turkey day survivors

For a variety of reasons Thanksgiving weekend is a solid mix of crazy for our family.  We go hard all weekend long.  This year I was well prepared for the insanity... and really able to enjoy it all.  I'm so thankful (some years weren't quite as pretty, ahem).

So many highlights and I still haven't downloaded pics from the good camera so this one will be missing a few.  

We loaded up and headed out of town late Wednesday afternoon.  It felt wonderfully holiday-ish to load the car with sleeping bags, children, and food and hit the highway.  I spent many a holiday visiting family and I'm glad to do it with my children.  

This little man is dropping his nap.  It seems plenty early (he's not even 3!!) but it's also no surprise since Luke has always been the child who could survive on remarkably little sleep.  The good news is that his nights are getting longer now that he's not sleeping in the afternoon.  He's also good positive peer pressure for John Paul (who is a big fan of the day time snooze).  Regardless, both of them are car nappers these days.  This pic reminds me of the many HOURS of his life Luke spent screaming in the car seat.  We've come a long way baby :)  

We loved our time Thanksgiving day (pics coming) and headed back late that evening so we could be ready bright and early Friday morning :) 

Saturday had plenty of highlights too.  Matt played in yet another Turkey Bowl football game.  The crowd isn't getting younger but these men play hard and well.  Such fun to do these things with good good friends.  

We are ready to throw in the towel on our annual search for a "real" Christmas tree.  After more than a decade of scavenging tree markets for something green and conical and able to hold ornaments we are ready for a new challenge.  This year we decided to give it one last shot. 

We found plenty of fun, but no appropriate tree, so we are jumping ship.  It's fake trees for us from now on.  (sigh)  

[Please note John Paul's pants in the above picture and be appropriately concerned for my laundry situation.]

And this last one is too fun to not share.  Isaac is living in his UND hockey jersey for the second year in a row.  Lucky him, no one cares if he wears the same thing nearly every day.  And honestly, most of us should probably spend more of life in our favorite shirt.  

I spotted these three from behind and rushed around to snap their picture before the moment passed.  They just happen to perfectly mirror their fathers' football picture from earlier in the day.  

We are slowing down now that it's Sunday afternoon,  Matt will have the day off tomorrow and it'll be Christmas decorating galore :)  

wild and wooly with a window

Finished!  Like I needed any more chaos this morning :)

I decided to toss in a trip to pick up the mattresses.  I have pie in the oven, piles of half-packed bags, and we hit the road as soon as the girls get out of school.

[Side note: I normally don't think Julianna and Lydia look too much alike, but this shot with their upside down faces did give me with a 'they are definitely sisters' moment.  And iPhoto face recognition sometimes mistakes one for the other, so maybe they look more alike than I realize?!?]

growing boys, bigger beds

When I was pregnant with Luke (we didn't know he was a boy until he was born) Matt would say "well, if it's a boy we'll build some triple bunks and put extra padding under the carpet and call it good."

And it was a boy.  And now he is almost three.  But we've shelved the triple bunk plan for now.  So yesterday we bought a used set of bunks and brought them home.

Late afternoon I started calling Matt "the bunk bed hero".  Like his boys needed any more reasons to adore this Daddy of theirs :)

I spotted our van enter the complex and head down into the parking garage.  Quick as a flash the kids were in their shoes and thundering down to the garage to meet the new beds.

Matt and Graham had ALL the help they needed.  (Graham bought a set for his boys too; the dads tag-teamed assembly at both houses.)

[In the above picture you can see my version of a closet :)  The simple plywood shelves above the door in the boys' room hold our Christmas decorations (gonna be needing those! woohoo!) and suitcases stuffed with out-of-season clothing plus a few other odds and ends.  The big black duffel in the middle is filled with heavier winter gear that I'm needing to get down this week or next.  It doesn't make for the prettiest picture but it's super handy storage and it is tucked above the doorway so most people don't even know it's there!]

And here's the end result!  Luke will move from his toddler cot onto the smaller bed at left.  Isaac on the top bunk and John Paul on bottom.  We have mattresses ordered but won't get them til Wednesday so for now it's kind of a hodge lodge sleeping arrangement with the old small mattresses tucked in the bunks and Luke still on his old bed, but give us a few more days and we will - finally - have all three boys together!

The girls will miss the little bro when Luke moves out.  They love to pull his bed over next to theirs and Julianna falls asleep with her head just inches from Luke's ... so precious!  But they will also enjoy being a "girls only" domain again!  And Luke? He is oh-so-READY to join the boys' club!!

We are going out of town (just one night) for Thanksgiving so it's looking like post-turkey will be our  first night with everyone settled in their new beds!

my first glimpse

The girls 'trial run' performance was yesterday morning.  One of their teachers posted this photo.  

It was an exhausting day for the girls - 9 hours of mostly performing and rehearsing and rehearsing and rehearsing!  The big competition (a city-wide event, which is no joke when you are talking about a city of 10plus million people) is next Tuesday morning.  

