The Family Wright

Joshua Tree

2012-02-15T18:08:00.000-08:00

Skull Rock

Taking a rest in a "nest"

Parker making a home for the worry dolls she bought in the gift shop

Spot the Griffin

Photobombed by a hipster ninja

Happy Valentine's Day!

2012-02-14T14:42:00.000-08:00

Aunt Jessi made Parker's dress and I added the heart. Daddy made Fin's Dr.Who Valentine's shirt

The heart I made for Parker

Griffin's Dr.Who Valentine's Day cards. I'm curious to know if any of his friends will have any idea what these are about!

Griffin's Photo Project (or Killing Time Before We Have To Leave)

2012-02-07T08:00:00.000-08:00

Conversations

2012-02-06T15:49:00.000-08:00

"A dream starts with a cup of tea."

"That sounds nice. What do you mean by that? Did you hear that somewhere?"

"Its just something I like to say."

Happy New Year! (or Gung Hay Fat Choy!)

2012-01-26T11:41:00.000-08:00

by Griffin

by Parker

(2012 is the Year of the Dragon, in case you couldn't tell what these were)

2012-01-25T13:45:00.000-08:00

Marcel the Shell

2012-01-24T12:14:00.000-08:00

We're totally obsessed with Marcel the Shell in this house, we've watched these videos and read the book about a million times. Parker went to bed at eight last night and came out to the living room at nine thirty exclaiming, "I can do it! Want to hear my Marcel the Shell voice?" We couldn't even be mad at her, her impression is that good. We made her do it about a million times then sent her back to bed. (the part she's impersonating is around the 3:05 mark)

2012-01-23T13:28:00.000-08:00

LACMA

2012-01-17T09:34:00.000-08:00

Sooo, I'm a terrible mother and don't know what year my children were born, so I told P that she was born in the year of the boar. Later I was roundly mocked when we realized my mistake. She's from the year of the dog, just like me. Oops!

What we came to see! Metropolis II. This was the first weekend it was open, so there was a line to get into to see it. But we only waited about ten minutes. Its so large there is a viewing balcony up above.

Its built from erector sets, building blocks, legos, lincoln logs, 1000 hot wheels, several trains and trams. Its whirling, whizzing madness when it all turns on and it was awesome. Kids could have stayed in this room all day, especially Fin.

Griffin's already plotting how to build this in the middle of his room.

Griffin pretending to "pop" Jeff Koons balloon animal

Sitting on a bench contemplating this artist, Griffin said to me, "So sometimes artists just make random things and call it art, right?" I can't really argue with that.

We finally made it to LACMA, I've been dying to go ever since I found out about their NexGen program. We love taking the kids to museums, but with four of us, admission adds up quick. NexGen is a program that offers free membership to any kid under 18 (even baby Arlo got one) and grants them free admission to the museum TILL THEY TURN EIGHTEEN. Yes, you read that right. For the next 11-13 years the kids get into LACMA for free. The other awesome part? Every time they go, they each get one adult in for free as well. So, as long as we have the rugrats along, Josh and I get in free as well. Its a pretty sweet deal. The kids were so excited to get their own little passes and lanyards. If you have kids you have to sign them up, and if you don't, well rustle up a few. ;)

Conversations

2011-08-08T17:46:00.001-07:00

While driving in the car, Josh and Parker heard an emergency alert. Worried, Parker asked Josh if an earthquake was coming. It turned out to be an Amber alert for a little boy who was abducted by his father. Josh explained the situation to Parker.

"So he was a bad guy?" Parker asked

"Yeah" Josh looked back in the back seat and saw Parker was obviously upset. "Are you okay?"

"I just don't want anyone to take Baby Arlo, Daddy! I love him!"

**********************************************************

Overheard from the next room:

Fin- "Jessi and Baby Arlo are coming over today."

Parker - "I know! I just love Baby Arlo!"

Fin- "Yeah, he's the funniest baby ever."

Parker - "And the cutest. Arlo is the cutest. baby. ever. riiiiiiiighht?"

***********************************************************

In the car Parker keeps saying "Santa Marrrrga-RI-TA, Santa Marrrrga-RI-TA, Santa Marrrrga-RI-TA" rolling the 'R's

"Santa Marrrrga-RI-TA! Mama, I say 'Santa Marrrrga-RITA' fancy, riiiiiiight?"

***********************************************************

Parker decided to wear one of her costumes to the grocery store. Its a pink satin cheerleading costume, but its so big on Parker it just looks like a dress. Around her belly though, there is a panel of pink mesh and you can kinda see her belly button. As I was loading everyone in the car Griffin refused to get in the car. "Mom. Parker can NOT wear that to the store. You can see her belly."

"What? Yeah, a little. But thats okay. Its just her belly."

"No, mom! She's a girl. She can NOT wear that to the store!"

"Griffin, its fine. She just wants to wear a costume, I'm okay with it. Its fine. I swear."

*exasperated sigh* "Ugh! I'm NOT okay with this!" and stomped into the car.

************************************************************

Parker's Rainbow Unicorn Pegasus Birthday Party!

2011-07-28T15:04:00.000-07:00

Parker requested a Rainbow Unicorn Pegasus birthday party this year. We had so much fun with the theme. P wanted everyone to have pegasus wings, unicorn horns and rainbow tails. Fin declared that the boys would *not* like pegasus wings, so we made them dragons instead. I used glitter covered felt and made everyone a pair of wings (black dragon wings or white pegasus wings) and a tail (rainbow yarn for the unipegs, black glitter felt for dragons).

I got most of the decorations at the 99cent store, where they have a whole wall of party stuff in plain colors. Except purple for some reason. Had to go to the party store for purple. Rainbow colored candy, rainbow jello (made by Nanny!) and of course, the fab Rainbow Unicorn Pegasus cake, made by my awesome friend Jayelle. We also had a rainbow veggie platter and rainbow fruit skewers.

The kids made and decorated their own horns and spent most of the party running around in a herd of dragons/unipegs. I also had Unicorn coloring/activity pages and bubbles for the kids to play with. And, finally I gave the kids who wanted one glitter tattoos (Parker had a meltdown because I wouldn't let her put a giant sparkly diamond on her forehead, but everything was made better when we discovered the gemstones I bought for her nails would stick to her head too)

The goody bags had a gumball necklace, keychain kailedescope, unicorn horn lollipop and a real crystal to make rainbows at home (my parents snagged me the crystals at an antique shop, they're so cool!)

Parker had soooo much fun at her party, and so did all her friends. We're so lucky to have so many awesome friends and family, thanks to you all for coming and helping us celebrate with our little Unicorn!

Happy Birthday Parker!

2011-07-26T10:23:00.000-07:00

You're a great big bad 'ol five year old today!! Much like last year, you were sooo excited for your birthday. Soon after you woke up today you dragged your wood growth chart into my room, asking me to measure you now that you were five and declaring that you were "so strong now!" After marking your new heighth on the chart you stared intently at yourself in the mirror for some time. Then you solemnly said, "My head is bigger now, too." You had a Rainbow Unicorn Pegasus birthday party on Sunday and today you want to go to the mall and to Farrell's for your birthday dinner, so you can "get a new flamingo" (last year your ice cream came with a cheap, plastic flamingo drink stirrer).

You've grown up a lot this year. You're still deeply emotional and sensitive. But just like you've been from birth, you're just as quick to snap out of a rage/cryfest as you are to delve into it. We've yet to completely crack the code of what brings it on, and what takes you out of it but you've come a long way in the duration and frequency of these episodes. Being tired and hungry are a big part of it. Where some kids, like your brother, are pretty unfazed by a little hunger, it completely incapacitates you in some instances (and makes you a lot like your mama, some would argue). But you're working on it and trying hard. And I can't say that your passion is entirely a bad thing. Because as deeply and fully as you feel anger and sadness the same is true about your love and happiness. Me doing the simplest things for you (allowing you to eat a cookie, for example) merit not only a thank you, but a passionate hug and several kisses and declarations that I'm the best evvveerrrrr.

You and your brother are still two little peas in a pod. You are each other's best friends and look out for each other. You adore him and couldn't wait for him to get home from school every day. You two plot and scheme all night long and drive us nuts by giggling and playing way too late at night. You're excited to be going to the same school as he is next year. You build theme parks together, make dance videos, plot strategies together to get mom and dad to do what you want to do. You stress your brother out with your free-wheeling ways, spinning and dancing away in the stores while he furtively tries to get you to stay close to us. Whenever another kid asks you your name, you say, "Parker. And that's my brother Griffin."

You still dress up. Every. Single. Day. Without fail. You wore a cat tail with every outfit for a good three months straight. You've worn ballet outfits with green frog rainboots, octopus costumes, princess dresses with cat masks all just to go to the grocery store or to pick up Fin. Mismatched stripes to school (you were a zebra). You've perfected your four legged run so well that you can run faster that way than a lot of kids can on two legs. I've joked that you are half feral. I still have to wrap you in a towel after every bath, so that you can crack out of your "egg" and pretend to be a baby bird/dinosaur/turtle. You requested pegasus wings, unicorn horns and rainbow tails for everyone coming to your birthday party. Your imagination is still so amazing to me.

Soon after your fourth birthday, you started sounding out words on your own. Without any pushing or prompting from me or anyone, you taught yourself to read. In fact, in came to a shock to me and your dad when you all of a sudden could read. At school all they were starting to teach you was what sounds letters make and while we've always been huge readers in our family, we'd never asked you to sound anything out, or tried to get you to read. Almost as amazing has been the speed with which you've become extremely proficient at reading. You rarely need to sound anything out anymore, you can read fluidly, and not just the "easy" books. Daddy caught you the other day with a big book in bed when you were supposed to be sleeping and you told him you were reading it in your head "because its faster that way." Going to a movie you insisted on bringing a book "in case there's parts I don't like." Seeing you walking around stores with a book in front of you so reminds me of myself as a child (though I'm not sure I was as young as you are!) I was rarely without a book and reading has always been a great joy to me. I *love* that you love reading as much as I do, and I can't wait to share more and more books that are near and dear to my heart.

Its not just reading your very good at either, you can count pretty much till someone stops you (at your kindergarten evaluation they had to stop you as you rounded the corner after one hundred and had no signs of stopping) When I asked the teacher if she thought there was anything she thought we may want to work on this summer she declared, "No! You have to leave us something to teach her!"

You fell in love with ballet this year, understandably, as it combines two of your favorite things in the world: dress up and pretending to be something else through movement. You watched a french documentary about ballerinas over and over, despite the fact that you could not understand a word of it. You loved watching the Nutcracker and the bits of ballets I could find. Every time a commercial for the movie Black Swan came on, you'd turn to me and sigh, "oh mama, doesn't that look beautiful?" We bought you some ballet records and you listen to them so often you were able to identify a Tchaikovsky piece off the radio the other day before even I could ("mama! its Cha-Coughsy!"). We were able to sign you for a dance class through school, though there was some ballet, it was not ballet focused. We took you to a free ballet event where you got to participate in a real ballet class and it was breathtaking watching you dance. That feels weird to say about a five year old, but your whole posture and demeanor changed the second you were in front of that teacher. You have such poise. Several people remarked to us about it and we had to admit that this was your first ballet class. You have such control and a natural intuition on how to move your body. You hold your head high, shoulders back, toes perfectly pointed. We're hoping to sign you up for a "real" ballet class this year, as we think its such a perfect outlet for you.

You are still our wild and crazy girl, constantly keeping us laughing and sighing and smiling and growling. Can't wait to see what the next year brings! Love you BIG squirrelly whirl!!

Wheat Thief

2011-07-14T11:10:00.000-07:00

I had a mason jar of wheat out a few months ago. I eventually had to put it away because Carrots was determined to eat all of it. Today I kept hearing a cupboard slamming. Carrots found the wheat.

Squirrel Rescue

2011-06-07T16:56:00.000-07:00

On Sunday I got a frantic call from Josh that Carrots had brought a baby squirrel up onto the porch. After much drama, Josh got the squirrel down from the porch and onto a tree. We saw him up there at dusk that night, kind of flailing about, but he was too high up to do anything about, so we let him be.

