Packing, packing, packing

I always pack like I'm headed to the moon and there are no stores where I'm going - the idea of forgetting a toothbrush or something seriously stresses me out!

I've been packing, because... very early Saturday morning Mr. Henry and I are traveling to California! I've got a conference in San Francisco next week, and I'm going early so I can go down to Carmel to visit my brother and sister-in-law for the weekend. My mom's apartment is close to the conference hotel in the city, so she'll be keeping Henry during the day while I'm in sessions. I'm taking Henry with me because he's still nursing (and, if we're being totally honest, I cannot be away from my kids before they're one, I just can't). I'm also really looking forward to getting to spend some time with him alone. It's kind of sad, he loves going to the doctor, because it's one of the few times he gets my undivided attention. He's almost 8 months old, which is the oldest any of my kids has been on their first flight - I'm hoping for the best and looking forward to it! It's going to be easy breezy traveling with only one child (famous last words!) When Sophia was barely two and Amelia was four months old, I flew to California alone with them, which was actually not really a big deal either.

Davis and the girls have some mighty fun things planned here, so I'm sure they won't miss me too much. I sure will miss them, though. Have I mentioned how much I love talking to the girls after school? From the time I was babysitting as a teenager and was picking up the kindergartner I babysat, to when I would pick up my niece and nephew from school sometimes, I have loved talking to little kids about their school days. Just seeing their happy faces when they walk out of school, and hearing about their day, I've always looked forward to getting to do the same with my own kids. And my kids do not disappoint - they literally talk on top of each other telling me about their days, which I might add are fabulous (did you plant radishes and carrots in Kindergarten or have music class when you were four?!) So I'll have to hear about their days over the phone, and look forward to their happy faces picking me up at the airport at the end of next week.

I may or may not be blogging while I'm gone, depending on how tired I am at the end of the day, and what plans my mom and I make. Until then, I'm back to making my (packing) list and checking it twice! Oh and also insanely detailed lists of things to remember, for my dearest husband (of course Amelia has picture day and Sophia has her first field trip while I'm gone!)

How do you organize?

How do you (or do you?) organize your online life? It's hard! Well, I have two online lives - one at work and one at home. And my poor Blackberry tries to keep up with both.

At home, my homepage is iGoogle, and I think it's pretty awesome. There are so many ways to customize it, and each of these "gadgets" were added by me - there are hundreds (thousands?) of others. Here's how mine looks:

I very often don't end up leaving my homepage at all. I don't have to strain my poor little fingers typing in all those links. And even though I am not really fond of hamsters or any other rodent-like pets, I'm kind of smitten with my little friend Harry. He runs on his wheel, and sleeps, and cleans himself, and nibbles on water. And if I click, he gets a little pellet of food, which he loves. Yes, I just said my online hamster loves pellets. I use the calculator and the to do list constantly.

When I'm stressed out or feeling overwhelmed, I clean. Usually I scrub the floors or the bathtub. But sometimes I rearrange my iGoogle and empty my internet cache and organize my documents. Aaah, much better now.

A Day of Rest, Again

I blogged this exact topic just five months ago. See? But I want to talk about it again, and it's my blog, so sorry...

In my three year old Sunday School class yesterday, we did a lesson on Creation. We talked about all of the wonderful gifts God gave us - water, the sun and moon and stars, living creatures, etc. And then, we talked about the last gift that God gave us: a day of rest. He gave us this day, so that we may use it to reflect on and be thankful for all of the other gifts we are given.

It's so hard to take off Sundays, isn't it? It's so easy to use Sunday as a day to catch up on everything that didn't get done the rest of the week. It's easy to say "phew!" on Saturday and spend the day chilling out, after a long hard week, leaving the laundry and car cleaning and checkbook balancing for Sunday afternoon. It's easy to commit to doing just one more thing, knowing that you have Sunday night to cram in that work. When I worked for a big law firm, I went back to work every Sunday afternoon (while Sophia napped and baby Amelia played on a blanket on my office floor) and put in another 5 or 6 hours of work.

