Wednesday, December 31, 2014
new pet.
"mommy. i want to get a wolf as a pet. but not like a big, mean grown-up wolf. just a little baby wolf."
looking back.
we're two weeks in to the new year, so i thought it was high time i back-date a post and reflect a little bit on 2014.
2014 was pretty crazy, but i guess that's every year. we rolled into the year in a new house, bought a new car the last day of 2013. hollis turned one. emme turned four. we left the school the kids had been at since the beginning and started a new adventure at a new school. i took a new role at the same company in august. we traveled to louisiana a few times, to colorado once, and jb made some solo excursions to san diego, new york, wichita, and d.c. (maybe more?). we lost one of justin's uncles in a car accident. we fired our financial advisor for being the worst person ever. we had a bizarro scenario with a chair. i started running again (kind of), we ate out too much.
it was a fast year. so fast.
when the year started i wanted for it to be slower. or for us to be slower? it's hard to know how to begin to make that happen in this day and age...but i still want to try again, since i don't really feel successful. i think 2014 was the year i finally started to come out of the postpartum funk that i denied i was in after hollis....and that was positive. but i think i need to capitalize on that a lot more in 2015. my goals/plans for '15 are a separate post, but a lot of them are similar to what i wanted when 2014 began...and i don't feel like i/we achieved everything we wanted to.
it's easy to get complacent, to make excuses. we are busy. the kids are little. we work a lot, our jobs are demanding, the kids need us constantly, the house requires a lot of work and thought, and etc. etc. etc. but somehow we have the same number of hours each week as everyone else. and we found time to sit and watch the entire breaking bad series, to read some trashy YA novels, to nap and ignore chores and leave the house in a state of disarray for days on end. all of that is ok, but i think it's time to stop putting off what we really want (in the long term) in favor of what we want right now.
here's to a fresh start.
2014 was pretty crazy, but i guess that's every year. we rolled into the year in a new house, bought a new car the last day of 2013. hollis turned one. emme turned four. we left the school the kids had been at since the beginning and started a new adventure at a new school. i took a new role at the same company in august. we traveled to louisiana a few times, to colorado once, and jb made some solo excursions to san diego, new york, wichita, and d.c. (maybe more?). we lost one of justin's uncles in a car accident. we fired our financial advisor for being the worst person ever. we had a bizarro scenario with a chair. i started running again (kind of), we ate out too much.
it was a fast year. so fast.
when the year started i wanted for it to be slower. or for us to be slower? it's hard to know how to begin to make that happen in this day and age...but i still want to try again, since i don't really feel successful. i think 2014 was the year i finally started to come out of the postpartum funk that i denied i was in after hollis....and that was positive. but i think i need to capitalize on that a lot more in 2015. my goals/plans for '15 are a separate post, but a lot of them are similar to what i wanted when 2014 began...and i don't feel like i/we achieved everything we wanted to.
it's easy to get complacent, to make excuses. we are busy. the kids are little. we work a lot, our jobs are demanding, the kids need us constantly, the house requires a lot of work and thought, and etc. etc. etc. but somehow we have the same number of hours each week as everyone else. and we found time to sit and watch the entire breaking bad series, to read some trashy YA novels, to nap and ignore chores and leave the house in a state of disarray for days on end. all of that is ok, but i think it's time to stop putting off what we really want (in the long term) in favor of what we want right now.
here's to a fresh start.
Tuesday, December 30, 2014
happy birthday daddy.
justin's birthday goes by the wayside a lot. not entirely, because we always do something...but having a birthday four days before christmas when there are small children in your house and work schedules, etc. to contend with is a recipe for less than amazing bday action.
anyway. this year jb turned the big 34. officially mid-30s land. the kids and i woke up and tried to let him sleep in a little bit. we picked up a bagel and a gingerbread latte to bring him in bed. then we loaded up the kids and pups and went to explore allen park - a hiking trail on 10 acres right around the corner from our house that we never knew about. it was rad. it was kind of a dreary day, but we made the most of the fresh air. then we went to trudy's for some lunch and headed home. the kids napped and we rested and then i sent justin on a mission with the kids to get away from the house. he strolled them to the park and i told him they had to be gone at least 45 minutes.
while they were out, i scrambled around to get everything ready. i packed wine and water and tea lights in mason jars and brie in puff pastry, along with lots of other yummy snacky/dinner items. when they got back, miss crystal arrived to babysit, and i brought justin down to auditorium shores. we laid out our blankets on a hill overlooking downtown all lit up. it was pretty chilly and windy, but we made the most of it and it was nice to be outside and get a chance to visit without being interrupted 94 times each minute.
