Living Deliberately à la Walden Pond- a goodbye post

I have been trying to decide how best to end this blog. It's difficult to not be overly-sentimental about our time on the east coast. We made some amazing friendships, traveled and saw so many cool places, and we grew into a family of four. Personally, the four years changed me in a tremendous way. Without going into all the details of my own personal identity crisis, I will relate it to our visit to Walden Pond. We made a quick trip to Walden Pond last fall on our way home from Maine. I grew up somewhat enamored with the Transcendentalist Movement and most of the American literature I enjoy came from transcendentalist New England writers. Sure, there is plenty of controversy to their movement but I still find wisdom in some of the philosophy, specifically having a connection to nature and living deliberately.

I had to laugh when we got to Walden Pond because it is a huge tourist attraction today. It's certainly not the rugged wilderness that Thoreau wrote about. However, if you imagine it back in his time, before highways and cellphones, I am sure it was all "life in the woods." Who knows, from what I gather Thoreau was sort of a classic, for lack of a better word, bull-shitter. Regardless, the time he spent at Walden Pond and the memoir that resulted can be interpreted a number of ways. I think of it often whenever we are out hiking. When you are sitting alone in nature, life does have a way of appearing simpler. As we were walking the trails around Walden Pond, I wondered what Thoreau  might think now of the land that once inspired his guide to simple living. Today, Walden Pond is known as the birthplace of the conservation movement and is recognized as a National Historic Landmark. Yes, it's used for tourism and even has a gift shop, but the land is protected and his words will always remain an influence. I bet he'd be okay with it.

Relating this back to our time on the east coast is really quite simple. Moving away from the life I was comfortable with allowed me a chance to step back and figure some things out. I had time to develop interests and hobbies and began to feel interesting. Prior to our move, I devoted a lot of my time and self to worrying about a career. I didn't prioritize my marriage and spent so much of my time with friends talking about work. When I stopped working, I really struggled with being judged for staying at home with kids. Whenever we meet people, the first question asked is "what do you do?" What I have come to realize is that nobody really cares what we do for work. In fact, once you answer the question, the person asking the question is secretly hoping that you stop talking about your work. That said, I think it's great when people love their jobs. Someday when my kids are older, I hope to find the answer to "what do I want to be when I grow up." However, I think there is truth in living deliberately and in the moment. My definition of this might be different than Thoreau's, but here is how I see it: we should enjoy our lives and prioritize our marriages, families, and friendships above everything. Work should be a means for enjoying life, but not our whole identity. We should take time to get outside and play. We should plan day trips and appreciate where we live. All of these things make for a truly happy life. Our time on the east coast taught me that and I will be forever thankful.

Thanks to all of you who followed our blog while we were away. If it wasn't for you, I may not have dragged myself out of bed to go hike in 12 degree weather just so we'd have something to tell you about on the following Monday. It's been a fun adventure and I'm excited to see what's next for our crew as we settle back into the Pacific Northwest.

Transitioning and Stress

Life has been crazy over the past several weeks. Once we got the news that Adam got a job back home, we've been going non-stop. First it was painting. Painting trim. Painting the porch. Painting the basement. Painting doors. I am so damn tired of painting! But, our house looks lovely. We're hoping that we won't be holding onto it for that much longer.

If I am being perfectly honest, I am sad about leaving. I love this house and I love the life that we've created here on the east coast. I am completely baffled at how quickly four years have flown by. We have had an amazing time and created memories that have meant so much to me. I am torn somewhere between extreme sadness and extreme excitement as we plan the next phase of our life. I am looking forward to getting settled back in the Pacific Northwest and being close to our family and friends. I cannot wait for you all to get to know Gavin and Olivia. That said, it's hard to give up what we've had here.

I manage stress way differently than Adam. Mostly, he just doesn't stress out at all. I turn into a neurotic wreck trying to manage all of my emotions. I'm confident that he thinks I'm crazy. Oh well... he's stayed with me this long, guess he can manage through this transition!

