Picking Pears

Last weekend, (October 17), we took a break from trip planning and stressing and drove to Sherwood for some pear (and apple) picking.

Once we got all lined out from the very intense apple/pear lady, we set out.  It was the last Saturday of the season, so there were few apples and lots of people.  Still, it was so gorgeous.

I really like this boy.

Big fan of this kid, too.

This girl is just too sweet.  Do you know what she is obsessed with right now?  Obsessed?  Ethiopia and her baby sister.  (Can't say I blame her!)

There were three pictures in this pose.  This is the best one of me (and only me), but it's my blog!  So there!  I so rarely make an appearance on this thing, I have to do what I can.  Right?

Somehow the intense pear lady let us use one of her prized 'pickers'.  Garrett was all about the picking.  No one is surprised though, right?

I can't even find my baby girl in her sometimes.

This laden tree was maybe off limits, but it was by the (very bare) pear tree, so we helped ourselves to a few.  Don't tell the lady!

Our wild family!

Test

4T Trail (but not on a Sunday)

At least not on a Sunday between September and June!

A few weeks ago, I am not even sure when it was now, we headed into Portland to tackle the 4T trail.  We've had such a beautiful Autumn here and I'd been wanting to do it for a while.  In case you are wondering, 4T stands for trail, tram, trolley, train.  It's a pretty cool thing, actually, and we really enjoyed it.  The only problem was that the whole reason my kids (and husband) were AMPED for it was that they'd been wanted to ride that aerial OHSU tram ever since it was built a few years ago.  After the 4 mile hike we were so excited to do the whole 'tram' thing, but it doesn't run on Sundays!  SO disappointing.  So we hiked a bit longer, into downtown Portland, took a shortened trolley ride, hung around Pioneer Courthouse Square for a few minutes and then rode the train back to the zoo, where our car was parked.

My Motley Crew taking a little break.

It was kind of like a scavenger hunt watching for all the 4T signs- kids loved it!

Stopped for a little map reading.

The Fall scenery was breathtaking.

Once we realized we couldn't do the tram we walked some more.  Everyone (except me) was surprisingly good spirited about the whole thing, considering.  I was admittedly pouty and grumpy about it.  They all gave me some space.

The trolley was cool though.

So was Pioneer Courthouse Square.  We definitely don't get these babies to downtown Portland enough.

It was a good time.  We'll definitely have to do it again.  But not on a Sunday!

Spinning

My head is spinning this afternoon.  So much to process.  Shots, flights, guest houses, photos, donations, cleaning, orthodontist stuff, preschool stuff, classroom volunteer stuff, jog-a-thon donations, and is that a coffee stain on my shirt?  Is Carter going to be okay with all of this?  (yes.)  Adrenaline, adrenaline, adrenaline.  Not complaining (well, kind of about the coffee (?) stain), just processing here.  Sometimes sitting here, looking at words and pictures helps me regroup and process.  Paralyzed with all that needs to be done.

So, I'm processing.

Here is a picture of peace.

I'm taking deep breaths.

5 Years

Joel has been cancer free for 5 years, today.  Most of you know about that time in our lives.  It wasn't fun.  Joel's diagnosis marked the beginning of a very tough year that included a tumultuous pregnancy, the death of my grandma, Carter born 4.5 weeks early, and my childhood best friend losing her fight with cancer.  The year from Hell ended with me quitting my job literally the day before I was supposed to go back.  It was intense.

And here we are, 5 years later.  Joel's cancer turned out to be a blip on the radar of our life, and after 5 years of monitoring, he is 'cured.'  Our Carter, who was constant Action in utero, has been a mellow, hilarious, and joyful little boy.   (And is currently learning independence and testing his limits.  Yes, he is normal!)  Our Bigs are healthy and happy, and now, we are thrilled to be adding to our family through adoption.

Speaking of which, today we received our long awaited court date for our daughter to be in Ethiopia.  You can read about it over here.  Just too weird to be coincidence.  We feel .  .  . what?  Thankful?  Grateful?  Blessed?  Yes, but not even close.  All of those things seem so trite and cliche.  All in all, we had a lot to celebrate today.  And we did.  A nice, quiet, dinner- just the 5 of us.  It was lovely (except for the ice cream that never did actually freeze), and we all talked about memories over the past 5 years and so many things to look forward to.  Here's to so many more years of loving and laughing!

Disneyland!

At the end of September we went to Disneyland with my Aunt Bec and Joel's parents. It was marvelous- we had a blast! Since our trip to Ethiopia is still months away, we figured it would be fun to have a trip with the kids before we add a baby to the mix. Our plan was to "Big Kid" it up at Disneyland- the last time we'll be able to do it for a while. Carter is 4, and since Garrett was 4 when he started to really love the fast rides, we thought it would be perfect.

Well, we had a great time and it was perfect . . . except that Carter still hates the fast rides. Newsflash, Sarri! Carter is different than Garrett! (duh!)

