I looked at the calendar just now and realized that four years ago today, I quit my day job.

With one month to go until the impending arrival of Thing 2,

I swapped out dress slacks and make up and opted for dress up and make believe.

This is the longest job I’ve ever held.

It’s been the most challenging.

But it’s also been the most rewarding.

Some days start out easy.

Some days start out rough.

Some days get harder later on.

It’s not always pretty.

And it’s not always easy.

Every day is not a picnic.

But we’ve definitely had some fun!

And found ways to keep busy.

And haven’t forgotten to have a sense of humor.

Or how to have a good time.

I need to say thank you to my husband, who eagerly handed over the role as stay at home parent and slogs off to work every day to support us.

I need to say thank you to all my fellow stay at home friends (and their children!) who have helped keep me sane these last four years.

I need to say thank you to the countless family members who stopped by to visit just to say hi, to give me a break or to help keep us from going stir crazy.

And most of all, I need to say thank you to these girls of mine.

For teaching me so much about myself.

About life.

And about love.

About keeping the paint up high.

And keeping our standards low.

And most of all, to just go with the flow.

Holy crap. We made it through another day together. Hallelujah.

• Scary, Scary, Quite Contrary
• Everywhere You Look
• Can't You Read the Signs?

A month or so ago I stumbled upon a blog post about kids learning to ride a bike without pedals or training wheels. The basic idea is that without having to worry about pedaling, they can focus first on getting the hang of balancing on two wheels. They can just sit on the seat with their feet on the ground, move their feet and walk. They’ll eventually start coasting along, balancing with the security and knowledge that they can easily catch themselves if they start to tip. Once they have the balance thing down, it’s much easier to then get the hanging pedaling – instead of doing it the other way around like you do with training wheels.

Observe.

Ava’s been riding a training wheeled bike since she was 4 or so. Now at the ripe old age of 6 she’s expressed an interest in taking her training wheels off – especially watching so many of her peers riding without them.

So if you rewind the tape of our life here to a few weeks ago, you’d see an attempt at Ava learning to ride her bike sans training wheels – at her request, mind you. Watch in slow motion as the realization spreads across her face that this is not going to be quite as easy as her fellow 5 and 6 year olds were making it look. Fast forward through the small melt down that then ensued. Press play as you watch Zak put the training wheels put back on. Roll credits. The end.

But then I saw that blog post. And then training wheels in my head started turning. She needs a small bike where she can easily reach the ground to get the hang of balancing, and then she can worry about pedaling once she’s got the balancing part down pat.

Here’s a video from Strider Sports that explains it all nicely. No, I am not selling these bikes. No, I don’t make any money if you buy one. I sure as hell didn’t buy one. This video just saves me from having to type it all out. Wait, I think I already did type it all out.

So… a small bike, a small bike… what we need is a small (free) bike! Well ask and you shall receive! Last week at a girlfriend’s house I spotted a small two wheeled bike in their shed. Turns out they weren’t currently using it for their young daughters so I snagged it to give this small bike idea a whirl. Ava, who is not in the least bit afraid to be disagreeable, was willing to give this idea a whirl too.

Here she is on Sunday.

And within about a half an hour or so she was off and riding! I didn’t have to run behind her holding the seat. I didn’t have to let go and yell “yeah, I’m still holding the seat!” only to have her look over her shoulder and see that wasn’t in fact holding the seat. She didn’t have realize she was doing it by herself, promptly lose her balance and come crashing to the ground.  She didn’t refuse to ever try again and then give me the cold shoulder for the rest of the night like you might see in some smarmy TV show from the 90′s starring Dave Coulier and the Olsen twins.

Nope. None of that. Instead I sat on my ass on the porch steps with my camera and watched as she figured it out on her own.

And now she’s an old pro!

We haven’t taken the training wheels off her big bike yet as the meltdown alarms for the nuclear kid reactors start to sound at the mere suggestion of it. Soon enough, I’m sure.

