Independence Day 2012

In the craziness of last week, it appears I forgot to post pictures of our 4th of July Celebration.  I made buttermilk soaked fried chicken, corn bread and my mom made macaroni salad.  It became apparent as we sat down to eat that we are not Southern cooking fans.  Or atleast I am no Southern chef.  It was all fine, we just didn't like it.  So live & learn.  I did make homemade vanilla ice cream and my mom made a berry cobbler which were excellent.  With the menu mentioned, we did swim all day and enjoyed my mom's company.  I put sparklers in the girl's ice cream to introduce them to fireworks.  This is their first year seeing them...well, sparklers atleast.  At first they weren't sure about them, but as I gave them more to try they had a bunch of fun with them.  Surely they were sparkler experts by round six or so.  It was a fun day.  Maybe, just maaaybe next year they can stay up and watch the fireworks show.  But this year, they were tucked in bed way before it started.  We were able to see it from Tumbleweed Park while sitting by our pool.

Girls Trip

I had a wonderful time away this weekend with my friends from sorority at CSU Chico.  We played by the pool, went wine tasting in Amador County, had an awesome dinner at one of my favorite restaurants called Il Fornio, I got to see the Capitol building (my old stomping grounds), went to the movies to see Magic Mike and enjoyed talk, talk, talk.  All things you don't get to do with children around.  It was really fun and great to be with my true friends.  When we get together it it like no time has passed and we pick up right where we left off.  Facebook does help to keep us all connected and updated with what we are doing with our lives.  But it is super fun to actually be together. Great time!  Looking forward to April in NYC for a half marathon together.  Oh My!  (I should mention that yes, I am the shortest one!  Ugh!)





 

Haether, Ann & Me

Heather & Charity...a bit down the road of wine tasting.

Ann, Heather, Charity, Me (Jen taking pic)

Me, Ann, Heather, Tracy, Charity, Jen



A fav of mine.  Yum!



Me with the Capitol in the distance

EMERGENCY LANDING

Yesterday turned out to be much more than Brian bargained for on his way to work.  He was scheduled on his normal Intel shuttle flight which leaves out of Gilbert, AZ around 6am to head up to Hillsboro, OR for a few days to get his board all up an working completely.  I really wasn't looking forward to him being gone since I had been gone all weekend.  I would miss him after 6 days.  We always say goodbye and hug and confess our love when he leaves for the shuttle.  I just don't like the flight time.  I know it's safe, but I like him on the ground much better.  He always texts me to to tell me he has boarded and I usually anxiously await for the next 2 hours to get his text that he landed.  Instead, I get a text with pictures from the plane of several emergency vehicles following the plane and a message saying they had to emergency land.  Yes, EMERGENCY LAND.  At that point it was still early and I needed to get the girls up and fed and to yoga class.  I knew it was a big deal, but I didn't panic because, well, obviously he was fine.  He kept me updated throughout the morning of the status of the plane and him departing back to Oregon.  Yes, he was ready to get back on the same plane and still head up north.  My brave husband. 

My attitude completely changed when he got home that evening.  The flight was cancelled and he spent the day at his normal office here in Chandler.  It changed because I got the complete story. 

Here it goes:
They take off.  Hear a weird sound, but it stops.  Flight attendant gets a call from pilot.   The pilots notify the passengers that they have been instructed to do an emergency landing back at the Gilbert airport and they will be heading back.  BUT, not before they have to burn off fuel for THIRTY MINUTES in the air!  The flight attendant is preparing passengers for what to do upon landing, how to open the doors, how to brace, makes them practice, tapes all the overhead bins closed, trains someone to do her job in case she becomes incapacitated.  Yeah, the whole thing.  But back to my THIRTY MINUTE deal...not only did he have to fly in a plane that no one knows what is wrong with it, but to "burn" the fuel they went back and forth over Chandler and Queen Creek and directly over our house...several times!  Can you imagine what was going through his mind..."well, there's my family in that house."  No thank you!  Brian said people were texting family members and crying.  He consciously choose not to call or text me because he just didn't want to put me through it too.  That is a very strong decision in my opinion.  Not one that I know if I could have done, but one that I respect and now appreciate.  The plane landed fine, but was out of commission for the day.  No fires, no skidding.  Just a long coast to a stop because they didn't use the thrust. 
I'm happy it all had a happy ending...I was a bit freaked for the rest of the night a a bit today.  But mostly thankful to the Intel pilots for doing their job and bringing my husband home safely. 

