Dining Room Table Playhouse
HI Everyone! Happy Wednesday!
One of the kids' favorite things right now is this AMAZING dining room table playhouse their grandma made them for their birthday. She did an incredible job; it is a work of art. They have their own address over the door, windows with curtains and windowboxes filled with flowers, a mailbox, and ladybugs, which they are in love with at the moment. Every side has some special and meaningful detail...a teddy, a red truck, rubber duckies and more.
This is one of those things we are going to keep forever.
I would have LOVED something like this as a child...lucky kids...
Thanks, grandma! You are amazing!
XOXO
Easter 2014
Hi Everyone! Happy Monday!
A little Easter cuteness for you...we had a great day, starting with "Bunny Eggs," which looked super perfect on Pintrest, of course...mine are more the "made with love" variety, which is what my husband says every time I bake a pie, because it tastes good but is not the prettiest thing in the world...
After breakfast the kids and their dad and I went to a little short hiking trail in the foothills, at the end of which is a duck pond. I keep hoping to see baby ducks, but not yet. Beautiful morning for a walk, though, and there were police cars in the parking lot when we got back (nothing bad going on, they were just making sure all the mountain bikers were behaving themselves) and one of the policeman let the kids look inside and turned on his flashing lights for them, which was a big thrill.
We did Easter baskets after nap, so their grandma, who wanted to do an early church service, could be part of it. My husband and I had lots of fun putting baskets together this year. There is only one toy between the baskets as we got two (a car carrier and a tractor), but the car carrier got hidden in the house somewhere and nobody could find it. We figured it would turn up eventually (and it did, this morning.)
The kids and I and their grandma dyed eggs on Friday, the kids did great with that, and we hid them (the eggs) around the house during naps, as well. Luke was really too busy playing with his new tractor to be bothered with eggs, but Zo had the best time...
And then, outside for bunny ear pictures...
...and confetti eggs, which I had never heard of before New Mexico but they are real eggs brightly painted with some sort of special coating that sounds like glass when they break and they have rainbow confetti inside...Daddy helped the kids throw all their confetti eggs at Mommy, and they shreiked with delight as they broke...so fun...why don't they have confetti eggs everywhere? Can't wait to do that again.
And then a lovely ham-and-sweet-potato-mash-and-pea dinner that my husband kindly made (yum!) and then a piece of chocolate from their baskets for each of the kids. Zo chose a little peice (and we actually ended up giving her two), Luke went straight for his big chocolate bunny and worked his way through it in record time.
Hope you all enjoyed your holiday as much as we did!!
XOXO
Grace in Small Things, April 18, 2014
Hi Everyone! Happy Friday!
Some things I'm grateful for today:
1) Easter is going to be so fun, although there is WAY too much chocolate coming. :) My husband and I have had fun collecting little things for Easter baskets, and the kids and I are going to dye eggs this morning, and there's something that happens in New Mexico called confetti eggs which are real eggs hollowed out and filled with confetti...the kids are going to love it! Plus we're going to do a really nice dinner at the dining room table...looking forward to making the holiday special...
2) My daughter running around the house yesterday with a stuffed bunny as big as her called "Tiny"...cutest thing ever.
3) I put our nice warm down comforter back on our bed last night...we were a little too anxious for spring I think switching it out for a light quilt a few weeks ago...nice to be toasty warm again.
4) Luke's been waking up with bad dreams (usually some sort of animal in his bed, there's been a peacock, a donkey, a dog), but he snuggles into my shoulder while I rock him for a few minutes and then he goes right back down...