The moral of today’s story is: got small kids?  Buy a balance bike. Or don’t. Better yet, save some money and find a small bike on the side of the road or in your friends shed. Maybe take the pedals off if you’re mechanically inclined. Either way, I highly recommend doing what it takes so you don’t have to live out a scene from Full House.

• Weekend Randomness
• Scary, Scary, Quite Contrary
• Can't You Read the Signs?

The time period of our lives before now will be referred to as “Before the Haircut”. The time period from this point forward will be referred to as “After the Haircut”. BtH and AtH, if you will. And although this isn’t the first time I’ve blogged about a hair incident, I do hope it might be the last.

A couple of weeks ago Maxine decided to cut her own hair.

Notice the missing bangs and partial mullet on the left side of her head?

When I asked her Why On Earth Would You Do Such a Thing? she responded that she wanted her hair to look like Ava’s American Girl doll “Elizabet”.

(That’s right, ElizaBET, as in no “h” – AKA “Kit Kittredge” to the rest of the American Girl Doll loving world.)

Umm, not exactly kid, but I think you’ve got potential.

My mom asked me if I was going to take her to the hairdresser to get her fixed up. At first I thought, “Yes, definitely.” But then enough people said to just let it grow out, you could hardly notice it, it sort of looked as though she had her hair tucked behind her ear, maybe she’ll start a rockin’ new half mullet hair style trend.

So I decided to leave it.

Apparently though, Ava had her own opinion on this issue and quite literally decided to take matters into her own hands. Yesterday while I was taking a shower (YES I REALLY WAS TAKING A SHOWER ZAK) Ava decided to play Barbie Hairstyler Magic with Maxine.

Except Maxine’s hair doesn’t grow back with the click of a mouse button like Barbie’s does, does it? click click click CLICKCLICKCLICK

Nope, it doesn’t.

When Maxine walked into the room before I knew she’d been to Ava’s Magic Hair Emporium, she was sort of lurking in the shadows. I could tell something was “different”.

From the angle I was at it in my dimly lit bedroom, it looked as though her hair was very neatly slicked back. Cocking my head slowly to the right and then slowly to the left, rubbing my eyes and then squinting them, straining my neck forward like a mother snapping turtle ready to bite the head off of her offspring, I asked her to come a little closer.

Ohnoyoudidnt.

My mouth dropped open and I said nothing. She immediately said “Ava did it!”

And I still said nothing. And my mouth still hung open. I raised my hand to cover the gaping hole in my head as to not catch any flies.

It was at this point that I requested Ava’s presence upstairs.

When I asked Ava Why On Earth Would You Do Such a Thing, she replied that she wanted to “even out” Maxine’s American Girl Doll styling attempts. When I said again Why On Earth Would You Do Such a Thing and the followed it with a What Did You Think I Would Say If You’d Asked Me First, I sent them both into their rooms to get their piggy banks before she could reply.

Girls, I think an impromptu trip to the hairdresser has just been added to today’s agenda.

Ava, being 6 years old and knowing better, was fined $6 to help pay for Maxine’s repair hair cut.

Maxine, being 3 years old and with the vocabulary of an adolescent, surely could have said “No Ava, please don’t cut my hair.” was fined $3 to also help pay for her repair hair cut.

Me, being 31 years old and foolishly thinking I could run off and leave my children unattended while I saw to my own personal hygiene like I have countless times BtH, was willing to pay up to $31 to pay for Maxine’s repair hair cut.

You know, for $40 I could have just bought them Barbie Magic and saved us all a lot of heartache.

The hairdresser said “This has been my challenge of the day!”

Ya don’t say? You know, I could almost say that exact same thing myself.

He also commented on the “very strong lines” of Ava’s attempts to fix Maxine’s ‘do as he did his best to blend those “strong lines” in.

We returned from the hairdresser mostly unscathed,

but still feeling pretty defeated.

Oh well, onward an upward.

Life goes on, AtH.

• Everywhere You Look
• Can't You Read the Signs?
• A Fish Tale

Recently, the girls spent the day with my mom and my step father. My step dad happens to be named Dave, and Ava and Maxine affectionately call him “GrandDave”.