But it was so nice to get away. We swam and ate out and watched tv and RELAXED. We stayed up late and slept in (some mornings). We visited and belly laughed and ate way too much junk food.

I didn't take my big camera, just my (new!) iphone, so here is a slide show of our fun. If you're my friend on FB you've already seen some of these!

And, because it makes me belly laugh, here is Joel and I on Dumbo. We are SUCH dorks. And I swear, my forehead is big, but this phone makes it 3x bigger! I turned it off right before Joel said, "Are you TRYING to get your forehead?!?"

Negotiations

We're (apparently) doing family Halloween costumes this year. This morning we were googling and talking and trying to figure out something (easy and cheap, yet creative) that would work for everyone. We hit a wall when Garrett declared, "IF I CAN'T BE A STAR WARS HOT DOG, I'M NOT GOING TO BE ANYTHING AT ALL!"

Okay then. Back to the drawing board.

Brothers

Oh these two boys.  They really try me at times, that's for sure.  But all in all?  They love each other.  A lot.  On this particular night, earlier this week, Garrett and I had been talking about reading.  Garrett does fine with reading, but really doesn't 'love' it.  This makes my heart ache because I DO!  So we were talking in the car and it turns out he is really interested in non fiction.  But he thinks it's all too hard for him.  I dug out all the NF I could get to quickly and easily, (thank you very much, Scholastic book orders!) and thankfully most of it was very easy for him- basic, yet still some cool facts.  He sat there and read to Carter for over an hour.  I know the exact time because he was keeping track, to earn video game time.  (Don't judge me.)  3 days later and he's still filling me in on all kinds of facts on insects and sharks and space.

And Carter?  He didn't fall asleep because he was bored.  He fell asleep because he's 4 and still needs to nap, but we can rarely fit it in.  Poor guy!

Happy Birthday, Papa.

Last week my grandpa had a birthday.  I was going through some old pics, and found these pictures from his birthday a few years back.

Garrett (age 16 months) and Papa

Sissy (4 years, 4 months) and Papa

Sure love you, Papa!  Thanks for being such an awesome Grandpa to me and such a GREAT Papa to my babies. 

Carter's First Day

Today was Carter's first day of preschool.  It's a big day because he is never, ever, one of the oldest kids.

Anywhere.

Ever.

But this year, in the mixed age preschool class?  He's a big kid, an expert.

Joel took him on this very special day, which made it even more special for Carter.  (I was subbing.)  Carter was so excited last night, and even this morning, but once they arrived at school he apparently got a little overwhelmed and 'nervous' and sad.  No fun!  But thanks to his teacher, Joel was able to leave and Carter settled in, and Ms A reported that Carter was a happy boy most of the morning.  At recess he even had the presence of mind to give Ms A a full show of his scooter tricks.  (Quite impressive, I'm sure!)

When I saw Carter today, much later, he told me that he had a good day, but that he'd been pretty nervous.  "I know," I told him, "but I'm proud of you for still having a good day!  What was a good thing about preschool?"  He paused, looked at me like I was an idiot and said, "The part where I wasn't nervous!"  Good enough!

Even though I told him it would be a good day for short sleeves and maybe even shorts, he insisted on this shirt and jeans!  And Georgie and Mickey.  And that funny smile. 

I'm so excited to see what this year holds for him!

First Day of School, 2010

It has begun.  We had a decent morning at home, I ran to the store early to get the requested lunch fare, (tortellini), and ingredients for the blueberry coffee cake that I thought everyone requested and no one really ate.

Kids were tired, but excited.  School drop off was non eventful- Maddy barely hugged us goodbye as she sped into her classroom.  If she could have shut the door in our face, she would have- not to be mean, but she really, really, didn't need us.  (The feeling was not mutual.)

Garrett was fine.  He went into the same classroom he's been in since kindergarten, greeted the same teacher, hung his stuff up on the same hook and put his supplies in the same cubby.  He assured me he would help the nervous 1st grader at his table, gave me a tight squeeze hug and we left.  Last night, while Maddy was begging me not to set foot in her classroom because it was so embarrassing, Garrett told me I could come in his room and stay for an hour.  I love him!

On our way out the door we peeked through the window to Maddy's room and all the 5th graders were listening intently to their teacher.  We had a clear view of our girl, and it was obvious she already was enamored with her new teacher.  That's when the tears started for me, she just looked so old.  So grown up.  Soooooo independent.  And I'm so glad!  I really am!  I'm proud of these kids, so proud.  It's just that these moments are speeding by.

As we were walking out the front door, a kid passed us and said to no one in particular, "I can't find my teacher!"  He was obviously pretty panicked, but trying to stay calm.  He wasn't little, in fact he was looking for a 5th grade classroom.  But he was obviously new to school because the classroom he was looking for was for the only male teacher, and he mispronounced it.  This teacher is pretty well known.  It just broke my heart that this kid was freaked out, lost, and ALONE on the first day of school!  Poor guy!  I grabbed a nearby employee to help him, I sure hope his day improved from there on out.

