All Aboard!

Luka has become quite the train aficionado lately. He discovered a friend's Thomas trains and little tracks and he hasn't looked back since. I got him a little set of used Thomas trains.

He likes watching that insanely boring show on TV, but I have to admit it is completely and utterly adorable to see him hooking up train cars, huddled over his tracks and moving his trains around making little chugging sounds.

My neighbor and I each have three kids, and while our eldest children were off getting their higher education, we loaded the little kids into one van and went off to the stadium where there is a San Diego Trolley station and climbed aboard. It was the perfect thing to do with four small boys.

The kids loved the trip, pointing out all the school buses, shopping malls and mountains they could see passing by out the windows. They loved not having to sit in car seats! We took two separate rail lines over to a small steam train museum where kids can explore a caboose and a climb into the engineer's platform on a steam engine.

Then we headed across the street to our favorite coffeehouse for moms with kids, Java Mama, to let them blow off some steam of their own while Audra and I filled up on caffeine.

Two more trains got us back to our van and then we headed home in time for lunch! That was enough to do me in for the day, even with the extra caffeine.

I had loads of good camera fodder. You can see more photos over on my flickr page!

Not Clear On The Concept

Today, Noah became very frustrated with Luka about something and started saying some very mean and hurtful words. I told him that that kind of talk was not acceptable in our family, and so he stomped off to go draw a picture for Luka to show him his feelings since he was not allowed to do so verbally. He brings the drawing to Luka and presents it.



Noah: Here, Luka, this is for you.

Luka: For me?

Noah: Yeah. It's a picture of an evil chicken eating a boy and it's to show you how angry I am at you and that I really wish you would get eaten by something.

Luka: You made a picture for me!?

Noah: Yeah. This here says, "I - hate - you."

Luka: I LOVE IT!

Noah: You aren't supposed to love it. It's to show you how angry I am at you!

Luka: It's beautiful! Thank you, Noah!

Noah: It's not beautiful! It's MEAN! It says, "I hate you" on it!

Luka: What's this word?

Noah: It's HATE! It says HATE! H-A-T-E!!!

Luka: Good job, Noah!

Noah: You don't understand! You are getting attacked by this evil chicken!

Luka: Is me?

Noah: Yeah. And an evil chicken!

Luka: I love it! Thank you, Noah!

Noah: Oh... NEVER MIND!!!!!

My Little Tech Geek

We've found that we have had to limit Noah's time on the computer because he has discovered Super Mario Brothers and has become a bit addicted to playing it.

Okay. A LOT addicted to playing it.

But he recently found a downloadable program online that allows him to build actual Mario games, with different levels and such. I think this is actually pretty educational as he can figure out, as he plays his own games, what is too difficult or too easy to play and how to problem solve as well as get around inside menus and such.

Check it out.

Returning to Manageable

Noah is out of school for the next month.

With his high level of energy and wild pendulum swinging between Most Lovable Kid Ever and the Constantly Screaming Rudeboy, having him home for vacation can either be easier (no carpool to interrupt our day!) to much harder (trying to put out three fires at a time instead of the usual two, while cleaning house, and trying to make life entertaining and educational for young people).

But this time it has been different. And I think it's because the twins are maturing!

You know how people say "Oh, Honey, enjoy them while they are young! They grow so fast!" Well, don't get me wrong, I am totally enjoying them. But I look at women at the grocery store with middle-age kids and watch how the mom just shops and the kids actually follow without getting hit by cars or shopping carts, or knocking things off the shelves! It's downright astonishing!

And I yearn for my kids to be middle age: to go on adventures; to not be tied down with naps.

Look at the last four school breaks (Noah's school has 3 one-month breaks a year, not all together in the summer like most folks do). For the first of the last four breaks, I had Noah in day camp because it was just too hard to entertain him and manage the twin toddlers. I mean, I could do it, but it meant rarely getting out of the house and doing something fun for them.

Noah hated camp.