But what if we really do think of Sundays as a gift? By not taking Sundays off, we are saying "no thank you." We're saying "God, I really appreciate that you think I can take this day to rest, and I know you made the whole Earth and then took a day off, but you see, I am soooo important and soooo busy that I can't possibly."

Really?!

No, not really. We are all busy, important, over-scheduled, over-committed. But we're not, none of us, so busy or important that the world will come to an end if we take off a day. And the thing is, God knew what He was doing. We need a day off. We need to stop and reflect and praise and be thankful. We need to let the pace of life slow down, so we can re-focus before the next week begins. We need to rest.

Am I perfect at this? No. Did I panic and throw school uniforms in the washer at 11:30 p.m. last night? Yes. But I do try and try and try. I go into the weekend knowing what needs to be done, and I strive to get it done on Saturday. I very rarely make any plans for Sunday afternoons, because I know after church I will be happy. I love the rhythm and pace of my thoughts, the perspective on the big picture, that I have on Sunday afternoons. And so I prefer to spend them at home, or at the park or on a walk, with my family. For all the times I lose my patience, my temper, my cool, during the week, for all the times I end up yelling at someone because Henry has leaves in his mouth that someone tracked in, Sundays are my redemption.

Yesterday afternoon, the kids and I went to the playground. It was gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous outside - finally a real Fall day! It was sunny and breezy and low 70's. All three kids loved the swings (my favorite too, even now!) and we met new friends and saw old friends. We were just there. We rested in the moment. And by doing so, we were remembering to be thankful for being given that moment. We were letting the stress of the week past wash away. And we came into this new week refreshed.

Delightful!

That's our weekend so far! Sophia likes to say, "that's D for disgusting!" and then I say, "no, D is for delightful!" At dinner Sophia also likes to ask me for some cold water with cold ice, and I say "you mean you don't want cold water with hot ice?!" which my friend Julie says is such an annoying mom thing to say. Sorry, I can't help it - those comments must just be an uncontrollable part of becoming a mother.

Friday afternoon I hired someone at work, and I'm very excited about filling that position and have a great feeling about the person I hired. Such a relief! Then it was Sophia's parent-teacher conference (no big surprises, which is a good thing!) so I left work a little early. When I got home, I took the kids to the library to give Davis a couple of hours home alone (he mopped the floors - how awesome is he?!)

The girls had the best time reading to Henry, it was really, really sweet.

Then last night I sewed a little dress for Sophia for the big game today. My intention was to make an outfit for Henry too, but his mommy's-sewing radar went off and he wouldn't let me. Sophia had a friend over to play (her new BFF Claire - LOVE her!) and then we all watched the game.

It was 3/4 awesome!

(and 1/4 tear-jerker)

The weather is finally cooler and that makes me HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY even if my Razorbacks lost!

Peas!

The girls have been in love with this story lately,

and I was reading it last night, I realized I haven't blogged PEAS yet. I started the Vegetable of the Week posts, because I had friends ask me how to cook fresh vegetables. My VOW recipes are just super simple, quick ways to get vegetables on the table - nothing elaborate or even worth calling a "recipe."

Well, let me tell you that when I've forgotten to shop for a side dish vegetable, or it's the dead of winter and nothing fresh inspires me, I grab a bag of frozen peas. I have great memories of popping open pea pods, but fresh peas are hard to find sometimes. Fresh is always best, but frozen is second best (canned hardly counts as a vegetable, except in the case of beans). Wasabi peas definitely don't count towards your daily veggies - but yum!!

Anyway, peas are a fabulous source of Vitamin K, Vitamin C, folate, and fiber. Vitamin K is important for bone health.

I love pea soup and pea salad, but mostly peas are just my emergency side dish. I saute some sliced onion in a skillet with a little butter until just soft, then throw in a few handfulls of frozen peas (straight from the freezer) and cook until they are thawed and warm. Add some salt and freshly ground pepper. There. Takes about ten minutes and costs like $1.

The other day I found a $25 pork shoulder on sale for $8 at Kroger, so I grabbed it without really thinking of what else we'd have with it. It was soooo yummy and tender (and I don't usually love pork). Henry loved it too

Anyway, I just made some rice cooked in vegetable broth and peas with onions, and we had a meal.

