they call her mimi

1 2 3 4 get your booty on the floor

2012-02-01T20:49:00.000-08:00

i think in numbers.  not like how many hours of sleep did i get kinda numbers. or even how many benjamins in the bank kinda numbers.  i destress in numbers, a little known fact that i realized the other day when i was counting stairs all aerobic instructor like [one and two and three and four and five and six and seven and eight].
i count.
i tally.
i work out math problems.

i know! nerd!
my favorite is miles per hour.  when i am running, i like to work out my miles per hour pace and then figure out how long it will take me to run the next 1/2 mile or figure out how many minutes until my five miles are up. or if i am running late, i figure use miles per hour to figure out how many minutes it will take me to get to my destination and try to weigh if speeding will infact buy me any time. this was a favorite passtime on the drive from huntsville to walla walla when i was late for class.

i decision make in numbers too. i eeny meeny miney mo, but with 1 2 3 4... if i land on an odd, it is a yes, an even is a no. why odd/yes, even/no, because the word yes has an odd number of letters and no has an even number of letters. or is it because i like being odd better than being even and so that is postive in my book.

where am i going with all of this?  i don't rightly know. i just don't have anything bigger to contemplate right now. for today anyway. lucky me.

35 happened

2012-01-25T16:14:00.000-08:00

on sunday i turned 35. my dad likes to say that you have lived 35 years and now you are working on number 36. it sounds scary. like life is half over scary. but that is not until i am 39 1/2, and i know this because a very old carny woman told me at the county fair that i will live to be 79. that gives me a strange bit of comfort. tony, she said, will be 81. i like that he outlives me, but i am hoping i die at 79 and 364 days and he dies at 81 on the dot because i don't want to be apart that long. 301 days if you were counting.

but really who wants to think about that? let's talk about presents!

mother nature gifted me with a couple extra days with my family thanks to the snow. that was exactly what i needed. well that, and breakfast in bed and a sweet scavenger hunt. and wings... and chocolate cake that says you are 21 and then sucker punches you with a ha ha... and ice cream.

i am hear to tell you my fine feathered friends, mid thirties have got it going on. you are young enough to be fun and to have fun. you are old enough to take things as they come, because it always works out in the end. you know the difference between being alive and living. you are more sure of yourself. you laugh at your mistakes. you own your insecurities. you enjoy learning new things like never before. you love every detail of the life around you because even the not so pretty parts are proof that you are living.

hang on tight

2012-01-20T08:37:00.000-08:00

let's talk about siblings. i think of them as memory keepers. i'm so glad i have mine, even though their memories are a bit skewed sometimes. for the record i did perfect the 'pet the kitty your sibling is holding just so, distract with cute kitten conversation, next thing you know the kitty is now in my arms' move, but i didn't employ it every time they had a kitten. just most of the time. exaggerators.

i do have a limited memory and often need their spark to get it all straight back in my head. i consider my sister and brother to be the best gifts my parents every gave me. technically, since i'm the baby, i was gifted to them, but whatever. i appreciate their perspective and their listening ear and their support when i need it. which brings me to my little darlings...

no not those two. they are cute though. and they love to sleep all snuggled up together.

these two.

i caught them snuggled up on the couch together. we have two full sized couches and two chairs in our living room, but they chose to smash next to each other because that is just what they do.

and then later, i found them like this.

sharing a bowl of popcorn. kicking back. watching the tube. they could have easily gotten two bowls, but sometimes this is just how they like to be, together.

i hope when they are all grown and aidan is busy running his zoo and nadia is designing it, they manage to hang onto their relationship tight. after all, they are the ones who will keep each others memories straight.

what to do on a snow day

2012-01-19T09:48:00.000-08:00

this is not a how to. this is a what did. or going to.

it is really an ice day, not a snow day, so tobogganing down the local hill will so not happen for us.

did i mention all of us? as in the four of us? tony didn't get a snow day, but he did get a sore throat and bye bye red mama day. red mama tried her hand at ice skating and lost. it stinks. like literally smells of burning car. poor, poor, red mama and poor, poor, tony.

so today we will spend reading, and lounging, and toasting our tootsies by the fire. oh, and doing laundry and cleaning the house because someone is turning old this weekend. and waiting for the insurance adjuster of course.

little white blanket

2012-01-18T08:43:00.000-08:00

just what i needed. this little white blanket of snow that gave me an extra two hours.

my kids slept till 8:07.

my toenails are painted.

i made some surprisingly tasty ghetto cinnamon rolls.

i talked to my mom, twice.

i blogged.

i folded a load of laundry.

and i hugged on these two, extra special hard.

may i have a moment, please?

2012-01-18T06:57:00.000-08:00

just one little moment on this here memory keeper to brag about my son?

not because he creatively carved the hull out of his little boat to make a catamaran for the rain gutter regatta and didn't win one award. not because he cleverly named it 'midas got it before i did' when he painted it gold, and not one person got it. not because he lost every single race. not because he calmly- yes, aidan calmly- told me that other kids were blocking him as he blew his little heart out through that pink straw, but that it was ok. not maliciously blocking, mind you. they are just excited little boys that want to be in the middle of the action. but no out cries of injustice from aidan?! awesome.

but that is not why i want to brag...

(and yes, i totally know i just bragged about all of those things, but i disguised it by saying that is not what i wanted to brag about, so it's all good, right?)

i want to boast about the character of my little man.

you see, there was a little after competition drama that went down. one boy's mom decided he couldn't blow through a straw because he is asthmatic. now, i am not all unfair-advantage-stage-mom here or asthmatics-can't-participate, after all, aidan has asthma too. i just now the ruthless nature of this particular mom. she happens to be the scout mom sent directly here to test even the nicest parent's patience. anyway, back to the drama... a couple of boys decided that it wasn't fair that one boy got to bend the rules and ended up placing. they cornered him, out of eyesight of the parents, and decided they were going to show him a little fairness with their fists. aidan and another boy intervened. let the record show that aidan, mr. i-gotta-win, lost to the strawless boy. he knew it was unfair. but his little peace loving self also knew that you don't solve issues like this by beating the kid down. he saw the situation clearly enough to know that it was the mom, not the boy, who bent the rules. to top it off, he discretely told me the sitch, which is exactly what i would have wanted him to do.

this kid hung my moon, not the moon, but my moon.

i think a little bragging is in order. i couldn't be prouder.

finding beauty in badger

2012-01-16T10:47:00.000-08:00

unlike last time, there was no complaining.

it was blustery, but our bodies quickly warmed on the way up. our bodies are stronger and our pace was quicker.

some things were the same. my three nearest and dearest still talk the entire time while i am focused on my huffing and puffing.

and it is still just as beautiful.

let's get something straight

2012-01-16T09:02:00.000-08:00

like my storage container drawer.

i have been pinspired . when my neurotic side saw this, i knew i had to do something to straighten out my plastics.

the before:

the during: (the during included tony cutting up the backer boards that we didn't use on some ikea dressers. waste not, want not, am i right? then some major measuring and gorilla glue finagaling.)

the after:

consider the crazy containers conquered.
thank you, oh great pinterest.

mister

2012-01-15T09:34:00.000-08:00

mister is what my brother calls aidan. he always has. i am not sure why, but tio mono is kinda the unofficial nickname giver in the family. mine is munumana, in case you were wondering.

i took this picture yesterday and then stared at it for a long, long while. aidan is not an easy kid. there is nothing easy about him. he is 100% all of the time... 100% determined, 100% questioning, 100% quizzing, 100% sincere, 100% delightful, 100% devoted and of course, 100% frustrating. and i love every bit of who he is.

he had a tough week. we hurt for him, but are very proud of him. he articulates his thinking and his feeling well, we need to be better at listening. to think of it now, though, he always has. sometimes i miss the three year old aidan and his way of speaking. there were no k sounds or s sounds or v's or f's. actually the list was quite long. to hear him talk about ebaporaton [evaporation] was pretty much the cutest thing. if you were patient you would be walked through the whole dang water cycle. and when he would 'wee a bout a dout amials to nania' [read a book about animals to nadia] your heart would melt on the spot. i miss that time. maybe i listened harder because you had to if you wanted to make sense of his speech. all of those speech quarks are gone, so the messages are clear, even grown up sometimes. on friday he called a friend to ask if he wanted to spend the night. i listened carefully to make sure he was getting all of the necessary details and of course, not a detail was missed. what i noticed more though is his speech pattern. he says things like, "i look forward to seeing you" and "we have dinner ready and your welcome to join us" ... i need to listen more. he's growing up right before our ears and we are missing it.

oh my goodness i totally made this!

2012-01-11T16:06:00.000-08:00

no, not this. well, actually yes this. it was my first attempt at crochet. i intended for it to be a scarf, but it turned out to be an ascot of sorts. i was too impatient to get another skein of yarn, so i finished it with a little hole to tuck the end in and a button...

not this either. but technically, i did make her. i am really proud at how she is turning out too, but am starting to think that the reason i am impatient in my little crafties is because all of my patients is used up with my wee ones and my school children. look at her crochet. that concentration, that technique, those eyelashes! she can make a chain five feet long faster than i can do three rows, nine stiches wide.

speaking of nine stitches...this is it. i made this hurking scarf. this beautiful, steel blue, hurking scarf. it is like a giant blue lion's mane. i made a little looptiy loop detail along the whole edge and stitched it's ends together. i took it apart 42 times to make sure it was even.

and every single time someone said 'cute scarf' yesterday i practically tackled them with "i made it!!!!!!!" super annoying i know. but cute, am i right?

everything

2012-01-11T06:42:00.000-08:00

i read a blog recently that got me thinking about family and the stuff that is really important, the stuff that is everything. in all reality i think about this stuff all of the time. i am an introvert by nature, super analytical and in a constant state of reorganization. but this blog resonated deep with in me. what if family isn't everything? i was kinda banking on the fact that it is. i get what the writer was saying (she is smart and eloquent after all) about how some families just plain stink or that sometimes families are torn apart and then what? who are you if that happens? you don't just cease to be. or at least that is what i am told. i pray that i never have to find out. i recognize that this is really a conversation in perspective.