The last two times, I kept Noah home from day camp because he wanted to be with us. Why spend the money? I was able to manage getting out to some playgroups and such, playing in the back alley with the neighbors, and going to the neighborhood park. The twins had just turned three.

This current vacation break? I took all three of them to the dentist, across town to see a house for sale, into the post office, and then to the local kid friendly coffee house for play time before heading home, and all before LUNCH, baby!

And then today, the very NEXT day, we went to the park, had a picnic, rode a bus, went to a mobbed train museum (it was free museum day), ate cookies on the grass, rode a bus again! All without a stroller! The kids stayed with me, they followed direction, they held hands, they didn't fight, they dealt with crowds, and had a great time!

The twins are three and a quarter now. Some of you might think my kids should be able to manage all this just fine by now, but keep in mind, with twins, they don't get the practice singletons get walking with a parent and following along because if one goes off one direction and the other goes another, you can't keep them both safe. And if one gets out of the stroller, the other must as well!

Some years back, I was told by two separate twin moms that it all starts becoming easier, and more like normal life, like other people's lives, when the kids turn four. For singletons, it's age two. Double that for twins. But I think I am getting a reprieve. I think we are going to be an on-the-go family again, on a regular basis soon.

Very soon, indeed.

Someone's Been Sitting in MY Chair!

It's vacation time again! And I don't even have to travel!

My parents have arrived for their bi-yearly visit, and have settled in nicely. I get to act like a tourist in my own town. It's nice to have a good kick-in-the-butt to get out and about with and without the kids.

We've done a little hiking in the canyons, done a little browsing through the art galleries...

Getting online to TELL you about it is going to be another story all together. The twins have discovered the computer, and are turning out to be as geeked out as the rest of their family. The light bulb went on about what the mouse does and how to use it. So much so, in fact, that we needed to bring Noah's bedroom computer downstairs so that the kids can play their games (educational of course) off of our computer!

That doesn't stop one of them from sliding into the seat when we step away for awhile. We will often find them installing obscure programs they got online by clicking on advertisements (no! I am not kidding!). We finally had to put a password on our screen saver to stop them from randomly clicking on things!

Aside from having to wait in line for our turn to use our computer (what?) the office is also our guestroom, so the ol' blog, which usually gets updated post-bedtime, is now in a sleeping room post-bedtime.

So, sigh... you are more likely to find out what me and my folks are up to by checking my Mom's far more popular than my blog. She seems to find a way to squeeze some blogging in between kid's computer games, and gets her blog updated, even if she has to sit on a squat little kiddie chair to do it.

Child of Passion

It's all just getting a little too crazy now. Luka, the younger of my twin sons, we believe was a child of passion and it shows.

Yes, we had been trying to get pregnant (and trying to stay pregnant) and so there were charts, and temperature taking, and little x's to show just when... well, you know. And after I became pregnant with the twins, we decided it was very likely that they were conceived on completely different days!

This is based on very odd pregnancy test results, measurements of embryos, a conception date that just did not fit in with my "like clockwork" rhythms, and the fact that, given the kids measurements which made one look five days older, and going back and looking at the charts and the days... and those x's five days apart...

Well, lets just say we believe one twin was conceived by procreation and the other by... recreation! One was planned, and the other, thanks to a second egg that perhaps wiggled free, was a love child!

And we are dead sure, Luka is our child of passion.

He did, after all, hang out in the womb for more than an hour, happy to enjoy all that room after he kicked out his bigger brother. He also was the baby who always measured five days smaller.

And passionate he is. He lives life on the edge.

The edge of the table, the edge of the back of the couch, the edge of the stairs on the wrong side of the banister. And because he likes to live life like a daredevil, he has already been to the emergency room twice with head wounds, once that required stitches, the other: close observation of his mental state. Ha!

Well, life just got a little crazier in the last 3 days.