Chores and We Vlog

I'm a big BIG believer in chores for children. First of all, isn't one of the reasons we had kids, so that we'd have some help around the house?? No? Oh. Well, anyway. Chores are great for teaching children responsibility and understanding that they're part of our family team. I also think knowing that they are responsible for something important around the house helps build their self esteem.

The girls have had chores since they were about two and a half years old. First it was something completely simple, like carrying their dirty clothes to the laundry room. But they were still expected to do it every day, and they took pride in it. At two and three, they love having a "job." Amelia's main chore is setting the table for dinner. She likes to say "I'm in charge of the table!" and she takes pride in picking a table cloth and making sure everyone has a plate, fork, napkin, and glass. Sophia's chore is fixing breakfast for herself and for Amelia, and remembering their omega-3 vitamin (they take a multi-vitamin at night, but their omega-3 in the morning). She can fix cereal, oatmeal (instant, in the microwave), pancakes (I make them and freeze them, she gets them out and microwaves them), toast, yogurt, fruit... lots of things! She is pretty darn proud of herself too.

We also make them responsible for a lot of their own care, like getting dressed in the morning (I lay out their clothes though, just because it's so much easier) and putting their pajamas in their beds, brushing their teeth (I come in and help after they do it themselves), keeping their room picked up, fixing their own snacks (I keep little containers of cut up fruit and vegetables, cheese, etc. in the fridge) and drinks, and buckling themselves into their car seats (after I get Henry buckled, I make them show me that they're "tight" by pulling on the straps of their seats). Some of this is just self-preservation, because it's hard keeping up with three kids who all need something at the same time. But it's also more of teaching them responsibility and building self esteem.

And, completely unrelated, remember how I said this was the worst. summer. ever? SEE!!!!!!! http://www.weather.com/outlook/weather-news/news/articles/top-five-worst-summers_2010-09-22?page=5

Henry and I made a vlog this afternoon when I got home from work, which just shows that Henry really isn't really into vlogging. That's about all. My main goal was to keep Henry from diving through the computer screen. I'll work on content next time.

Fall Where Are You?

I could write this same post every mid-September since moving to Arkansas... I don't know when I'll ever learn that here, fall doesn't start until somewhere near the end of October!

I baked pumpkin spice bread the other night, just so I could pretend summer was over. But the near-100 degree days since then have dashed my dreams of pumpkins and hay bales and crunchy leaves. I can't even really get into football yet (although GO HOGS!!!!!!) until it feels like fall - and so far it's just been more hot, hot, hot summer. This is the hottest ever summer on record in Arkansas. Blech!

Oh well, at least it doesn't matter that my children have NO pants or long-sleeved shirts right now.

Speaking of kids, I still can't get a good picture of all three of them - see?!

Sophia...

she is still absolutely in love with Kindergarten. After having such a rough summer, I just can't tell you how happy it makes my heart to see her so confident and joyful every day. She has not said a single day that she didn't want to go to school. She had a birthday party for one of her classmates over the weekend, and in the car on the way there she said, "Mom, you're going to get to see how well we all play together!" I love that Miss Theresa makes sure the kids hear her praise them. I decided this summer that for the first half of the school year at least, we would do NO extra curricular activities. I'm so glad now, and know that for us it was the right decision. Sophia gets home from school and all she wants to do is play with her sister in the backyard - and that's exactly what I think she should be doing after school right now.

Amelia...

she also loves school again this year and it wears her out - can you tell? It's hard to know what she's up to, because she isn't big on talking about her day the way Sophia is. So far she's denied knowing any of the kids in her class (when I read their names from the Directory and asked if they were her friends) and she's told me that she will not use Miss Martha's potty because "it's too little. I won't use it." Crazy girl! But she's happy, so I'm happy! And anything that wears out a three year old is a GOOD thing.