i am my family. the family that shaped me as i grew up. i am my sister who can talk without words and who will try to fix anything. i am my brother who can spin a wild story and make a memory out of a moment. i am the hardwork of my father and the generosity of my mother. i am the family that shapes me as i continue to grow. i am the forgiveness of my friends who became my family. i am the passion and the dedication of my husband. i am the thoughtfulness of aidan, the justice, the literal. i am the silliness of nadia and her compassion. i am all of the experiences with all of these people wrapped up into one wackadoodle of a human being. i would not be me without them.

and they will not be who they are without each other, without us, without the friends they will call family. someday, when they build their own family, those partners, those children will become their everything. they shape them in ways that are unimaginable.

and if you take all my family away, they will still be my everything, because as simple as it is, they are my core.

please tell me 2012 didn't turn my brain to mush

2012-01-03T16:37:00.000-08:00

i have been so very scattered today. and yesterday. and the day before when i had planned to welcome in the new year on my little memory keeper here.

back to today...i came down to get started, but then i put eggs on to boil, went upstairs to put a load of laundry in and got totally sidetracked looking at aidan's new gecko habitat that i completely forgot about the eggs. don't worry, i didn't boil them dry and make them explode. that was so 2011. but then later, when i was trying to organize some contacts for a birthday surprise for nadia, i stopped mid way and decided to bake banana bread. half way through that i remembered to spice up the chicken for enchiladas tonight. i managed to get the chicken on the stove and remembered that i needed to fb a question to someone which brought me back to the contacts for nadia's birthday. i promptly got all kinds of sidetracked plugging food into my calorie counter app ('tis the season, am i right?) which reminded me that tony asked me to wash pants so he had something to wear to the gym later. while up folding laundry i realized that i hadn't set a timer for the bread and then that i had wandered off leaving the broom in the pantry, thinking that i would sweep my bathroom later. i managed somewhere in there to get some emails done, work on fractions with nadia, discuss the process of making 3D with aidan, hang with sara and the dynamic duo, let the dog out, let the cats in and dishes, all that jazz.

and then remembered that i was indeed writing a post about the new year.

that is when i stood motionless for way too long thinking about all of the arbitrary paths i have taken today. and how that is how all 2011 has been. run here, prepare this, run there, watch that, meet now, schedule for later. and it goes on and on and on. and it goes on and on and onnnnn! i throw my hands up in the air sometimes, singing aaaaa-ooooooo, gotta let go.
there it goes again. my crazy mushed up brain. i don't know how i get anything done.

seriously, though. 2011 was a year of everything. highs and lows and new adventures. it was a year of planting seeds for our future selves. like kayaking. who knew i would love it? and running. who knew i could do it? and camping? and riding our bikes for miles! and crochet! and deeping our relationships within our little family all the while!

i am pretty sure 2012 is going to be a year that lets us weed out all of the meaningless stuff and focus on the things that memories are made of. instead of focusing on the can'ts and the won'ts that resolutions typically elicit, for 2012 we made a bucket list of sorts.

a list that stemmed from all of the seeds of 2011. the adventures range from family game nights to surfing and skiing and input was gathered from each bachart. this list will help us make memories and we will certainly make memories getting sidetracked along the way. it is chicken scratched and doodled and tattered and perfect.

this is how we slothmas

2011-12-27T17:36:00.000-08:00

first the rules...

stock up on essentials (creamer, eggs, books, chocolate), there is no leaving the house during slothmas.

lay out clean pj's, that is the official dress code

have some cash handy for the pizza delivery

relax, unwind, breathe deep and laugh

sloooooooooowwww down and be thankful for all you have

...

two days of slothing around with your family

no obligations from the outside world

...

this time is the very best gift my family gives me each year.

it is the true meaning of this season.

...

merry christmas to all

2011-12-26T17:53:00.000-08:00

here's hoping you all had a very merry christmas and are making the most of any time you have with your family. we bacharts hold this time very, very dear to us, which is how slothmas came to be. it is the best family holiday for us for just about 100 reasons...all of which will have to wait.
...i better get back to it before they notice i am missing.

hold close to yours

2011-12-21T21:07:00.000-08:00

i am not teacher of the year. i have been a serious hag to my 5th and 6th period. i am trying to whip them back into shape after the departure of my student teacher. i have been counting down the class periods to winter break since the beginning of december. so it was a little surprising that i had a stroke of holiday cheer while i was last minute shopping for teacher gifts and decided to throw in a couple bags of holiday nerds for my students. long story short, those silly nerds gave me a chance to have some great conversations with my students. some had wonderful plans for the break, and some had sad eyes. too many. i know many of our students struggle at home, whether it is because they lack food or warmth or, sad as it is, love. it makes me want to hold close to mine tonight and thank my lucky stars that i have all that i have.

and here is a picture of a cat in a dress. a fat cat whose name use to be tiger and now we just call him gordo. i think i will thank my lucky stars for fat cats in dresses too.

happy birthday to my love

2011-12-17T10:00:00.000-08:00

my dearest tony,

you are my perfect co conspirator, the best dad our kids could ask for, a right sexy beast and my best friend.

happy35th birthday my love.

tis the season...

2011-12-11T17:19:00.001-08:00

for joyous torture in the form of christmas card pictures.

thanks to aunt debi we were able to survive a few minutes in the freezing frosty temperatures to get a couple of beauts...

like this little charmer...

but of course it is the outtakes that i love...

first there is this gem.

you know the shot.

everyone jumps simultaneously.

since this girl has zero vertical, we jumped off the wall. sounds like a solid plan except we were all out of sync. and by we i mean tony.

and the one where it is obvious that we have lost our minds.

all except tony.

again.

he doesn't do silly as well as we do silly.

he needs more practice. i think we should start playing pranks on him.

he does do serious.

here is one where it seems we plan to use aidan as a snack before we devour a couple more souls.

no actual children were eaten and no souls were taken.
and i didn't throw any fits about smiles and hair and clothes.

however, i believe that this is further proof that we are a bunch of freaks.

the wiz of the west

2011-12-04T17:18:00.001-08:00

remember last year when i went all toddlers and tiaras (almost)?
well, this year i was just as nervous but i hope i was a bit more contained. i only brought one camera.

the missoula children's theatre and the angelou pto brought us the wiz of the west, a western take on the wizard of oz.

my little thespian aidan rocked the part of the scared crow. he pretty much memorized the whole play and delivered his lines with wit, but he did get a little squirrely at the end. there was one point in the second showing where aidan bobbed his head causing his beak to peck up and down vigorously for what seemed like 12 1/2 minutes that had those who know him cracking up. the rest of the audience? maybe not so much. there was a moment there where i wondered if i was going to have a steve martin moment from the movie parenthood or if i could chill enough to be all mary steenburgen, but i have to admit, i think we have a pretty funny kid.

nadia was dr. ozzy himself. her part required that she yell like a mean old man from behind a screen and at one point she ad-libed a line when she forgot hers. i can't give it justice to explain it. it will forever be the moment of 'yup'. it was hysterical. she doubled as the tarantula king where she had to dance around the stage all by herself to summons the rest of the tarantulas. i realize i am her mother, but my goodness she was adorable.

what made it all the more fun was knowing the majority of the cast and having some of the besties in starring roles. here is a squish and a megs as a tarantula and buzzard...

and a hanners as a munch kin.

it was a ton of work for the kids and all of the grown ups who helped pull it together, but in the end the experience was totally worth it.

i can do it

2011-12-04T16:41:00.001-08:00

yes she can. nadia has been training with girls on the run for the past 10 weeks. it is the coolest program, with the coolest girls and with the coolest coaches. what makes it so cool is that the whole program is to teach girls that they are strong, inside and out.

all of this coolness leads up to a 5k.

strong enough to withstand fahhhhh-reezing temperatures.

strong enough to get past a painful stitch in her side and carry on like a true champion.

strong enough to chant 'i can do it', 'i can do it', 'i can do it'.

strong enough to cheer on her mom.

and of course, strong enough to be a good friend and strong enough to know when you have found one.

about being a mom

2011-12-01T16:25:00.001-08:00

the other day left me wondering. i wondered as i deftly slipped my foot into aidan's discarded shoe and flung it into the mudroom and continued on mopping the floor. i wondered as i set nadia's babies on the stairs for the third time in mere minutes hoping that they would indeed find their way to her room. i wondered as i climbed onto tony's shoulders and then up onto the plant shelf to deck some halls and again when i thought about how to rearrange the living room to accommodate the tree.

it was really that moment of flinging the shoe that did it. i did it like i have done it a million times and believe me brother i haven't mopped that many times. but it was a natural movement. a grown up movement. a no-one-told-me-to-mop-the-floor-i-just-did-it-because-it-needed-done-and-i-am-the-responsible-one-here. like an adult kinda movement. bizarre. surreal really. this mom thing. being the one who makes the decisions for other lives. i thought that feeling would go away after i had been doing this for a while, like at least by year 10, but there it is still niggling in the back of my mind. am i ready for this? do i really know what the flagnog i am doing? is someone going to come along and realize i have been faking this for way too long and give these little beings to someone who has a clue?

then i wonder if i wonder too much.

what i'm most thankful for...

2011-11-27T19:32:00.001-08:00

i am thankful for time. better late than never, right?

i am most thankful for learning and loving.

learning that i can do things that i never thought possible. like run. i still dread it but am proud of myself for ever step. i am learning to say no, to not strive to do it all. it is freeing. i am learning to stop and breath when i am frustrated, when i am nervous, when i am overwhelmed. i am thankful that nadia has made this an art form, this breathing through the hard stuff thing. it is amazing what a little oxygen to the brain can do for a girl. i am learning to look for the positives in even the most difficult moments and am thankful that aidan is learning that too. i used to dread that the learning never stopped and now i am thankful that i get the chance to keep on learning to be better, to do better. i am grateful for the opportunity to learn and i am thankful that my children love learning, book learning and life lesson learning alike.

and the loving. i am so very thankful that i have a family to love that is not perfect, but is perfect for me. and that family includes so many beyond those in my home. i am thankful for the loving kiss goodnight from my aidan and the full body wrap hug each morning from my nadia. and the love i feel everytime aidan slips his hand into mine and everytime nadia tilts her head to the side and tells me i am the best. i am thankful that i have a husband to love just the way he is and who loves me just the way i am. the kind of love that goes beyond words. i am thankful for the love that my little spark gives me with just a little pat pat and a meow and the love on margo's big sloppy face and even for the love of the kitties that are knocking all of the ornaments off the decked tree.

right this way folks...