It started when he was protesting a nap and fell out of his crib. He was shocked to find himself on the floor of his room with nothing penning him in. The light bulb went on and suddenly he is out of his crib whenever he sees fit. And the baby gate that once kept him from freely roaming the upstairs? Yeah, it looks a lot like a crib rail and is easier to dismount from.

So now, he has the run of the house and has taken to fleeing up the stairs and pelting those down below with hard toys and books from Noah's bedroom thrown off the balcony above our living room. And he has good aim, let me tell you!

His passion manifests in other ways, too. He has discovered the joys of saying, "NO!" and follows that up with a punch to the face. If you say, "Luka, no hitting!" he will instantly kick you in the shin. Five times. If you say, "No kicking!" he will then blow raspberries in your face and run away.

And time-outs in his crib? Yeah, not workin'

The saddest victim of his new found aggression is poor mild-mannered Ethan. When I hear Ethan crying I must now come running as fast as possible because I often find him sitting on the floor with Luka standing behind him hitting him over and over again on the head with the stick from some toy. God forbid Ethan learn how to move away.

"Luka! We don't hit our brother! You need to be gentle! You hurt Ethan.
Look at him crying. Can you say, Sorry Brother?"

"PPlplplplplplplspspspslplplpl!!!"

He has also taken to biting Ethan when he won't hand over a coveted toy. I kind of miss the days when he used to grab Ethan by the hair and drag him down to the floor to steal his toys.

Sigh...

When folks ask me if the boys are twins, and I say they are, it is often followed by a question like, "So, do they have a special bond, a unique relationship with each other?"

Yeah, lady. Unique. That's one way to put it.

A Little Refreshment with Twin Toddlers

On her way out of town last week, my mother asked that I post more videos of her lovely grandchildren here on my blog so that she could watch them grow and change and learn many wonderful new things as the weeks go by...

And so a little gift from me to you.

We pick up on a warm August day in San Diego, just after the Wonder Twins have asked for some afternoon refreshments: crackers and juice. Their little eager selves have just climbed into their seats at the table.

Unfortunately, Luka was really hoping for the "Dora the Explorer" cup which was dirty in the sink, and Ethan had just caught me adding water to his sugary juice. Both were pushing their cups away with disdain, and so I put them over on the kitchen counter instead, and picked up my camera.

So, for your viewing pleasure, I bring you a little slice of life from our home to yours.

A Little Tenderness

Call me crazy, but there is a small part of me that enjoys it when my kids are sick.

I have three boys that are no longer what you would call, "cuddlers". They are off and running, and when I try to gather one in my lap, I am often met with shrieks of "No!" or "Get down!" or from Noah, "Stop touching me!" which is a little disheartening when you are the one he says he loves the most.

Is it just because they are boys? And that's how boys are? Always on the go? Quick kisses are freely given, but rarely do any of them slow down for any extended affection.

This weekend, Ethan came down with a pretty high fever that knocked the chair legs out from under the little guy, and he spent most of the day Saturday on my lap, lethargic, looking at books, watching the TV, or just staring out into space. So, while almost nothing productive got done, I was able to sit and hold and whisper sweet nothings to into my little guy's ear like I haven't since before he could walk.

He's mostly all better now, and is spinning through the house, trying to keep up with Luka, but I sent Noah off to school today with a slight fever. Poor guy.

I wonder if it will cause him to slow down and spend a little time getting some Mama-love, too?

School for Boys

After writing my last post about Noah’s challenge of getting three “green cards” (three days of good behavior) I got an excellent comment from a fellow blogger, GPC, who made a lot of wonderful points. I was just going to respond to her but it started to turn into a blog post of its own.

I, too, became quite disheartened about how the current educational system seems to work against the way boys think and learn. I read a couple of Michael Gurian’s books. He is one of the preeminent minds on how to parent and teach boys. His books explain how not only the American school system works against boys and their self esteem but also how our current culture does the same.