Then, Monday morning, Parker had not closed the front door all the way (it was closed but not latched) and Carrots opened it and let himself out (he's getting too smart for his own good). Not ten minutes later he strolled into the kitchen and dropped the same poor little squirrel right at my feet. I threw Carrots in my room and grabbed a towel to pick up the squirrel in. To my surprise he ran to me and immediately snuggled into the towel, trying to get as close to me as possible. I put him in a box and started researching squirrels. I contacted as many squirrel rescues and wildlife refuges I could find in my area and waited to hear back from them. I also kept the kids away from him till I was sufficiently reassured that he did not in fact have rabies (squirrels never do) or the plague (hasn't been seen in years). A friend suggested we take him to a wildlife refuge near by, but we drove up there only to discover they were closed on Mondays. :( She gave me some supplies she uses when she is fostering newborn kittens so I could keep him hydrated till I found somewhere to take him.

He spent the rest of the day sleeping in his little towel nest. Around six that night we spotted an adult squirrel in the tree outside. Excited that it might be his mama, we put him in the lid of his box at the base of the tree and went inside where we could watch but the squirrel couldn't see us. The adult squirrel chattered and squacked at me while I was putting the baby down, so I was hopeful. But after forty five minutes and even after the baby climbed up the tree, the adult never got close to him and ran away. It was getting dark and he started to climb back down the tree, so I went to get him. He came to me right away and snuggled back into his towel. I gave him some pedialyte with an eyedropper and he went back to sleep. I finally heard back from Pacific Wildlife Project a rescue group in Laguna Niguel late last night. We waited for Fin to get home from school and then ran him over there and dropped him off. They were surprised he was a gray tree squirrel, we don't have a lot of them around here. He'll proabably be with the rescue for about another month and then they'll release him.

The kids have been playing "animal rescue" all afternoon

The kids and I have had some great conversations about why we can't keep wild animals, how its not fair to the animal and how they have to learn how to be wild, and live by themselves outside. They were bummed we couldn't keep him, but understood. It was neat for them to be able to see and touch him and hear his little squeaks and purrs. We've read a lot about squirrels and how they live. We're hoping the rescue group will keep us updated as they've promised and hope they'll let us know where they release him as well. Josh and the kids want them to release him back up here, so we can keep an eye on him. The kid's still talk about the baby hummingbird we rescued and every once in a while Parker will declare that she saw it. I'm sure the same thing will happen with the squirrel. I'm still a little sad we couldn't reunite him with his mama, and a part of me really wishes we could have rehabbed him ourselves, he was such a sweet little thing. I have to keep telling myself that he'll be happy and healthy and we did our best. :)

Birthday Hike

2011-06-01T17:05:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday was Josh's birthday. We had made a few plans put they all fell through (its tough to have a birthday Memorial Day weekend!) so Friday night we decided to take a hike in the morning. I'd read about Dripping Cave in Aliso Woods on a hiking blog and wanted to check it out. So we headed out a little after nine with Uncle Trevor and Nanny. It was a perfect day for a hike, a little overcast in the morning, but once that burned off it was just gorgeous.

Not ten minutes into our hike and a jogger lept off the dirt path that runs a long the paved path Parker, Nanny and I were on. We all jumped when he finally spat out, "SNAKE!" and shakily pointed to where he just was. Sure enough, there was a BIG rattlesnake sunning itself across the path. "I almost stepped on it!" Poor guy nearly had a heart attack. The snake couldn't have been less interested in us, he never so much as flicked his tail. The boys totally missed the whole thing, as they had gone on up ahead.

There's his rattle

And his head

And his body

1 mile!

Photo op at the man-made waterfall you can't see in this pic

Fin at the top of Cave Rock (I love this picture!)

Small cave in Cave Rock

Poison (hemlock) never looked so pretty (Parker took this one)

And this one ("I'm gonna take a picture of my shoes cause I want to remember them Mama.")

A fairy and a Nanny

Dripping Cave - It was used by stage coach robbers, you can still see the black from their campfires on the ceiling of the cave

2.5 miles! It was about 5 miles roundtrip

The kids got tired on the last leg back. Daddy improvised.

It didn't work out so well for Parker

Halfway through the hike a man walked by with a big doberman. Parker stood about a foot away from him, pointed right in his face and loudly asked, "WHY DOES THAT GUY HAVE HIS DOG???" The guy turned bright red and sheepishly muttered, "I'm sorry...I didn't know..." Parker read all the signs coming in, including the one that said NO DOGS.

We wrapped up our day with lunch at Rubio's and then dessert at Powell's Candy Shop, the best candy shop ever. Every single candy you could ever dream of is crammed in this place. Josh got some huge cherry monstrosity, Parker swedish fish, Fin a jawbreaker on a stick (jaw-li-pop) and after my first attempt to leave with Sugar Daddy's was scornfully dismissed by a certain mother-in-law I left with caramel bullseyes. And she was totally right about the Sugar Daddys. ;)

Fafafafa-fashion

2011-04-28T19:45:00.000-07:00

For Mother's Day next week Fin's kindergarten class is staging a fashion show. They're supposed to pick an outfit and then we're supposed to come up with a clever little description ("Here's little Johnny all ready for a day at the beach!"). At dinner we were trying to figure out what Griffin wanted to wear. "I just want to wear something, like old fashioned? Like a button up shirt?" "Like...a cowboy?" I asked. "No, no, like like what they wore when they invented cars? Here, I'll show you!" And he ran into his room and came back with a book. He opened it to a page about Henry Ford. "Like this. I just think it'll be cool, 'cause no one else dresses like that."

I CAN NOT MAKE THIS STUFF UP

P.S. Anyone have a tiny bowler hat and duster?

P.P.S. Josh and I can NOT say "fashion" without belting out this song:

Be Sure To Tip Your Waitress

2011-04-20T18:00:00.000-07:00

Parker was playing with her modeling clay the other day and I snapped some pics. When I uploaded them I started making funny captions as I scrolled through. Parker was dying with laughter. Here's the entire scene that left her in stitches. Trust. I'm HUGE with the under five crowd. (and you miss a lot when you can't hear my impeccable duck accent and comedic timing)

And just because its awesome, here's P's hammerhead shark:

Squirrel!

2011-04-18T12:23:00.000-07:00

This morning our resident squirrel decided to eat his breakfast verrrrrryyyy sllllooowwlllyyy in the tree right in front of our window. Poor Carrots is about to bust through the window...

Tammy joined in a for a bit, but quickly got bored (further proof that she has no idea that she is, in fact, a dog):

Happy Birthday to Me (and Aunt Jessi)

2011-04-11T12:04:00.000-07:00

Better late than never! My birthday:

I woke up to bacon and mimosas and my new adorable bag (I love it so!!) Josh had already given me my other present, a necklace I really wanted three days ago because he can't stand the suspense. ;)

Then the whole family came over for pretty food and a Just Dance Tournament. I'm still full and my arms are totally sore

Conversations

2011-04-06T09:00:00.000-07:00

"But Mom! Parker fell asleep in your bed. I can't just sleep in a room by myself!"

Griffin is constantly surprising me with his vocab these days. At dinner Parker wanted to play the "rhyming game" which is us asking her "What rhymes with ....?" (she plays this game at school) When it was Griffin's turn to come up with a word, he said, "What rhymes with vexing?"

Parker found a piece of her artwork in the trash (whoops!) She came to me with it in her hand and said, "Mommy! Wook at what Dad threw away!" Curious, I asked, "Uh, why do you think Dad threw it away?" "Because he's like that."

At dinner last night Parker announced that she and Griffin were going to get married. We then explained that you can't marry your brother. Unable to really answer in detail exactly why they couldn't marry each other Josh and I finally settled on "its against the rules." This morning it came up again when Fin asked, "Well what happens if you marry your sister? You get a ticket?"

You Are A Marvel

2011-03-31T14:56:00.000-07:00

“Each second we live is a new and unique moment of the universe, a moment that will never be again. And what do we teach our children? We teach them that two and two make four, and that Paris is the capital of France. When will we also teach them what they are? We should say to each of them: Do you know what you are? You are a marvel. You are unique. In all the years that have passed, there has never been another child like you. Your legs, your arms, your clever fingers, the way you move. You may become a Shakespeare, a Michelangelo, a Beethoven. You have the capacity for anything. Yes, you are a marvel. And when you grow up, can you then harm another who is, like you, a marvel? You must work, we must all work, to make the world worthy of its children.”

-Pablo Picasso

Duck Pond

2011-03-30T14:12:00.000-07:00

As we were walking out the door this morning I noticed that Griffin's eye was red. He said it wasn't bothering him, but as any mom of a school age child will tell you, a red eye is never a good thing. We dropped Parker off at preschool where Ms.Aimee (our friend and P's teacher) confirmed my gut reaction, Fin shouldn't go to school. Instead of driving all the way home and then coming back to pick up P, Fin and I decided to run some errands around her school. We hit up the grocery store, the thrift store and the hobby shop. We ended up with more time so we went to the Duck Pond for a bit. Its a beautiful day and it would have been really serene had it not been for the lawn mowers and leaf blowers.

This goose was sure we would feed her, and followed us around the pond.

Fin was really excited to spot this goose sitting on a nest.

This Week We:

2011-03-25T15:05:00.000-07:00

Took some walks after dinner:

Had a photo shoot with Carrots for his Pinky Swear Designs debut (and started tweeting, follow me!).

Checked out some books from the library.

Met/fed/played with three tiny black kittens (they're still begging for one...)

Signed for Sarah's new couch, then completely rearranged and decorated her living room before she got home.

Dressed up like Pee-Wee Herman for "Movie Star Day" at school.

Hope you have a great weekend!!

St.Patrick's Day

2011-03-17T11:34:00.001-07:00

As you may remember, last year the leprechauns came and made quite the mess in our house. This year Griffin and I decided we would try to trap those little buggers. We knew we had quite a task in front of us, as they are sneaky and clever as all get out. Fin's first idea included a yo-yo falling from the ceiling as the leprechaun tripped a wire on a blanket thrown over a laundry basket, pushing the blanket and leprechaun into the basket where he wouldn't be able to climb out. While clever, we had to shelve that plan since we have cathedral ceilings and I couldn't even begin to mount a pully system to it if I wanted to. So we went with our second plan, the good old leprechaun hat trap. We disguised a tall vase as a hat. The top of the hat is just a piece of paper laid over the top. Fin came up with the idea of using double sided tape on top, to stick to the leprechaun's feet and hold the gold coins down. He thought as the leprechaun struggled to get free from the tape or get the coins up, he'd move around enough to make the false top fall down and he'd be stuck inside the vase.

Then we made some signs. As I'm sure you know, leprechauns are contrary little fellows, so if you tell them NOT to do something, they are more than likely going to do it. So Fin came up with these signs, and asked me to add my "fancy writing" to it.

*The "No Leprechauns Allowed" is Parker's contribution

It was a great trap. But unfortunately, we think we had more than one leprechaun. And they helped each other get out...

And then they went to town on the rest of the house. Here's the kid's playhouse on the kitchen table:

Our milk was green, as was the water in the toilet:

They got out all the stuffed animals:

They put Parker's jewlery in the bathroom sink and the tennis rackets in the kitchen sink. And they made a giant book pyramid on the coffee table. *sigh* Maybe next year we'll get them...

Conversations

2011-03-15T16:10:00.000-07:00

This morning I asked Parker to pick up the President flashcards she had dumped everywhere. She did. I just noticed this addition to our family pictures.

**********************************************************

Griffin recently learned Josh's phone number and now feels free to call him all day long. Its gotten to the point where he's sometimes calling Josh four or five times an hour. The other day I heard Griffin pick up the phone. Then I hear him say, "DAD! Dad, you left your work bag here. *pause* Oh. Well I thought you forgot it."

(Josh rode his bike to work, and took his backpack instead)

****************************************************

Our screensaver pulls pictures from iPhoto and displays them. Parker and I were in my room when a picture of Josh and I at our wedding came up.

