I was missing you Mama.

Last spring, as E's time as a "bluebird" ended, I was sad about not walking along the wall with him each day, and not walking him in to his classroom for that final big hug.  I do definitely miss those things.  A new sweet moment is emerging that I don't want to forget.

Each day when I walk up to claim him from his teachers outside, he grabs my hand looks up, smiles, and says "I was missing you Mama."  I always reply:  "I was missing you too, E."

There was a time when this probably would have brought on waves of mommy guilt over him missing me. Now, I'm older and more experienced, if not wiser and understand that we are both OK.  He hasn't spent all day being sad.  He is just happy to seem me again and glad we're together. It is good to be missed.  I love what a great job this little one does of taking care of his mama.  He remains the best snuggler, first to bring me my water, first to check and see if I'm OK, and now is full of big boy conversation.

I could talk to him all day.  In fact, we recent had E and mama's day of fun, but that is a longer story for another day. 

Ten on Wednesday

1.  I haven't done a Ten on Tuesday for a couple of weeks because we have little league games every Tuesday and aren't even home until 9:30.  It is probably fair to say that it will be Ten on Wednesday around here until at least late October when fall baseball is over and my busy season is winding to an end.

2.  Speaking of baseball, B had his best and first hit of kid pitch this week.  It was awesome. It was a pop fly and I was absolutely sure the second baseman was going to catch it.  Luckily, he did not. B made it to third by stealing a few bases, but sadly did not make it home before his buddy Adam struck out for the final out of the inning.  B's team continues to be basically a comedy of errors, but perhaps slightly improving.  Humorously, one kid is a son (or grandson?) of a Mathis Brother (huge Oklahoma Furniture store family) so we see a minor celeb most games.

3.  E is staying home with me a few days this week as his childcare is randomly closed.  He is a great companion.  Today, it all worked out for me to not work a bit in mid-morning and instead work later in to the afternoon past my normal hours as he slept on in his room.  Between late night baseball and much shorter naps at school (and sometimes no naps on the weekend) he is often very tired.  We are taking full advantage of his days home this week to sleep as much as possible :)  Otherwise, we play ninjas, run around in the yard, invent games with his "guys," build blocks, or read lots of books.  He now sleeps with at least one book too, just like brother and sister.

4. Lady M lost her second tooth this week.  Her pronunciation is a little funny at times and I still am not used to the new smile.  She seems to be enjoying it though.  She is doing pretty well of late with her full schedule.  This week, for the first time in ages, she returned to picking up her French vocabulary more quickly and was a great student in the lessons too, I'm told. She continues on with double dance lessons on Wednesdays and is still glowing when I pick her up--- although frequently she admits to sore feet right after.

5. So, it is busy season.  It is a little different than prior busy seasons, but what is ever the same. I am adding a bunch of new tasks in to the mix, but some of the older ones are taking less time, thankfully.  I am not, so far, having to work outrageous amounts, but there is still plenty of time for that before things calm down around Halloween. (Yes, I'm totally jinxing myself I'm sure... .sigh).

6.  Fun with the neighbors continues to be a happy theme here. All three kids (and the Korenak boys too sometimes) have great fun with the boys next door.  There is lots of bike riding, hammock time, scooters, LEGO building, minplex, and a variety of other random games.  I'm so glad it has worked out that there are friends right next door for them.

7.  There is also much, much more exploring in the front yard here at Echohollow House. At our old house, the front yard was pretty limited and slopped steeply down to the street.  Here there is a lot of side walk, yard to run, shade trees, flower beds, a strawberry patch, etc.. M&E are the biggest explorers and found a turtle in their adventuring this week.  He was a very speedy turtle, but they followed him all the way to a safe flower bed.  (Yes, E has PJs on at 4pm --- he changes back in to PJs for naps lately for better sleeping and sometimes we forget to change back...)

8.  Saturday was another day of too many activities.  One of the most tasty was a stop at the Spice Shop for Pie and spices.  The kids had a lot of pie. I managed to eat only a little, but at many of the rhubarb strawberry hand pies that made their way to our house the night before. I didn't make as many pies this year as I was working, but I hear it was a blast.