5) Didn't realize I had these pictures of Dexter on my phone...I took him on a hike, one of our favorite spots, right before we put him down. It was weird at the end, he would get super distressed and have a massive nosebleed, and then whould be fine. The last nosebleed it was just clear he was hurting before it happened and I just couldn't see letting that happen again; the nosebleeds were happening about twice a day. It was hard to make the decision to let him go...he had late-stage cancer that we couldn't do anything about but I thought it would be obvious when the time came, that he would be obviously weak and sick, but instead it was this weird mix of everything is awful/everything seems fine. Anyway, I did the best I could with the decision...it was going to be hard no matter what. So after the last nosebleed he was fine and so I took him on one last beautiful, peaceful, amazing hike...and when we got back to the (remote national forest) parking lot a motorcycle zoomed by which I took as a sign because my brother Luke--to whom Dexter belonged--loved his motorcycle, actually was on it when he died, too. And then the spot in the last picture makes me so happy because to me that means Luke was with us. And now he's got his dog back and I'm grateful for that. So glad I have these pictures...
Hope everyone has a lovely weekend!
XOXO
Remodel Update
Hi Everyone! Happy Wednesday!
Lots going on at our house...starting with a new roof because it rained and ours leaked. I soooooo would have liked to have spent that money on something fun (eg new carpet), but my husband is all about being responsible and that's a good thing...
Here is our living room/dining room breifly put back together (LOVE LOVE LOVE our new floors, they make the house feel so airy and clean and beautiful vs the dirty white carpet):
And the stairs which were carpet before:
Someday we will reupholster the dining room chairs something colorful:
Wood still in the dining room...destined for the laundry room floor at some point...
And here's the exciting part...this is totally my husband's vision but it's going to be the coolest thing ever. We have a 2-story wall in our living room (that our upstairs family room looks out over too) and we're doing these textured tiles and then a design that my art-director friend put together for us is going to be painted onto it. The tiles were initially tricky to get to stick to the wall (they are very thin and light cardboard), but once the guys helping us figured it out, it's gone fast.
Living room is torn up again...so excited about this wall but also can't wait to get our house back to normal. This is it as far as house projects for a while...going to have to save up before we can do any more... :)
XOXO
Library Book Review, April 14, 2014
Hi Everyone! Happy Monday!
A few library books we've been LOVING lately:
- That Rabbit Belongs to Emily Brown. This is probably on my top ten ever list. The story is like the Velveteen Rabbit, but I just love adventurous little Emily and her stuffed rabbit Stanley. The queen wants the rabbit because it's the coolest toy ever, because he's been so loved by Emily, and they've done so much together...
- Smash Mash Crash There Goes the Trash. My kids are crazy about trucks right now...and I never thought a book about garbage trucks could be good, but this one is. The pictures are so cute!
- Fog Island. This book's a little dark as the plot is about some kids getting lost at sea, but the atmosphere is so cool. I have to admit I like this book a little more than my kids do...
- 1-2-3 Peas! A counting book...but what's cool about this is on every page is a hidden ladybug...my kids love finding it.
- Digger Dozer Dumper. Again with the trucks. This book is cool because it talks about how all the trucks have different personlities...just like kids...
- Monster Mess. Have I talked about this one before? It's gone back to the library a time or two and the kids say, "Mommy, find Monster Mess again!" meaning they want it back. A monster is cleaning up while a little boy is sleeping...cute littly rhyme-y story...kids can't get enough of this. We really need to buy this for our library, along with Miss Emily Brown... (Although Emily Brown USED is $30...and it's not available new...why is a used book $30?)
Happy reading!
XO
Grace in Small Things, April 10, 2014
Hi Everyone!
Gosh, I feel like lately I'm either posting like crazy to try and catch up or not posting at all. A million excuses for neglecting this space...the regular overwork, not sleeping well, dealing in weird ways with my dog's death (which has brought a lot of other stuff to the surface), etc. etc. But mostly I think it's my kids are changing their sleep schedule, often up at the crack of dawn and so some time I used to have to myself in the morning has evaporated. On the plus side, I get more time with my kids. :) Naps are also getting shorter and shorter, some days pretty much nonexistent.