2011-11-27T10:29:00.001-08:00

for a tour of disneyland, bachart style.

here aidan and nadia are waiting in line for the haunted house which was all decked out 'nightmare before christmas' style.

here we are on the astrosomethingorother. i sat this one out to save the nausea for bigger things.

and here are aidan and nadia just moments before we boarded space mountain.

and here is tony kissing me goodbye because he is sure i am going to puke and there will be no kissy face after that.

and here i am proving him wrong. there was no puke for me, thank you very much. although 15 seconds into star tours and my head was practically between my knees, which is were i kept it for the duration.

here are my children celebrating their first and only ride into the pit of space hell.

and here is some sibling bonding. part of disney magic is that brother and sister cease all fighting and become powerful allies. they say cute things like thank you, and what ride do you want next and you're my best friend. i think they put something in the ice cream.

and here we are with crazy eyebrows on splash mountain.

and here we are having ice cream for dinner.

and here nadia is sans pants. splash mountain plus jeans equals certain discomfort. one hoody from daddy to the rescue.

and here nadia and i are feeling particularly snazzy after she did some serious grooving on the tron dance floor.

this girl has more moves than disney has pixie dust.

and here my lovely family is riding the train around to the front of the park so we can hurry on over to california adventure to score some fast passes.

and here we are again after california screamin. if i had longer arms there would have been four of us in this picture, all with thumbs up. how this made it to the top of our collective favorites i will never understand.

and here nadia is clinging for dear life and i am trying desperately not to get sick on, wait for it...the ferris wheel. that's right, the ferris wheel. one line leads you to the placid gondolas that take you up and around all nice and sweet like. nadia was too terrified of that idea, but was down for the swinging gondolas. swinging equals motions sickness for dear old mom. actually, we all hated this one.

and here we are soaking up the compounded magical greatness that is disneyland times christmas.

it. was. awesome.

and here tony is hanging on for dear life. the rest of us loved the tower of terror.

and here i am lending aidan a hand so he can eat a chocolate chip cookie, a fortune cookie and a gingerbread man while sipping his sprite.

and here we are enjoying the magical miniature models in mickey mouse's storybook land.

and here we are riding the carousel under the sea. apparently the bachart's family crest has a blazin' green fish which made aidan and nadia love this particular carousel more than most.

and here we are trying on more hats. i spared you the other seven or so shots of various bacharts in various hats. you are welcome.

and here aidan is waiting like he belongs on the cover of country club kids monthly for the production of aladdin. this was by far the longest wait we had and so worth it.

and here aidan and nadia are trying to walk straight after a trip on the tea cups. i flat refused to go with them. tony bailed on them too. it was completely weird not to have one of us on a ride with them, but they loved it.

i think the best part about the whole trip for tony and i was the surprise part. but then again maybe the best part was how little stress there was around the trip as a whole. or maybe the best part was all of the thank yous we got, or all of the smiles from aidan and nadia. or maybe it was all of the lights and sparkle. or maybe it was that the two of them were appreciative of each others company. or maybe it is that aidan puked like twenty seconds after this picture was taken but powered on to the finding nemo submarine without hesitation.

or maybe it was the just the magic of it all.

so what did make my thankful list this year?

2011-11-21T08:01:00.001-08:00

surprises tops the list.

tony and i are terrible at surprises. we always end up telling.
not this time. i have to hold my tongue for 22 more giggle-filled, cheesy-smiled, secret-rushing minutes.

via

i can hardly wait!!!

insert snazzy title that really means this is an update without sounding so lame

2011-11-17T14:26:00.001-08:00

the dishes were stacked high this week. that is a sure indicator that we are having a busy life. we have been spending time at the gym. i feel weird saying that. last week nadia did a practice 5k to raise money for a cool foundation, fancy feet. a local cancer surviving teen is raising money to send flip flops and care packages to kids with cancer. nadia is participating as part of girls on the run. if you have a girl and access to this program, hook your kid up. it has been great. nadia will be running the real deal in december and i am her running buddy. her coach assured me that i better be practicing too because she can hold her own.

aidan has been hanging in there sporting his cast like it's no big thing. i didn't punch a mom in the teeth for straight up making fun of him for having a girly cast. i didn't think that would enlighten her much. i did let her know that i have a stand up kid who wears a pink cast in honor of breast cancer awareness. points for me because i didn't add, unlike her offspring, mine won't grow up to be an ignorant, intolerant scab. he got it off yesterday and when i asked him how it felt to have it off after six long weeks he said he felt like a primate again.

tony is a ball of perfection, like usual. he took time off of work to make sure he could capture aidan in his veteran's day assembly. he has been working extra to please the man because of an arbitrary deadline they set. he finished the tile in laundry room and it makes me smile every time i walk in there. he fixed the mixer that he may or may not have dropped a spoon in while he was making pumpkin rolls he even helped me entertain noah last weekend. and he has been planning...more like plotting, but that is a story for another time.

we attended conferences for our kids. angel's sing and light shines upon their very existence. seriously. i found myself wondering why i don't see these particular versions of my children very often at home. nadia handled her student-led conference like she was a ceo. so focused. so meticulous in her notes. she is still her silly self but she knows how to turn on the business when it is needed. aidan's teacher had aidan smiling from ear to ear the whole time. he has great marks, minus this little paperwork snafu that is mostly genetic, but he is determined to turn that around. he read us a story that had me choked up. not because of the dragon meets duo of children storyline, but because of the sentence structure and elaboration and even the penmanship! he writes like a flipping grown up!

margo's been margo'ing and

spark has a bit of a cold.

the weather is turning wintry.

and me...i am just playing it cool. you know, in case something exciting should happen...

thankful...what won't make the list this year

2011-11-14T09:54:00.001-08:00

:::grouchy mondays

:::tinted chapstick explosions all over our freshly cleaned carpets, courtesy of margo the destroyer

:::bags under my eyes, beside my eyes, on my eyelids and under my chin

:::wind that makes tony flippety floppity all night long

:::to do lists that are exclusively have to's not want to's...for a few days anyway.

:::the number 6. i just don't like it.

lucky duck

2011-11-11T19:28:00.001-08:00

11 11 11... what a wishful day.
11:11 came and went.
i was busy being with my family and i missed the wish of all wishing moments completely. heaven knows that i won't make it to 11:11 pm.

but who needs the luck of the calender and the clock when you are lucky enough to have a family like mine?

a beautiful fall day.

chocolate salted caramel cookies.

kids who can find fun with rocks and sticks.

a helpful husband.

cuddly kittens and a loving dog.

a toasty fire.

and dressed in pj's by 3:30.

pretty lucky indeed.

she keeps her crazy hidden well

2011-11-09T15:56:00.000-08:00

my husband shared, that while cleaning up during a party a friend noted that i keep my crazy hidden well.

that made me smile. then i saw this on pinterest

while i think i am a beacon of freakdom, others don't see it.

but i ask, how can they not?

exhibit a:

yes i recognize that it is a bit strange to let the kitty sit on the dash as you drive down 68. it is more reasonable to have her snuggled. others question why i took a cat on an errand run to begin with.

maybe some think it is excessive that i label my dishwasher caddy with the type of silverware that goes in each compartment and i have little labels on the silverware caddy in the drawer too...(really, you don't want to hear about the amount of labeling in my first aid cabinet...or my laundry baskets...or the fact that i make my own lesson plan book so i have all of the tabs i want). little do they know how it freaks my business when i find one in the wrong slot. not like spatula-wielding-rampage-freak-out but huffing and puffing while i put the dishes away freak out.

it is well known that i have a very large and very in charge bubble. i like my bubble. the only people who are allowed in my bubble without any weirdness at all are tony, aidan & nadia. sorry maxwell's, it's not that i don't enjoy hugging you, it is just that it has grown a touch of weirdness...like a weirdness mold but not the bad get in your lungs mold, the good kind that makes blue cheese and penicillin. i make no pretenses about the awkwardness that is me being hugged by friends..

i have a thing about little noises too. clicks, clacks, smacks, taps, clings, clangs, snuffling, slopping, shlooping, slurping, banging, thumping, shushing, whistling and the sound of teeth scrapping on a fork. but i love the sound of canned goods lightly clinking together and tee-hee-heeing and the dog sighing and my children singing.

i am not a fan of being tapped. (how exactly do you say that without it sounding dirty?) what i mean to say is that i don't like when people tap me on my shoulders, or arms, or niggle me repeatedly with their toes. this, sadly, includes my children. aidan is a shoulder tapper. nadia likes to flick her toes over and over and over again on my leg.

i own these, shall we say, particulars. and i love it even more that i get to see little bits of freak-face in my children.

oh...and one more thing... if your toilet paper is rolling from down under i will turn it over...just so you know.

get outta town

2011-11-02T17:03:00.000-07:00

the johnsons coaxed us into a much needed getaway.

and by coaxed i mean they said, "hey, want to get out of town without kids?", to which we said "be here in 5"...we left a bowl of cheerios out, click on the tv for the kids and crossed our fingers that the kids didn't notice we were gone. so maybe not exactly like that...
thanks to my mom and dad, aidan and nadia logged many hours on the computer, 4-wheeler, horse and ate a healthy dinner of ice cream.

it. was. awesome. the food was great. the conversation was great. cramming brad and tony in the back of a 2 door was great. the waking up whenever we felt like it was great. and having 36 hours of free of all things whiny...unbelievable!

how tye dye day of spirit week made me questions everything i am as a mother

2011-10-26T20:47:00.000-07:00

check out that tye dye...
cute right?

i made that shirt in the very late evening. my kids reminded me at 8:00pm (the official bedtime of bachart children everywhere) that the next day was tye dye day. nadia could wear a shirt of mine, turn dress. aidan was s.o. l. (that's so-outta-luck, because this is the g version). he was mildly disappointed. no fits, just a little sad face and then off to bed.

