A just about Perfect Day

Today was just a lovely day!  It was crisp and cold without being bitterly so.  We took the kids out to breakfast at Furin's.  It was an old haunt of Bill's both in his single days and then ours as a childless couple.  Great pancakes.  Truly.  We ran into some neighbors from our old neighborhood and the kids wanted to know "Why don't we live here?  This is cool/fun/really nice!".  We smiled and told them "You, little dears, are why we don't live here anymore!  And when you are grown ups and are young, hip and gainfully employed and want to live here then ... go for it."  We then went ice skating in the Sculpture Garden by the National Gallery and had some lunch in the little Pavilion Cafe that overlooks the rink.  Ice skating outside is just so much more fun than an indoor rink!  It still takes both of us to skate with all three but ... there is light at the end of the tunnel as the girls get more independent on the ice.  I don't care how old I get,  I still love the Zamboni!

After skating we went over to the National Aquarium.  I think I sort of-kind of-maybe remember going once before and have a vague recollection of it being kind of lame, small and dingy.  It was great!  Smaller meant more easily digestible for little people and tired parents.

We came home for a spontaneous taco night with some of the cousins and my kids were happy happy happy.  It was a little late getting them to bed but who cares?   It was a just about Perfect Day!

Brief year in review from a tired Mama

Is it possible that 2010 is coming to a close?  We began the year with Snowmageddon.  Being snowed in allowed us weeks of family time.  I liked it and then one day I said, "It's time.  Back to school kiddos!".  We started a renovation in May that is still not quite done (getting closer though!).  Kit was on the swim team this summer and it was a joy to see her involved in a team sport.  The kids started their second school year back in the States with all of the excitement and less of the anxiety felt last year.  Lindsay is trying her hand at the violin while Kit continues on the piano.  I'm not sure how that will pan out to be honest - we'll see.  Swift, poor little guy, just gets dragged along everywhere.  The fall motored along while I tried (emphasis on tried) to balance the needs of three kids, manage a house and actually get some personal time.  (Not so much on that third item).  Kit is playing basketball for the first time this winter.  She didn't know what a referee was because, well, she's never played this kind of sport before!  She is having fun.

We have so very much to be thankful for but it has been a hard fall.  I am reminded of my frailty, failure and desperate need for a saviour daily.  Things just aren't as they should be!  But I knew that.

Bill is working like a banshee and finding the work rewarding.  I am constantly at the Shrine of Our Lady of Perpetual Exhaustion.

My proposal for 2011.  Sleep, sleep, sleep!

Happy New Year to you!

Post Renovation Plan

The end is near. The dumpster is gone (highlight of my day yesterday!). It’s time for a plan.

My car has been in the driveway and it is getting cold.  A young woman (Sophie ... God bless Sophie) is living with us this year who had to live in our basement waiting for the renovation to finish.  Patient gal.  There is detritus ... everywhere.  So, onto the PLAN.

The Plan to reclaim the garage!
1. Roll up rug in storage room.
2. Organize room for Sophie access
3. Return suitcases on third floor to Mom Cave
4. Move furniture from basement to upstairs.
5. Move boxes from garage to storage room
6. Remove pallet materials to driveway for pick up.
7. Clean garage and voila baby … you’re in.

Then onto the basement:
1. Anything left in the utility area or hall … into the S Room.
2. I’m feeling hope. Is it possible?
3. Get the two Pakistani rugs cleaned.

Mom Cave:*
1. Clean!
2. Move desk back in.
3. Move suitcases before moving furniture.
4. Change door knobs
5. Are you feelin’ the thrill?

Master Bedroom:
1. The clothes in the corner.
2. The clothes in the corner.
3. The clothes in the corner.
3. Hang pictures.

Anything else that happens is pure gravy.  Wish me luck!

*  The Mom Cave is a teeny room built under the eaves off of the Master Bedroom.  My closet is in there so you could call it a "dressing room" but really that would be pretty ostentatious for the space so ... I don't.  It was a nursery for Swift when he was a baby.  When we moved back from overseas last year it became my personal quiet place.  I breathe deeply and exhale just thinking about it.  For the last few months it has been a dusty and dirty place BUT soon it will be reclaimed.  Big smile.

Talkin' 'bout a Renovation ...

Last post in September.  Really?  Geesh.

I went out to dinner with a friend this week (bliss).  I was waxing on about the joys and jeers of our house renovation when she said "you should blog about this"!  Well how about that for an idea.  I even have one of those blog thingies all aready for some bloggin'.

