All Smiles Here! Peace and Love!

Why is my life so awesome??

Every 6 Months

I take my kids to get professional pictures done every six months or so, in February and August.  Mimi was born in February and Jude in August and Silas in December, so it works out that when I get the pictures done it’s Mimi’s and Si’s one year older picture near her birthday or Jude’s one year older picture.  Family pictures are a complete pain, but I think they’re important and I like to see how my babies have grown.

I just took the kids to get pictures yesterday and for the first time they would all stand in one place, sort of.

 

September 2012.  Mimi 5 1/2, Jude 4, Silas 2 1/2.

And these are the years past:

February 2007, Mimi a few weeks old.

August 2007, Mimi 6 months.

 

February 2008, Mimi 1 year.

 

August 2008, Mimi 18 months, Jude a few weeks.

February 2009, Mimi 2 years, Jude 6 months.

 

August 2009, Mimi 2 1/2, Jude 1 year.

 

January 2009, Mimi 3, Jude 16 months, Silas a few weeks.

August 2010, Mimi 3 1/2 

Not pictured because Jude was holding some toy in his hand that looked obscene.  A picture fail.

Fall 2010 because they were just all so delicious:

 

  Can’t find February 2011 . . . or can’t remember which one it was.

 

And then this happened in August 2011, Mimi 4 1/2, Jude 3, Silas 18 months.

February 2012, Mimi 5, Jude 3 1/2. Silas 2.

And my babies.

Q: What Can I Eat that Tastes Delicious and Won’t Make me Feel Chubby?

Want to know a little secret about me?  I know NOTHING about diet.  I don’t have any idea what a calorie is nor what the labels on food mean.  I am a food moron.  All I know is what my sisters tell me to eat.  I am under the impression that donuts are not good for you and that more than one dessert a night might make you fat, but beyond that I’m pretty much clueless.  But while clueless, I am not completely irresponsible.  When I go to the fridge at 10 every night (and 11, and 12) I know enough to not eat a whole box of Oreos dipped in milk, maybe only 6 would be good.  And maybe I should eat peanut butter not Nutella – wait I’m not sure about that.  I’m not a huge fan of fast food.  My fast food rule is “Never finish the burger/fries because you will regret it.”  This is probably the most I’ve thought about food, ever.  Food is fuel.  I like when it tastes good.  End of thought process.

At some point in my life someone told me I shouldn’t eat after 10pm.  So rather than stuff my face at night I eat these two things:

A1)  Fage yogurt with the cherry or blueberry goo attached.  I eat these every night when it’s 10 and I’m starving and all I want is cookies.  I pronounce it Fag, but rumor has it it’s pronounced Fay-ja. I prefer Fag, or Faggy.

A2)  Faux Cookie Dough.  Raw Cookie Dough Bites I ripped off from another website.

I live on these and pretend they are making me skinny and healthy.

Double the recipe, put them in 2 cupcake tins, leave them in freezer, eat them when you’re rushing out the door or want something to eat while you’re watching breaking bad. 

Raw cookie dough bites

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup raw almonds
• 2/3 cup raw walnuts
• 2/3 cup raw oat flakes (see note below)
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp sea salt
• 1/4 cup raw agave nectar
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 3 tbsp cacao nibs or dark chocolate chips

Instructions

1. In a food processor, process the almonds, walnuts, oats, cinnamon and salt to a fine meal.
2. Add the agave nectar and vanilla and process to combine.
3. Next, add the cocoa nibs (or chocolate chips) and pulse just to combine.
4. Roll the cookie dough into balls (about 1 tbsp each) and place them in a cupcake pan and freeze.

Speaking of Happiness

Yesterday I watched the sunset.  I never, ever do that.
My kids were in bed early and quickly because they had had a long day.  I was tired and just needed to sit for a bit before I began the after hours routine that finishes the day. A woman's work is never done.
But for ten minutes I sat quietly doing nothing but looking at the colors of the clouds.
My mind went back through my day.  My house was clean because I had taught my kids how to clean it along with their neighbor friends.  My kids were tired because we had ridden bikes most of the day and then I'd taught them how to play Kick the Can in the evening. My laundry was going.  That one basket full of car junk and house stuff had been cleaned out and put away.  My kids had seen their father, a visit which counted both as service and as quality time because he has been suffering in the hospital for the last week.  While we were there we had to find parking in a horrible lot and had success after I taught the children that they could pray for anything, including a parking spot.  We'd had plenty to eat that day and wanted for no material goods.  I'd listened to a great TED talk  "Before I Die" by Candy Chang on community art and a General Conference talk about Deliverance earlier in the day on my earphones while I was working in the house.  My carpools had taken both Mimi and Jude to and from school.  I'd been in textual contact with my friends both near and far.  My dad had called me and told me he thought I was doing a good job helping the people who needed me.  I'd talked to some estranged distant family and made some headway in repairing those relationships.
By the time the sun had set I'd come to a realization:  this was a day well lived.  I'm happy. My kids are where they need to be and so am I.  Nothing else is perfect but we are stable and content.