Ava loves all things volcanoes these days, and after watching a volcano movie at Granny and GrandDave’s house during their visit (yes, they still get to watch TV at other people’s houses!) a little discussion about volcano safety ensued between Ava and GrandDave:

Ava: When a volcano erupts, the lava goes real fast and you have to run real fast to get out of the way of the lava flow. Sometimes you can’t run fast enough and you die.

GrandDave: I would help you get away. If a volcano ever erupts, you call me up and I’ll jump in my truck and come get you and drive you away from the volcano real fast.

Ava: Umm GrandDave… You don’t have my car seat in your truck.

I guess you can never be too safe, right?

• One Armed Carrot Jokes
• A Fish Tale
• A Fast Mile

So admittedly, I’ve been doing very little cooking in recent weeks, this last week in particular. I feel like I’m just now getting my bearings in this new kitchen. I’ve been busy finding a place for everything, trying to figure out what’s going to work, what’s not, what I need and what I don’t, what can be donated, thrown away or put into storage to be dug out as needed all while wondering where the hell all this crap came from in the first place.

This would be why I haven’t been writing much about new recipes or foods I’m trying lately – there are no new recipes or foods to speak of. I beg for forgiveness as I veer wildly off course for a short while here.

Ready to veer?

While packing and unpacking, Zak uncovered the fish bowl – the same fish bowl we used to house our monarch caterpillar this summer actually. Thinking back on how that ended and the fate of our poor little caterpillar, we probably should have seen this coming.

Take note, this is a bit of very obvious foreshadowing.

At one point after Christmas, a conversation went down between Zak and the girls that ended with the promise of some fish to fill the aforementioned fish bowl. I absolutely would have vetoed this decision had I been there to cast my vote. In my mind fish = a dirty fish bowl = one more thing I have to clean. The only way he got me to agree to fish before they walked out the door to the pet store was by signing an affidavit stating that I would never have to clean a fish bowl and that he and the girls would take care of everything.

Fine. Sign here and then you can go get your fish.

Did you know that at Petco fish come with a 15 day warranty? True story. Just bring back your dead fish and a sample of the water and they’ll scoop another one out of the tank for you, no questions asked.

(More foreshadowing.)

So on Sunday they got fish. Two fish to be exact, one for each of them. And then on Monday morning when I was on the phone with the phone company trying to figure out why our internet is still not working (this post would be brought to you by some neighbor we’ve yet to meet named “Ruth” who very fortunately has her wireless network wide open. Thank you Ruth for unknowingly keeping me sane until the phone company gets their act in gear) and at that exact same time as luck with have it (or unlucky, if you are a fish) Zak was on a work call – therefore leaving the girls relatively unattended with new fish and a brand new container of fish food.

Do you see where this is going? Let’s just say that on Tuesday, Goldie wasn’t looking too hot. She was spending an awful lot of time at the top of the fish bowl last night. I think we better just jump right to the punch here and reveal what we woke up to first thing this morning, shall we?

As Maxine pointed out in the video, we don’t have nets. So I went down to the kitchen to scrounge around and came back upstairs with the best thing I could to find to scoop out our poor little fish.

A 1/3 c measure.

Ava showed Maxine and suddenly it started to sink in.

Uh oh.

Oh no.

Oh no oh no oh no no no no no put the camera down you stupid woman and comfort your child!

What to do? What to do?? Wait! I know!

Who wants left over chocolate cheese cake for breakfast?!

OK – let’s not go there. Cheesecake for comfort! Are you sad? Here! Feel better! Eat something sweet!

Why is that the first thing that comes to mind? Although come to think of it, how many times did I whip out my boob to nurse this child when she was sad or hurt or frustrated or bored? Is it any wonder we use food to make ourselves feel better? It’s practically built in and ingrained into us from Day 1!