I have heard in the past of single-gender schools and thought they were not a good choice because kids need to be socialized with both sexes. But after educating myself about how boys and girls learn SO differently, I can see why a school for boys, geared toward more kinesthetic learning, one that is more hands-on, with activities that are less verbal and focus more on spatial mechanics, would be so amazingly good for boys. It would be a godsend to find a school where they can carry out a physical activity rather than be lectured about it or see a demonstration, where a boy can learn by doing rather than having a thought or a theory first and then act on it, as girls are excellent at doing.

I admit, I was pretty taken aback when Noah’s kindergarten teacher stated that he would not be taking the class trip to the zoo on Monday if he ended the day in anything below the coveted green card zone on the behavior chart the class keeps everyday.

(By the way, in case you were wondering, he came through with flying colors and got his three green cards and WILL be going to the zoo!)

I really do have to stand up and defend this teacher, though, because she is simply stunning in her perseverance with finding methods and ways of teaching EACH INDIVIDUAL CHILD in her classroom, and working with and accepting each child’s idiosyncrasies, seeing them as parts of a child’s personalities, not flaws to fix.

For instance, she recognized right off Noah’s love of music and his need for physical movement. He is often distracting of the kids in his class because he hums or sings or drums on his desk or gets up and bounces while writing or reading. Because of this, she created Noah’s Music Box, which is a box full of musical instruments, and whenever he feels the need to use it, if his work is done, he can go get his box, step outside the classroom and play maracas, tambourine, whistle, or whatever and dance and move around. He can even bring one friend if he can find someone who finished as quickly as he tends to finish.

She uses methods I know are used for teaching kinesthetic learners, which many boys (and likely, Noah) tend to be. She includes a lot of hands-on activities and music. She is sweet as apple pie, but she is no nonsense when it comes to breaking the rules. There are NO interruptions when instruction is being given. There is no shouting out of answers without raising hands. There are rules. And lately, Noah has been breaking them more and more often. And while I was gripped by fear of my son’s failure and the consequences of being left behind, I understood why she had given this somewhat out-of-character ultimatum. She said she could handle kids that don't follow the rules within four walls, but not when she is in charge of an entire classroom in a huge outdoor setting where one can get lost or hurt.

I don’t have faith in the public school system when it comes to keeping most every child from falling through the cracks. I thought the system would be good enough for my kid. I really do believe, that despite the sudden zoo ultimatum, Noah is currently in an awesome environment for him because his teacher is tireless when it comes to attempting to meet the learning needs of every child even if it means using different methods for every kid, all at the same time.

She really is something to behold. But I know nothing about the first grade teachers he will be assigned to in a few months, or the second grade teachers the following year. I know there are only two male teachers in the whole school; males who just inherently know how to interest a boy because they were one once.

And I worry when I imagine Noah sitting in the back row of 2 dozen desks someday, unable to concentrate because he is shunted into a system that is better set up for how girls learn, possibly because the system is run by women according to how it would work best for them.

And I think again about those private schools for boys. And wonder if I should see if there is such a thing in my city.

Not The Best of Days

I ended the night with pants covered in blood and vomit.

NOT the way you want to start out a blog post.

All is well, though, relatively speaking. We survived.

After a long weekend where Michael worked and kids were, shall we say “trying”; we went into Sunday night with Noah running a fever. By bedtime he was pretty hot and at 1am, he woke coughing enough that he threw up all over his bedding.

I held him on the floor, he whimpered a lot and Daddy changed the sheets. I had had the idea to put a bowl on his side table for just that very reason, so it was not as bad as it could have been. But then, between the coughing and the thinking too much, I ended up with insomnia for most of the rest of the night.

And of course this morning Noah woke with a fever and a fowl mood, flinging insults every which way. After we took his temperature and announced that he would be staying home today, his mood perked right up and he got downright chipper.

Most of the day was fine with Noah continuing his mood swings and the twins being alternately needy, which was a good thing. One became clingy just as the other wanted to get down and investigate something across the room.

A big bag of popcorn went a long way to keep the troops happy.

