Once again.

   

    Today was my first official day as a 'partner' of Starbucks. I went in for a two hour orientation. I got a big bag of goodies! Aprons, coffee tasting guide, learning journal, etc. And a pound of beans. And free drinks while I was there. And a coffee tasting. I'm awake for a while.

    I'm excited to be a barista again! I loved it so much in MN, and I'm ready to get back into the groove. Making coffee and making grown-up conversation!! And getting paid. It feels good.

Just one of those yesterdays.

  You know. Those days when my mother and I are amazing creatures and do this-

               Home-made ravioli. Close your mouths people. You're getting drool everywhere.
         

         
    Yum. It was so delicious. It knew better than to NOT be delicious after how much work it took!

             Ok, it didn't really take that much work, I'm just being a baby.

  We paired it with fresh watermelon from a nearby farm. It was the best watermelon I've had in a long time. Legend has it the farmer comes in at the end of the day with a purple fingernail from thumping watermelons all day. While I appreciate his dedication to perfection, I'd just find a stick or something... Whatever, I'm only buying watermelons from him forever now.
   We also had zucchini from the same farm. Mmmm. And the leftover cheese filling for the ravioli we spread over some sliced up French bread and baked it into gooey cheesy heaven.
    We have lots of leftovers. I'd say come on over to help us eat it, but I don't think any of us will share the ravioli, and Maggie won't share the watermelon.

Bad Mom

   I'm feeling a cold coming on, so I've been a little under the weather. If under the weather means dead behind the eyes and immobile.

   Which means I have been feeding the kids, but leaving them to their own devices otherwise.

  And then this happened.

 

Poor sweet girl. I have no idea if she hit my bed or my dresser, or if she was pushed or just fell. But we rocked and rocked and I told her how sorry I was that she was stuck with such a mean mom.

Slugs and Snails and Puppy Dogs Tails

       The very back of the back yard is in need of some care. It's sad really. Rob got around to cleaning it up yesterday, and I don't have any before/after pictures for you. Sorry. I'm too embarrassed to post before pictures, and it's nowhere near done, so there are no after pictures to speak of. But lets just say it was bad enough a few days ago for us to not care when the boys did this...

      They were having so much fun! Little boys and dirt belong together. And I got to take these gorgeous pictures of Max.

   Look at those handsome green eyes.

  And they were kind enough to clean each other up before tracking in all that mud. I'm sure they didn't mind a bit.

 

Mountain Monday

  I'm so in love with this view. It's nice to wake up to this every day and be reminded how lucky I am to have the life I have. This mountain might not be going anywhere, but it definitely changes all the time. Every different picture is my new favorite, and today is no exception.

Not a professional. Shouldn't have tried this at home.

   Remember that birthday cake I was planning? Remember how it was going to be amazing?

 Well. It didn't quite reach that level, in my opinion. I was very disappointed with my otherwise phenomenal cake-baking skills. (Yes, those were my eyes you sensed rolling, thank you)
 
  The cake itself was crumbly and fell apart in a few places, and frosting would NOT spread without taking chunks of cake along for the ride. The fondant was a disaster. There was no saving it. I planned this:

 

Cute, right?? And not difficult! I've done crazier stuff.

This is what happened.

 

 

I'm astonished. And ashamed.

 

But when my sweet Connor saw it he said , "WHOA!!" and giggled. So I guess he was happy and that's all that matters!

 

 

    
    

Five Years!

 

There he is. The first 'little' love of my life. 5 years ago today he was busy making me the most miserable human on the planet. And then he made me the happiest.

Now he is the sweetest, most affectionate little man who wants to grow up to be a doctor and a daddy.

He makes me so proud to be his momma.

Now I believe in Bigfoot.

  "Mooooommm! Con-noh hit me! eh heh.. eh heeeeeeehhhhhhh"

 In a moment of spectacular parenting I yell from the kitchen to the bedroom, "COONNNNOOORR!"

  "Sorry Mom."

"Tell Max you're sorry, not me."

"Sorry Max."

"Okay."

"Okay"

"Okay"

"Okay"

 "Con-noh, you can't say okay, I say okay, okay?"

"Okay"

"MOOOMMMM!"

    Or how 'bout this gem... Boys in the bathtub. They're getting along great until I hear splashes followed by both of them wailing and yelling "STOP HITTING ME!! NO STOP HITTING ME!!" Only they don't stop. So it goes on and on. It was after a few minutes of this that I found myself on the floor of the kitchen with a gallon of vanilla ice cream. And that bottle of chocolate syrup? Yeah I just dumped the whole thing right on top. At what age exactly does logic kick in?

    This is stuff of legend. But before you have kids, that's all you think it is. Folklore. Old wives tales. Memories expanded into imagination.

  But it's real.

  Oh, it's real.

Aksolutely yes.