And Henry...

he's seven whole months old! He's crawling! But he's still pretty slow, which is good because we're having to re-learn how to keep a house safe for a little baby on the floor. It's HARD with older kids! Sometimes I feel like all I can do is put him down and pray no Polly Pockets end up down his throat. That boy loves food - all day long he just wants to eat, eat, eat, and all night long he just wants to nurse, nurse, nurse! He also really likes me. A lot. On Saturday I was in a training program for the Sunday School curriculum at our church all day, and I put the kids in the nursery. Henry screamed and screamed and screamed until I finally went and brought him with me to the class - he was perfectly happy and quiet, as long as he was attached to me. The next morning when we went to church as soon as we turned the corner to go to the nursery he started screaming at the top of his lungs. So I just held him through the church service, and he was happy as could be. I don't mind AT ALL!!

P.S. If you know me, you know I love kids' birthday cakes. And if you also love kids' birthday cakes, you must check out this insane cuteness.

Green Pizza

I made this pizza last night after a hectic week at work. I wanted to knead some dough to clear my mind. And I wanted to nourish our exhausted bodies with some dark green veggies. It worked - I felt seriously better after cooking and eating this. The girls loved it too, and each ate three slices. Davis, not so much. But you can't please everyone all the time (and before you feel too sorry for him, I made steak and potatoes the night before!)

Green Pizza
adapted from Eating Well

pinch of sugar
2 -1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 -1/4 cups warm water
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 -1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 -1/2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for brushing
cornmeal

1 large head of broccoli, broken into florets
5 ounces chopped arugula or baby spinach
Freshly ground pepper and sea salt, to taste
1/2 cup pesto (this really provides the dominant taste, so pick one you like!)
1 cup shredded mozarella cheese
1/4 cup shaved parmesan cheese

In a small bowl, combine water and sugar, then add yeast and let rest until foamy, about ten minutes. In a large bowl, combine flours, salt and olive oil, then pour water and yeast into dry mixture. Stir with a wooden spoon to combine, and then knead for about eight minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic, adding more water or flour if needed. If you're not in need of kneading therapy, you can make this with the dough hook on a mixer as well. Place the dough in a bowl, cover, and let rest for half an hour.

Place a pizza stone on the lowest rack of your oven and preheat (oven and stone) to 450 degrees.

When the dough has finished rising, place it on a surface sprinkled with cornmeal and pull and press with your fingers into a round shape, leaving the edges thicker than the middle. Sprinkle more cornmeal on the pizza stone. Carefully transfer the dough onto the stone and bake for about six minutes.

Meanwhile, place the broccoli in a large skillet with a little water (less than a 1/4 cup) over medium heat and cook, covered, for about three minutes. Then add the arugula or spinach and some sea salt and freshly ground pepper and cook, stirring, until the greens begin to wilt.

Spread the pesto onto the pre-baked pizza dough, leaving the edges bare. Then brush the edges with olive oil. Top with the broccoli and greens, then cheese, and return to oven. Bake additional eight to ten minutes until the cheese is melted and the crust is crispy.

Enjoy!

Seasons and Stepping Stones

I have begun a class called EFM. It is at our church, but is actually a course offered through the University of the South at Sewanee's School of Theology. I am so very, very excited about starting this program, which is a four year program - one night a week for 2.5 hours, plus lots of homework and reading. I've wanted to take it since I first found out about it a few years ago. The fact that I am now able to do it, that alone shows that I am in a new season, because I would not have been able to commit to it before.

The first assignment involves developing a spiritual autobiography. The books talks about "stepping stones" being moments or times in our life - you know those things that are the major points in your life. You might linger on one for longer than another, but you end up hopping onto the next stone and forward across the river.

As I've begun to reflect on the stepping stones of my life, and the present state of my life, I have realized that I love this stone I am on. This is a season of great joy in my life. Since I was a little girl, I always thought 32 would be the best age to be (I don't know why, except I remember when my mom was 32, and I thought she seemed pretty perfect to me!) I just knew it would be a really amazing year for me. Next month I will be 32, and I think I was right all these years. I think I've just hopped onto a new stone, and it feels warm and soft and safe, and I think I might rest here for a while before moving on.