"Awwww! Is that you and Dad at your wedding?"

"Yup"

"Awwww, that was so sweet of you Mama."

"What was sweet of me?"

"To marry Dad like that."

****************************************************

Carrots bolted outside and the kids and I were attempting to catch him and bring him inside. Carrots just kept gleefully running from one bush to the next. As he leapt, yet again just out of our reach, Fin turned to me and said, "THIS is why I need a tranquilizer gun!"

Meet Daisy (officially)

2011-03-15T11:49:00.000-07:00

Parker has been asking for a corn snake for years. And since she's only been on this earth for four years, thats pretty impressive. We never really entertained the thought seriously for a couple of reasons (cost and the fact that Josh and I both have never taken care of a snake being the top two). With my new job I spend a lot of time talking about animals, and I mentioned once at the pet store how Parker loves snakes and is always asking for a corn snake. The guys at the store were gung-ho about Parker getting a snake, arguing amonsgt themselves over which snake would be the best for her, telling me exactly how to take care of it, etc. etc. I reminded them that I had no plans on buying a snake, that this was all hypothetical. When I came in the next week they all pounced on me and said they had great news for me! One of the workers was moving and needed a good home for her snake, a white morphos corn snake.

Thus we became snake owners.

(sorry these photos aren't great quality, since she's nocturnal we try to handle her later at night so she's more comfortable, but it doesn't lend itself to great lighting for pictures)

Parker immediately fell in love with her and she and I decided to name her Daisy. Parker has never been squeamish about snakes and has absolutely no reservations about handling Daisy. She coos at her and tells her she loves her just like someone would to thier baby or a kitten. Josh and Griffin are more hesitant about her, but becoming more at ease. So far its been really fun and pretty easy to have a snake. Carrots discovered her the other day, but he backed up pretty quick when she came up to the glass. I don't think he's going to try to get her out anytime soon.

Happy Friday!

2011-03-11T12:41:00.000-08:00

A funny conversation I had with Parker today in the car inspired my tune of the week on my business blog. Check it out here.

Conversations

2011-03-10T11:07:00.000-08:00

Parker: "I can't wait till my hair is brown Mama."

Me: "Why? Your hair is beautiful the way it is now. Mama's hair used to be that color, I wish it still was."

Parker: "What?! Dat's crazy!"

Me: "It was! I'll show you a picture when we get home."

Parker: "Your mom took a picture of you?"

Me: "Yep"

Parker: "And then she put them on Facebook?"

************************************

I've been trying to teach Parker our address. I asked her, "Can you say our street name? Its Rue de Valore"

"Yup! Root of da Lord!"

************************************

Griffin: "What's similar between Kali Rapids and the Jaws ride is that they both have water. But on the Jaws ride you're in a tram. Why aren't you in a boat? I mean, the tram goes on tracks over the water? Isn't that awkward?"

************************************

I let Parker try some of my veggie burger at dinner. She decided she loved it and had a few bites more. As I was finishing up my final bites, she turned to me and said, "That's fine Mama, you can have the rest of it. Isn't that nice of me??" and gave me a kiss on the cheek.

Griffin's Photo Shoot

2011-03-04T13:49:00.000-08:00

Griffin was whining about being bored yesterday while I was cleaning up, so I gave him my camera and told him to take some pics. Here's what he came up with:

*apparently he figured out the timer on the camera :)

Baby Arlo Love

2011-02-28T12:23:00.000-08:00

Seeing the kids with babies is so sweet. They love their friend "Baby Carter" (they refuse to call him anything but Baby Carter) and now they dote on their cousin. Even before Arlo was born they were so excited about him. They were very invested in the whole process, talking about how Jessi's baby would get out (that was a hilarious conversation), what they should name him (Fin's pick was Wolfgang) even going to an appointment to see him on the ultrasound. Parker left the hospital kicking and screaming when Jessi was in labor (she was determined to see that baby). Now that he's here, the second he opens his eyes they are all over him, trying to make him smile. I can't wait till Arlo gets a little older and can really start interacting with them.

gifninja.com Create custom animated gifs at gifninja.com!

Friday at the Park

2011-02-18T17:00:00.000-08:00

Fin and I spent last Friday morning together while Parker was in school and decided that climbing some rocks and trees sounded like a good idea (at this point there was not a single cloud in the sky). We had decided to go to Irvine Park when my friend Christy messaged me to see what we were up to. She and Baby Carter were game for the park as well, so we picked up Parker, made some lunch and headed out.

Unfortunately, this tiny creek had swelled a bit and made getting to the big climbing rock impossible. Fin was pretty bummed (the last time we came it was too hot, so this is twice in a row he hasn't been able to get to the rock). But we spent some time throwing rocks in the water and cracking Baby Carter up. Baby Carter is great for my ego, he thinks I am HIGH-LARIOS. ;)

Conversations

2011-02-16T10:26:00.000-08:00

Like it wasn't hard enough that Parker has every single eating establishment's logo memorized, now that she's reading I'm not safe in bland strip malls either. Parking at the grocery store, she started reading the signs

"Duh-O-Nah-Uh-Tah. DONUT! Mama I want a donut! Can we get donuts, please please please?? I'll buy you a dre-esss!!" (she's learned this from the master negotiator, Griffin Daniel, he's always been able to get what he wants from kids by bribing or proposing trades)

"No, baby, we just ate breakfast."

Pointing to the pizza place, "Okay, can we get pizza den?"

*****************************

Fin and his class took a little field trip down to the Post & Ship after they learned all about the postal service and stamps and all that. I had four kids in my group, including Fin and his friend Atherv. I already loved Atherv only because the last week I was at school he brought in his soccer trophy and claimed that he had scored three hundred goals. When the kids questioned how that would be possible, he matter of factly stated that his team passed him the ball a lot (a totally plausible situation). As we were walking down the hill my ears perked up when I heard Atherv and Fin talking. I caught the words "black hole" and then I heard Fin ask, "Yeah, but what do you think happens to the color white when it goes into a black hole?" These are six year olds.

*****************************

I was laying on the couch checking my email on my phone. Fin came over and took the phone out of my hands. Protesting, I said, "Hey, what are you doing?" "I want a snuggle. A two hand snuggle." he said as he curled up around me.

*****************************

Josh does this thing to Parker where he puts on a really bad French accent and says, "ooooh Parker, se manifique, oooh lala Parker" and she gets all giggly and squealy and tells him to "stoooop Daddy!!" Yesterday at lunch I put her plate in front of her and she said (in a bad French accent), "ooooh Griffin, say mana beef! say mana beef!"

*****************************

Griffin lost another tooth (we're up to three now!). The next morning Josh was in the kitchen when Fin woke up. Fin came out of his room, held up his five dollar bill, said "Boom." and walked away.

Bower's Museum of Cultral Art

2011-02-07T12:31:00.000-08:00

Fin learned all about the Chinese New Year in school last week and was excited about the big dragons in the parades. I went online to see if we could find any parades near us, but unfortunately the only one I could find was on Saturday morning and I had to work. But I did find out that Bower's was having a family festival and free admission to the museum.* We're always down for some museum time, especially when its free!

The kid's got their arms painted (neither one wanted it on their face) and then refused to bathe last night so they could keep these longer.

The largest exhibit they had was dedicated to art of the Pacific Islands and had a great collection of amazing masks

Bone daggers from the Pacific Islands

Jolly looking ancient chinese horses

Griffin giggled and mock whispered to me:"Oooh, look Mom! An ancient DVD!"

This hand was carved out of quartz, every single tiny bone

Some REAL statement jewelry

Quilts of America (I love this one, called a "Crazy Quilt"

Ceiling in the California Legacies room

If you didn't know already, Target sponsors free admission and festivals at several museums throughout the country. We've been to three now, and love them. The kids get to do free crafts and we get to go to museums we might not otherwise go to because of the admission price. If you think your kids are too young or won't like going to a museum this is a great way to "test-drive" them without shelling out $50. ;) You can find schedules and locations here. :)

Mission Ranch Market

2011-02-01T19:06:00.000-08:00

We go through a lot of produce in this house. A lot. Josh is a vegetarian, and by proxy we've pretty much become vegetarians as well. 3/4 of our fridge is produce that has to be replenished on a weekly basis, not to mention the giant fruit bowl on the counter. I have to ration and sometimes hide the fruit from my little rabbits. So the cheaper I can get it, the better. And if you've ever talked to me about food or groceries I'm sure you've had to hear me wax poetic about my beloved Mission Ranch Market. Any place I can walk out of with a bulging, I can barely pick it up bag of groceries for $20 has a special place in my heart. Add in some Russian products, endless assortments of teas, German chocolate, 50 cent tea biscuits, smells from the bakery and thumping Persian music and its pretty much the happiest place on earth. This is where Parker and I spend our Mondays.

These are YanYan cookies, they come with a dip (chocolate, vanilla or strawberry). The kids love these, not only because its cookies and chocolate, but because they have little sayings on the side, some of which are a little baffling. "FOX. BEWARE OF LIES" is one of my favorites. "SHEEP. WOOL SWEATER" is another. The randomness of it makes us giggle.

Conversations

2011-01-26T15:26:00.000-08:00

"Mama, I'm gonna go to ballet cwass, and I'm going to stay all by my self-sis and the mothers and fathers stay at home and be happy. Isn't dat so nice of me Mama?" - Parker

***********************************

I'd texted Josh from the hospital while we were waiting for Baby Arlo to arrive, telling him that the nurses had kicked us out of the hallway. He wrote back:

"Fin says to have the boss of the hospital kick the nurse out"

We went back and forth for a bit and then:

"Fin wants to know what you think about his idea"

I said "Tell him if I knew who the boss was I would!"

"Fin says to look it up on your iPhone"

Griffin Daniel. Taking care of business when the adults won't.

**********************************

Its funny how striking a new word sounds when your six year old uses it. I can't for the life of me remember what we were talking about, but I asked Fin something along the lines of, "Would you want to do that too?" and he answered, "No, I just feel more cautious about it."

**********************************

Parker's in the back seat trying to sound out a word on the bus next to us.

"Oh- Kah - Ta - Ah. Oh-Kah-Ta-Ah. Mama, what does Ohkahtaah mean?"

Puzzled myself, I looked over at the bus. It was an OCTA bus (Orange County Transportation Authority)

Game Time!

2011-01-24T17:39:00.000-08:00

Anything weird about this picture?

A Cat's Work Is Never Done

2011-01-24T17:10:00.000-08:00

Carrots is on a mission to help us all get clean. He grooms the kids. He grooms me. He tries to groom Tammie. He even licks his favorite chair. But he's most passionate about grooming Josh. He'd do it for hours if he let him. Apparently he thinks Josh's hair just needs a lot of help...

*Tammie can't stand it if Carrots is getting attention and she's not

Black Swan

2011-01-20T15:30:00.000-08:00

Parker has loved ballet and ballerinas for a long time. Well over a year ago she started requesting I put on the classical station so she could dance in her tutu and slippers. She walks around on her tippy toes (and I mean on top of her toes, just like a ballerina, except instead of toe shoes she's got converse). She's been entranced by commercials for the new movie Black Swan, she'll stop dead in her tracks and watch, when its over she'll turn to me and say breathlessly, "Oh Mama, doesn't dat wook beautiful?" (which is crazy to me, even the commercials look creepy and scary to me). But of course she would love it. It combines all of her favorite things: ballet and animals and people pretending to be animals. The swan costume is what really gets her. Its the same reason we've watched the peacock dance in the Nutcracker ballet a million times. I wish we could put her in a ballet class and we're trying to figure out a way to do it, but its not cheap. In the meantime, Daddy got the Black Swan soundtrack, we watch ballets on YouTube and Netflix and I let her dance the dance away.

Here's our little untrained ballerina:

Black Swan from The Family Wright on Vimeo.

Parker dancing to the Black Swan soundtrack.