We're pretty certain we're going to rent a house in North Tacoma. The neighborhood looks reminiscent of the neighborhoods we loved in Seattle. I like the idea of being able to walk everywhere. I always think I'm ready for the suburbs or the country but I don't think I'll ever be able to give up urban neighborhoods or old homes. We'll see...

Anyhow, Adam graduates six weeks from today. I'm sure this is why he is feeling that life is far too sweet to be stressed out! It's a huge achievement for him after a decade of hard work. This blog is definitely winding down. I hope to post more frequently as we wrap up our time on the east coast. We have a lot of fun stuff planned for our road trip back. I will make sure and post daily so you can come along on our journey. I am most excited for the upper peninsula of Michigan and driving along Lake Superior.

Talk soon.

We're Coming Home!

As many of you have heard, Adam got a job offer at the practice he was most hoping to work for. He is joining Rainier Anesthesia in Puyallup shortly after he graduates. If all goes as planned, we should be home at the beginning of July. It does not seem like that long ago we were making similar plans and arrangements to move to Albany. It's truly amazing how quickly time goes by. Yet, it seems like a long-ass time ago that he began the process of becoming a doctor! Haha! I am just so impressed with his perseverance and dedication in accomplishing this goal. After he got off the phone, we just sort of looked at each other, eyes welling up at the bewilderment of having survived this journey. And not only did we survive, we're actually still happy. Mind-blown.

The next few months will be busy as we make the transition back to the northwest. We haven't nailed down where we want to find a rental house, though we've received many opinions! I've already had one emotional breakdown and I'm sure I'll have more. I'm the stress-case of the family and fortunately have Adam to bring me back to reality. I wish I could just snap my fingers and all of a sudden our house would be packed up and moved for us! Oh well... it will get done and all will work out. I'm really looking forward to another cross-country road trip. We're thinking of heading a little further north and then driving west. I'd love to see some of the Great Lakes and parts of Canada.

I'll do my best to keep you updated. Somehow, I'd still like to go on a few more Northeast adventures. I'm guessing once we get the house on the market in April, we'll get a chance to do some of that. We'll need to spend as much time out of the house as possible so the kiddos don't mess it up! That is going to be a serious challenge! Wish us luck and we'll see you soon!

Saturday Morning Update

It's Saturday morning and I'm watching the kids chase each other around. I realize that I have been terrible about blogging. Somehow life has been moving more quickly even though it doesn't seem like we have that much going on. Gavin and Olivia are growing up faster than I'd like. I love seeing them accomplish new milestones but it's a little sad watching the shadows of their babyhood fade away.

Gavin is loving school and has been learning to write. He tells us about how some words end the same and rhyme. He has also started doing yoga. He shows us his tree pose and his balancing skills. Apparently his speech is a little delayed compared to some of the other kids but I'm sure that will work itself out. We're most impressed with how kind he is proving to be. His teachers continue to praise how he handles conflict with the other kids. He is polite and a genuinely nice boy. It's much easier to work on speech, if you ask me.

Olivia is almost 20 months old, a fact that completely baffles me. She is a funny girl, our little miss thang. She struts around the house with her own little swagger, arms swinging and booty shaking. Liv loves her accessories and her baby dolls. My parents got her a little doll for Christmas that might as well have been her only present because she is obsessed with "baby." She is really starting to talk a lot. The other day I coughed, and she said, "You, ok?" It's fun being able to communicate with her.

Adam has only four months of residency training left before graduation. He is starting to look for a job in the Seattle area. He has a few prospects, so we're hopeful that something will come to fruition. I truly thought I'd be counting down the days until we moved back but I'm actually going to really miss living on the east coast. There are still a lot of places I'd like to see. We'll try to get to as many as we can over the next few months. I've actually started compiling a list of places I'd like to see in Washington State. There are a lot of cool parks in the Pacific Northwest!

Anyhow, that is what's happening with us. Here are few updated photos of the kids. Miss you!