And also, something I always struggle with here...I want to be honest in this space...like right now, I am tired all the time, my "TO DO" list is way longer than what can realistically get accomplished, I'm feeling burnt out at work, my dog dying sucked, what happened with our daughter dying still hurts in a way I can't even begin to describe, I think about it every day...what happened with my brother dying too, for that matter, and the anniversary of that is coming up at the end of the month. But...I just don't want to talk about all that stuff because it's better for me if I just put it to the side and say, "look at all the good, Luke and Zo and my husband and my family and we have work and a beautiful home, I like where we live, and I only work part time and get to spend so much time with the kids, etc., etc." I really admire people who can write honestly about hardship and pain, and I don't want to make it seem like everything is sunshine and roses over here, but I have to focus on the positive to keep going.
Anyway, a long prologue to some notes about what is lovely in my life right now:
1) It felt like summer here today. I went to the zoo with the kids this morning. I wore a T-shirt and shorts...no sweatshirt over the top for what felt like the first time in forever. We had all the windows wide open all day. Ahhhhhhh...
2) We have this 2-story wall in our living room and we're essentially making it into a giant peice of art. Textured tiles are going up and it's been such a challenge for everyone involved to figure out how to make them stay, but it looks like they've found a solution. And the wall is going to look SO COOL. The stuff we're doing to our living room/dining room, I just love it. It's making the house feel cool and artsy and ours.
3) I ordered some bikinis online from Roxy the other day...where I used to get all my swimsuits back when I lived in California and went surfing every day. With IVFs and pregnancies it's been years--years--since I could wear a bikini. I've worked really hard (CrossFit and Paleo) to get my body back to normal and I'm almost there and that's really gratifying. Also, I am SO EXCITED about summer. My goal is to get up every morning and put on a swimsuit under my clothes, because I'll be getting in the pool every single day.
4) We got the best new book at the library the other day, it's called Duck, Duck Moose and the kids can't get enough of it. It's been a while since we got a really good new book. It's so silly and fun, with a moose that's just a tornado wrecking everything in his path, and the ducks who live with him loving him anyway. The kids always do "Moose Face!" before we read it, which is making a funny face with your hands put up like moose antlers on the top of your head.
5) The kids have been wanting "Rainbow Connection" (Luke: "Mommy, sing Rainbow con-nection please?") as their bedtime song almost every night lately. (I love this Willie Nelson rendition). Reminds me of my childhood. Makes me happy.
And speaking of happy, my daughter says, "Sissy happy!" almost every day, and Luke generally chimes in with, "Luke's happy too!" And I say--when it's true and it almost always is--"Awwww, you guys, that's great. Mommy's happy too."
How can you not be with those little sweethearts to hang out with, you know?
XOXO
Truck Safari
Hi Everyone! Happy Tuesday!
I'm all about doing cheap/no-cost things with the kids.
Like right now, they're really into trucks...and there's some road construction not far from our house...so I thought it might be fun to drive over and check it out.
I got a nice hot cup of tea and we spent the whole morning there, parked on the side of the road, kids standing up in the passenger seat for optimal viewing.
It was right along I-25 too, so in addition to the road construction trucks, there were tons of trucks that drove by--semis and cement trucks and car carriers, gas trucks, even a couple of ambulances.
So grateful that I can spend a weekday morning like this...
XO
Farm Tour
Hi Everyone! Happy Monday!
The Mom's group I'm part of arranged for an organic farm tour, south of town, and the kids and I were soooooooo excited to go.
When I heard there were going to be baby pigs, I was sure that's what the kids were going to like the most.
I was wrong.
The tiny ladybugs on the beet leaves...that's what thrilled them. (With the truck that takes the produce up to ABQ a close second. And feeding the grown-up pigs handfuls of fresh spinach third.)
I would have never even seen the ladybugs if the kids hadn't pointed them out.
One of the best parts of having children...tiny parts of the world being pointed out to you as the magic that they are...