One Tree - Three Tables

2011-01-06T12:25:00.000-08:00

So back in September Josh and I celebrated our five year wedding anniversary. We've always been dorky and tried to give gifts along the traditional anniversary gift guidelines and five years happens to be "wood." Josh and I had been talking about making a table for a long time, had even asked my dad if he could help us. We wanted something big and chunky, but still modern. So I called my dad up and asked if he would help me make a little side table. He hesitated a little bit, which at the time I thought was a little weird. My dad is usually all kinds of gung ho when we come to him with a new crafty/DIY idea. He's the king of DIY! But he helped me make this little side table and Josh loved it. Right now the tv is on it, but ultimately I'd like it to just be a side table next to the couch or a chair (all those wires sticking out drive. me. batty.)

*Small brass plate on the side of the table with our anniversary date

*I stamped this lyric from one of our favorite songs on the top.

Well, I found out this Christmas why he hesitated. Turns out, he'd already started working on a coffee table for us! Behold, the most awesomest coffee table ev-ah! Its made from the same log our side table came from. He also made a different coffee table for my little sis from the same log. So you can you imagine how big that thing had to be. He had the bottom welded together from steel beams. The top is sanded silky smooth and then waxed.

*Carrots has to be in the middle of everything I do, including furniture photo shoots

The log is from a tree that died from beetle infestation. You can see the holes where the beetles bored into the tree.

And just in case you were curious as to what Josh gave me, here's the necklace he designed and had made at his work. :) So sweet

Conversations

2011-01-04T17:27:00.001-08:00

Parker: "Red is my most favorite color in the world."

Griffin: "I thought you said purple was your favorite."

Parker: "Yeah, I favorite dem both."

***********************************************************

For Christmas we got Parker a "Carnival of the Animals" record. Despite me correcting her several times she continues to call it "CARNIVORE of the Animals"

***********************************************************

I realized the other day that Fin thinks when people say 'wife' they are saying 'life'. As in, "You're Dad's life right?" I didn't want to correct him.

***********************************************************

Griffin was watching cartoons this morning. And if you haven't watched cartoons in a while, you should know that a lot of them do this slightly annoying thing where they demand the viewers to "help" them (Dora is an especially strident task master). On screen Mickey was telling the kids to help him turn the key, saying "Turn! Turn! Turn!" Griffin was talking along with it and said, "Turn! Turn! Turn it yourself Mickey!"

Merry Christmas!!

2010-12-26T11:16:00.000-08:00

Earthworm Rescue

2010-12-14T22:59:00.000-08:00

A while back it rained, and after dropping Fin off at school Parker discovered a bunch of worms (whats a group of worms called? ooooh, a CLEW*) a clew of worms that she decided needed to be put back on the dirt. This may be a little long for those who aren't directly related to Parker, but this video so en-captures what life with Parker is like. She has no internal dialogue. She is both intensely focused and easily distracted. She's not squeamish at all. She anthropomorphizes and yet is able to talk about the worm's untimely demise with frankness ("dis one wooks old...Den he's gonna die, right Mom?"). Worms, spiders, scorpions are equally as cute as kittens, otters and babies. She asks me questions, but answers them herself. There's no one like my girl and this is what my daily interaction with her is like. I could never be bored as a stay at home mom...

Earthworm Rescue from The Family Wright on Vimeo.

A video of P rescuing some earthworms from the gutter.

*Am I the only nerd who seriously loves learning what different groups of animals, etc are called? Seriously stoked to add another group name in my brain...

KinderBunny

2010-12-01T10:10:00.000-08:00

Fin's kindergarten class has a stuffed animal called KinderBunny. And every kid gets the chance to bring KinderBunny home and take him on adventures and then document what KinderBunny did with you. We had KinderBunny over the Thanksgiving break, but because we traveled around a bit, I was too scared to bring him with us anywhere for fear of losing him. Come Monday we had no pictures of KinderBunny and he had been on no other adventures other than being fought over by a four and six year old. So yesterday I told Fin, lets take pictures of you and KinderBunny doing all the things you love to do at home. So we took pictures of Fin and KinderBunny dancing, making funny faces, watching YouTube videos of roller coasters, eating edamame and white rice and having dessert at Yogurtland. These were all Fin's ideas. Flipping through KinderBunny's folder we saw that the other families had done pretty similar stuff, and had printed the pictures out with some text explaining what they did. Some got fancy and put some stickers on the pages. But we're a family thats completely incapable of just doing what everyone else did.

Behold: Griffin and KinderBunny's Excellent Adventure

It should be noted that Fin doesn't get "graded" on this, its just supposed to be a fun little family project. And all the picture ideas and some of the wording were his idea. So the fact that Josh and I took some creative license and amped up the layout and wording is okay (right? right?). ;) And both kids think its high-larious and were reading it to each other all morning. As a project that was meant to be a family thing, I think we succeeded.

Thanksgiving Recipes

2010-11-22T17:23:00.000-08:00

*Griffin's Handprint Turkey

Parker's Recipe for Thanksgiving Turkey (as told to Ms.Aimee)

Get a turkey from the barn.

Wash it.

Put it in a pot with carrots, milk (milk makes it really good), orange juice and cheese.

Put it in a five degree oven for five minutes.

Then eat it!

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!!

Fall

2010-11-17T11:22:00.000-08:00

I've had this stuff up since the day after Halloween (I was itching to use those yarn pumpkins the kids and I made!) but just got my camera batteries so I could actually take pics. Since the decline of business at my store (and now its sad sad closing) I've had to scratch my merchandising itch at home and I love love love that we have a mantle now for me to "merch" every season. :) I especially like the challenge of using stuff we already have. The only thing I bought for this mantle was the wheat. The fabric pumpkins I made out of the scraps from our owl costumes and the acorns and pinecones we found on walks. The gigantic pine cone came from my dad. Before Griffin's birthday whenever he'd ask me what I was getting him, I'd tease him and say I was getting him pine cones. I told my dad about the ongoing joke we had and he of course got right on board and showed up to Fin's party with a giant bag filled with pine cones of every shape and size. While it was supposed to be a joke, Fin was actually really stoked on it. I am too, that thing looks prehistoric! And thanks to my Aunt Kathy and Laura for the flowers! I took them from my sister's baby shower. I pulled out the blue daisies and added some feathers. Makes me so happy to look at. :)

Conversations

2010-11-16T08:46:00.000-08:00

"Parker, why did you draw all over your face!?!"

"For Halloween, for my kitty costume."

"For next Halloween? Thats a YEAR away Parker!"

"Yeah, so I'm weady."

***************************************************

Parker - "I think I'm right, or I'm not right."

***************************************************

Parker: "What's a nurse shark?"
Griffin: "Its like a doctor shark."
Parker: "Oh yeah"

***************************************************

Griffin's been trying out some five dollar words, "Whoa! Parker incinerated that bowl!"

***************************************************

Parker: "I love my hands. I take them everywhere with me."

***************************************************

Griffin and I are talking about his friends at school and get on the topic of TLC, the after care program for kids whose parent's work. "You know what the big kids say TLC is?" he says. "What?" I ask. "Torture Little Children" he deadpans.

Tall Ship Festival

2010-11-09T15:32:00.000-08:00

I came across these pictures from awhile ago that I never got around to posting. Josh and I went to san Diego for the weekend of our anniversary and my parents took the kiddos. On that Saturday the Tall Ship festival was happening in Dana Point. We'd never heard of it before, but they have old sailboats you can tour, and canon battles and pirates and food and sea chantey performances and booths. My dad said that there were people dressed up like pirates everywhere and it sounded to me a bit like a Renaissance Fair. But for pirates. And how could that be anything but awesome?!

Nature's Cheerleader

2010-11-04T11:28:00.000-07:00

*a different bug from a different day

Its incredibly hot today, so on our walk home from dropping off Fin, Parker and I took a little break in the shade. While I answered a text message from Josh, Parker dug around in the dirt a little and discovered a tiny worm. "Awww, Mommy wook, isn't he so sweet? Its a bahhh-bee worm!" She then set about building the baby worm a house out of mud and sticks. The whole time she was working she was cooing to the worm, "You're such a good widdle worm, isn't he a good widdle worm Mommy?" She built him a home with three fireplaces, complete with chimneys and plumbing for his sinks. She only stopped talking to the worm to inform the bee's buzzing around her that she was "just building a widdle house for dis worm, fanks for making the flowers grow widdle bee, you're so cute and fuzzy, isn't he cute and fuzzy Mommy, isn't he doing a great job helping the flowers grow?"

Even nature needs some positive reinforcement.

Halloween

2010-11-01T10:29:00.000-07:00

We started celebrating Halloween a little early this year, since Fin wanted to have a "scary costume party" for his sixth birthday (really should get those pictures up!). Fin was a mummy at his party, but got frustrated with all the hanging pieces and wrappings, so he quickly decided he wanted to be a vampire for Halloween. Which is just about the easiest costume in the world. He already had the white turtleneck for the mummy costume, so we headed to the Halloween shop, bought him some super cheap teeth (29 cents!), a cape and a medallion. Parker had about a bajillion different ideas for her costume (including an "underwater cheetah" when you figure out what that is, let me know), but when I suggested we could both be owls, she jumped at it. I bought some sweaters at the thrift store, cut the arms off and used those as the chest feathers, along with some real feathers. Some pieces of felt for the eyes and wings and a whole lot of hot glue and we were owls! I swear I could make you anything with a little bit of felt and my hot glue gun, though I've yet to learn how to NOT incur third degree burns every time I use that thing. They held up through Fin's party, my sister's annual pumpkin carving party, her halloween party at school and random wear throughout the month, so I'd say it was pretty successful.

On our walks to school we discovered a house that does a whole haunted house in their front yard and Fin has been closely watching its progress. They opened it on Saturday and we headed over. Parker and I wanted nothing to do with it, but Fin was brave and went through with Josh and loved it. Those two just love to be scared. Fin went on and on about how "awesome! so awesome!" it was. We also went to the haunted house they made at our clubhouse, but didn't go through the actual haunted house (it was billed as being for "adults and teens" so we thought we better not). They had decorated another area and had candy and games and Charlie Brown's The Great Pumpkin playing.

For Halloween night my parent's came over and we headed out to do some trick or treating. We went back to trick or treat in the neighborhood with the haunted house, and found out there was not just this haunted house, but two more, and lots of decorations! There were a lot of neighbors having little parties in their driveways and it was a fun, festive atmosphere. I went through a little tiny haunted house by myself, thinking my mom and Fin were following me and begged the man squatting in the smoke in a mask to not jump out at me. The other haunted house was INTENSE, so intense we couldn't even walk by it. We could hear a chainsaw, and banging on trash can lids, and saw monsters chasing teeny boppers out of the maze and down the street. From a distance it was awesome, but we stayed on the other side of the street. It did remind me of the haunted houses we would go through when I was little, and a part of me was heartened to see that people still do them. There is something thrilling about them, even if in the moment I always think, why in the world did I do this. The kids had a blast, Parker told me after every single house, "This is fun! I wuv dis!" and thanked me a couple times for taking her trick or treating, "Dis is fun, I'm habing fun mama, fanks for taking me trick or treating!" :) We came home and immediately sorted the candy and the kids brokered some trades and begged and pleaded to eat just one more piece. Parker has already asked me if she could be about thirteen different things for next Halloween.

Getting all set to go trick or treating!

At my sister's annual pumpkin carving party

We spent a good portion of our night coming up with names for this bump!

Bieber Fever

2010-10-27T16:58:00.000-07:00

Last week when I went to pick up Parker from preschool she wrapped herself around me and pleadingly asked me, "Mommy, can I be a beaver for Halloween, pleeeeeeeaaaase?!" One of her teachers looked at me and said, "Oh she wants to be Justin Bieber for Halloween?" and then I heard all the kids at the lunch table start excitingly tell each other how I'm going to be Justin Bieber for Halloween, no I'M going to be Justin Bieber for Halloween, NO I'M GOING TO BE JUSTIN BIEBER. I had to explain to her teacher that Parker has no idea who Justin Bieber is and she thinks everyone is going to show up dressed like beavers for Halloween.