 

 

Holidays

Nearly two months since my last post. Oops! The month of December was wonderful. We stayed home for Christmas, which meant that we decorated the house and got a tree. Gavin and Olivia are at such fun ages. They made the season sparkle. I think everyone feels excited when they pull out the lights and ornaments, but seeing a child's reaction ups the magic factor.

Early in the month, my parents came for a visit. It was so fun and nice to spend time with them. We mostly just hung out but did make a short trip to NYC before they flew back to Seattle. We strolled through Chelsea Market, walked across the Brooklyn Bridge, saw the tree at Rockefeller Center, and hung out at Central Park. It was a really fun time and I'm so glad that my parents were able to make the trip.

Hopefully, I will be better about keeping this blog updated over the coming months. Here is a photo recap of some of December's activities. Happy New Year!

Little man helped Daddy set up the tree

My little magic makers

Grandma and Grandpa with the kids down by the Hudson River

I love this picture of my parents on the Brooklyn Bridge

Always funny trying to get family pics... 

With my babies at Central Park

Carriage ride through Central Park- $50 for 20 minutes but I will remember it forever.

Darling girl with her snowman

Sweet little man, taking a rest on the porch

I love the sparkle in Gavin's eyes as he prepares for Santa Claus

Olivia got a babydoll for Christmas- might as well been her only gift, as she carries it everywhere. Sweet.

The Day to Day

Hello. Sometimes I forget to just check in and write about our day-to-day stuff. Things are going well this month. Gavin is loving school and has made lots of friends. He even has a girlfriend! Yet, her name changes nearly everyday so I'm not sure how serious things are. One day it's Lyla; the next day it's Angeline. He seems to get along with everyone and has such a joyful demeanor. His teachers told me that they think the world would be a much better place if everyone got to spend one hour with Gavin. I can't think of a better compliment than that. Of course, he saves some of his less pleasant behavior for after school.

Gavin is challenging our patience with back talk and not listening. Communicating with a four year old can be difficult. Many of our conversations go like this, "Gavin, you're not acting nice." "No, you're not acting nice." "Gavin, you need to say you're sorry to Olivia." "No, you need to say you're sorry." It can quickly develop into a downward spiral from there. Before I know it, I'm the one acting like a four year old. The worst part is when I just want to laugh but can't because I'm trying to be a good parent. I'm going to try a new method of dealing with this behavior. I feel like I'd be best to redirect his attention to something else and then later bring up why he needs to talk nicer or why he made me upset. These in the moment behavioral corrections are not working. We'll see... it's funny how many different articles are out there on the best form of discipline. Everyone has a theory and they pretty much all conflict. What I do know is that it's all normal and pretty much annoying! As the saying goes, it's a good thing kids are cute!

Speaking of cute, Olivia is sure coming out of her shell. She held back for quite a long time but now she's laughing and being silly. I don't know if it's just having more experience but she seems to be such an easy toddler. She is just happy! Of course, she absolutely destroys our house. That girl makes more messes than Gavin ever did. She is like pig pen- she makes a mess in one room and then moves on to the next before I've even gotten the first mess cleaned up. Such a trouble maker! Probably the cutest thing she has been doing lately is giving fist bumps. She gives a pound and says, "boom!" Crazy cute.

Adam has been busy. In October, he spent a week in Ecuador on a medical mission. I've asked him to write a blog post about it, so stay tuned. He also had to give an hour-long presentation at what they call grand rounds. It was in front of his whole department- 100+ people. Better him than me! I hate stuff like that. Anyhow, now that he's got that out of the way, he's working on finding a job in the Seattle area. He's got quite a few leads and is starting to send out resumes and explore opportunities. He's counting down the days to graduation. If all goes well, we'll be back in the northwest by early-to-mid summer.

I'm working on getting our house ready to put on the market. It's all tiny detail work. I'm freshening up paint and clearing out clutter. I'm not sure what to expect with the market but I'll do my best to make this house show as well as possible. This is a great house but it has plenty of old-home quirks. I look forward to having our next home be permanent. It gets exhausting working on a house, knowing that we're just going to move. I am going to miss this house quite a lot.

