Weekend Roundup

We had a busy weekend and a lot's been happening 'round these parts, so I feel the need to sum up/update/etc.  Saturday was typical gloomy cloudy rainy fickle Seattle weather. Veggie took Punkin to his new soccer class at Magnuson Park, which he LOVES (I wish I had some pictures!) and it's so great to get him running around and learning some hand-foot coordination.  Once upon a time I thought our little dude would never be too into athletics - he's seemed so hesitant about moving his body in new ways even from the get go, taking his time with crawling, then walking. It took many many months before he would do more than just sit on his Skuut bike. And at 18 months he'd never climbed anything till his friend Ellie started teaching him some moves.  Now he's playing soccer, tried skiing, the couch is his favorite tumbling mat, and loooooves his little bike. But I digress....Soccer was followed by a rainy birthday party at the play ground, and we all collapsed into bed, exhausted from so much scheduled activity.

Sunday Seattle's fickle weather produced sunshine and warmth, so guess how we celebrated?? Shopping. Indoors. Ugh.  But it was the last day to get 20% off at REI, so off we went.  Punkin and Auggie had some fun at the little kids indoor playground there, Auggie showing off his new moves: scooting! Not quite crawling, but very close and still quite efficient - hopefully I can put up some video, just as soon as I a) take video and b) teach myself to upload and post it.  Our trip was successful: we bought a new tent and a sleeping bag for Punkin 'cause we're going camping! Ok, technically our only scheduled camping trip so far is in late August. But we're hoping to fill up some weekends between now and then with a few more trips.  Trip #1 will be to a very exotic location...our backyard.  I figure we better test things out all around before we head out to the real world. Besides, it's been 6 years since I last fired up my camping stove, and I'm very intimidated about the prospect of getting both kids to sleep in the tent.

We finished off the weekend trying to take advantage of the wonderful weather and actually managed to accomplish a few things.  The slide is up on our ever expanding swing set (again, pics coming soon), and our poor neglected little raspberry bush is finally in the ground.  Overall, I think the kids had a good but rather exhausting weekend (they're at the age where they thrive on routine, and weekends are anything but).

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Auggie gets kinda bored when we work in the garden. He livens things up by creeping off his blanket, expanding his palette on grass and sticks (the later don't go down too well).  This pic is from another, colder, day in the backyard.

Monthly Punkin: 18 months - no 19

I've been very very very bad. I haven't written about my baby in ages. It's not that I don't care, or that I don't think about him ALL THE TIME. No, I think more likely it's because I think about him and I'm around him and I'm, you know, parenting him, every waking hour of the day (and sometimes, many times, during the non-waking hours of the day - when sane people should be SLEEPING PEACEFULLY in bed). I think it's because when I finally get an opportunity alone where I might actually have a chance to write, it's like a vacation from my job and, you know, I've got other things to do and frankly other things to think about.

But that's no excuse. My Punkin is turning into a little boy right before my eyes and if I don't write it all down I might forget what it's like to listen to his sweet voice say "Mowww Mama," and to watch him crouch over his puzzles and grunt while twisting the pieces into place, and to feel the weight of his head on my shoulder in those rare moments when I hold him and he holds back tight but peaceful and full of sweet unconditional love. I know one day that love will be tested by teenagedom and hormones and bravado. So for now I must hold tight right back and promise never ever to forget.

In the meantime, I've been trying to decipher his personality. Yeah, I know this should be a no-brainer - I mean, who can't peg their own child's personality from, like, the womb? But this kid is a tricky one. Maybe that's his personality - crafty and mischievous, tumultuous and mercurial, loving and generous, obstinate and proud. I know a lot of those descriptors sound negative, but I'm proud of his proudness when he carries his finished puzzle into the kitchen for me to see and requests, "Mama 'ump?" And I see a bit of myself in his stubbornness when he asks over and over "Nana? Nana? Nana?" as he points to the fruit basket. And when his mischievous grin creeps across his little face and the little wheels spin faster and faster behind those dark, round eyes, I know he can thank his father for his quick thinking and creative mind. He will never be taken for granted, never forgotten or unseen.

Now if only he will learn how to dance with others...

Dare I Say It?

A few Saturdays ago I had a very good day. We woke up early and had a yummy family breakfast of pancakes in our pj's. Then we scrambled to get dressed and make sandwiches before arriving (late, of course) at a local pumpkin patch to meet up with Punkin's 3 (yes, THREE) girlfriends and their parents. It was a gorgeous, warm fall day and the we all enjoyed ourselves immensely. I had even managed to make some yummy Pumpkin Muffins the night before (that's a rare accomplishment) to share with everyone at lunch. After a few hours of scrutinizing squashes and posing for photo ops, we headed home again with a very sleepy Punkin. I don't even remember struggling to get him to nap, so that's a good enough day in itself. Later that afternoon we finally got around to doing some yard work and when the clouds started to appear we headed inside to make dinner and get a certain someone to bed. I found a simple yet delicious recipe for Roasted Chicken with leeks and apples in, of all places, Real Simple Magazine. I can't emphasize enough how simple and delicious it really was. The next day we were invited to go for an evening sail and in a first for me I was able to supply a yummy leftover dinner without really lifting a finger! Not to mention it was a peacefully warm night on Lake Union, just right for dinner-time sailing with two testy toddlers. Punkin was in 7th heaven surrounded by boats, water, and sea-planes. I don't think I've had such an fun, active, and productive weekend in a very very long time.

Ye Ole Hot Wheels

Yet another of my mother's collector's items, this fantastic contraption came complete with rusty metal, finger-pinching wooden seat, most likely lead-tainted paint, and an awesome snack tray.




The bonus: it was so rickety the whole thing rattled on the dirt drive and you could hear it coming from a mile away. But Punkin loved it all summer long and had many admiring glances from jealous toddlers and their mommies.