Fast forward to today. Parker and I are waiting for Fin to get out of school, when a little girl Parker's age walks up. Her hair is in two tight french braids and completely covered in glitter, she's got glitter on her face, on her shirt, everywhere. She's wearing a Justin Bieber t-shirt, ripped up jeans and patent leather boots. Parker runs up to her and says HI! and the girl immediately says, "I'm going to a Justin Bieber concert tonight!!" Parker counters, "Wook at dis! I found this giant acorn on our walk!" The girl repeats, "Yeah, but I'M GOING TO THE JUSTIN BIEBER CONCERT TONIGHT" then Parker says, "I hab a tail! Its attach-dey-did! Wanna spin with me?!" and shows off the black cat tail she's worn for three days straight safety pinned to her pants. The girl, realizing Parker is thoroughly unimpressed with her plans for the night sighs, rolls her eyes and walks away. Parker skips over to me and says, "Wanna see how fast I can twirl?" I scooped her up, gave her a giant hug and kiss and said, "I love you so much Squirrelly Whirl, don't you ever change. Now lets see how fast you can spin!"

And she spun and spun and spun.

Mystery Neighbors

2010-10-21T11:59:00.000-07:00

The mystery neighbors have appeared! We share a staircase with the condo next to us, and up till last night it's been empty. The former tenants here told us the neighbor plays baseball and travels most of the year and uses this condo for the holidays (apparently his family is from the area?). Here's the scoop so far:

1.) We heard people coming up and down the stairs late last night.

2.) Josh spotted a double stroller (kids? two?!)

3.) New Lincoln Navigator outside this morning being detailed by man (possible neighbor?)

4.) Overhear woman speaking inside the house to kid(s?)

5.) Small dog goes berserk inside the condo when I come up the stairs with Tammie.

If you're wondering why we're so worked up about this, you should know that a. we really loved all our old neighbors and b. we've yet to make any real connections with ANY of the people who live here (and have found NO kids) and are therefor pretty desperate for some friendly neighbors. Not that the people surrounding us aren't nice. Just not overly friendly. Basically I want someone to share cookies with and ask for an egg when we run out. Is that too much to ask?

Updates to follow...

Photoshop

2010-10-20T10:56:00.001-07:00

Since starting this blog oh so very long ago, I've been frustrated by my lack of technical knowledge of all things website/blog/photography related. Because I know what I would like things to look like, but having never taken any sort of computer class or photography class, I've just had to wing it, scraping by with bits and pieces of knowledge I've gathered from the internet and friends and family. I know there are lots of tutorials out there, and if I had the time/money/initiative I know I could easily learn how to do almost everything I could ever want. But when you're squeezing computer time in between drop off and pick up and nap time and lunch time and craft time and life, it just goes to the bottom of the list. But playing around with the design of the blog and my pictures is a great stress reliever to me, and allows me to flex my creative muscle in some small way. I've read about photoshop "actions" on other blogs, but was never quite sure what they were talking about (remember NO training) so I finally asked The Husband last night and he showed me how to use them. I for see many a wasted hour. Its awesome. I've been converting my pictures on various iPhone apps, and those are still great, simple, easy ways to get a "look" for your pictures. But I love that I have so much more control with photoshop. I downloaded this action from night_fate. I still want/need to really learn how to play around with it more, but I'm loving this new "toy."

BEFORE:

AFTER:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Conversations

2010-10-19T15:48:00.001-07:00

Both kids ran into our room the first time thunder shook our house, and Parker immediately went straight under our covers and yelped for me to get under with her. By morning she decided that the clouds were just talking to her. As she looked out the window she fluffed up her hair a bit and said, "I'm just fixing my hair so the cwouds will wike it."

*********************************************************************

Kids are watching tv when a commercial for a stairlift comes on. I overhear Parker say

"Griffin, should we get one of dos for mom and dad when dey get old?"

*********************************************************************

"Whoa Mom!! Dat bird was wike two minches away from my head!" -Parker

*********************************************************************

I sent Fin into his room to start cleaning, promising him I'd be in in a minute to help. Ten minutes later he comes out and sighs, "I really need your help in there Mom, things are not going well."

*********************************************************************

On the back of one of my magazines there is a life sized picture of Julia Roberts head. Fin had been dancing around and making Julia's head his head. Then he put it in front of my head, and says, "Look Dad, you want Mom to have a prettier face?" (thanks dude!)

Rainy Day Schedule

2010-10-19T15:33:00.001-07:00

We're stuck in side today with some major thunder storms (thrilling!) so Parker and I decided we'd make some yarn pumpkins (like we did last year). When we made these the last time, I just bought the cheapest yarn I could find, but this year I've got a mantle. A mantle that is just begging to be decorated for every passing season. Right now its covered in rats and skulls and all sorts of creepiness, but I want to phase out the creepiness once Halloween is over and do something a bit more fall. So I got us some super thick, nubby yarn (bogo sale at JoAnns!) to make pumpkins and I have plans on making some more pumpkins out of old sweaters and fabric (like these). The pumpkins came out just how I hoped, lumpy and nubby and cozy. I think with my vintage books, a few acorns and maybe a bouquet of wheat we'll be good to go. Now what to do about Christmas...

Nature Box

2010-10-11T10:47:00.000-07:00

The kids have a collection of rocks, sticks, feathers, shells and other various pieces of nature they've found on our walks (I never allow them to take anything except what I think might already be subject to removal by the army of landscapers that populate our area). This morning on our walk to school we found the holy grail of nature collections - an owl pellet. We've only found one before, a few years ago now, but the kids remember it like it was yesterday, and still talk about it. We promised Fin we wouldn't take the pellet apart till he got home. He declared he was going to start a mouse bone collection with this pellet. Searching for something to put the pellet in, I came across this box and containers my dad had given me and P and I decided to make it our nature box. We separated her rock collection by color, and came up with examples of all their collections. So she has a shell, her rocks, a crystal, the owl pellet, pine cones, a feather and seed pods. She had a blast figuring out what to put in each container and arranging her box just so.

Six Years Old

2010-10-06T11:05:00.000-07:00

I'm a bit late with this birthday post. I wanted to get it right. And lately I've felt this sort of urgency to just stop and BE with you. So I've spent time this week and last building all your new toys with you. I've cleaned your room for you to make room for this expanding collection of tracks you've amassed. I've spent it decorating the house for Halloween with you. I've spent it reading chapter after chapter of The Witches. And because you're you, you've been so grateful, giving me hugs, telling me thank you. Your gratitude is so sweet and pure, I sometimes feel like you deserve more. For your birthday your Aunt Sarah took you to build a car. And when I talked to her about how you were, she could only say that you were just so good. So sweet and grateful. She said it brought tears to her eyes. People love to spoil you (including me) because of this.

But I haven't done all this just for more hugs (you'd give them to me anyways). I know in the future, you won't want me in your room to play. You won't care if I put spider webs up, skeletons in your bathroom (or will have to pretend you don't care). You won't fit in the curve of my arm and listen to me read in a very bad english accent. So I'm savoring it. Savoring the pure sweetness you ooze every day. Savoring the excitement you have over decorations, new toys, bounce houses. At six I feel like we're at the edge of something. About to go over that edge into the sevens, the eights and nines. Pre-pubescent. Something I feel like I know nothing about.

So I'm trying to hold on to who you are now. A boy obsessed with things that go. You build elaborate tracks for your trains and cars. Mini-worlds and rides. Your most ambitious to date started up on your dresser, went across the whole room, through a "time machine" winded around dinosaurs, under the bed and back through another time machine elevator up to the dresser again. Your ingenuity is astounding. Every time I think about giving away some of your toys, I have to stop and think about what you might need it for. The empty box becomes the time machine. The old barn becomes the elevator. You approach each situation and solve it yourself. Mini physics experiments laid out in hot wheels tracks. This creativity and problem solving makes me inordinately proud. I know that this one characteristic will take you far in life and allow you to succeed where other's may fall short.

You're still obsessed with all things science. Dinosaurs, fossils, sharks, space, anything and everything about this world you live in. The things you remember and understand continue to astound me and your dad. You don't just remember all the planets, you remember their characteristics. Beyond that you've latched onto this idea of meta-physics, building universes and worm-holes. You've sat rapt, listening to Steven Hawkings and Radiolab podcasts. You've surpassed most adults I know in your understanding of these very abstract concepts. We talked and read yesterday about earthquakes, about P-waves and S-waves, fault lines and plates. I love these moments with you, seeing the light bulb go off in your brain, when it "clicks" and you understand. More and more you're coming to these conclusions on your own.

I also love to hear you impart your knowledge to your sister. In the car the other day, she asked you if any animals eat rocks. And you immediately answered, "Alligators eat rocks, because they swallow their food whole. So they eat rocks too, to help them break down their food." You two are still as close as can be. You have inside jokes and silly songs that put the two of you in hysterics. We hear you two talking and laughing when you should be sleeping and we holler for you to go to sleep, but then we look at each other and smile, because its such a sweet thing to hear. You are so good with other kids, younger and older. When we showed up a tiny bit late for school today, the three mothers waiting outside exclaimed, "There's Griffin! All the boys were asking where you were!" You're sweet and mellow and funny and kids are drawn to that in you.

There's all these other things I want to say about you. How you still love music, rocking, rollicking music, the louder the better. How you can bust a move, do a James Brown spin, have great rhythm. How you care deeply about the clothes you wear, what you look like, how things feel. How you have to go to the salon to get your hair cut because no one else can do it right. How a bad hair day can ruin your morning. How you are pessimistic, fearing the worst outcome in every situation, and yet still maintain a bubbly happiness. How you manage to be a happy go-lucky pessimist is beyond me, and a trait unique to you and your dad. How you can be ecstatic and grateful over something nice someone did for you and then follow it with a "but what if..." How you believe your Papa can build anything and everything.

Everyday we feel so lucky to have such a sweet, smart funny little dude like you in our lives, and we look forward to all that is to come. Happy Birthday Boog-ity!

Five Years

2010-09-10T09:10:00.000-07:00

Around this time five years ago I was in the lobby of the Louvre, having a breakdown. I was jet-lagged, starving and ached for my baby. Not many people have a angry whisper fight with their new husband amongst Roman antiquities on their honeymoon. I don't remember what I was angry at you for, just that I was angry. Angry that we were fighting in Paris on our honeymoon. Because thats not what you're supposed to do. Honeymooners don't fight. Don't ask me about the logic there (we're fighting because I'm mad that we're fighting). I don't remember how we resolved it. I held onto my shame about that fight for awhile. I would never admit to anyone that our honeymoon was anything other than charming, lovely and romantic. I would never admit I was on edge, cranky and sad. But the truth is, it was charming, lovely and romantic. Stumbling upon an open air market, holding your hand at the top of the Eiffel tower while you begged to go back down, meeting the couple from Georgia in a graveyard, the same Goldfrapp song on the tv all week, gray skies and wet leaves. And when I think about the obstacles in our way of enjoying that week, its a little bit amazing to me. We never got used to the time change. We'd never left our baby boy longer than one night before. We had no money for good food. We knew two words in French. And if I want to get really philosophical and cheesy about it, that week is a good metaphor for our what our life together has been. Its been charming, lovely, and romantic. And we've been on edge, cranky and sad.

We've had so many "obstacles" in our life that could have gotten in the way of enjoying it. But its all been amazing. Because I'm with you. Because we duck under that wave hand in hand and come up, gasping for breath, laughing and ready for the next one.

Happy Anniversary babe, I love you.

The Bear Researchers

2010-09-02T14:00:00.000-07:00

Last week when I asked what she was doing Parker told me she was "killing bears" Slightly alarmed, I asked her why, to which she replied,

"We're just killing dem and putting dem in a cage so the Mama bears don't kill them."*

"You're killing the bears, so that the other bears don't kill them?" I clarified.

"Yes."

"Okay then."