Well, that's all that's going on back here. Now, I better clean up all of Olivia's messes while she is napping or she won't have anything to do when she wakes up! :)

Mornings with Gavin

My mornings generally begin in the same way. Gavin climbs into bed with me around 6:30am. He kisses me on the cheek and tells me I'm the best mom he's ever had. It's so sweet that I almost forgive him for waking me up so early. Occasionally, he'll fall back to sleep until 8am. More often, he'll play with his toys and mess with my face. Around 8:30, Olivia will wake up and we'll all make our way downstairs for breakfast. We're a lazy bunch in the mornings and it's pretty much perfect.

Gavin starts prekindergarten in less than a month. It's going be a huge change for all of us. The Albany school district offers prekindergarten spots based on a lottery. Gavin was selected this year and we decided to accept. It's full-time, which has been very hard for me to wrap my head around. At first, I was completely against it. He will just be turning 4- seems like a pretty big change for a little guy. Still, I registered him to hold our spot so I could think about it over the summer months. We have talked with Gavin about it and he is just so excited to start school. Over the past few months, he has really turned into a little boy. He has so much energy and seems like he will really excel in an environment with lots of activities. He is about as social as kids come. I'm fairly confident that he's going to love school.

Being a mom can be so conflicting. It's impossible to quantify the amount of love that I have for Gavin and part of me wants to keep him home so I can have him all to myself. Yet, I look at this little boy that I am raising and realize that I have done a great job with him. He is fun-loving, smart, and confident. Sending him to school will allow these traits to flourish and he'll develop skills that will prepare him for the rest of his life. The school is just a half mile from our house so we'll probably walk when the weather is warm. He'll be home at 2pm, which will give us plenty of time to go to the park afterwards or chat about his day over a snack. It's funny- he's actually been the one making me feel good about this, "Mom, I need to go to school. I want to make friends and learn my letters."

I'm looking forward to having some individual time with Liv. Gavin demands so much interaction that sometimes I feel like Liv isn't getting as much as she'd like. My plan is to drop Gavin off at school, take Olivia to the library for story-time or go for a walk. By late morning, she goes down for a pretty long nap. I should have a good couple of hours to myself which I plan to use for writing and tackling projects around the house in preparation to sell.We'll have lunch and then go pick up the G-unit. It'll be an adjustment but that's what life is, right? The beauty of our situation is that we can change it if we need to. If for some reason, school isn't working out- I can just pull him out. Still, I'm a little sad about all of this. It's really amazing how fast kids grow up. I don't see time slowing down, either. It's why I don't make Gavin go back to his room in the mornings. Before I know it, he'll be a teenager and I'll be wishing for the days when he tickled my ears with his Mr. Potato Head arms.

Loving Starsky

We lost our beloved Starsky this week. An escape artist from birth, he finally met his match when he darted in front of a truck. It happened fast, and unfortunately, right in front of my and Gavin's eyes. He died on impact and did not suffer long. We are all heartbroken and miss him terribly.

We got Starsky in August of 2003. We had just closed on the purchase of our first home. Adam claims that we had an agreement to wait six months before getting a dog. He was not at all amused when I had him driving up Sedro Woolley to look at a litter of beagle puppies just two weeks after closing. We fought about it the whole way, even having to pull over so I could throw a massive tantrum. I sobbed and wailed, "I've always wanted a dog and couldn't have one when I was little! You can't tell me that I can't have a dog!" Adam didn't stand a chance. The puppies we went to look at were six weeks old and would be ready to go in a few weeks. However, we were looking for a black male pup and these pups were all light colored females. Wasn't it convenient that there were two little 9 week old male pups, both black- running around, cute as can be? Before Adam knew it, he was driving 20 minutes to the nearest ATM to get our $300. We came home with Starsky that very night.

