100%

Jack just started spelling tests this year at school, which I didn't think much about since Max had no problem with spelling. But, turns out, what they say is true:

EVERY KID IS DIFFERENT!

I guess I should start listening to them.

I was in a bit of a panic when Jack's first practice spelling test came back with 0 out of 8 words correct. Yikes! So we started studying, and he had been doing so well.

I realized that I am taking this all a little too seriously the other day when he got 100% and I almost cried. I wish I was kidding, but I'm not.

It's so amazing when you see your hard work as a parent pay off, for both you and your kids!

Orbeez: The New Moon Sand

Okay, so you know those toys you hate and your kids love?

Here's a list:

Moon Sand, Play-dough, Anything Noisy, Things They Get In Party Gift Bags That End Up All Over The House.

You know what I mean. And the list goes on and on.

Here's a new one for the list: Orbeez. Max saw some at school and HAD TO HAVE THEM. We looked around, and couldn't find them anywhere but Big Lots, which should have been my first clue. They are these little granules that come in packets and then enlarge when put in water into these Boba sized balls that I am desperately trying to keep from ending up all over my house. But the kids LOVE THEM. I mean, like play with them for a half hour with no fighting love them. So, I guess I am mildly recommending them?

Wait, did I just say that?

I do have to admit they are kind of pretty suspended in a glass of water.

I'm a sucker for aesthetics. If only Moon Sand was so pretty!

Dear Blog,

Well, hello blog, how have you been?

It's been too long, right?

Well, I was just out on a walk today after having a fluish icky virus for two weeks and took this picture and thought of you. I'm so glad it's fall and that, at least for today, it's sweater weather.

Hope all is well in the blogosphere, and hope to be seeing much more of you soon.

Laura

To Blog or Not To Blog, That Is The Question

What has happened to me?

Since, like, May.

And before that it had been since March. What happened to that blogger who loved to write every day? To be honest, I'm not exactly sure.

Of course I'm always busy. Of course the kids take up a lot of my time. Of course I'm so lazy that I can't sit at my desktop for a few minutes a day to write something down and since Blogger doesn't work with my iPad, well, you know.

But I miss you, blog. I miss the writing and the daily ruminations. I miss the looking for something to write about, everyday. So, here I go again. And this time I have very few excuses. My kids are both going to be in school all day this year. I think within that time I can find a few minutes to get something down to remind me that life is good and sweet and sometimes hard, but mostly not. And I have a new motivation because my wonderful friend Mirjam is moving off to Europe, and sometimes Facebook just doesn't cut it, you know. She's a wonderful blogger, not the kind that makes you want to throw up in your mouth a little bit when you read about their perfect life, but one that just makes you happy because she reminds you that life is beautiful. A true, rare gift.

So, here I go again, and hopefully this time it will stick.

Doing The Dutch Thing

We're Back!

We don't have kids with us, and while it was hard to leave them (seriously, what happens to us when we become parents?) I can't help but thing how great it will be to sample some more Dutch cuisine that does not come in a hamburger bun.

Steve and I arrived this morning, which felt like the middle of the night, and checked into our apartment and then I laid down for just a minute and woke up 2 1/2 hours later.

Amsterdammit!

I think I might just barely be able to kick this jet lag thing.

Oh, and then there's this blog lag thing.

I think some photos of some beautiful Dutch architecture will do the trick! Tune in tomorrow (or is that today? Oh, forget it), for more...

Self Portrait

I was just syncing my iPhone and found this self portrait Max took (without my knowledge). Reminds me a bit of Francis Bacon.

Perhaps we have an artist on our hands?

Dilemma

Max showing our two drawings of our muse, the porcupine.

I was really looking forward to today because Jack had an after school playdate, which meant I had THE WHOLE DAY TO MYSELF!

Yes!

So I took the kids to school, did a little grocery shopping, went to yoga, and was just bringing in the garbage cans from the curb when my cell phone rang and I saw it was Max's elementary school calling. Well, my first reaction was "oh great, someone's throwing up," so I answered immediately. Instead it was Max telling me that he had a field trip today and needed more parents to come and wanted to know if I would.

Crap.

I mean, what do you do? I had no excuse other than my own personal interests to keep me home. I even told Max that I would try, but I wasn't sure. My body was weak (it really wanted that nap I had been planning), but the will was strong (Max never asks for anything, ever), so I sucked up my selfishness and went.

We walked to the natural history museum so the kids could sketch the animals. Max and I got to sit together on a bench and sketch a porcupine together, which, really, how often do you get to do that with your children? But really, that wasn't the best part. The best part was when I first got to his classroom and he turned around to see his slacker mother had shown up after all, and his face totally lit up like his favorite rock star had just walked in the room.

After a response like that, I only have one thing to say: Naps are over-rated.