Love Thursdays

I came across this excellent website tonight that shares the exceptional photography of the exceptional and the everyday woman. Any woman can submit her photos through their daily, weekly, and monthly "challenges." And today just so happens to be Love Thursday, a day to capture love in its many shapes and sizes. For my first punch at Love, I'm going for a true classic.


Two days ago was my brother's birthday. I forgot. Sometimes I can be a little $h!t of a sister. So today, Love Thursday, is in honor of my big bro and his new wife. And maybe one day I'll get around to telling you all about this picture...

Whadya mean September's half-way over???!?!?!!!

It's the end of August, isn't it? Summer's still here. Well I swear September 1st was just the other day. I can't possibly be expected to think about Halloween now, can I? Ai yaiy yaiy. Between weddings, home improvement projects, runaway dogs, and toddler preschool, I seem to have lost all track of time. Did I mention it's been taking 1 hour to get Punkin down for a nap that only lasts an hour and a half??? I know I know. No excuses.

Well, instead of regaling you with some witty story about my not-so-exceptional life, I'll tell you about my list of projects. My list has now become a book, which soon may grow to novel length but for now remains in a trusty notebook I bring everywhere with me. To the grocery store, the doctor's office, the pub, the nail salon, the zoo, the playground, the gas station (where I sign away every last penny my husband has ever earned just to fill the piddly tank in our once economical compact car).

The list has many parts, or sub-lists, the most important of which is the list of home improvement projects because that list is the most unrealistic, costly, and time-consuming projects that will most likely never come to fruition while we still own this house. Unless of course we never move. It ranges from the somewhat mandatory (replace cracked and leaking shower tiles and rotten wood we will mostly likely find behind them) to the aesthetic (create a usable front lawn from the existing heap of dying trees, prickly bushes, and colossal rocks) to the possibly unrealistic (make a vegetable garden and grow vegetables). Throw in a complete kitchen remodel, basement finishing, backyard leveling and patio, and new windows and a few doors where windows are now, and we've got approximately 10,000 hrs and $100,000 worth of "home improvements" on our dream list. Oh, did I mention the new fence to keep the renegade dog from having the run of the neighborhood??? Oh yeah, and a few minor changes to the living room - like re-tiling the fireplace, painting the walls, and putting in new trim.

Then there's the minor home improvements list, the ones I actually think I can do in a weekend, but still haven't accomplished since I started the list 3 months ago. Like getting curtains for the windows, hanging pictures on the walls, painting the kitchen chairs, or even bringing up a bedside lamp from the basement.

This past weekend I was on the Kitsap peninsula (a gorgeous area between Seattle and the more-famous Olympic peninsula) and I happened upon an enlightening book, in a chocolate shop of all places. It was a book of suggestions and "rules to live by" for husbands and wives...and it was written in 1913. When I picked it up I expected to find archaic and sexist ideas that would make me laugh at the absurdity or feel indignant at what was expected of my great-grandmothers. Instead, I actually found some of the suggestions helpful. Like the one that said don't spend all your money on a big house and fancy furniture just to impress your neighbors. (If only I cared that much about the neighbors - now I just have to learn to like Ikea and all things particle board and crappy). Ah, but I digress - it truly was helpful. Especially the financial chapter. In the Wives version of the book, it said not rely on money for happiness - I've currently been under a spell that left me believing "if only I could afford to make this house perfect, I would be happy." And the same chapter in the Husband's version of the book said several things to the affect of "don't deny your wife any and all access to money; don't make her constantly ask for funds to improve or simply sustain the household, because it takes a lot to do that and some things may actually make her life more livable." Okay, I paraphrased a bit there, and yes, there's sexism in assuming the Husband is the only bread winner and the wife just keeps house and asks for "an allowance," but it just so happens that right now in our lives that's exactly how things are. SO, either I'm living the repressed life of a 1913-era housewife, or some advice is actually sustainable over the years.

My point (before I forget it) is that I plan on applying some of this archaic wisdom to my Book of Lists. From now on I shall try to make minor changes where I used to think only major construction was possible. I will try to do as much with my own hands and limited budget, rather than spending thousands of dollars (that I don't have) to get some professional to do it. And I will look more closely at the rest of my life, not just my house, my walls, my kitchen, and my yard, to see where improvements could be made in the happiness department.

I'll be sure to tell you all how disastrous this turns out to be...

The Dude in the Window

My mom brought the dude into our house about 20 years ago and he has sat by the window ever since. His hair is green with mildew and stains cover his fabric skin, but he has guarded our house successfully all these years. In fact, from the outside it really does look like someone is sitting in the window, which is perhaps why she's never thrown him out. After all, he's protecting the family jewels.

Ducks in a Row

My mother likes to collect things. All sorts of things, but mostly antiques. She has multiple sets of antique painted glass juice jars that fill most of the cabinet above her "mini-bar" that we are not allowed to use. Ever. Yes, I find this completely ridiculous and a total waste of space in an already very crowded house. But that's her prerogative.

She's even tried to get me, and now my son, to become collectors, too. When I was in college she decided my interest in marine biology justified having a collection of rubber ducks, but when I showed a lack of interest in collecting them myself, she collected them for me. And mailed them to me. I guess the upside of her weird obsession is that now Punkin has a large collection of rubber duckies for his bathtub. She also has started a collection of wind-up toys for Punkin, and I'm ashamed to say this one was rather contagious. Shortly after we arrived back in Seattle I saw some wind-ups at a toy store that my mother didn't have and I couldn't help myself - I slapped down $6 for those suckers.

I documented a few of her wackier purchases this summer and I'll share them with you over the next few weeks. Sorry - I didn't get a picture of the glasses. I didn't think they were that interesting.