He was a great dog from the beginning- so much personality. We tried to train Starsky, and he had the basics covered. He'd sit on command or lay down. But, ask him to shake or roll over- he'd look at you like, "you're kidding, right?" Beagles are funny dogs. They will love you unconditionally, but don't necessarily want to impress you. Starsky made his presence known at all times. He was pretty needy, which is why nine months after getting him, we came home with Max. Starsky and Max could not have been more different, yet they complimented each other perfectly. There was no question that Starsky was the alpha dog, but he let Max get his way almost all of the time. He loved the companionship so much that it was worth being pushed off the dog bed. He'd just let Max get comfortable, and squeeze in next to him. They were partners in crime, too. Starsky had the agility to grab food off of the counters that Max just does not have. I'm not sure how Max is handling the loss of his buddy. We can't tell if he is moping or just being himself. We are giving him lots of love and hope that he is ok.

Starsky was my first dog and I learned a lot about the less glamorous aspects of dog ownership. I now know more about canine anal glands than I ever would have imagined. Starsky had a chronic smell that led me to google, "my dog's butt stinks." That search informed me that Starsky had an anal gland issue which made him smell funky. So, after a few visits to the vet for relief at $20 a pop, Adam went on YouTube and learned how to take care of it himself. If that's not love, what is? We even had a family song for the event, "Defunk the butt, gotta defunk the butt." Not much funnier than hearing a three year old sing that along with his dad. This is a totally inappropriate paragraph for our dog's eulogy, but I felt we all could use a little comic relief.

This has been a hard week, but as Adam said, Starsky died happy. He loved nothing more than making an escape and running like hell. I can't count how many escapes he made in the eight years we had him. He loved to be chased. When we'd take him to the dog park, he always got a chase going. Somehow, he'd get 5 to 10 dogs to chase him all in a line. He'd be at the front, letting out his beagle howl, tail wagging at full speed. He was a punk, and he fit into this family perfectly. He loved this family and wanted nothing more than to be loved in return. He was sweet to our kids, even though he lost out on some attention when they came along. I hope that where ever he is now, he's got wide open spaces to run and also a nice, sunny space in a garden to nap, preferably a garden full of fresh, stinky compost. Goodbye, Starsky. We'll love you always.

I'm rocking a homemade gardening apron- would you like to rock one, too?

It cracks me up how more and more domesticated I am becoming. It's very odd, yet cool in its own right. I think it is good for a person to have some hobbies. Furthermore, it's good for a person to have some skills. I love reading about what I would call a "throwback revolution." Young people are getting interested in small scale enterprise, local food, knitting, and basically living it up- old school. There is something awesome about baking your own bread, knitting your own hat, or watching vegetables grow right in your own yard. These types of simple things give me a strange sense of accomplishment, and really, just make my life more enjoyable.

A few years ago, Adam's mom got a new sewing machine and offered me her old one. I declined, replying, "What would I do with a sewing machine?!?" She laughed and told me that she'd save it for when I changed my mind. A couple of Halloween costumes (aka, hot glue gun disasters) later, I called her and asked for the machine. I have not done much sewing in my life. Before I got the machine, I think I'd only ever sewn scrunchies back in my tween years! I have now made several baby blankets, a slip cover for Gavin's dining room chair, and my favorite project so far- a gardening apron! When I spotted the project in a book that Adam's mom got me, I knew it was for me. First of all, totally useful to have a gardening apron. Second, I didn't need to stress out about sewing it perfectly, because it was just going to get dirty. And third, aprons are just sort of awesome. I love how it turned out! It's got plenty of flaws, but that's ok. Skills take time to develop. I've decided I will make another, in a very cool, lime green zebra print - and offer it up as a giveaway for you!

This really isn't a giveaway style blog, but what the hell! I need to practice my sewing and you want to rock one of these "Made by Jenny" gardening aprons. Why wouldn't you?!? Ok, a few of you may not. But, should you like to enter my little contest- here's how it works: simply comment what is your favorite plant. If you do not know how to comment, it's quite easy. Just hit comment and click the anonymous button if you do not have a google sign in. Just make sure you leave your name in the comment space- so I know who you are! I will select a winner, randomly on April 6th. Good luck!