Michael called and said that he had had a couple emergencies at work and would be doing paperwork later than usual, so I would be getting dinner together by myself. I had just moved the dining room chairs from the dining room into the living room, one 1970’s sunken living-room-step down, and swept the floor under the table. The twins saw their booster chairs (tied to chairs) in a new and fun (??) place and both ran and climbed up into them. Ethan buckled his own seatbelt and I headed into the kitchen to put the broom away.

And Luka screamed.

He is always, ALWAYS falling off of furniture, and smacking his head on the hard tile floor. I ran to soothe him, scooped him up from between the back of the chair and the step up to the dining room. He must have fallen over the back of the chair! I shushed him and shushed him and then noticed the dark spot on the floor. I touched it with a finger and found it to be a dark, very fat drop of blood!

I started looking in Luka’s mouth, his ears, his neck, under all that hair, nothing! I looked back down on the floor and now there were something like SEVEN fat drops of blood. I tilted his head around and saw nothing until I found blood on my thumb. When I pulled my hand from the back of his head it was just covered in blood. I had not even felt it. While looking through his hair, I found nothing, until I saw my other hand was covered as well. I began to panic and scooped him up and ran to the kitchen for better light.

And there on the very top of his head was a pool of blood running through his hair and like a river down the back of his head, matting the hair in wet dark stickiness. I freaked and grabbed the cell phone, called Michael, and through Luka’s screaming, told Michael to come home now!

The blood quickly coagulated as fast as it had come, but a full quarter of Luka’s hair was matted in blood. He continued to wail. I called Michael and told him it was settling down a bit, and apologized for the panic. He was on his way, and Luka was pointing from room to room as I was trying to find something to calm him. He finally pointed outside, and I took him out into the back yard where he wanted to get down, and it was there that I saw the gash clearly for the first time, an inch and a half long and about 3mm wide. Horrible. Like meat.

Michael pulled in and looked him over. Decided to take him for yet another visit to the emergency room. We put him in the car with Lambie (his lovey) and off they sped.

I went back in the house, dazed, explaining to Noah, who had woken (still sick) from his nap from all the screaming, what had happened to Luka. I began to clean up the blood: from the kitchen, the living room, the dining room, the rug, the window, the cell phone, my hands, my cheeks, my fingernails.

On the way to the hospital, Luka began to calm down quite a lot, and Michael decided to take him to his office instead of to the emergency room. The last trip to the ER cost 800 bucks and we didn’t even have any tests done! So, Michael and his nurse put Luka in a body-restraint, held his arms and head, gave him some shots and then Michael gave him 3 stitches.

He kept saying two of the few phrases he knew over and over: "Bye-bye??" And “Get DOWN!!”

He had chocolate chip cookies for dinner before heading back home.

And again, before bed, he was hopping all over the house, bouncing from one end of the couch to the other, giggling like a madman.

It was bedtime. Noah’s fever was still up over 100. We gave Luka some Motrin for when the Novocain (or whatever) wears off and I sat Noah in my lap while Michael spooned some cough medicine into him.

He immediately threw most of both spoonfuls up, into my lap, all over my hands. And I ended the night with pants covered in blood and vomit.

Not a good way to end a blog post, either.

But what can you do?

New Hobbies: Spittin' in the Sun!

Luka and Ethan: PPPPLPLPLPLPLPLFFFPLPLPLFFF!!!!

Ethan and Luka: PPLLPLllplpllpllpppffffpplplplpl!!!!!

Luka and Ethan: PPllplpllfff!!!!

Michael: Sounds like you got things pretty well under control?

Karen: Oh yeah, we're great.

Michael: Okay.

Luka: Cheese!!!!

The New Wish List

...while tucking Noah into bed last night...

Noah: Mom, can I have a real drum set with drums and a real cymbal and drumsticks, PLEEEEEZE???

