ted turns 6

Tomorrow promises to be an exciting day. Ted's class has snack at 10am, and he requested raspberry sorbet (in sugar cones) for his birthday snack at school. Then directly after school ends at 3:15, Ted and his 4 school buddies will all load into the van to drive en masse to Boondocks for the Lasar Tag Pikachu Extravaganza (TM). Three friends from preschool will meet us there. (He was supposed to invite 6 kids, but somehow it's 7. How did that happen? Hmm.) At his place, ready for breakfast tomorrow, are 2 little presents (a Squirtle stuffed toy and some more Pokemon cards) and a whoopie cushion, hidden by a blanket. Hee hee.

It's 10pm on March 4 as I write this. 6 years ago I was sitting in the bathtub, counting my contractions (in my back, oy!). I think we went to the hospital around 2am and Ted was born at 9:30 the next morning, by emergency C-section. My father-in-law, an OB/GYN, said I had fantastic doctors, that he might not have made it. A miracle twice ... first by being conceived at all and second to make it through as long as he did without oxygen, unscathed.

He was a bit of a fussy infant, very grumpy from 4-6 every night and he slept in his carseat for MONTHS because he had such bad reflux he couldn't be on his back. He was born with a tongue tie AND a lip tie, making nursing a challenge. We used a shield for the first few months til he caught on. We saw Jill, the LC, a LOT. He nursed a LOT. I remember producing 17 ounces of milk in the morning (I'd pump while Paul fed him a bottle, so he'd take a bottle. That failed, but we tried.) Isn't that a crazy amount? I should have been a cow. We didn't have AC that summer (we got it before the next one!) and I remember just lying on the futon (that I had opened to a bed) and just lying there with a fan on me, watching him play contentedly next to me.

But around 6 months he cheered up and WOW was he an absolutely angelic baby. He started sleeping through the night, taking monster 3 hour naps, and would spent LOADS of time sitting with his binky and a tupperware, rattling the binky around and letting it drop out. Repeat. He'd crack himself up with this trick. From the beginning, he could entertain himself. I didn't realize what a gift this would be, to both of us!

If there would ever be a time in my life I would choose to repeat, it would be September 2002-January 2003 (then I got pregnant and was sick as a dog, another story). We went to Baby Gymboree, post-partum yoga, spent HOURS hanging out at Tara and Rachel's house, would hike with Ole and generally just hang out. I was always so happy to be around him (the two's tweaked that, but he's come back around!) and begrudgingly finished up my DMA, HATING to be away from him at all. He was the quintessential first child of a Boulder hippie-wanna-be. He was breastfed (til I stopped at 9 months when I got pregnant and he got his molars in...not a good combination for the latch!), cloth-diapered, and fed only homemade baby food. I relished my job as a new mom, determined that this tiny person would have the best care I could give him. (I guess I got too tired with Sam and Mae to keep that up!) He was so happy, so sweet, so FAT! He was a joy.

He's still a wonderful, sweet, fun boy. He has his issues, his flashes of defiance, his "don't look at me, while I completely goof off" traits, but all in all, he's a good kid. His teacher tells me over and over how much she loves him, how fun he is, how interested in everything he is, how he LOVES math and then turns around and begs for yet another book. He's doing so well in school and is equally enthusiastic about his TKD and skiing. He's just so willing to try new things and seems, so far, to love just about everything he does. I used to think he'd have a very happy life, when he was a content little baby. As he moved through the 3s and 4s, I began to worry about him. He was so angry, so unpredictable, so emotional. But this year has really been a good one. He's happy, healthy and, just because I want a third H word, hysterical. My life would be so BORING without him in it! I love him so so much. Happy birthday, little man!

Spring Ski

Wow. Today Ted (and Rachel) had ski school from 10-3 and I had a private lesson at 1. I learned how to get down a yellow hill without crashing! It was very empowering. I met up with Ted's class at the bottom of their last run (a blue run!) and we went back to the lifts for a few more runs. This is a picture of us on the lift. I went up with him for the first two and it was fun to watch him go down. He's so graceful. According to his instructor, he is to practice turning and stopping with parallel skis, not a wedge anymore (i.e. french fries, not pizza!) He did two more runs on his own (because I was too chicken to go up the green lift) before FINALLY agreeing to be done. Ski passes went on sale today and since Ted is still 5 today, I was able to score him the 5 and under pass....way way way way cheaper! Rock on, me. Today we skied without jackets. Spring skiing rocks. This video is of one of his last runs with me. It's pretty bad (camera video) but the slopes were pretty dead by 4pm, so he's the only one coming down. What a fun day.