You know you want one!

Kids

I've been meaning to write a post all week. It's not a lack of material that kept me from posting, as I have several little projects keeping me busy. Yet, it wasn't a lack of time that kept me away either. I just had a really fun week with Gavin and Olivia. We didn't do anything spectacular, mostly just played and cuddled. They're both at really fun ages. Olivia started crawling on Wednesday. She pulled herself up to kneeling on Thursday. On Friday, she started babbling, "Mama!" It's not exactly an official "Mama". Her favorite phrase is, "yayayayaya!" If you say it back to her, she repeats it again, and gets really excited. I finally got her to mimic "mamamamama!" That's my girl! I'm just completely in love with her.

Gavin has changed so much in the last few months- he's a kid now. His language skills seem to advance daily, but it's his logic and how he interprets emotions that continue to surprise me. He offers opinions and is actually pretty helpful. The other day, I was trying to find something and was ranting about, all worked up. He stopped me and said, "Mom, I'm going to give you a hug now. It's okay; you'll find it. Just keep looking." It was so sweet. I felt sort of ridiculous that my three year old basically called me out for throwing a tantrum! He says things all day long that just crack me up. When I scolded Max for doing something, Gavin said, "Mom, that is not very nice. Max is very, really friendly to me. He's my beagle and my buddy." Age 3 has its unpleasant moments, but overall, Gav is becoming a very good friend of mine.

Anyhow, that's about all I have to say tonight. My kids are awesome and this post is for them.

Hazy Shade of Winter- a plumbing fail tale

It's March 7th- I am so very tired of winter. I had hoped to keep a positive attitude throughout the remainder of this season, but Mother Nature has pushed me to the limit and beyond. Over the weekend, the temperature warmed to the mid-40s and our two feet of snow began to melt quickly. Then, it began to rain. Suddenly, the ground was just completely overwhelmed with water. The weather channel had issued several flood warnings, but we failed to consider how that might affect us. On Sunday morning, we discovered that our basement had collected 2-3 inches of water. We quickly got to work moving stuff off of the floor. It was a complete mess. We had so much stuff just thrown everywhere- cardboard packaging, tools, etc. The absolute worst part of the mess was a brand new bag of dog food that had the bottom fall out. I cannot even describe how vile wet dog food is after floating around a flooded basement. Man, Adam was so pissed when that bag busted open! It was just so frustrating! Stupidly, we still had cardboard moving boxes sitting directly on the basement floor. They contained all sorts of random memorabilia and items that you have no idea where to put in your house, but don't want to throw away. I had looked at those boxes several times over the last couple weeks, thinking, "I should really move those." Hindsight is 20/20, right? It was disappointing to throw some of our things away- we lost some wedding mementos, including our planner and guest book. But, as I told Adam, it could have been a lot worse. We are still married and have two happy and healthy kids- I'd say we can live without the wedding planner at this point! At the end of the day, what good is having stuff that you just keep in boxes anyway? It actually felt good to purge some of these things that were just taking up space.

It took us an hour or so just to get everything cleaned up so we could start working on trying to get the water out and figuring out what the problem was. After moving everything off the floor and salvaging what we could, Adam went and purchased a pump. It took a few hours for the water to drain, but we were feeling good that it was out. Then, it came back. At that point, we realized that we had a bigger problem. Our drainage system was clearly malfunctioning. We thought we had a sump pump, but in actuality, we have a sump pump hole. This house is so old that it's hard to figure out what's what when it comes to how it is plumbed. The groundwater was overwhelming our regular drain, which appeared to be very clogged. We couldn't figure out how to snake the drain. For that matter, we couldn't even figure out which drain to snake. There is one hole in our basement that holds an old drain pipe made out of terracotta! We had to continue pumping water out every few hours throughout the night because the hardware stores were closed and we couldn't get the tool we needed. Adam woke up super early today, rented a power snake and worked on the drain puzzle for a few hours, before we finally decided to call in the professionals. Enter Rooter Man. The guys from Rooter Man were nice and helped Adam better understand how things were set up. They cleared out giant tree roots that were growing into the drain, in addition to some other nastiness, of which I will spare you the details. So $350 later, things are draining and Adam has a plan to install a sump pump to take care of future excess groundwater. We just finished mopping the floor with bleach and water. It has been a rough couple of days.