XOXO
P.S. My husband saw this post and asked why I went on a farm tour with the kids and the only picture from it is of the delivery truck? The answer is, have you ever tried keeping two 2-year-olds under control when set loose on a farm?!? It was all I could do to keep them from stepping on the lettuce and climbing into the pen with the chickens...no bandwith for pictures, unfortunately...they would have been nice to have...
Luke at Two
Ah, sweet, full-of-it boy, amazing little man, we are so lucky to have you!
You can be a little on the quiet side, unless you are in the mood to talk and then it is strings of words non-stop. The other night in the bath it was, "Five little ducks went out to play..." the whole song spoken word for word fast jumble over and over and over.
Like your sister, we are amazed at the things that come out of your mouth...how do you know all you know?
You are definitely your own little guy, and pretty independent, but also the sweetest, like when you come to visit me in the afternoons in my home office because you miss me (only you do that). Or when Sis is napping longer than you and you say, pleadingly, "See Sissy, please?" because you miss her.
You are good with "please" and "thank you."
Your favorite things right now are some wooden truck we have...you'll play with those all day.
You say almost everything as an exclamation.
There is the normal toddler frustration and tears at times, and some ignoring of what Mommy and Daddy ask.
We call you "Bubs" and "Bubby" and "Luke" and "Little Man."
You like to talk about your family...you'll walk around going, "Luke! and Zoey! and Luke! and Zoey!" Or "Luke! and Zoey! and Mommy! and Daddy!"
You're pretty friendly 95% of the time, have an ease about you, think nothing of jumping right in when you're in a group.
You love to help cook. Your speciaty is spinning the lettuce in the lettuce spinner.
You're good, so good, with taking turns (as is your sister).
You love it outside. Love to play ball. Are daring at the playground, as is your sister.
You play comfortably with both "boy" and "girl" toys (as does your sister.)
Over and over you get that sparkly, impish look in your eye, that little smile...I know we're in trouble, but you are such a charmer, just so dang cute, I just smile the whole time I'm around you, my heart full to bursting.
Love you, little one.
XO
Mommy
Zoey at Two
Ah, sweet girl, you are the light of our life.
Beautiful, silly, sweet, inquisitive, oh-so-very-smart.
You are snuggly and lovely with me, especially at night when I rock you and sing.
You shriek when your Daddy gets home you are so excited to see him.
You say "Yes!" with such enthusiam, over and over each day.
You love to be read to (as does your brother).
You are almost always giggly and happy, sometimes a little melancholy and pouty, occasionally mad or frustrated--that you let us know about by screaming at the top of your lungs.
You know what you want to wear, usually it involves pink sparkle cowboy boots.
You share well with your brother, and although you say, "Sissy fight!" when you don't really feel like sharing/dealing with being a twin, you very rarely actually fight.
You love watching Iron Man curled up with your daddy, although you'll deny being a superhero fan in public.
You're a bit shy in big groups of kids.
Your smile and laugh are the best things in the world.
Your favorite things right now are the stuffed kittys you and Luke got for your birthday--Stanley and Fuzzy Britches--you walk around holding them and saying, "Me-ow!"
You always want a stuffie in the car, a blanket in your lap.
You've--Luke too--gotten your colors and numbers so fast.
You--Luke too--love cottage cheese. And mac and cheese. And peanut butter and honey sandwhiches, which were my favorite as a kid. And milk, you especially.
You work with your brother to get your bath toys into the bath...he hands them to you and you put them in, it's so cute.
We call you "Sis" or "Miss Sis" or "Sissy Pants," Zoey too and "Zo-Zo," "Miss Zo."
With that shy, sweet beautiful smile, my heart just melts for you time after time, day after day. We love you so! You are such a gift and a joy!
XO
Mommy
St. Patty's Day
Hi Everybody! Happy Wednesday!
I know it's after the fact, but getting caught up on blog posts...and wanted to share some pictures of the kids on St. Patty's day...we (or they at least) dressed for the occasion...and they had such fun helping "Me-Ma" put together corned beef and cabbage...
