Random useless tidbits

This morning we walked to school (since it was only a tidgy bit humid, but my hair still flat...damnnnn youuuuuu) and in front of the school we ran into a new friend of Ezra's. He seemed really nice when I asked him if he was in Ezra's class and if they sat at the same table. 

Ezra: "You want to come and play with me on the spinning thing?"

J the new friend: "I'm not really sure how to get to the playground."

Me: "I can show you, if you want. You can put your backpack in line with Ezra." 

They did and they ran and everyone seemed happy.

While over 20% of the student body is ethnically diverse, by far a majority of the Caucasion folks are blonde and blue-eyed. The area where we live is hardcore Dutch and oh my lands alive with the Dutch last names on Ezra's class list and little blondies everywhere I turn. 

It makes T and laugh. And if you're from this side of the state and not Dutch, you just gotta laugh.

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Speaking of names, I saw a name on a school locker that I rather liked:

Willa

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Starbucks is now carrying pastries from a San Francisco bakery, La Boulange.

I scored myself a free chocolate croissant and I RECOMMEND. Oh, and the ham and cheese croissant, too! Just eat all the fat, I say.

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I'm wearing Spanx today and they keep rolling down like a window shade. Dammit.

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I haven't worked out in the past few weeks and while my weight has only changed by a pound (coughCROISSANTScough), I can see the visible loss of muscle tone in my arms.

Son of a gun if getting older isn't a complete waste. What the hell. So settling into our groove with Ezra along with the new term starting up at work, it's back to lunchtime workouts for me.

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For about a year Iris has been in the routine of waking up anywhere between 1-4 times a night asking for a hug. It never completely broke my will to live because she'd do nightly wake-ups for a few weeks and then sleep through the night without issue for a few weeks. And repeat. And the asking for a hug? That's all it truly was. No night terrors. No crying. No other shenanigans. Just, "Mama! Mama! I need a hug!" I'd hug her. Tuck her back in. She'd pass clean out before I even left the room. But breaking my sleep during those weeks-on was rough. Oh, and she'd never call for T. Hurumph.

I toyed with just simply cutting her off and telling her "no" but I had some guilt about that (T has even more guilt--in spades). Mostly because she was in a hospital away from home for six months and I still remember so strongly having to walk out of her hospital room twice a day and wondering and hoping someone would hear her if she woke up. So yeah. You need hugs--I SHALL NOT DENY YOU.

Until I got too tired, that is, and she's almost four and I called "BS!" on it.

So two weeks ago I Amazon Prime-ed her a version of the clock Ezra has and we instituted No More Nighttime Hugs lickety split.

Ezra full-on spread the propaganda ("Iris! When it's yellow you can wake-up! When it's green, you sleep!") and she bought it hook, line and sinker. The first two mornings she woke up before the clock turned yellow for daytime and I sure as hell left her in bed--even though it was 6:00am (we have it set to turn yellow for wake-up at 6:45 even though she often sleeps later). We had to do a modified version of CIO that morning and I kind of felt like a dick since we were all mostly awake, but I thought she needed to learn the firm boundary of what the color change meant. It hasn't been an issue since that morning.

As for the nighttimes that first week, she'd wake up at 8:30pm or 1:38am or 3:34am and I'd do the same thing: I'd stand in her door way, not going in, telling her that "Green means quiet sleepytime..." and that she needs to grab her blankie and lay down. She'd plop and do it. A few times she shouted in outrage, and then simmer down on her own.

Since that first week she has only woken up once at night about 50% of the time and of those times, she quiets herself down without me even leaving my bed almost 100% of the time.

So yeah. Iris turned into the weird hybrid of a toddler who could totally put herself to sleep without issue (see: post-hug request pass out), but clearly need a nudge-y to keep it zipped for the majority of the night.

Good heavens.

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I'm starting to scope out fall clothes and have dedicated a Pinterest board to act as my shopping list. 

I don't need anything, but I'm wanting quite a bit. Much of it bedazzled, it seems. 

Ah well.

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Ezra lounging last night as I put Iris to bed. Full on sheets Kindle watching. He is indeed my son.

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What's random with you?

Shake it up

Ezra started school on Monday and I managed to keep my cool.