My last stone, the season that I think ended about seven months ago with Henry's birth - it was amazing, soul-stretching, exhilarating, exhausting. I think it began with Sophia's birth. Not only did I become a mother, and experience that instant transformation, the one you can't possibly anticipate. The one that is more wonderful and terrifying than you ever imagined. But it was also a crippling time for me, a time that forced me to lay down any notion that I could do anything in this life without God's constant presence in my life - moment to moment sustaining and holding me up. The first three years of Sophia's life, with six surgeries and the deepest fears I have ever felt. Then after Amelia, trying for Henry and losing two babies, grief and a new kind of desperation I had never known. Then my pregnancy, which was harder and scarier than my others, was yet another reminder that my family lay in the hands of God, completely. So much uncertainty, so much anticipation and unsettled excitement and uncertainty.

And then, Henry slipped into the world late one freezing night. Peacefully, sleepily. And our family was complete. We were healed and whole and happy. The next four months, when I got to be home with my baby and pick my girls up from school and soak up lazy spring mornings, were probably the happiest months of my life so far. And as spring rolled into summer and then into fall, I realized this is it. These are the happiest days of my life. This is that too-brief time that I have a soft and snuggly sweet-smelling baby. My house is full of laughter and screaming and the most beautiful chaos in the world - every frustration and moment of seeming insanity is borne from the privilege of having small children in my house. Three precious souls who right now live with me, listen to me, crawl into my lap, want my kisses before they can fall asleep, and think those kisses heal scraped knees and broken hearts.

I have dreamed of this season my whole life. When I was a little girl, fixing dinner in my play kitchen - brussel sprouts were tiny lettuces - for my babies, lined up all in a row, I knew I was rehearsing for the starring role of my life. And here I am, the curtain has lifted and the show has begun. And I think, I better get it right and soak up every minute of it, because all too soon the curtain will fall and it will be time to hop onto the next stone.

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

Bomb Squads, Rewards And Family Night

I'm being a bad mommy right now and making Davis read bedtime stories, because (I'm sorry) I can't stand Eloise, especially when she's taking a "bawth."

Yesterday was the most amazingly gorgeous day! As soon as church and Sunday School were over, we decided there was no way we were going back inside a building for the rest of the day. And apparently we meant literally, because we stayed locked out of our house until 6:30 p.m. when we tracked down Davis and he was able to break in. But before that... we headed to the playground, where Sophia practiced riding her bike, we watched soccer drills, and we met the cutest little puppy. Then things got a little crazy. First we went to Sonic, but then Amelia fell down and spilled her fruit slush and scraped her knee and hands. Then Sophia dropped her cherry limeade.

We decided to go walk across the river on a big pedestrian bridge called the Big Dam Bridge. Davis and I have walked across it at night, which is awesome, but we'd never taken the kids. Well, we were about 1/4 of the way up the bridge when two police officers passed us. There were lots of other people walking past them, so we didn't think anything of it. I try to make a point of being friendly with police officers when the girls are around, because I have told them if they are ever in trouble the police can help them. Anyway, I said "hi Officer!" and he said hi and then "ma'am just stay here and don't go any further, okay?" He wasn't telling anyone else to stay put, but we did (I thought maybe there was someone up there who wanted to jump or something, and he didn't want the kids to see?) So we stayed put for about 15 minutes until they came back down. Turns out they were from the bomb squad and someone abandoned a cooler on the bridge. The lesson here is: always be nice to the police, so they don't let you walk onto a bridge that might blow up at any minute!

We proceeded to the top of the bridge, which was great - we saw turtles swimming in the river and boats being moved through the lock. But then Amelia fell down and scraped her other knee and I had to carry her the rest of the way while pushing the stroller. Then we went home and discovered the locked out house thing. Our Sunday Night Dinner was pizza eaten in the car while we waited for Davis to come home!

I didn't get any pictures from the day, I was just trying to enjoy it, crazy as it was.

I got a great idea from my friend Karla, and it's been working like a charm. We have a reward system to try to get the girls to be better about picking up after themselves - if they do a good job cleaning up, they get a bowling pin. Once they both have ten pins, we're going bowling. This is really fancy - a piece of construction paper cut in half with their names written on it

When we want to work on a particular behavior, we'll do this and let the kids earn some fun activity. Thanks, Karla!

