Valuable Life Skillz

I think it's important to arm your children with all the skills they will need as they go out into this world. And so last night after dinner with the neighbors, when we were informed of the neighborhood tradition of passing on "the door" (a door from someone's remodel years ago) with a good dose of toilet paper, we embraced the opportunity to teach our girls how to throw a roll.

They were drunk on the thrill of delinquency.
But only after a safe getaway. They were more than a little nervous about breaking the rules.

(FYI, Kolby looked about as worried as the kids. Who knew he was such a pansy?)

TEN?

Ten years ago I was in a hospital room with my incredible husband, my lovely pregnant nurse Heather, and a midwife I'd just barely met (since we'd just moved to Portland three weeks earlier) finally meeting my daughter after 36 hours of labor (I'm not being a martyr--24 hours of those were considered "early labor," and they probably don't really count, but I was excited! And timing all of them! And wondering why this was taking so damn long?!)

I still remember holding that beautiful bundle of baby girl, searching her eyes and wondering "Who are you?"

She was the wiggliest baby in utero. No really she was. More than any of yours. I promise. I remember sitting at my desk at Paramount Title and her kicking me so hard her kicks would hit the edge of my desk and bruise my belly. Being the good first-time mama I was, I would time her kicks to make sure I was feeling her move 10 times an hour like the book said I should. I kept little tick marks on my desk calendar for every time I felt her move--she averaged over 25 moves per hour, and they weren't just little kicks. (Amelia was queen of gentle movements, so I know the difference. And yes, Amelia was much more gentle than any of your kids. My kids excel at everything.). After she was born, Madeline would cross her legs at the ankle and constantly kick-kick-kick from the fetal position to full extension and I could finally see what had been causing all the commotion in my belly.

And oh my lord, her head. It was the most beautifully shaped baby head in all of the history of baby heads. After the cone went away. And it went away in record time. Because she was my first-born child and she was PERFECT and AMAZING in every way.

And now she's 10. Ten years old. How did that happen???? I have no idea, but it did. And now she's still the most perfect, amazing, incredible, entertaining 10 year-old who ever graced the Earth. No really, she is. Stop arguing with me.

More photos tomorrow. She was born pre-digital camera, which means I have to scan....so old school!

4th of January

Oh, I mean July. It just felt like January. We call June around here "Junuary,"

and everyone says summer doesn't start until the 5th of July. I will tell you that in my 10 years in the Pacific Northwest, that has been true. There has only been ONE year that I didn't watch the fireworks while shivering under a blanket.

My sister Jodi and her family made the long drive up from Utah to come visit for a few days, and we had so much fun with them. We froze our buns off at the pool and wore sweatshirts and parkas to the neighborhood 4th of July festivities, but then got in a couple days of sunshine and warmth before they had to leave.

Finally some sunshine!!! Must be July 5th.

One night we let the kids roast marshmallows on the grill...
And then Gabby came inside looking like this...

I went outside to investigate. Little Breezy reminds me so much of Maddie at that age. She couldn't just eat something. She had to experience it. And Breezy does it all with a big dose of sassy.

Have any of you read the Olivia series of books? Every day Brielle would wake up, and move the cat, get dressed, and move the cat, eat a bite of cereal, and move the cat. That cat is a saint.

Thanks so much to Jodi and the family for driving up to visit! We have so much fun when you come.

That's my daughter in the water

Today marked the end of swim/dive team season for the girls. I don't know if I mentioned already that Madeline put her foot down and refused to do swim team this year. She just had no interest in swimming fast. Who wants to do that? Puh-lease and Whatever with an eyeroll.

Amelia wants to do that. That's who. Want to know why? Because there are rules, and friends, permanent markers, and snack bars. What could be more fun?

I mistakenly sent the girls to an unfamiliar snack bar with $5 without clear instructions for spending that $5. Usually they buy Cup-O-Noodles and a baked potato, so I assumed that's what they would come back with. But this was a different snack bar. A better snack bar. A snack bar that sold cotton candy and Skittles. They were so pleased with themselves for buying "dinner." (You can see the distress in Amelia's face in this photo. She is truly my child--she was so upset that she'd misspent the money, she could barely enjoy her treats. Madeline, however, prefers the "better to ask forgiveness than permission" philosophy, as evidenced by the phoney "OMG, Skittles aren't actually fruit?" look on her face.)

While swim team, beyond the snack bar, was not her thing, Madeline did show some interest in diving. Since she's all about mimicking form and movement, and diving actually values taking your time to perfect that movement and form, we figured diving would be a good fit for her. It was. She absolutely loved it. Our pool doesn't have a diving board, so she dived on another team about 10 minutes from our neighborhood. (This made my life a little hectic since her practices were at the same time as Amelia's--I learned that fancy "being two places at once" trick.)

Kolby and I thoroughly enjoyed watching our girls compete this season in activities they love, but I am soooooo happy to be done shuttling kids to 5x a week practices and packing up meals for weekly swim and dive meets.

Looking forward to drinking my coffee in my p.j.'s tomorrow morning to celebrate the first day of summer with no practices!

Netflix Love

There are many reasons why I love Netflix, but two of those reasons arrived in my mailbox this afternoon:

Want one more reason? Kolby and I just started watching the first season of "Friday Night Lights" via Netflix on the Xbox. I didn't know that I was missing high school football in my life, but apparently I was. We're hooked!

I think we could almost give up cable with all the love we're getting from Netflix.

Ask and Ye Shall Receive

I had a beautiful Sunday morning trail run, but that's not the news.

Last week I had been telling Kolby that I needed a bike for riding to the pool, etc. And what did I tell you we found on the way home from our Sunday morning hike? Yes, Black Beauty. (And I love her so much!)

Just yesterday I was saying I needed a good floppy hat for wearing to the beach. At the end of my run today guess what I found laying on the side of the road? A floppy hat. (It's in the wash right now, so no photos yet.)

Next week before my Sunday run I'm going to tell Kolby I need a million dollars.

New wheels

My sister Jodi arrived last night with her family to visit for a few days. And am I ever glad she did! That girl is clearly my lucky charm.

This morning driving back from a hike, we passed a garage sale in my neighborhood. I said, "Look fast! Do you see anything we need?" And she said, "Naaah. Just one of those old bikes with big handlebars."

"Screeeech!" said my brakes.

Parked in the driveway was just the beautiful old cruiser I was hoping for! It's hard to say what my favorite thing about my new bicycle is, because there's too many things to settle on just one: the $5 price tag, the fact that the homeowner called me a little girl when I returned with my money in hand ("That little girl is back to buy the bike."), the awesome fenders, the sheepskin seat cover, the white wall tires, or the rear view mirror. The only thing missing, for now, is a big basket for carrying beach towels. That will be remedied ASAP.

I'm not sure who was laughing more as I rode my new cruiser home, me (feeling a bit like Pee-Wee Herman) or Jodi as she drove home behind me.