Trike-a-Thon

I tried to post about this prior to the main event, but eh. Didn't happen. Last week Parker had her Trike-a-Thon at school, an annual fundraiser her preschool does. This is our third year at Abiding Savior preschool and the trike-a-thon has become something Josh and I really looked forward to, mainly because it is sheer entertainment watching five preschoolers do laps under balloon arches. Half of them are too distracted by the balloons and onlookers and crash into each other at every turn. There's always one boy who takes it very. seriously. And beats everyone by ten laps. Then there's the handful that just don't quite have the hang of the whole biking thing, or pick the trike that's waaaay too big. Its the cutest thing ever. This year the school is trying to raise money for a large sun shade for their front play area, which lacks any shade or breezeway, which means once it starts really heating up, its not usable for very long. The front area is where their large play house and kitchen is, and also where they ride their trikes and learn important skills like hula hooping, hop scotch, and diplomacy. If you'd like to support Parker and her preschool, let me know! Tuesdays and Thursdays are Parker's absolute favorite day, because that's the day she gets to go to school. Everyday that is not those days is a disappointment to her. :)

Oh! And Parker completed six laps in her timeframe! :)

Easter Cookie Classic

Our neighbor invited us over to make Easter cookies with her. The kids cut out and then frosted and decorated all the cookies. Parker made this bunny. While she was making it, I asked her what she was making.

"I'm making da bunnies insides Mama!"

Nothing says Easter like bunny intestines, folks!

The Leprechauns Were Here

Parker, the octopus, making green pancakes.

*The leprechauns got us!

*Since they were naked for the real reaction shot, I told them to fake it.

I've never really thought of St.Patrick's Day as a holiday for kids. For me it just meant making sure you were wearing green so you didn't get pinched, and in later years it was a day to go to bar hopping for green beer and bad food. Beyond making sure they had green shirts, I didn't prepare anything for St.Patrick's Day. So when Fin came home absolutely gushing about how the leprechauns came to his classroom and messed everything up, and left gold coins for them and "I can't wait till we get home because I think the leprechauns came to our house too!!" I panicked a little. I mean, this kind of thing is right up my alley, why had no one informed me!? So I quickly called Josh and told him that he needed to come home with some sort of chocolate and we hatched a plan. In the meantime, I told the kids the leprechauns hadn't come because they hadn't cleaned up, and the leprechauns thought it was already messy, so why bother? *GENIUS!* I've never seen those kids clean up so fast in their lives. We had shamrock pancakes for lunch and waited. When Josh got home, he put them in the bath and I rushed around like a madwoman. Then I went upstairs and hung out for awhile. Josh was the first to discover that the leprechauns had visited and the kids rushed downstairs (both still naked and dripping wet). The leprechauns had stacked all our tables, turned our chair upside down, put up the rainbow and leprechauns we had painted, and sprinkled green Hershey's kisses all over. They were AMAZED and delighted and couldn't believe how fast those little leprechauns were. Parker kept exclaiming, "Its just so crazy!" A new tradition is born...

We've been thinking about moving. The number one reason is to get Fin into a better public school. And we're lucky to live very close to some really good schools. But unfortunately our current address doesn't put us at any of the schools we want him to go to, thus the search began. There's other reasons. We could use more room (oh to have a garage!). Our house is older and needs a lot of updating, that as renters we can't/won't do. Our carpets are shot, our a/c unit a joke, the back door doesn't slide open. I dream of a shower void of any toys. And I've always relished moving. I like figuring out where everything goes, I like "shopping" for a new home. But this time, I find I'm much more sentimental about moving. We moved here when I was nine months pregnant with Parker. She's never lived anywhere else. Our neighbors have seen her grow up. The older couple next door, the young couple on the other side, the sweet Guatemalan family down the way. Its hard to find a place where you know your neighbors like we know ours. I have no problem sending Fin next door for an egg. And if they're not home, then to the other next door neighbors, or the next. We sign for each other's packages, tell each other when we go on vacation, exchanged keys and phone numbers.

We went on a walk today. One of our normal routes, which takes us across the street to the bike path that follows a creek. Its less than a five minute walk. Along the path there's orange trees, giant oaks, eucalyptus, bamboo. There's a giant oak with a hole in it, the roots reaching out into the air over the creek. We sat under the street where the kid's throw rocks in the creek, watching tree swallows swoop, careen and disappear into the tiniest of holes in the bridge. As I sat there I thought about how many times we've come down there in the past three years. In good weather we'll come almost every day. When it gets hotter we'll go less, and earlier in the morning. When the nights get longer we'll go when Daddy gets home. We've seen skunks, bluejays, dogs of all sizes, baby ducks swimming with their Mamas. We've run into friends, made new ones, gotten angry at the cyclists who go to fast. Its our little bit of suburban wilderness and more than once its saved me from a Mommy meltdown. If and when we move it will be what I miss most.

Conversations

Parker opened up a coloring book to a picture of a roller coaster and gasped. "MAMA! I always wanted to dream about dis!"

Putting the kids down to nap, I suddenly got really dizzy and had to lay down (I think from a head cold I've had for a couple of weeks now). I told the kids I wasn't feeling well so I really needed them to stay in bed and take a nap. Fin asked to lay down with me and as we were laying there I could hear Parker scurrying around in her room. I kind of sighed and asked Fin, "Is that Sissy? Is she running around?" He answered, "I think it is. You stay here and sleep Mama, I'll go take care of it."

Parker is crouching down, snarling and growling. "Whoa, what are you Parker?" I ask.

She growls, "I'm a tiger! With eggs with raptors in 'em!"

I got Parker a dress at Target and wanted to paint a design on the front for her. "Do you want a bow or a flower maybe?" I asked her. "No. I want a pteranodon." I turn to Josh and say, "Only our three year old would say that. Does she even know what that is?" Parker runs to the next room and comes back with a dinosaur (a pteranodon to be exact). "Mama! Dis is a pteranodon. Its wike a pterodactyl."

From Wikipedia:

"While the generic term "pterodactyl" is often used to describe these creatures, the animal depicted is frequently a Pteranodon or some other specific species of pterosaur, or a fictionalized hybrid of several species. Many children's toys and cartoons feature "pterodactyls" with Pteranodon-like crests and long, Rhamphorhynchus-like tails and teeth, a combination that never existed in nature. However, at least one type of pterosaur did have at least the Pteranodon-like crest and teeth—for example, the Ludodactylus, a name that means "toy finger" for its resemblance to old, inaccurate children's toys."

Kitty Has a Name!

We found out that our new kitty is officially a boy, in good health and probably around one or two years old. We let Parker pick a name for him (Fin named Tammie) and she chose Muta (pronounced Moo-tah) after a cat in one of her favorite movies. Its already been shortened to Moo or Moo-Moo. We are still totally in love with him and the only "naughty" thing he's done is get into the pantry and eat all of Tammie's treats and, inexplicably, the hot dog buns. I can't get mad at him though, as I'm sure his few months out on the street have ingrained in him a "eat whenever you get the chance" mentality. He sleeps on Fin's bed every night and follows us from room to room during the day, curling up and sleeping next to whatever we're doing. He's gotten bolder with the kids, occasionally hiding behind doors and pouncing on them as they round the corner, to their utter and complete delight. I forgot how much I love having a cat and still just can't understand how someone could just throw him away. But their negligence is our gain, so in the end I think things worked out for little Moo.