Comfort food musings aside, after putting the camera down and saying good bye, we skipped the visit to the fridge and headed for the couch instead to spend 20 minutes crying about fish and talking about what we believe happens after someone dies. These things happen. It’s OK to be sad and mourn the loss of our little friend. He was a good fish and he was probably sick before he even came home to us (back peddle! back peddle! I didn’t expect her to be so sad! Quick QUICK turn this ship around QUICK!) and he’s not sick or suffering anymore.

Why don’t these kids come with a manual? Did yours come with a manual? Check the index for me, is there a section on Dead Fish?

A few more tears and lots of hugs instead of rich desserts, I think we’ve all recovered from our fishy incident that greeted us with the rising sun this morning.

And no, we are not going to take Petco up on their offer for a replacement fish. Obviously. Goldie is in a better place now and therefore long gone. Instead we’ll allow what’s left of the fish food to last 50% longer than it would have otherwise.

Now… who wants cheesecake for dinner?

• One Armed Carrot Jokes
• Everywhere You Look
• Can't You Read the Signs?

Up an’ at ‘em bright and early. I jumped on my bike and rode 17.6 miles in 1 hour and 12 minutes. I did NOT intend to be gone for so long but it was such a beautiful morning I couldn’t help myself.

Suzie No More Naps slept in pretty late this morning, so Zak took Ava to dance while I stayed home to wait for Sleeping Beauty to awake from her slumber.

Today was one of those days that I looked at this kid and wondered WHEN she started to look so grown up!

Dance recital in just two weeks!

After they were on their way I tried to figure out what I wanted for breakfast. I settled on a bowl of Heart to Heart with some homemade granola, sliced bananas and scoop of almond butter and a bit of hemp milk. The base? I would usually use greek yogurt, but instead used the Chocolate Banana PB Pudding from the other night! I never put it back into the freezer after I moved it to the fridge Thursday morning. It’s soupier than pudding but not right for “ice cream”, it made the perfect cereal base! Plus I want to finish it up and be done with it. No one is eating it but me!

It’s buried, so you can’t see it, but believe me, it’s in there! Loved it!

• Change in Plans
• A Day of Calorie Counting
• When the Garmin Strikes Midnight

Alternate Title: Picture Day 2009

Today was our annual voyage to the Lilac Festival with Sharon and her crew. (Except this year Lauren was no longer in utero!) Sharon’s Mother In Law, Wendy, joined us too.

So as usual, we kicked things off at the kiddie rides.

Ava and Haylee rode the Ferris Wheel.

Maxine was VERY excited to see it (wow, really kid??), but as soon as the time came to get on, she politely said “No thank you.” (Yeah, that’s more like it…)

Here she is waiting patiently for their ride to be over so we could move on to the next ride that she would politely decline as well.

Maxine and I watched while everyone else rode! (Notice Sharon, Haylee and Ava on the twirlamabob.)

Ava mid bounce in the bounce house!

You know, I wish someone would show Ava how to loosen up and have a little fun!

Maxine watching. Again. Ava jumping. Still.

Then it was on to the food portion of our visit, stopping for some samples and a rest on a giant banana.

Picnic lunch!

(We were joined at lunch by Sharon’s Sister In Law.)

Maxine enjoyed her PB&J

Next up: “Lilac Forest”, as Ava put it.

Pushing the medium sized ones and all of our STUFF.

At any given moment, this is basically what Ava looks like: A blur with flying hair.

Observe.

But when she holds still, she takes it very seriously.

My heart and soul.

Three girls in a tree.

Maxinie.

Sweet little Lauren… she’ll be running with the big girls next year for sure.

Running down into the great valley!

Hi mom!

When they emerged from the valley, I took a self portrait of me and Maxine.

Then I tried to take one of me and Ava.

I looked at the pic on the back of the camera.

“Ava, I’m going to take another one. Smile!”

“OK”

“AVA! SMILE!” (totally laughing which I know is just going to keep the funny faces coming)

“Ava!!”

Me, laughing: “Do you want to ice cream?”

“Yes.”

Still laughing: “Then SMILE!”

“OK, ok, I will.”

It was at this point that I gave up.

More pictures.