but i could fix that sad expression. i should have been on top of these things, right? i wanted to make tye dye shirts when we were camping this summer anyway, so in a round about way it is my fault that they are not already prepared, right? and tye dye is easy, right? i knew i could make due with a little bleach and some black dye i was planning to use on a sweater i wanted to love again. and he would remember this always, right? and he would be thankful because i stayed up late, right? and even though tony said that i am being "over the top", i know my son and he will love that i made something special just for him. and how nice it will be for him to wake up thinking he wouldn't be pepped up for spirit, but then all ninja like there the shirt would be, pep-pep-peppy and complete with spirit fingers supplied by me, right?

or maybe he would wake up, take one look at the shirt and say, "you could have let me make that. you know i like to do crafts like that".

what the what what?!?!
did that really just happen?

no, "thank you". no, "it looks nice". did i mention no, "thank you"?

i have been fretting over this all day. i told him that when he doesn't say thank you that it hurts my feelings and that i don't feel appreciated.
he said he was sorry.
he said he was sorry.
yes, i said that twice because...well, because it is important for me to remember. because otherwise i keep dwelling on the fact that there is a real possibility that, one-i am raising a self centered, entitled, brat, or two-that i am taking all of this way too seriously because i put way too much pressure on the importance of this silly (albeit cute) shirt's potential to help aidan feel how much he is loved.

i have not decided what the answer is yet.

should i stop trying to turn every sad face upside down?
should i stop trying to do everything so maybe they will appreciate the little things?

or is all about my expectations? should i not have expected a thank you?
i didn't think i did it for a thank you, i thought i did it to make him smile. but maybe i did do it because i want my children to know i would move mountains for them. and i would too. but if they do think that, will they never work to scale a mountain on their own?

see what i mean?
parenting is hard.

fall is better with friends

2011-10-23T18:26:00.000-07:00

and soup...

and s'mores...

and giggles...

and babies!

seventeen offspring age 11 and under!

thanks for a great night everyone!

i can't wait to do this again!

time for her

2011-10-21T21:18:00.000-07:00

nadia likes to have serious discussions with turtles. they find her intriguing.

snakes too. they think she is fascinating.

if she had her way, she would have tucked this little lovely in her pocket and brought him home. he said she is the bearded dragon's equivalent to the cat's meow.

she finds friends every where she goes. she picked this one up on the school bus that took us safely to the chimposium field trip and back. actually, she found a bus load of friends. as it turns out, 15 year olds think spunky 8 year olds are swag entertainment. yeah, i said swag. i picked up hip words like she picks up amigos.

i felt a smidgen of guilt letting her skip her spelling test and eat a lunch devoid of any nutritional color...

just a smidgen though.

she can eat right tomorrow. she will still get into the college of choice with or without proving she could spell circle and llamando and we will both remember our girl day & sleepover forever.

the things that dreams are made of...

2011-10-20T15:59:00.000-07:00

if you could make any dream come true, what would it be?

i know mine. i wish my wishes every chance i get. i am a wisher of stars and loads of hay and stray eyelashes and wrong turned necklace chains. and don't forget those dandelions that have gone to seed. i wish the stink out of those. i am fully prepared to send my dreams-come-true out on the epic wishing moment of 11:11 on 11:11:11.

aidan knows his too. if you have spent more than 10 minutes with my guy, you probably do too. he told tony and i with all sincerity that if he could have just one thing as a kid it would be to go to a reptile expo. so how could we refuse when he found one?

aidan is a lot of things. so many he usually keeps my head spinning. but his most notable quality is his bottomless love of animals.

all is well

2011-10-13T15:57:00.000-07:00

someone said earlier this week, "man, you guys are falling apart at the seams!". i dwelled on that for a bit. i thought it odd. and then thought us odd. or maybe just lucky. we aren't falling apart. it is the exact opposite. we have had a number of crazy trials this week but we are holding it together.

is it redundant to say that together we are holding it together? because that is how i want to say it. that is how i feel it. together, tony and i. together, the maxwell family. together, the siblings. together, my friends and friends(*tracy*) and friends.

all is well.

my mom is healing and we are all thankful that the surgery on her arteries told us that the medication is working. we are even more thankful for her positive and proactive outlook during this.

aidan is loving all of the signatures on his bright green cast. we are all thankful that the brake in his wrist is minor and his prognosis is great.

and we are all thankful for your kind thoughts, your prayers, your check ins, and your loving care of our children.

the best part about fall?

2011-10-10T09:34:00.000-07:00

i am wearing boots for the first time this fall. it is a little glum out and i am very tired from keeping aidan company while he couldn't sleep last night.

this makes me feel all snugly and fall-ish. i am strangely relieved. i have wanted the warmth of summer to linger on forever this time. i feel an impending change. i am not sure what it is but i have not wanted to face it. i like things the way they are. but today i am doing what i tell my bairns to do...i am looking for the positives.

so what if today the best positive i could come up with is that i must buy 42 packages of reses pieces deliciousness-in-my-mouth-i-could-eat-you-till-i-barf-and-come-back-for-more because they match the fall decor?

i am drooling.

without you... part two

2011-10-09T18:41:00.000-07:00

dear sweet, hardworking, tony...

thank you again for helping my parents. we tried to be productive without you.

we made it out of the walmarts in just under an hour. we got those fishnet stockings i was telling you about. they look great on. . .
the pumpkin you silly. we bought you some turkey and shaving cream.

the kids cleaned their room. like really cleaned this time. nadia decided she wanted to help me with the rest of the house. your long talk with them are starting to pay off. the best part about working with her is that she knows exactly what to do. look at how she tied the curtains up before she vacuumed and tilted the couches!! we swept and mopped and i made tomato soup from scratch. and sausage meatballs. aidan talked to cousin lane for 52 minutes and 12 seconds while they played wizards 101 together. sara and trevor are coming over for dinner. i hope you are home in time.

aidan took the garbage out after i cleaned out the fridge. he found two sick-nasty black widows on your garage door. i squirted the bagesus out of them with raid to stun them then squashed them with the nozzle of the hose. i felt like she-rah saving my children from the beasts like that.

but it wasn't all glory. i broke a nail when i closed the garbage lid. so then i cut them all off and painted them a nice little shade of gray. so it was kinda like i went from she-rah to moody brite, rainbow brite's mod cousin.

we did like a metric ton of laundry but stuck to our deal. it is clean and folded and waiting for you to put it in its home.

after all of their hard work they decided to play dodge the doggie land minds in the backyard.

and margo chased her ball.

then aidan did a back flip off the swing and landed on his face. that sucked.

and now you are home and we are happy again.

love you.

because...

2011-10-04T15:56:00.000-07:00

they are cute...

and they're mine.

without you

2011-10-02T18:34:00.000-07:00

dear tony...

do you remember that morbid conversation we had on the way home from my parents last night? that one that we have every year or so that is overflowing with what ifs and what would you do? those what ifs that i can't bear to type. this time that talk seeped into me. while you were gone today helping my parents (thank you by the way) i couldn't get it out of my head.

we were here trying to forget that you were not.

so while you teetered on the edge of the roof we...

did the usual buying of crickets. we bought sparkly collars for the kittens too and margo her birthday present. and we remembered to by cream and picked up some bananas too.

scored some mediocre deals on winter coats for the kids and grumbled about the dismal selection. all's well that ends-in a non-puffy pink for nadia and green and black with complimentary beanie cap for aidan-well.

wore socks with sandals for the better part of the day just because we could.

did some laundry. the kids cleaned their rooms. i swept. we did dishes. i wiped that blessed banister. and then we messed it all back up again.

put my hours of pinterest to use and got our craft on. twice. i got paint on your saw-horses.

brought the dog in. put the kittens out. put the dog back out. brought the kittens back in. brought the dog back in. scolded the dog for licking the kittens.

tried to fix the microwave. yeah, let's talk about that later.

baked peanut butter cookies. then we ate them. we saved you some. and some slomgolian too.

and we missed you. like, crazy missed you. like, can't imagine life without you, missed you.

love you...
love me.

from ear to ear i tell you

2011-09-25T18:42:00.000-07:00

no it's not all roses and kittens. it is crazy around here. between school and homework, meetings and projects, mopping and pinterest, i feel like i am in the spin cycle most days. as i type this, i am asking one child where their clothes are and telling the other to wipe their nose and for the love of all that is holy get the steak out of your hair. it's like we are a bunch of savages.

but sometimes...

i just get all gooey-proud of them. you know that feeling when they do something all on their own and you want to do a happy dance right there in the middle of 'the costcos'? yesterday we were getting too close to late for a birthday party and trying to finish up groceries and get some crunchy-crunchy-crickets for aidan's lizard. an employee was pushing a train of empty boxes through the checkout maze when they all toppled over. aidan darted away, helped the guy stack them back up and carry them to the front. the man thanked him and asked if he was a scout. aidan smiled, said yes and came back to me. i grinned like a baboon, from ear to ear, and hugged him hard.

no, it is far from roses and kittens...when i get these glimpses into the people they are becoming, i'm ok with the crazy we are for right now.

scissor happy

2011-09-17T15:28:00.000-07:00

what do you do when you love love love your gray cashmere/cotton sweater but your dog rips a bitty hole right at your belly button?

why you just whip out your kid-scissors and slit it right down the middle. since my sewing skills are incredibly limited, i decided to pretend the rolled edge was supposed to be that way...

when no one was the wiser i repeated the process with a sweater the perfect shade of azure that had a v neck meant to show off goods i don't have...

and when i couldn't find a cardi that i liked one morning, i pulled out this avocado crew neck number that makes everything just a tad too lumpy and hacked away at it...

no tutorial required. just cut a line from hem to hem as straight as you can.
the edges roll in on themselves and the no-sew, refurbished cardi is born.

my scissors and i are scooping out a maxi dress that is dying to be worn with knee high boots and is begging to have it's ruffle donated to some couch pillows...

putting the labor in labor day

2011-09-06T19:53:00.000-07:00

we spent the weekend roofing my parents early 1900 house. it sounds like a terrible way to spend the weekend.

it was hot.

the roof had been accumulating moss, dirt and just-put-yer-gloves-on-and-do-it-who-knows-what-else for over 55 years.

the kind of dirt that likes to stick to sweaty bodies and cling to your nose-holes.

insects like to hang out on roofs, don't you know?

and there is like a ton of hammering involved that leaves your hands all blistered up.

despite all of that it was a fantastic weekend.