9.  B attended his very first OU Football game on Saturday with Brent. His favorite part, after some reflection, was the OOOOOOOU they do at kick off (If you've been you know what he means).  He also loved that they played Whip and Nae Nae  for the kids cam, eating funnel cake and a pretzel and getting a little of Brent's Dr. Pepper. He can recite various facts about the actual scoring in the game, but it rarely makes his top hits list. It was a perfectly beautiful day for football and it sounds like he had a wonderful time. Big thanks to Granddaddy for the tickets!

10. While they were at the football game, M and I went to a wedding shower where we got to dress up cousin Janna as a bride in a dress made out of toilet paper.  M loved it and we happily won.  Then, we attempted to sign up for Girl Scouts. It is a little ambiguous how that is all going to work as most of the troops are full, but we're giving it a shot.  Thankfully, Grammie and Granddaddy watched E during those two events.  He loved getting their full attention and I think they like it too:)

This weekend--- a slumber party, French lessons, Church/Sunday school, and maybe that's it as we need a break here. I had some other ideas planned, but am getting the sense that the troops may need to chill a bit at the house more than they need more fun things to do. Somdtimes, that is a good idea for everyone's sanity and rest. 

An unexpected gift

For my birthday this year, M & Brent teamed up for a magical, perfect, and thoroughly unexpected gift for my birthday - gold, glittery heels.  It was a gift I'd never dream to ask of, but that made me furiously happy.**

Today, I, to my great surprise, received another such gift.  It was, perhaps even more unexpected as it is not my birthday at all.  In reality, I knew there was a "planting party" tentatively schedule for today under the planning hand of my mother and my daughter.  It was so much more magical than I had hoped and I wasn't even really part of it other than to drop by occasionally and beam.

First, Grandma and M went off to shop for fall flowers for my gardens on an unexpectedly cool, beautiful, early fall day.  They bought tons.  I never buy enough for them to be properly visible, but they bought dozens and dozens, multiple flats of multicolor pansies, at least a dozen mums, including a crimson and cream trio for near the door, least there be any confusion about our allegiances.  They also bought those other things we always need and can never find --- gardening gloves, extra trowels, and some good dirt.

Then, they set to work with B & E to begin the transformation.  Everyone dug in and little E sported a cowboy hat and batman shirt, the perfect outfit for the day.  They made quick progress as I mostly watched from my work desk.  A bit later, Audra, Zane, and Ro arrived for more helping hands, more bicycle riding, more picnics, and more fun.

 E & Ro sat on the curb and chatted.  Zane recycled all the empty pots.  The yard has much more color and life.  Our family roots are planted just a bit more firmly.

Yes, there was a minor bike crash for B, but that is pretty much daily and he had his very own professional RN on hand to assist. The gardens are beautiful and the house feels a tiny step more ours.  I felt special, loved, and so blessed to be surrounded by such happy, wonderful people.  Thank you.












** Yes, I'm reading the bloggess' book the moment it is released, but that's another story. 

Ten on Tuesday

1.  My life right now is full of stress and drama.  At the base of it, almost all of this drama stems from a few choices we made.  So, in a way, no one to blame but ourselves.  That said, Brent and I are incredibly perseverant and good at overcoming obstacles so I'm going to just have to believe this will all work itself out.  Either that our I'm going to be stressed out for ever.  Yes, I may have reached the "acceptance" phase, whatever that is. (Vague blogging for the win?)

2.  One consequence of spending April and most of May absorbed by housing issues is that some of the things I "normally" do in the spring didn't happen.  You know, finding a babysitter for the summer, signing kids up for camps and swimming lessons, etc... I mean, I did sign the kids up for some things, only to realize that some of them conflict, so that's no good. I am usually terrifically good at our complicated logistics so this just shows an incredible lack of focus on my part.  I did hire a babysitter, but odds are I'll have to find another one next week.  I often talk to our kids about consequences, but it just so happens that I'll likely be bearing the brunt of them this particular summer.

3.  Also, it is June.  Long time readers may recall that each June Brent runs a research program of sorts that means he isn't home in the evenings. (It also means he gets paid a nice lump sum very close to the time we buy our house... so I really can't complain).  In any case, I need ideas of fun things to do around 5pm that are cheap and local. We are already at parks almost daily and suppose we'll add splash pads soon, but ideas would be great.