   Sometimes when the boys ask if they can do something particularly harmful to their safety or mental health, my answer is ABSOLUTELY NOT. (Note the beginning of that sentence was sometimes) Usually it involves climbing, or fire, or watching Barney.
   Well, Max has taken to using the word absolutely, with a three year old's twist to it. Aksolutely. And it's always in conjunction with the word yes. He's a defiant little thing. So the thing I've been hearing a lot lately is "Aksolutely yes, Con-noh." Those words cause panic and I run to wherever they are, or at least wherever I can spy on them. Most of the time it's harmless. Con-noh got the answers to Max's interrogation correct. Or he picked the right toy to play with that wouldn't interfere with Max's own toys. Or he's agreeing with Con-noh on how mean I am.
   But now and then I find Connor perched precariously on the top of a dresser, or at the top of the ladder on the swing set, where the only landing he'd find is a cemented border of large rocks. Or in mid-swing with a pvc pipe in the basement.
    That's the thing about being married to a very handy man. Pvc pipes become children's toys. And they're all over the place.
   The six of you will be very relieved to know the kitchen knives are usually out of reach.
  
  Here he is, in all his bed-headed glory. (By the way, the wiggling accompanies every conversation we have.)

 

I still tell myself he's too young to remember it anyway.

   Today I am planning Connor's 5th birthday cake. I don't say birthday party because we've never yet had a birthday party and still won't this year. My poor children have no idea what they are missing! What a mean mom I am. Sadly, there aren't many kids Connor's age around here. Our neighbor has a little boy his age, and I could invite his classmates, but since school just started today I think that's a little awkward. "Oh hello! You don't have any clue who I am or who my son is, but please bring gifts for him to our house in two days. Thanks!" So instead I make extravagant cakes to make up for the sadness of party-less birthdays. My twin cousins, who are absolutely adored by the boys, will come for the cake. And then they'll stay to babysit while Rob and I sneak out (yes, on my sons 5th birthday, did I mention how mean of a mom I am?) for a rare date. Trust me, if Connor could choose a birthday with my cousins or a birthday with mom and dad, he would choose my cousins. That's how much he loves them. And I'm old news anyway. And a mean mom.

   But I make great cakes.

  This one's going to be a robot.

   And it is going to be amazing.

Playing catch-up

 I just got in yelled at by my sister for not posting an update for so long! So I figured I better sit down and feed the masses tell the 6 of you how our summer has gone! ;) Our trip to Minnesota and Iowa was fun! But I will never, ever do it again without my wonderful, helpful husband! Mom was with me, with the (pre-travel) agreement that we would take care of the kids together and it would be great! Umm.... well. After about 5 days I could sense my poor mother's nerves falling to pieces. My kids, sweet as they are, are a lot to handle. It's a demanding and draining job. I was so so so relieved to pick Rob up from the airport after being without him for 15 days. I learned just how much I depend on him on a daily basis to keep me sane. I admit, I did cry a little bit when he came down the airport escalator. I'm not sure if it was just the profound relief, or watching Connor and Max run into his arms, screaming "DADDY!!" while Maggie kicked furiously in her stroller. I wish I had videotaped that moment.
  But it was nice to see our families. I used up all my camera memory on my new niece in Minnesota within the first few days of our trip. What a sweet little thing! She loved me right away, and the feeling was mutual.
  We were so anxious to get home, we drove through the night and made it back at 4:30 in the morning! I was so happy to see my bed! I've never been so exhausted in all my life.
 
   There's been a whole lot of nothing going on since then and that's OK WITH ME!

  Now I'm feeling a little excited, because after talking to Rob about it, I'm going to get a part time job! I'm looking forward to getting out of the house a bit. I got an offer from The Children's Place in a nearby mall, but turned them down after getting an interview at Starbucks. I worked in a coffee shop for three years in MN and I miss it every day! So I interviewed today and was told I would get the job! I'm very happy! It will be nice to spend my day talking to grown ups again, not to mention a paycheck, tips, and free coffee! I'll not only get free coffee as I work, but a pound of coffee to take home each week! I'd work for free for all of that!
 
   Connor starts another year of preschool on Wednesday. He had orientation this morning, and he's excited to start. We put him in a different school this year. The school he was in before was alright, but they lost Connor one day in the beginning of the year. They searched the school, but couldn't find him, until another parent walked in and informed them there was a little boy walking all the way down at the end of the strip mall. Along a busy street. All alone. That was kind of a big deal. Then at the end of the year we found out his teacher thought he was Autistic from her facebook page. It wasn't mentioned to us until I asked about it. Of course we had his doctor examine him. She said there's absolutely no reason to think he's Autistic, and suggested a different preschool. So far we are very happy with the system and the *ahem* professionalism.

   Maggie is finally walking! She started walking a little bit in Minnesota, with 3 steps at a time. That's about as much as she would do for a long time, until one day she just started walking all over! That was probably a month ago now. She would have been 13 months old.
 
            Connor, drying in the sun.

                      
               My little kangaroo.

                   Those eyes get me every time!

 
               My favorite cake so far. So cute!!