XOXO
Luke and Zoey's Second Birthday
Hi Everyone! Happy Tuesday!
Luke and Zo turned two on March 15th, which just happened to be a Saturday, and was also exactly one year since we moved into our house.
Last year, the moving truck was here and we didn't know anyone, so it was a super low-key one-year-old birthday for the twins. This year, I wanted to do something...nothing too crazy...but a little party for them. I promised my husband I'd keep it small...small ended up being about 25 parents and kids, which was perfect.
My parents were down, which was so wonderful. We did a 4-6 PM BBQ and a few decorations, including balloons, which my dad helped me with:
The kids opened presents from Grammy and Papa early in the day, so they could start the day with something special:
The other decoration thing I did...I have all these dreams of being crafty but almost no spare time in which to execute...but still, I wanted to do something for the kids and this was perfect because it was quick and easy and totally customizable. I got this idea from A Beautiful Mess Photo Idea Book, (really cool book, by the way) and it's essentially picking fabrics, tearing strips, and tying those strips to a length of clothesline. Added bonus: the kids asked for a "Trucks and Foxes"-themed birthday, and not only is it impossible to find both trucks AND foxes together (which I expected), but also unless you want to do some licensed character (eg, Hello Kitty, Spider Man, etc.) there are not a lot of decorative options out there was my experience (which surprised me).
Anyway, my "Trucks and Foxes" banner:
My mom and dad and I took the dogs for a hike while the kids napped. Last snow of the season (I'm pretty sure) on the peaks:
After naps, we changed the kids into new clean clothes and got ready to welcome guests. My husband did all the cooking (green chile cheesburgers for the adults, mac and cheese, per the kids' request, for the kids.) Which meant I was free to hang out with the kids...so nice...
A nice little mix of friends from the mom's group I'm part of, the library story hour we go to every week, a friend of my husband's from work and his wife and young son...I'm sensitive about posting pics of other people's kids on the internet, so no party guest pictures here...
And then, after dinner, the cake, which my mother-in-law made...she was bummed it wasn't perfect (it's the first thing like this she's done) but I think it's amazing and I LOVE that they got a home-made cake, and how cute is the little fox in the fire engine ladder bucket?!?
Love these pictures of our little family...
A couple of weeks before the party, we started talking with the kids about their birthday. Once we'd given them the run-down, we'd ask what was going to happen and they'd say, "Cake!" "And ice cream!" "And Grammy and Papa!" "And friends!" (All said at loud volume with great enthusiasm.) The cake and ice cream and grandparents and friends did not disappoint.
We opened presents at the end, which turned into total chaos with two two-year-olds...but what a lot of sweet and cool presents they got.
And I'm going to do a whole post on this playhouse that the kid's Me-Ma (Grandma) custom-made to fit over our dining room table...it's amazing...but for now, here's a little sneak peek:
So, great birthday all around. Took some energy and effort, but I had a ton of help as always, and it was really important to me to make it special. (And it was.)
XOXO
P.S. Special thanks to my mom for most of these photos...
Luke and Zo: 23 Months
Hi Everyone! Happy Monday!
Luke and Zo's last month of being one-year-olds was pretty great, minus a few temper tantrums cropping up here and there and my overall exhaustion. (By the way, we really took it easy over the weekend, and yesterday was the first day I had some of my normal energy back, so I'm hopeful that things are getting somewhat back to normal.)
Anyway, a few stories and pictures of the kids...
Here they are on the cement horses outside of Flying Star, one of our favorite places to go eat. Grammy and Papa were here visiting for their birthday for a few days...this was one of their first days here. Papa decided to walk home after dinner, after the kids were all strapped in their car seats, and Sissy got so upset, cried crocodile tears over her Papa leaving...it was all we could do to calm her down letting her know Papa would be back in time to give her a kiss goodnight before she went to bed.