My next worry, he gets back on the plane tomorrow morning.  Oy. 

Girls Getaway

I'm heading out of town tomorrow for a girls weekend away with mixed feelings.  I have never left Hailey and have only left Paige once.  That was to have a girls weekend with these same women.  They are my sorority sisters from college and we all still have that bond of even though it's been a couple years, we can pick right up where we left off.  True friendship.  So while I'm super excited to get away and spend some time with them and be actually be away from children...at the same time I'm nervous about leaving them.  Just silly things enter my mind, like what if my plane crashes, or what if they need something and my mom or Brian can't find it in the house, or what if they just need mama who has that gut instinct of what they are thinking or feeling to make them feel better?  Silly, I know.  They will Brian and Nanny!  It really can't get better than that.  They are the two other people or love them more than anything in the world.  But still, my feelings are there.  I'll let you know how the trip was and how much fun we have!  Very excited for that.  Ahhhh....

Swim Lessons for Both

Today we started swim lessons for both girls at Hamilton Aquatics Center.  I was finally able to get online in time to get spots for both in classes at the same time.  So Paige is doing the Duck class again, she didn't finish the one earlier in the summer, and Hailey and I are doing the Parent/Toddler class.  Both did really well and said they liked it.  So we will return for the next two weeks at 8:30am each morning. 

Imaginiation & Freud

Paige is starting to show signs of a Freudian phase.  She came down wearing some silver dress heels that I have and said she was going to get married.  I asked her who she was going to marry and of course, she said, "Dada. Becuase I love him." Sooo sweet.  She walked around all weekend describing her dress, earrings, shoes, ring, etc.  The earrings will be trees with brown & green sparklies.  Her ring will be a sparkle white diamond.  Her shoes (the dress heels of mine) are "golden"...for some reason she gets gold and silver mixed up still.  I don't think she described her dress, excpet that it would be long.  Love watching the imagination work.  She's at a really fun age and I love that she wants to marry Brian.  I did! 

Water slide playdate

It was a wonderful day today.  One of the moms in our playgroup, who is also a new friend of mine, got a great deal on Groupon for a water slide and a snow cone machine.  So she invited the playgroup to go in on it with her for our kiddos to have a great time.  And to boot...we got to host it at our house!  We had the slide for 3 hours this morning and all the kiddos had a blast!  I think even the mama's did too.  For the slide, they climbed up the back and were able to slide down into a little pool at the bottom.  Paige and Hailey each had thier first snow cones too.  The snow cone machine worked great.  Such lucky kiddos to have such fun things to do in thier own back yard!

Hailey in front of the slide

Hailey eating her first snow cone. 
Bubble gum flavor!

 

Paige eating her frist snow cone.

The girls with thier friend Ryan. 



Ryan coming down the slide.  Weeee!

Nate and Eli hanging out at the bottom.

New Yorker Article

http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2012/07/02/120702crbo_books_kolbert