4.  Home insurance in Oklahoma is crazy expensive.  I got the estimate from the bank of our closing costs and laughed out loud at their incredibly low estimate of what the home insurance would be.  It was actually less then we pay for our current house that is just a bit more than half the size of the new one.  I get why insurance is so expensive here, but that doesn't make it any less painful.

5.  I am just now realizing that none of you and probably not even future me care about 1/2 the things in the previous items.  My apologies.  You are really just here for an update on farm camp and summer fun, right? Let's start with today's awesome zoo trip  We were "allegedly" going to have swimming lessons during the house inspection today.  Of course some pipe catastrophically failed so no swimming.  Instead, we went to the zoo with the Korenaks and Grandma.  It was so awesome. I love, loved it.  I took a conference call from the children's zoo --- a new first!  While I was doing that, Grandma bought all the kids glittery animal tattoos of their choice. I totally wouldn't have done it (see above freaking out about money) but they are so awesome.  They were the inspiration for half this afternoon's play, super powers, original songs, etc... Huge random win.   Also, the animal choices were rather interesting - B - chose a dolphin as he mourns leaving his elementary school (the dolphins), M- chose butterfiles always, because obviously, Z- obsessed with snakes and a no brainer, I was a bit surprised by E who really hasn't been in to lions, but loved his today, R - frogs - definitely one of his favorites

6. Sunday, we were unexpectedly back in the city and spent a calm morning splashing in the Thunder Fountain, having a picnic, and roaming the Myriad Children's Garden before B started feeling sick again. I am so excited to go see the Charlotte's Web set-up there on Friday!

7.  Farm Camp - Day 1 - My favorite part of farm camp was the Nature Walk.  Day one also featured matching camp shirts, catching a turtle and lots of turtle observation, trips to the creek, horse rides, fun in a hay barn, catching tadpoles, and a very fast ride in a small horse drawn cart. There were also lots of oreos, snuggling, short naps, mud, a little gardening, I think, and lots of fun. Brent and Zach arrived just in time for hugs before campers went to sleep in their sleeping bags together.

8.  Farm Camp - Day 2 - Brent & Zach, with occasional helpers, spent most of the day working on the tree house.  It is phenomenal, and much further along than I predicted.  They did take breaks to go on a snake hunt with us in the west pasture.  Yes, I still hate snakes and Zane still loves them. I did spot the first snake on day one and have seen more snakes this week than all last year. Uggh.  Anyway, we mandated serious naps before a trip in to Enid and the only one who didn't nap got sick.  This freaked Audra out entirely with visions of all 12 of us puking at the farm, and she began planning everyone's exit.  Meanwhile, we went to Leonardo's Discovery Warehouse in Enid and the adjoining Adventure Quest.  The latter being more awesome than the former.  We attempted to ride the train or carousel, but it wasn't running yet and after some playground and pizza decided to head home before anyone else got sick.  We stayed and played at the farm and admired the tree house progress, but ultimately my family went home to try and keep our germs to ourselves. We did then miss all the fun of Sunday :(

9.  Monday, We spent time at the park instead of at swimming to everyone's great disappointment.  They did manage to have a lot of fun at the park and protest our departure.  Then, target and time for my new afternoon work day.  I also had a Doctor's appointment, B had a Spanish lesson, and then B's first baseball game in awhile.  He actually fielded three balls and helped get an out.  We also learned from our babysitter on her first day that she may not be staying more than a week or two (head exploded), booked a moving van, booked a rental car for vacation in DC, filled out more mortgage paperwork, and cleaned our house all over again for the inspections on Tuesday.  Monday was intense.

10.  So what's up tomorrow? Well, swimming supposedly resumes, but I'll believe it when I see it.  I am concerned that E might have caught whatever illness Ro seems to have.  In theory it should be a normal work/babysitter day, Brent won't be home until later again.  The next big house thing is Thursday - inspections on the new house.  Meanwhile, I am exploring childcare for E in the fall (he is on a wait list somewhere, but need to find something more concrete).  I also will try to pare our budget down to make room for the new mortgage and related expenses.  So, I'll probably still have an intense day even though we don't have any "big" plans.  Oh, and we should hear back about repairs on our house quite soon.  Seriously need those to not be astronomical, but we shall see.