after "dinner", we went to uchiko for some fried milk for dessert. it was heavenly, as always.
someday we'll do something really spectacular to make up for all the mediocre years of daddy's birthday. until then, we're really lucky he's such a good sport about it all.
anyway. this year jb turned the big 34. officially mid-30s land. the kids and i woke up and tried to let him sleep in a little bit. we picked up a bagel and a gingerbread latte to bring him in bed. then we loaded up the kids and pups and went to explore allen park - a hiking trail on 10 acres right around the corner from our house that we never knew about. it was rad. it was kind of a dreary day, but we made the most of the fresh air. then we went to trudy's for some lunch and headed home. the kids napped and we rested and then i sent justin on a mission with the kids to get away from the house. he strolled them to the park and i told him they had to be gone at least 45 minutes.
while they were out, i scrambled around to get everything ready. i packed wine and water and tea lights in mason jars and brie in puff pastry, along with lots of other yummy snacky/dinner items. when they got back, miss crystal arrived to babysit, and i brought justin down to auditorium shores. we laid out our blankets on a hill overlooking downtown all lit up. it was pretty chilly and windy, but we made the most of it and it was nice to be outside and get a chance to visit without being interrupted 94 times each minute.
after "dinner", we went to uchiko for some fried milk for dessert. it was heavenly, as always.
someday we'll do something really spectacular to make up for all the mediocre years of daddy's birthday. until then, we're really lucky he's such a good sport about it all.
name calling.
"mommy. how about today i call you monty? and you can call me callie. or maybe we can call you miss shireen."
Monday, December 29, 2014
holiday pageant.
the kids' school put on a holiday pageant where each class got up on stage and sang songs. it was super cute. the teachers worked really hard to get everyone ready and we loved the whole process of them practicing at home every day leading up to the actual event.
hollis was not thrilled at all to be on stage. the festivities started at like 4:30 and by the time we got to that point, he was basically done. he lasted all of two minutes before one of his teachers rescued him and returned him to my arms. sigh. maybe next year.
emme, on the other hand, really embraced the experience. she had a lot of stage fright at her dance recital last year, but maybe because she is really comfortable at school, she was all about it for this performance. she knew the songs and was super enthusiastic with the hand gestures and moves. i was just so proud that she had so much fun up there and we loved watching her.
at the end, santa came up on stage to hand out gifts to the "big" kids. they did a kind of secret santa gift exchange thing with their classmates, so that was really cute. ek said she was going to hug santa, but when the time came, she wasn't ready for it. she did accept her gift graciously and tell santa thank you, though, so that's a big improvement over her santa reactions from previous years (which are treasures we hold dear).
hollis was not thrilled at all to be on stage. the festivities started at like 4:30 and by the time we got to that point, he was basically done. he lasted all of two minutes before one of his teachers rescued him and returned him to my arms. sigh. maybe next year.
emme, on the other hand, really embraced the experience. she had a lot of stage fright at her dance recital last year, but maybe because she is really comfortable at school, she was all about it for this performance. she knew the songs and was super enthusiastic with the hand gestures and moves. i was just so proud that she had so much fun up there and we loved watching her.
at the end, santa came up on stage to hand out gifts to the "big" kids. they did a kind of secret santa gift exchange thing with their classmates, so that was really cute. ek said she was going to hug santa, but when the time came, she wasn't ready for it. she did accept her gift graciously and tell santa thank you, though, so that's a big improvement over her santa reactions from previous years (which are treasures we hold dear).
'tis the season.
the kids (and we) have loved the holidays this year. between reading all the christmas books we have (the grinch and the polar express and the elf book are faves this year), doing the activities in our advent drawers, drinking hot chocolate, baking desserts, getting ready for the holiday party (more about that later), and wearing christmas jammies, it's been a really fun season.