We're getting into a lot of the kids wanting to do the same thing at the same time. We've been setting the timer for 5 minutes, after which it's the other kid's turn for the object of desire. Also been doing a lot of "eenie meenie minie mo" to decide who goes first.
Funny story: The kids are getting into super heros because, well, their dad is their dad. We got ONE stuffed Spider Man one day this past month, and there was a total meltdown at bedtime because both kids wanted Spider Man. I was telling my Dad about it the next day, and he said, "Well, that's a lesson for someone...either the kids about sharing or your husband about how many toys to buy." We went and got another the next day...mostly we just have one of each toy, but sometimes it makes sense (and saves our sanity) to have two. (We had the kids with us when we went to get another, and when Luke saw it he said, so excited, "DADDY GET MORE SPIDER MAN!" over and over, it was so cute. And it's funny, the Spider Men look exactly the same, but the kids can tell them apart. Sometimes I'll give one to Sis, for instance, and she'll say, "No, Luke's" and won't be satisfied until I find hers.
The occasional treat still happens at Satellite Coffee, another one of our favorite spots (although this happens a lot less often as my husband and I are trying to eat super healthy):
And always looking for birds in the morning...there are some that come to drink out of the dog's water bowl so there's usually one or two to see.
Speaking of dogs, there is still a lot of interest in where Dexter is. "Dexter come back!" Luke said to me this morning.
And...what else...Luke is VERY cute with puzzles (and very good)...he tries each piece and says, "How about this one. No...... How about THIS one? No....... How about THIS one?" until he gets it right.
And the kids know their colors, and 1–10, and Luke the other day sang his ABCs start to finish and I was like, how in the heck do you know that? (It's their grandmother.) I'm not trying to brag about my kids, but I'm just amazed that any almost-two-year old can do this stuff. And I don't feel like we're trying that hard to teach them stuff...just integrating into our every day life, for example with colors, it's not a specific lesson, it's just me asking all the time, "What color is your juice?" (for example.) "What color is that car?" Etc.
Both kids are really, really into trucks.
Some cute things that Sissy says:
"Sissy happy!" (And Luke will say, "Luke happy too.")
"Sissy sad." (Luckily this is unusual.)
"Sissy busy!"
"Sissy by self!"
This last one is her trying to do things like dress or eat all by herself. This gets said A LOT, as well as Luke with his version, which is, "My turn! My turn!" often said with a frustrated hand wave.
Neither kid likes their food cut up any more...I ask them, "Do you want this banana" (for instance) "cut up or whole?" And they always say, "whole." And if they ask me to cut it and I do there is total baby meltdown, especially on Luke's part...they don't get that you can't just put it back together.
Luke especially likes to come visit me while I'm working in my home office in the afternoons, and he's very polite about it, knocking on the door first. I keep him as long as I can until he gets too disruptive. One thing I'd really like to do is to have some toys and cool things in my office, that they can sit on the guest bed and play with and as long as they let me work, they can stay with me. Think that would be fun.
The kids have Ugly Dolls that they call Bat Bat (there's gray Bat Bat and Pink Bat Bat and Blue Bat Bat and Baby Bat Bat). One night after dinner there were Bat Bat Wars with Daddy, which involved the kids getting pelted with Ugly Dolls and running around laughing hysterically.
They have both outgrown most of their clothes. Eeking it out 'til spring/summer.
Luke especially loves to be outside. "Luke go outside and play ball!" he says every day. Sis is good if it's warn, but she doesn't like the cold, so often wants to come in when it's chilly out, which is challenging because Luke wants to be out and we need them together.
They like to eat their lunch outside too, which I also like because it minimizes the mess. Think there'll be a lot of outside meals with the warmer weather.
Sis has been making faces... "Sissy funny face!" she'll say and pull her mouth out at the sides and stick her tongue out. Or, "Happy face!" Or, "Cow face!" By the way, the kids aren't scared of cows any more. Or the big red bird at Red Robin, who used to make them cry.