So today when the kids started loading up to kill some more bears, I told them that instead of killing bears to save them from being killed, why didn't they use tranquilizer guns to put them to sleep? Scientists do that, I explained. To see how big they are, and to track them, and give them medicine if they need it. Then the sleeping medicine wears off and they wake up and go back to the forest. The kids latched onto that idea and have been "in the forest" researching all morning. In fact, I was busy cleaning and emailing, so I had nothing to do with any of this:

Here's their computer (an old DVD player that no longer works). The guns are also hooked up to the camera, and go off when a bear passes by.

This is their telescope/big gun for seeing bears that are far away

Here's Parker (and I quote) "writing notes about the bears"

Fin is completing his "check marks" while Parker mans the computer cam

Not sure what the safety gear is for, but you have to admit it does make them look pretty official. Later Fin put on some suspenders too, which really completed the outfit. Before I put them down for nap they were bringing books out to put in their "forest school" so it seems like this is a long research assignment...

*hey Gammie! Thanks for showing us that awesome clip of the tiny baby bear clinging to a tree for dear life while the voiceover contemplates whether or not the other Mama bear is going to kill and eat it! ;)

Summer

2010-08-27T09:55:00.000-07:00

Conversations

2010-08-27T09:28:00.000-07:00

Fin: "There's no clouds today."

Parker: "Dats cause the sun came out and sunburned vem away"

Fin: "Yeah, the sun burns them away."

Parker: "The clouds should wear some sun scream"

**********************************************

Looking at a picture of hot air balloons that have lined up in a shape like a question mark, Parker laughs and says, "Hahahahah! The balloons are making a mystery!"

**********************************************

In the spa, Fin has worked up the courage to "jump" into the middle (in reality its more like a dramatic step, but any little sign of progress in the quest towards actual swimming is awesome)

"Watch this Nanny, you're going to be SO impressed"

***********************************************

Calm Down from The Family Wright on Vimeo.

Best Friends

2010-08-09T15:13:00.000-07:00

When I was talking with my friend about what kind of cat we were looking for I told her that we didn't care if it was a "kitten" but we did want a young cat, because we were hoping that he would be THE cat our kids grow up with. Josh and I both had cats in our childhoods that we loved dearly (Josh even has a tattoo commemorating his Quasimodo). We wanted a cat who wouldn't be scared of the noise and chaos that comes with young kids, who wouldn't freak out if they got in his face or tried to pick him up. And Carrots has been everything we hoped for. Its rare to find a cat so utterly enamored with kids. He's sleeping on Fin's chest just like the picture above as I type this, exhausted from playing with Fin and his feather toy. This morning I went to "rescue" him from Parker, as she had spent the whole morning picking him up and transporting him from room to room. I swear she didn't put him down for a good ten minutes straight. I went to grab him and set him free, but was surprised when I picked him up to find him purring. He was perfectly happy being toted around like a baby. The other day I ran into their room, panicked because they were screaming for me at the top of their lungs. I sighed to find out they only wanted me to see Carrots had learned how to climb up the ladder of the bunk bed to join them up top. Fin is constantly barking at me to "GET THE CAMERA AND COME SEE WHAT CARROTS IS DOING!!" He's just mischievous enough to keep the kids, and us, thoroughly entertained without driving me totally nuts by destroying things. I think we'll keep him ;)

This Week We Were...

2010-08-07T17:29:00.000-07:00

Violinists

Paleontologists

Contortionists

Mechanics

Pteranodon Party!!

2010-08-05T07:32:00.000-07:00

The kids have always been very specific about what type of party they want. Especially now that they are older. This year Parker decided early on that she would like, "a pteranodon party, wid pteranodon masks, pteranodon wings, pteranodon nest and pteranodon eggs." While trying to explain this "theme" to most people, the first question was always, "What's a pteranodon??" and then I'd have to explain its the more scientifically correct way of calling the dinosaur we normally think of as a pterodactyl, that Parker loves to pretend she's one, sitting on a nest, hatching her eggs. My Nana came up with the brilliant idea to use a kiddy pool for the nest, we already had the egg pillows from Easter. My sister Jessi was talking one day about a pattern she saw for a hooded towel, and I came up with the idea to add a "beak" and some eyeballs and voila! Pteranodon costumes (as a substitute for the requested mask). Daddy made some coloring books from a free online coloring site, we dipped some marsmallows, made a cake and called it a day. Parker was in heaven with all her friends dressed up like baby pteranodons and I was happy to see the other kids really enjoyed their costumes too. :)

Conversations

2010-08-02T13:55:00.000-07:00

Parker asked me about the cement truck next to us in the car. I said that they pour the cement out of the chute and thats how they make sidewalks. Fin chimes in, "Actually Mom, they have to build a wood frame first, then they pour in the cement, let it dry and then take the wood off. That's how they make a sidewalk."

Happy Birthday Parker!

2010-07-26T09:07:00.000-07:00

You're four today! You've asked me everyday for the past few weeks if you were four yet and today is finally that day. When I got to tell you yes this morning you threw your hands in the air and exclaimed "YES!!!! See Mama, wook how big my feet are! Its cause I'm four now." For your birthday today you'd like to go to the mall and go shopping and then make a cake with a turtle and a pteranodon on top. You've asked for a Belle costume and a remote control skunk.

Life with you is not boring. You are passionate and that applies to everything in your life. You don't just get upset, you are DEVASTATED. You aren't just happy, you are ECSTATIC. And you can go from one of those emotions to the other, and back, in a matter of seconds. You challenge my patience almost everyday. You also do or say something everyday that makes me laugh out loud or amazes me. You are creative and smart and just plain crazy. I never in a million years thought that as a mom I would have to say things like, "I know you're a mountain lion, but please don't hiss at the waitress anymore, ok?" You are still very much the actress, role playing as dinosaurs, animals, bugs. You completely devote yourself to your role, and your body language and mannerisms are amazingly accurate. My favorite characters are your hissing, crouching raptor, and the bug eyed, tongue flicking "chamil-i-kan."

You went to school for the first time this year and loved every minute of it. You made a ton of friends, boy and girl. I heard from several parents that their kids only talk about you when it comes to school. You were "best fwiends" with Nicolas, sometimes Juliette. You loved the rituals of school, the standing in line and folding your hands and singing the songs. You already knew your letters, shapes and colors, so all you truly gained from this year of school was a little more social maturity, how to share, take turns.

Listening to me and your big brother talk about the sounds letters make, you've picked up on it and are starting to try to sound out words on your own. You have a handful of words you know by sight. You begged for a workbook which we bought for you, and you are very serious about doing your "work." You've taken it upon yourself to learn how to write letters. You are still very much an artist, coming up with new techniques and ideas all the time. You love to paint on your easel, and draw with your crayons. Your new thing lately has been assemblage art, cutting and gluing all sorts of crazy things together to make something new. You made a Puss in Boots the other day. You used a cutout of a cats head, then glued down a harmonica for his body, and were about to glue down our can opener when your dad discovered you. The can opener has black handles, so when it was all put together it really did look like he was wearing boots.

You and your brother are still two little peas in a pod. You crack each other up, laughing long into the night when you should be sleeping. You look out for each other and have inside jokes. You make him laugh with your made up songs. He makes you laugh with fart jokes.

You get more beautiful everyday. Walking around with you is sometimes like walking around with a mini celebrity. We get stopped all the time, told you are too cute! so pretty! Walking with you through a restaurant I can see people nudge each other and point at you, coo how cute you are. And you notice it too. You hold your head a little higher, smile sweetly and say thank you.

I can't believe my little rolypoly newborn is four years old, you've brought so much joy to us and I can't even begin to explain how much we love you, Squirrels. Happy Happy Birthday!!

ENC, Newport Beach

2010-07-22T10:00:00.000-07:00

Some fun with my iPhone app, LoMob (a photo convertor). We went to one of our favorite free spots, the Environmental Nature Center in Newport Beach. Would you ever guess this was Newport??

Why I'll Never Homeschool (and why I pray for patient teachers in Parker's future)

2010-07-21T10:00:00.000-07:00

Parker begged for this workbook at Costco and she's loved "doing" the worksheets inside. Its a Kindergarten book, so most of it is a little above her skill level, but she loves it and very seriously tells me as she sits down, "I just hab a wot a work to do today Mama." Tonight she was doing this worksheet. She did one pretty good nice straight line (this is a handwriting sheet, you're supposed to trace the dotted line) but then informed me, "Mama, I just want to draw the sound dey make." and then made the wavy lines you see whilst making the appropriate animal noises. And I was too impressed by her creativity (and not that serious about her "work") to correct her. But I couldn't help but shake my head for what lies ahead for the poor unsuspecting teachers in her future...

Meet Carrots

2010-07-20T14:19:00.000-07:00

We had talked about getting a new cat once the house was totally put together. We were getting really close (three boxes!) so I started to look on craigslist just to see what was out there. I had planned on going through a friend of ours who fosters kitties, and when I saw a little tabby kitten being fostered through the same rescue group, I asked my friend if she knew the woman, or the kitty. Turns out she did! But the kitty I had seen was not a good match for a house with kids and dogs. She did, however, have a slightly older tabby who was great with kids and dogs. She sent us this video of the then named Jerome, who had been scheduled to be put down in a LA shelter before this foster mom stepped in. We immediately fell in love with him, even from the short video you can tell he was a sweetheart. And we were right. The kids renamed him Carrots (for no apparent reason). He's been nothing but sweet and playful and mellow. He's a big head-butter, even tried to love up on Tammie. I caught Parker "playing the drums" right above his head with a spoon and pot and he just bemusedly looked up at her. He has a little cold and has been a good boy about taking his medicine and seems to be getting better.

This is the rescue group we got Carrots from, if you or someone you know is looking for a kitty, I highly recommend this group. Not only will you have a better idea of the personality of the kitty, they come fully vetted (so no fleas, no underlying health issues to surprise you), neutered and microchipped, all for a really reasonable adoption fee. You can find out more about them here, at www.meoowzresq.com.

Parker's Birthday List

2010-07-20T14:05:00.000-07:00

The kids are excellent window shoppers. They know that the majority of the time we are not walking out of a store with something they want. They do however request that certain items be put on their birthday list. Parker's taken it one step further this year and has started demanding that I take a picture "So you don't forget." I thought they make a funny collection of pictures.

Side note: If you were planning on buying Parker a birthday present, please for the love of all things holy DO NOT BUY HER ANYTHING PLUSH. For reals. I'm pretty sure we have every single species covered. She's just physically incapable of not immediately falling in love with every single stuffed animal she's ever seen. And she already conned her Nanny into buying that Hello Kitty Fox. ;)

Kid's Room - Part I

2010-07-12T16:33:00.000-07:00

One of the things that really sold us on our new house was the kid's room. Its huge. The condo is listed as a dual master, so their room is as big (maybe even bigger) than ours. And we'd rather have them share one big fabulous room than cram them into two separate tiny rooms, which is how most of the houses around us are made. We wanted a room for them to play in, sleep in, read in, do everything in. In that spirit of space saving we decided to get a bunk bed. I've been talking up the bunk bed since way before we ever moved. Parker requested curtains, Fin requested that it be painted a color. So using Fin's favorite "Matterhorn" fabric as a starting point we settled on a bright cherry red. The red looks so cheerful and lovely on their dark wood floors. I finished Parker's curtains today and think they turned out great! She hasn't seen them yet, but I think she's going to love them. She better! Hanging curtain rods on the inside of a bottom bunk is NOT easy, let me tell you. Especially since I can't even sit straight up on her bed. I have a definite kink in my neck. :) I was able to go through and organize their books yesterday, and hang Fin's shelf for his Matterhorn collection. I'll post more pics of the rest of the room soon!