I had two friends post this article on thier Facebook pages today and I read it as soon as I could this morning.  Very interesting!  Not really something I didn't think already...because I tend to harbor the idea or theory that if you involve children they will learn much quicker.  This is for sure the Montessori method of giving the child the opporutinity to do somehting on their own and then showing them how do it.  I think the Waldorf exposure will give them a bit of this too, but instead from a different perspective, one of seeing things from beginning to end.  An example is the sheep.  They will care for the sheep, shear the sheep, spin the wool, dye the wool, knit the wool, etc to a finished product at the Waldorf school.  This article seems to highlight these truths and cirsumstances. 
However, I have to say the comparisons of the two cultures, that of the Peruvian Amazon and those who habitat in Los Angeles, CA are in such stark contrast that it is difficult to compare.  Here in the US we have so many different "opporutinites" given to us, survival is not necessaruly our first course of action for the day.  Whereas the tribe spent thier observed time "camping," gathering leaves to build homes and fishing for the food they ate.  The lifestyles are extremely different. 
I agree that in our lifestyle we need to step back and take on some primitve methods when it comes to raising our children.  We seem to be in such a rush to get things done, to go places or devour more knowldge that we have forgotten to take a breath, and realize that our children are just that, children and take a bit longer to do things than our lifestyle sometimes allows.  The little girl in the article had all day to gather the crustations, sweep the mats, etc.  I've observed parents and sometimes find myslef rushing the girls out the door to get somewhere "on time."  I am guitly of it, but try so hard not not allow myself to do this to the girls.
Knowing this makes me so glad I have choosen to be a SAHM for them.  Most of the time, we have time to explain, teach and observe our girls so they can do things for themselves to get out the door.  Be it getting dressed, putting on thier shoes, brushing htier teeth, etc.  I allow them the time to do these things for themselves because it is important for self esteem and survival for them to be able to do this.
With all that said, as much as I want the girls to be self suffiencent and to learn to care for themselves, they are still my babies!  I love to take care of them, do things for them, surprise them with love and trinkets.  We are at a point in time in our society where children are cherished not thought of as work hands.  I am grateful to live in this time period in the US.  I see childhood as something that doesn't last long and they should enjoy it.  I think that is a perk of our society, one where you actually do get to be a child when you are one.  I want to make thier childhood full of memories, fun times, experiences, and knowledge to help enrich thier adult lives.  So I do, do things for them that they could do for themselves.  Such as combing thier hair and putting it in cute ponytails or making thier meals (I do enlist thier help, but I haven't made them master the tasks yet).
With all of that said, this article did make me think and gave me something fun to ponder for the day.  I enjoy Facebook to see posts like this.  We all have our own opinions, this is a sparkle of mine on the subject. 

Cooking

In my efforts to stay inside at the hottest time of the day, I have been having the girls "help" me make dinner.  They actaully have been very good helpers, no quotes needed.  The other night they buttered the bread and last night they stirred the milk on the stove to make homemade ice cream.  Yum!

More melted crayons

The last melted crayon experiment was good, but I did loose a muffin tin because I couldn't get them out.  So I bought a dollar bin rubber ice tray and waited for a hot day.  The high temp today was predicted to be 111.  The official temp is not recorded yet, well, because today is not over.  We broke up the crayons and arranged them by color and put them outside on the picnic table.  Three measly hours later, they were completely melted.  We brought them in, put them in the fridge to cool and then popped them out.  This created a couple hours of coloring play and a bit of time for mama to clean up and get things done.  Love little projects like this that they get to do and then play with the results.  I have another batch on the picnic table already for tomorrow's heat... predicted high...109. 

Before

Melted

Coppertone

I think I might have just exhibited a one of THOSE moms or THAT mom moment.  I entered both in the Little Miss Coppertone Contest.  The winner gets a dream family vacation (still haven't figured out to where) and will be featured in a Coppertone print ad.  These are the pictures I submitted.  I'll hopefully be begging for you all to vote for them in another week or so.  Wish us luck! 

Paige

Hailey

Waldorf Tour

We toured the local Waldorf school today.  It is an amazing campus.  12 acres of beautiful gardens, farm, pond, barns, playgrounds and classrooms.  The preschool and kindergarten classes are beautiful and are a straw construction so the ambiance was really neat with all the natural wood items in them.  The girls went right to playing with the blocks and the kitchen when we entered.  They both loved sitting on the round rug too.  I'm really excited to be part of the playgroup they offer once a week with both girls.  I think they are going to love it and really learn to use their imaginations.  We will do this in addition to the Montessori education.  With Montessori they will get the academics they need to excel in mainstream school and with Waldorf they learn to think abstractly and imaginatively, which I think will enhance their life and creativity.  So many opportunities for them.  I'm excited to expose them. 

In one classroom they found a trumpet

BIG pig

One of 3 goats

The duck pond with natural stone benches
for an outdoor classroom

Goblets

My mom has goblets from the infamous Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo, CA.  Because it's so near where I grew up I went there quite often as a child.  They have an awesome restaurant and of course most have heard about the bathroom decor.  I even spent my prom night there.  It's quite a place.  Tonight at dinner with with my mom, auntie and her friend Cindy, I let the girls take their first drinks from these goblets.  I know they will inherit them one day, so it'll be fun to begin recording pictures of them drinking from them as they grow.  These are the first.  Here, they are drinking water.  Let's keep it that way!  :) 
 

CarSeats

I've been meaning to record this for about a week now and I'm finally getting around to it.  Paige is buckling her own car seat!  She still needs a bit of assistance in getting the metal buckles in the push button buckle between her legs but she can definitely do the chest harness buckle.  Of course, Hailey has had to start practicing too and can do the chest harness buckle herself now too.  This truly is a HUGE milestone for me, as getting them in and out of the car is about a 10 minute ordeal.  It's actually longer right now with them practicing, but I know as they get better at it, it will get shorter and shorter.  My babes are growing up! 