His little face upon class line-up outside was peaceful and nothing looked anxious. He put his things in his locker, helped a friend who was struggling to open her own locker (oh the kindness made tears well up in my eyes and throat) and went into his room and sat down. The teacher was welcoming to those parents that stayed and I said "goodbye" after a few minutes and walked home.

I felt a bit out of sorts (I think mostly due to the new routine...), did a bunch of laundry and watched Real Housewives, took a shower, and T and I walked to pick him up at Noon. We went out to dinner that night to Red Robin--his pick--to celebrate the first day of school.

Ezra is so happy. His school makes him happy and has put him utterly at ease. When I picked up him at 5:00pm yesterday from after school care, he looked like he'd always been there. In fact, he maybe was a bit foul and seemed tired and after a good cry on the couch at home and some quiet time snuggles together--he was a-okay. He also ate a crapton of lasagna. Holy moses. 

It's taking me a bit of time to recalibrate to our new schedule and food planning and I think I mostly have it down. We have to leave earlier and Ezra needs to eat breakfast, so this has made my wake-up time earlier. Not a huge fan, but I hate rushing even more, so there you have it. I've kind of figured out how much to give him for breakfast at 7:30am before school (considerably less than when we eat at 9:00am on the weekends), and I've kind of figured out what time to leave the house when we're walking with Iris in tow v. just him and me. I also think I've figured out where we can park if we drive--which we did this morning because it was misty and humid as balls and I'd prefer to not be a sweatball before 9:00am.

Not to make this even more about me, but I maybe got a bit handflappy with T on Monday night when he announced a trip that would take him out of town for the bulk of the week. I told him that on most days when he's out of town, I'm kiiiiind of skating by with getting everything done and that was with our old routine. New routine and two kids at different school and both needing quite a bit of food planned for their day, and we gotta figure this out. So we divided up the load even-steven. 

He is in charge of packing Iris' food and milk on the days he is in town and will make ahead the containers (we use these and have a ton of them which makes it handy) (that site is kind of nutballs) for the days he's not. I'll still be in charge of packing her table food (we're gradually increasing her amounts of non-pureed food for practice and hope to eventually? hopefully? wean her off the smooth food) each morning. 

I'll then be in charge of packing Ezra's lunch and monitoring his lunch account for when he gets hot lunch--or as Ezra calls it, Special Warm Lunch. We decided that he could do hot lunch on Thursdays because I usually work until 9:00pm Wednesday night and it's hard to want to do anything once I'm home. 

So yeah. I think it's coming together. I'm still trying to figure out which questions to ask Ezra and when in order to get the most information from him about his day. I fear we're peppering him upon pick-up when his poor brain is probably still running a mile a minute. So maybe at bath? Bed? 

Oh! And apparently there's a classmate who, according to Ezra, "doesn't make very good choices." The boy's name is Jerry and it makes T and I laugh because, holy moses, you don't meet very many five year old Jerrys. Heh. 

Stuff's getting real

The feelings I have about Ezra starting kindergarten are complex and kind of emo, but I'm not feeling entirely like I want to go into all that right now. Rather let's save it for Monday after I've walked back home from dropping him off and cried for two blocks.

In the meantime, how about the open house we went to last night? Ezra's countdown to his last day of preschool (today) began about 32 days ago and he is just ready. Ready to start somewhere new. Ready to learn more. Ready to walk to his Big Boy School (which, kind of like "potty," I'm sure it will always be called a Big Boy School).

The open house-slash-ice cream social (what! what!) began at 6:30pm so we took some pictures outside and then walked over. Ezra was VIBRATING with excitement. Again, he's kind of ready/jazzed out of his gourd.

His teacher is lovely and the room looks exactly like what a kindergarten room should look like. Ezra, of course, touched everything (he's kind of curious) and was on his teacher like white on rice (god bless her). He introduced himself to new classmates as they trickled in and I'm just so glad he felt so comfortable.

The school we chose for Ezra is one I feel amazingly happy to have access to. It's a school in our neighborhood, and one that will emphasize things that are important to our family. The curriculum is strong and competitive, and they're all inclusive both with students who might have particular needs, but also with those who might not be able to afford the tuition.