...my mom fed us my weight in butterfingers. and oreos. and ice cream. and the very best blt i have ever had. don't even get me started on the roast and my mom's gravy.

we talked.

we did dishes.

we talked about plans.

we impersonated spiderman.

my parents impressed me. not that they hadn't before. they do, often. but this time was different. the sun was shining through the trees and the years of dirt was raining down. they were hot and tired and busting their humps to meet their own deadline. and through all of that, they would stop and listen as nadia threw her two cents in. they gave her ideas real consideration. they paid close attention to how aidan worked and gave him specific jobs so he would feel helpful.

we smiled...like a lot. and they thanked us for our help. but how do we thank them?

how exactly to you put to words all of that---intangible understanding, love, attention to detail, meals specifically crafted to our tastes---stuff without it getting all watered down and corny?

maybe you just give them a poster sized print of this face?

that might do it.

moments like these...

2011-09-04T07:44:00.000-07:00

make my life.

aidan and nadia each made me a snack, complete with love note, just like i did for them after the first day of school. i can't get over how lovely that was. not only did i feel loved because they thought enough to do this for me, but i felt appreciated. these silly little things i do get noticed.

i couldn't love them more.

moments like these make me believe we just might be doing something right.

all over again

2011-08-31T15:58:00.000-07:00

another start to another year.

it is going to be great!

fall is here, hear the yell

2011-08-28T17:51:00.000-07:00

she is so ready for school

friends, and new pencils, new people and learning.

we are excited.
well some of us are.
ok, really it is just nadia--nails and all. third grade is going to treat this little sweetness just fine.

but the rest of us are trying to talk ourselves into it.
and if i tell myself that i am super duper excited maybe i will be?

it's just that we found our groove this summer. being home together. now that was super duper. but i am sure fourth grade will bring bunches of new fun things for aidan to love. and i am sure that this year will find me in the middle of my favorite group of kids just like usual. and tony might just like having his friday's back. that daddy day is a pretty sweet gig after all.

i am just sure of it...

because

2011-08-24T06:34:00.000-07:00

because they are my fingers on this here keyboard. (i almost typed 'typewriter'. how weird is that?)

because it makes me think of my sister. she's not prickly at all. she doesn't have a stinger either. but she does love thistle.

because it also makes me think of my childhood home in the very early days when the fields around us had withered apple trees and tall-tall thistle. and that time i got stung by three bees in two days. but i think of this with warmth funny enough.

because i think the sunlight is glorious. when i snapped this on friday harbor it was the bee that drew me in, but it was the light that won me over.

because up real-real close like this i kinda want to pet this little honey bee's furry back.

because some people will see this and automatically think of sex and that is funny.

because i am melanie kim maxwell and i can talk talk talk talk talk talk talk...wait...that is a different argument for a different time. usually for a time when my brother told me to shut up.

while we were busy...

2011-08-21T09:11:00.000-07:00

while we were busy doing this...

and this...

they were across the yard doing this...

that hardly seems fair. especially when the temperatures are finely well into the 90's.
but they did clean the playroom first. and straighten up their rooms. and sorta wash tony's car.

i am super excited that tony was working on the other two gates. they look fantastic!

not to mention how excited i am that i was able to take these tiles from their boring square to a rectangle just perfect for a brick-patterned back splash in the laundry room.

and really i am relieved that they were able to kick back and cheer us on. they had a rough little week, these little foopers did.

maybe you aren't familiar with the term foop? that is the kid version of the shart. we spent the better part of the week dealing with foop, a little puke and a great deal of coughing. both kids decided to explode out of their...well you know where it comes from. interestingly enough, a foop smells far worse than either a poop or a fart. especially at 12:30 am. even worse at 3:30 the next morning. oh, and worse yet when you are showering the other fooper and the foop just lets loose. steamy foop might be the worse yet.

too much?

these little belly bugs travel in families you know. uggh.

thankfully we are all on the mend now!

it's just how we do things around here

2011-08-19T17:27:00.000-07:00

it may seem a little extravagant...

spa treatment courtesy of aidan, brother extraordinaire.

sticking my head in the sand

2011-08-16T12:05:00.000-07:00

figuratively of course. because if i meant that literally i would get sand up my nose and i can only imagine that is far worse than water sprinkled on my face...which i hate.

but i digress. but not really. this is the way it has been around here. flexible, free, wandering, spontaneous. but now schedules are looming so it is time to pull my figurative head out of the figurative sand.

but before i do, let me tell you about our last lil' bit of summer fun.

it all started on a ferry ride from anacortes to friday harbor.

it kinda blows your hair back, this fun we are having.

i take shots from the sitting position because if you tilt me even a little bit this way or a little bit that way i try to reintroduce you to my lunch...

a short drive to lakeside resorts. our campsite was perfection.

goofy, lakeside, tree-filled, internet and cell reception free perfection.

look at that tent! so cute! and it only takes 38 minutes to set up. guess whose idea it was to time it?

tony made mouthwatering fish tacos, biscuits and bacon, loaded baked potatoes, oatmeal and fried potatoes all right here over the hickory. he is so outdoorsy and survivalistish.

mmm bacon. and roasted marshmallows of course.

we woke up to less than graceful geese landing on this scene. actually, we woke up several times throughout the night to the booming right-winged voice of the guy who will forever be known as jeff's dad.

after some kayaking (pictures to come) and a few road-side and overboard barfing stops we visited a lighthouse.

we saw some wildlife. exactly what i can't tell you. you know, there was the heaving and then there was the fact that whatever was swimming was way the heck out there.

that nut didn't fall far from the tree.

more wildlife that i couldn't see.

i love this man. he had me laughing so hard that i pe---nevermind. he make me laugh. enough said.

and he is hot too.

i wish we could live like this forever. stupid schedules and money and education and responsibility.

have i mentioned that my husband is amazing?

2011-08-15T19:33:00.000-07:00

i think i have a time or two, but it is seriously worth mentioning again.
he has expanded his handyman skills beyond woodworking and is now working with metal.

before we had a lame-o panel propped up with a couple of 1x4's angled under a couple of strategically placed screws (leave it to tony to get to strategerizing).

and in just a couple of afternoons, a big 'ol pile of steel, a few youtube videos and phone advice from my dad we had...

this!

nice job honey. after you finish the two gates on the other side, i think i have a little project by the entry for you...

aidan turns 10...

2011-07-30T15:24:00.000-07:00

we put together a little slideshow of aidan's first 10 years. making it was a lot like parenting. a lot of late, late nights, a lot of early mornings, hours of research, calling on friends and family for support and trial and error, all for something that seems so simple. it would never have been completed if tony hadn't have helped.

and in the end it is not perfect, but it is perfect for us...just like our boy.

happy birthday aidan. our life is wonderful because of you.

secretly celebrating

2011-07-28T14:51:00.000-07:00

while aidan is celebrating tonight with his friends, some dart guns, s'mores and the fact that he is turning 10...

i will be celebrating the fact that the boy who made me a mom is still nine for two more days.

loving this

2011-07-19T20:34:00.000-07:00

i love nights like these. when you step outside and the slow, warm breeze envelopes you. and you watch the tall grass in the goat pasture sway in tune with the rustle of the maple leaves. every organic surface seems to glow in the golden rays of the setting sun. and your sparkalicious ding dong (you do have one, don't you?) peeks back into your recently and unnecessarily upgraded (don't ask) iphone to interrupt your picture. (ok, you didn't ask but i can't help myself...long story short---my shoe love made me temporarily misplace my trust in mall-goers of america and my momentarily unguarded phone was liberated)

and that same waft brings the sweet smell of fresh grass and newly cut wood...
wood that will be your dreamy butcher block countertop.

....and you clearly replace the memory of the pretzel-like ride back from seattle with your counter tops partitioning you into a teensy corner of your car with the thought of your anticipated laundry-slash-craft space counter tops.

it IS the little things

2011-07-16T11:02:00.000-07:00

like spotting rainbows out of your window...like this one the other night. isn't she a beaut?
and aidan running out to see if it is a double...then explaining the science behind it.
and nadia wrapping her arms around mine and sighing because it is just so beautiful.

this summer has been an adjustment for me. if you have been around me for more than 2 1/2 minutes you probably know why. i have shared with anyone and everyone- for accountability and out of sheer nervousness- that i am cutting back.
whittling down.
prioritizing and simplifying.
on work.

i have put my irons in too many fires (and obviously it has warped me because that sounded just plain wrong in my head). i am sure there is some underlying reason why i feel the need to say yes to every committee, every program, every club...why i worry i am going to be left behind if i don't. this summer i have started sloughing off some of those extra jobs. i am paring down because my children asked me to.

i am not saying that i just woke up one morning and my lovelies said, 'hey mom, do you think maybe you could work a little less?' and i just stopped doing all of the extras. change is not easy, even if it is change for the better-the feel good kind of change. i am a second-guesser, an over-thinker, a weigher of the greater good and so this transition has left my blood pressure a little high more times than i would like to admit. but, ...i am happier... the days are fuller. we find more reasons to laugh and less reasons to rush. we have spent more time with people we care about. i am enjoying running around with my people instead of running around for people.

i am enjoying all of the little things, and i hope my lovelies are learning to enjoy them too.

love the one you are with

2011-07-12T16:04:00.000-07:00

i often dream of picking up my sweet, sweet family and moving across the pond.
try something new.

our little corner of the earth is somewhat lacking in certain experiences i want both for me and for my bairnes.

but when summer decides to wash us in it's 90 degree sun-streaked temperatures

and the sparkling rivers and luscious parks and beautiful friends beckon....

i just can't imagine being any where else.

i am sure someday we will live out our big adventure, but for now, i think we will love the place we are in.

thank you mattsons and thank you johnsons!

no time to talk

2011-07-09T16:02:00.000-07:00

summer is here! we are oh so busy doing oodles of decidedly un-noteworthy stuff but we are having the time of our lives.

see?

the circus...

the parade...

the river...

the office...

the pool...

and the porch...

and that is only what was captured in pictures. this may just be the best summer yet...

what have you been up to?

going for alliteration would be a little too much

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

tony says i take too many pictures of the kitties.

he finds them perplexing...painful even.

the pictures not the kittens.

this time the kittens were all his idea.

the pictures on the other hand...those are all mine.

i find them precious.

and he said i really should not post them on here for all posterity and public view...

i say, how can i not?

look at that little kitten face?

and that nadia is pretty darn cute too.

and you know i love that she made a baby sling to carry her bundles of kitty love around.

probably because that is exactly how i would have spent a saturday morning when i was her age.

i have always been a patsy for a kitten face.

advice from me to you, free of charge

2011-06-29T18:20:00.000-07:00

if you are going to watch someone push a seven pound five ounce baby out of their wahoozie...

pick people who get the giggles.
pick people who watch funny cat videos on you tube...during labor.
pick people who let you take 318 pictures of ev.er.y.thing.
pick people who find the happy tree painter guy soothing and find great pleasure in predicting the exciting-but always calm- turns in his paintings.
pick people who love each other.
people who support each other.
people who know their role.
people who are very good listeners.
people who you are comfortable with...like super duper comfy with...like bff worthy.

i am glad these people picked me! words can not describe this experience. pictures can't capture the laughs and the encouragement or the strength of one tough mama.

thank you sara and trevor for inviting me to be a part of this day. thank you lisa and delia for making me part of the team. noah is gorgeous, and very, very lucky...no doubt about that.