It was only about 8 and I had the rest of my evening planned: not one but two episodes of Breaking Bad and then working on my farfetched life-goal project that is taking up a significant amout of mental energy and really challenging my mind.  To break that up I meandered through the lovely things on pinterest and scrolled through my friend's instagrams.  And then I climbed in my cuddly bed with fresh sheets in my peaceful clean house and slept.

I've been thinking about trials recently.  Sometimes it feels like trials never end and that you never quite get to that plateau of peace before the next one hits you even harder.  These past few years for me have been trial after trial leaving me begging for a bit of peace.  I've been coping with many losses and unresolved relationships and found myself swirling down into the abyss of despair -- wondering if life itself is, as Macbeth claims "A tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing".
But even as chaos reigns and storms rage I look at my day to day life with great humility and gratitude.  Just yesterday I learned that "In the midst of winter, I found there was, deep within me, an invincible summer" (Albert Camus).  No matter how difficult things become I still wake up to a new day of taking care of my kids and navigating our world to the best of my ability.

And then at 10:30 pm  there came a knock at my door.  It was one of my sisters unexpectedly dropping off a loaf of warm homemade bread because "If I don't get rid of this I'm going to eat it all myself".
It was a day of service and tender mercies. A day too busy to dwell on the problems life presents.  And it was a day that, normal as it was, I will never forget.

Nice Job, Silas.

 

“Caution:  To prevent entanglement, keep hair away from wheels.”

Geez, kid.  You’re two already.  Learn to read.

Guilty Pleasures

 

This song:

“This is how bacon is supposed to be!”

This video never gets old:

Loving this blogger:

http://galadarling.com/

Can’t. Stop. Watching:

Eating hand-over-fist:

All natural vegan maybe frozen “cookie dough” balls that are healthy.

Not a guilty pleasure, but taking up a lot of my time:

The new biking situation and the Iron Horse Trail.  Arg.  More on that later.

Retelling this story:

What am I missing that I need to see to be entertained/distracted from this new totally hard endeavor (secret) I have just taken on?  Give me some tools of procrastination, people!

The Triumvirate

Yes, this picture is a blur.  This is how the last few months have felt with my three kids.

My three children are “Irish Triplets.”  They were born within three years of one another.  Mimi is 18 months older than Jude, Jude is 16 months older than Silas.  Their birth years are 2007, 2008, 2009.

For the last few months I have really been feeling their closeness, in good and hard ways.

To memorialize what these years are like and to paint a picture of what it is like to have three children close together, I give you this list:

+ They all like to do the same activities.

+ They all need the same things.

- They all need those same things at the same time.

+ I only have to shop at one store to find all their sizes.

+ Jude and Silas wear the exact same size, except in shoes.

+ I don’t have to separate Jude and Silas’ clothes.

- I buy a ton of shoes because people always lose just one.

- They are equally incapable of helping themselves with beverages.

+ Sippy cups for everybody!

- I am a slave to sippy cups.

- The pacifier battle.  There was great thievery of paci’s.  I finally won it back in June.

+  They all like to sleep in one room, most of the time.

+ They like the same movies.

+  They like the same rides.

(More or less)

- They are co-conspirators in cookie stealing.

+ They recognize each other’s needs because they have the same needs.  (If Mimi wants a cheese stick, she assumes Jude and Silas want one too and always gets them one.)

-  They desire equality at all times, much like twins tend to. 

-  The phrase “Me too!”  Get used to it.

+ They’re all bustle.  It’s like a traveling circus.

-  I worry about alone time with each one.

+  They don’t care at all about alone time with me, they aren’t possessive.

+  Their maturity level is still unsophisticated.  They don’t talk about boyfriends and love and stuff.

+  Because they have each other they adjust well.  They feel like the majority everywhere they go.

-  I worry about their experience when they’re separated.  Will it be like a phantom limb?

+  Baths.  They’re easy and efficient.  All pile in, all barrel out.

- CARSEATS.  One time I figured out how many carseats I buckle in a day.  It was high.

-  Childcare.  I have a good set of babysitters, but I feel obligated to pay for sitters rather than just drop them off at a auntie’s or friend’s on a regular basis.  All together they’re too overwhelming for anyone but me and Pam.  I try really hard not to abuse the kindness of the people who help me. 

+  If even one is away the dynamic changes exponentially.  With only two kids I feel like I’m on vacation.

+  Bedtime.  Ahhhh sleep.  They all go to sleep at the same time with one routine.

+  Assembly line parenting.  This appeals to my need for operational success.  I never get in the car having forgotten one kid’s shoes, because I grab three pairs every time without thinking they had that responsibility covered.

-  Assembly line parenting.  Things can get overlooked.  Mimi had a hurt tooth and she just managed the pain, rather than me noticing it. 

+  Quick recovery when hurt.  Everybody else is still playing so they want to get back in the game.

-  Whatif all of the sudden they’re teenagers and I was to busy surviving to enjoy them?