Oh, and E's birthday is next week so maybe I should come up with a plan for that.......

Ten on Tuesday

 1.  After spice shopping on Sunday afternoon we and the Korenaks had a pizza party at the Wedge, which was also an awesome place for tree climbing. I love the random every day adventures that come with living near our family!

 2.  This guy wants to go see the elephants, but is snuggling and talking about his "giant" elephant a lot in the meantime. We will NOT be making the rookie mistake of going to the OKC Zoo anytime in the next two weeks as it is spring break for OKCPS and that is lunacy. (Yes, I've done it many time before, but I have learned!)

 3.  Home improvement project are back on the radar as they are every March, for some reason.  Last year sometime I broke a small piece of trim on the garage door area by trying to back out with the hatch open.  Fixing that small piece of trim now involves a zillion steps including discovering the need to scrape all the caulk out from around the garage and replace it.  This step is at the beginningz and many steps later the trim will be replaced and all the blue/gray areas repainted.... it will probably take forever even though it seems easy.  Home improvement projects are not our forte.

 4.  This guy was very snuggly when he woke up this morning and I loved every bit of it.

 5.  It rained yesterday and M spent a portion of yesterday and today attempting to rescue the earth worms.  Love that.

 6.  Yesterday, we randomly happened on to the Korenaks at Target which resulted in awesome Big Hero 6 family movie night at the Korenak casa.  Loved it!

 7.  The reading addiction remains strong with this one.  He reads constantly in the car, at night, and anytime he can't have electronics......

 8.  I took pictures at 7am and 7pm today as part of a memory keeping project for the Story class/kit with Ali Edwards.  Here is me at 7am.  My sister hates me because I often am asleep at 7am, but c'est ma vie.  It is an interesting picture to have.

 9.  This evening, B had archery and then baseball practice.  The little kids and I came home after dropping him off with Brent at the batting cages.  M largely taught E how to ride his scooter while I worked on the house.

10. M and I watched the OU v. FL gymnastics meet (sitting right behind the subsequently more famous than usual President Boren).  It was a spectacular night and OU pulled out a win.  Definitely seemed to perform their very best, which is awesome. I also had a very goo time with M.  She is a great adventure companion.  Today, she had adventures with Grandma and the Korenaks so she is having a very good week!

Ludivine

When I first started eating out at restaurants with Grandpa Dotter without my own parents he would sometimes tell me to ignore the right side of the menu.  At first I didn't get what he meant, but eventually figured out that he wanted me to ignore the prices and find something that I wanted to try and to enjoy it without thinking about the money.  Eating out with my Dad was kind of the opposite as he was overly fixated on the numbers.  That said,  their relative financial resources were the opposite as well. Grandpa and Grandma Dotter were exceptionally frugal at home.  They just believed in occasionally letting the money go and truly having exceptional experiences.  My financial means lie somewhere between that of my parents and my grandparents. Luckily, this means that once in awhile I can ignore those numbers to the right and relax into a wonderful experience without thinking about the money, Friday night was one of those times.

I've wanted to go to Ludivine in OKC pretty much since it opened. My birthday seemed like the perfect time.  Ludivine is a local farm to table concept that tries to draw as much of its food as possible from Oklahoma.  We have attempted to go several times lately, but kids keep getting sick or there is bad weather or something.  This time, the weather was not great, and the moment we tried to drop the kids off with Brent's parents M vomited... They elected to keep her anyway and we persevered.

As planned, we met my siblings and their spouses for drinks at Ludivine's bar about 30 minutes before our reservations at 7:30.  We were, technically, celebrating my birthday, but also enjoying the rare opportunity to do something fabulous together just us, sans kids.  The drinks were creative and interesting and a great way to start the evening.