Oh gosh, these kids are just an absolute delight. Love them so, so much. And this is changing the subject, but wish there were going to be more children for us, but I'm pretty sure that's not going to happen. It's OK, I'm so, so, so very grateful I have Luke and Zo...
XOXO
Make the Ordinary Come Alive
Little Cloud Park
One of the cool things we've discovered recently is a little park in the foothills, about 15 minutes from our house called Little Cloud Park. Our little routine there looks like this:
First, we go play on the bunny statue:
Then, we run back to the playground equiptment and play: (The only negative--this isn't the safest playground structure for little kids...close supervision is needed.)
Then: picnic lunch on a cute kid-sized picnic table:
Some other great things about this park are that it's fenced, it's nice and big, there are grass and trees and the mountains right there...so pretty. Also the three times we've gone we've pretty much had the place to ourselves.
There are also little BBQ grills so I think it will be fun when the weather gets warmer to go as a family and do a cookout.
Happy Thursday!
XOXO
Grace in Small Things, March 17, 2014
Hi Everyone!
Sorry it's been kind of quiet around here...honestly, a lot going on and have been struggling a bit since Dexy died...and it's not about our dog per se...not really sure why...just a lot weighing on my mind, not sleeping well at all, lots of anxiety about all sorts of things right now for some reason, new work clients that I'm trying to get things running smoothly with, etc. etc. Went to the doctor today and am hoping I have something that will help with the sleep...that seems to be the place to start with all this. And a prescription to help with the anxiety if I need it, but I'm hoping sleeping better will make everything else more manageable.
That said, wanted to take a minute to write about some of the good things:
1) So incredibly lovely to have my parents here visiting last week. So fun to see Luke and Zo with them...they have such a great relationship with my parents...
2) Made it to the gym this morning despite a somewhat sleepless night. Glad I went...
3) My big work project for the week seems manageable...wasn't sure that was going to be the case...
4) I have a new black sweatshirt that I LOVE that's kept me warm and cozy on this cool late winter day...
5) My mother-in-law's got corned beef and cabbage cooking up for dinner...yum...
Hope all is well with all of you!
XOXO
Dexy
Hey Everyone.
It'll be two weeks tomorrow since we lost my brother Luke's (our) dog, and I just wanted to share a few things.
The kids didn't say anything at first, but have been very interested lately in where Dexter has been. I've been telling them the truth, Dexy got sick, Dexy died, we won't see Dexy again. They talk about it a lot, and sometimes Luke says "Dexter come home!" and today Sis said, "Dexy hiding!" It's been interesting trying to explain death to 2-year-olds. They're not sad, it's just kind of matter-of-fact to them...and perhaps that's how it should be to us, too, I don't know...
I'm sad, but not overwhelmingly so. I think because it's a dog, and it matters, but it's not the same as a person. And also having the time with him I think helped a lot. I am, however, absolutely exhausted and have been since Dex died...just can't seem to get my energy back.
The other thing I wanted to talk about...knowing Dexter was going to die (although we lost him sooner/faster than expected)...I tried really hard to live without regrets, so I wouldn't look back and say, for example gosh, I should have stopped work and taken my dog for a hike. I DID stop work and take my dog for a hike, many times, especially during the last couple months.
I had planned to take Dex out and take pictures of him the Wednesday before he died...but that afternoon everything started to go down, and we thought we were going to lose him that day and it wasn't that big a deal, the picture thing, but I was wishing I'd had a chance to take pictures. And then he got better (sort of), and the next day, Thursday, I took him and our other dog Newton on a nice hike, and got these photos of Dex at the end of it...so grateful to have these pictures, he doesn't even look sick and you can see how much character this dog has (had)...ridiculous amounts.
And then he died the next day...
Big sigh...
Love to you all...
A Day in the Life: Winter 2014 Edition
Hi Everyone! Happy Tuesday!
