random tidbits

I am hoping to cover about 13 topics in one post, so hold on tight :)

You probably guessed that the local population doesn't really get into Halloween. Some foreigners did organize a "harvest festival" last night at a hotel downtown but we didn't go. Matt was working and I felt like trying to handle all three kiddos at an event like that wasn't going to make for a very successful night.

Besides, the girls wear dress-up clothes nearly every day (Julianna is already in her third dress-up outfit of the day, and it's only 9:30), so even though I don't organize a cake walk or offer prizes for best costume, I sometimes feel like our house is a 'harvest festival'. Hey, I even serve hotdogs on occasion :)

Speaking of dress up clothes, a few weeks ago we participated in a "creative movement" class - "creative movement" is a fancy way of saying "beginning dance". I really wanted it to work out for us, mostly for Julianna, who pretends to go to dance class all the time and really wants to 'do ballet'. But it just isn't going to be a good fit for us right now. For one, it's a 40ish minute drive, one way, for a 45 minute class :)

But the girls did have fun at the one class that we attended. I was really impressed with how closely Lydia watched the teacher. What she lacked in motor skills she made up for in concentration.


She's always making up new moves and saying "watch this, watch this" while she shows her stuff. Her newest move looks like an attempt at the electric slide. Remember that? I'm trying to work on getting the steps right, but can't remember the whole thing. If anyone is watching us from their window while we play outside (and there's a very strong possibility that they are!) then they are probably amused, and confused, as they watch me and Lydia working on our steps to the electric slide.

Anyways, now we're hoping that there will be a chance to do some "creative movement" type of class when we are home next fall.

On to the next topic. Road travel. Although dance class is still a pretty hefty trip, the city just got a LOT closer. Some major road construction projects are finished and some new roads have opened up and we are able to get to church in 20 minutes! Last winter, at the peak of bad construction traffic, it was a 65 or 70 minute trip, mostly in stop & go construction site traffic. Yuck.

We also have a new set of wheels that makes travel a LOT more fun. A few weeks ago we bought an electric bike. These are super popular here - and super convenient. The bike runs on a battery which we recharge using an extension cord that we hang out of our 4th floor apartment window. Classy, I know. It can run for 2-4 hours on one recharge, depending on how aggressively you ride and how much weight you are pulling.

This photo is from the day we purchased it... Isaac is in the baby carrier on my back and Julianna can ride in front of me.


We then added a child bike seat on the luggage rack and now I can carry all three kiddos at one time (Lydia in the seat, Isaac on my back, Julianna in front of me). When we go out as a family, Matt rides his bike (and carries one girl) while I ride the electric bike and carry another girl and Isaac. I can out-ride him, but not by much - he is a really good bike rider and spends a lot of time on his bike, so we make a pretty good pair.

It's no minivan, but it works for us. We have had a LOT of fun and enjoy having the additional freedom it brings.


Well, that's enough for now. The girls are asking for a snack and want me to color with them.

Come over and visit! You can take the electric bike for a spin. And do a little coloring too :) Maybe I'll even have all the electric slide steps figured out by then!

busy busy

This week has flown by at a super fast pace. So has the entire month of October, for that matter :) Wow. I cannot believe that it is almost NOVEMBER! That means Christmas tree shopping is just around the corner!

This little face is just one of the things that has kept me busy....



Click on the photo to get a close up view. He can really make a BIG mess :) And his eyes are still a beautiful blue. Child #3 and Matt's genes finally pulled out a WIN in the eye color department! Yay!

the birthday goodbye

Dad left for America a few hours ago.

We had a fun final day together. He went out with a bang - we celebrated his Oct 29th birthday a few days early.

The kids and I went shopping for his gift on Sunday afternoon. They were thrilled to land on the idea of getting him a ball. So he can play with Grandmama.

Yep, the girls love to play ball together. And with Granddaddy. Actually, they will roll or toss a ball back and forth with anyone willing to slow down and play with them. So it makes perfect sense that they would choose to get a ball for Granddaddy "so he can play with Grandmama".

He opened the gift at the breakfast table, shortly after Lydia told him, "it's a ball". And sure enough, it was!


I promise that they picked it by themselves, I did not steer them towards the Carolina blue ball. But I must admit that for 2 and 3 year olds, they have great taste in ball color.