When seated, the waitress gave us the option of a 5 course tasting menu complete with wine pairings as an alternative to ordering off the menu.  I'd never tried a tasting menu before as I often balk at that big number that comes with them.  I thought about my Grandpa then and the opportunity to have a really cool experience and ignore the numbers for a little bit.  It took a little persuasion from my siblings, but I am so, so glad we did it.  What happened next was possibly the best restaurant experience of my life.

For about two hours the staff brought us one course at a time along with a wine paired to go with it.  The first course was a pureed spaghetti squash soup, that included chunks of beets, beet greens, and sorrel.  This was paired with a French Pinot Gris.  SO good.  Why don't I eat beets more often? The wine was probably my favorite of the night.  The second course included Chardonnay and a fascinating salad with razor clams, shaved fennel, minor greens, roasted sweet potato, black olives, garlic and a dressing that included Aleppo peppers. My siblings and I typically don't like black olives, but these were the best I've ever had.  The third course was bucatini pasta with mushrooms, Parmesan and who knows what else.  Delicious.  The wine was red from, I think Radical Wines.  The fourth course was Wagyu Flank Steak over purees chick peas, with sweet potatoes and more with a different red wine. Finally, we enjoyed Port with the black bottom peanut butter pie with sand plum jelly (which my Grandparents happens to be famous for so that was fitting.)  The pie was just phenomenal.  It "might" be in part because I haven't had peanut butter in six months or more due to E's peanut allergy, but everyone at the table agreed that it was phenomenal.

The whole menu from top to bottom was exceptional. Imagine a world in which wagyu steak was maybe my least favorite.  I love steak, passionately, but several other courses might have outshone it. The time talking and laughing with my siblings was so wonderful too.  The best company, the best food, the best drinks and the best time.  I couldn't have asked for a better birthday celebration, a better meal, or a better evening.  I loved it and am so glad we shared it as a family.  If you get a chance to try something similar, I suggest that maybe, every once in awhile if your budget allows, you ignore the numbers a little and indulge in an exceptional experience.


*** An extra big thank you to Brent's parents and my mom who made this possible by having snowed in parties with our kids and Audra & Zach's kids.  We love you and so appreciate your help!

Ten on Tuesday

1.  First up - Happy Birthday to our oldest nephew, John, whose 7th Birthday is today!  We love him so much and loved getting to spend some of the weekend with him and his family.  Happy birthday also today to Aunt Suzi -- the chef of the Rouse family!  (Our family has tons of birthdays from Jan 20-March 9 so several birthday buddies). 

Photo credit goes to State Senator David Holt

 2.  We also celebrated George Washington's 283rd Birthday on Friday evening at Dust Bowl with the GW Oklahoma Alumni network (these are the kids of the alumni, obviously).  It was probably our best GW alumni event so far.  We had lots of fun, food, and great conversations.  All of the alumni present are lawyers which probably helps us find things to talk about rather easily :)

 3.  Then, after attempting and failing to go to sleep early, Brent and I woke the kids up just before 5am on Saturday for the drive to TX.  We banned electronics, books, and really anything for the first two hours in hope they would go back to sleep.  I even played their lullabye CD.  I think they got some sleep, but not enough.  Come 7am, E got to have some video for the first time and was very confused that it wasn't a touch screen. We dropped Brent off at a summer camp fair by 8:30am and were off to visit the Joneses.

 4. I really like looking down from the second story at Jamie's house.  It is beautiful and this little guy is so very curious.  He had an awesome time with his cousins and all the toys, but had to be banned from the kids sleeping room for keeping everyone awake way past bedtime (we did return him to his air mattress after he fell asleep in our bed).

 5. I had no idea we were going to John's basketball game while we were there, but it was great fun.  It was pretty fancy as grade school games go complete with a run in through a tunnel into a mostly dark gym when their name was called with pulsing music in the background!  John played a great game and the other kids behaved pretty well as spectators!

 6.  After lunch, M & B went to John's birthday party at the climbing gym.  E took a nap in the car while I went to pick up Brent and then we met them there.  Climbing was kind of hard for the kids, but they gave it a try and seemed to have a good time anyway.

 7.  This guy ate his Italian Ice in tiny bites like this for about 45 minutes.........

 8.  We made it back the next day in time for Ro's 2nd birthday party.  It was a woof woof themed party and full of fun, big dogs and little dogs, black and white dogs, etc.... It was also nice to see my siblings who I have seen very little this month!