After all this, you'd think, "well, winter is almost over." However- did I mention that we got 5-6 inches of snow and 1/4 inch of ice today!?! What's that saying- anything in excess is never a good thing? Shouldn't this count for weather? I am just over it and can no longer sugarcoat it. I don't want to go snowshoeing or build a snowman. I have been a really good sport during a very hard winter. I really hope that the groundhog is correct, and that spring is coming early. I also hope that spring does not include too many torrential downpours- at least until we get that sump pump working. Blech!

Nor'easter Fun

The east coast has been getting hammered with storms this month. We have had nearly 2 feet of snow, maybe more. I'm not a very good judge of snow measurement. Anyhow, we have a lot! It has required a lot of shoveling and a lot of ice melt. But, for the most part, we are really enjoying ourselves. I put together a little video that captures all that we've been up to. It was interesting making this little movie because I spent quite some time looking for a song that conveyed the spirit of winter. Well, aside from holiday carols, most winter songs are extremely depressing. I finally found one that seemed fitting...

Warning: video might convince you to visit Albany in the winter.

Winter in Albany

After traveling to the Pacific Northwest for the holidays, we are now settled back in Albany. Adam is back at work and the kids and I are getting back into our routine. January has welcomed us with six inches of snow. I absolutely love it. It is beautiful! Once the trees lose their leaves, our landscape turns drab. The snow just brightens it up. If it's going to be cold, we might as well have snow. Adam does not agree, as he hates shoveling. It's supposed to stay cold here, and another storm is heading our way on Wednesday. The only challenge is that because the temperature stays below freezing, the snow never melts. If we get too many storms, it becomes difficult to figure out where to put the snow from our driveway. In related news, Gavin was tossing Buzz Lightyear around in the snow and Buzz lost his hand. His hand is now buried somewhere in the backyard and could easily remain there until late March.

Adam is on a 24hr shift today. I just put the kids to bed after a fairly relaxing day. We played in the snow for a while and sat out on the porch. Every now and then, I start to freak out that they are growing too quickly. Gavin is so needy right now and even says, "Mommy, I need you, a lot." He puts up such a fight about bedtime and begs me not to leave his room. I have to remind myself that he will not always feel this way. Before I know it, he'll be kicking me out of his room, or pinning up a sign that says, "Keep out!" So, when he asks me to sing one more song or tell him one more story, I do it. He is manipulating me, but that's ok. At least he's not trying to borrow my car yet!

Well, that is about all that is going on. I sometimes struggle with what to write on here. But, I always come back to this blog's original purpose- to stay in touch and post consistently. So there you have it. I understand that the west coast is supposed to get some snow as well... enjoy it. Happy winter!

December musings... Cheers to a Happy New Year!

Hello again. Does it seem like this month has flown by for anyone else? I cannot believe that this month and year are so rapidly coming to an end. This will likely be my last post of the year. We are gearing up to visit our families over the holidays. As we close the chapter that is 2010, I have a few things to reflect on. First, I was miserable at accomplishing my resolutions from last year. I did not learn to knit cables, nor did I learn to cross country ski. I did join a book club online, but never went to a meeting! I did, however, take up snowshoeing. And, let's not forget- I did create human life! Ha! Resolutions - you've got nothing on me!

This month also marked an important milestone for Adam and me- our 10 year wedding anniversary. We can't help but feel awesome about that. Marriages get thrown away pretty easily anymore. Life throws curveballs and people change. I am so happy with the life that we have created together. It's truly great. Now with two little sidekicks, I imagine our next decade will be that much more interesting!