More rehearsals today :)  

As far as I can tell they are still really enjoying it.  "Better than grammar class", says Julianna!  ha!  Too bad we don't send her to school to learn drama, right?  All joking aside I'm thrilled they've had this experience.  So grateful for the school and these teachers and my brave little girls.

I'm still waiting on word as to whether or not I can go to the Tuesday competition.  We shall see.....

two (too?) random

The girls have been staying late at school for rehearsals... long story but they are in this performance and have been practicing like crazy.... of course we only found out about the performance on Saturday and the first show is tomorrow and the big competition (city-wide) is next Tuesday, so they have some ground to cover in a small amount of time!  {yes, this is a GREAT glimpse into the way this culture works, and the way it tends to grate my last nerve! oh advance planning, we laugh in your little face around here; it's last minute or bust for us.}

[The performance is a pretty big deal, and I don't just say that cause they are my daughters, but when the school asked us about inviting the girls to participate we didn't realize just how big of a deal it was... but it's becoming more clear.  Anyways, they are loving it, except today's rehearsal kept them super late at school and they were tired and starving when I picked them up!  more on this tangent later....]

So earlier this week I had one long afternoon with no school pick up!  I must say this was a welcome change.  Just me and the three boys and nothing to do!!!  Isaac asked that we get a 'new' toy out of the wooden trunk in his room.  We keep some toys out and some toys put away, to maintain sanity (mine) and to maintain excitement (theirs).  

Pulling out a 'new' toy is a recipe for a fun.  This time we chose the barn/farm set and it was a huge hit.  Thank goodness we have three tractors/trailers. whew.  

[I put away the mini-kitchen and all the associated plastic pieces.  It'll show up again, another day, And in the meantime, I'll enjoy plastic fences and tractors, instead of plastic cakes and corn cobs.]

And to round out this random assortment of family news?  The street scene in front of our complex gates.  These concrete spheres (effectively) prevent cars from parking on the sidewalk at the entrance.  They're much cuter when decorated with children :)  

The stretch across the street is mostly restaurants, tea houses, and a few yet-to-be-determined-currently-under-renovation shops.   Behind them are another set of apartment high rises (you can glimpse one at the far right of the photo).  The driveway behind Lydia leads to our underground parking garage.  I was standing in the gate when I took the photo.  

wandering past bears

One final dinner with just the six of us... at least for this week :)  We have a growing tradition of going to a certain restaurant together on the last night of Matt's trips.  The staff at that restaurant probably think I don't have a husband!  But it's a fun way for us to celebrate and a nice break for me (no cooking or clean up).

The restaurant is in a mall and we like to wander for a while before heading home.  Our wander took us past this sign.

Too bad no one around here has any personality, huh?

We got in later than I planned and scrambled everyone into bed and before I knew it Matt was home :)  yay for being all together again!

sitting on the carpet

Some nights the best thing I can do is just sit down on the carpet.  At least for our family, that simple act can lower the intensity level in the house.  I'm not busy, I'm not "somewhere", I'm sitting.  Right in the middle of the living room.

Tonight I was feeling the exhaustion of a long stretch of Matt on the road (he'll be back late tomorrow - yay!)  and I really *needed* a smooth evening transition.  So I sat down.  And they all gathered, and created a car city with Jenga blocks and a deck of playing cards.

Things started to expand and Lydia nominated herself the car salesman.  She also sold gas (dispensed underneath the foot stool).  Her cars were inexpensive but she was charging a lot for fuel :)

My favorite moment was probably when Luke pulled out the binoculars.  Wonder what he saw.  

I did buy a car, which quickly got sent to the shop (Julianna's domain) for tire repair.  But other than that I mostly just sat.  And watched.  And took a few pictures!

I'm almost positive that if I had chosen to finish dinner clean up (I still haven't swept the floor) or ready the house for night or any other such thing that the play would't have gone so well or so long.

There's something about Mommy sitting quietly on the carpet nearby that calms the whole house.  It's good for me to remember, because I'm not much of a sitter :)  But I'm working on it!

a bus ride to dinner

Today we met the girls at school pick up and headed for the bus stop.  My kids think bus riding is a treat, a luxury, a valid entertainment option.  So we rode to dinner at Ikea.

It's only a mile from our house and we walk it no problem.  The bus was to ante up the just-for-fun factor.  [yes, living hear Ikea is pretty awesome in some ways, but mostly we love it for the ice cream.  this isn't really my decade for having a hip-euro-style-decorated home.]

I'm also a big big big fan of the Ikea kids play land.  Only Isaac and John Paul currently fall within the fairly stringent height restrictions (between 1 and 1.2 meters tall), but still, it's a solid win for our family.  Luke and the girls and I walked the showroom and then took a nice long break in the children's area before going to get the two boys and heading to the cafeteria for dinner.

We're old fans of snack bar hotdogs but they were advertising a new kids meal so we thought we'd try it out.  Zero rave reviews but no one left hungry... though I'm not sure we'll order it again.

Julianna is getting so good at doing her own hair!  She did these braided pigtails at school today (hopefully during a class break... but maybe during class?!?  oh well.)