......................................................

...............................................

welcome noah david

2011-06-28T17:14:00.000-07:00

noah david smith has arrived!
all i can say right now is WOW!

to be there when this guy arrived has rocked my world! i love him to bits.

stay tuned for the rest of the story...

some here some there

2011-06-24T16:02:00.000-07:00

summer hair!

or is it swimmer's hair?

this will last about a week. you can wash it as long as you don't really scrub. and the best part is that it stays out of her eyes during swimming. nadia's friend megan let me fiddle with her hair too, i just didn't get to snap a picture.

who wants to be next?

do you ever

2011-06-23T19:00:00.000-07:00

look at your children with complete wonder? like really really really look at them and think things like how did i get so lucky? i am sure you do. and i am sure you think they hung your moon too.
sometimes i just stare at her loveliness and think about just how much i love this smoochie face.

who wouldn't?

uh huh uh huh uh huh

2011-06-22T17:32:00.000-07:00

i love this guy...

you're right...it did

2011-06-21T18:47:00.000-07:00

it really really did. the week actually ended. and the next week too.

it was oh-so-hard to get back into the swing of things.

right tony?

it was quite a drawn out process to button up the end of the school year, especially when it stretched over an extra weekend -blasted snow day-. that wrap-up held many events. how many you (didn't) ask?

let me get my list on:::

.there were dissections...major eeeewww but at least my kids were happy to see me on their last days of school.

.grandpa john came to town for nani's bday (at least that it what he says. i think he made the trek to enjoy some day old pizza and wipe slobber off of margo's begging jowls)

.there was a field trip for nadia to yokes and a sad goodbye to her awesome teacher

.my sister and her boys came to town...& dude, kaid-bob looks me in the eye and i have to look up to lane-zaney. what do they feed boys in the midwest anyway?

.aidan recited a poem in the talent show that ended with him writhing on the ground to demonstrate the carnivorous habits of a snake. this is kinda what it looked like except this time nico is the snake.

.and nadia, with her bffs, danced a fine little (wholesome!) ditty...all i can say is that there are 8 year-olds out their with more grind than a salami shop

.there was nico's first birthday. i can't believe that it was only a year ago sara and trevor got the call to meet him, he has always been a perfect fit.

.there was carne max for lunch with the lunch crew, and then carne max again for a dinner date with aidan while nadia partied it up with her girl kayla.

.then there was noah's celebration (you know noah? nico's little brother?)

.there were 3 baby chicks...complete with little baby names living in our garage for 3 whole days. then they moved on. i am pretty sure this will be one of those moments my children remember as the time their mom gave away their pet chickens when in fact it was the intent to find them homes all along. but come on--i let them have a gecko and kittens!

.there was a scrapbook fest with megan, hannah and nadia (although i think i enjoyed it as much as the girls--thanks tracy)

.there was a nasty negotiation that ended with me agreeing to teach summer school for one week. thankfully some other members of our science department took the remaining 3 weeks.

.there was fishing with the cub scouts complete with a sour attitude by yours truly.

.then we met up in huntsville with my sister's family, my brother's family and my parent's family of farm animals. this time my horse of choice was a 4-wheeler with a nadia squealer. everyone else rode the real mccoy. actually their names are austin and mel...but i digress...

.and i vaguely remember a day where certain members of my household only pulled their eyes away from a sisterwives marathon to draw the curtains so the afternoon sun didn't cast a glare on the drama.

and now?

now i am oh so impatiently waiting for this week to end so i can finally start my summer.

(and just as impatiently waiting for baby noah to arrive)

Happy Father's Day to YOU!

2011-06-19T08:55:00.000-07:00

We have so many wonderful Dads in our life. Ones who taught us how to grow up. Ones who make us laugh. Ones who give us a pat on the back. Ones who love by example. Ones who ignore the laws of conductivity and electrical current (you know who you are). And to each of you we wish the very happiest of Father's days...

And to the one who loves us through every crazy idea we have, right back at 'cha babe.
Happy Father's Day Tony.

seriously?

2011-06-07T19:21:00.000-07:00

will this week ever end?

there are so many wonderful things waiting for us around summer's corner...

all about eight

2011-06-05T09:56:00.000-07:00

today nadia maxwell bachart...
...queen of the giggles
...sweetest of the sweet
...tenaciously determined
...and lover of all things family, babies, purple, song-ish and her mother...
turns eight!

you might just wonder what it is like to be all of these things. let's just ask her, shall we?

me: nadia. what is it like to be you?

nadia: it's awesome! it is fun. especially with my mother.

me: are you just saying that because i am the one typing?

nadia: no. i am saying it because i love you {said with a joyful smile and her signature happy dance}

me: what are your plans for your eighth year?

nadia: i don't know. have fun, get good grades, play with my friends and get some new ones too-but still play with my old ones of course.

me: anything you want to accomplish this year?
nadia: {all of this was said while she acted each thing out, mind you} i want to get into swim team, and basketball and soccer. i want to work on math, like multiplication. i want to keep on treating people well.

me: what did you like about being seven?

nadia: well i had nice friends, and i had a lot of fun. and that's actually kind of creepy how you are typing and not even looking. do you even know what you are typing?

me: did you accomplish anything at seven that you are proud of?

nadia: driving papa's tractor thing and riding my bike on long long long trips, growing my teeth and riding dad's lawn mower.

me: what do you plan to do with yourself when you are all grown up?
nadia: work at aidan's zoo, hmmmm... work with las tigres, and well, have babies. tres bebes. y yo quiero hacer un veterinario que hace todos los animales.

nadia: is-that-it? i-wan-na-go-play-with-aidan {again said in broken robot with a new dance, this one resembles a robot shaking her groove thing}

a little farm livin'

2011-05-29T10:46:00.000-07:00

remind me to tell you about growing up with a bunch of sheep sometime...

the good

the baaaaaaad

and the ugly.

i will try to keep the swearing to a minimum.

so yeah...um

2011-05-26T20:44:00.000-07:00

you're a bunch of weirdos too, right?

the better 1/2

2011-05-23T17:31:00.000-07:00

it is official... tony and i have been together for longer than we have lived apart.

!!!corny-cheesy-lovey-dovey-sappy-post warning!!!

it was those long waits in his sister's mustang that brought us together. those waits, english class and maybe a smidgen of fate. we became the best of friends, hung out at his house to watch movies and even went to prom. he told my bff that he had given up on us dating because apparently flipping my well curled super red hair at regular intervals and spending every other minute with him was not enough of a clue to let him know i was interested too. thankfully that same friend clued me in and one phone call later (not to mention tony delivering a cheesy one liner from top gun) and we have been together ever since. i kept rehearsing in my mind that i needed to remember every single moment of that first kiss.

if you knew us then you might remember that we both had a lot more hair. (and darn it all...i can't find one picture of how ridiculous we looked!) we spent hours and hours riding his old blue thunder (ummm hey you, creepo- that is not a euphemism. blue thunder was the name of his 1985 ford ranger). we spent his mcdonald's check at the movies nearly every weekend. we talked for hours on the phone even though we lived next door to each other. we endured helpful advice from friends and family when we ended up at different colleges and then at the same college (go cougs!), living apart and shacking up (sorry dad). and it has all been better together.

it probably shouldn't have worked. it is not perfect, and it won't ever be. it isn't easy and if it was then how would we learn about ourselves? i often feel like a hypocrite when i shake my head at my high school students who tell me how they have their lives all planned out with the love of their life that they have been with like forever, you know, since 11th grade. when we are asked why it does work all i can think is that i am lucky enough to have married my best friend. ok, it is more complicated than that...
we value the same things,
we are lucky to grow together,
we have a similar sense of humor,
we talk things out - even when it means someone has to apologize,
we are nice to each other,
we make certain to say why we appreciate each other,
we are an awesome team...
and we really like being together, you know?

so, i think we will go for another 17 years...how about it tony?

meow mix

2011-05-23T17:21:00.000-07:00

i can't believe i have not written about this!

it is like the most exciting thing in my life!

ok- so maybe not THE most exciting thing but come on!

kittens!

but wait there is more...i didn't even have to make any promises this time. tony -all on his own, without any prompting- told aidan and nadia that they could each pick out a kitten from my mom's pile 'o kitties.
[by the by, my parents only have one cat, pickle. their neighbor has a ton of cats that have babies at regular intervals and sometimes the mamas get smart and move down the road where their is less chaos and kind hearted people. members of my family, tony and i included, have been known to spay and neuter strays if possible] anywho.....
back to KITTENS!

aren't they so cute?

this is acrobat.

he is fiesty and ferocious.

and he is nadia's.

this is eclipse.

she is reserved and a little lopsided.

she always climbs up on my shoulders...

and sometimes on my head.

she is all aidan's.

don't you just want to snuggle their little faces?

and dangle a little yarn for them to attack?

and watch them tackle each other?

and i know you want one of your very own,

don't you?

reflections of a boarderline stagemom

2011-05-15T17:43:00.000-07:00

last week the missoula children's theater came to our beloved elementary, angelou. they swoop in, hold an audition on monday for an hour long production, hold rehearsals way past dinner time and have opening night that friday (shortly followed by closing night saturday morning). our play was king arthur's quest and let me tell you they had a stellar cast. many a fine young actor performed. some of my all time favorites under 12 let their inner thespian shine.