I Think This Takes The Obsession To A Whole New Level

Steve asked me what I wanted for Valentine's Day, and since I'm trying to lose some weight, my #1 choice, a ton of chocolate (although I did get some chocolate, and ate it all within 24 hours), was out of the question. Flowers? They die too soon, in my opinion. And perfume is usually out because I often don't wear it and have a hard time finding scents that I like. But, while perusing Ebay recently, I saw my dear, dear, Orla Kiely has a new purfume out that is only available in the U.K. I told Steve that was what I really, really wanted, and Steve produced the goods. I was a little bit hesitant to buy since I was going scent unsmelled on this one, but it was exactly what you would think Orla Kiely's fragrance would be, light, clean, slightly floral, and a little earthy. Nothing like a handbag. Even the packaging is perfect.

I love, love, love it.

Now, that's a great Valentine's gift. Score a big one for Steve.

Space Snowman

Jack was asked to collect some things a while back to make a snowman during art at school. He collected all kinds of stuff from our art drawer, and then went off to school to create. A couple of weeks later I was walking down the hall and saw his snowman, complete with a caption that explained what kind of snowman it is. Of course, since Jack is only in Kindergarten, the words were mostly spelled wrong but if you employ all your phonetic skills, you can figure them out.

Jack's, which was a Space Snowman (the one in the picture above holding the American Flag), said: Im holdin a Amerikan Fag.

P.C.? No. Funny? Yes.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Last year for Valentine's Day we wandered around art museums and shops in The Marais in Paris. This year we decorated cookies with friends, had a special breakfast, and enjoyed being together.

One of our special Valentine's Day plates we used for breakfast.

Holiday cookie decorating. What I live for.

On the menu: Eggs Benedict, Mango, and Banana. Oh yeah, and chocolate.

A big, red Lego robot. What every five year old boys wants for Valentine's Day.

And even though this year was much less exotic, I have to say, I loved both days just as much because I got to spend them both with these three guys I love more than anyone in the world!

Happy Valentine's Day!

His First Ski Day

He's definitely got the ski dude attitude down.

Sew What?

Anyone who knows me knows I'm not one for the crafting.

That is, until lately.

Trust me, I'm as surprised as anyone.

It all started with my Halloween costume this year. We decided to have a big party, so I figured I had to have a good costume, and I figured if I made it once, I could wear it every year. Really, to be honest, at first I looked to buy a costume, but have you ever seen the adult Halloween costumes available on the open market? Every time I found myself looking I thought I had wandered into the lingerie department. Talk about scary! I never knew that Halloween was a chance to get in touch with your inner stripper. Who knew.
So, I decided to be a witch and I made this hat:

Thanks to Steve for being my anonymous model.

Which made me realize that I needed more than just a crappy dress that cannot be near open flame. So, I went to the local thrift store and looked around in the Halloween section and found that the only selection that would fit me was no better than the Halloween Lingerie department at the local time. Only this time it was used. Eww!
My next step was the women's dresses where I hit the jackpot, a black taffeta bridesmaid's dress, in my size, with an easily detachable bright yellow sash (Can you say bumblebee wedding? Sorry I missed that one).
So, I took it home, and after a lot of swearing and way too much damaged orange satin, came up with this:

Me doing my best America's Next Top Model pose.
Whoever said you couldn't learn anything from reality TV was DEAD WRONG!

And somehow, I had the sewing bug. And now I'm appliqueing t-shirts, scarves, hot water bottle covers. You name it. And I still don't know exactly why.

This is either a really good or really bad sign of my mental state. Your guess as to which is as good as mine, but in the meantime, my kids and their friends are getting their applique on.

Love Notes

With the start of February just around the corner, I get thinking about Valentine's Day, and in doing so remembered this beautiful love note Jack wrote for me a couple of months ago. Truth be told, I actually remembered it because I found it in a pile of stuff that had accumulated on my desk, and I was so glad I had (inadvertently) saved it.

I remember the day he wrote it he spent quite a few minutes working on it, and then came up and handed it to me and said, as he often does "You're the best Mommy in the whole world," (by the way, it's not true, but I'm glad I've duped him into believing it for the time being). He wanted to write I Love You, but since his writing skills are still developing, he wrote what he knew how to write, "Yes Mom", with a beautiful, sketchy heart. Never before has the word yes been so sincerely felt. I love that guy.

Yes Jack.

You Say It's Your Birthday....

...Happy Birthday To You, Max!

You've changed a lot in 8 years, but you're still my beautiful baby boy!

I LOVE YOU!

"Hugs!"

Max and Jack, happy to see each other after school.

One of my favorite moments of every day is when I drop off the boys at school, and not for the obvious reasons. Lately they have begun the habit of yelling "HUGS!" and then giving each other a huge hug before they run off in different directions to their classes.

Seriously, does it get any better than that?

A Cookie The Size Of Your Head

So, yesterday, Jack finally joined the "Cookie Club" at school, which means he was able to recognize all of the letters of the alphabet, out of order, with no mistakes. I do have to wonder if the reward of a cookie big enough to feed a third world country is the best incentive, but there you are, and he was so excited I didn't worry too much. And, luckily, he was nice enough to share it with a bunch of his friends at dinner last night, which made me feel a little better about the whole thing.