Finally, with January right around the corner, all of the magazines I subscribe to are sending their New Year's editions. The theme seems to be about happiness; how to be happy. January 1st- the official reset button: we evaluate our lives and make changes where we see fit. It seems funny to me that we all struggle with finding contentment. I seem to write an overly reflective post almost quarterly... Is it really that hard to just be happy? Apparently so, because I have 4 magazines in front of me that are dealing with this very question! I have been drawing my own conclusion over the past couple of years and it's simply that we should try and direct our energy to the people and things that we love. Unfortunately, everyday stressers can fuzzy up this point. So, for the sake of the happiness project- here are my 2011 resolutions that I think will make me enjoy life just a little bit more!

1. Run a 10k - (I'm too much of a chicken to write, "half-marathon")
2. Grow pumpkins in the garden
3. Learn a *successful* method for making gnocchi
4. Eat a more seasonal diet- which means embracing unfamiliar produce
5. Practice more patience, and maybe a little yoga too

Happy Holidays to you and yours!

The resilient Buzz Lightyear, a medical marvel

As I have mentioned, Gavin is obsessed with Toy Story. He takes Buzz and Woody with him everywhere. Many times we tell him that he can only take one- so sometimes Buzz joins us at the store, and later, Woody will join us at the park. It's much like the movie, in that Gavin usually chooses Buzz. He likes to take him out on the front porch, where he throws him over the railing and then runs to retrieve him. He isn't exactly gentle with these toys.

About two months ago, Gavin was throwing Buzz around the kitchen and his leg fell off. It was tragic. We made a trip to the store and replaced him. However, Buzz 2 has been thrown around even more than the Buzz 1. So, when Buzz 2 lost his leg recently, Adam pulled out some of his procedural skills and Buzz underwent a hip replacement.

Buzz, being prepped for surgery

But first, a hug to wish him well. This was actually a very serious ordeal for Gavin.

Mommy needed to hug him too, for added measure.

The leg

The hip socket

The pin

The super glue- what all hip replacements depend on.

Buzz, post-op. He is indeed ready to go to infinity and beyond!

It should be mentioned that since this surgery, Buzz has undergone 3 back surgeries. Gavin is very happy that his daddy is a doctor. In his words, "It's ok Buzz, Daddy is a doctor. He'll fix your back again!"

An early visit from Stewie the Snowman

It snowed here yesterday. Gavin noticed it first and ran to the window, "it's snowing!" Then, he ran right upstairs and got his snowboots out of his closet. He wanted to make a snowman. It was great to see that he remembered all of the fun we had last winter. He said, "let's go have fun!" I had to explain that there wasn't any snow on the ground yet and that it probably wouldn't stick. He was very disappointed, but settled on catching some snowflakes with his tongue and then coming inside to watch "Frosty" on dvd.

When he woke from his nap, he noticed that the snow actually did stick; there was about 2 inches on the ground. I told him that he could play outside once Adam got home. With that, Gavin grabbed my cell phone and said, "call daddy!" He got on the phone and told Adam that he wanted to play outside and make a snowman. Adam agreed, and once he came home, the two of them built a snowman in the dark. They decided to call him Stewie.

It's since warmed back up to the 50s. Stewie is still hanging on, but his charcoal facial features have fallen. He could use a little botox... We still have a lot of leaves to rake up and haven't yet put away our patio furniture. It will be good to have some warmer weather to finish up these chores. Yesterday was a good preview of what's to come. I actually really enjoy the winters here. We live super close to Adam's hospital so I don't have to worry about his commute. And, better yet, I don't have one! Winters with kids are joyous. Just watching Gavin's delight at seeing the snow was awesome. It reminded me of being a kid, hoping for school to be cancelled. It doesn't really matter how old you are; the first snowfall of the season is exciting! It's an excuse to abandon all to-do lists and just snuggle and play. Here are a few pictures of our first official snow day.

"Look, Mom! It's snowing!"

Adam and Gavin's "Stewie"

Gavin and Stewie