*The fabric on the body pillow was our inspiration

*I still need to sew a pillow for the window seat

Lost

2010-06-29T10:19:00.000-07:00

I've been putting this post off for quite awhile now. I guess I was kind of hoping I never would have to "make it official" but its been weeks. So its with a heavy heart that I tell you we lost Muta. About a week before we moved he went out in the afternoon and then we never saw him again. I got worried after about three hours, as he'd never been gone that long. And when he didn't come home all night I thought the worst. I dropped the kids off at school the next morning and walked around our neighborhood calling his name. I ran into a woman and I asked if she had seen a tabby cat and she asked, "Oh did you lose your cat?" and I surprised myself by promptly bursting into tears. We put up signs, checked the pound's "lost and found" page obsessively (and still do), but there's been no sign or word. Though we only had him for a little while that little cat made a big spot for himself in our hearts and family and we're all depressed about it. The kids have taken it in stride, sometimes being very matter of fact about it ("When are we getting a new cat Mama?) to saying out of nowhere, "I just really miss Moo-moo Mama." We've talked about getting a new cat, but we still need to get settled in the new house and a new routine and almost every conversation about getting a new cat ends with either Josh or I saying, "I just want Muta back." We miss you, boy.

Conversations-Parker Edition

2010-06-14T15:41:00.001-07:00

Against my better judgement I let Parker watch a short silly kid song about poop. She just about died laughing. In the car later she says out of no where: "I just wuv dat poop song mama! I jus wuv it so much. It was in my heart!"

Fin: I know what chicken nuggets are made of
Josh: what?
Fin: chickens
Parker: dead chickens

Immdiately following Jessi and Chris' pregnancy announcment Parker declared that she too was going to have a baby. Since then she will randomly stick out her belly, rub it and declare "I'm so excited to have my baby mommy" and "I think it's going to be a guy or a girl." When Jessi asked her about her baby, Parker said "when I hab my baby I'm going to give it to you so your baby has a friend"

Me: "Parker, get back in your room and go to sleep, it's nap time"
Parker: holds up my alarm clock
"Mom, look, it's a waste of time. You're wasting the time."

Conversations

2010-05-26T09:43:00.001-07:00

*Approximately thirty seconds after she told me, "Dat yawn didn't mean I was tired Mama, I'm not tired because I yawned."

One of Parker's latest things has been to ask me what words start with *insert letter here* In the car today she started saying, "A starts with alligator, B starts with ball, C starts with cat..." (she gets the syntax mixed up, its not alligator starts with A, its A starts with alligator) Curious to see how far she could get I started quizzing her. Impressively we got all the way to Q before she slipped up. "What starts with Q?" I asked. "Ummm Q is for Cucumber!"

Parker called to talk to me while I was at work. As I said goodbye to her, she asked Fin if he wanted to talk to me. I heard him in the background say, "No, I'm busy doing my homework." slight pause, "well, I guess its okay if I take a little break."

Josh, Fin and I somehow started talking about what Fin wanted to do when he grows up. He has said in the past that he wants to work at Disneyland and make rides. This day however he decided that sounded like too much work. "Maybe I'll just stay at home at draw pictures of rides with my crayons and then send it to them and tell them to make the ride." We said that was a pretty good idea. Then he decided even that sounded like too much work. "Maybe I'll just work at Disneyland or the fair, but not on the rides, maybe at like the games. Because if you work on the rides you have to push all those buttons." My son. The Carny.

Lake Forest Swamp

2010-04-27T14:06:00.000-07:00

We've dealt with flooding outside, we've dealt with a leaky roof. Starting yesterday we started dealing with a slowly flooding living room. The plumber is supposed to be here sometime this evening, but in the meantime the kid's are having a grand 'ol time jumping in puddles in the safety of their home.

Coversations

2010-04-23T14:04:00.001-07:00

"Looks like a picture from the olden days Mom. Yeah, you know, like the nineties."

- Posted from my iPhone

Let's Just Stop

2010-04-21T13:56:00.000-07:00

I've worked in children's retail now for ten years. In that ten years I've seen my fair share of tantrums. I've seen howling on the ground, I've seen whining that would pierce your eardrums, I've seen kids hit their parents. And even before I had kids I had picked some basic do's and don'ts for shopping with kids. That kid being totally ignored by his mom? He's going to freak out when she swoops him up and leaves without acknowledging what he was asking about. That mom who keeps saying no to the whiny girl over and over only to give in at the last minute, frustrated and blaming the kid? She'll do that every time and the whining will only get worse. But I also learned this: kid's freak out. Its part of growing up. Sometimes it has to do with being tired, sometimes its about being hungry, sometimes its just too hard to be three. I remember Fin's first tantrum. Josh and I both just stood there, our mouth's agape. There was no rhyme or reason. I think he was mad because I wouldn't let him climb through the clothes racks. I wasn't embarrassed so much as bewildered. We scooped him up and headed out. When Parker was younger she had a handful of episodes so bad I had to leave full carts in the middle of the aisle. I've seen the death stares. Heard the comments under people's breath. Felt my face go red and my palms sweat as I leave a store with a screaming child in tow.

Today Parker and I went to Walmart. While we were checking out the girl behind us in line proceeded to throw a fit over a Barbie. She looked older and I found myself thinking, man, she's a little old for that (she looked around seven) and then thinking why did that Barbie make it all the way to the counter if she wasn't going to buy it. But I mentally stopped myself. I don't know anything about these people. Maybe she's really tall for her age. Maybe she snuck that Barbie in the cart. Maybe she was up all night sick and now her mom has to drag her to Walmart for something. But the older woman checking us out was having none of it. "Ridiculous! Can you believe kids like that?" She muttered to me, perfectly loud enough for the other mom to hear her. "I'm a great grandmother and I would NOT stand for that." and on and on. I was just half smiling and nodding, when I finally spoke up and weakly offered, "Well, we all have those days!" She just huffed. When I got to the car I was overwhelmed with a feeling that I should have stood up for the mom a little bit more. I've had strangers try to comfort Parker after I have calmly told her that her behavior is unacceptable and try to ignore her tantrum (and I'm talking seconds here, not like I let her scream for ten minutes). My friend had an older woman tell her to "shut her baby up" while in Target. Her infant daughter. I know a toddler who towers over her friends, so everyone thinks she's a good two or three years older than she is and her poor mom gets flak because people expect her to act like a five year old, and not the two year old she is. Pass judgement all you want in your head. But your stares? Your comments? They aren't helpful. It only makes a frustrating situation that much more stressful. I try my best to help frazzled parents out when I'm at work. Offer a sticker for the toy the baby won't give up. Help them with their bags. Sometimes all it takes is just a knowing smile and a kind word. Or just plain ignoring it. Because when it comes down to it, more than likely you have no idea what the real situation is. Life isn't black and white and not every wailing child is a spoiled brat.

Moo-mers

2010-04-08T09:21:00.001-07:00

I know some people say they aren't "cat people." Or they "don't like cats." Sometimes I think those people have just never had the right cat, or just don't "get" cats. A cat does not charm people by faithfully doing tricks or rolling over to let you scratch his belly. It takes a little more time, in general, to get to know and love a cat. This cat though? I think you'd love him after ten minutes. I've never met or known a cat as social as this one. Cats, dogs, kids, people, he loves them all. I've never had a cat whose actually made friends. And literally, when we go outside cats I've never seen before come out of the woodwork to be next to him. Not to fight. Not to defend their territory. To play. He bats at their tails, they hunt bugs together. The boisterous dog next door doesn't faze him in the least. If she gets too close, he just bops her on the head (no claws). We went on a walk last night, over to the park and greenbelt about two blocks away. He followed us the whole way, never more than ten feet away from us. It amazes me that he would do this, especially with the amount of people out walking their dogs. When a dog would notice him or bark at him, he'd jump into the bushes. We were quite a sight, our little group. Two adults, two kids, one small pooch on a leash, and kitty with a jingle bell. We went to the park so that Fin could practice climbing a tree he's been trying to conquer. When we stopped Moo just flopped down and took a rest. When we're at home he goes in and out all day, spending about twenty minutes outside, then coming back (despite my earlier efforts to make him an inside cat, he is now officially an indoor/outdoor cat, I truly think he would be miserable inside all day seeing now how much he loves to be out) but when he's inside he's always in the same room as we are, checking out what we're doing, snuggling or "attacking" the kids. In the short time we've had him we've all fallen deeply in love with him.

Sailing

2010-04-01T22:36:00.001-07:00

We were invited to go sailing last weekend. To say we had a good time would be putting it mildly. Parker was so enamored she's switched her life's goal from wanting to "drive a truck" to "driving a boat with a downstairs." Fin got a little sick from being in the cabin too much but after coming up top for a bit he felt much better. I was so happy to see my friend Kim and her family, I've missed her terribly since she went off to med school in Chicago. It felt good to be with all of them again, my friends from forever and my little family. Especially on a beautiful spring day in a beautiful sailboat. ;)

Trike-a-Thon

2010-03-25T16:11:00.000-07:00

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

2010-03-25T14:07:00.000-07:00

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

2010-03-19T09:50:00.000-07:00

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...

2010-03-16T15:30:00.001-07:00

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

2010-03-09T17:14:00.000-08:00

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!

2010-03-03T12:35:00.000-08:00

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.

Conversations

2010-02-25T21:21:00.000-08:00

Parker is playing with two ponies and a tiny triceratops when I overhear her say, in a gravelly voice, "I will destroy you if you eat my son!" then in a sing song voice, "OK!!"

- Posted from my iPhone

Snow!

2010-02-25T10:42:00.001-08:00

Here's a little video from the day in the snow we spent with my parents awhile back.

Snow Snack from The Family Wright on Vimeo.

Meet Kitty

2010-02-22T19:28:00.000-08:00

Pretty Kitty

Kitty sneaking some peanut butter.

"Awww, he wikes me. He's smiling at me Mama."

Kitty getting comfy

The kids have been begging for a cat for some time. But adding one more living thing to our home just wasn't high on our priority list, and neither was paying the $100+ adoption fee for a kitty who may or may not get along with everyone (even though Josh and I both love cats and missed not having one). Sometime ago we visited my parent's home and met this little cat (boy? girl? we still don't know). It was the friendliest little thing, coming right up to the kids and me, purring and flopping on its back. When I put Parker in the carseat, he/she jumped up into her lap. I came home and told Josh about the cat, but the subject was kind of dropped.
Then we all went out to visit and Josh met Kitty and my parents told us about how the neighbor boy torments him, how he'd been abandoned after his old owners got new furniture and that every time they put food out for him, he gobbled it up. He rarely left my parents front porch except when chased away by my parent's overly playful pup. We almost took him home that night, but didn't have room in the car. I tried to convince my sister to take him, but she got too worried about how her cat would react, so we finally stepped up. We went to PetsMart and loaded up on kitty stuff and the kids waited all week for their kitty. To say they were excited is putting it mildly. Every morning they asked, all week long they made plans for the kitty, made him a bed, argued about whose cat it'd be.
Kitty's been here a whole day, and its like he's always lived here. The kid's are still over the moon about it and have not left it alone for more than ten minutes. He/She's turning out to be the perfect little kitty for our house, being totally mellow around Tammie and the kids and soaking up all the affection and love that's being poured on it. Tammie is taking it pretty well (a lot better than she took to the dog we dog-sat) only lashing out last night when the kitty jumped in my lap on the couch. She came from across the room snarling. Josh stopped her and she calmed down enough to sit on the other end of the couch and pout. I've tried to give Tammie extra love and think they'll be totally fine with each other very soon.

Heres the kids playing with Kitty last night. Every move he makes is HIGH-larious!!

Playing with Kitty from The Family Wright on Vimeo.

Catching Rainbows

2010-02-10T09:29:00.000-08:00

Parker and I are taking it easy this morning (we both have colds), catching rainbows and watching movies. Parker calls the last picture her "rainbow mohawk."

Conversations

2010-02-03T14:07:00.000-08:00

I'm eating an avocado, and I ask Parker if she wants a bite. She tells me, "No, I don't wike dos"
"You know, Baby D.J. looooooves avocados! They're his favorite." I say.
Her eyes get real big and she kinda giggles,
"Baby Jesus wuvs avocados!?"
Fin interjects, totally serious, "Baby Jesus does NOT love avocados!"
I laugh and say, "You don't know, maybe Baby Jesus DID love avocados!"
He gives me a withering stare. "No. Mom. He didn't."