can i just say that it was stressful? amazing and a learning experience and fantastic to see our kids up there rocking that stage, but seriously stressful all the same. and yes i realize that it was me who got all nagg-y with aidan about his lines when he would have been fine without my added pressure. i was the one quizzing nadia about her posture and presence-again, none of that mattered. and i certainly invited every family member within a 57 mile radius and then didn't give up my front row seat for them- not cool stage-mom-mel, not cool- and yes it was me that brought a video camera, my camera and whipped out my cell phone to capture their moments. i own up to sitting on the floor and making tony do the same so we could get better shots. and yes i flashed the children my goofiest smiles so they would smile back and of course i laughed too loudly at every scene. but they were fantastic despite my crazy stagemommy-ness.

what a patient man

eleven years with my love

2011-05-13T15:10:00.000-07:00

i only slept for 90 minutes the night before our wedding. it wasn't nerves that kept sleep at bay. it felt completely natural to be marrying you, my very best friend. i could see our future quite clearly. i knew there would be children down the path, and pets and mortgages and ups and downs and i knew that we would be there to grow with each other and how excited i was that we would be there to dream with each other.

i was quite ready for the ride.

i wasn't worried at how the day would play out. i didn't have any preconceptions about perfection. your friends and family would be there to straighten potted pansies and string lights. my sister would be there to drive like a maniac to get me to the fairgrounds on time.my brother would be there to blow in my eyes when they got misty. monique would be there in the wee hours of that night so i wouldn't have to fret alone. my mom and dad would be there to make sure people were well fed. the white benches would be filled with people who drove miles and miles for us and filled with crazy college boys who didn't have qualms about changing in your parents front yard. and all would be ready to celebrate the 2 1/2 minute ceremony with dance and drink.

and you would be there, by my side.

what kept me awake was a whole lot of silliness about hair appointments. really! a silly, silly hair appointment that didn't define you or me or they family we would build. silliness, that in the grand scheme of things, didn't matter one iota. and eleven years later there are still things that try to work there way into us, but those eleven years have taught us that we are like bread and butter...
or like a wink and a smile...
or like moulder and scully...
or like m&m's and popcorn...
or like steel!

did you know that the 11 anniversary is traditionally celebrated with steel?

think about it... by ourselves we are great, but put us together and we are stronger. together we are capable of greater things.

together we are shinier! i crack myself up!

i love you tony. happy anniversary.

not the monday i had planned

2011-05-09T14:15:00.000-07:00

i have been sitting in the same hard rocking chair for the past five hours. it has to be the most uncomfortable rocking chair on earth. i am listening to the twangy twang twang of 80's, 90's and early 2000's country. my ears are not bleeding...yet. there are half drank bottles of gaterade and 7up in the no-food-zone. i haven't wanted to change a bit of it.

in the wee hours of the morning nadia woke me up by gently shaking me to tell me she threw up. such sad, sad, loaded words. she lead me to the bathroom where she had smartly barfed in the toilet. i laid the requisite towel across her pillow, gave her a bowl and rubber her belly. when her lids started to sag i went back to bed to figure out how to juggle the day if her dinner made another reappearance...

it did. repeatedly. like 15 times...

i could have used this time catching up on some work that i need to get done or uploading pictures from king arthurs quest, or finishing the banner that my dad requested, cleaned up a little... i probably should have done those things but...

all she wants is for me to hold her and so that is what i am doing. i wouldn't wish for her to be sick. especially since it sounds like she is an old beat up farm truck horkin up a squawking turkey. seriously, if you have ever heard one- and i have not except in my sleep deprived mind - you would agree.
i really wouldn't wish that on anyone, but i have SO enjoyed snuggling my nani-b.

and to think of it, i wouldn't have planned a different monday at all.

nadia- bpf (before puke fest, that is)

happy mother's day...

2011-05-08T11:25:00.000-07:00

thank you for making the world go 'round!

that kind of girl

2011-05-05T19:37:00.000-07:00

there i was, checking some grades for some squirrel-y 4th hour crazies and counting down the minutes to the magical lunch bell at 12:04, when in walked a ray of sunshine with her two littlest rays close behind, carrying a toteful of homemade deliciousness.

SERIOUSLY!

this glorious gourmet gal brought us lunch. not just any lunch, but spinach and pasta salad with her own signature dressing, fresh baked bread and dessert that was pretending to be raspberry jam. who does this? who brings their friends a home cooked masterpiece to celebrate teacher appreciation week when they don't even have kids at that school? only a truly giving, truly talented and truly fantastic friend would do that. only someone like karen...

thank you KAREN!

via

i felt it

2011-05-03T17:40:00.000-07:00

i felt it this morning.

my route to work and my lovelies’ school has me circling up road 68 and down road 100.

as i faced east on the 3rd leg i felt it.
the sun washed over my face and neck, its warmth soaking into my skin.
my periphery was drenched in green leaves and the tiniest of white blossoms. there it was.

nothing left to lose was coming through the speakers. as the lines

Come on and we'll sing, like we were free

Push the pedal down watch the world around fly by us

rang out, i felt it.

it resonated within me. it kept my belt clasped tight around me as i lined up with light post #30, parking in my usual spot. it held me there when normally i would be scrambling to set everything straight and head in.

spring was there, wrapped about me. that old familiar spring fever was racing through me, quickening my heartbeat. my fingers pulsed, ready to back out of that spot, gather my babes and see where the road takes us.

.....and then wham! a certain student popped up beside my window waving and yelling hello!!!

i was this close i tell you...this close...

deep in the phone archives

2011-04-27T20:49:00.000-07:00

not that i was scanning my phone looking for little connections to my lovies or anything- because i am not codependent or sappy or anything like that- but i just so happened to come upon a few pictures that have been killing time in my phone.

oh there widdle faces make my heart ache. just look at them...

i am counting the minutes until i am home.

in the mean time keep enjoying your daddy time.

:(

2011-04-26T22:19:00.000-07:00

while i am here...

scottsdale, arizona

my lovies are all back home.

i miss them and not even the sweet delicious warmth will make up for that.

if you need me i will be here wrapped up in aidan's blanket

counting down the hours until i can skype their beautiful faces.

honey-do

2011-04-16T09:25:00.000-07:00

via

i wonder if i could sneak this onto tony's honey-do list?

the mother, the teacher, the event planner

2011-04-15T15:48:00.000-07:00

the first "annual" (maybe, possibly, if you had asked me a few days ago NO, but now that it is over probably) Angelou Science Fair was held last night.

it all happened because one day last april a super mom, fantastic friend and full on do-gooder named karen said "hey, we should organize a science fair at our kids' school, you know, since we don't have anything else to do but raise some kids and go to all 42 weekly activities they are in, be wives, work, and breathe once in a while". and i am pretty sure that is exactly how she said it too. and how could i say no to that kind of rational salesmanship?

so down the road of crazy science fair planning we went, skipping all the way.

the event planner in me is so very thankful that through all of the ups and downs, praises and accusations, helpful and not so helpful suggestions, i had karen there with me. tracy was our go to rockstar of the school. she gets things done. i don't think anyone could navigate that school without her. our husbands and our kids lent hands, listening ears and gave us time to get this done and to them i say thank you. today i am also very thankful that writing templates, rubrics, emails and phone calls and shielding my inner people pleas-er from dissatisfied parents is a thing of the past for a little while at least.

the teacher in me is amazed at the scientific prowess of children! you should have seen some of the thought and creativity that went into these projects. the enthusiasm was palatable. the hum of excitement was gratifying. some said we had set the bar too high, but boy did those kids strive to reach it. i hope when these students are in high school they all get shuffled into my classes because we will have some serious science fun!

and the mother in me is so proud of my two children for working on the areas that need the most of their attention. they both designed their own experiment based on what interested them most, the way a good scientist does.

aidan wanted to showcase his beloved gecko and who can blame him? she is gorgeous and soft and inquisitive and he has devoted so much time and care for her. aidan didn't win, he didn't place and he didn't show, but he did shine. when there was a glitch in the system (i can blame the event planner in me for that) he shrugged, gave me a bear hug and went off to check on his gecko. no wailing about the injustice of it all. it has taken years for us to see a glimpse of this more mature version of him. my mom and dad reminded me that it took me many more years to hold my tears when i lost, but let us not dwell on that.

nadia focused on her one true love...chocolate. i am sure her hope was to prove the nutritionists of the world wrong with her cricket experiment but alas, vitamins and minerals prevailed. nadia sat patiently writing out her question and with her tongue sticking out all micheal jordan style she wrote and wrote and wrote and then diagrammed her project. she checked the death rate and eventually conceded to the fact that doritos & chocolate are not good diet choices for crickets and surmised on her own that they probably are not good for us humans either. while dedication has never been her weak spot, focusing on something like reading and writing has been. she rocked the elementary science world, winning 1st place among the 2nd graders.

and can you believe that the mother- this mother- didn't take one picture of the event?!?

to good friends & good food

2011-04-11T20:28:00.000-07:00

sure our little spring break trip to portland included great friends.

can you believe that we have never traveled with the smiths before? and can you believe that it has been a year and a half since i have seen my monique?

and sure it included spectacular views of waterfalls and lush green mountainsides that speak to my scottish roots.

i am moved deep in my being when i see the earth covered in green. don't get me wrong, i love our little desert, but i part of me knows it is home when i see the hillsides darned in moss and lichens.

and sure it included legos, what vaca is complete without legos and the lego store?

lego houses are favored only second to the buckets of legos that you get to fill from the wall o' legos. i love that wall. and legos are perfect for down time when you stay in a posh artsy hotel. hotel lucia to be exact. while it was laden with fancy and heavy on schmancy it was very light on space, which is why you see only a picture of the door and the rest are in the lobby.

and you know we had our fair share of walks and talks and stories and laughing until we had wet ourselves.

and of course i mean wet our faces with tears of laughter, don't get the wrong idea, although i am pretty sure nico wet his pants a time or two.

and you know my fingers itched with inspiration at the saturday market and at the salvage yards stuffed to the brim we visited.