So yes, Virginia, there is an end to home renovation.  I just don't know when.  I will post befores and afters.  You know, ... after.  Do I sound bitter (wry smile)?  Nah, I'm not but I am really looking forward to the accoutrements of renovating to be gone from my house.  Things like ...

1)  The MONSTER dumpster that is in our driveway.
2)  The brown paper taped to the floor to protect it.
3)  Miscellaneous tools, boxes etc,
4)  The exterior temporary stair to the second floor.  
5)  The little punch list items that remain undone, and undone, and undone.
6)  The generally higher level of dust and debris.

While I don't like that the project is months overdue I actually have liked the process!  We gutted an attic and two bathrooms, removed a rear shed dormer and replaced it with a wider one (creating more indoor space), added three small dormers on the front of the attic and removed a wall/door that separated the second floor from the attic making it no longer an attic but a ... third floor!  This is all VERY exciting.  It has been fun to see how something is actually built.  It has been wonderful to see ideas I had for different spaces come into being.

Enough for now but I'll start searching my archives for some pictures.

Caio!

Fishtastic Fiasco

I should write an ode to picky eaters.  I was one as a kid so you would think I'd be sympathetic.  Well, actually I am sympathetic but also now realize how exhausting it is to poor dear Mom who really just wants to make sure that her wee ones have a modicum of nutrition in their bodies.  I'd just like to feel good about the balance of intake weighing over on the "good for you" side.  Crud.  Food and Motherhood - what a deal!

So ... dinner at our household tonight consisted of tilapia ("fish bites"), lightly dredged and pan fried, broccoli and angel hair pasta with Parmesan (the ringer).  I made a simple little chopped tomato with garlic, white wine and lemon juice sauce that I knew only I would like but that was fine by me.  It was a pretty plate (mine was at least)!  What could be the problem?

The problem, it seemed, was the fish.  We don't eat a lot of fish around here.  We seldom  had it when we were living in a landlocked country with questionable sanitary conditions.  But I thought now that we were back in the Land of Plenty that I would introduce my kiddos to the Fruits of the Sea!  I want us to eat less meat!  I spoke with two girlfriends today on ways they serve fish to their kids.  This didn't sound too hard.

The kids' responses when they saw their meal (I'm trying not to take this too personally):

Kit:  One bite then a run to the bathroom gagging.  She returns holding her nose.  "I can smell it.  It makes me gag.  I can't eat anything on my plate because I can smell it!  Can I eat outside?  I need a new plate.  A new fork.  I can still smell it!  Mommy, never cook fish again!"   Oy vey.

Lindsay:  Sideways glance at her plate.  "Mommy, I can't have those things on my plate."  Mock shiver through her spine as she contemplates the thought of someone ingesting them.  Broccoli? Fuggedabout it.

Swift:  "Mmmm this is delicious".  He ate every bite on his plate.

Me:  "Mmmm these are pretty good.  Y'all are missing out"  (What a dumb mommy thing to say.  They don't buy it, of course.)

I'm doomed. They will all get rickets or scurvy and it will be all my fault.  (Where does Kit get that overblown dramatic thing from?).   Alas, tomorrow is a new day and they'll eat something, just not fish.

First Day of School!

In early June when my kids were out and the local schools still had three more weeks of school left I thought ... HELP!  The summer flew however and here we are.  Last year there was anxiety over the newness of it all.  This year - excitement!  What a thrill for my two girls (and their Mommy).

Third and First Grade here we come!

Which one might be Tweenin'?

Sweet, sweet.

Walking in with little guy not far behind.  Notice they are leaving Mama in the dust.

Kit being greeted by the Headmaster - precious sight.

First assembly of the year then I took my leave until pick up this afternoon.

These milestones are so amazing.  Have a fun year girls!

The Farm

One day this summer the dear friends I meet and pray with each week and I took all of our kids to visit a sage of a woman who has meant a lot to all of us.  Several years ago she moved out to Middleburg.  It is gorgeous out there:  low stone fences, horse farm after horse farm and winding roads.

The moms all got to visit with Mary Ann and our city slicker kids got a needed dose of "country".  My kids desperately want to live on a farm.  Sigh.

Climbing fences, petting horses, collecting tadpoles ... sheer bliss for my kids!

The tadpoles didn't last long after they morphed and some didn't grow legs at all.  I think the the nearest stream water I changed out for them wasn't murky enough and arrested their development.  The last two were released at the other Fabulous Farm event of the year.  But that ... is another post for another time.