But it makes me wonder, what's he going to get when he passes off all his sight words?

Yes, Laura, There Is A Santa Claus

The other day I got up totally exhausted from all the Christmas festivities and business and looked on my kitchen counter and saw this:

Okay, like I said in the last post, I cry at EVERYTHING, but this really got to me. A couple of weeks ago Jack was asked to write a letter to Santa as part of his homework, and I figured, hey, why not mail it. Really, I had no idea they have some nice person in the post office mailing stuff back. It was just a form letter, but had Jack's name hand written and a hand written Santa signature, and I thought, like I do every year, why we try to keep the tradition alive. And I guess it got to me specifically because this year Max asked me one day "Mommy, is Santa real"? And guess what I did. I FLAT OUT LIED and said yes. Without hesitation. And I still don't even feel bad about it. And then I wonder why such a blatant lie would cause no guilt at all, and I realized that I want them, so desperately, to believe in Santa. I want them to believe that there really is good in the world, and sometimes we do get stuff just for being good. Even if we're only good once in a while.

And, that, I think is true.

But when I think of this Santa deceit every year, I can't help but think of one of my favorite Christmas stories ever, "The H Street Sledding Record" by Ron Carlson. It reminds me how important it is to keep the dream alive.

Just for some background, I grew up on the very H Street Ron Carlson is talking about in the story, so it has always had special significance to me. But I also adore Ron Carlson, who also grew up in Salt Lake City, and was the Artist For The Schools (or something like that) when I was taking creative writing in high school. I remember just being so in awe that this guy got to WRITE STORIES FOR A LIVING, and remember writing a somewhat mediocre story in an attempt to impress him. But the best part was when I ran into him a couple of years later while I was working at Mrs. Backer's Pastry Shop and he said he remembered a line he liked from my story. I could have died and gone to heaven right then and there. Years later, at a signing, I bought the short story collection, The News of The World, which includes "The H Street Sledding Record," and he signed it for me, saying he remembered me, but I had my suspicions he was only trying to make a sale by that point. Here's the title page:

I love this story because it brought back a lot of childhood nostalgia when I first read it, but now that I have my own kids, it has moved to a whole new level. And so, even though I am probably breaking a million copyright laws by doing so, I scanned it in to share on my blog. Just promise me you won't print it out, photocopy it, and sell it on a street corner somewhere, okay? My kids don't need to grow up visiting me in the state pen. Anyway, if you haven't read it before, here it is (click each page to make them large enough to read).

What can I say, this story just fills me with all kinds of hope.

I hope you enjoy it.

I hope that the legal team at Norton won't shut me down.

And, most of all, I hope you will be doing your own form of shoveling manure on your roof for years to come.

The Nutcracker is Sweet

This morning I woke up still on a Christmas high, and totally exhausted, from our visit to Salt Lake for the Nutcracker, including a backstage visit to see the dancers and sets, a carriage ride around Temple Square to see the lights and sing carols, and a dinner at The Roof restaurant overlooking downtown Salt Lake and the beautiful Christmas lights.It was a beautiful night, and so nostalgic for me. I spent many Christmases going to the Ballet West production of The Nutcracker, and was really excited to take the boys for the first time, but I was totally unprepared for my reaction. I have admitted that I cry at just about anything, but I started to tear up as soon as I walked into the doors of the Capitol Theater, and then had to hold back the tears through about the whole first half of the ballet, watching the boys rapt faces as they watched the magical moments of The Mouse King, The Snow Queen, the Sugar Plum Fairy, and, the favorites, Mother Buffoon and The Russian Dancers. Thanks to Alison for having the idea to go and make a day of it. Here's a few (bad) photos taken with iPhones since we forgot our camera.

I love the Capitol Theater. So beautiful.

Steve and Max gearing up for the show.

Jack was getting excited for the show to start...

...Ivy was too.

Cha Cha, Me and Max waiting to hear those opening notes of the overture.

Scenes from the production. Stolen from the Internet.

At the Sugar Plum Fairy Party after the show the kids got to see the dancers, eat some treats, have their picture taken with some of the cast, watch a magician, see some of the sets on the stage, and get their very own nutcracker ornament. The best $5 I've spent in a LONG time.

Zoe and Ivy on the train after the show.

Me, Jack, Alison and Ivy on a very bumpy carriage ride around Temple Square.

The view from our table at the restaurant. Also stolen from the Interweb.

Alison in the glow of the Salt Lake Temple from The Roof restaurant. I cropped myself out of this one because I looked as tired as I felt.

Such a wonderful night, and such a great addition to our Christmas season. Even thought I never in a million years wanted to end up in Utah, I am so glad I get to share these childhood traditions to my kids and friends. To me, that's what Christmas is all about.