Maine, beautiful Maine...

I've been in Maine for the week. My Super-hero husband took our children for a whole week so I could come back to Maine (by myself!) and spend some time with my family. I missed the foliage peak by about a week but the colors are still impressive. Every day I ooohed and awwwed over every leaf and tree. I took walks around my old neighborhood, kicking the piles of leaves and stuffing my pockets with bits of orange, red and yellow. My Mother and sisters believe the foliage will be enough to draw me back to Maine eventually--don't tell them--but no amount of stunning color could warm me through another New England winter. I'll just have to make the flight back every fall...

It has been a week and I miss my husband and children terribly. I have had a great time here but I am ready to go home.

Hip-Hip-Horay for Football...

We met up with some friends who we knew as students at Stanford. (The men-folk were in the GSB together and both of our families have three children of similar ages.) Anyway, these dear friends moved east after graduation and we had not seen them in a few years. They moved back to the area this summer and we have been so happy to have them here! It was a fun game and even more fun to try and catch up over the yelling of the crowd. Happily, Stanford won!!! They have a perfect record--at home. Which is good for us because our kids get so heart broken when Stanford looses. Go Stanford!

Check out Lorien and her friends. They made up a cheer for Stanford and repeated it over and over and over again. (The rolled up pants are a nice touch too.) Funny girls.

Baby, Baby, Baby...

A few weeks ago I cracked open our attic and hauled down all of the packed away baby clothes. I am not pregnant--nor are we thinking about getting pregnant--I just thought it was a chore that needed to be done. (Fast forward two and a half weeks) All of those bags and boxes of clothes were still sitting in my garage taking up the very limited floor space. So, yesterday I brought all of the clothes into the living room and, while the kids watched Spongebob, sorted the clothes into appropriate piles by size, sex and stain level. Lorien and Clare had a blast looking at all of the clothes they wore as teeny tiny babies. They even opened their baby books to find pictures of them in the smallest outfits imaginable. Wyatt was more focused on the yellow sea sponge dancing on the TV screen.

Will and I feel very confident in saying we will add one more child to our family. We also feel it is mildly possible we could up our numbers by two and that it is a near universal impossibility that we will add three, four or more chicks to the brood. However, we stand at three kids and feel pretty darn comfortable. Clare is potty trained for goodness sake! I can take the kids out and about with out worrying about a baby's nap schedule. In many ways the challenges of children are getting easier. I know we haven't hit the miserable road of teenagers yet--surely the challenges of raising three teenagers will seem like a typhoon compared to the overcast sky of raising three young children...

So, all those baby clothes are going back up into the attic today. There they will sit folded, organized and labeled until we can (or ever will) rally the courage to try for another baby.

Dinner game...

Last night at dinner Will invented a new question game to play with the kids. He is really good at entertaining the kids while encouraging them to eat the meal they find repulsive--which is great for me because by dinner time I am ready to give all three to the circus. Anyway, Will started asking the question: "Which is smarter?" and then listed two objects. Just check out some of their responses and reasoning--you'll be playing the game at the dinner table in no time.

Which is smarter, a mushroom or a piece of fruit? Lorien: "I think a mushroom is smarter. Because a mushroom can make itself poisonous so no one will eat it--but a fruit is just delicious to everyone so everyone will eat it."

Which is smarter, a piece of bread or a piece of pie? Wyatt: "A piece of pie is more smart because there are lots of parts to a pie and they can all think together."

Which is smarter, a piece of bread or Clare? All of us: "Clare!" Clare: "A piece of bread!"

Will wanted me to point out, that he got the idea for the game because (naturally) the big kids were teasing each other saying: "You are dumber than a house." "Well, you are dumber than a worm." on and on...

Thank heaven, for little girls...

I've been in girley heaven for the last week. Clare started a ballet class through the rec. center. Every day she puts on her leotard and ballet slippers and asks me to put her hair in a bun. Then I get to sit on the couch while she dances all around the living room. She is sweet stuff!

In addition, I introduced Lorien and Clare to the glory of clip on earrings. They both love to add dangely glitter to their dress-up's.

The Orange Balloon and The Mighty Evan...