The public school district we live in would, in my opinion, do an unsatisfactory job of preparing our children for college and of presenting a consistently safe environment in which they could learn. The better (depending upon how one prioritizes) school district that has its lines two blocks from our house is supa dupa white and upper class. Diversity in culture and, perhaps even more so, diversity in socio-economic status are important to us for Ezra and Iris and that school district, available to us through the school lottery, was not one terribly appealing to T or I.

So we chose Big Boy School and I'm just so excited. I know it won't be perfect, but I think our children will be educated and loved.

This guy's name is Steve. No really.

Reading nook

Locker!

The library is amazing. This is just one small
portion of it. They have a full-time degreed
librarian AND two parapros. This makes
me beyond happy. Oh! And the art room
is fabulous. Yay for books and art!

Wherein I slapped some sense into my hall pantry

The other night I had a Come to Jesus with our downstairs hall pantry/closet. The closet has been a hot mess for just about forever, but that's how closets are supposed to be, right? But it was actually kind of starting to scare me and look out of control and I would just quite literally throw something in and shove it closed; block its sight from my memory. And I was starting to feel like Monica from Friends where everything is tidy except for that One Closet. 

Evidence:

Why hello there, Murder Closet. Dang.

Aw hell.

Things needed to change. 

I figured I could tackle it in two nights after the kids went to bed. I wanted to pull everything out, repaint the walls, weed through the crap while the paint dried, put necessary things back in an organized way.

And I tell you what--the closet? It looks so much better. Oh my goodness. Emphasizing even more what disaster it was beforehand. Kind of like a good haircut, the "Before" in the "Before/After" shots is enough to make a gal close her eyes and shake her head in shame.

Empty minus a bag of manuals.

Painted and I'm not sure why so shiny since
I used eggshell. Let's blame it on my
hoopty AABerry camera.

Damn, Gina. And this isn't the stuff pictured
that I tossed in the garage to recycle or
donate NOR the things I moved to the
basement workroom. Zoikes.

After!

More After! 

I am apparently fairly easy to please as I keep popping my head into the closet to smile satisfactorily and maybe mentally hug how much better it looks.

Thumbs up to tidy.

The red panda was a bit haughty

On Friday T and I took the day off work and took the kids to a zoo that's about an hour away. They're known for their African exhibit and the property is a little over 400 acres and just amazing. However, my own African flower (coughTcough) doesn't do well in crowds or heat, so we thought a weekday later in the summer might be better.

It really was a lot of fun and it's outings like this that really make me love my tiny family. We didn't tell Ezra and Iris until Thursday morning and Ezra was alarmingly excited to be missing a day of school. Preschool being so arduous, it seems. Damn. Iris announced her desire to ride a "'raffe" and I wasn't entirely sure that saddles were available for them. Points to her for persistence, though. 

Everything is just faaaaabulous

That's all I got, folks.

Mary Pickford almost handed me my ass

This weekend I drove to see Michelle and Hillary and Becky and Sara and Christina. Michelle organized and hosted the weekend and it was just so lovely. 

Michelle is wonderful with her never ending laugh and happy eyes and she is just so easy to be around. Hillary's hair is enviable and, sadly, her husband's loose pelvis and constant stretching were opportunities for physical comedy. Becky and I were able to discuss all of the Real Housewives face to face ("What are your thoughts on Joe Gorga?" "Is that a model home?" "Yeaaahhh...her kids aren't cute."), but now I'm spoiled and want that kind of in-depth Housewife analysis with her all the time. Sara put her wee toes in my back before bedtime, but I love her so it was okay. And Christina? Well, I am now the President of her fan club I adore her and her easy smile and inappropriate jokes so, so much.

We stayed downtown Columbus and went to dinner and I ate fried chicken and it was MARVELOUS. We walked to bars and had crazy strong drinks, one of which I had was called the Mary Pickford and I'm not sure how Mary played her cards in the 1920s--but, boy howdy; I almost didn't bounce back from that. 

It was a great time.

Michelle took us on a special route in order
to show us the five story, glistening
(Becky's word) hot dog.
We snickered.

Car conversations

Ezra: Let's listen to the news.

Me: Um. Okay!

(turn on NPR)

(story mentioning politics)

Ezra: President Obama! I know him!

Me: What do you know about him?