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| justin cleaned out the shed and it's a constant dance party. |
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| performing their own rendition of the ballet while watching the nutcracker on tv. |
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| icy blasts for the whole family. Are are |
thanksgiving.
since i'm at least a month behind, let's take it back to november. this year we drove to louisiana for thanksgiving. it was a great holiday. thanksgiving is always my favorite...i love the foods and the weather and the mellow-ness. there's no intense agenda (or, in my mind, there shouldn't be) and i am usually remarkably relaxed that week.
anyway. we got there tuesday night around 10 and the kids were super tired. they were going to share a bed at kk and jj's house for the first time ever, so we got them situated. it wasn't completely smooth sailing, but it was way better than i expected. i ended up sleeping kind of on the floor, kind of on the air mattress with them that night, but all the nights after that went great. they are actually still sleeping together in emme's bed at our house now that we're all back home, so i guess that's what we'll call success!
wednesday was low key and fun. we hung at the house, ate judice inn for lunch, and mom and i ran a bunch of errands to get the last-minute items for the feast. late afternoon/early evening, dad and i left to get ready for our 5K - we ran the gleaux run in river ranch and the kids, jb, mom, and joe came to cheer us on. i was super proud of my dad - he hasn't been running as consistently lately, but he totally kept up and the two of us finished right under 30 minutes. when registering, whoever inputted our info into the computers translated my dad's age (62) as 82, so we had many laughs about him winning the octogenarian category.
thursday was thanksgiving day and we piled on the food and fun. my grandmother and uncle arrived around 11, then our friend margaret, her son collins, and my brother got there shortly thereafter. my mom made all our faves - cornbread dressing, greenbean casserole, sweet potato souffle, mac n cheese, broccoli/rice casserole, these heavenly flaky rolls, fried AND smoked turkey...i feel like there may have been more, but every single thing was delicious. hollis napped for approximately three hours through most of the eating, but emme was happy with the extra attention. she invented some games and had everyone outside obeying her instructions. that kid.
after the guests left on thursday, mom and i made our traditional turkey & sausage gumbo with the leftover thanksgiving turkey. it turned out soooo good this year - extra thick roux and the turkey was smokey with just enough of a kick.
friday, several people came over for gumbo and hanging out. there were lots of kids and lots of eating (again). oh, louisiana. at around 4 or 4:30, we all loaded up in our cars and headed to the "zoosiana", aka the zoo of acadiana. they had it all decked out with lights, santa, a nighttime train ride, etc. the kids had an absolute blast. my aunt and uncle's au pere from when their kids were little was there with her husband and kids, and emme really got along with pima.
saturday morning, jb and i packed up our gear and hit the road back to austin. the kidlets stayed in lafayette with my parents and had a blast. mom and dad rented a fun jump for them for two days, they went for walks with arlo, read books, played with other kids, had visitors, watched movies, and generally had the kind of awesome time you're supposed to have during a week away from your parents.
we drove back the following friday for a wedding. it was so good to see the kids again - time away was unbelievable, of course, but by the third day i was definitely missing them. super proud of how good they were and how great my parents did keeping up with them!
*a quick note on the (overload of) pictures. taking family portraits where everyone is looking at the camera is basically impossible. we had several attempts at getting a christmas-card-worthy shot of my parents and the kidlets, and a couple other attempts with my grandmother and the four generations, etc. if children are not hysterical and anyone is looking remotely at the camera, it's a win, really. also, i don't understand how there are no pics of justin. i mean, i do because i'm the WORST about picking up the camera, but man. sorry about that.
wednesday was low key and fun. we hung at the house, ate judice inn for lunch, and mom and i ran a bunch of errands to get the last-minute items for the feast. late afternoon/early evening, dad and i left to get ready for our 5K - we ran the gleaux run in river ranch and the kids, jb, mom, and joe came to cheer us on. i was super proud of my dad - he hasn't been running as consistently lately, but he totally kept up and the two of us finished right under 30 minutes. when registering, whoever inputted our info into the computers translated my dad's age (62) as 82, so we had many laughs about him winning the octogenarian category.
saturday morning, jb and i packed up our gear and hit the road back to austin. the kidlets stayed in lafayette with my parents and had a blast. mom and dad rented a fun jump for them for two days, they went for walks with arlo, read books, played with other kids, had visitors, watched movies, and generally had the kind of awesome time you're supposed to have during a week away from your parents.
we drove back the following friday for a wedding. it was so good to see the kids again - time away was unbelievable, of course, but by the third day i was definitely missing them. super proud of how good they were and how great my parents did keeping up with them!
*a quick note on the (overload of) pictures. taking family portraits where everyone is looking at the camera is basically impossible. we had several attempts at getting a christmas-card-worthy shot of my parents and the kidlets, and a couple other attempts with my grandmother and the four generations, etc. if children are not hysterical and anyone is looking remotely at the camera, it's a win, really. also, i don't understand how there are no pics of justin. i mean, i do because i'm the WORST about picking up the camera, but man. sorry about that.
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