The pictures tell the whole story, don't they? Wyatt got an orange, helium balloon from preschool last week. Some how, even though the balloon was tied with 2 plastic weights, the balloon ended up in the red wood tree? No one knew what to do, until Uncle David remembered one of the many daring tricks in Evan's trick set. Equipped with a dowel, balancing bravely on his father's hands, Evan managed to pull the balloon out of the tree. Way to go Bud, way to go.

Of course there are more pictures of the other kids trying the same trick...what else would you expect from my husband and his brother?

Woah!

I have a reading recommendation for you. Not too long ago I finished one of the best books I have read in a very long time. My words will be inadequate in describing how entrapping the story was or how well the author wrote so look up some reviews if you have the time. The book is not Twilight--while I did read that book a few months ago--I will probably loose a few friends in saying--Twilight was not that great. I liked that the author is a Mormon Mommy trying to keep up with her writing and all but I just didn't love the story. No, no, if you want a really gripping read pick up The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield. Better yet, if you can get the book on audio file, listen to it while doing the dishes or folding laundry. The narrators are entertainingly spooky. The story is a great throw-back to British lit. complete with an estate on the moors, elaborate gardens, twisted passages and family secrets. Ugh-my mind is still going over the story and I cannot wait to listen to/read it again. I will warn the Thirteenth Tale is not a love story and it has its fair share of unsettling family drama but the story is so interesting, I cannot say enough good things about it. Happy reading (or listening)!

News from September...

We are only two weeks into September (my favorite month) and already so much has happened.

First up: Will decided he had changed his last poopy diaper and it was past time to potty train Clare. I felt like I could change diapers for another six months or so. As a result, Will got Clare potty trained! Clare is very proud of her success and we are all proud of her efforts. I realized for the first time in almost seven years, I would not be planning my furniture around a diaper basket and a place to change a baby.

Next: Lorien started first grade! We had an awesome summer but were all happy to see Lorien back at school. Lorien has had a good start to the school year--her only complaint is not enough work. Don't worry sweetie, you'll have work enough before you know it.
Also: We found a great preschool program for Wyatt! I have been fretting about preschool for years. A friend from Lorien's school told me about a woman in our neighborhood who runs a small preschool out of her home. The price is reasonable, the children friendly and the teacher engaging.

Last: I got one year older--yipee! About a week before my birthday I picked out a cute pink blazer as my birthday present. I found the blazer in a magazine and tore out the picture to order online. Unfortunately, I lost the scrap of paper. Sorry for the lost of my most desired present Lorien decided to make me a blazer for my birthday. Check out the picture, she did a great job!

Not to be out done, Wyatt also made me a new bracelet for my birthday. Those kids sure are creative and crafty! Thank you Lorien and Wyatt!!! Lorien and Wyatt were so excited for my birthday they both woke up at 6:00 in the morning to make their preparations. When I got out of bed (at a more reasonable hour) one of our living room chairs was decorated with scraps of pretty fabric and present bags. Lorien placed a note on the chair that read: "Dere momy I wok up wryly wryly rlly to make you a Brth Day char love Lorien" accompanied by many more home made gifts from the kids. They sure do know how to treat a girl on her special day.

Go Stanford!

Football season is here!

Who wants their cornea shaved?

I am talking about LASIK eye surgery friends. Last week I got a post card in the mail advertising surgery prices so low they led one to believe the surgeon was a homeless man living in the dumpster behind a Chinese restaurant, preforming delicate eye surgery with a carrot peeler and pen light. Since I have seen this homeless guy at close range I felt comfortable calling to schedule a free evaluation. On Thursday afternoon (after having my pupils forcibly dilated) I learned I am a perfect candidate for LASIK eye surgery!!! Not your plain-jane-every-day LASIK, mind you, but the very latest in cutting edge technology!!! (pause for applause and cheers) Naturally, there is a catch--the surgeon is actually a Stanford trained Doctor--and those rock bottom prices--they are for people with a vision impairment so minimal they'd never notice they had one. Too bad for me. I guess it will be a while yet before the top most layer of my retinal cornea is peeled back so a laser can zap away my imperfections leaving me with perfect 20/20 vision. Sigh...