Later in the day, Matt took a couple of photos of Julianna and Granddaddy playing ball together. Mom, take careful notes. You will be expected to play ball with Granddaddy when he and the birthday present arrive back in NC!

Granddaddy the photographer

One of the perks of having Dad in town is that he takes lots of pictures. Lots. of. pictures.

Often in the evenings after all the kids are asleep we sit down to download and look through all the photos he took that day.

At my mom's request, he also attempted a few shots of all 5 of us. This is not a task for the faint of heart, the easily discouraged, or the photography perfectionist.

Success in the endeavor is fairly loosely defined. And he succeeded!


Be careful to note that in the photo below all 5 of us are looking at the camera! Impressive. Very impressive.

I am especially glad for these shots. And for the other 10000000 photos he has taken :)

for my grandmother

Today is my Grandmother Hodges' birthday. But not just any birthday. It is her 90th birthday!!

In 90 years of birthdays and birthday presents, I bet she's received one of just about everything. But I know this video will be one of the most unique presents she has received :)



Happy Birthday Grandmother! We love you!

our family picture

This week Julianna drew a picture of our family. It's a gift for Grandmama.


I love it.

The guy in the top left corner is Matt. Julianna said "his eyes are like that because it is bright outside and he is squinting." Beside Matt is "a bunch of pine trees and a banana". The rest of the family, including Granddaddy, are clustered down at the bottom of the picture beside "the willow trees".

She's just started drawing our family, and I think it is so cool. I'm going to pick one of my favorites and frame it.

Anybody have good ideas of how to display kids' artwork? Our refrigerator door is always full, I mail lots of it to family in the States, and tape it to practically every door in our house. But I need more options.

the zoo adventure

We've been having lots of fun adventures with Granddaddy in town.

Monday morning we went to the zoo. It was built on the side of a mountain. Sooooo many steps!

When the going got tough, Lydia hitched a ride on her granddaddy's back!

And Julianna rode on Matt's shoulders.

And I carried Isaac. By the end of the morning we grownups were as tired as the kiddos!


We saw lots of really neat animals - elephants and camels. Giraffes and monkeys. Lions and tigers...

.... and some pandas too.

The zoo was really neat. Lots of neat pathways with a good mix of smaller exhibits and big animals too.


This was our first zoo trip in over a year. Our girls are the perfect age for these adventures, and Isaac will be joining the fun any day now! We sat down to watch an elephant show and he was so distracted I couldn't get him to eat any lunch :)

mismatched

My cousin Susan sent the cutest socks to the girls. So cute. And so perfect for them.

Check this out
The whole point is for them to not match. They are sold mismatched. In sets of three - not three pairs, three socks :)

I think they are great. And my girls agree. "So much color, so little time".... that's pretty much their motto when it comes to socks. So these are perfect - lots of color, in one 'pair' of socks :)

Susan, I love them!

what a grandmother and a sewing machine can do

When I was little we had a card table cover - it was kind of like a tablecloth, but much much better. Because when you draped it over the table, it created a little house.

My mom was here in May and we talked about that table cover, and about how much the girls would enjoy something similar.

And she decided that since we didn't have a card table, she could just make one for our kitchen table. It would have windows and a door and would magically transform our kitchen table into a playhouse for the girls.

She jotted down some notes and took lots of measurements. And this is what she made!


Isn't that amazing?!?!?

I pull it out of the bag, spread it over the table and voila, instant play space for the kiddos.

I have visions of myself pulling this out nearly every day before dinnertime.


There is only one drawback. The past two days when I have removed the tablecover to start setting the table for dinner I have been astonished at the amount of stuff that the girls have put in their "house". Dolls and toys and books and throw pillows and baby blankets and leftover snack and dress up clothes and crayons. I need a dump truck to haul it all back to its appropriate spot!

But it's worth it :) Thanks mom!

... and it looks like this!

Granddaddy is in town.

And it looks like this....

and like this....



and like this!


We are having such FUN! And so is he :)

he is here!

Yes, my dad made it! We have been so busy playing with Granddaddy that I haven't sat down to update the blog.

And tonight is no exception. After dinner Matt and the girls and my dad went on a walk to get ice cream while I stayed behind to feed Isaac and put him in bed. The store at the entrance to our apartment complex sells ice cream novelties and the girls love to go for an after-dinner treat. Tonight they are dressed in their best - their pjs! The water was off and on today, and when I realized it was back on right before dinner we jumped on the opportunity to bathe all the kiddos - so they did dinner and baths in reverse order. And wore their pjs and tennis shoes outside for dessert.