Mama: Ummm... well... that sounds really loud. And where would we keep it? There is no more room against any of our walls. We would have to get rid of your bookshelf, or your piano, or your toy box to make room for it. Which one should we get rid of??

Noah: Okay...

(beat)

(beat)

Noah: How about a bucket with a hole in the side, some gunpowder and a fuse?

Did I Mention, "Thank God for Day Camp?"

Thank God for day camp.

I love my son, but thank God for day camp!

Noah has been home since before Christmas for winter break. Hanging out with Noah and doing five-year-old stuff is great. Hanging around with twin toddlers and doing toddler stuff is great. Hanging around with all THREE, who want to do different types of things than each other, especially when the latter wants to destroy whatever the former is doing and both need to stay on opposite sides of the baby gate to keep tantrums and toys pelted head-ward to a minimum, and especially when both said age groups need to be with their Mama at all times or screaming ensues…

That’s kinda hard.

So, thank God for day camp.

Noah is off to winter day camp starting Monday morning, along with his best friend Cooper. There will be bowling and crafts and sack lunches. And I will go back to caring for one age group during the day…

…sigh…

But we have been keeping busy, building Rube Goldberg machines when Daddy is home to help, having scavenger hunts, decorating cookies and practicing our reading. Okay, his reading. I hardly ever read.

I could use some practice…

One of the fun projects we did is candle making! We gave Noah a chemistry set for Christmas and one of the projects was how to make a candle.

He LOVED it!


Daddy did the set up, cutting off soda can tops and melting wax on the stove. Noah did the dipping back and forth between the hot wax and the cold water.

At one point, we thought it might be safer to work with the hot wax away from the stove, on the dining room table.

We were wrong.

Do you know how fast candle wax turns hard when it hits a cold, cold floor? It's surprisingly fast!

But we put our brand new Christmas gift cards to good use, scraping all that wax up so we could re-melt it again.

You know... back at the dangerous stove.

The finished product didn’t look much like the candles you see in the store, or the one they showed in the instruction booklet. It looked more like a pile of pink poo.

But it worked!

And Noah was very proud of it.

He got to do the inaugural lighting. After all his practice with 36 Hanukkah candles, he knew what he was doing… he even started saying, “Baruch Atah Adonai…”

He was very proud.

So proud that he blew it out and lit it about 37 more times.

It was a good winter break. I miss having him around sometimes. But after the constant refrain of “What can I do next??” and the babies screaming bloody murder wondering when THEY get Mommy next, I am looking forward to day camp.

Thank God for day camp!

Rube Goldberg, Eat Your Heart Out

It all started with the game of Mousetrap.

You remember the one; we had it back when we were kids. Its the board game where you build a mousetrap with plastic pieces and then you turn the crank to make the boot kick the bucket over, tipping the ball into the ramp which hits the pole that knocks the ball into the bathtub which goes down the drain, falling onto the see-saw which catapults the diving man into the bucket which sends the cage careening down a pole onto your little mouse-guy.

Well, Noah loves Mousetrap.

He has always had a thing for ramps and tunnels of all kinds. That's why I put Mousetrap on his birthday wish list. His Mima got it for him, and he loves it, muchly!!

So, I told him about Rube Goldberg, the guy who invented contraptions much like the Mousetrap game. They were elaborate, ridiculous machines designed to do something simple like turn on a lamp, or push down the lever on your toaster. Noah was enthralled, and like we usually do, we turned to youtube.com to find videos of Rube Goldberg Machines. Sure enough, they had RG Competitions with videos of the winner. There is also the awesome car commercial that uses only pieces of a car (but in slightly less than cool manner, seems to be occasionally helped by computer graphics... I don't believe those tires roll up hill).

So he began to watch endless Rube Goldberg videos.

Then came the drawings. He began to imagine machines of his own, to dream about them, do design them in his sleep. Then he would get up and have to draw what he imagined. I have a portfolio full of his imaginings which only he can explain.