Josh is reading Parker the book she picked out at the library, a big scientific book on geckos. I look up to see her sniffling and saying, "I'm just sooooo saaaaaad!" with big crocodile tears rolling down her cheeks. Surprised, I ask Josh, "What happened?!" He leans over and whispers, "She can't lick her eyeball like a gecko." Parker overhears it and the sobbing starts anew.

Fin is playing with my iPhone. "Little kids don't have cell phones, I know that. But when I'm a big kid, when I can read, I'm going to get one. And I want an iPhone like Mommy's." (should be noted that he his currently learning how to read)

Parker comes downstairs with something wrapped up in a blanket. "Happy Birthday Mommy, cwose your eyes!" and puts the package in my hands. I unwrap it and find a purple beaded necklace. "Oh thank you Parker, what a beautiful necklace!" I say. "Noooo Mommy!" She says in a tone that says, don't be ridiculous! "Its a weal purple snake, and oh, look Mommy, he just wuvs you!!"

The Great Flood

2010-01-23T09:59:00.000-08:00

So, uh, its been raining a little bit. Tuesday is when it really started. Tuesday is when I got a message that there was a tornado warning in effect for our area. It was really windy and pouring buckets and buckets of rain. I went upstairs to look out the window and thats when I laid my eyes upon my parking spot. Which was completely under water. I gasped out loud when I saw the water lapping up onto the sidewalk about a foot from our first step. I ran outside to see my neighbors all doing the same thing. A neighbor from up the way grabbed a shovel and waded out to the drain (which was about ten feet from my car and completely clogged). My next door neighbor waded in as well. In the meantime the water had gone up and over the bottom of my car, and was my car was so deep in the water that I couldn't get to it, let alone open any of the doors. Luckily we had no where to go and the kids thought the whole thing was great fun. My poor neighbors stayed there until all the water drained and then we all swept and raked up all the trash and leaves and dirt. Its happened about four times since then, yesterday when it started pouring again I literally ran outside and jumped in my car to move it to the street (the water was already about an inch from my door, I had to jump from the sidewalk into my car.) I've always liked my neighbors, and we've always felt like a little community in here, but these last couple of days have really shown how great they all are. Josh and a neighbor from behind us were out there the other night at 10:45 when another neighbor came out with a flash light to help. The first neighbor who jumped in the water lives a couple condos up from us, his house and car were not affected at all by the flooding, he just wanted to help. We keep saying that everyone else in the complex owes them all a real nice gift, since all the rain water from their homes is coming to our one clog-prone drain.

Here's some video I took the first time it flooded. Sorry its a little shaky and random, but it gives you a good sense of the extent of the flooding!

The Flood from The Family Wright on Vimeo.

A Day at the Park

2010-01-20T16:54:00.000-08:00

Some fun with our new Flip video camera and iMovie. Enjoy!

Ninja Babies Need Naps Too

2010-01-14T14:31:00.000-08:00

Parker wouldn't/couldn't fall asleep today for nap. I kept going upstairs to find her with one less article of clothing on and four new toys out. When she got down to her skivvies playing with the stroller and a baby and a dinosaur, I banished her to the couch where I could hear if she got up to play. She fell asleep fairly quickly and it was quiet for a good ten minutes when I got up to check on her.

And found this:

How she got from the couch to the closet five feet behind me, got this umbrella out and then covered herself up and fell asleep, without making a PEEP, is totally beyond me. She is a ninja.

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things

2010-01-06T10:19:00.000-08:00

How we've been enjoying a few of our Christmas gifts:

*Tammie's new bed. She refuses to sleep in it on the floor, so its currently on my bed. But we're getting there!

*Ahhh, the Matterhorn collection. Fin has been loving arranging and rearranging his most treasured objects.

*Though, much to Fin's chagrin, I have not been able to find Jupiter yet, Fin has enjoyed his new telescope and declared, "Outer space is like TOTALLY AWESOME!"

*These princess shoes were made for walking and that's just what they'll do...

*Grandma presents combine! Sticky chalkboards from Gammie provide the perfect backdrop for the magnetic "paper" dolls from Nanny!

I don't have pictures of ALL the great presents we received but wanted to thank everyone! Our Christmas was a whirlwind, but it was amazing and warm and full of love and laughter. We love you guys!!

Grayson Hunter Hill

2009-12-16T14:45:00.001-08:00

As some of you know, our close friends Dave and Christy had twin boys about four weeks ago. Last Sunday, their son Grayson passed away quite suddenly. His brother Carter is doing well in the NICU at Saddleback. Words can not express the absolute sorrow we feel for our friends, nor can I even imagine their pain. I'm writing this post simply because as I've shared this news with others, I've heard over and over of what they could do to help. Dave's brother has set up a memorial fund to help this young family and I just wanted to re-post the information for those who may have not seen it.

From Dave's brother Brandon:

"An account has been set up in Grayson's name if anyone would like to help this young family out (in lieu of flowers). You can send a check directly to the bank or you can send it to Brandon or David and Christy. You can also make a donation at any California Bank and Trust locations:

Grayson Hill Memorial Fund
account #1680033236
California Bank and Trust - Corona office
200 South Main St, Suite 150
Corona, CA 92882

If you send it via mail directly to the bank IT MUST HAVE THE ACCOUNT NUMBER to ensure it goes to the proper place. If you are sending it to Brandon or David/Christy it can just say 'Grayson Hill Memorial Fund'."

**********************************************************************************

If you would like to send anything directly to Dave or Christy please email me or Josh and we can get you the proper contact information.

Dear Santa

2009-12-11T13:37:00.000-08:00

We've never written Santa a letter, but Fin has been talking about doing it for a couple weeks now. Today I uncovered an old typewriter I'd forgotten about and Fin wanted to use it to write his letter to Santa. All the drawings are his (and all the more impressive when you realize he's using his left hand, and he's been right-handed). We addressed it and mailed it today.

It reads:

dear santa,

for christmas this year i would like a nerf gun. and parker would like a purple nerf gun with flowers on it. and parrots. i've been really good and parker has been really good too. can you bring mommy and daddy a picture of small world and thunder mountain. i would like a new pirate ship. and a book about water rides. and a skull tunnel for my train set.

love,

griffin and parker and daddy and mommy

tammie would like a tiny bone and a bed and a chewy toy.

Parker's Christmas Program!

2009-12-10T15:57:00.000-08:00

Parker had her first ever performance today. She was so excited about the show all week. And she was really excited to wear her new "cinderella" skirt. When I dropped her off at class this morning she ran inside and exclaimed to her friend in a pink velvet dress, "Oh! I wuv your dress! Do you wike mine?!" and did a little twirl. I was a little nervous that she would panic, since she does not like the noise of crowds, especially clapping. And she is known to flee at too much attention. But she did wonderful! I think her love of singing and dancing trumped any nervousness she might have felt. She also really loves being a part of a class and following directions. Out of her whole class there were only one or two other kids who sang and did the hand movements like her. Her class is the youngest in the preschool, so that was to be expected, but I'm so proud of my baby girl.

Parker's Christmas Program 2009 from Lauren Kniep on Vimeo.

Our First Broken Bone

2009-12-10T09:15:00.000-08:00

Since last Thursday our lives have been a whirlwind of activity, I feel like I haven't had time to think, let alone sit down and right about The Event.

When I pick up the kids from school, I grab Fin first and then we walk over to the preschool to get Parker (they both get out at 11:30). Last Thursday we did the same thing we always did, but Fin decided he needed to climb on the tiny picnic table they have. When I say tiny, I mean tiny. The tabletop itself is no more than two feet off the ground. He slid across the top, sat on the bench, and when he tried to stand up, somehow fell. A foot. But his arm snapped behind him and I immediately thought, oh my god, he just dislocated his elbow. It was at such a weird angle. He panicked, I panicked. I'm trying to hold him and stop him from trying to climb up on me. Meanwhile the director of the preschool ran over and got him to sit down and move his fingers and arm, which he did just fine. Chalking up his reaction to typical Fin behavior (he's not known for his pain tolerance, especially when its a skinned knee). I ran and got Parker and we headed home. He didn't want to move his arm, but he kept saying it was because of the scratch (he skinned the inside part of his arm). I fed him lunch, gave him some tylenol and put him down for a nap. He was still whimpering, but went down just fine. When he woke an hour later, his arm looked a little swollen. I went back and forth with Sarah and Josh and finally broke down and called the nurse's line, who suggested I bring him in. While we waited for the doctor Fin and Parker happily played with all the toys in the waiting room, Fin ran around with a dragon being chased by Parker and a unicorn. He didn't use his arm, but he was so happy I thought, oh man, they are just going to tell me he bruised it and send me home. I honestly almost left. But we got in, and the doctor sent us downstairs for x-rays. It took me almost ten minutes of cajoling, coaxing, and lying to get Fin up on that x-ray table. After the first one was done, he looked at me and said, oh. That's it? *sigh* We finally got the x-rays and ran upstairs to show the doctor. By this time is was after hours and I had to bang on the door to get someone to open it. No one told me anything at the x-ray place just handed me the x-rays and told me to "follow up with your doctor." As we waited for the doctor in the room, the nurse wrapped Fin's arm in an ace bandage and put it in a sling. Still at this point I'd was convinced they'd come in and say, oh he just bruised it, keep it wrapped for a few days and he'll be fine. So when the doctor came in and said, "Here's the card for the orthopedic surgeon, your appointment is tomorrow at ten and hopefully you can have the procedure that afternoon..." I must have looked dumbfounded, because she stopped mid-sentence and said, "Didn't they talk to you downstairs?" I said, "No! They told me to follow up with you." "Oh." She dropped her voice. "Umm, well it is broken. His elbow is dislocated and he has a small fracture on his humerus and the orthopedist says he'll need pins in it." My jaw just about hit the floor. "Pins?? Like he'll need surgery?" I hissed. "Yes." I glanced at Fin and saw him staring at me. I pulled myself together and forced my voice to be cheery. "Alright then."

I held it together till Josh showed up and I made the call to my parents. Just saying the words, surgery, pins, and fracture made me break down. If it was a matter of setting the bone and putting a cast on, I think I would have been fine. But the thought of surgery. Of anesthisia, of IV's and intubation and hospitals just threw me. We have been extremely lucky, our kids have never needed to be hospitalized for any reason. We went to CHOC hospital the next day, straight from the appointment with the orthopedist. We left our house at nine in the morning and did not get back till six that night. Fin was terrified of "going to sleep." I don't know if we made a mistake telling him that, but what could we do? Once we were in our room at CHOC though, he settled down a bit, thanks to their awesome staff and a Wii. He played tennis with one arm and played with the remote for the TV. It wasn't until they brought him some "liquid courage" that he broke down again. It took Josh and I almost ten minutes to get him to drink his medicine. And then they wheeled him away crying and trying to climb out of his bed. An hour later we were admitted to the recovery room where he was still coming out of the anesthesia. He was sobbing and tearing at his ivs and cords. He kept yelling, "I don't want to go to sleep! I don't want to go to sleep!" and then he'd fall back asleep. Seconds later the whole thing would repeat. I tried to hold him in my lap to keep him from thrashing. This continued for about twenty minutes, but it felt like four hours. Josh was only allowed to stay for ten minutes. I don't know how parents with truly sick kids do this. I can't imagine my child having to go through more than one surgery. I couldn't look in the eyes of the parents at that hospital with infants coming from surgeries in incubators, crying infants who they could only console with a pat on the back. We have been infinitely blessed with two healthy children and that is something I will never forget.

He's doing fine now. Running around, trying to climb on things, driving me crazy. This first week he's supposed to really try to keep it still. And about every forty seconds I have to tell him to STOP RUNNING, DON'T PUSH, YOU CAN'T CLIMB ON THAT, GET OFF THE STAIRS! When he sees someone who hasn't seen his cast yet, he holds it up, silently points to it with his other hand. Nonchalant and dramatic all at the same time. He proudly tells everyone that it glows in the dark. We've put pins on his sling, partly to hold his arm in better, and partly to make it more fun to wear. At my show this weekend he got two new pins. Someone commented on his pins and said, "Yeah. Got these two here. Had these ones." and shrugged, like no big deal, happens all the time...