They'll be home in a moment, so I'm going to take this chance to get a jump start on the dinner dishes. I haven't uploaded any photos yet, but I'll try to post some tomorrow.

the VIP is on his way

We are rearranging some of our furniture to make room for one VIP arriving tomorrow. MY DAD (aka Granddaddy) will be here Tuesday night about 10pm, and boy are we excited!

A week or so ago we took the plunge and moved Isaac into the girls' bedroom. I was a bit nervous that three little ones + one bedroom = not a lot of sleeping. But God is graciously allowing our little arrangement to work out pretty smoothly.

Isaac goes to sleep first, and then the girls join him about 45 minutes later. So the night routine for them has changed a bit - no more laughing and playing in their bedroom...... we've got to get all the giggles out before we open the door and sneak into to the dark room where their little brother is already snoozing away.

The girls were just giddy with delight at the prospect of him sharing their room. The first night we tried it Lydia was standing in the hallway outside her bedroom door quivering with excitement. Isaac was in there! Sure enough, all that excitement erupted into some VERY loud whispering and woke the little guy up.

But the thrill is wearing off, the girls are learning how to be quieter, and Isaac is getting used to the disturbances. The past few nights we've managed to get the girls tucked into their beds without waking him up, and they all sleep soundly til morning.

Isaac sleeping with his big sisters means there is a bedroom available for my dad! (Although Isaac still naps in his old room, so Dad shares his room during the day.) We moved Isaac's dresser into the hallway, scooted the rocking chair over by the window, and opened up the futon for Granddaddy.

All in all, the furniture moving and bedroom sharing has led to a heavily anticipated Granddaddy-arrival! He's on his way right now, and will be here in about 24 hours!

the picnic date

Our picnic date was a big success. There is a seldom used concrete badminton court near the back of our apartment complex. Actually, I guess the truth of the matter is the court is seldom used for badminton. Lots of the neighborhood uses it as a spot to hang a wide variety of freshly laundered bedding out to dry in the bright sunshine and crisp breeze.

But regardless of whether or not the court is used for badminton or for laundry, I'm confident it has never before hosted a picnic with bbq and hushpuppies, banana pudding and sweet tea.

But there's a first time for everything, and this is definitely the best meal that has EVER been eaten on this badminton court!



Matt said the hushpuppies could only be improved upon if they were served with a healthy portion of honey butter. I take that as a compliment. And next time will make sure to include the honey butter.

where the wildflowers grow

Our whole family went on a little adventure this morning. We ended up on the campus where Matt works and played beside this beautiful patch of wild flowers.



October is one of my favorite months here. The weather is usually cool and crisp. We live at high elevation, so the sunshine can be really intense, but in October there is enough cool breeze to make nearly every day a perfect jeans-and-short-sleeves type of day.

This afternoon we are going on a "group date" with our neighbors (Andy, Erin Ashley, Emma Grace and Jack). Some single friends of ours planned to do a group date so our two families are doing a group date of our own. We total 9 people - 4 of us are married and the other 5 are much too young to date - so it's not your typical group date, but it will be a LOT of fun I'm sure.

It's a picnic in our apartment complex, and Erin Ashley and I planned the menu. The headliners are NC style BBQ and hush puppies! yum.

laundry generators

I got home a few hours ago from my afternoon off. And I will say this: when you are a mommy of three little ones, preparing to get-away for some rest takes work! I had a full morning, but it was SOOOOOO worth it :)

Matt and the kiddos did great here at home. One measure of success: I returned home and noticed that all three of them were still wearing the same clothes that they started the day with. Seriously. That's a pretty rare achievement.

My three children are professional laundry generators. They create dirty laundry. Lots of dirty laundry. Isaac has this charming habit while sitting in the high chair - he stuffs his hand in his mouth, goops it up with pureed whatever, and smears it on his clothes. Sometimes the end-of-the-meal assessment leaves me with no option but to change his entire outfit.