He wanted to see Rube Goldberg, so we went to his web page, and saw lots of Rube Goldberg's personal drawings. Noah saw that Rube would put letters of the alphabet beside each step of the machine so you knew what order everything happened in, so Noah began to incorporate the letters into his own drawings.

Then, of course, he needed to build some contraptions of his own, using dominoes and balls and books propped on pillows for ramps. They got more and more elaborate.

Then he pulled Daddy into his plans. Daddy introduced things like tape, and levers and things he could use as tunnels. Now, with nearly every spare few minutes, he holes himself up on one side of the baby gate, with toddlers on the other and works and works until he gets a machine built and working correctly.

I have been wondering how it works to get video up and running on this blog, so I made a little movie of Noah and Daddy's latest contraption. Let's see if it works...

Presented for your viewing pleasure, Noah's Rube Goldberg machine, designed to knock down bowling pins.

Enjoy:



Ahhh! Looks like it might have worked! If you are having trouble, try double clicking. And if it did work, you might just be seeing more little videos from us here in sunny San Diego!

(What's that I hear??? It sounds like shouts of joy coming from southeast Florida!)

Are you all having a good 2008 yet? Broken any good resolutions??

Wordless Wednesday: Bloody Sunday

For more participants in Wordless Wednesday, look here and here.

Sometimes Mama Just Needs Her Java

Why, why, WHY do they do this to us?

I have only just gotten my first child into kindergarten and I am seeing the trend. Can you see what I am talking about on the calendar?

We are careening into what should be the best part of the year, what with the weather, the family holidays and kids’ birthdays. If only we didn’t have to deal with the weather, the holidays and the kids’ birthdays!!

Noah is in a “year-round” school which means he will go through the summer, but have longer breaks all through the year. I have no idea how people find childcare, those who need it more than I, for these short intervals. The school does seem to send home flyers for “day camps” that cost a good deal but keep the kids active and having fun without all that educational hoo-hah!

There was one offered this week but I chose to keep Noah home because it actually looked a bit too strenuous, and included kids up to age 12.

So this week I have all three kids home, trying to entertain those with different age specific needs, and different nap times, even different meal times, while trying to pack for our trip to Grandma Vera’s house, make stuffing that isn’t lame, and plan and shop for Noah’s birthday party away from home.

Today, we made it a fun day, instead, and blew off the responsibilities. I tried to take the kids to get books from the library (and sign language videos, mostly for Luka) for the week since Noah isn’t bringing books home from school nightly. But when we got there, I realized it wouldn’t be open for 2 more hours.


So, we headed to Java Mama’s, this AWESOME coffeehouse designed for moms and small kids, with a play area, a classroom, toys, and wicked Mochas. They were having a sing-along at 11am, and we were way early since we had skipped the library, so we headed first to a recommended playground with a fence all the way around (which is essential when you have twin toddlers who run in opposite directions at random times). Then off to sing-along time, and then home by 12:30!! Already a full day and it had only just started.

I barely got Noah down for a nap (which was spent standing on the bed and singing) when Ethan woke with a bad dream. So we are spending time ripping up pieces of wrapping paper and dropping them down the wrapping paper tube, which apparently is a “poisonous machine” because it somehow makes the bits of paper poisonous.

So Noah tells me.

Tonight, the playtime must end, and I must focus on packing and stuffing and planning.

Or maybe we will try the library again, instead.

So much more fun!

Eureka!!

Noah is tunnel crazy. He loves them in all forms. He loves when we drive through them; he is fascinated with sewers and sink pipes, caves and paper towel tubes. So, when I found out about the Gold Mine Tour in Julian, CA, I knew I had to take him up there for the day.

I try to do something fun for Noah every weekend since he has been forced to give up a lot of one-on-one time since the twins were born. Sometimes it’s just a Happy Meal after errands, but sometimes it’s a small trip. Like last weekend: we checked out the Fleet Science Center which he just LOVED!