9.  Monday, everyone went to school and then an unexpected amount of snow arrived.  These two loved playing in it and helped me clear off the driveway.  B joined them when he came home and they all rejoiced about having a snow day today.

10.  For the first time in this training cycle I missed a run --- shocking I know given how busy and exhausting my weekend was.  I was back on schedule today, but it is shocking how much I do feel it when there is a gap in my training.  Sigh.  It is going OK.  As usual, running is a largely psychological game for me.  That said, last Thursday's run was totally awesome so there will be good days.

This weekend I am celebrating my birthday with family and friends.  Thanks to all you readers who follow our journey and encourage us in this crazy life.  Love you!

Ten on Tuesday

 1.  This is me on my last day in DC with my good buddy and colleague Will.  Will and I have been working together since about 2003, if you can imagine.  A lot of people have come and gone during that time, but this small team has stuck.  We're now so in sync that we match.  Notice that the pink stripes on my dress match the pink stripes in his tie.  (Yes, this was accidentally, but very amusing on a tough day).

 2.  This is the view from outside my office in DC as I began my journey home.  This was a hard trip psychologically for a variety of reasons, most of which I can't talk about (see attorney-client privilege).  I can say that I still love my team, my job, and, strangely enough, find that I really like being a lawyer despite years of protest that lasted well in to law school including many tears about not wanting to be one.  I just am, it is right for me and I'm good at it. This week, I was presented some options that would put me in a non-lawyer role and that made me surprisingly sad even though the alternate role would be awesome in many ways.  Ok, this is just too vague.

 3.  I returned to my fashion plate daughter.  Her outfits, on average, are less bizarre and very fashionable these days.  Sometimes I wish I could be as creative and fashionable as my 5.5yo.  Although, in fairness, the dress in the first picture received rave reviews in person.

 4.  Watch out Martha Graham lady M is heading your way (follow the link if this doesn't sound make sense). 

 5. This week is Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Week. My nephew Zane was born with tetralogy of fallow - basically four anatomical anomalies of the heart.  He had his repair at 4 months old and is a energetic 4yo now.  My sister is telling their story and hoping promote CHD awareness-- see her blog for more.  I ran in the virtual Roar 'N Run Race to help promote CHD Awareness.  The above is me with my medal on Sunday and wearing read to help with awareness too.

 6.  These guys have been playing with each out out doors as much as possible in the beautiful weather and having a blast.  So silly and fun!

7.  See how big this guy looks? How about those chocolate brown eyes? Yeah, not a baby, definitely a little boy, but a little boy who wants lots of cuddles at the moment, which I'm happy to provide.

8.  On Sunday, we took the entire family to the OKC Philharmonic's Discovery series orchestra concert.  It was awesome.  45 minutes of a blend of music they recognize (Frozen and Beauty & the Beast) and some others they don't know, but that are quite famous.  There was, again, a good mix of dancers, actors, choral work, etc... supplementing the music and adding more action.  Everyone did great, even E.  It was a risk to take him at his nap time and after sitting still in mass in the morning.  He did wander back and forth between Brent and I a bit, but it was fine int his context as everyone was a bit wiggly and not the normal totally quiet orchestra situation.  Hooray for family music time!

9.  B is now reading a book that is 562 pages long.  So far this year, even though I've read maybe 10 books already, none of them have been that long. I am, of course, reading this one with him as well (It is the first book in another of the Percy Jackson related series).  The books also seem to make him want to learn Greek now that he has discovered that there is a whole other alphabet.  He has put that on his list for after he learns Spanish.  I'm dubious, but go B.  We're going to at least let him hear some Greek and learn a few phrases when we visit our friend Evan this summer who is originally from Greece.  He is also learning a fair bit of Greek and now Roman mythology.  Very interesting books!

10.  This week, we're working on Valentines (B's are homemade, the other kids picked from the store selection), going to LOCAL one last time, prepping for class parties, keeping up with my running and work, and getting ready for a few more family birthdays coming up.  Most of us have Monday off so perhaps we'll find a little mini adventure and have that to share soon.