Mondays are Family Night at our house, which means we have something fun for dinner (make your own pizzas or something) and talk about all the stuff going on that week and other family topics that need to be discussed. It feels a little like a business meeting when I get the calendar off the wall! But after dinner we all play games or do a craft or go for a walk or something. Tonight we did the funnest thing - I pasted pictures of animals on paper and cut them out into little cards, which I put into a big bowl. One person picked a card out of the bowl (no peeking) and then had to act like that animal without making any sounds, and the rest of us had to guess what kind of animal they were. We pretty much laughed the whole time!

No pictures from that one, but our last Family Night we painted pictures of dragons - none of had looked at any pictures of dragons recently, so we had no idea what we were doing!

Middle of the Night with Baby

Probably the one thing I never thought I'd use on my Mac that I use more than anything - PhotoBooth. The kids are addicted and so am I. I have all these pretty pictures, taken with a real camera, and yet I love looking back at these - because they just capture little moments best of all. I've been taking pictures of me with my baby boy since he was born (and even more with my girls!)

And there have been so many moments I wanted to capture without my camera handy that I could just snap a PhotoBooth pic (I think that might say something about me being on the computer too much, but I'm not going to think about that).

Like this moment right now, with Henry snuggled up next to me. Belly full of milk. He keeps smiling in his sleep. It's really, really late and I should go to bed, but this moment is too sweet. I keep just watching him suck the air and snore and stretch...

I tried to go to bed at a reasonable hour. But then ADT Security called (this is probably one of those things you shouldn't blog about...hopefully no stalkers are reading this now) at 11:30 p.m. to tell me that they ran a test on our system and didn't get a signal back. Yeah, well, lighting struck by our house OVER A MONTH AGO and our system has been out ever since. Then I went back to bed, and at 12:00 Henry woke up. And then when I was about to take his sweet little self back to bed, someone sent me a text message that said "nite nite sleepi head." Except I didn't know the number, so I searched and tried to think who it might be and finally texted back to ask... turns out it was a wrong number but this spelling and grammar challenged stranger and I exchanged a few more texts anyway. And then I started staring at Henry and taking pictures of him to make sure I don't forget this moment. And then I saw other pictures of him, when he was even tinier. And well, here I am.

Back to School - for Amelia

Amelia went back to preschool this week, and she was so happy about it! Having her sister away at school all day as been hard on her.

At open house last week, I reminded Amelia that she would have a new teacher this year, and she furrowed her brow and said, "I don't want that [name of the school] without MY SUSAN!" and she stomped her foot! Then she pouted and cried the rest of the time, and this was the only picture I got ha ha!!

So I was worried about her first day. But she did great.

And of course she loved Miss Martha!

This was her discovering a bin of Little People.

She even told me all about her day, which was awesome, because normally she is my tight-lipped one, who won't tell me anything. She even made a new friend, which makes me happy because none of the kids from her class last year are in this class.

I'm so proud of her! She has learned so much over the summer - like how to write her name

She's just so precious and is turning into such a big girl. Looking back at pictures from six months ago, it's amazing how much she has changed. I know I've said it before, but I LOVE three year olds! LOVE LOVE LOVE!!! I just can't get enough of her. And I love that I get thirty minutes between when I drop Sophia off at school and when I drop Amelia off, we drive slowly and take our time (it only takes about ten minutes) and talk.

I'm so happy that she is happy at school!

And I think Henry is cherishing some quiet time home alone without The Sisters to torment love him all day long!!

A Weekend In Pictures

We headed to the country over Labor Day weekend, and it was lovely...



...cool weather, blue skies, grazing deer, happy naked baby in the grass (eating grass), wagon rides, dress up, hours of playing with nothing but a hose and a watering can, ice cream after breakfast, visiting with great grandmother, chocolate milk on the hearth, swinging on the porch, piles of vintage Little People toys, donning fairy wings and playing hide and seek, ham, horses... Heaven.