Our sweet little girls!

Getting a BIG WHIFF!

A semi-candid group shot!

All of us. (Minus MIL, our photographer.)

(Do you think Haylee was getting a bit tired of all the picture taking?)

Ice cream time! Even without a self portrait smile from Ava.

Ava wanted to get her “arm painted”, so we did. Except I didn’t snap a pic until Maxine got on the stool.

Matching tattoos! They LOVE. THEM. The woman dabbled a bit of glitter on each tattoo and Maxine keeps saying “Look at my sprinkles!”

One last visit to the kiddie rides on our way out of dodge, to use up our last two tickets. Naturally, two tickets left means one for Ava and one for Haylee. None for Little Miss I Don’t Want to Ride Any Rides.

But of course this is point where Maxine is crying and saying she wants to go down the big slide, so we went and bought one more ticket… and she proudly marched up the steps, only to change her mind at the very top. Too late now kid! We’re going!

We had a totally fun filled day, and I think this about sums it up!

Totally psyched for the Lilac 5K that Sharon and I will be running on Sunday morning! Stay tuned!

• Whensday?
• Weekend Randomness
• We’re Off to Weigh the Wizard

I can’t make this stuff up.

I was on the phone when I heard Maxine crying and Ava yelping “Oh! Oh! Oh!” I look to see the Hess Truck Helicopter hanging from Maxine’s head.

While laughing/comforting a stressed Maxagirl, I worked to get her hair out of the rotors and commented under my breath that we needed the camera, and Ava immediately ran to fetch it!

Ava said, “You have helicopter hair!”

My poor little honey!

We finally had to break out the scissors and cut her loose! I think H is for Hair!

I handed it back to her, she immediately turned it on and said “Look at my hair!”

It still works!

• Whensday?
• Weekend Randomness
• We’re Off to Weigh the Wizard

After staying indoors most of the morning, I tossed them outside around 11.

The… sun… so… bright…

Maxine brought all the necessary the essentials out with her.

A brush, Kashi crackers and “Blacka Whita” (her name for the black and white kitty)

Then we decided to plant the new flowers I bought on Monday and raced them to the shed to get the shovel. I won!

Ava wanted to dig the hole, I told her she could but to be sure not to hit the gas line that was surely buried six inches down in the flower bed.

Maxine watered the flocks. It was about this time I was thinking we should be breaking that little purple brush out of the basket and running it through her hair….

More watering. I told Ava to water the dandelions too because I didn’t want them to die! If you are looking to put together a dandelion bouquet, we charge .05 a piece. Come on over! Take as many as you like.

They continued to run around and play while I dug weeds out of the flower bed…. every year in the summer I look at that flower bed in front of the house and am cursing the weeds that come up to my knees. Last year I swore I would get them BEFORE they were as high as the house. It’s amazing what a difference a year makes with the kids (Maxine in particular) and how they can play outside while I do a little yard work. They came over once they were bored and we checked out some earth worms that came up with the roots of the weeds. Soon a giant bumblebee made an appearance and they magically disappeared into the house! I caught the bumblebee in a jar and plan to tame him, to break him out when I’m trying to get us out the door and into the car. Might come in handy at bedtime too.

• No related posts.

The weather today has been fabulous and we ventured out on the deck for our first meal outside of the season. Zak and the girls had just gotten back from a trip to the playground while I went to visit a friend who had recently had a home birth. We were reunited just in time for lunch.

Maxine enjoyed her 1/2 PB&J and buttered ditalini.

s

And don’t miss her post lunch interview!

My vibrant salad!

Ava asked that I take a picture of her lunch too.

More Max.

Hmmm… Where’d Ava go? (Hey! My salad disappeared too!)

Upon further questioning, Ms. Ava moved herself, her tofu and chopsticks inside to escape an innocent bee that no one saw but her.

Maxine came in to threaten us with her cake decorating tip fingers…

Just decorate the cake and no one gets hurt!

• Whensday?
• We Came, We Saw, We Raked
• There’s Always a Silver Lining