Daddy, always the trooper, tends to stay home with the twins so they can get some Daddy time and because he doesn’t feel the need to get out of the house as much as I do.

This weekend, we invited Noah’s friend Cooper and his mom, Joyce, to come along with us up to Julian, sans little brothers. Joyce and I loved it because we both got to parent without diapers or strollers or spoon feeding or naps. It was awesome and gave us a glimpse of our future freedom when the youngest boys in our families are a bit older.

The boys had a blast roaming through the mine shafts and tunnels, up rickety ladders and such. They even got to try their hand at panning for gold. I found a few sandy specks myself!

Afterward, we headed for a local pizza place, and scarfed down some pepperoni. What’s cool about being around other moms with kids the same age as your own is that you can pick up some cool parenting tricks. Joyce had an endless stream of ideas for quiet games we could play at the table while waiting. The best one was the finger game. During normal conversation, one person puts their finger on their nose. When someone notices that someone else has done this, they do it, too. Eventually everyone does it and the last one without a finger on their nose is the loser.

And then everyone giggles maniacally.

We did a bit of shopping, especially in the candy store, where we sampled fudge and came out with little white sacks bulging with goodies. We had planned to go for ice cream at the old fashioned soda fountain, but after all that sugar we weren’t so much in the mood.

So we piled back in the car and headed for Lake Cuyamaca (not before scoping out some campgrounds for future weekend adventures) where we had to pay SIX BUCKS for the privilege of letting the boys throw rocks in the water! But after an hour of one of Noah’s favorite pastimes, it was probably worth it.

And it was so good for Noah to be able to play with someone his age after always being around toddlers lately. We only see Cooper for a few minutes on the ride home from school so it was great for them to have some true bonding time. And Joyce and I got some yummy girl-talk time and really got to know each other better. When I take Noah out alone, it usually means being his buddy and throwing rocks in the water right beside him, which (don’t get me wrong!) is great, but sitting and chatting with a friend while watching your kids discover the wonder of bugs under logs and stones and the myriad of things a pile of sticks can become…

…well that just rocks!

See You Later, Vader!

So, Noah has decided what he wants to be for Halloween. Vader. Darth Vader. He hasn’t even ever seen the movie and he wants to be Darth Vader. He has been jonesing for a working light saber for a year now so I am guessing this is his way of getting one finally.

It was his idea to dress the twins up... Ethan as Chewbacca and Luka as Yoda. Woulda been hilarious but those costumes cost thirty bucks each.

I found a used costume on Ebay that was local, a good price and included the light saber (the ones in the store do NOT include the saber. So cruel.).

We took a special trip and picked the costume up, took it home and tried it on, and he looks awesome! So cute in his little black suit. The front has all these little “computer lights” and switches on it. He asked what they were for. I told him it was probably part of the machine that helps Vader breathe.

He said, no, he thought it was the machine that Darth Vader uses to make bullies cry.

Love that.

So, today it was nap time and he picked up the mask on his way to the bed. He wanted to wear it during his nap and I was trying to convince him that he would dent it by rolling over on it, and we finally made a compromise that he could wear it during “cuddles” and then he would put it away when I left the room. We always have cuddles on the bed before nap and bed time… a few minutes of lying together and chatting.

So there I find myself in bed with Darth Vader’s Mini Me, reclining on his side with his head resting on his palm. Looking into Black Helmet Man’s little mask.

He says, “Kiss me, Mama. Kiss the mask!"

“No, I am not gonna kiss you in that mask”

Which of course sends him into giggle fits and he reaches for my face trying to kiss me, and I'm just trying to squirm away and all I can think is I am in bed with Darth Vader and he's trying to grab and kiss me. And he's my SON!

I got two words for ya…. “CREE – PY”.

Let's just say cuddles did not last very long.

Wordless Wednesday: Kitchen Nap

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Wordless Wednesday: Three-Way Tantrum

This is a family favorite from earlier this summer, so apologies to any grandmas who were hoping for new pics. Been busy...

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