Lydia and Julianna don't (usually) smear food on their clothing. But they too can create a pile of dirty laundry in record time. Now that cooler weather has arrived and Lydia wears long sleeves she has a new challenge: washing her hands and simultaneously attempting to completely soak every inch of her sleeves with soapy water. She gets so wet that a clothing change is in order (I hang her wet sleeved stuff in the window and let it dry for another go-round.)

Julianna wins the 'least likely to change clothes' award, but she does have one laundry-generating habit. Every time she enters the house she removes not only her shoes but also her socks. And when she gets ready to put her shoes on and leave again, she gets a new pair of socks. What can I say, she likes variety. And she must think I like washing socks.

It doesn't take too long to create something that looks like this:



Yep, I sort laundry in the hallway. It's not a big apartment, and the bathroom that holds our washer/dryer is pretty small.

But today the laundry pile didn't grow too much :) And I had a great afternoon away from home - got some good time by myself and got to hang out with a super-great friend too.

Daddy's days off

Two major local holidays just passed us by and while Matt worked over the holidays, he is due for some time off. The four of us are READY to have some extra time with him! He is not working today (Wednesday), Thursday or Saturday this week! Yay!

The first six weeks of the school year are typically quite busy, and this year was no exception. But mid-October is when the pace starts to slow a little. So these days of rest are much needed and much appreciated (especially by me!)

We have a few things planned as a family, and I am taking Thursday afternoon OFF! So I'm pretty excited about that!

The girls are already asking him to make a fort in the living room with chairs and blankets. It's gonna be a good day :)

the white socks boycott

My girls share an overflowing basket of socks. And probably over half of them are white. Thick and thin. Sporty and Lacy. Knee socks and ankle socks. They have all kinds of white sock possibilities.

But do they ever leave the house with a pair of white socks on their feet? Nope. Not on their own volition, at least. [Sometimes on Sunday morning I stand my ground and insist on white socks, but most days I choose to be wise about which 'battles I pick', and the sock battle doesn't make the cut.]

Oh how they love colorfully decorated socks. The kind of socks that are guaranteed to not match any outfit in their entire closet.

Exhibit A: Monkey faces on pink stripes. Tinkerbell in a lime green dress with hot pink accents on the toes.


The sock picking is an especially lively part of the morning's get-dressed routine. A great deal of thought goes into the selection, and the girls offer tips and advice to one another. Yesterday after the socks were picked out and put on they had second thoughts, and went into detailed consultation about a potential sock-trade before Matt intervened and hurried them off to the breakfast table.

Their selections do make for some interesting color combos. I think these red and navy socks are particularly striking with the purple top, don't you?


And there's nothing quite like this outfit. The purple socks definitely provide that "finishing touch" that brings it all together!


One day Lydia came out of her bedroom sporting a pair of Isaac's socks, complete with little red baseballs and blue stripes at the cuff. Looks like I need to be a bit more attentive when I'm putting away the laundry!

If you ever need help choosing your cotton footwear for the day, I'm sure the girls would be glad to lend a helping hand.

it's probably really very humbling

Maybe she picked this habit up from me, I'm not sure. But Lydia has started inserting the word "probably" into almost every conversation.

It's hilarious. And it sounds like this:

As we turn to the final page in a book about sea animals Lydia sees the picture of the blue whale and says.....
"I love that blue whale. I will probably ride on it."
Me: "You are going to ride that blue whale Lydia?"
Lydia: "I will probably ride on the tail. You can ride in the mouth."

Today we read a book about a kangaroo with no pocket and Lydia says....
"Daddy is probably going to carry Isaac in his pocket."

And as we walk out the door to get Julianna at school she says....
"When I see Julianna I'm probably going to give her a hug."

Julianna has a different little habit. She consistently replaces "really" with "very". So she says things like, "'But Mommy he very very wants a toy." "I very want to." "You know I very don't like it."

[Ok, and as I am typing these words she walks up to me as asks, "Is he very in there?" Now if Lydia would just chime in with a "I'm probably going to go find him" we'd be set!]

I love listening to them and their ever-expanding ability to express themselves. And I try to hide my smiles when they make funny mistakes.

It's humbling to think that while I listen to them make grammatical mistakes or overuse certain phrases, other people get to listen to ME make grammatical mistakes and overuse certain phrases! Even after many years here, my language ability is still far from "native speaker level" and I bet there are lots of folks who have hidden smiles as they've listened to me!

Who knows how many times I've said something and sounded just like a three year old?