Ezra: That's he brown like me and that he wears fancy clothes. Why does he wear fancy clothes?

Me: Well, his job is important so he decides to wear clothes like suits and ties.

Ezra: Oh.

(silence)

Ezra: What will he do after he's done being President?

Me: Well, he has a family so he might spend more time with them. And he might take naps, because being President is really hard and can make people tired. But usually the former Presidents do different jobs like going around and talking to people or helping other people do things.

Ezra: Oh. 

(story mentioning Sioux Falls, South Dakota)

Ezra: Why aren't they talking about Michigan?

Me: Um, well, there are other places that are really great to live in and they want to talk about those places.

Ezra: That's nice of them!

Check!

I have to-do lists for work ("Finish monthly statistics," "Outline for article," "Refrain from punching (x)...") and to-do lists for the weekends at home ("Drop off dry cleaning," "Make new dish for Iris" "Wash kids' shoes"), but lately there have been some loose ends--niggling whatnot--that I want to get done and it's bothering me that they're just not.

I appreciate seeing the honesty of Holly and Jennie as they discuss their various goal lists, and so I wondered if I draft one here for the month maybe I would feel less like I'm spinning my wheels fruitlessly.

There is nothing monumental on the list for August, but I want some head space back so if accomplishing even some of these things gives me that--then that's success enough for me.

August

• Finish the book I've started on my Kindle
• Finish the library book on my nightstand
• Order the tin ceiling for our entryway
• Take my lunch to work at least twice a week
• Polish the dining room sconces (they're silver and it's been awhile)
• Stain the windowsills (the wood is looking a little nakey)
• Eat all of the farmer's market produce purchased before it goes bad

So you see I'm certainly not deworming orphans in Somalia (name that movie...) or donating blood on the regular, but stuff's gotta get done and, darn it, IT WILL.

Otherwise it's all gonna go to hell.

Random useless tidbits

Ezra had a runny nose and a cough a few weeks ago (the cough is still lingering and random). Iris had a runny nose and cough last week (and we busted out her inhaler to keep things open just in case). On Saturday night I suddenly developed a sore throat and now my nose is sometimes stuffed or sometimes not and sometimes tingly and I'm sneezing a lot. But T?

T has gone down in a blaze of glory of a cold that is, I crap you not, ten times worse than what the kids and I contracted combined together.

Ahem.



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With kindergarten fast approaching, I've started coming to terms with the fact that I will be responsible for feeding Ezra more regularly than I currently do. Breakfasts, lunches, that sort of thing. This means, of course, that I'm going to have to up my game and start copying what other people give their children.

Ezra isn't a big sandwich guy and peanuts at school are verboten, so thank the sweet lord for Pinterest and bento box ideas. My heavens.

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Has anyone made a frittata (that so feels like a made up word) in their slow cooker? I found a recipe for doing so but have doubts.

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Yesterday I attacked our upstairs closet like a son of a gun and pulled everything out of it (I had Pitch Perfect playing on the tv in the background). I threw a bunch of things away--manky gift bags, stupid boxes--and also donated a ton of other things. 

I then bought a 3-drawer, plastic roll-y cart and organized all of my note cards, gift ribbons and bows, and gift bags. It looks awesome.

Our downstairs closet off the kitchen is the hottest of messes and lordy. I'm going to need some time to attack that one, but its days are numbered. Oh yes. Numbered.

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It appears that summer has made a rather hasty exit here. Cloudy days. 50s at night and maybe 70 during the day. It's odd.

I'm starting to buy the kids fall clothes and am starting to lose my fool mind over buying Iris clothes. Hot damn little girl clothes are fabulous--like this for instance. Elbow patches! Cannot wait until she wears it.

And with the advent of H&M now offering online shipping (thanks for joining us in 2013, you ginormous retailer you...) things are going to turn ridic.

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I went with the kids' classrooms to the zoo yesterday morning and it was a lot of fun. It was Iris' first time on a bus and she was entranced. 

Oh! And one of the kangaroos had a baby in its pouch! It was pretty awesome and had me wondering how we could accommodate such a kangaroo at our house. We have tall ceilings and an available attic so this pretty much seems like a perfect adoption situation.

A tick peevish to be distracted from her
exciting bus window viewing.

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What's random with you?