+  Cuteness times three. 

 

 I love their legs in this picture.  Mimi’s a bit gangly, but they’re so cute 1, 2, 3.

- Taking pictures.  It is nearly impossible to get these three kids looking at the camera at the same time.

- Sacrament meeting.  Don’t get me started.

+  Primary and Nursery!

+  Watching them play toys together.

-  Shielding Jude and Mimi from Si’s attack mode.

+  Everything is so little!  Not like baby tiny, but still.  Little underpants, little fingernails, little bodies cuddled in bed.

+  All three can and do come snuggle me in bed in the morning. 

+  I feel like I’ve earned my parenting stripes.  I am capable and I’ve been to parenting bootcamp. Largely by myself.

+  Little people trailing after me.

+  Calling out, “Ok, I’m leaving!  You better come!  I love you!” and seeing them race to the car.

+  Family Home Evening.  It’s chaos, but only because they’re clambering for chances to participate.

 

Ok, so what’s the score?  28 + and 17 - 

It’s hard, but the love and joy far outweigh the struggle.  I don’t think I’d willingly set myself up for this challenge again, but I sure am glad that I have three little kids close in age.

My Work Here is Finished

We had a major rite-of-passage around here this week.  My firstborn started school.  Real, live, public school.  Kindergarten.

She’s ready.  I think I’m ready, but very nervous about having to be somewhere at 8:15 every morning.

After I had dropped her off and was walking away I was reminded “You’re pretty much done being responsible for her.  Anything else she does wrong you can blame on school.” 

Yeah.  I did my best and I think she’s pretty great.  School can take over from here.  My work here is finished. ;)

 

We walk or ride bikes to school every day on the trail.  It’s kind of idyllic.

The night before Mimi did a dress rehearsal and modeled her school outfits. 

This is all Mimi.  When it comes to school fashion she is not messing around.  She’s going to look great.

Of course, Jude and Silas wanted in on the action.

I have to wake all three of my kids up and drag them out of bed (they usually sleep til 8:30/9 and go to bed starting at 7:30pm).  It’s taking a lot of adjusting and I have to schedule 10 minutes extra tantrum time, just in case.  Waking up goes more smoothly if I go in their room to wake them up playing their favorite songs:  Mimi likes Katy Perry’s ‘Firework’ and Jude likes The Pirates of the Carribean theme song, ‘Yo-ho Yo-ho a Pirate’s life for me.’  I have to be extra cheery.  It’s hard.

The girls in front are our three-doors-down neighbor twin five year old girls.  They are a heaven send.  We bike-pool with them.

So far, Mimi is absolutely loving school.  Her teacher is mellow and soft spoken – exactly what Mimi needs after being raised in a sparkly fabulous household.  She knew no one in her class but she’s made friends already.  There have been no tears.  I feel so proud that I have raised an independent confident and gregarious child who can adjust easily to new situations fearlessly.  Ok, I didn’t have much to do with that.  My baby was born this way. 

SF MOMA: “Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.” -Picasso

Andy Warhol’s Liz Taylor.  My Mimi Cr@ven.

It was free day at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.  I’ve always been on the fence about lots of modern art.  There were certainly lots of paintings of a solid canvas painted blue, or some dumb things like that, but there were also some pictures that really grabbed me and my kids.

Since it was free admission, the place was crowded and noisy: perfect to storm through there with the minions.  They bounded from room to room drawn to one piece, then fluttering to the next.  It was captivating to see them so captivated.

Mimi and Jude literally stood looking at this painting for about five minutes.  They were so into it.  I don’t know why it drew them in so much, perhaps the size?  The lack of pattern in the color?  The precision?  It was one of those awesome parenting moments for me – my kids connecting with art.

Not all of the paintings were completely abstract.  In each room I told the kids to pick the pictures that interested them most and then we’d go up and talk about them.  This one used the medium of elephant dung.  YES THAT’S RIGHT!  Here’s a big fat picture made with elephant poop.  Jude could not contain his amazement.  It blew his mind that right here in this fancy artsy joint was something he is very interested in.  Poop.

I love this piece.  It reminds me of Kandinsky, but I’m not quite sure who painted it.  I’d put it in my house (if I had a million dollars).

In one room there were explosions of rock walls playing on a video loop.  The kids LOVED it.  They would jump off the bench exploding with the dynamite and cheer for the destruction.

 

Another part they liked was the sequential photographs showing what happened frame by frame in the explosion.  It was so fun to see them so engaged and excited about something we adults just walk by or some kids don’t connect with and say “so what?”  I feel so lucky that they wanted to learn all about the exhibits.

Outside family picture, taken by Pam who helped me get through the museum (read, chased naughty Silas).  Mimi being Mimi.  Such a shy little violet, no?

When we got home Mimi declared she wanted her room to be an art museum.  I happened to have some really nice oil paintings I inherited that were just sitting in my garage.  Now they are on display in my five-year-old’s gallery.  She give you a docent guided tour for a small fee. ;)