I took some pictures last week as we went about a pretty typical day. I wish I had more posts like this...things are always changing around here and it's fun to look back and see how our days unfolded.
This was a weekday...my weekdays usually involve a 4:30 AM wakeup to go to Crossfit with my husband, then coffee and as much work as I can squeeze in before the kiddos are ready to get up, somewhere between 7 and 8 (usually closer to 7 these days). They wake 6ish, but are usually pretty happy playing with each other for a while.
Here's how I found Miss Zo this particular morning:
Each kid gets some love and snuggles, and a diaper change. Luke's in a regular T-shirt as there was a diaper incident in the middle of the night and all his PJs are in the wash (there are a lot of nighttime diaper incidents lately for some reason.)
Then breakfast. They often share food. Sometimes they steal food from each other, when that happens I move their chairs far apart. But 95% of the time they're sweet to each other and I have them close together.
Sissy's always playing with her hair. And boy, does she ever love milk.
We've been having work done on our house and the kids love to see what's going on. "Watch men!" they say with great enthusiasm.
Then a reading session, usually involving library books.
And time with blocks. The pictures below...this is how their playroom usually looks, truth be told (I wish I kept it more organized). And they usually play as shown...same room, but doing their own thing...
Eventually everyone gets dressed. And brushes their teeth. Brushing their teeth in the shower seems to be the thing, I have no idea why, but don't see any reason to stop it.
Then, out for errands:
And lunch and some running around at the park:
Home for nap at 12. And then I sit down to work for the afternoon, although I'll often take a little break to get the kids up from their nap and give them a little snuggle. After that it's afternoon fun with "Me-Ma" (Grandma). They read and play outside, play with their toys, have a snack, sometimes help her cook something fun like banana bread. Here's Sis waking up from her nap...she doesn't wake up easy...
Afternoon snack:
The kids love it when Daddy gets home...they often snuggle with him in the bed for a little while, sometimes watching "Truck Beep" (You Tube videos of fire trucks driving down the road with sirens on...kids love it) or "Live Fox," ("What Does the Fox Say" on Jimmy Kimmel Live).
After Daddy time, dinner, which we all eat together (usually my husband or mother-in-law cooks, sometimes I do...I play with the kids during dinner prep). Then bath. Always bubbles in the bath. And toys. Kids are great about their bath.
And then PJs and tooth brushing, goodnight to Daddy and Me-Ma and then I rock them one at a time with just the nightlight in their room, Sissy first then Luke. I ask them what song they want me to sing and lately they both always say "Man in Moon" which is an old, old John Denver song, I think it's called "On the Road," where at the end it goes: "Go home, said the man in the moon, go home. Because it's getting sort of late, and I'll soon turn out my light..."
And then sleep for them, usually a little more work and getting everything ready for the morning for me and I try to be in bed by 8:30 or so because I never get enough sleep and I'm getting up so early these days.
Love our little routine...
XOXO
Dexter Died On Friday…And Luke Lives On...
Hi Everyone.
My brother Luke's dog, Dexter, who I inherited after Luke died, died on Friday. I may write about it later but the short of it is he had cancer, we treated it, we thought he'd have longer but treatment failed and then the end came very fast. I'm doing OK. Exhausted, mostly.
I was talking with my dad the next day, and he said, "I have something to send you, I hope it doesn't make you sad, it didn't make me sad, it felt really good."
What he sent was the picture at the end of this post.
But first, the story behind it:
My brother Luke had a retirement account when he died that went to my dad and generates a little bit of money each year. My parents have been donating some of that money to the outdoors program at the local college, earmarking it to be used by students while on outdoors trips for special activities that they wouldn't otherwise be able to afford. (Luke loved every imaginable sort of adventure.)
This picture--sent recently to my parents from that program--totally made my day...was exactly what I needed during a very sad time.
I hope it gives you all good feelings as well, especially those of you who knew Luke.
XOXO
Image credit: CMU.