Carter and I had a lovely day together.  Spent 2+ hours and $6 at Starbucks with various friends (maybe September Dread will be over more quickly than anticipated!), came home and read books together and laughed and snuggled.  Sweet Molly called me to tell me about her first day of school (loved that!), and then we went to pick up the Bigs.  Everyone had a great report on the first day, and we spent more than the promised "16 minutes" at the park playing with friends and visiting.

On the way home  Garrett's exhaustion came out:
"School was fun, but it was A LOT longer than I remembered!"
and also, in a mad voice, "Mom!  NUMBER ONE, why didn't you TELL me that we could sit anywhere at lunch?  And NUMBER TWO, why didn't you TELL ME that PE is in the AFTERNOON?!?"  While I appreciate the fact that he still thinks I am omniscient, I tried to explain to him (in a nicer voice) that NUMBER ONE, I didn't KNOW and NUMBER TWO, DITTO.

I think it's going to be a good year.

Back to School Breakfast

What a fun tradition we have!  I must say that one thing I do love about this time of year is getting to see my friends again regularly!  It seems that during summer we're all running around to all corners of the country.  This summer in particular, we did not get together as an entire group EVEN ONE TIME.  In June, I think, we tried to find one night that we could all have dinner together, and there was literally not one.

But since we're all in education (hey, I still claim it!), everyone is around on Labor Day, and thankfully the Denneys still are up to hosting the annual BTS Breakfast.  This year we had 32 people!  Next year, we'll have at least 33!  18 of those are the kids- pretty amazing if you consider that 10 years ago right now I was meeting most of these moms (and Andrea- hi!) for the first time.  I am just so, SO very thankful that my kids have this great 'village', and that I have such fun friends.

Such a nice morning.  Thanks again for hosting, Teresa and Steve!
Read more and see a fun slide show on Teresa's blog.

Boys checking out the spread.

"James, you have to eat something."

It's an annual tradition for one mom and one kid to have this conversation.

Carter was quite pouty before Miss Molly sat down next to him!

(All the other 'mom' pictures are unpostable!  Sorry Friends!)

September Dread.

There's no denying it now.  The backpacks are full, zippers pulled tight.  Fingernails have been trimmed, hair cut.  New clothes laid out and lunches planned.  It looks like Summer, as we know it, is over.

It's been a great summer and while it will be nice to get back in a routine, I would be lying if I said I did not have a big shawl of September Dread wrapped around my shoulders the past few weeks.  I hate sending my kids back to school.

To be clear; I love their teachers.  (LOVE.)  I am so thankful that these kids love school and friends and all that goes with it.  Yes, it will be nice to have the house quiet and empty for a few hours here and there.  I could use the time to get caught up on housework and projects that I never got to.  And the kids?  Oh, they are all SO excited and ready.  Just not me.

Because the truth is, another school year is such a poignant reminder of how much older these kids are getting.  How much more independent, and how much closer to being all grown up.  This will be Sissy's last year at grade school!  How could that be?  And to imagine my sweet Garrett in 2nd grade?  In the same classroom he's been in since kindergarten?  (His teacher looped up!)  2nd grade- that's a big deal!  And then Carter, my baby who is not AT ALL anymore, will be one of the older kids in his mixed age preschool classroom.  It will be so cool to see how he takes that role- he's never been one of the 'big' kids anywhere.  Ever.

So, I will most likely be a little gloomy for a week or two.  And then I'll get into the rhythm.  The rhythm of volunteering in three classrooms.  The rhythm of soccer and dance and drivingdrivingdriving.  The rhythm of playdates and early bedtimes and quick mornings.  (Maybe the rhythm of regular blogging?)  And to help me out of the shawl of September Dread, I'm sure I'll get in the rhythm of coffee once in a while with other moms.

And before we know it, the school year will be flying by.

Madeline Jane, First Day of Preschool, September 2004

5 Months and 2 Days

This morning at about 10:15, we got a call that has changed our lives.  (For the better!)  Click on over to our adoption blog to see our big news!

The Bottom Line

Last Night and The Ministry

Today

More to come soon, I'm sure!

Blueberry Picking

Picking blueberries with my babes is just one of those things I must do every summer at least once.  I love having fresh berries to eat, and a freezer full of frozen berries for the winter.  But I really, really love having my kids in the field with me.  Hearing their sweet conversations, seeing their concentration, and peeking through the rows to find them huddled together, working on a 'mother lode'.

Garrett loves picking blueberries.  He's been begging to do it for weeks now, and while we were there he said, "I think one day we should come here and just stay and pick all day long."

When I think of blueberry picking with Madeline, I sure don't think of this tall beautiful girl.  I think of baby Maddy with her pail, pjs, and rosy cheeks following me around the bushes.

Carter, just before he got 'too tired' to pick!