Sleeping Babes

I don't get many pictures of them sleeping because I firmly believe in the philosophy of "never wake a sleeping babe."  I think it's because I'm so old and cherish the time I have alone.  But I also think that sleep helps them to grow.  However this week I did sneak in a couple pics of them napping.  They are the most precious things to me. 

Hailey (Still in a crib. 
Those sheets were on my crib
when I was a baby.)

Paige (Yes, still with a
pacifier for sleeping.  Ugh!)

A Day in History

Today was a day of history for certain.  Most important, it was Paige's first day back to school.  It's a been a full year that she has been in Montessori school.  She has grown and matured so much in the last year.  She knows quite a few letters and sounds, she's starting to write her name, she can count to 20, and she has learned lots of science in social studies including planets, America, and plants.  We think this is excellent for only going 6-8 hours a week.  She was pretty excited to see Mrs. Hamilton again (they've been on a 2 week break) and her friends.  This summer the theme for school is Australian Adventure.  Today she told us the "Australia means bugs."  I really don't know where this correlation came from, but somehow that's what she interpreted. 

Paige & Hailey

Paige 1st Day 2012

Paige 1st Day 2011

In front of her school's sign

The sign on her classroom
door with Hailey

Also today in history, Venus passed across the face of the Sun.  This event won't happen again for another 105 years.  I hope both girls live long enough to see it again.  Another marker in history today was celebrated in England for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee which recognized 60 years of reign for Queen Elizabeth.  Only one other English monarch that reached this time marker was Queen Victoria in 1897.  I had the ceremony turned on this morning for the girls to watch, but I didn't get to explain as instead I was cleaning up an accident that Woolly had in the middle of the night.  (Life of a mom!)  So hopefully Queen Elizabeth gets to celebrate a 70th Jubilee and the girls will be older to enjoy the pomp & circumstance of it all. 

Play dough

We made play dough today from scratch.  It really wasn't that difficult and I think the girls really like it because they got to play with something they made.  They played with it several times throughout the day.  They even made star cookies and put them in their oven to bake them.  Such great imaginations and imitation!  I love it!  Learn, learn, learn!  Here's the link to the recipe I used. 

Swim Lessons 2012

I signed the girls up for swim lessons this session through the City.  I got Paige into her class, but we're still on the wait list for Hailey's class called "Parent/Toddler".  So Hailey and I waited for Paige at the pool while Paige had her lesson.  I put Paige in the highest level I could for her age 3-6 yo.  It's called the "Duck" level.  However, she is waaaaayyy too advanced for it.  She already dives into the deep end of the pool, swims underwater, blows bubbles, dives underwater for dive rings and can swim the length of our pool by herself.  But, I put her in the class to learn to take directions from a teacher and to be around other kiddos.  She did well, but instead of scooting off the side of the wall into the pool, she cannonballed, instead of taking a few strides to the teacher from the wall she breast stroked to her, and then swam back to the wall underwater.   She's definitely advanced for the class.  The manager of the pool let me put her in the next level for 4-9 yo called "Seahorses" for the next session.  I'm thinking she'll like that much better.  But for now, she's a Duck and hopefully we can get Hailey in the class next session too! 

Before lessons started

Paige listening to the teacher holding on the the wall. 
BORING!

My play baby blankets

The girls have both really been into playing with their baby dolls lately.  We got a couple hand me downs from a friend of mine along with a blanket and a carrier and since then they have both been doing the nurturing baby play.  They feed them, give them bottles of milk, give them hugs, put them to bed, etc.  It's really sweet.  They even each have been taking one to bed with them.  So tonight I remembered that I had some of the baby doll blankets that I played with as a child in my Hope Chest.  The blankets were all hand made by my own mother (except for the Cabbage Patch Kid sleeping bag) which makes them extra special to me.  I set them outside of their bedroom doors with some babies that didn't quite make it upstairs tonight before the girl's own bedtime.  I'm excited for them to wake up and see them in the morning. 

The blankets

nestled in for bed

waiting outside Hailey's door

waiting outside Paige's door