The ride home was especially exciting since we got an articulated bus.  These bad boys are LOOOOONG!  I was a few rows from the back (Julianna and Isaac behind me, Luke on my back).  It was mostly empty this time of night and everyone was disappointed when we had to get off.  ha!

We left to get the girls a little after 4 (dismissal bell rings at 4:20) and got home about 7.  Pretty sweet way to spend an evening.

down the aisle

Big deal for my middle boy.... he was ring bearer in a wedding yesterday.

It was a fairly last minute request (by American standards of time at least) and my biggest hesitation in saying yes was clothing.... where to find a little suit on short notice.  A friend saved the day with a loaner and John Paul was simply dashing!

He was so very excited.  We talked ring bearer for two weeks!  I thought he was a little young - the couple originally asked Isaac (no budging from my oldest boy, he was 110% uninterested in the whole shindig) so we proposed John Paul as a possibility.

And he did SOOOOOO well at the start.  Pleased that the big moment was finally here.   (I was corralling Luke and taking pics from one of the back rows, Matt was the "launcher" sending him on his big walk.)

He was so engaged with me, and when he turned to look down the aisle

he quit!  Turned right back around and said he didn't want to go.  I whispered in his ear that he could have all the mints in my backpack if he walked the aisle.  No dice.  So I gathered him up in my arms and we watched the bride process in :)  It was almost-four-year-old ring bearer perfection.

Safe in my arms he said "It's too many people" and "maybe next year when I'm bigger".

This little man amazes me.  Yesterday was one of those days when I just could hardly believe he was mine.  I'm devastated for his birth mom.  She said no to so very much blessing.  The gift of him has not been seamless perfection, but I'm terrifically blessed to call him son.

We partied away the evening, and the kids even did a little line dancing.  Luke was on the brink of implosion (no nap plus a diet of mostly candy and sprite will do that to a toddler!) but thankfully he held it together and we got everyone in bed - with memories of a dashing ring bearer brother and a few line dancing moves too!

grade 2, class 4

Lydia's second grade class.

I got this picture from Xu Laoshi (her teacher)... The burgundy sweat suits are not the school uniform but rather a class uniform that they've been wearing for the past two days during the all-school sports competition.

Her favorite friend is Ma XinYi (front row to Lydia's right, with the pink shoes).

streetside cotton candy

This lady parks herself (or rather, parks her bike) outside the school gates at dismissal time.

Her bike is a cleverly-created cotton candy making machine.  She can hop on the seat and peddle her bike just about anywhere.  And she's selling fresh cotton candy within minutes of her arrival.

My guess is that she hits more than one "hot spot"... places and times where little customers are congregating :)  When the crowd here thins she'll head off to another location, ready to tempt more customers.

She certainly tempted us.

these crazy roommates

It's that time again.  Our own little holiday.  

These days just get more fun with each passing year.

Julianna's face looks so much OLDER than her last year photo.  Ohmygoodness.  She's growing up.

Lydia is my only top bunker (for now).  Her Carolina (bunny) is white "because the love wore the pink right off her skin".

Luke, aka the baby-mate.  His little cot is tucked against the wall in the girls room.  Everyone is happy with the temporary arrangement, but the boys are dreaming triple-bunk dreams and I'm guessing that Luke will be firmly ensconced in the boys' bedroom by this time next year.

Wild and wooly, goofball crazy.  These two are so fun together.

Every child needs a tiger like Bei Bei.

I know, I know.  He has a great smile.

Yesterday the girls wrote acrostics about their roommates, a little something fun to add to our Roommate Anniversary Journal.  [Don't be too impressed, everything I learned about acrostics came from a Fancy Nancy book and some vague memories from elementary school.  a poet I am not.]

It was a fun day, mostly normal with some treats at the beginning (strawberry banana shakes) and end (movie night).  Tomorrow is a rare day where Matt and I switch hats and I head off to work while he manages the home front.  These kinds of days come along about once a year (just often enough for me!) and I'm actually able to step in to a (day) trip that he would normally be a part of.  I'll be leaving early and home late.  And I'm really excited about the things I'm going to do and the people I'm going to see!

a fall Saturday

Saturday mid-morning I decided we would do a little early celebrating for Roommate Anniversary.  Matt was working and took the van (double whammy for a Saturday) so whatever fun we dreamed up had to be on foot.  

Lucky us, Mommy is very good at dreaming up fun :)  

We headed across 3rd ring on our favorite sky bridge.  This view is just. so. fascinating.  Now that the air has a cool bite it's decidedly less comfortable to hang out up top, but we did it anyways!  

At the base of the bridge we linked up to the greenway system and managed to cover a bit of ground, mostly exploring as we made bits of progress towards our destination.

We eventually left the greenway and headed for a favorite stop where each kiddo got to order their own drink :)

Then we playground-hopped for the next two hours!  I packed some pb & j and we supplemented with chips from a street side mini mart.  As we explored the area we discovered two new playgrounds in addition to an old favorite.

We made it back to our front door happy and tired from all our walking!  Such a good day!  I'm thankful for crisp changing temperatures, no rain (!!!!!) and plenty of fun outside our front door.   We'll hit the second half of Roommate Anniversary fun on the day-of (Tuesday).