the leaded glass made me weak in the knees and the reclaimed vintage pea coats with the nipped waist, bird detail, angora hoodie and little ruffled cuffs seriously made me swoon.

and you can be sure that i soaked up every second of my little lovies that i could, including my nicolicious.

nadia was a roller coaster of emotion and i felt like she was growing right before my eyes. aidan is having his own share of struggles with finding his place but in a rare moment of demonstrative behavior said that he loved having tony and i around this week and wished it could always be this way...whoa. as for nico, he and i bonded over jumping on the bed, hide and seek behind tony and long walks down broadway through a group of varied protesters.

but when you ask me how my spring break was, i won't recant any of this because i will answer instead with my belly...

food food food food food food food food food food food food food food food food food food food

sara and i plotted to eat good food on this trip. food that we can't get here in our neck of the woods. food with culture and depth and words that can't be pronounced.

there was pastaria for dinner... ehhh. chicken alfredo is good just about anywhere but it wasn't the experience we were looking for.

then mother's for breakfast... the best service ever. hands down.

since we were stuffed from breakfast we skipped lunch.

then there was makareesh for dinner... it may have been eating with your hands off a communal plate or dining while sitting on pillows in a dark morracan themed room, but the food was fantastic. i can't stop thinking about the hummus salad. mmmmmmm. i am sure it helped that i had the lovely company of monique too. curse my lack of camera skills, not one good picture, but mo did promise to come see us soon.

then there was voodoo donuts... after a 30 minute wait in the chilly portland air these donuts were perfection. donuts are my sin of choice. the donut i had that morning-whose name is not appropriate for my blog but it's yeast risen fluffiness, topped with chocolate and crumbly oreoness and peanut buttery drizzly goodness- can melt in my mouth any day of the week and twice on sunday.

sushi was on the menu for lunch for the very patient aidan... there were fish eggs and tuna and rice rolls but for the finicky there was raman noodles. and all were happy in the end.

ikea for dinner... not just dinner but cafeteria style dinner and not just cafeteria style dinner but free cafeteria style dinner. and there was chocolate cake. sweet.

and now after journaling all of that deliciousness i am going to retire to my bed with a box of overpriced tagalongs.

seriously, it IS like i am domestic and stuff

2011-04-06T14:07:00.000-07:00

and i think i like it...

yesterday i used a sewing machine.

like an actual needle-moves-up-and-down-you-get-to-step-on-the-pedal-and-thread-a-bobbin sewing machine.

no seriously! i'm not even joking. and yes, from this picture it looks like i played dress the baby in ric-rac while sara sewed but that is really me right there.

see? SEWING!

exhibit A: crazy messed up happy spring break hair.
exhibit B: cell phone for emergency calls to sara, my mom, andria or the gods of the internet.
exhibit C: my trusty water bottle that is never far from my reach. besides, sewing gets your thirst on.
exhibit D: sidekick numero dos. sidekick one was off playing with pet-pet the rice pet that he made.
exhibit E: holy moley...as in holy moley i can't believe that is me sewing.

i made pillows. cute ones too. even some made out of dishtowels! and little flowers with a button in the center and everything!

and yes that happened because sara totally got me started. for my birthday she set a date to teach me how to sew pillows (not only because she loves me so but also because she is good at finding loopholes, specifically ones left wide open when husbands -read tony- try to lay down the 'no more buying throw pillows' law)

she fiddled with the dishtowel until it fashioned a pillow,

and yes she made the first one

and sewed half of the second one

and fused the batting on the last two...

and yes, my mom totally supervised me after sara had to get the nicomiseter home for a proper nap even though she completly made me nervous i was grateful for her advice...

and yes, tony talked me through my freak out when i broke a needle...

but i learned a ton! and felt very domesticated.

and even offered to quit teaching so i can stay home and make pillows and do laundry.

super cute right?

loves of my life

2011-04-04T14:44:00.000-07:00

i love spanking new socks, particularly boy socks, the only kind that don't bunch up at the heel.

i love waking up with an aidan on one side and a nadia on the other and no place to rush off to.

i love that this furry face seriously believes that if he wasn't there patting my leg i wouldn't be able to get anything done.

i love that friends stop by in the middle of the morning and that we are here to greet them

i love crisp white sheets, not much is better in the way of creature comforts than cool, crisp, clean sheets except maybe white ones.

not only do i love that tony surprised me by coming home early but i love that he went straight to work baking french bread.

i love spring...
and spring break...
and being a teacher so i can be home to enjoy it!

what are you looking at?

2011-04-01T09:51:00.000-07:00

your looking at what age sixty nine looks like. happy birthday papa. thank you for spending your bday at a 3rd grade songfest. you are a wonderful papa and my kids are lucky.

now let us look at a kid who told his mom minutes before it was time to leave for the performance that he needed to dress up like a kid from another country. he totally looks like he is an irish boy right?

and here's looking at mr. gq. the thumbs in the pocket like your just kickin it is a nice touch.

i bet you think by this shot that he had his own special solo. look at him, the only guy with his hands in the air like he just don't care. he comes by that rhythm naturally so i didn't even notice he was two moves behind until i looked at this photo.

and here you can see mother and daughter. she is brave, that mom of mine. here i am a walking, grinning petri dish full of bacteria.

life is more fun with boys around

2011-03-28T16:17:00.000-07:00

boys like andrew, mason and brody.

we loved having these guys around this weekend.

we only wish we had more time with them. thank you jake and lynn for coming over and please come again super soon.

eeee gads.

2011-03-22T06:28:00.000-07:00

call it murphy's law...
call it tempting fate...
call it jinxing...

call it margo.

maybe i should have knocked on some wood when i told tony that the upside to our children growing up is that we can have our pretties out again. in this case the pretties are apothecary jars, a pair of bell jars and little glass candle holders that i have lined up on the window sill--- just a whole lotta sparkle to behold as we eat our dinner each night.

did you know that an eighty-eight pound pooch doesn't even startle when they jump up at the window in a moment of jealousy and crash through four apothecary jars, one bell jar whose mate is now so lonely and three more candle holders?

my little mommy

2011-03-19T07:41:00.000-07:00

i love little notes.
i especially love giving little notes to my family.
a little note lay on each dinner plate for st. patty's day.
a note is always tucked in their lunch.
if i have to spend the night away from my wee chickens there will be one for each night i am away.
sometimes i include a corny joke.
sometimes it is a drawing.
sometimes a little poem.
sometimes i put a touch of my perfume like you see in old movies.
sometimes i tell them of all of the things i love about them.
but always it is just a little piece of me for them.

and she is just like me.
maybe not just.
my head-in-the-clouds-noni seems to know how to say what people need most.

when she went to her very first sleep over for one of her bff's, she left a little note for each of us. on papers a touch bigger than a fortune, she told aidan to be good to mom and dad, and she told dad to be good to aidan, margo and duke.

to me she wrote i appreciate you mommy. she asked aidan for help spelling appreciate, but come on! would anything melt your heart more than finding a note from your baby girl that tells you she appreciates you?!?

i am keeping her forever.

this doesn't mean that i am growing up to be a fuddy duddy, does it?

2011-03-16T20:28:00.000-07:00

what would you do if you saw a pair of lacy electric blue underthings in the middle of the hallway of your beautiful high school while 1800 teenagers were dashing out of the building? would you

a) walk right on by. no way, no how are you going to touch someonelse's chonies, let alone in public.

b) quarter off a 10 foot section of the hallway. this is a crime scene people. alert the authorities. a girl wearing fancy pants like that is up to no good. besides, we are dealing with a possible bio hazard here.

c) discretely pick up the drawers and put them in the lost and found. someone will be missing those pricey panties and will want them back. maybe you could even post it on facebook so the lady can find her undergrunders.

d) locate the nearest, nicest adult and report the sitch because you are way too squeamish and way too young to handle this without backup. relay the story in hopes that they will at least run interference between the thong (yes, i said thong people) and the hormonal, giggly teens who just might think they are yours.

any bets on what this super cool, straight shooting, ask me anything i am a biology teacher after all, freakshow did?

around the island

2011-03-15T19:34:00.000-07:00

so aidan was saddled up to the island snacking on some girl scout cookies and trying in vain to organize the garbage dump he calls a backpack while i was on the other side chopping some onions and cabbage.

i don't know how we got there, but he asked if i would give a test to who ever he planned to marry. Of course i said yes because really what mom would pass up that opportunity?

i asked him what kind of test i should give, to which he answered, "they should be able to hold my lizard".

then after much thought he said that they must be smart enough to understand him.

this is where i held held my breath because that is a seriously tall order and i wasn't quite sure what he meant...

and then he said with a scoff, "you know, like when i talk about pokemon, they should at least be able to recognize that it is a pokemon"

boy i'm glad he is just nine.

oh me oh my

2011-03-12T19:02:00.000-08:00

what a week this has been.

not my finest week of coping with stress.

but we survived. together. as always.

and by together i mean tony was there listening, picking up the slack, making me think and making me orange rolls.

and andria was there texting me encouragement that i needed more than she will ever know. maybe that is not true. she always knows. that is why she always does it.

and sara was there listening and making me laugh with off the wall note passing during trainings at the exact right moments i needed to let my mind wander.

and there was an email from a dear friend sharing unbelievable fantastic news that told me all is right in the world.

and there were a lot of little everyday niceties from people who probably didn't even know it is what i needed most.

even my nadia was there for what should have been the nerdiest most boring day on earth (robots, pokemon and 16 year old boys...serious nerdfest people). but she kept it lively and lovely.

oh me oh my together we survived. on to a new week.

trying not to freak the freak out

2011-03-05T20:03:00.000-08:00

apparently announcing on this little blog that i am so painfully aware of my biological clock tick-tick-ticking away causes alarm.
...again, sorry tony.

so no.
         there are no plans to add to our foursome.
and yes.
         i am not handling getting older gracefully.
and really. . .
         i do think that maybe just maybe this is what it comes down to. . .

if he is old enough to sport one of these. . .

even a sparse 'stach. . .

exactly how old does that make me?

and no. . . it is not dirt. i tried to spit shine it off, and you know how a nine year old loves that.
and andria. . . if you say that you thought this pic was me too...
well i am not sure exactly what i will do
but we might have to reenact the great porch brawl of '94.